"Mama! Mama!" Luke shouted, running to me and jumping into my arms. I held the 7 year old on my hip. "Luke! Luke!" I mocked. He giggled and pulled out a picture frame made of noodles and glitter. A photo of us inside it. The day he was born. Liz took it. I was sitting up in the hospital bed smiling down at him as he gripped onto my pinky finger.
I smiled and hugged Luke. "It's beautiful, baby. I love it." I thanked. There was a small growl in my ear. I pulled away to see him as a walker. I screamed, letting go of him. I backed up until I was against a wall. He stood up and stared at me, flesh hanging from his face, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth.
He groaned. "Why, mama? Why did you leave me? The monsters got me. They turned me into a monster too. This is your fault. Now I'm gonna turn you into a monster." He said, his voice scratchy and dry. He came forward, grabbing my arm, taking out a huge chunk. I cried out in pain.
*End Dream*
"Luke!" I yelled, sitting up quickly. There were hands gripping my shoulders. Through the dark, I spotted Daryl's piercing blue eyes. "It's okay, Charlie. It was just a dream. You're okay now." My breathing slowed slightly as I held fist fulls of his shirt. "Please...Don't let go..." I begged, still out of breath. He nodded hesitantly before laying next to me, holding onto one of my hands with a firm grip.
~*~*~*~
I walked into the cafeteria, nodding at everyone as I sat down. T-dog put a plate of eggs and orange juice in front of me. I picked up a fork and started poking at it, thinking of the dream. Daryl is going to ask about it eventually. And I'm gonna have to tell him. "Charlotte? You okay?" I looked up to see Dale sitting across from me with a concerned look on his face.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a headache." He nodded and continued eating.
T-dog walked back over. "Eggs. Powdered, but I do em' good. I bet you can't tell. Protein helps the hangover." Glenn groaned, his head resting against his hand. T-dog put some eggs on Glenn's plate. I smiled, nudging his shoulder. Another groan.
I watched as Lori helped Rick open a bottle of medicine and held back a giggle. "Don't ever ever ever let me drink again." Glenn grumbled. I smiled and pat him on the back. More groaning. Shane walked in and sat down. I furrowed my brows, noticing three red scratch marks on his neck.
T-dog noticed too. "What the hell happened to you? Your neck?"
Shane sighed. "I must have done it in my sleep."
Rick raised his eyebrows. "Never seen you do that before."
Shane shrugged. "Me neither. Not like me at all." I followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at Lori who was avoiding eye contact.
Jenner came in. "Morning." He greeted.
"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing-"
Dale started, being interrupted by Jenner. "but you will anyways."
Andrea joined in. "We didn't come here for the eggs."
We followed Jenner into Zone 5, where he turned on a big screen. "Give me a playback of TS-19." He pressed a few buttons. "Playback of TS-19." Vi's voice echoed throughout the room. A few pictures popped up. "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few." There was one larger picture of someone's head and their brain.
"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.
"An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end." Jenner smiled but it faded quickly. "Take us in for E.I.V.."
"Enhanced internal view." Vi spoke.
The picture of the person got bigger and turned so that we were looking at the side of their face. It zoomed in and went inside the brain, showing blue lights dancing across every inch.
"What are those lights?" Shane asked.
"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"
"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 from the moment of birth to the moment of death." Jenner explained.
"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick asked, walking forward.
Jenner nodded, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil."
Andrea stood up from her seat. "This person died? Who?" She asked, sadness evident in her voice.
"Test Subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected...and volunteered to have us record the process... Vi, scan forward to the first event."
'Scanning to first event' Vi said. We all watched as the picture changed. Now there was a thick black line going up the spinal chord and spreading into the brain like a tree. "What is that?" I asked.
"It invades the brain like meningitis." The black started spreading out more and the person started coughing. "The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." The brain went dark and the person stopped coughing. "Then death." Jenner said quietly, looking down. "Everything you ever were or ever will be...gone." I looked down, choking back tears. That's what happened to Luke. To Liz.
"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked Carol.
"Yes." Carol replied. The room was silent for a moment.
Andrea turned away letting out a short, shaky breath. "She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister." Lori said to Jenner, who had noticed Andrea crying.
Jenner walked over to Andrea. "I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is."
Andrea looked up at him for only a moment. He faced the screen again. "Scan to the second event." 'Scanning to second event.' Vi said. We all looked back up at the screen. "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 the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute...seven seconds."
I furrowed my brows, noticing a small flicker of red light that very slowly got bigger, rippling across the brain. "It restarts the brain?" Lori asked.
Jenner shook his head. "No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving." He corrected.
"But they're not alive?" Rick asked.
Jenner looked at Rick and backed up to stand next to him. "You tell me."
Rick shook his head. "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."
Jenner nodded. "Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part- that doesn't come back. The you part. Just the shell." Their mouth started moving. I could almost hear the growls. Something came into view on top. A sudden stream going through the person's head, stopping their movement. He shot the patient.
"God. What was that?" Carol asked.
"He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?" Andrea asked, her voice now a mix of anger and sadness.
Jenner didn't answer her. "Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations." The screen turned black, along with the computers.
Andrea crossed her arms. "You have no idea what it is, do you?" She asked, walking over to Jenner.
He looked around at us all. "It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal."
"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui suggested.
"There is that." He agreed.
"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere." Andrea raised her voice slightly.
"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Carol asked, her voice hopeful. Though I bet she already knew the answer.
Jenner shrugged. "The rest be some. People like me."
"But you don't know? How can you not know?" Rick asked, sounding frustrated.
"Everything went down. Communications, directives- all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month." The silence must have driven him mad.
"So it's not just here? There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right? " Andrea asked.
Jenner kept his gaze down, avoiding the question. "Jesus." I muttered.
Daryl walked away, rubbing his eyes. "Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk, again." I rolled my eyes.
"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?"
Jenner looked uncomfortable about this question. "The basement generators-they run out of fuel." He turned and walked away, avoiding yet another question.
"And then?" Rick asked. He got no answer. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asked.
'When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur.'
My heart sank to the pit of my stomach. My face turning white. "T-dog, Shane, Glenn, come on. Let's go check how much gas is left in the generators." They all rushed out of the room. I let out a shaky breath and followed everyone else down the hall, going into my room. I packed my bag quickly and put on my quiver, slinging my bow onto my back. I strapped on my belt of throwing knives and put my knife in it's sheath. I have a feeling we'll be leaving soon.
The air was the first to shut off. Then the lights. I slung my bag over my shoulder, clutching my bow in one hand. I opened my door, noticing everyone peaking out. Jenner came through, his hair combed to one side and clean shaven, wearing a dress shirt with dress pants and a tie, his lab coat over it.
"Why'd the air stop?"
"And the lights in our room?"
"What's going on? Why is everything turned off?"
Questions were being asked, one after the other. Jenner walked by Daryl, snatching his bottle of whiskey. We all followed after him. "Energy use is being prioritized." He took a swig from the bottle.
"Air isn't a priority? And lights?" I asked. Jenner shook his head.
The lights shut off on the hall. "It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down." He walked faster.
"Hey, hey, what the hell does that mean? Hey, man, I'm talking to you. What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?" I started jogging, trying to catch up.
"You'd be surprised." Jenner said. We all walked down the stairs, meeting up with Rick.
"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick demanded.
"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark. Right on schedule." He stopped walking, taking another swig of whiskey before handing it back to Daryl, who snatched it from his hands.
"It was the French." He said.
"What?" I asked.
He turned to face us. "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 till the end. They thought they were close to a solution." He walked away, sitting at one of the computers.
"What happened?" Jacqui asked.
"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?"
Shane rushed over to him, angry. "Let me tell you-"
"To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care. Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!" Rick interrupted Shane.
Everyone started to go back to their rooms. An alarm started blaring. 'Decontamination in thirty minutes.' Vi said, the big screen turning on and showing the timer. Jenner walked away to do something.
"Doc, what's going on here?" Daryl yelled. No answer.
"Everybody, y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go!" Shane yelled.
We all ran for the door, but it shut quickly. We all stared at the metal door in shock. "Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!" Glenn yelled. We all ran back over to Jenner, who was talking to a damn camera.
"You son of a bitch! You locked us in here!" Daryl yelled, going for Jenner.
"Shane!" Rick pointed at Daryl.
"No, stop. Don't!" Daryl pushed Jenner out of his chair. Shane and T-dog pulled him off, holding him back.
I dropped my things and ran over to Daryl. "You need to calm down, Daryl. We are going to get out. Jenner is the only one who can let us out. We just have to convince him." Daryl groaned, running his hands through his hair.
Rick walked over, looking angry. "Hey, Jenner, open that door now." He demanded.
Jenner shook his head. "There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."
"Well, open the damn things." Daryl said.
Jenner looked over at him. "That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way."
Rick scoffed. "What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" He asked. Jenner turned and started typing. "What happens in 28 minutes?!" Rick yelled.
Jenner stood angrily. "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!"
He took a deep breath and sat back down, straightening his lab coat. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure-in a terrorist attack, for example-H.I.T's are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."
"H.I.T's?" Rick asked.
"Vi, define." He called out.
'HIT's- 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°F and 6,000°F and is useful for the greatest loss of life and damage to structures as well desired." My lip quivered and tears threatened to spill. We're going to die.
Jenner sighed. "It sets the air on fire. No pain. An end to sorrow, grief...regret. Everything."