_________________________
꧁ Freedom ꧂
☀︎︎ Chapter Three - Locked Away ☀︎︎
❤︎︎ Episodes 5 and 6 ❤︎︎
☠︎︎ - The Walking Dead - ☠︎︎
ꕥ - By Indigo - ꕥ
_________________________
CW
character death
weapons
alcohol
suicide
foul language
and obviously spoilers for seasons one
The feeling of dread sunk more and more into my chest with every second. It had only been a few hours since the attack. though it felt like days. I had sat there with Andrea, holding onto Amy. I knew she was gone. I knew she wasn't coming back. But some little part of me believed that if I wished hard enough if I cling to her for a little bit longer. maybe she could still be here. maybe.
I was only distracted for a moment when Jacqui called out,
"Jim's been bit!" the woman yelled, walking away from him, pointing at the man. I snapped my head back, looking at the man. there was a fresh spot of blood on his shirt. Daryl walked over, his pickax swung over his shoulder.
"Show it to us," Daryl said, taking the axe off his shoulder and gripping it with both hands. Jim turned around and grabbed a shovel, holding it the same as Daryl. everyone around told him to calm down.
T-dog snuck up behind him and wrapped his arms around Jim's shoulders, causing him to drop the shovel. Jim continued to repeat "I'm okay" until Daryl reached over and lifted the man's shirt. on his stomach, there was a red bite mark. I let out a small gasp. T-dog let go of him as both he and Daryl stepped away from the man. They looked at him with confusion, and maybe even sadness.
Everyone stood around and watched the man as he tried to assure them he was fine. no one believed him, you could tell by the way their eyebrows threaded together and how no one said a word. The group huddled up to discuss what to do. I slowly lifted myself from my spot on the gravel, walking over to the small group.
"I say we put a pickaxe in his and the dead girl's head and just be done with it" Daryl confessed. my heart ached at that. but I didn't disagree. as much as I didn't want to see either of them go, it was what we needed to do.
"is that what you'd want if it were you?" dad asked tilting his head at the redneck.
"yeah, and id thank you while you did it" Daryl responded, proudly.
"I hate to say it — I never thought I would — maybe Daryl's right" dale argued. I nodded my head slowly. Dad turned to me, his expression a little confused.
"Jims, not a monster dale, or some rabid dog." rick added. I took my hands out of my pockets and crossed them.
"yea but if we don't do something soon he will
be," I said. rick turned to me,
"he's sick. a sick man. we start down that road, where do we draw the line?" rick asked. Daryl spoke up,
"the lines pretty clear. zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be." Daryl states.
For once I fully agree with Daryl. I do think we should give Jim as much time as possible but eventually, we will have to kill him.
"what if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure" rick asks, looking around at each of us.
"I heard that too, Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell," Dad answered, turning his head.
"what if the CDC is still up and running?" Rick asks. "I mean, if there's any government running they would protect the CDC at all costs right? I think it's our best shot, shelter, protection—" rick starts. I think about it. It's not a bad idea. I think the CDC would be a nice place to stay, with a ton of rooms, government protection, and a possible cure? The whole thing seems like a stretch but if it's all true, I think we should go for it.
"okay rick, you want those things, alright? I do too, okay? now if they exist they're at the army base. fort benning." dad replied, gesturing with his hand.
"but that's 100 miles in the opposite direction," I speak up.
"that's right, but it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me, if that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed and well be safe there." dad adds, mainly speaking to rick at this point. Daryl glances back at Jim, who's staring off. rick continues to talk to the group about what he thinks is best.
"you go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do." Daryl starts, "somebody needs to have some balls and take care of this damn problem!" Daryl yells, turning around and attempting to kill Jim in one quick motion.
Rick quickly places his gun on the back of Daryl's head. Daryl reacted as normal, as if this was an occurring issue. He slammed down his ax onto the ground and walked off.
Rick uncocked his gun and walked over to Jim,
"come with me" rick ordered, grabbing onto the scared man's shoulder.
"where are you taking me?" Jim asked, fear lacing his voice.
"somewhere safe" rick replied, dragging Jim off somewhere where Daryl wasn't.
Daryl stomped his way over to where I was. I was leaning against a car, watching rick drag off Jim. Daryl copied me, leaning next to me, crossing his arms.
"This is bullshit" he grunted. I nodded slowly, watching the others in the group slowly find their way back to their jobs.
"I mean- tell me I'm not crazy here mercy, there's no way in hell we can keep him around," Daryl said glaring at rick, though I knew he was referring to Jim.
"I think you're right... but- I think we should give him some time. as much as we can yknow? He's still human for the time being" I answered, finally turning my head to the man. he grunted, I was assuming he agreed with my statement.
I looked over at the RV, Andrea still sat there, watching Amy's lifeless face. I kept trying to avert my eyes, in some hope that I could grasp on to any life the young blonde still had. but it was no use. Dale walked over to Andrea, sitting down next to her. I'm not sure what he said, I'm not even sure I would want to. Daryl glanced over at me, a somber look spread across his face. he used his elbow to nudge me slightly.
"it's okay. She's- in a better place, right?" He said. I wasn't sure if he was genuinely asking or not, I didn't know the first thing when it came to religion, dad never bothered with it. I nodded anyway because that's what's supposed to happen, you die and you go off to heaven. I'm hoping that is what happens. I'm begging that Amy is in a better place, away from all of the fear and danger that now walks the earth.
"It's the same for Merel yknow. if he is- gone. He's in a much better place, probably off somewhere drinking with hot babes" I said. Daryl laughed at that, and he relaxed a bit. As much as everyone hated merel Dixion, I know we all hoped he was in a better place.
We stayed quiet for a minute, I knew Daryl needed a minute to relax, and without another person nearby he would go crazy. so I sat there with him for a while, watching everyone work. we would get to our jobs eventually, but right now we needed this.
"yknow I didn't mean it when I said we should just kill her- amy," he said. I nodded. "I think it is dangerous leaving her without putting her down first but, I was gonna give you guys as much time as you needed after that," Daryl said, kicking around some rocks on the ground.
"Thanks," I said, a small smile parting my lips. Andrea silently pulled out a necklace, it was the one she found while looting, she said she was going to give it to Amy for her birthday. Now that I'm thinking about it, it was today. I let tears silently well up in my eyes as I watched Andrea softly talk to dale, before wrapping the necklace around the lifeless girl's neck. Andrea holds her sister close as she watches her sister's features dance around her pale face.
Daryl huffs and pushes himself lightly off the car, he gives me a look that tells me he's going to be okay, so I let him leave. He goes back to working on the dead, slamming a pickaxe down into their heads.
Carol walks up to him, signaling the man to stop. He's about to stick the ax through ed's head.
"I'll do it, he's my husband" she requests. Daryl hands off the pickaxe and carol take it in her hands carefully. Tears fall on her face as she sees the man she once loved on the ground in front of her. She hesitates but only for a moment, before holding the ax above her head and slamming it down onto Ed's face.
She does this many times, sobbing as she does so. and no one stops her. they all know that she's been waiting forever to do this. to finally be the one to end ed's life, to end her and Sophia's suffering. and finally it was over. they were safe now.
but that doesn't mean everyone was, just as carol finished off ed, I heard light moaning and shallow breathing coming from amy and Andrea. I knew exactly what this meant. The young woman started twitching, staring at her hands and moving to her jaw. She began to reanimate slowly as Andrea held her face softly. Amy's eyes slowly opened, revealing completely white eyes, which contrasted with her once blue ones. Amy grasped onto Andrea's hair slowly, attempting to bite at her.
People started bringing their attention to the scene in front of them. Andrea muttered sweet words to her sister. before placing her silver handgun to her head and pulling the trigger,
"I love you"
—
We buried the dead, all the people in the camp who died last night, which was sadly a larger number than anyone wanted. We all stood around and watched as people placed body's in the previously dug holes. I choked back any tears that threatened to fall from my eyes. I needed to be strong. for everyone. It was a very quick ceremony, no one said any words. only small prayers could be heard from a few.
Once we made it back to camp, I figured out that they were keeping Jim in an RV. I followed as carol and Lori walked in. Jim was laid against a couch, a blanket wrapped around his legs and his shirt stripped off. he was sweating bullets. He asked for some water and Lori happily walked off to give it to him. I silently leaned against the wall and watched the man who was quietly having a conversation with rick.
"what I want... Jim- if god allows... is to get you some help" rick says to the man. Jim scans the younger man's face before turning his gaze to me. I nodded slowly. He turned to look out the window again but couldn't make it before he began coughing violently.
Rick quickly handed him a pot and the man held it under him as he continued to cough. All I could do was stand there and watch. Jim's coughing calmed down and he spits out any mucus in his mouth before leaning his head back against the wooden wall.
"watch the mangroves-" Jim started, his voice shaking slightly. "their roots will gouge the whole boat. you know that right?" Jim asks. I didn't know what he was saying, but rick must have. Rick clenched his hand into a light fist and placed it in front of his mouth.
"amy is there, swimming," Jim says glancing up at me. I'm not able to look him in the eyes, it's too soon for me to be talking about her. "you'll watch the boat, right? you said you would." he asks Rick. Rick brings his hand up to his temples,
"I'll watch the boat. don't worry."
Jim turned back to the window,
"okay" he said quietly, almost in a whisper. Me and rick stay there for a moment, watching the sick man. We only step out of the RV when we hear faint talking outside.
"I'll add it to the list of habits I intend on breaking" It was my dad. Rick and I stood up and made our way outside. we saw Lori and my dad talking, I'm not sure what about it, but I assumed it was about rick.
"What habits?" rick asked, looking between the two adults. Both stayed quiet for a moment.
"just talking about my need for a plan, man" Dad starts. He looks at me and Lori for a moment, silently asking for some kind of help. we both deny him.
"so what is it? are we leaving or not?" He finally asks rick. "maybe y'all just want to stay here. we could hang some more tin cans." Dad requests. In my imagination, I roll my eyes.
"We can't stay here. we both know that-" Rick says to dad. I didn't know much about the CDC, but if ricks intuition was right, I think going for it is worth a shot. And Lori about practically reads my mind.
"I was just telling Shane I think we should trust your gut," Lori says to her husband. Rick looks at the two of them, suspicion lacing his face. There was a moment of silence, all of us waited for another one to speak up,
"let's go do our sweep" dad suggests. rick nods and follows the man. I pat loris back softly, before running off with the group.
The three of us head into the woods, guns held tightly in our hands. I put some distance between myself and the two men, but not too much that they can't see me.
"tell you what man, these people man, they're not convinced. yknow?" Dad starts, looking out into the woods. He makes eye contact with me, he gives me a look that tells me not to go too far. I give him a quick nod before bringing my attention back to the wood in front of me.
"you head to the CDC, you might be on your own." Dad continues. turning to walk backward, getting a better look at what's behind them.
"you gotta really consider whether you want to put Lori, and carl in that kinda spot." He says, adjusting his gun slightly in his hands.
"I gotta do what's best for my family" rick replies.
"best for your family? what's that? exposing them to all kinds of risks?" Dad asks, turning to face his friend.
"as opposed to what? crossing 100 miles of hostile territory? I know you and merce are tough as hell but she's only sixteen, I'd say if we're looking for a lifeline, is say swim towards the closets ship, not further out to sea"
I turn at the sound of my name, I see the two men arguing. I try not to get into it but it's almost impossible when it's the only thing I can hear.
"Why can't you back me up?" rick asks, walking deeper into the woods, I follow him, standing about a foot in front of the other two.
"Look I want to, It's just... I don't see it." Dad says. rick is quickly able to retaliate
"If it was your family you'd feel differently," Rick says. I quickly snap my head back around at the man. he quickly does the same when he no longer hears footsteps behind him.
"what did you say to me?" dad says, holding his gun by the neck now. Dad walked up to rick, pointing at his own chest,
"I kept 'em, safe man. I looked after them like they were my own. I did all that and made sure mercy had a father-" Dad started, looking down on rick.
"I didn't mean it that way," Rick said, looking dad in the eye.
"Well, how'd you mean it?" Dad asked. Rick stayed quiet, glancing over at me for only a second.
"go on man, how'd you mean it?" dad continued, trying to get an answer out of the man.
"you're misinterpreting me. you're just hearing it wrong" Rick adds, trying to make dad understand what he's saying. in all honesty I didn't know what he was saying either.
"yeah?"
"look, you know- you know I can never repay that debt okay-" Rick starts but is stopped short when a branch breaks nearby. all three of us hold our guns up, aiming around to find the source of that noise.
we walk around quietly, searching for any walkers. We split up, Rick taking the way we came, dad taking where we were, and Me taking the small place in front of us. I'm unable to find anything so I turn back just in time to see dad aiming at the back of Rick's head.
Dale awkwardly stumbles upon the scene, just as I had. He came to look for us, telling me later that we had been taking too long. His eyes widen as he registers what's happening. Right before he's about to shoot he puts his gun down. He turns to us, and his eyes widened.
"what the hell was that?" I ask quietly. Dad chuckles lightly,
"I know, we gotta start wearing reflective vests out here," He says, looking back towards rick.
"Seriously, Cmon man!" He calls to rick. He turns back to me, the same shocked expressions still latching onto my face. "cmon merce, there's nothing out here" He says to me. even though there's a part of me that doesn't believe him, I nod and follow him out of the woods.
We all make it back to camp and sit around in a circle, Lori is attempting to create something out of a stick, while others are sleeping soundly. Dad walks up and stands in the middle,
"so, I've been thinking about ricks plan" He starts. I take a seat next to Glenn, watching the man speak.
"Now look, there are no- there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that." He says, looking through the crowd in front of him.
"But I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together."
People around begin to silently express their feelings on the matter, either facing the ground or looking up in confidence.
"So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. okay?" I nod to him. The rest of the group stays silent, looking at their peers, and deciding their plan.
All of us settled down and made our decisions, but nothing was final until the next morning. I was confident in my decision to go so I gave dad a quick hug and headed to my tent for the night. I slipped under my covers and laid my head on the firm pillow, tomorrow was going to be an eventful day.
——————————
The next morning we all met up by the vehicles.
"Everybody listen up" Dad started. He held a gun firm in his hands. "Those of you with C.B.s, were gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you gotta problem, don't have C.B, can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?" Dad asked. I tried my hardest to keep all the information he said in my brain. The group stayed quiet, waiting for questions,
"were uh- were not going," Morales said, looking at dad. Dad tilted his head slightly in confusion.
"We have family in Birmingham. we want to be with our people." His wife says to the group, keeping a firm arm around her children.
"you go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back," Dad warned.
"Well take the chance. I gotta do what's best for my family." Morales says.
"you sure?" Rick quizzes,
"We talked about it. were sure" He said, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Alright," rick said, dropping down to the bag in front of them and pulling out a small handgun and a box of ammo. Daryl scoffed lightly and turned his head the other way.
"Thank you all, for everything"
We all gave our goodbyes to the family, some much sadder than others. I gave each of them a quick hug, wishing them good luck on their journey. I even slipped the young girl a small bracelet, it matched me and Sophia. it was pink and purple, I had created it out of the thread from an old dress of Sophias, I had planned to give it to her later, but now was a better time than any. She thanked me and wrapped my arms around me once more.
"Channel 40 if you change your minds," Rick added. Morales agreed, Taking his family away into their truck. I frowned softly as I watched them walk away.
"Cmon! Let's go!" Dad called to everyone.
I made my way to the R.V. Glenn insisted that I ride with them since he didn't want to be stuck with Dale and Jim for the whole ride. Dad agreed only if dale watch out for me and make sure me and Glenn didn't do anything stupid. Me and Glenn shared the passenger seat with a crossword puzzle laid across our laps, the whole drive consisted of us pointing out words we knew and even making up a few to get the points we needed. It's the end of the world, rules don't exist.
We were only able to make it a short distance before the RV began smoking, dale quickly pulled over and honked his horn, making it clear to everyone else that something was wrong, we all got out except for Jacqui and Jim.
"I told you we'd never get far on that hose, I said I needed that one from the cube van," Dale complained. I sat against the hood of a broken down car, watching the two men attempt to fix the RV
"cant you jury-rig it?" Rick asked. Dale shrugged,
"That's all it's been so far, its more duct tape than hose" He admitted. "and I'm out of duct tape"
"I see something up ahead," Dad said, bringing his binoculars away from his face. "Gas station if we're lucky" He added. Before I could snatch the binoculars myself, Jacqui ran out of the RV in a panic.
"Y'all, Jim- it's bad. I don't think he can take anymore." She admitted running back into the smoking vehicle.
"Hey Rick, you wanna hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back" Dad asked. T-dog agreed, tagging along with the man. Dad had asked if I wanted to come with but I brushed him off, Said id stay here with the others.
"Bring me back some snacks though" He nodded and drove off.
The group waited outside the RV, waiting for rick to come out or dad to show up, whichever came first. We were granted our wish when rick stepped out of the RV, He called a few people over, including me. Dad showed up a few minutes later and joined the small group. Rick ran a hand down his face before speaking,
"He said for us to leave him here, it's what he said he wants" He starts, avoiding eye contact.
"And he's lucid?" Carol asks.
"He seems to be," Rick answered. "I would say yes," Rick suggests. There's a beat of silence,
"Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right you shut me down" Dale started, locking eyes with rick. "you misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just going to suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. and I think we have an answer." Dale finished, looking around at the group. I faced the ground, shifting in my spot. I hated this, it made me feel sick.
"So we just leave him here? we take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that." Dad admitted to rick. Rick nodded.
"It's not your call. either one of you." Lori said.
She was right, This was Jim's wish- his final wish. I sighed quietly and with that Dad and rick turned back into the RV and brought Jim out.
I had only seen him moments ago but he had somehow looked worse, his skin was pale and sweat left streaks in the layer of dirt on his face. He seemed so weak, that it broke my heart. The two men carried him over to a tree that lay next to the load. Jim exhaled calmly as he looked up at the sky. The rest of the group silently walked over, watching Jim as he rest.
"Hey, another damn tree." Jim chuckled. A sad smile replaced my frown as I watched Jim grow weak.
"hey, Jim-" Dad said looking down at the man "I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this," Dad admitted. Jim closed his eyes softly,
"No- it's good. The breeze feels nice" He said breathily. the tension was silent but finally, dad patted his shoulder,
"Okay," He said quietly. He backed away from the man and was replaced with the presents of Jacqui.
"Just close your eyes sweetie. don't fight" She said softly, placing a kiss on his cheek. Tears began to fall from her eyes and I walked over to her, wrapping her in a hug. She returned it gratefully, looking away from the man in front of her.
The group gave Jim one last smile, one last hope for survival before we all walked back to our respective vehicles. I helped guide Jacqui back to the RV, Sitting down next to her. She was silently crying. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder in an attempt to make her feel better. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. I stopped them.
I wasn't even sure why I was crying. Me and Jim weren't close, at all, the only time we had ever talked was when he found a pack of Pokémon cards and challenged me to a game of bloody knuckles for them. He obviously won but he ended up giving me the cards anyways. It was a happy moment. you don't get many of those nowadays. The RV silently started up again as we continued our trip to the CDC.
——————————
We arrived at the CDC. Tons of bodies lay outside, flies surrounding them. I clutched my handgun tightly in my hands as was kept close watch. The area around us smelled disgusting I wasn't used to the scent yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if I did. I kept quiet, holding my breath in order not to smell the dead flesh around me.
We made our way to the front of the building, making sure to not draw any extra attention to ourselves. The building was huge, large glass windows covered the front of it. We walked up to three doors with shutters pulled all the way down. Rick and dad attempted to get them open but nothing.
"Walkers!" Daryl called out. We all swung around. Some people began to freak out while others aimed fire. I did both. I lifted my gun up in the hope I wouldn't actually have to shoot. my hands shook as I clutched the black gun in my hands. Daryl quickly shot the walker in front of us and it hit the ground immediately. Daryl began to yell,
"You led us to a damn graveyard!" He exclaimed walking up to rick.
"He made a call!" Dad reminded. Daryl didn't care.
"It was the wrong damn call" Darl yelled. all the yelling made everything worse. I began shaking more than ever, while Carl and Sophia held onto their parents as if their lives depended on it, which in this situation, they might.
"Just shut up! Do you hear me? Shut up!" Dad exclaimed, pointing a finger at Daryl's chest. Daryl backed up slightly.
"Rick, this is a dead end," Shane said walking back over to the man. I stood in front of The two women and children to take down any walkers nearby.
"Where are we gonna go?" Carol cried out. No one answered her.
"Do you hear me? No blame." Shane Said but rick continued to be persistent.
"She's right. we can't be here, this close to the city after dark." Lori agreed, turning to her husband. Rick glanced around the shutters. looking for some way in.
"Fort benning rick, still an option" Dad requested.
"On what?! No food, No fuel. That's a hundred Miles." Andrea argued.
"one-twenty-three, I checked the map," Glenn added, cocking his gun. I did the same,
"We'll work out the details later! we need to go!" I exclaimed turning back to the small group.
"Mercy's Right, forget fort benning, we need answers tonight," Lori said.
Everyone began making their way back to the vehicles, avoiding any dead who came our way.
"The camera! it moved," Rick exclaimed, I glanced back to see him pointing up at the small white camera that was attached to the wall above the door.
"You imagined it," Dad said in a hurry. We needed to go, and I really didn't want to leave rick here with his own imagination.
"It moved!" Rick persisted.
"It's dead, man! It's probably a motion sensor, now we gotta go! " I exclaimed looking at the sheriff. Rick ignored me and continued to bang on the door, begging anyone to open up.
I was about to yell at him again but before I could get a word out, the shutters quickly swung up, revealing a blinding white room.
———————
Episode Six
We all walked in slowly, being very wary about the situation.
"Daryl you check the back," Dad said. The redneck agreed, turning his back to us. I brought my gun up again, aiming around for any sign of a person.
"Hello?" Rick called out. There was no answer, only the sound of his echo bouncing back.
"Hello?!" He asked again, his voice holding more volume. We all looked around, the place was huge. the ceilings were very high, we all craned our necks to see it. There was still no sign of a human.
"Hello?" Rick called out one more time. With that, a gun cocked from across the room. and in response, we all did the same thing. I aimed at the area where the sound came from and waited for anyone to step out. It was a man, a younger man with blonde hair.
"Anybody infected?" He called out, His gun still aimed at us.
"One of our group was, he didn't make it," Rick said, keeping a steady aim. I copied him, I held myself to look larger, making sure to look strong enough that he wouldn't see me as anything else.
"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man asked, taking a few steps closer to us.
"A chance-" Rick replied.
"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man said stepping even closer, more into the light. Now I could see more features on him. He seemed to only be a bit older than my father, maybe by a year or two. He also had a slight beard forming on his face, I guess shaving isn't really an issue anymore, huh?
"I know," Rick admitted. The man looked around at each of us, trying to piece together how dangerous we could be. We had children, women, and older men so with that I'm guessing he assumed we were alright.
"you all submit to a blood test. that's the price of admission." The man said. Rick nodded his head,
"We can do that."
The man lowered his gun and slowly, we all copied him.
"you got stuff to bring in, you do it now. once this door closes it stays closed." The man said. Immediately we dropped our weapons and ran out to grab our things. only a few left to grab them since none of us had very many things, to begin with.
Once everyone was in the building again the man swiped his card and talked into a speaker.
"Vi, seal the main entrance" He spoke. Vi? someone else was here? I ignored the curiosity that surrounded me. Rick walked up to the man and placed his hand out,
"Rick grimes" He spoke. The man glanced down at his hand.
"Doctor Edwin Jenner," He said.
I took his name into account as we all moved toward an elevator, it was large enough to fit all of us.
"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asks. Jenner turns back around to face the man,
"there were plenty left laying around, I familiarized myself. but you look harmless enough" He stated. He turned to face carl who was holding onto my arm.
"except you." He joked to the boy. "I'll have to keep my eye on you," He said sweetly. Carl smiled lightly. It's been a while since I'd seen him do that, it brought a smile to my face as well.
We left the elevator and continued to follow the doctor down a long hallway,
"Are we underground?" Carol asked, her voice shaking barely.
"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asks, turning over his shoulder.
"A little" She admits. Jenner turns back around,
"try not to think about it," he said. Thanks that really helps.
"Vi! Bring up the lights in the big room," Jenner ordered. A second later, a large circle of light illuminated the room. There were computer screens everywhere, I assume this is where they used to work. But there were no people. not a single soul other than the doctor in front of us.
"Welcome to zone 5," Jenner said, walking down the ramp that led to the computers.
"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" Rick asked, following the doctor. He turned around to face us.
"I'm it. It's just me here."
I looked at the man in shock, I couldn't believe he had been living in this huge place by himself for so long. I'd go insane.
"What about that person you were talking with? Vi?" Lori asked. The man glanced up at her before facing away again,
"Vi, Say hello to our guests. Tell them welcome" Jenner said loudly.
"Hello, guests. welcome," A computer voice said. I scoffed in disbelief. Technology is weird man.
"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry" Jenner repeated.
Jenner led us to a smaller room, where we all sat and waited to give blood. It was a quick process, some of us are much more lightheaded than others, and it's hard to stay afloat when you haven't had much to eat the past few days. When it was my turn I walked up to the table the man sat at and took my hoodie off which revealed the light blue t-shirt I was wearing underneath. I placed my arm on the table, freckles and bracelets covered it. Jenner didn't talk while he did his work. He quickly pushed his thumb down on my upper forearm, searching for a vein. He struggled a bit,
"You need to drink more water" He ordered. I laughed.
"Don't we all?" I argued. He glanced up at me, a sad smile spread across his face. Once he found a vein, he pressed the needle lightly into my arm. Once in, he began to take a small amount of blood. I began to feel lightheaded, but not enough for me to pass out. it was very quick, I had barely felt it. He pulled the needle out of my arm and placed a cotton ball on top, wrapping it in an orange bandage.
"matches your hair," He said, pointing up at my hair which was put into a low ponytail, many strands had fallen out and were now framing my face. A smiled at that. It was a very small thing. But it was enough. I stood up, walking over to sit down at the chairs in front of us. Andrea was up next, her drawing was just a quick.
"What's the point? If we were infected we'd all be running a fever." Andrea asked. The man finished up his work,
"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. let me just, at least be thorough." He said throwing the needle into the trash. When Andrea stood up and wobbled a bit. Jacqui quickly stood to steady her.
"She okay?" Jenner asked. Jacqui looked at the man,
"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have." She admitted.
After our blood drawings, we were all brought to another room where we all had dinner. It was the best dinner id ever had. and I wasn't sure if it was because I hadn't eaten in god known how long, or if I just really liked frozen dinner.
Dale poured everyone a glass of wine, even me. Dad didn't deny it so I took it gratefully.
"Yknow, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France" Dale added, handing carl a small glass with a bit of wine in it. Lori placed her hand over the glass.
"Well when carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then" Lori joked, taking a sip from her own glass.
"What's it gonna hurt? cmon." Rick said, a goofy smile plastered on his face. Lori looked at her husband as if he was crazy.
"Cmon!" Rick pushed. Lori chuckled and raised her hand from the glass. Carl grabbed it and took a sip.
"ew!" He exclaimed. Lori placed a hand on his back as everyone laughed.
"That's my boy, That's my boy," Lori said pouring the extra wine into carls glass and putting it in hers.
"Well, just stuck to soda pop there, bud," Dad said, a smile on his face.
"Not you Glenn," Daryl said to the younger man. Glenn looked away from the bottle he was holding.
"What?" He questioned, a toothy grin on his face.
"Keep drinking little man, I wanna see how drunk you can get" Daryl persisted. Everyone around laughed as Glenn poured himself another glass. As the laughter died down, Rick stood up and clinked a fork against his glass.
"It seems we haven't thanked our host properly." He stated, looking at Jenner.
"He is more than just our host" T-dog added. Everyone raised their glasses and cheered for the doctor. Daryl walked around with a tequila bottle clutched in his hand as he plopped down in the empty seat next to me. I laughed slightly. He gave me a sneaky look as he filled my empty wine glass with tequila.
T-dog laughed at the man as Daryl placed a finger to his lips, shushing me to stay quiet. I laughed again as I took a sip of the drink. It wasn't horrible, just not my taste.
"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Dad asked Jenner. I sighed as he continued his speech. I turned to Daryl,
"He's a serious drunk" I whispered. The redneck slapped my shoulder, trying his hardest not to laugh while dad continued to talk.
"All the - other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, Where are they?" Dad asked, swishing his wine in his glass.
"We're celebrating, Shane, we don't need to do this now," Rick said firmly to the other man.
"Woah, wait a second. this is why we're here, right? This was your move, we're supposed to find all the answers. Instead we— We found him. We found one man. Why?" Dad rambled. Jenner looked at the man in both confusion and solidarity.
"Dad, don't do this right now" I begged but as always he persisted.
"No, no, no, Merce, rick wants answers, let's give them to him," Dad said turning to the doctor.
"Well, when things got bad, A lot of people just left, Went off to be with their families. And when things got worse when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted." Jenner answered. It sucked he had to relive those memories for the sake of people he just met.
"Every last one?" Dad asked.
"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. they... opted out." Jenner said. I understood what he meant. I leaned back in my chair,
"Damn" I breathed, no one heard me but myself.
"There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." Jenner reminisced.
"you didn't leave. why?" Andrea asked. The man looked down at his hands.
"I just kept working, Hoping to do some good," Jenner replied. Glenn hopped up from his seat on the counter.
"Dude you are such a buzzkill man," Glenn said to dad. I nodded.
We finished up our somber dinner and headed with Jenner down a dark hallway,
"Most of the facility is powered down. including housing so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy, just don't plug in the video games, okay? or anything that draws power. The same applies- If you shower go easy on the hot water." Jenner rambled on. Glenn turned to face the rest of us, a huge smile on his face.
"Hot water?" He said. I smiled at the younger man,
"Race you there?" I asked. He nodded and ran off down the hall. I ran with him, barely faster. But it was just enough to make it there first. I ran into the first empty room and crashed on the floor. Glenn laughed as he leaned against the door frame.
"How do you always beat me Merce? It's your young energy I swear" He said turning back to go find a shower for himself.
"You have the mind of a 12 year old be quiet!" I exclaimed. The only way I knew he could hear me was the loud laugh from T-Dog I heard from down the hall.
Afterward, I unpacked my bag and pulled out a semi-clean hoodie, and a pair of black shorts. I retrieved a towel from the closet in the room and made my way to the shower.
The tile was cold against my bare feet and I walked into the bathroom. It wasn't very large, I could tell these rooms weren't meant for staying in for long periods. I slipped out of my clothes and turned on the water. The lukewarm water hit me, removing any thin layer of dirt that had built up over time. It felt amazing. The water pressure wasn't the best, but it was enough. I scrubbed myself with a soap bar that came in a package, like the kind you get from a hotel. I thoroughly washed myself, knowing this would be the last time for a long time I would get the chance to. I washed my hair three times over, making sure that any dirt and grime were removed. My hair went from a dark red to the original blood orange color it used to be. and as disgusting as that sounds, It was so nice to watch it turn back.
Sadly I had to get out of the shower sooner than I would have liked to. I stepped out and wrapped myself in the soft towel, drying my body and then wrapping my hair up. I slipped into my clothes and made my way back to the living area.
When I arrived Glenn was sitting on the floor, his hair was damp and he was in a T-shirt and pajama bottoms. he had made some kind of bed contraption out of couch cushions and blankets.
"Holy shit you are a ginger, I thought your hair was brown from how much dirt was in it" He joked. I stuck my tongue out at him and placed my dirty clothes back into my backpack.
I found a seat next to Glenn on the homemade mattress. It was very comfortable. We talked for a bit, our drunken words melting together, we could have only been talking for an hour before we both fell asleep.
I wasn't asleep for long before a loud bang woke me up. I sat up very quickly, I wasn't even covered in blankets, and neither was Glenn, who was now laid in a very uncomfortable position, snoring quietly. I giggled lightly before attempting to head back to sleep, but there was a second bang that made me feel as though something was wrong. so quickly I stood up from my couch-bed and slipped on my shoes.
Thankfully the doors didn't creek, and I was able to make my way down the hall silently. I was able to find the source of the banging when I heard loud talking from the rec room, I wasn't able to understand what they were saying, probably from the mix of drowsiness and alcohol. But I knew something was really wrong when a third bang came from the room. I quickly threw the door open to see Lori leaning against a table.
Tears quickly fell from her face, and she was breathing heavily. I ran over and held onto her shoulders.
"Hey, hey, hey," I said softly. She continued to breathe heavily, ignoring my presents. I pushed her hair out of her face and waited for her to calm down. finally, she did and I waited patiently for her to talk.
"It's- Its nothing mercy, W-We'll talk about it later," She said softly, pushing a smile through her tears. I wiped some of the tears that fell with my thumb and searched her face for reassurance. She nodded again and I sighed.
My eyebrows furrowed and my mouth hung open. I did not believe a word coming out of her mouth but I knew she wasn't in the right state of mind so I left it at that. I helped her get back to her room, She silently did so. I watched her as she climbed into bed and wrapped the covers around herself.
"Goodnight Lori," I said quietly. She didn't respond, So I quietly stepped out and closed the door behind me.
That night I had the best sleep I had ever had, I didn't fear that I would be eaten, I didn't fear that I would die the next morning, I didn't have any fear. I silently dreamed away about a world where I could sleep like this every night.
The next morning I woke up with an awful headache, but it was nowhere near as bad as my roommate's. I looked over to see Glenn who was holding his head in his hands groaning loudly. I laughed lightly
It took forever to get Glenn out of bed, he had to lean on me while he walked through the halls, and he couldn't even put his shoes on without throwing up into the nearby trash can.
I was finally able to get him to the eating area where A small chunk of the group sat. Lori and Carl sat on one side of the table, talking about carls dream. which was apparently about his toys coming to life like in the toy story. Jacqui sat on the other side of the table, listening to carls rambling very carefully. T-Dog was humming lightly while making eggs, which I knew were going to be amazing just by the smell.
"Morning, guys," Lori said sweetly. I gave her a soft smile. Jacqui stood up immediately when she saw Glenn.
"Oh baby, this is why you don't listen to Daryl" She joked while she took Glenn from my arms. I handed him off gratefully and took a seat next to the hungover man. Lori reached into her pocket and handed me a bottle of Advil. I opened it quickly and handed Glenn one even though he begged for two. I quickly took one myself and handed the bottle back over to Lori.
"You too?" She asked. I nodded lightly.
"Just a headache, nothing as bad as him," I said, Laughing when Glenn groaned in response. A few minutes later the rest of the group began to stroll in.
"Are you hung over?" Carl asked when rick stumbled into the room. "Mom said you might be Rick smiled at his son.
"Mom is right," He said. Lori smiled up at her husband, tearing her bacon in half.
"Mom has that annoying habit," She said shoving one of the halves into her mouth. T-dog came around the counter with a pan in his hand,
"Eggs! Powdered, but I do 'em good!" He exclaimed, giving each of us a small serving of the eggs.
"Protein helps with the hang-over" T-dog joked, pouring extra onto Glenn's plate. Glenn groaned loudly, making everyone around laugh.
I took a bite of the eggs before shoveling the rest quickly into my mouth. This caused carl to giggle which made me smile.
"Dog, these are the best eggs I've ever had," I said, holding my plate out for seconds.
"You get seconds once everyone's had firsts," He says pushing my plate away with the end of the pan. I frown and set my plate down. He laughs and turns to add some to Jacqui's plate. Rick picked up the bottle of Advil from the table,
"where's all this come from?" He asked.
"Jenner, he thought we could use it," Lori said, taking the bottle from ricks hands and opening it for him.
"some of us at least" She added, looking to Glenn.
"Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again." The younger man said, clutching his head with the back of his hand. Jacqui attempted to comfort him by rubbing his back but it seemed to do very little to help.
"Hey" Dad muttered as he stumbled into the room.
"Morning, pops," I said. I turned to look at him as he grabbed himself a serving of eggs from t-dog, and something caught my eye. I leaned back in my chair to get a better look at what I could barely see and I was able to make out three long red marks on the side of his neck, from his jaw all the way to his shirt line.
"Damn! what happened to you?" I asked. He turned back to me giving me a stop cursing kinda look but I knew he didn't care. He reached up and touched his neck lightly.
"I dunno must've done it in my sleep," He said, taking a seat at the table.
"I've never seen you do that before," I said, tilting my head to get a better look.
"Yeah- me neither... not like me at all," He said, glancing over at Lori who was playing with her food. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked between the two adults. Lori gave me a sweet look to assure me everything was fine but I knew it wasn't. Jenner walked into the room calmly,
"Good morning everyone," He said. We all collectively have our good mornings, those of us who could talk without pain. Jenner walked over and gratefully accepted the eggs from T-dog.
"Hey Doc, I hate to throw questions at you first thing-" Dale warned. Jenner looked over his shoulder with a sarcastic smile.
"But you will anyway?" He asks, taking a bite of his eggs.
"We didn't come here for the eggs" Dale finished looking at the doctor once more. begging for answers. The doctor finished up his food and gestured for us to follow him.
"I better be getting more of those eggs" I whispered to t-dog as we walked out of the room. He nodded to me as we continued to follow the doctor.
Jenner led us back to the big room where we all stood in front of a large screen. He walked up to his computer and pressed a couple of buttons,
"Give me playback of TS-19" He ordered. The computer did just as he asked and brought up and brain scan."few people ever got a chance to see this. very few." Jenner admitted. We all moved to get a closer look, I took a seat in a roller chair that was parked at one of the computers. I brought my knees up to my chest and watched the screen closely.
"Is that a brain?" Carl asked looking at the doctor.
"and an extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end." The doctor responded.
"take us in for E.I.V." The doctor ordered. the computer followed the orders once again and brought up a larger scale of the brain scan. It showed a million strings of lights.
"What are those lights?" Dad asked. Jenner stayed quiet for a moment,
"It's a person's life - experiences, memories, it's everything. somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light are you - The thing that makes you unique. and human." Jenner answered. Everyone took in the information, some better than others.
"you don't make sense ever?" Daryl asked.
"Those are synapses, electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. they determine everything a person says, does or thinks form the moment of birth... to the moment of death." Jenner rambles, looking up at the large computer screen as if it was his finest work.
"Death? that's what this is, a vigil?" Rick asks, stepping closer to the doctor.
"Yes. or rather the playback of the vigil," Jenner answers looking to rick.
"This person died? who?" Andrea asks. stepping closer.
"Test subject 19. someone who was bitten and infected... and volunteered to have us record the process." Jenner admitted. I shifted in my seat, scooting myself closer to the monitor as Vi brought up the 'first event'.
"What is that?" Glenn asked. I was also thinking this, I was thinking a lot of things. A million thoughts were racing through my head.
Who was this test subject? How long is each stage? Can these tests help save the world? make a cure even?
"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shuts down, then the major organs. Then death." Jenner says as the brain scan turns fully black. "Everything you ever were or ever will be... gone," Jenner adds.
I look at my hands, picking at the skin around my nails. I'm unable to think about it without tearing up. I hate it. I hate how much their deaths have affected me. why am I mourning for so long. I mentally slap myself and attempt to continue the conversation.
Everyone thinks about the people we've lost, and I try not to get emotional. I try so hard. I clench my fists together in an attempt to save the tears from falling down my eyes. Andrea isn't as lucky though, and she begins to cry and is forced to turn her head away.
"She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister" Lori says to Jenner. Jenner leans closer to the blonde,
"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." He sympathizes. Jenner quickly scans to the second event,
"The reserve room times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In this case of this patient, It was two hours, one minute... seven seconds." Jenner said. This death was important, I could just tell by the way he was so respectful, how he spoke so gratefully about this subject.
We all watched as the screen showed the once fully black brain, beginning to spark up again, a dark red light coming from the bottom of the brain. Jenner tells all of us that the brain itself doesn't start up, just the stem. Just the part that gets you moving, not the part that lets you think or speak, the you part doesn't come back. The screen shows a box being held up to the patient's head and seconds later, something moving through it, and the brain is torn.
"God, what was that?" Carol asks.
"He shot his patient in the head. didn't you?" Andrea asked. Jenner didn't answer, all he did was the power off the screen and walk away.
"you have no idea what it is do you?" Andrea asked. Jenner stayed quiet for a moment.
"It could be microbial, Viral, parasitic, fungal" Jenner listed off.
"or the wrath of God?" Jacqui asked, looking at Jenner with slight disgust in her gaze. I tried not to laugh at the sudden change in mood and kept a serious look as I turned to Jenner.
"so what? you did all these tests and got nothing?" I asked placing my feet down on the floor.
"I mean if you didn't, somebody does, there are other facilities right?" I asked the doctor again. Andrea nodded to me.
"There may be some. people like me" Jenner says. I scoff, I can't believe we came all this way for nothing but a semi-warm shower and a nasty hangover.
"How can you not know?" rick asked. Jenner said all communications went down, he knows nothing. In the long haul, we all knew he meant there was nothing. anywhere. He was telling us our chances were gone.
"I'm going to get shitfaced drunk again," Daryl said placing his palms to his temples. I nodded in agreement. I didn't need this load dropped on me right now. I really didn't.
"I hate to ask, but If I have to ask one more question" Dale starts, walking over to another area of the room, "that clock- it's counting down. what happens at zero?" Dale asks. Jenner seems a little caught off guard.
"The basement generators, they run out of fuel," Jenner says quickly. I didn't believe a word he was saying, it had to be something important if there was a large timer for it.
"And then?" rick asks.
Jenner ignores him, walking down the stairs with no answer. Rick turns to face the computers again,
"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick calls out. The computer starts up,
"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur." Vi answers. immediately rick runs out of the room, Glenn, t-dog, and dad following behind him. I stay back with the group, hoping to grill Jenner a bit more.
I decided to head back to my room. I slowly drank from a bottle of red wine that I found in one of the cabinets as I sat on the makeshift bed me and Glenn slept on last night. It was silent, no talking, no tv. Only the light humming of the air conditioning.
But not for long, after a few minutes the air conditioning shut off. I raised an eyebrow and shifted myself so I could place a hand over the air vent. Nothing. a second later the lights followed, and the room was pitch black.
I stood up and found my way to the door, peeking my head out, everyone followed just as doctor Jenner began walking down the hallways
"energy use is being prioritized. zone five is shutting itself down." He said, grabbing the bottle from Daryl's hands.
"what the hell does that mean? Air and lights aren't a priority?" I asked chasing after the doctor.
"hey man! we're talking to you! what do you mean it's shutting itself down?" Daryl exclaimed tailing behind me.
Right as we made it to the main room, Dad, Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog all ran in from another entrance. Rick attempted to grill Jenner but it was no use.
"It was the french" Jenner said. Andrea gave him a confused look.
"What?"
"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 labs until the end. they thought they were close to a solution." Jenner said.
"What happened?" Jacqui asked.
"Same thing that's happening here, no power" He replied. Jenner walked off towards the computers. Rick turned to us quickly,
"Everyone get your stuff we're getting out of here now" Rick exclaimed. I nodded and ran off towards the large door, but right before I could make it past, an alarm started blaring and a door slammed in my face.
"Did you just lock us in?!" Glenn asked. I began pounding on the door with both of my fists, hoping somehow to find a weak spot. It was no use.
"you son of a bitch! you locked us in here!" Daryl yelled, running towards the doctor. Dad had to physically hold him back. I walked back over to the doctor with rick.
"hey Jenner, open that door now," Rick ordered.
"There's no point, everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed." Jenner started.
"We'll open the damn thing!" I yelled to the older man. He glanced between me and rick.
"That's not something I control, the computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again" Jenner admitted. The room was silent. only the soft whimpering from the kids could be heard as they clutched onto their parents.
"It's better this way," Jenner said.
"What is? What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" Rick asked. Jenner ignored them, The men didn't take this lightly, they slammed and yelled.
"You know what this place is?! We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! ever!" Jenner yelled. Everyone's face filled with fear as they began to understand Jenner's words. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure-- in a terrorist attack for example— HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out." He confirmed.
"HITs?" Rick asks. Jenner stays quiet for a moment,
"Vi, define," Jenner says.
"HITs— high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. the vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5,000° and 6,000° and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."
I'm unable to believe what I'm hearing. The words coming out of the computer are unable to reach me fast enough, all I hear is explosive and I already understand.
"The air sets itself on fire"
Dad walks over and pulls me into his arms. I hold onto him tightly. I'm going to die in the CDC with my family, best friends, and an insane doctor.
Dad pulls away slightly and holds my face in his hands.
"It's going to be okay, Alright? I promise you that Merce." He says. I nod slowly. He dries my tears and pats my cheek lightly before parting ways to talk to the doctor.
I wipe my face with the sleeve of my hoodie and try to find any way out. Daryl starts throwing things at it, like glass, and anything else he can pick up. The best thing we can find is a metal bat lodged between a desk and the wall, but it doesn't even put a dent in the damn thing
"Open the damn door!" Daryl yells. the doctor glares at him. Dad is able to find some axes and hands one off to Daryl and as the three of us continue to beat at the door but we get nowhere. There isn't a single scratch or dent in it. I stopped hitting the door and walked over to the other group, who sat around the desks, holding their family close.
"It's a short death," He says. I roll my eyes.
"Your sister- what was her name?" Jenner asks.
"Don't bring her into this-" I warn. He looks up at me.
"Amy, her name was amy," Andrea says to Jenner.
"Amy... You know what this does. You've seen it." He says to Andrea. she sits on the floor, leaning against a desk, her mind seems to be full of questions, none of which are answered.
"is that really what you want for your wife and son?" Jenner asks rick.
"I don't want this" Rick emphasizes to the doctor.
"Anything is better than being blown up against your will" I add, holding the bat threateningly over my shoulder.
"I can't make a dent," Dad said leaning on his forearms.
"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher," Jenner says.
"Well, you head ain't!" Daryl exclaims, Running at the doctor full speed, fully ready to split his head with the ax in his hand. I move out of his way, giving his full range to kill the doctor but sadly, he's stopped short when everyone had to physically restrain him.
Andrea started agreeing with Jenner's words and that's when I couldn't take it anymore.
"stop digging into our heads. We want out. so let. us. out." I said. Jenner continued to sit there completely calm.
"This isn't right! You can't just keep us here" Carol cried.
"one tiny moment —-" Jenner said again. I was going crazy, I could take being in here anymore.
"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this!" Carol added.
"We have kids, people who can grow up to become amazing leaders. If you wanna stay here and blow up, go for it... but we don't." I added. Jenner completely ignored my words, as if my being younger made me somehow less able. Dad reached over and grabbed his gun from a nearby table and shoved it in Jenner's face.
"You open those doors now! you hear me?!" Dad exclaimed. Everyone tried to convince him to stop, telling him if he dies, we all do. dad responded by shooting a ton of computers behind the man. Rick took the gun and hit him with the butt of it, apprehending him.
"Are you done?" He asks. dad gives his friend a mean look before nodding and standing up.
"Jesus," I said sitting back up after hitting the deck moments before. We continued to beg the doctor,
"you've seen what the world is like out there! you know how bad it is" Jenner said, still attempting to convince us that this was the right thing.
"Why didn't you leave when everyone else did? why did you wait until now to end it all?" Rick asked. Jenner stayed quiet for a moment.
"I made a promise to her," He said pointing at the screen that had once shown test subject 19.
"Test subject 19 was your wife," Andrea said. The realization hit some of us like a truck.
"she didn't have a choice, you do," Rick said.
"Give us a choice... A chance to survive as long as we can" Lori said, holding her son tightly. Jenner thought for a long minute, finally, he sighed and scanned his card, and pressed a few buttons.
"I told you topsides locked, I can't open those" Jenner said. And with that, the doors opened.
"Cmon! Let's go!" Daryl yelled. I glanced at the timer
Four minutes
I ran up to the door before I heard a commotion behind me.
"I'm staying!" It was Jacqui.
"What?!" I exclaimed. She turned to me.
"There's no time to argue just go!" She ordered. I looked at her with a begging look on my face.
"Mercy! We gotta go!" Dad yelled. Jacqui held my face softly in her hands.
"It will be okay sweetie. You're going to do amazing things" She said, tears building up in her eyes.
"Mercedes! Get your ass over here!" Daryl yelled. Jacqui gave me one last hug and pushed me softly towards the door.
Three minutes
With tears running down my face, I nodded and ran with everyone else. Glenn and I turned into our rooms quickly and began shoving everything into our bags. We both searched our rooms quickly for anything that could be of use. I grabbed some hygiene products from our bathroom and Glenn grabbed some blankets from the closet.
We quickly zipped our bags and tan to catch up with everyone else. I took one last look in the big room where Dale told me to go on without him, as he tried to convince Andrea and Jacqui to come with them. I nodded sadly and ran up the stairs.
Three Minutes
Once we made it topside we tried everything to get the doors open.
"Scanner won't work!" T-Dog yelled. We nodded and began attempting to break the glass. Dad handed me and Daryl an ax and a bat and the three of us attempted to escape. nothing. T-dog even tried to break it with the end of a chair. After that didn't work. We all covered our heads as dad fired some rounds into the glass.
"The glass won't break?!" Sophia asked, her voice quivering. Carol immediately shot up and began digging in her bag.
Two Minutes
"Rick! I have something that might help!" She exclaimed.
"Carol, I don't think a nail file is gonna do it" Dad joked.
"You're the first week at camp, when I was washing your uniform, I found this in your pocket." She said pulling a small grenade out of her bag. Rick took it happily and walked over to the window sill.
Everyone backed up and rick pulled the pin and let go of it, everyone hit the deck. A second later a large explosion went off and the glass shattered into a million pieces. We all quickly grabbed everything we had dropped and ran outside.
One minute
We all quickly ran to our vehicles and prayed that they were far enough. I and Glenn both sat on the floor of the RV, waiting for the explosion. But right before we thought it was going to go off. we saw two people emerge from the window. it was dale and Andrea, sadly without Jacqui.
30 seconds
"Get down!" Rick yelled to the two. They quickly hid behind a half wall and covered their heads. I did the same, placing my hands at the back of my neck, just as we were taught in school, and waited. Only a second later there was a large boom and a huge wave of debris came flying at us. it did nothing to the vehicles but to anyone outside it might have been bad.
But luckily for Andrea and dale, they were alright. They both emerged from the half wall and ran to the RV. Glenn and I sat up and looked at each other,
"you alright?" I asked. He was breathing a little
heavily.
"Yeah, my head hurts though" He joked. I slapped his arm and he helped me up.
I stood back up and looked out towards the CDC I shouldn't have been sad. but it's so hard to without the comforting presents of Jacqui anymore. Dale opened the RV door and the two adults sat down on the couch. Dale said some words to Andrea but they were too quiet to overhear. After he was done talking to her, he got up and sat in the passenger seat, following the other cars as they drove away.
Me and Glenn shared the passenger seat again, this time, we didn't have a crossword puzzle across our lap, we didn't joke and make up new words, and we didn't compliment Jacqui on her outfit of the day. We just sat there in silence. we mourned the people we lost today, as we drove home. wherever that may be.
AN!
————
I really enjoyed writing this chapter! S1 E6 Will always be one of my favorite episodes, i'm not sure why, maybe because I liked the plot twist, or maybe just the intensity of it all. I dunno I was ten when I watched season one so who knows why I liked it.
Feedback is always appreciated! give any you may have :)