Fighter

Isabell woke up in the middle of the night with an arm draped heavily over her stomach. She turned her head, noticing that Daryl was behind her, sleeping close to her. Isabell sighed and attempted to move out of his grasp without waking him.

Daryl’s grip only tightened on her as she moved.

Isabell laughed silently. “Daryl.” she called, deciding it would be easier to wake her up.

Daryl groaned.

“Daryl.” She said, a little bit louder, hitting him with her free arm.

Daryl awoke with a start, an angry look on his face. His arm that had held her just seconds ago, was now held up over her body in an attempt to hit her.

Isabell grabbed his wrist before he could drop it on her. “Daryl, stop!” she shouted, her grip weakening on his wrist.

Daryl woke up, fully, and noticed what was going on. Daryl pushed himself further back into the back of the couch. “Iz, shit. I - ”

Isabell held up her hand to stop him from talking.

“No, I’m - ”

“Daryl.” Isabell said, forcefully, wanting him to drop the situation. “It’s fine.” Isabell rolled off of the couch. “I shouldn’t have hit you.” She whispered before walking to the bathroom. Isabell heard Daryl stand up from the couch and follow her, but she closed the door and locked it before he could catch her. Isabell leaned on the door and slid down to the floor. She sighed, pushing her hair out of her face.

Daryl knocked on the door. “Isabell, open the door.”

Isabell groaned. “I’m usin’ the bathroom, ya dumb hick.”

“No, ya ain’t. I can see yer shadow from under the door.” Daryl breathed. “I’m sorry.”

Isabell let out a breath and moved to lean against the wall. She reached up to unlock the door.

Daryl pushed himself in and sat on the floor next to Isabell. The two sat in silence for a moment as Isabell waited for Daryl to say his peace. However, Daryl was probably waiting for Isabell to start.

Daryl sighed. “I always said I’d never hurt ya. An’ I won’t, ya know?”

Isabell nodded as she stared at one of the tiles that had kept her attention. “You’re real good at bein’ careful. Just sometimes it’s still scary.” She sighed. “I know that you’re not like that. I know that you’re good.”

Daryl only nodded in response.

Isabell could tell that he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Talking about his father and even his past, upset Daryl. Isabell always wondered what Daryl thought about how he would be as a father. She knew at least that he believed he could do better.

Having a family like that was too far gone anymore. Isabell wouldn’t ever bring another child into this world. Sophia and Carl were enough, and even then, Isabell was still scared about what could happen to them. Daryl was, too. Especially with Sophia. Daryl had so much in common with Sophia and Carol with what Ed did to them and what Daryl’s father did to him.

“I know yer gettin’ close to that woman and her daughter.” Daryl said. “And I know why.”

Isabell shrugged. “I just want to keep them close. Safe. Carol can barely fend for herself, let alone keep track of a little girl.” A lump formed in her throat. Isabell tried to clear it out, but it didn’t go away. She felt the water burn her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I don’t want to watch that little girl die.” Isabell said, dryly, as she moved to lay her head on Daryl’s shoulder.

Daryl put an arm around her in response. “I know.” Daryl said softly. “Me neither.” He agreed.

!@#$#@!

Isabell got back to sleep soon after that, but awoke a few hours later with a pounding in her head. It was worse than she had felt in a long time. She hadn’t realized how long it’s been since she had anything to drink. Isabell crawled out of Daryl’s sleeping grasp and went down to the cafeteria hoping that’s where others were.

“Morning.” Carl called as Isabell strolled in.

Isabell walked over and messed up his hair a little bit. “Mornin’, Bud.” She said, holding another hand to her head, trying to force the pain from it.

Lori noticed and offered Isabell a pill bottle.

“Oh, gosh. You’re my savior.” Isabell praised, quickly getting the bottle open and taking some medicine for herself and then for Daryl. She put the bottle back on the table. “Thank, Lori.”

Lori nodded, keeping her eyes on her plate of food.

“That looks good.” Isabell commented.

“Well, have some of your own.” T-Dog said, coming out from behind the counter. He had a pan of bacon and eggs in his hands.

“Thanks, T.” Isabell grabbed a couple plates and gathered some food for Daryl and herself.
Glenn was hunched over his plate, sitting at the same table as Lori and Carl, with his head in his hands.

Isabell laughed at the sight. “How you feelin’, Glenn?” she asked him.

“Never let me drink again.”

Isabell laughed. “You just don’t know how to cope with the hangover.” Isabell put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “You should eat though. It’ll make you feel better. I promise.” Isabell looked up to the others sitting at the table. “I’ll see you guys in a bit. Ima take this to Daryl.”

Everyone nodded as she turned to leave.

As she left through the doorway, Carol and Sophia were on their way in. “Hey.” She said, in passing.

“Ms. Isabell?” the little voice called.

Isabell stopped and turned back to look at the two.

Carol looked at her daughter, questioning her actions.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for checking up on me and my mom.” Sophia said.

Isabell’s eyes started watering, but she blinked the tears away. “You’re welcome, sweetness.” she said with a smile. Isabell turned back around and breathed deeply as she walked back to her room. It amazed her how just a few days ago, she barely knew these people. Now, Isabell knew that she would do anything for any of them. Except maybe Shane. She didn’t get the right vibe from him.

When Isabell arrived back at the room, Daryl was in the bathroom washing off his face. She waited for him out in the main room. The two ate in silence. Daryl decided that he didn’t want the pills and settled for drinking more from his bottle that he had last night. As much as Isabell tried to push him away from it, she didn’t want to start a fight about it. “You done?”

Daryl nodded.

“C’mon. I told everyone we’d come out from hiding when you woke.” The two headed out of the room and went to the eating area to see everyone walking out of it. “What’s goin’ on?” Isabell asked Carol.

“He’s going to tell us what he knows.”

Isabell nodded, going back to Daryl, having them be at the end of the line. The group went back to Zone 5 and Jenner hit a few buttons on his computer. Everyone was confused. Daryl stayed back and continued to drink from the bottle.

Jenner looked down at his screen. “Give me playback of TS-19.” He told his computer.

“Playback of TS-19.” VI repeated back. The big screen in the center of the room, started to show a bunch of brain scans, and other things that most of the group didn’t understand.

Jenner turned to face the group. “Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few.” He admitted.

“Is that a brain?” Carl asked.

Jenner looked down at him. “An extraordinary one.” Jenner told him. “Not that it matters in the end.” He said, more solemnly. Daryl and Isabell moved up to his left and stood there, annoyed, just wanting him to continue. “Take us in for EIV.”

“Enhanced Internal View.” VI said. The enhanced view took a look inside the brain stem where the nerves that encompassed it were seen.

“What are those lights?” Shane asked.

“That’s a person’s life.” Jenner responded. “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.

Isabell elbowed him.

Daryl simply responded by pulling her into him and putting an arm around her shoulder to rub his thumb over it.

“Those are synapses, electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does, or things from the moment of birth to the moment of death.”

“Death?” Rick asked, stepping forward. “That’s what this is? A vigil?”

“Yes.” Jenner admitted. “Or rather, the playback of the vigil.” He corrected.

Isabell pulled herself out of Daryl’s grasp and moved forward to watch the video closely.

“The person died?” Andrea asked. “Who?”

“Test Subject 19. Someone who was bitten, and infected, and volunteered to have us record the process.” Jenner paused. “VI, scan forward to the first event.”

“Scanning to first event.” VI said. The video fast forwarded and then all the nerves turned dark and black.

“What is that?” Glenn gasped.

Isabell turned to look at Jenner. “Why is it all black?”

Jenner pointed up to the screen. “It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs.” After he said that, everything in the brain stopped moving. “Then death.” He paused. “Everything you ever were or ever will be… Gone.”

Isabell looked to Andrea, who seemed to be taking this harder than the rest of the group, since her sister had just died.

“Is that what happened to Jim?” Sophia asked her mother.

Carol looked down at her daughter. “Yes.” She said, then looked over to Isabell. Isabell took a deep breath and looked to Daryl, who couldn’t look away from the screen. Her eyes started to water as she thought about everyone they’ve lost, going out in this way.

Jenner couldn’t stop staring at Andrea, probably wondering why she was so upset.

“She lost somebody two days ago.” Lori clarified. “Her sister.”

“I lost somebody, too.” Jenner said gently. “I know how devastating it is.” He turned back to the screen. “Scan to the second event.”

“Scanning to second event.” VI said.

“The resurrection times vary wildly.” Jenner informed. “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.”

Isabell looked to him, confused. Granted he was a doctor, but he really didn’t have to memorize this subjects reanimation time to the second.

“It restarts the brain?” Lori questioned.

“No,” Jenner said. “Just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving.”

“But they’re not alive?” Rick asked.

“You tell me.” Jenner challenged.

“It’s nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark.”

“Rick’s right.” Isabell added. “That’s not living. All the thoughts and memories are gone.”

“The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part - that doesn’t come back. The ‘you’ part. Just a shell, driven by mindless instinct.” Just then a flash moved across the screen, making everyone jump.

“What the hell was that?” Isabell asked.

“He shot his patient in the head.” Andrea said confidently. She looked towards Jenner. “Didn’t you?”

“VI, power down the main screen.” Jenner advised. “And the work stations.”

VI repeated his words and complied.

Isabell looked to Daryl who had his arms crossed and was looking at the ground. Isabell could tell that he was trying to figure everything out.

“You have no idea what it is.” Andrea accused. “Do you?”

The group looked to Jenner. When he hesitated, Isabell knew his answer and walked backwards into Daryl’s embrace.

“It could be microbial, parasitic, viral, fungal.” Jenner guessed.

“Or the wrath of God.” Jacqui suggested.

“There is that.”

“Somebody must know something.” Andrea begged. “Somebody, somewhere.”

“There are others, right?” Carol asked. “Other facilities?”

“There may be some.” Jenner cited. “People like me.”

‘But you don’t know.” Isabell complained.

Jenner shook his head.

“How can you not know?” Rick grumbled.

“Everything went down. Communications, directives. All of it. I’ve been in the dark for almost a month.”

“So, it’s not just here?” Andrea asked. “There’s nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That’s what you’re really saying, right?”

When Jenner didn’t answer, everyone knew. Andrea scoffed. A few people gasped in shock.

Daryl dropped his grip from Isabell and walked away. “Man, I’m gonna get shitfaced drunk again.” He said.

Isabell followed him, agreeing.

Dale stepped forward. “Doctor Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more questions, but…” Dale turned to the side and pointed to the display on the wall, “...that clock, it’s counting down. What happens at zero?”

Jenner stumbled with his words. “The basement generators. They run out of fuel.”

“And then?” Rick asked, but Jenner walked away, not answering. “VI, what happens when the power runs out?”

“When the power runs out,” VI answered, “facility-wide decontamination will occur.”

Isabell’s eyes widened. “Well, what the hell does that mean?” She asked aloud.

Daryl shook his head and grabbed Isabell’s arm, leading her back into the room that they slept in.

“Daryl, do you know what that means?” Isabell asked, once they hit the hallway.

“No, but it don’t sound good.” He admitted. After arriving at their room, Daryl scrambled to make sure all of his stuff was packed up.

“Daryl?” Isabell followed him around the room. “What are you doing? What’s going on?”

Daryl didn’t answer her. Instead, he packed up a few things that he had found just lying around the room that he thought could be useful.

Isabell groaned. “Daryl!” she shouted at him.

Daryl jerked up and turned to her.

Isabell looked at his questioningly and raised her arms to the side.

Daryl shook his head, taking a couple strides towards her and putting her face in his hands. “Nothin’s wrong. Is just a feelin’, okay?”

“Yer feelin’s are almost always right, D.” She said, worried and shaken.

“Look, just grab what ya find useful. Nothin’s wrong. This is jus’ if we need to get away quick.” Daryl looked at her in her eyes and she could tell that he was lying, but she nodded anyway. He planted a quick kiss on her lips and then we to grab his bottle of booze from last night.

Isabell finished packing, knowing that she would do better at it. In a minute, the lights went out. Isabell moved to turn them on again, but it didn’t work. She turned to Daryl.

Daryl stood from the desk, taking the bottle with him and leaned out the door. “What’s going on?” He questioned. “Why is everything turned off?”

Jenner walked by just as Daryl asked and he stole Daryl’s bottle. Daryl followed him and Isabell jogged out of the room after him. Isabell was sure to grab Carol and Sophia and keep them close to her.

“Energy use is being prioritized.” Jenner responded.

“Air isn’t a priority?” Dale asked. “And lights?”

Jenner shook his head. “It’s not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down.”

Daryl obviously wasn’t very happy about his answer. He followed quickly after Jenner. “Hey!” Daryl called. “Hey, what the hell does that mean?”

Jenner didn’t respond, but kept walking into the big circle room.

“Hey, man, I’m talking to you! What do you mean, ‘it’s shutting itself down’? How can a building do anything?”

Isabell looked to Carol who gripped Sophia tightly. Both looked scared. “Daryl will figure this out.” She comforted. “We’ll be fine. I promise.”

“Rick?” Lori called over the railing. Isabell saw Rick lift a hand up to her to calm her. He’d handle it.

“Jenner, what’s happening?” Rick asked.

“The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power.” Jenner explained. “It’s designed to keep the computer running to the last possible second. That started as we approached our half-hour mark.” Jenner pointed to the countdown on the wall. “Right on schedule.” Jenner stopped at the stairs to the work stations and took a drink from the bottle he stole from Daryl, that he politely returned when he was satisfied. Jenner turned to Andrea. “It was the French.”

“What?” Andrea asked.

“They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know.” Jenner said. “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.”

“What happened?” Jacqui questioned.

“The same thing that’s happening here. No power grid. Ran outta juice.” Jenner turned and continued to the workstations. “The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?”

Shane threw himself up the stairs. “Let me tell you - ”

Rick interrupted him. “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!”

Isabell immediately turned around, pulling Carol and Sophia back the way they came. Alarms started blaring, making her jump and stop to a halt.

“What was that?” Shane exclaimed.

VI soon responded. “Thirty minutes to decontamination.”

Isabell looked up to Daryl.

Daryl held up a waiting finger to her. “Doc, what’s going on here?” He demanded.

Jenner didn’t answer.

“Everybody!” Shane shouted. “Y’all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let’s go! Go now! Go!”

Isabell had almost caught up to Rick by the door when it slid up and closed the group in.

“Did you just lock us in?!” Glenn asked. “He just locked us in!”

Isabell looked to Daryl, who looked extremely angry. Daryl ran up the stairs towards the doctor. “You son of a bitch!” He shouted at him.

Rick noticed his charge and pointed at him. “Shane!”

“Daryl, don’t!” Isabell shouted, letting go of Carol so she could chase him.

“You locked us in here!” Daryl accused.

“No, stop!” Shane yelled. “Don’t!”

“You lying - ” Daryl started but Shane pulled him away from the doctor telling him to stop.

Isabell trailed Shane and grabbed Daryl’s arm. Daryl only pushed Isabell away from him, making her fall to the ground.

Carol ran to collect Isabell, while T-Dog helped Shane.

“I’m fine.” Isabell told Carol. Carol grabbed her arm and pulled Isabell off of the floor. Isabell brushed herself off. She couldn’t look at Daryl, so she followed Rick who went up to Jenner.

“Jenner, open those doors.” Rick ordered.

“There’s no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed. I can’t open them. That’s the computer’s job. I told you: once that front door closed, it wouldn’t open again.”

“There may be no point for you, but we’ll force ourselves out.” Isabell told him. “Now, open the damn door!”

“It’s better this way.” Jenner assured.

“What is?” Isabell pushed. “What happens in twenty-eight minutes?”

Daryl had calmed down and reached for her arm, but Isabell shrugged him off angrily.

Jenner didn’t answer.

Shane hit the doctor’s back.

“What happens in twenty-eight minutes?!” Rick repeated Isabell’s question.

“Come on!” Daryl urged Jenner.

Jenner stood up and got in Isabell’s face. “You know what this place is?!”

Isabell cowered back into Carol.

Jenner turned to Rick. “We protected the public from very nasty stuff!” Jenner’s words were now directed at the group. “Weaponized smallpox. Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don’t want getting out! Ever!” Jenner straightened his coat and sat back in his chair. “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 questioned.

“VI, define.”

The computer spoke. “H.I.T.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.”

Isabell’s stomach sank. She rubbed her face and moved her hair from in front of it. She looked to Daryl, pain clear in his eyes.

Everyone knew what that meant. The CDC was going to blow.

Daryl quickly moved towards her and wrapped his arms around her.

Isabell didn’t fight him. She didn’t care that he had pushed her around. She couldn’t care about something so stupid knowing that they were going to die.

VI continued. “The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between five thousand and six thousand degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired.”

“It sets the air on fire.” Jenner clarified. “No pain.”

Isabell pulled out of Daryl’s arms just for a moment. He kept one arm on her shoulder, rubbing it when his thumb. Isabell looked to Carol and Sophia to see them crying and holding each other.

“An end to sorrow, grief. Regret.” Jenner paused and looked around. “Everything.”

Isabell moved back into Daryl’s arms and cried into his chest, while he had his hand laced through her hair.