We all sat laughing and talking as we drank and ate the food T-Dog, Jacqui, Carol, and Dale had prepared. I sat next to Jacqui and Andrea, while Clive sat down next to Sophia and Lori.
"Hey, the children could have a little wine at dinner!" Dale exclaims, smiling from ear to ear as he hands Lori a glass. His eyes glanced between her, Carol, and me, "They do it in Italy and France."
"Well, if Carl is in Italy or in France he can have some then." Lori replies, keeping her hand over his glass.
"Oh, what's it gonna hurt?" Rick smiles, looking to his wife, "Come on."
She stared at him for a second, before a smile cracked onto her lips. Her eyes shifted over to Dale, "Go on." He smiled, and grabbed an empty glass and poured a little bit of wine into it.
Carl hesitantly takes the glass from him, and takes a sip. As soon as the liquid touched his tongue, he immediately placed it back down on the table, "Ew!!" He exclaims, furrowing his brows.
We all laughed at him in response.
Lori nodded, "That's my boy." She takes his glass and pouring the wine into hers.
"I think you should stick to your sodapop there, kid." Shane tells him, leaning against the table as he smiles.
"Not you, Glenn!!" Daryl shouts, shaking his head. A bit of a confused look came onto the boys face. His eyes shifted over to Daryl, "What?"
"You're drinking, little man, I wanna see how red your face can get." Daryl smiles, causing us all to laugh.
Clive's eyes shifted over to me, "Hey, Aunt Grace.." He smiles, as he leaned over the table, "Can I-"
"Nope." I replied, shaking my head.
"What?" He exclaims, furrowing his brows, "But you don't even know what I was going to say!"
"I know you were going to ask for a sip of wine, and it's not happening." I replied, shaking my head as I picked up my glass off of the table.
"But, why not?" He shouts, pouting.
My green eyes stared at him, "If Ellen were to find out that I gave you a sip of wine, I would be one of those things walking around outside."
My nephew rolled his eyes, as he leaned back into his seat.
I scoffed quietly, as I playfully rolled my eyes at him.
Rick then started to clink his silverware against his glass, "I don't think we thanked our host properly." He says, standing up to his feet. Our eyes shifted up to him, as T-Dog nodded, "He is more than just our host." He smiles, raising his glass.
"Yeah!!" Dale replies, smiling as he raises his glass.
"Booya!!" Daryl shouts back, causing me to burst out into laughter.
Shane takes a breath, "So, when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" He asks, leaning back in his seat.
It started to grow quiet between all of us, as we looked over at him.
"You know, all of the other doctors that was supposed to be figuring out what happened." Shane asked, looking over at him, "Where are they?"
"You're sobering, Shane." Rick said, sitting back down in his seat, "There's no need to do this now."
"No, wait a second." Shane replies, looking over at him, "This is why we're here, right? This was your move, we were supposed to find all of the answers, but instead.." He gestures towards the Jenner, "We found him. We found one man, why?"
It went quiet between us, before Jenner took a breath, "Well, when things got bad a lot of people just left. They went off to be with their families. When things got worse, when the military bases got overrun, the rest bolted."
"Every last one?" Shane asked him, cocking his brow.
"No," Jenner replies, his eyes never leaving him, "Maybe couldn't face walking out the door. They opted out. There was a rash of suicides." His eyes fell down to the table in front of him, "..Now that was a bad time."
A curious look came onto Andrea's face, "But you didn't leave, why?"
His eyes shifted over to her, "I kept working, I was hoping to do some good."
It started to grow quiet between us, when Glenn walked over and sat next to T-Dog, "Dude, you're such a buzzkill, man." He says to Shane.
The rest of the dinner was quiet between the whole group.
After we were done eating, Dr. Jenner stood up to his feet, "If you guys would follow me, I can show you where your rooms are."
Rick nodded to him, his gaze shifted to us, "Come on."
All of us stood up to our feet, and followed him out of the cafeteria. We walked in silence down the hall, when Jenner took a breath, "Most of the physicality is powered down, because of food and housing, so you'll have to make due here." He glanced back at us, "The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you'd like. There's a wreck-room down the hall that you kids might enjoy." He says, turning around and looking at Carl, Clive, and Sophia, "Just don't plug in the video games okay? Or anything that draws power."
"No video games, got it." Clive smiles, nodding to him.
"The same applies." Jenner says, looking at us, "If you shower, go easy on the hot water." He then turns and walks off.
Glenn then turns around and looks at us, "Hot water?" He smiles. T-Dog's eyes shifted to him, "That's what the man said." He smiles, nodding.
~~~
I shook the towel against my wet hair, trying to dry it a bit. The shower was amazing, I honestly never thought I'd ever get a hot shower ever again.
I wore one of my big shirts with a pair of my sleep shorts. I was on my way to the wreck-rooms to see if Clive was in there.
A light smile was on my face, as I made it to the room and creaked the door open. I saw Clive, Carl, and Sophia playing a board game at the coffee table, while Carol was reading a book.
"Hey guys." I smiled, walking into the room.
Carol's eyes shifted over to me, "Hey, Grace." She smiled, before turning back to the book in her hands. Clive's eyes shifted over to me, "It's about time you got out of that shower. I was starting to get worried."
I scoffed, cocking my brows a bit, "You were worried about me?" I asked, taking a couple steps closer to him.
"Yeah." My nephew nodded, smiling, "I was afraid that you were gonna drown in there." He jokes, causing Sophia to giggle and Carl.
"You were afraid I was going to..?" I trailed, as I squinted my eyes at him.
We then heard the sound of footsteps coming into the room. Our eyes shifted over to see Lori walking into the room. A huge smile on her face, and a glass of wine in her hands, "Any good books?"
Carol's eyes shifted to her, as a smile crept onto her face, "It's enough to keep us busy for years."
My eyes shifted to my nephew, "You can start a new one after you're finished with the book, you can give it back to Dale." I stated, smiling lightly.
He squinted his eyes at me, "I'll never be done with that book."
I smiled at him, as I scoffed quietly.
Carol then stood up, "Come on, kids, it's bedtime." Sophia grabbed her doll, and stood up next to her. Lori's eyes shifted over to Carl, "Baby, go say your prayers. I'm gonna browse for a bit."
Carl stood up to his feet, alongside Clive, "I'm gonna go get some sleep too, Aunt Grace." He said, forcing a bit of a frown onto his lips.
My brows began to cock, "You're tired?"
He nodded.
"Wow, that's shocking." I scoffed, reaching my arm out to him. He playfully rolls his eyes at me. He and I started to walk towards the doors, as Carol, Sophia, and Carl followed behind.
"You know, this might actually be the first night we actually get some real sleep." Carol states, her eyes shifted to the kids and me, "It's a miracle, isn't it?"
Clive and I let them walk in front of us, as we followed behind them. As soon as we walked out of the room, I heard someone call out to me, "Hey, Gracie." I turned around to see Daryl handing a bit in the doorway, and his eyes piercing into me. My brows furrowed a bit at him, as he motions me over to him.
"Did he just call you Gracie?" Clive asked, cocking his brows.
I nodded, taking in a breath, "Yeah, I believe he did."
"Well, what does he want?" He asks, scrunching up his nose as he looks up at me.
"I don't know.." I mumbled, my green eyes shifted down to him, "Go on to bed, bub. I'll be there in a minute."
Clive stared up at me for a couple of seconds, before nodding. He then turns, and follows after Carol, Sophia, and Carl.
My gaze turned to Daryl to see a bit of a smirk on his face. A bottle of Jack Daniel's was in his hands, and a tiny smirk was on his face. I took a breath, as I stood in front of him, "What is it?" I asked, smiling lightly.
"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you." He mumbles, his tiny smirk turning into a small smile.
"That's it?" I scoffed quietly, raising my brows as a smile came onto my lips, "That's all you wanted to say to me?"
He nodded, humming quietly.
"Also, did you call me, Gracie?" I asked, smiling lightly.
"Yeah, I did."
"Why?"
"I don't know." He shrugs, his smile never fading, "I was just wanting to see how you reacted."
My smile began to grow onto my face, as I chuckled quietly. I then take a breath, "Well, I better get going." I barely started to take steps away from him, "I've got to put Clive to bed-"
"No, don't go yet." Daryl quickly says, shaking his head. I stared at him for a couple of seconds, not saying anything. He then takes a breath, "Spend the night with me, Gracie."
I felt my face heat up a bit, "I can't, Daryl." I mumbled, barely shaking my head. His brows began to furrow, "Why not?"
"Well, for one, you're drunk-"
"So?"
"So.." I scoffed quietly, a light smile on my face, "I don't want you to do something that you would regret." He stared at me for a second, before taking a breath, "What makes you think I would ever regret it?"
I didn't say anything to him, as he slowly reached his hand out to me and placed it on my cheek. His thumb barely stroked against my skin. I stared into eyes.
Just as he was about to lean in, I pulled away, "Daryl.." I spoked, looking down. He didn't say anything. He gently put his thumb under my chin, and slowly pushed up, making me look at him.
I stared into his eyes, before he leaned in and kissed me.
Clive's P.O.V
I was walking down the hall to the room where Aunt Grace and I were staying. I was quiet, until I realized I had left Dale's book in the wreck-room.
My brows then raised a bit, "Oh shit."
Sophia's gaze turned to me, "What is it, Clive?"
"I will be right back." I replied, taking a couple steps back. She stopped walking, and her brows began to furrow, "Where are you going?"
"I just forgot my book in the wreck-room. I'll be right back." I then turned around and ran back down the hall.
As soon as I got to the door, the sound of Lori and Shane's voices started to come from inside of the room. My brows began to furrow, as I walked into the doorway.
I saw Shane standing in front of a brown door. He had an upset look on his face, "I'm gonna tell you some things, and you're going to listen to me."
Lori looked him up and down, "Now is not the time."
"Come on, when is it ever the time?" Shane spoke, walking over and standing in front of her.
It started to grow quiet between them. My dark blue eyes watched them, as I tiptoed deeper into the room.
"How could you treat me like this?" He asks her. She scoffs quietly, "You're kidding me right?" She asked, furrowing her brows, "You told me my husband was dead. She then turned and started to walk away from him.
As she started to make steps towards me, I quickly ran behind the tiki counter and hid. I continued to watch the two, as he began to chase after her, "I didn't lie to you, Lori. I didn't! Do you know what it was like there?" He then stepped in front of her and closed the door I had just come out of. He stood in front of the door blocking her in the room, "Things were falling apart. They were slaughtering people in the hallways, it was a massacre. There were Walker's everywhere-"
"So, you left him?" Lori replies, throwing her hand up a bit.
"Everybody else ran, there were no doctors there. It was just me!" He snaps, "He was hooked up to a bunch of machines, and I did not know what to do. I even put my ear against his chest, I listened for a heartbeat, and I did not hear one. I don't know what it was, I don't know if it was gunfire or what-" He then smacks his hand against the door he was leaned against, causing me to jump a bit, "But there was no way he could've survived that!"
"He did." She nodded.
"But then I had y'all to think about, didn't I?" Shane asked, pushing her away from the door. My eyes widened a bit, as I watched him push her into the pinball table. She sat her glass down, and tried to get up, but he pushed her back against it, "Just think for one second, if he was still alive, would you have come?"
She just stared at him, she didn't say anything.
"So, I saved your life." He tells her, "I saved you and your little boy's life. If I could've traded places with him, I would have. I would trade places with him right now." He then started to place his hands on her face, "I love you."
I watched as she tried to push him away from her. I stood up from behind the tiki bar, and slowly started to pull my dagger out of my jean pocket.
They started to shout back and forth, before he started to try to kiss her. She was trying to get him off of her the whole time. I stood up straight, and opened the dagger up. I ran over and slashed him in the back of his thigh.
He called out in pain, and Lori dug her nails into the side of his neck and scratched him. Shane instantly stumbled back away from her. I moved out from behind him and stood in front of Lori. I kept my dagger up protecting Lori from this man.
Shane's eyes glanced between us. He was completely speechless. He then turned, and walked out of the door.
Lori instantly broke down, running her hands through her hair. I closed my dagger, and looked back at her, "Are you okay, Lori?" I asked, a worried look on my face as I stared up at her.
She stared at me for a second, before giving a shaky nod, "Yeah, Clive, sweetheart, I'm fine." She sniffles, "Why don't you go on to bed, okay?"
"Are you sure?" I asked, cocking my brow a bit.
She nods, "Yeah, I'm sure."
I didn't say anything, as I stared at her. I then turned around and walked out of the room.
~~~
Grace's P.O.V
That morning, Clive and I were in the cafeteria eating breakfast that T-Dog had made for us. He was still in the kitchen making eggs. There was pain reliever medicine out on the table that Jenner had left for us.
Clive sat next to me putting a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich together. His eyes were down at his plate, "You weren't in our room whenever I went to sleep last night." My eyes widened a bit, as his gaze shifted over to me, "Where were you?"
I didn't say anything at first, and a grin started to appear onto his lips. I took a breath, "Well..I-" I stopped myself from talking whenever Andrea sat down on the other side of me.
"Well?" He smiles, cocking his brow a bit.
I struggled to find my words, and his smile began to grow. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Daryl came walking into the room. I forced a smile onto my face, as I placed my hand on his head and ruffled his hair, "Eat your sandwich."
His eyes rolled over to see Daryl walking deeper into the cafeteria. Clive started to smile from ear to ear, as he looked back at me, "Ooh~I see." He teases.
I playfully rolled my eyes at him, "Eat your sandwich." I said, sternly. He chuckled at me, as he started to eat his food.
Rick then walked into the room, "Morning."
Carl looked up at his father, "Are you hungover?" Everyone's gaze shifted over to him, "Mom said you'd be." Rick looked to his wife, before looking to his son, "Mom was right." He smiles, nodding to him.
I scoffed quietly, as I ate my biscuit and gravity.
Lori looks at her husband, "Mom has that annoying habit." She mumbles, chewing her bacon.
T-Dog came walking out of the kitchen, "I've got some more eggs done. They're powered, but I do 'em good." He smiles, carrying a pan of eggs into the cafeteria.
Jacqui walked over to Glenn, he was very hungover from last night. She placed her hands on her shoulders, "I bet you can't tell." She chuckles quietly.
He groaned in response.
T-Dog walks over to them, and scrapes eggs onto Glenn's plate, "Protein helps with the hangover."
Glenn groaned again, placing his hands onto his head.
Clive and I chuckled at him.
Rick picked up one of the bottles of pills laid out on the table. He furrowed his eyebrows, "Where did these come from?" She looks at him, "Jenner, he thought we could use it." She started to undo the lid, "Well, for some of us, at least."
"Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again." Glenn mumbles, as Jacqui rubs his shoulders.
Everyone soon gathered into the cafeteria. Rick's eyes shifted over to Shane, "Do you feel as bad as I do?"
Shane didn't say anything at first. He takes a deep breath, "Worse." He started to grab a plate off of the counter.
T-Dog's gaze shifted over to him, and that's when I noticed a scratch on the side of his neck. Him and I furrowed our brows, "What the hell happened to you?"
A bit of a panicked look came over Shane, as Clive's gaze shifted down to his lap. The man then takes a breath, "I don't know." He rubs the side of his neck, "I must've done it in my sleep." He then grabbed him a cup of coffee, and sat down next to Andrea.
Rick furrowed his eyebrows, "I've never seen you do that before."
Shane takes a breath, "Mean either.." His eyes shifted over to Lori, "Not like me at all." A confused look came over me, as my gaze shifted over to her. She quickly looked down to her plate.
"Hey Grace, do you think I can talk to you about something later today?" Shane asks me. My brows began to furrow a bit, "Um, sure, I guess."
Dr. Jenner then came walking into the room, "Morning everyone." He says, smiling lightly. Sophia perked her head up at him, "Morning, Dr. Jenner." He gave her a light nod. He walks over to the counter to get him some coffee.
Dale's gaze turns to him, and he takes a breath, "Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing in the morning-"
"But, you will anyway."
A light smile came onto Dale's face, as he nodded a bit. Andrea's gaze turned to the Doctor, "What he's saying is, we didn't come here for the eggs."
Dr. Jenner's smile began to fade, as he looks to all of us. He nodded a bit, "Follow me." He then turned, and started to walk out of the cafeteria. All of us put our food down, and quickly began to follow after him.
We followed him into the lab room. Clive and I stood next to Jacqui, as Sophia and Carol walked over to stand next to us.
Dr. Jenner stood in front of us, as he took a breath, "Vi, give me playback of TS-19."
"Playback of TS-19." The computer says, loading up on the big screen in the lab. It began to show us some data and a scan of someone's brain. Jenner turns and looks at us, "Very few people ever got a chance to see this."
Everyone's eyes were on the screen.
"Is that a brain?" Carl asks him.
"Yes." Jenner nods, looking over at him, "And a very extraordinary one." He looks back to the screen, "Not that it matters in the end." He mumbles, he then takes a breath, "Take us in the E.I.V."
"Enhanced internal view." The computer replies, it starts to show clips from the side of the person's head. It started to show light blue lights going through the person's brain.
"What are those lights?" Shane asks, taking a seat next to T-Dog.
"It's a person's life. It's experiences, memories, it's everything." Jenner states, "Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light..is you. The thing that makes you unique and human."
Daryl scoffs quietly, "Don't you make sense, ever?" He asks, crossing his arms.
I playfully rolled my eyes at him, as I shook my head.
Jenner's eyes shifted over to him, "Those are synapses, electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages." He puts his hands together in front of him, "They determine everything a person says, thinks, or does from the moment of birth..to the moment of death."
"Death?" Rick asks, stepping up, "That's what this is? A vigil?"
"Yes." He nods, crossing his arms, "Or rather the playback of the vigil"
"This person died?" Andrea asks, looking over at him.
Jenner nodded.
"Who was it?" I asked, crossing my arms as I cocked my brow. Clive nodded, "Yeah, how did they die?"
Jenner hesitantly responded, "Test subject 19.." He trails, trying to collect the right words, "It was someone who was bitten and infected. They volunteered to have us record the process." He barely looks up, "Vi, can you forward to the first event?"
The computer did as it was told. It started to scan the first event. We see black enter the brain, it was interfering with the blue lights.
It all looked dead.
"What is that?" Glenn asked, furrowing his brows.
"It invades the brain like meningitis." I watched as the black went all over the entire brain, "The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." I watched as the person on the screen then died, "..Then death.."
A shocked look was on everyone's faces, as we watched the tape.
Jenner's gaze shifted over to us, "Everything you ever were..or ever was..will be gone."
Sophia looks up at Carol, "Is that what happened to Jim?"
Her mother looked down to her, and nodded, "Yes, it is."
Andrea then took in a shaky breath, as she started to lean on her hands onto her knees. A worried look came over Jenner, as he looked at her.
Lori stepped up next to her, "She lost somebody two days ago." She started to rub her back, "It was her sister."
He takes a couple steps closer to her, "I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." He backs up, as he looks back to the computer, "Scan to the second event."
The computer did what it was told, and began to scan to the second event.
"The resurrections vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes."
I saw that the brain was completely dead. My brows furrowed a bit, as I started to lean against one of the computers in front of me. Lori stepped up next to where I was.
"The longest we heard of someone lasting was eight hours." Jenner states, "In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute, seven seconds."
I then saw red lights start to form at the bottom of the brain. My brows began to furrow, "It restarts the brain?" I asked, looking over at him. His eyes shifted over to me, "No," He says, shaking his head, "Just the brain stem. It gets them up and moving."
"But they're not alive?" Rick asks him.
Jenner looks over at him, "You tell me." He states, raising his brows.
Rick's eyes shifted back to the computer, "It's nothing like before.." He states, shaking his head, "Most of the brain is dark."
"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part, that doesn't come back. The you part doesn't come back." Jenner explains, he barely shook his head, "It's just a shell. It's driven by a mindless instinct."
That's when I saw the tip of a gun being pointed at the person's head then bam! The person was dead.
"Oh gosh." Carol said, jumping a bit. She places her hand over her chest, as she looks to Jenner, "What was that?"
"He shot his patient in the head.." Clive mumbled, taking a couple steps forward. His dark eyes shifted over to him, "Didn't you?"
Jenner didn't say anything at first. His gaze fell down to the floor, and he sighs quietly, "Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations."
"Powering down the main screen and workstations." The computer says as it started to do as told. Andrea sighs, "You have no idea what it is, do you?" She asks, crossing her arms.
He looks over at her, "It could be a microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal." He states, raising his brows a bit.
"Or the Wrath of God?" Jacqui scoffs.
He looks down to his feet, "..There is that.."
"Somebody must know something." Andrea says, slapping her hands to her thighs.
"There are others, right?" Carol asks, crossing her arms, "There are other facilities."
He scoffs quietly, "Yes, there may be some people like me."
Jacqui sighs, rubbing her forehead.
"Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk, again." Daryl says, rubbing his hands through his hair.
"Dr. Jenner." Dale says, taking a couple steps away from us, "I know this has all been taxing for you. I hate to be the one to ask this but," He points to the stopwatch on the wall, "That clock..it's counting down." He faces him, "What happens at zero?"
Jenner stares at him for a second, before taking a breath, "The basement generators run out of fuel."
"Okay.." I nodded, pulling my weight off of the machines, "Then what happens."
His gaze shifted over to me. It looked like he didn't want to say anything.
Rick's gaze shifted up to the ceiling, "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"
"When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur." The computer speaks.
My eyes widened slightly after it said that.