𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚁𝚈 𝚃𝚆𝙾 - 𝙸'𝙼 𝙰 𝙹𝙾𝙺𝙴
Dear Diary,
Today was a rollercoaster of a day. I was close to killing myself but here I am, alive and well. The person who saved me, my own version of Aladdin, Daryl. How did this all happen? Well, let me explain. I woke up the next morning still at the CDC after a nightmare I had had.
Anita breathed heavily as she sat up in bed, remembering her nightmare. Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw her family being torn apart by muertos. She heard their screams and cries and then she remembered how she couldn't do anything to save them. She felt like she had failed her parents, her brother. Maybe if she had learned how to defend themselves against the muertos, her family would still be alive.
She wiped a tear and got up from the bed. She couldn't even remember when the last time she slept in a bed was. Anita brushed her teeth, changed her clothes, brushed her hair before going downstairs to see a few of the group members eating breakfast, most of them had a hangover. Glenn was groaning about it as T-Dog gave him some eggs.
"Hey, made some eggs. Powdered but I do 'em good. I'm T-Dog, by the way." He said as he put some eggs on Anita's plate.
"Anita. Thank you." She said quietly before he smiled and walked away.
"Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again." Glenn groaned, holding onto his head. That was one reason Anita was glad she wasn't drinking.
"Shane, what happened to your face?" Rick asked as the black haired man walked inside. He had bright red scratches on his face.
"I must've done it in my sleep." Shane said as he took a seat next to Anita. He looked at her and she gave him a small smile before going back to eating. Anita looked around the group and realised Daryl wasn't there. He must've still been sleeping off the alcohol.
"Hey Doc." T-Dog said as Jenner walked into the room and helped himself to some breakfast.
"I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing..." The old man known as Dale said.
"But you will." Jenner said.
"We didn't come here for the eggs." The blonde woman known as Andrea said as Daryl walked inside. Anita and Daryl spotted each other. Anita had no idea if Daryl remembered their conversation from the night before. It was pretty embarrassing. Admitting to him that she hadn't been in a relationship before, that she hadn't had sex before. What was she thinking? Daryl gave her a little nod in acknowledgement but that still didn't give Anita any idea of if he remembered or not.
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When everyone finished eating breakfast, the doctor led us into the main room where he explained what happened to the brain when a person died and how it resurrects. Seeing everything on the big screen and knowing that's what happened to my mom, my dad and my brother, knowing that they're muertos, it made me crack a little inside.
Seeing the test subject's brain shutting down, it made Anita crumble inside. She wiped a tears away and everyone seemed to noticed her crying. "Are you okay?" Jenner asked.
"Yeah." Anita sniffed as she wiped her tears. "I'm fine. Just lost a few people to that yesterday."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I know how devastating it is." Jenner said as Glenn went over to comfort her. Daryl looked over at Anita and wondered who it could have been that she lost.
Jenner told the computer to scan to the second event where it showed the brain restarting in only one area and he explained how it made the body resurrect. Anita couldn't imagine her family going through all this. They were probably muertos by now, if they hadn't been killed by any other survivors.
"You're saying there's nothing left anywhere, right?" Andrea asked and Jenner stayed quiet.
Knowing there is nothing left, it only makes me want to die that much more. None of us have anything to live for. What is the point of living? What is the point of looking over your shoulder every second of every day? There is no future. This is it.
"Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk. Again." Daryl said.
"Dr Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question but that clock..." Dale said, pointing to a clock on the wall. "It's counting down. What happens at zero?"
"The basement generators....they run out of fuel." Jenner said.
"And then?" Rick asked but Jenner just walked away. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"
"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur." Vi said.
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No-one knew what facility-wide decontamination meant so Rick, Shane and Glenn went to check it out and everyone else went back to their rooms. I still didn't know what was going on and I didn't get the chance to think about it because there was a knock on my door. When I opened it, I saw Daryl holding yet another bottle of alcohol. My brain instantly went back to the conversation we had the night before.
"Oh, hey." Anita said upon seeing the redneck.
"Yer went to college, right?" Daryl asked, making Anita nod. "Yer know what facility-wide decontamination means?"
"Well...if I knew, I would've said something." Anita said, still curious as to whether he remembered the conversation.
"Huh....guess that makes sense." Daryl said before taking a swig from the bottle in his hand. "Yer okay? When the doc was talking, ya' got all upset."
"Oh." Anita said as she looked down. "I...I'm fine."
"Ya' sure?" Daryl asked.
"Yes, I'm sure!" Anita snapped before sighing. "I'm sorry. I'm fine."
"If you say so, Jasmine." Daryl said, making Anita's eyes widen in shock. So, Daryl did remember their conversation. Daryl obviously noticed Anita's surprise that he remembered.
I felt so embarrassed that he remembered what I said. If I could go back in time and take it all back, I would but Daryl knows now. He probably thinks I'm a wimp but now I'm probably a turn off in his eyes, too. Could things get any worse?
"About what ya' said yesterday, it's n-"
Before Daryl could speak any further, the lights went out, making them look around. They popped their heads out into the hallway and saw some of the other group members looking around too as Jenner walked down the hallway.
"Why is the air off? And the lights in our room?" Lori asked.
"What's going on? Why is everything turned off?" Daryl asked, swinging the bottle in his hand which Jenner took off him.
"Energy use is being prioritised." Jenner said.
"Air isn't a priority? And lights?" Dale asked.
"It's not up to me. Zone Five is shutting itself down." Jenner said as he walked down the corridor. The group followed him into the main room where they noticed most of the lights were turning off.
Everything in the building was powering down and I had no idea what to think of the situation. The group were panicking and freaking out and Jenner started talking about fossil fuels. Honestly, I don't remember that conversation but I do remember Shane telling everyone to pack their bags only for us to find out Jenner had locked us in.
"Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!" Glenn yelled in a panic as Jenner sat in his chair and began recording something. Anita looked at everyone panicking and still had no idea what to think of it all.
"You son of a bitch! You locked us in here!" Daryl yelled, about to attack Jenner but Shane held him back. The women and kids were freaking out and the men were trying to figure out how to get out. Anita just did nothing.
"It's better this way." Jenner said.
"What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" Rick asked in a panic.
"In the event of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack, for example, HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out." Jenner said, making Anita's eyes widen in shock.
"HITs?" Rick asked in confusion.
"Oh my god." Anita said, making everyone look at her.
"Anita, what are HITs?" Lori asked in a panic.
"Fuel air explosives. It sets the air on fire." Anita said with no emotion in her voice. Now she realised what was going on. She was going to die. She was finally getting what she wanted all along. Andrea looked at Anita and she could tell Andrea was considering the idea too.
"No pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret." Jenner said. "Everything."
The men had begun freaking out at this point, trying to open the door. I was sitting on the ground, waiting for the HITs to deploy. I was ready to die. I was ready to be with my family again. I felt light. I felt free. That was until Rick had managed to convince Jenner to open the door. Jacqui, Andrea and I decided to stay behind as everyone else ran. I watched as Dale tried to convince Andrea to go with him. I sat on the ground and played with my fingers, watching the clock count down from four minutes.
Rick, Shane, Daryl, Lori, Carl, Carol, Sophia, Glenn and T-Dog all ran for the door and were trying to get the glass to break but nothing was working. That was when Daryl realised Anita wasn't with them.
"Yo, where's Jasmine?" Daryl asked.
"Who?" Rick asked.
"Anita. Where's she?" Daryl asked as he looked around. Rick looked around and realised she wasn't there.
"I guess she wanted to stay behind." Rick said, making Daryl growl.
"God damn it! I'll be back." Daryl said.
"You can't go. You may not make it back in time." Rick said.
"I'll be back!" Daryl called out, already running back inside. When he got back, he noticed Dale sitting with Andrea and Jacqui sitting with Jenner. He saw Anita sitting in the corner on the floor, watching the clock count down. There were only three minutes left. "Yo, Jasmine. Get up. We're leaving."
Anita looked up and saw Daryl standing in front of her. She wiped her tears and shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere." She said.
The fact that Daryl came back for me means a lot to me but I wanted to die. I wanted to be with my family and I tried to make Daryl understand that but he wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Shut up and get up now!" Daryl exclaimed but Anita wouldn't budge.
"Please, Daryl. Just let me die here." Anita said, her voice cracking as a tear ran down her face. Daryl sighed and crouched in front of her.
"We're fighters, survivors. We don't give up like this. We're not quitters." Daryl said, making Anita scoff.
"I'm not a survivor. I'm a joke, Daryl. I had to rely on everyone around me to protect me. I can't do shit out there. I'm better off dead." Anita said, making Daryl sigh. He didn't have time for this. He picked Anita up and threw her over his shoulder, making Anita yell.
"Let me down!" Anita yelled as she struggled to escape his grip but he was much stronger than her. Dale had managed to convince Andrea to leave too. "Daryl, please!" Anita sobbed as she watched Jenner and Jacqui's figures get smaller and smaller.
Pretty soon, the four of them were outside near a wall of sandbags when Lori stuck her head out of the RV. "Daryl, Dale, get down!" She yelled. They all got down and the building exploded, causing the ground to shake and Anita felt an intense heat but not from the explosion. From Daryl. He was using his body to cover her. When it was over, Dale, Andrea, Daryl and Anita got up. She looked at the building in rubble before being faced by Daryl.
"What the hell were ya' thinkin'?!" Daryl yelled at Anita.
"Why did you bring me?! I said I wanted to stay! Why did you force me?! Why?!" Anita sobbed. She had lost her chance to finally leave this cruel world. She was still stuck in a world full of flesh eating muertos.
"My brother was left to die! I'll be damned if I let someone go through the same!" Daryl exclaimed.
"Just leave me the hell alone." Anita muttered through her cries before heading towards the RV.