SHATTERED | Daryl Dixon [ON HOLD]

2

I jolted upright in bed as Daryl slammed the door behind him. I rolled over to the empty side of the bed and stretch my legs, feeling glad I didn't drink enough last night to be hungover. I eventually untangled myself from the covers and slide out of the bed. Standing up beside the bed, I slipped off my t-shirt and jogging bottoms and grabbed some clothes from the pile beside my wardrobe. I quickly brushed out my knotted hair and headed out of my room, down the corridor towards the kitchen.

"I made eggs, powdered but I do em' good. Protein helps the hangover." T-dog sang, walking over to a very hungover Glenn with a frying pan. Glenn groaned and I chuckled, patting him on the back sympathetically as I made my way to the empty seat beside him. 

"Don't ever ever ever let me drink again." He muttered with his head in his hands. I sat down beside him and tucked into some stale toast. My father entered the room, greeted by everyone but with a slight smile - but then returning to their breakfasts.

"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing." Dale started, him and Andrea exchanging glances. 

"But you will anyway." My father assumed, moving towards the counter to make himself a mug of coffee. 

"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea commented. The conversation went quiet, everyone waiting for a reaction from him. He stirred the milk into his drink and strolled across the large room to his desk.

"Give me a playback on TS-19." He ordered, the machine loaded the information and an image of a head and brain appears. Automatically, the rest of us followed him into the other part of the room, leaning against abandoned desks. "Only a few people have had the chance to see this, very few." He zoomed it into the enhanced internal view and they got a close up on the brain, showing the amazing blue colours. 

"What are those colours?" Shane asked as they dart around the screen. 

"A person's life," My father explained, engrossed in the screen like the others, "Memories, experiences, everything. And somewhere in there is what makes you unique." There was a long pause before he continued again, "Those tiny ripples of light determine what you say and do since the day of birth... to the moment of death." 

"Who was it?" Andrea questioned.

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten, infected, and let us record the process." My father sighs, "Vi, scan forward to the first event." Vi scanned forward to a visual of red lines invading the brain. I winced, not wanting to watch the clip any longer. 

Glenn frowned at the screen,"What is that?"

"It invades the brain," I whispered, I felt a pang in my chest as the words 'Subject Deceased' flashed up in front of my eyes.

"Then death," Cherry added calmly as she walked into the room.  I jumped hearing her voice as I hadn't seen her since the group turned u.  everyone bowed their heads and Andrea began to cry softly. 

Lori hugged her tight, "She lost her sister a few days ago," She explained. I nodded understandingly. 

"Scan to second event." Father ordered, and Vi obeyed, "Now the reincarnation. The shortest we heard of was 3 minutes and the longest was 8 hours. In this case it was 2 hours, 1 minute, and 33 seconds. " The words echoed in my ears, the MRI camera showed the brain begin to light up bright red as the body came back to life.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori exclaimed, bringing Carl closer to her chest. 

"No, just the brain stem. It gets them up and moving," My father noted, slowly sitting down in the chair by his desk.

"But they're not alive?" Rick verified, glaring at the screen. 

"You tell me-" He answered. 

"Most of the brain is dark," Carol commented, moving closer to Lori with her daughter. 

"That's right. It's just a mindless shell driven by instinct, the you part never comes back." My father informed. Then the skill split in two, the colours draining away into darkness. 

Everyone glances around confused. "What was that?" Dales asked.  

" I shot his patient in the head." I mumbled. The main screen powered down and as did the work stations. The panicked conversation picked up again, people fired questions at my father. I locked eyes on the framed photo on my father desk - the whole family. My mother, father, Cherry and I. I advanced towards the desk, grabbing it and storming out of the room. 

I ran into my room and pulled my rucksack out from under my bed. I threw in clothes, the photo and other things I'd need. I dragged my rucksack into the store room and shoved in a couple bottles of water and some cans of food. I swung my rifle back over my shoulder and headed into the main room. By the sounds of the arguing from the other room, it sounded like they were going to leave, and my family would be going with them. I couldn't stand being cooped up in the CDC for another minute - we all had to get out. 

I re-entered the main room, standing at the back so I was out of sight. I dropped my bag to the floor, watching as they all continued to shout - seeming oblivious to the timer on the wall behind them. I studied it, watching as it ticked over to one hour fifty-nine minutes. "What's that?" I shouted, my father snapped his head towards me and then they all turned to the wall behind them. We stayed silent, waiting for him to explain it. 

"It's when the generators run out," He mumbled, leaving his desk and striding out of the room. 

"Then what?" Rick demanded, calling after him. We got no reply.