"Morning." Rick said.
I glanced at him with an amused smirk forming on my lips. He seemed groggy. Must be from all that alcohol. T-Dog and I were making eggs for the group. We weren't professionals but they were still good.
Rick talked to Carl and Lori about his hangover. Ranger Rick likes to drink. I handed a pan to T-Dog and he went to give the eggs to the others. Everyone was very much hungover from last night.
"Eggs. Powdered but we do them goood." T-Dog boasted.
I smirked and gave him a high five before sitting down next to Ryan and Abby. Glenn groaned as his head hurt. Aw, baby's first hangover. He'll get used to it with time.
"Protein helps the hangover." T-Dog explained.
He put the eggs on our plates and I drank some water. Rick noticed a pair of pills for the hangover. It wasn't much but it helped me recover enough to function normally.
"Where did all of this come from?" He asked.
"Jenner." Lori answered.
I ate my eggs as Ryan poured some juice for Abby. Well, okay. It's not like I wanted some juice too. Only the young ones get it without asking apparently. I find that very unfair.
"Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again." Glenn whined.
I chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. Shane entered the room and greeted everyone. Well he looks like shit, even more than he did yesterday.
I grabbed some toast and bit into it as Rick greeted him. While Ryan wasn't looking, I drank some of his juice. That's what he deserves for not giving me some.
"You feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked Shane.
Ryan grabbed his cup only to see it half empty. He let out an annoyed sigh and glanced at me. I raised my eyebrows innocently. He rolled his eyes and took half of my toast.
"Hey." I complained.
Abby giggled at our exchange and I ruffled her hair. She huffed before rearranging it. Then Ryan did the same thing to my hair and I flipped him off. A laugh left his lips as my fingers went through my hair.
"The hell happened to you? Your neck?" T-Dog asked Shane.
I glanced at him to see the scratches were still there. Oh yeah, I forgot to ask about those. Mostly because I didn't particularly care that much. What he does in his free time is none of my concern.
"Must've done it in my sleep." He said.
"I've never seen you do that before." Rick commented.
"Me neither. Ain't like me at all." Shane said.
I rolled my eyes. It wouldn't surprise me if it was. He's all kinds of messed up. I put some of the eggs on my toast and Ryan grimaced at the sight. I let out a hum of approval upon taking a bite just to get a rise out of him.
Jenner walked in to join us for breakfast and mumbled out a quiet 'morning'. Some of the others replied with greetings of their own while I pretended he didn't exist.
"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing..." Dale trailed off.
"But you will anyway." Jenner finished.
The group had questions and he had answers. A simple exchange, really. It didn't cost him anything to give us the information that we wanted. It's not like he has anything better to do.
"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea retorted.
"Speak for yourself." I mumbled.
Ryan gave me a warning look as I shrugged. Hey, T-Dog and I make good eggs and there should be no argument there. Especially not from someone who didn't even help in the making.
----
"Give me a playback of TS-19." Jenner ordered.
VI repeated what he said and I focused on the big screen in front of me. Jenner told us that very few people actually got to see what we were about to see. The screen showed a picture of a head and its brain. It showed different angles of it too.
"Cool." Abby said.
"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.
Jenner turned to them. This was kind of like a morbid biology and science class for them. It's sad to think that they'll never get to go to an actual school again. They'll never know the ups and downs of high school.
"An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end. Take us in through EIV." Jenner ordered.
"Enhanced Internal View." VI said.
It showed the body laying down then zoomed in on the brain. Blue flashes travelled through the nerves. This is actually pretty cool. I definitely should have paid more attention in biology class.
"What are those lights?" Shane asked.
"It's a person's life. Experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, in all those ripples of light... is you. The thing that makes you unique and human." Jenner explained.
"You make sense, ever?" Daryl asked.
I glanced at him. He pretended to be confused but I bet a part of him was amazed too. There's no way he can't see how extraordinary this is. It amazes even me for a few moments.
"Those are synapses. Electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine every thing a person says, does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death." Jenner explained.
Daryl's eyes locked with mine. His eyes were blue just like those flashes, the memories and experiences. I've never really noticed that about him before. It was easy to not look beyond the anger.
"Death? That's what this is? A vigil?" Rick asked.
"Yes. Or rather a playback of a vigil." Jenner said.
Daryl was the one to look away first. I hesitated before doing the same. This discovery about his eyes was unsettling. Someone as unfriendly as him shouldn't have such beautiful eyes.
"This person died? Who?" Andrea asked.
"Test Subject 19. Someone who was bitten, infected and volunteered to have us record the process. VI, scan forward to the first event." Jenner demanded.
A black infection was now spreading inside the brain. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. Jenner didn't say anything, but I knew it was the infection. That's what it looked like.
"What is that?" Glenn asked.
"It invades the brain. The brain goes into shutdown along with major organs then death. Everything you ever were or will be, gone." Jenner stated.
I shifted uncomfortably. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist. It was Abby hugging my waist. This must be frightening for her. We've all seen the horror of walkers but no one had ever explained it to us.
"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked.
"Yes." Carol replied.
A tear slid down Jacqui's face as Andrea inhaled sharply. An annoyed sigh escaped me before I could stop it. Why is Andrea suddenly so distraught about Jim being dead? She barely even talked to him.
"She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister." Lori explained.
"I lost someone too. I know how devastating it is." Jenner told Andrea.
Well that makes more sense. She's still grieving over Amy. My eyes flickered over to Ryan to see he was holding in tears. They may not have been together for long but to know that was Amy's fate... It sucks.
"Scan to the second event. The resurrection is time diverse. We have reports of it happening in little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute, seven seconds." He explained.
A red light started at the center of the brain. It sent small impulses to other parts of the brain. That can't be. The brain literally shut down moments ago. We all saw it. Walkers are dead, that's the whole point.
"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked.
"No. Just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving." Jenner explained.
"But they're not alive?" Rick asked.
Jenner glanced at him as I processed this new information. It actually makes a lot of sense. Walkers are basically dead yet what allows them to move as if though they're alive is the brain stem. That's why stabbing the brain truly kills them.
"You tell me." Jenner said.
"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark." Rick commented.
The only thing that is still light is the brain stem. Barely enough, but still enough. Though none of this explains why or how this infection got out. Someone must know how. Jenner, however, isn't that person.
"Dark, lifeless, dead. The human part doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instincts." Jenner explained.
I saw a gun pointing at the head. A bullet went clean through the brain and its stem. The subject was truly dead now. It left a sense of unease within me.
"Oh God. What was that?" Carol asked.
"He shot it. Ended it before it could end him." I replied.
"VI, power down the main screen and the work stations." Jenner ordered.
The screens went black and I took a deep breath. I knew we were going here for answers but I didn't think we were actually going to get them. This is beyond our comprehension and level of knowledge.
"You have no idea what it is, do you?"
"It could be microbial, viral-"
"The wrath of God?"
I rolled my eyes at Jacqui's input about religion. This kind of thing isn't usually God's supposed wrath. Even I can see that with my limited knowledge about religion and its importance.
"There's that." Jenner said.
"Somebody must know something. Somebody, somewhere." Andrea persisted.
"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Carol suggested.
Jenner agreed that there could be other facilities like this one somewhere. Rick asked him how could he not know about it. I narrowed my eyes as Jenner went to explain his situation.
"Everything went down. Communications, everything. I've been in the dark for almost a month." Jenner explained.
"So it's not just here? There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" Andrea said.
She sighed when he didn't reply. So it's not just the States. This is happening everywhere in the world and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. That took a more morbid turn than expected.
"Man, I'm gonna get shit face drunk, again." Daryl commented.
I rolled my eyes. It's literally the end of the world. I can't believe they thought that it was just going to go away. I didn't want to believe that the world could be restored and apparently I was right not to.
"Doctor Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question but... That clock, it's counting down. What happens at zero?" Dale asked.
"The basement generators, they run out of fuel." Jenner replied.
I narrowed my eyes. That doesn't sound like something we want to happen. It's like a car when it runs out of fuel. It stops working. So I wonder what'll stop working when the basement generators run out of fuel?
"And then?" I demanded to know.
Jenner ignored me and simply walked out. I looked at him in disbelief. How dare he ignore me? I'm asking the important questions here. Rick decided to ask VI what happens then.
"When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination wil occur."
-----
The lights flickered in the room that Abby and I were staying in. A frown etched itself onto my face as I got up and grabbed our bags. After everything I've heard, I have a bad feeling about this place.
"Abby, go to Ryan and tell him to pack up. We aren't staying much longer." I stated.
Abby looked up from the couch that she was laying on. Her eyes were filled with confusion at me packing her stuff. I didn't unpack anything except for a pair of clothes that was dirty. She felt a tad more comfortable here than me.
"Why? Nobody else is packing."
"Just do as I say!"
She flinched a bit at my loud tone and I grimaced. I went to apologize but she was already out the door. I didn't mean to snap at her, I'm just stressed about our current predicament.
By the time she returned, I was done with all of the packing. Abby frowned at the bags before sitting down at the bed. I went to the bathroom and stole some of the soap from there.
"We can't just leave without the group."
"What do you mean? Of course we can."
Abby opened her mouth to speak yet struggled to find the words that she wanted to say. I put my hands on my hips waiting for her to clarify more on this matter. We didn't have a lot of time for this though.
"I just... I don't want to leave the group. They're nice and we haven't had nice in a really, really long time. I don't think they'd let anything happen to us." Abby explained.
My eyes softened and I went to her side on the bed.
"If things go bad, then we have no choice. However, I offer a compromise. I'll make sure we're ready to leave if there's danger but we won't leave the group unless completely necessary." I suggested.
Her whole face lit up in joy and she hugged me tightly. I returned the hug although I already dreaded promising that to her. This place isn't safe and I can't risk her life if the group chooses to stay.
Ryan showed up at our door with his own bag and smiled at the sight of us. I flipped him off before getting up and picking up our bags. As we entered the hall, everyone was already there. Including Jenner.
"Energy use is being prioritised." He stated.
"Air isn't a priority?" Dale asked.
Ryan and I looked at each other with worried eyes. It was as bad as we thought it would be. We held each other's hands for a brief moment before gathering enough strength to think of what to do.
"It's not up to me. This facility is shutting itself down." Jenner explained.
The lights in the hall turned off completely. The generators must be out of fuel already. Maybe that's why Jenner didn't want to let us in, in the first place. He knew the building wasn't going to sustain itself for much longer.
"Hey, hey, what the hell does that mean?" Daryl questioned.
We followed him back to the room with all the computers. Ryan and I, unlike the others, had our stuff with us. Just in case we have to make a quick escape. It's better to be safe than sorry in this scenario.
"Hey, I'm talkin to you. What do you mean it's shuttin itself down? How can a building do anythin?" Daryl asked.
The others returned from wherever they were and we were all together now. For better or for worse. Jenner seemed completely calm as if though this didn't affect him at all.
"You'd be surprised."