When it became apparent that Megan really wasn't well at all, she was instantly laid down on a couch. Her body ached all over, and she couldn't rid herself of the nauseous feeling that was taking over. Even as she laid down, she felt the room spinning around her.
"Where is everybody, the other doctors, the staff?" Rick asked as he took a peek down the corridors that extended off the room they gathered in.
"Come on, Meg, can't lay down all day," Daryl mumbled as he tried to pull her back to her feet.
Megan wanted nothing more than to sleep but held on tight to Daryl as they followed Doctor Jenner into a much larger room.
"Vi, bring up the lights in the main room," he ordered out loud. The room lit up; it was empty and quiet beside the occasional footstep from the group. "I'm it; it's just me here," Jenner muttered.
Lori spoke up first, "what about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" she questioned curiously as she stood by Carl, her arm firmly wrapped around his torso.
Jenner spoke out loud to the room, "Vi, say hello to our guests, tell them, welcome," he ordered the empty room.
Megan looked around the room as the computerised voice greeted them. "I'm all that's left. I'm sorry."
While everyone looked around at each other expectantly, Jenner ordered them to follow him again.
The room was smaller than the previous one, but Megan sighed in relief when she noticed the small couch in the corner. Daryl, who was still helping hold her upright, guided her towards the couch and helped her lay down again. Once again, she was overcome with a dizzy feeling and closed her eyes to fight through it.
"Here, drink this. You're most likely dehydrated," Dr Jenner said as he held a bottle of water out to her.
Megan attempted to sit up to take the bottle from his hand, but she fell back hard.
"Give me that," Daryl mumbled as he snatched the water bottle from Dr Jenner's hand. "Here, lean against me," Daryl ordered to Megan.
He helped her sit up, leaning the top half of her body against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her as he unscrewed the bottle cap and brought it to her mouth. "Drink slowly," he ordered as Megan began to take sips.
While Daryl encouraged Megan to drink, the rest of the group lined up to have their blood taken one by one. 'Their price of admission.'
The group seemed curious at his intentions but hoped agreeing to his rules would lead to him giving them the much-desired information they had come there for.
Daryl was the last person to have his blood taken before Doctor Jenner approached Megan again, "your brother informed me you're pregnant," he stated.
Megan couldn't read his expression, but she believed she saw a hint of regret and guilt. "Yeah, I am," she mumbled as she sat up on the couch. She didn't feel one hundred per cent, but much better than when they first arrived at the CDC.
Doctor Jenner nodded slowly, "You're likely anaemic. I could give recommendations on the best foods to eat to increase your iron levels, but all things consider-" he trailed off, "there may be some iron supplements I can provide you with. I hold the knowledge of a lot of things, but pregnancy isn't one of them, but if you get out-I mean-," he sighed and composed himself before speaking again, "your OBGYN would have probably recommended you take them for the duration of your pregnancy."
Megan furrowed her brows as she watched him talk. She didn't trust him at all, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. He didn't come across as sincere, almost as though he doubted that she would survive the duration of her pregnancy. She frowned, "yeah, thank you," she replied as she observed his expressions.
Before she could complete her response, he was turning his back to her and walking towards the rest of the group.
"Follow me," he ordered.
Megan watched as the doctor began to walk down the corridor with her friends and family in tow. She followed behind silently as he guided them to a long corridor with many rooms.
"I don't mean to be rude, Doctor, but no one has eaten in days," Dale spoke up as he watched Andrea sway, clearly feeling the effects of having her blood drawn.
Jenner sighed and continued his journey until they reached a large room with a round table with many chairs in the middle, "there's food, water," he smirked, "alcohol. Knock yourselves out."
Megan sat at the table, watching the group set out to make food for everyone. Daryl and Shane quickly found the alcohol and began to pour everyone a drink before Daryl snagged a bottle of Whiskey for himself.
Everyone ate til their stomachs were full, laughed as Carl tried his first sip of wine and even more so when Daryl insisted that Glenn wasn't to stop drinking.
"Keep drinking, little man; I want to see how red your face can get," he laughed before refilling Glenn's cup with more red wine.
Beside the children, Megan appeared to be the only sober one left; even Jenner was becoming flushed as he downed the last of his wine before promptly refilling his glass. However, he was the only one who didn't appear to be enjoying himself, which Rick had also noticed.
Everyone watched as Rick tapped his fork against his glass, instantly causing the group to be silent. Rick stood and raised his glass, "it seems to me that we haven't thanked our host."
"He's more than just our host," T-Dog called out with a grin.
"Here, here," Dale called out with a raise of his glass.
Jenner nodded slowly but appeared emotionless as Rick thanked him on behalf of the group. He attempted to smile as the group raised their glasses and began to clink them together.
"So, Doc," Shane interrupted, "when are you gonna tell us what the Hell happened here? All the—the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" he questioned.
Jenner diverted his eyes while many of the group looked annoyed that Shane had reminded them of the devastation still surrounding them.
Megan watched the scene curiously. She hadn't noticed that Shane appeared annoyed, but she could tell by his tone that something was bothering him.
"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now," Rick muttered with a heavy sigh.
Shane scoffed. "Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move—supposed to find all the answers. Instead, we," he began to laugh, but there was no humour in his tone as he spoke, "we found him. Found one man, why?"
Megan silently agreed; they came for an answer: not alcohol and empty rooms. She and the rest of the group looked at Jenner expectantly.
Jenner swirled his wine around his glass as he stared across the room with a faraway look, "Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families," he began, "when things got worse when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted," he shrugged his shoulders.
"Everyone?" Shane asked.
Jenner shook his head, "no, many couldn't face walking out the door. They-" he paused and swallowed hard, "opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time," he finished shortly.
Andrea spoke up as everyone looked around the room worriedly, "you didn't leave; why?" she asked.
"I just kept working, hoping to do some good," he shrugged his shoulders casually, but the group could sense that he didn't want to continue the conversation.
Glenn groaned and looked to Shane, "Dude, you're such a buzz kill."
Daryl smirked and smacked Glenn's shoulder before refilling his glass, "just drink," he chuckled.
Megan looked around the room; despite the obvious change in atmosphere, it was still the happiest she had seen everyone beside Shane, who looked agitated and deep in thought as he glanced between her and Lori.
Eventually, Jenner led the group back down the corridor and towards the living area.
"Most of the facility is powered down, including housing, so you'll have to make do here," he began, pointing along the corridor at the rooms. "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," he continued, smiling at Sophia and Carl, " 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," he finished before walking away.
Megan ignored the excited chatter over the hot water and slowly proceeded down the hallway until she reached an empty room.
She closed the door behind her and sat on the couch; she sighed in relief, wondering what could come of them staying at the CDC and how long it would last. She knew everyone was hopeful that it could be their home, and while she hoped so, too, she had doubts.
Being alone with her thoughts put pressure on her mind to think of Matthew. She wondered where he was, how far he had travelled as a soulless corpse. They were horrible thoughts, but she couldn't escape them.
Despite being desperate for a shower, she laid down on the couch and closed her eyes, hoping to dream of a good life that she could have with her baby, her family and newfound friends.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the door flying open and slamming against the wall. She opened her eyes to see Shane stagger inside, shutting the door behind him.
"Shane," she began with a sigh, but he quickly interrupted her.
"Would I ever have been good enough for you?" he blurted out. He stood with his back against the door and a bottle of whiskey clutched in his hand.
Megan sighed, "it was never a case of you being good enough, Shane. I was married."
He walked towards her slowly and crouched in front of her. Shane lowered the bottle in his hand to the floor before taking hold of Megan's hands, "and if you hadn't been married?"
Megan swallowed hard, "it wouldn't have made a difference, Shane and you know it. You never really wanted me; you always want what you can't have. Just like with Lori," she replied before pulling her hands from his grasp, "please leave, Shane."
Shane dropped his head and sighed but followed her request, "I'm sorry, Meg. I'm sorry for everything I did to you," he whispered before leaving her room.
Megan sighed and closed her eyes tightly as she tried to forget not only the encounter they had just had but all the ones in the past.
_____
"Why does Glenn look like he's about to throw up?" Megan asked as she entered the room that they had eaten dinner in the night before.
She felt somewhat refreshed but thought she would never escape the exhaustion that shattered her body.
Glenn groaned and dropped his head to the table as she sat down. A few chuckles came from around the table.
Megan noticed Rick looked worse for wear, and Shane and Lori were throwing looks at one another. She hadn't initially noticed the scratches on Shane's neck until T-Dog spoke, "what the hell happened to you, your neck?"
Shane brought his hand to his neck, wincing as his fingertips grazed the scratches, "must have done it in my sleep," he mumbled.
No one questioned his answer, and they ate mostly in silence.
Megan noticed that beside her plate was a bottle of pills; she picked them up and looked over the bottle, noticing they were iron tablets. She smiled to herself, noting to thank Jenner when she saw him.
When Jenner entered the room, Dale instantly called out to him, "I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing-" he began, but Jenner cut him off.
"But you will anyway," he muttered with a sigh.
Andrea said next, "we didn't come here for the eggs."
Jenner sighed and turned to the group, "you best follow me."
Megan held back as Jenner led the group into the main room and watched in awe and curiosity as he played a video on the screen before him.
The image before them became more detailed, magnifying the inside of a skull. Megan tilted her head and ignored the words of her friends as the skull lit up with bright blue lights. She didn't have any ideas as to what she was looking at, but she couldn't take her eyes off the screen as the computer zoomed in further.
"What are those lights?" Megan called out; everyone looked towards her as if they had forgotten she was in the room.
Jenner pointed to the screen, "It's a person's life—experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you—the thing that makes you unique and human."
Megan nodded slowly and directed her eyes back to the screen along with the rest of the group as Jenner continued his speech, "those are synapses. Electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."
"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected and volunteered to have us record the process. VI, Scan forward to the first event," Jenner said in response to the onslaught of comments and questions. "It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands haemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be," he paused, "gone."
The flickering blue lights began to turn black before Jenner ordered Vi to continue to the next event.
"The resurrection 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 patient's case, it was two hours, one minute," he continued slowly, "seven seconds."
Megan felt sick to her stomach, wondering how long it took for Matthew to reanimate into one of those things.
"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part—that doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct," she almost emptied her stomach as he spoke. She knew Matthew was no longer him, wherever he was, but to hear the words coming from Jenner triggered something inside her.
She lowered herself to the floor, a buzzing sound echoing in her ears as tears slipped from her eyes.
Megan didn't take in any other words spoken around her; she stared out into the darkening room, briefly glancing at her friends as they ran past her in a hurry.
She didn't want to know anymore. She wanted to escape the madness and be free from her thoughts, but they plagued her into a semi-unconscious state.
She didn't know how long she had been sitting on the floor of the main room; she couldn't even remember Jenner and the group passing by her to renter; it was only when she heard the door slam behind her and Glenn shout that she finally snapped herself from her thoughts.
"Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!" Glenn shouted.
Megan scurried to her feet and looked at the closed door before looking back to the group.
Everyone was shouting, and the children were crying, but she stood emotionless as the scene unfolded.
"H.I.T.s—high-impulse thermo baric 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 degrees and 6,000 degrees. It is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired," the computerised voice echoed into the room.
"It sets the air on fire. No pain," Jenner said causally.
Megan's palms began to sweat, and she was overcome with fear. She placed her hand on her stomach, wanting nothing more than to protect her child, but she was helpless; she didn't know what to do. She couldn't even make her feet move.
"All of you. You know what's out there. A short, brutal life and an agonising death," Jenner spoke up again before pointing to Andrea, "Your—your sister—what was her name?" he asked.
"Amy," Andrea whispered.
"Amy," he repeated. "You know what this does. You've seen it," he directed his words to Rick, "Is that what you really want for your wife and son?"
Megan watched as Jenner turned to look at her, "and you, do you really want to raise a baby out there?"
Megan opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't get the words out. She wanted to scream and shout that he couldn't dictate when they died. He couldn't play God with their lives, but he was in control.
She could hear the sound of Daryl beating at the locked door, then gunshots, screaming and shouting.
Megan watched curiously as Doctor Jenner approached her; she didn't need him to speak for her to know what he was about to say, "we're all infected, aren't we?" she whispered.
He nodded slowly. "your baby- I don't know what will happen if it passes in utero," was all he said before grabbing Rick by the shoulder and whispering in his ear.
Megan stood stoic with wide eyes before Lori took hold of her hand and dragged her out of the door, "run, Megan. Just go!" she shouted.
Megan ran alongside Lori and Carl; Rick was in front, leading the group to the main doors of the building, with the majority of the group following close behind.
She stood back as Daryl and T-Dog began to bang on the windows in an attempt to smash them, but all efforts were in vain.
More shouts, more screams, more gunshots. Megan couldn't handle it. It was too much, and she was slowly slipping into the belief that dying a painless death would be the best thing for them; at least then, her baby might not destroy her from the inside if anything happened to it.
"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform, I found this in your pocket," Carol spoke up, handing a grenade to Rick.
The only words Megan appeared to comprehend entirely was the sound of Daryl screaming for everyone to get down.
She was pulled to the floor by Lori as an explosion rippled above their heads.
It took her a few seconds to comprehend what had happened before she was pulled to her feet by Daryl, "come on," he ordered firmly.
She followed him out the broken window, and they ran across the grass towards their vehicles.
It was only when she finally sat down and looked at the broken window they had just escaped from did she realise that Dale and Andrea were nowhere to be seen.
"Come on, old man," Daryl muttered as he stared at the window.
Megan released the breath she had been holding when she saw Andrea and Dale appear. They jumped from the window and set out towards the cars.
"Get down," Daryl ordered, forcing Megan to lay her body across the centre console. He held her down, covering her with his own body.
They felt the heat, the boom of the explosion and the shaking of the car.
Daryl slowly raised his head, looking at the scene before them, "Let's get the hell out of here."
____
Anyone who read this before the rewrite may notice that a certain someone hasn't appeared in this chapter. When you add description and not just loads of dialogue, the word count adds up quickly, so the last part of this chapter in the original will be at the beginning of the next.
If it's your first time reading this, just ignore my ramblings!