Status: Complete
Honey, Where's My Arm?
Journal
I sat on the bench with my legs crossed, still trying to remember what I had forgotten. I looked at one of the monitors and noticed the tall, blonde woman walking towards the panic room. She knocked on the heavy metal door and said something, I assumed it was my name. I got up and pushed a little red button next to a speaker and said, "Push the red button to talk."
She did, "Are you okay? I know Daryl's not the most sympathetic of people, and I just wanted to check on you."
"I'm fine."
"Do you want to talk to somebody?" she asked.
I sighed, it would be better than talking to Daryl. "Sure." I pushed the button to unlock the panic room and opened the door. Once she stepped inside I shut it back, and locked it.
"We were all worried about you," she said, "You were unconscious for three days."
I took a deep breath, "I guess that's why I'm suffering from amnesia. I'm starting to remember bits of things I've forgotten, but it hasn't all come back to me yet."
"I'm sorry about whatever it was that happened to Emily. I don't know who she was, you've stayed so quiet around us. Daryl was the only person you spent any time with, especially after we found Merle."
Merle, the image of a man with one hand flashed in my head. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate in hopes of remembering something. I remembered arguing with him over the food I had cooked. He was a racist jerk. Then I remembered being outside in the rain with Daryl digging a grave. Merle had been infected by a walker, and Daryl killed him.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I just remembered something, that's all."
"What happened to me? Why was I unconscious?"
"You were ambushed by a group of survivors, one of them knocked you out, but Daryl saved you and brought you back here."
Andrea and I sat and talked for awhile, she helped me recover more memories, but there were still blanks. "Are you going to come back upstairs now?" she asked as she got up to leave the panic room.
"Uh...not yet. I'm going to stay down here for a little bit."
"Okay."
After she left I started going through the stuff in the panic room. By now we were probably running low on supplies, and anything my father had stored in here would probably come in handy. I noticed a button on the back of a shelf and pushed it. A large portion of the floor rolled back to reveal a staircase. I grabbed a flashlight and cautiously descended the stairs. When I got to the bottom I found a light switch on the wall and hit it. Large fluorescent lights flickered for a moment before coming on. I looked around the large hidden room, amazed by what I seen.
There was a large TV screen, with smaller monitors around it. A computer sat on a nearby desk along with multiple folders with papers sticking out. Lab equipment filled the tables and counters that were in the room. It was like a small laboratory under my basement. Maybe my dad was a spy after all. I walked over to the desk and picked up a folder marked "XB323." I opened it and was astonished by what I seen.
There were two pictures of a man in camouflage. He was an infantryman in the army and had been injected with a serum to make him stronger, faster, and more agile. The first picture he was smiling, and looked like any normal person. In the second picture his skin was gray and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked practically dead. I read the file, Patient XB323 was injected with the serum and within three hours started to show signs of being faster, stronger, and more agile. Exactly what we had wanted. After testing he seemed perfectly healthy, however by the end of the week he was overcome with a fever. The serum had mutated and turned into some kind of disease. Patient XB323 died three days later only to come back to life. The previous effects the serum had on him were gone and he was a crazed maniac in a violent frenzy. Those of us who tried to calm him down he tried to bite. Men shot him, but he didn't go down, not until his brain was destroyed."
I read more of the files, each one was basically the same thing. I opened a drawer in the desk and found my father's journal. I opened it and started reading. "The project has been aborted. No matter how we change the serum, it mutates and turns the subject into one of the undead. They're bite is contagious and the virus spreads fast. The lab was quarantined, but I managed to escape. I wasn't contaminated, so why should I have to die. I took all the research I could, but there's still so much of it left at the lab. I'm sure it will be destroyed soon. I'm afraid they're going to come after me if they're not already on their way. I'm taking precautions to make sure I'm safe here in my home. I just hope they won't come after Mariposa or Emily."
I flipped through the pages to his last entry, "This will be the last time I write in here. There are dark days ahead of us, I just know it. Desmond told me that there are rumors of the project being restarted with a new group of young scientists. I can only pray that they don't suffer from the same fate as my colleagues. I'm leaving the house to Mariposa; as long as she's here I know my research will stay safe. She's a smart girl, and I know she'll survive whatever comes."
"My father wasn't crazy after all."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Maybe someone should check on her," Lori offered, "She's been down there all night."
"I'll go," I said, getting up. "Maybe she's forgiven me by now."
"Press the red button to talk to her. Otherwise she won't hear you," Andrea said.
I nodded and as I walked out of the room I heard Carol whisper, "I hope she's okay."
I walked down to the basement and the big silver box that was the panic room. I pressed the red button, "Mariposa?.......Mariposa?.........Are you ignoring me or are you asleep?" I waited for a few minutes but never got a reply from her. I turned around and headed for the stairs when I heard the door slide open.
"Daryl!"
I turned around, "Yes?"
"Get the others and come here, I've found something I want to show all of you."
"Um....okay."
She did, "Are you okay? I know Daryl's not the most sympathetic of people, and I just wanted to check on you."
"I'm fine."
"Do you want to talk to somebody?" she asked.
I sighed, it would be better than talking to Daryl. "Sure." I pushed the button to unlock the panic room and opened the door. Once she stepped inside I shut it back, and locked it.
"We were all worried about you," she said, "You were unconscious for three days."
I took a deep breath, "I guess that's why I'm suffering from amnesia. I'm starting to remember bits of things I've forgotten, but it hasn't all come back to me yet."
"I'm sorry about whatever it was that happened to Emily. I don't know who she was, you've stayed so quiet around us. Daryl was the only person you spent any time with, especially after we found Merle."
Merle, the image of a man with one hand flashed in my head. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate in hopes of remembering something. I remembered arguing with him over the food I had cooked. He was a racist jerk. Then I remembered being outside in the rain with Daryl digging a grave. Merle had been infected by a walker, and Daryl killed him.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I just remembered something, that's all."
"What happened to me? Why was I unconscious?"
"You were ambushed by a group of survivors, one of them knocked you out, but Daryl saved you and brought you back here."
Andrea and I sat and talked for awhile, she helped me recover more memories, but there were still blanks. "Are you going to come back upstairs now?" she asked as she got up to leave the panic room.
"Uh...not yet. I'm going to stay down here for a little bit."
"Okay."
After she left I started going through the stuff in the panic room. By now we were probably running low on supplies, and anything my father had stored in here would probably come in handy. I noticed a button on the back of a shelf and pushed it. A large portion of the floor rolled back to reveal a staircase. I grabbed a flashlight and cautiously descended the stairs. When I got to the bottom I found a light switch on the wall and hit it. Large fluorescent lights flickered for a moment before coming on. I looked around the large hidden room, amazed by what I seen.
There was a large TV screen, with smaller monitors around it. A computer sat on a nearby desk along with multiple folders with papers sticking out. Lab equipment filled the tables and counters that were in the room. It was like a small laboratory under my basement. Maybe my dad was a spy after all. I walked over to the desk and picked up a folder marked "XB323." I opened it and was astonished by what I seen.
There were two pictures of a man in camouflage. He was an infantryman in the army and had been injected with a serum to make him stronger, faster, and more agile. The first picture he was smiling, and looked like any normal person. In the second picture his skin was gray and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked practically dead. I read the file, Patient XB323 was injected with the serum and within three hours started to show signs of being faster, stronger, and more agile. Exactly what we had wanted. After testing he seemed perfectly healthy, however by the end of the week he was overcome with a fever. The serum had mutated and turned into some kind of disease. Patient XB323 died three days later only to come back to life. The previous effects the serum had on him were gone and he was a crazed maniac in a violent frenzy. Those of us who tried to calm him down he tried to bite. Men shot him, but he didn't go down, not until his brain was destroyed."
I read more of the files, each one was basically the same thing. I opened a drawer in the desk and found my father's journal. I opened it and started reading. "The project has been aborted. No matter how we change the serum, it mutates and turns the subject into one of the undead. They're bite is contagious and the virus spreads fast. The lab was quarantined, but I managed to escape. I wasn't contaminated, so why should I have to die. I took all the research I could, but there's still so much of it left at the lab. I'm sure it will be destroyed soon. I'm afraid they're going to come after me if they're not already on their way. I'm taking precautions to make sure I'm safe here in my home. I just hope they won't come after Mariposa or Emily."
I flipped through the pages to his last entry, "This will be the last time I write in here. There are dark days ahead of us, I just know it. Desmond told me that there are rumors of the project being restarted with a new group of young scientists. I can only pray that they don't suffer from the same fate as my colleagues. I'm leaving the house to Mariposa; as long as she's here I know my research will stay safe. She's a smart girl, and I know she'll survive whatever comes."
"My father wasn't crazy after all."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Maybe someone should check on her," Lori offered, "She's been down there all night."
"I'll go," I said, getting up. "Maybe she's forgiven me by now."
"Press the red button to talk to her. Otherwise she won't hear you," Andrea said.
I nodded and as I walked out of the room I heard Carol whisper, "I hope she's okay."
I walked down to the basement and the big silver box that was the panic room. I pressed the red button, "Mariposa?.......Mariposa?.........Are you ignoring me or are you asleep?" I waited for a few minutes but never got a reply from her. I turned around and headed for the stairs when I heard the door slide open.
"Daryl!"
I turned around, "Yes?"
"Get the others and come here, I've found something I want to show all of you."
"Um....okay."