Gone
Alarms started blaring around the panicking group.
"We're getting out of here now!" Rick shouted.
Natalie didn't budge. She couldn't find the motivation to move.
"Natalie, we're leaving!" Shane yelled, trying to get her attention.
She just ignored him, unable to break her trance.
"Come on, sweetie," Jacqui urged her kindly, trying to pull her up.
Natalie didn't budge.
"30 minutes to decontamination," announced the computer.
As Rick ran towards the doors, Dr. Jenner locked the doors and a thick, steel shutter dropped in front of the door, trapping the group.
"You lying son of a bitch!" Daryl shouted, running at Jenner.
Shane intercepted Daryl, dragging him away from the scientist.
"Hey, Jenner, open that door, now," Rick said calmly.
"There's no point. Everything topside's locked down. The emergency exits are sealed," Jenner said.
"Well, then open the damn things," Dale shouted.
"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you that once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. I told you that," Jenner snapped.
"It's better this way," Jenner said.
"What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick asked frantically.
"You know what this place is?" Jenner shouted.
"We protected the public from some pretty nasty stuff!" Jenner shouted.
Natalie just sat on the floor, in the same position, still rocking back and forth, ignoring the people trying to get her to stand up.
It's better this way, she repeated over and over in her head.
Jenner explained to the frantic group that the building was going to be blown up by HITs.
"It sets the air on fire. No pain," Jenner said.
No pain, Natalie repeated in her head.
"An end to sorrow, grief, regret. Everything," Jenner continued.
An end to sorrow, to grief, to regret, Natalie repeated.
The group around her started to panic even more. Carol's sobs filled the air.
Shane ran at the door with an ax, trying to break it down.
It's better this way, Natalie repeated in her head.
Shane ran to the other side of the room and grabbed his rifle. He ran back to Jenner and held the gun to his forehead.
"Open the damn door!" Shane shouted.
"Brother, brother, this isn't the way we do this," Rick pleaded, holding on to Shane's arms.
Shane started screaming and open firing on the computers.
Natalie didn't even flinch. It seemed like she didn't even know what was going on. It was like she was having an out of body experience. Not even the sounds of close range gunshots could break her trance.
Rick was finally able to get the gun away from Shane, knocking him to the ground.
"Are you done, now? Are you done?" Rick shouted at Shane.
"I guess we all are," Shane answered.
He got up off the floor and walked over to Natalie. He put his hands on her knees.
"Nat, baby. Are you there?" Shane asked, waving his hand in front of her face, trying to get her attention.
Natalie was silent.
"Nat?" Shane said, starting to get angry.
"Natalie Marie Walsh, you wake up right now, damn it!" Shane shouted.
Natalie didn't even blink.
Finally, after arguing with Rick, Dr. Jenner agreed to open the door.
The group started running out.
Natalie didn't move.
"Nat, baby, we're leaving!" Shane shouted frantically.
"I can't do it," Natalie said quietly, not looking at him.
"What the hell are you saying?" Shane shouted.
"I can't live in this world if he's not here. I'm alone," Natalie said quietly.
"You're not alone. You have me," Shane said.
"That's a good joke, Shane, but I'm not in the mood to laugh," Natalie said.
"I can't lose you, too," Shane whispered.
"You already did," Natalie said quietly.
"Shane, brother, we have to go!" Rick shouted.
"Yeah, we do," Shane muttered.
Shane picked up Natalie and threw her over his shoulder. He took off running towards the doors, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.
"Dammit Shane! Put me down!" Natalie shouted.
He ran past Jacqui, who had decided to stay with Dr. Jenner.
He almost tripped over Dale, who was trying to talk Andrea out of staying.
The group ran into the front room. The doors were locked. They couldn't get out.
Shane took his rifle and started firing at the window, with Natalie still slung over his shoulder. He refused to put her down out of fear that she would take off running back into the lab and he wouldn't be able to get her this time.
The glass wouldn't break.
"Rick, I think I have something that might help!" Carol said, rummaging through her bag.
"Carol, I don't think a nail file is gonna do anything," Shane snapped.
Carol pulled a grenade out of her bag and handed it to Rick.
The group ran behind the wall as Rick pulled the pin.
Shane covered Natalie with his own body, just in case.
"Oh, shit!" Rick shouted as he jumped to cover as the bomb exploded.
As the glass shattered, Shane pulled Natalie father behind him as to protect her from the glass fragments flying through the air.
The second it was safe, Shane threw Natalie back over his shoulder and took off running with the rest of the group through the open window.
They had to get to the cars before time ran out.
Shane threw Natalie into the Jeep and climbed into the driver's seat.
He looked at his watch. They only had seconds left before the explosion.
"Shit," he said, throwing his body on top of Natalie to protect her from the blast.
The sound of the explosion made Natalie's ears ring. The heat was more intense than anything she had ever felt before.
She pushed her way out from under Shane, looking at the ruins of the CDC in horror.
Everything was gone.
• • •