Daryl's Angel (Book One in the Apocalypse Angel Trilogy)

Chapter 17: Back to Square One

I go back to my room and flop on the couch. Rick took T-dog, Glenn, and Shane down to the basement to check out the generators and try to figure out what "facility-wide decontamination" is.

I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Having been in vet school for some time, I knew about places like the CDC. Sure, they focused on human diseases, but I was still curious. I made it one of my research topics for a class essay. Decontamination makes sure that no horribly awful diseases made it out of the building. It's not pretty, I know that. What I don't know is how they do it exactly.

I throw my things into my backpack, just in case we need to leave. I sit back down on the couch, picking up the book I grabbed from the rec room.

"Betrayal. That's the first thing I feel, which is ludicrous. For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first. Between Peeta and me. And trust has not been part of the agreement. We're tributes. But the boy who risked a beating to give me bread, the one who studied me in the chariot, who covered for me with the red headed Avox girl, who insisted Haymitch know my hunting skills...was there some part of me that couldn't help trusting him? (Collins 114)"

I continue reading, feeling almost at ease. Then, the whirring of the air conditioner turns off. The lights in my room flicker and shut off too. That same unsettling feeling makes a reappearance as I stand up.

"What going on?" I ask, peeking my head out the door.

Jenner is walking down the hallway at a brisk pace; no trace of emotion on his face.

"Why is the air off?" Lori asks, keeping Carl by her side.

"And the lights in our room?" Carol adds.

"What's goin' on? Why is everythin' turned off?" Daryl asks, a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

I roll my eyes. That man doesn't listen.

Dr. Jenner brushes by him, snatching the alcohol out of his hand.

"Energy use is being prioritized," he says flatly, taking a swig of Daryl's whiskey.

"Air and light aren't priorities?" Dale asks, alarmed.

"It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down."

"Hey! Hey, what the hell does that mean?" Daryl demands. "Hey man! I'm talkin' to you! What do you mean it's shuttin' itself down? How can a buildin' do anythin'?"

"Daryl," I say. "You need to calm down." I look back at Carl and Sophia, who look terrified.

"No! I won't calm down! We need to know what the hell is happenin'!" he yells.

"You'd be surprised at what a building can do," Jenner says.

"Rick!" Lori yells as him and the others appear below us.

We head down a flight of stairs towards them.

"Jenner, what's going on?" Rick demands through gritted teeth.

"The system is dropping all nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running till the last possible second. That started as we approached the half hour mark...we're right on schedule."

I glare at Jenner. He's so calm, and he won't tell it to us straight what is happening. It's infuriating.

He walks up to the stairs leading to the main control centre computers and holds the bottle out to Daryl again. Daryl snatches it, glaring at him.

Jenner pauses. "It was the French. They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the lab till the end. They thought they were close to a solution..."