Ever the Survivor

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They all stared ahead of them as the bright light coming from the door shut off, leaving a much dimmer room ahead of them.

"Daryl, you cover the back." Shane said as they formed a scattered line, making their way to the opening.

Rick was the first to walk through, shotgun raised. They all filed in, looking around the large open reception room. It was clear of walkers and humans from the looks of things.

"Hello?" Rick said as they walked further in, weapons still ready. "Hello?"

"Close those doors." Shane said to Kat and Daryl who were the last ones in. They turned and closed the glass doors the shutter was previously blocking. "Watch for walkers."

The group gathered in front of a center wall that had a mural and 'CDC' painted on it's front. Over their heads, there was dim lighting, giving the room enough light for them to see around. "Hello?" Rick said again.

A gun being cocked was the next sound in the room when a tall, blond haired man stepped out from the room behind the wall onto a small raised landing.

"Anybody infected?" He shouted at them, an automatic rifle aimed at the group. Kat could tell he was inexperienced from the way he was holding it. It was mostly for show.

"One of our group was...He didn't make it." Rick said to him as he lowered his weapon a little from the man.

The man made his way down the steps of the small landing he was on. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"..A chance."

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man said, stepping closer.

Rick tilted his head a little in a knowing manner, before looking back at the man. "I know."

Edwin took a minute to look around at all the faces in front of him. He hadn't been sure if anyone was even still left alive until now. He hadn't seen a living person in months. "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." He said, coming even closer, almost subconsciously. He hadn't been around actual people in so long.

"We can do that." Rick said. Lowering his weapon more.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now." The man said, letting the AR come to rest at his side. "Once this door closes, it stays closed." He said, pointing to the door they just came in as he made his way to Rick. He nodded and headed towards the door again with the man.

Daryl, Glenn, Dylan, Rick and Shane were the group that went out to the cars to grab everyone's essentials. T-Dog and Dale held the two glass doors open for the group while Kat waited just outside, her handguns in each hand just in case a stray got too close to one of the group. They made quick work of grabbing the bags, drawing little attention to them as they made their way back to the open doors and their new safe haven.

T-Dog and Dale pulled the doors shut as soon as Kat made her way back inside behind Shane. Once the doors were shut, Edwin slid his ID card through the security keypad next to the doors. With a beep, the lights on the keypad's box turned green and the words "Access Granted" appeared on the small screen.

"Vi, seal the main entrance." He said into the speaker on the box. "Kill the power up here."

The shutter began to come down over the door again, blocking them from the outside. The locks all slid in place for what would be the final time. The keypad beeped once after they were closed and turned red again, reading "All Systems Locked" on the screen.

"Rick Grimes." Rick said as everyone else walked away from the doors to grab their things. He offered his hand to the man who had let them in. He was still standing by the security keypad.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner." He said, pausing to look around at the people before taking Rick's hand and giving it a shake.

After some very brief introductions, he told them they would be safer, and more comfortable, in the main part of the CDC. He led them back to the landing he had first stepped out on to greet them and through the room behind the center wall. The hallway at the end of the room led to a large service elevator that only went down. All 17 of them fit inside, though it was a little tight. They listened to the sounds of the elevator humming and working it's way to the lower levels as it made it's way down. At least there's no god damn elevator music. Kat thought, then hoped this wasn't going to end up like her last elevator ride with Leon on their last job.

"Doctor's always go around packin heat like that?" Daryl said, looking towards Jenner who had the AR resting against his chest. Daryl was tucked into the back corner of the elevator while Jenner was at the front by the keypad controls.

"Well, there were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself." Jenner said, looking behind him at Daryl. He glanced around at a few of the faces around him. "But you look harmless enough." He said, before letting his eyes fall down on little Carl and Kaleb, who were standing next to him and were much shorter than everyone else on the elevator. Sam cutting it pretty close, though. "Except you." He nodded his head at the smaller boys. "I'll have to keep my eye on you." He said, causing both boys to let a small, shy smile play on their lips. Jenner smiled before turning back to the keypad. They were almost at the bottom now.

They could all feel the elevator slow as it came to a stop, seconds before the door opened. Jenner walked out first and everyone began to exit the elevator. He led them down an L shaped hallway as everybody followed him.

"Are we underground?" Carol, who was towards the back of the group, asked. Jenner turned to look at her over his shoulder, but didn't stop walking.

"Are you claustrophobic?" He asked.

"A little."

"Try not to think about it." He said as he continued down the rest of the main hallway.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." He said as he made his way down another, smooth surface, platform. And it was just that, a big room. There was a humming sound and beeping of equipment as overhead lights lit up the huge room ahead of them. In the middle, at the end of the platform, was a large, circular landing about 2 feet off the ground. It had two small stairs leading to the floor it was sitting on at either side of the platform. On top were several computer terminals. "Welcome to zone 5." Jenner said, turning his head towards the group behind him. They all looked around the room ahead of them as Edwin made his way to the computers, the group slowly following after him.

"Where is everybody?" Rick asked. "The other doctors, the staff?" He said, looking around the room as they walked towards the computers.

"I'm it." Jenner said, as he stood in the middle of the room among the empty terminals. "It's just me here." Rick looked around for a moment, trying to wrap his head around what the man had just said. One man, in this entire building?

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori said.

"A Virtual Intelligence program...Vi." Kat said from between her brothers and Daryl, making everyone look at her. She was familiar with them.

"Vi, say hello to our guests." Jenner said, nodding at Kat. "Tell them...Welcome."

"Hello, guests. Welcome." An automated voice sounded over the speakers. Echoing slightly off of the walls in the large, empty room.

"I'm all that's left." Jenner said as he looked at Rick. "I'm sorry." He turned around, leading them to the other side of the room and out of the door there. He led them through another set of hallways and into a room they used mostly for small seminars or meetings. It was large enough for all of them to fit in comfortably while he took everyone's blood samples.

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"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever." Andrea said, sitting on a chair across from Jenner at the front of the room as he finished drawing her blood. She was the last one.

"I've already broken every rule in the book lettin you in here. Let me just at least be thorough." He said as he set the syringe down on the small table next to them and gave her a cotton ball to hold on her arm. "All done."

Andrea slowly got up and turned to head back to the group when she stopped, feeling light headed. "Ohh." She let out a breath. Jacqui, who was standing behind her, came to her side to help her walk.

"Are you okay?" Jenner asked, seeing the woman sway a little.

"She hasn't eaten in days." Jacqui said, looking around Andrea at Jenner. "None of us have." The man looked around at the group, almost dumbfounded. Had it gotten that bad? That they couldn't get food?

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Everyone was gathered around a couple tables they had pushed together in the CDC's cafeteria. There was a kitchen area behind a counter at the side of the room. Jenner had taken a few of the women with him to the food storage in the next room, letting them pick out food to prepare a meal for everyone. There was more than enough food for everyone here and then some. They all sat, laughing and talking, as they enjoyed the first big meal they had in awhile. In celebration of finally finding a place they would be safe at, Jenner showed them to the alcohol cabinet, which had more bottles of wine than they could count. They set up a table at the end of theirs with various bottles they could use as they drained them one by one, taking full advantage of not having to watch everything they did and look over their shoulder every second.

"Fine." Lori laughed, as Dale, who was standing at the end of the table, poured her another glass of wine. She refused at first, but he suckered her into it.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner." Dale said, handing her the glass. "And in France." Dale was getting ready to pour a little wine into the empty cup in front of Carl when Lori put her hand over it with a smile, shaking her head.

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." She said, looking between her son and Dale as she took a sip of her wine.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on." Rick said with a smile, looking at her from his seat next to Carl, who was sitting between them. Lori looked at him as he laughed a little bit. "Come on." Rick said again, his smile spreading.

Lori smiled and shrugged her shoulders as she took her hand off of Carl's glass and raised it in the air in surrender, causing everyone to laugh.

"Heyyy!" T-Dog said as he raised his own glass of wine up with a wide grin on his face.

Dale leaned over and picked up Carl's glass as he poured a little bit of the red wine into it. "There you are, young lad." He said as he handed it to the boy. Who took it from him right away, bringing the glass right to his lips.

Rick looked at his son, letting out a chuckle as he saw the boy's face twist up as soon as he took a sip of the dark red colored drink.

Carl quickly put the cup down on the table and squished his face together in disgust. "Eww!" He said, shaking his head like he was a dog. All of the adults laughed.

Lori patted him on the back while she reached for his cup of wine he was no longer eager to have. "That's my boy. That's my boy." She said as she emptied his cup into her own wine glass. "Good boy."

"Yuck." Carl said, still shaking his head, trying to get the bitter taste from his mouth. "That tastes nasty." He said as Rick gave him a pat on the back with another laugh.

"You definitely don't wanna try this then." Kat said, as she held up her shot glass of vodka. Daryl raised his to his mouth and they both threw them back. He had a bottle of wine in one hand and a shot glass she would refill every now and then with the bottle of vodka in hers, in the other. They had finished eating and were standing, leaning, against the counter behind everyone.

"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane said, looking around.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl said as he walked around the table and came to Shane's side to grab Kat a glass she asked for.

"What?" Glenn asked, looking up from the wine bottle in his hands with a smile.

"Keep drinkin, little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." Daryl said, actually smiling at the young guy while he taunted him. Everyone laughed again, as he poured the wine into the glass in his hands, and refilled Shane's, before walking around the table back to Kat, handing her the glass.

Rick spared a glance at Jenner, who was sitting by himself at a table behind the group. He was the only one not laughing. He was just looking around at the joyous people in front of him. Rick grabbed the butter knife on his napkin and clinked it against his glass, calling everyone's attention. He stood up.

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." He said, looking around the group and then back at Jenner.

"He is more than just our host." T-Dog said, raising his glass into the air.

"Hear hear!" Dale said as he raised his glass along with everyone else in the room.

"Here's to you, doc." Daryl said as he raised the wine bottle, still clutched in his hand. "Booyah!" Everyone laughed and most of the men repeated after him.

"Booyah!" T-Dog said, loudly, as they all clinked their glasses together.

"Thank you." Rick said, looking at Jenner as he raised his glass to his lips.

Everybody was still chuckling when Shane decided to turn the evening in a more serious direction, making everyone quiet down at once. "So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" He said. "All the, uh. The other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" He said as he looked into his wine glass.

"We're celebratin, Shane." Rick said. "Don't need to do this now." He said as he sat back down.

"Whoa, wait a second." Shane said, holding up his hand. "This is why we're here, right? This was your move, supposed to find all the answers. Instead we-" He laughed before he continued. "We found him." He pointed to his left to Jenner with his thumb. "Found one man. Why?"

"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families." Jenner started to explain. First looking to Shane, then around to the group. "And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane asked, sitting back in his chair.

"No. Many couldn't face walking out the door. They...opted out. There was a rash of suicides...That was a bad time." Jenner said, looking down at his cup.

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asked.

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good." Jenner said to her as the group looked at the doctor for a few quiet seconds.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man." Glenn said as he got up from his seat on top of another table and came closer to the group.

After everyone was finished with their meals they piled their plates on the counter next to the sink, before grabbing their bags. Jenner was going to show them where they could turn in for the night when they were all ready. They were all making their way to the door, past the alcohol, when Daryl saw Kat snag a bottle of Jack from the table and slip it in her bag. He smiled a little, she wasn't going to bed any time soon.

"Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here." Jenner said as he led them down even more hallways in the lower levels of the building. The rooms here could qualify as motel rooms or something of the sort. They each had a bathroom with a toilet, shower and sink. Luxuries everyone certainly missed, but the rooms were lacking beds. "The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like." He said as he pointed to the open doors of the rooms as they walked by. "There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy." He said as he stopped and turned around to face the group. He looked down at the youngest members who were right behind him. Sophia was holding Eliza's doll to her chest. "Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. " He said as he bent over to be more eye level with them and gave them a smile, which they returned and nodded their heads. "The same applies," He said as he raised his voice and stood back up to the adults, "if you shower, go easy on the hot water." He said, pointing his finger back and forth before he turned around and walked down the hall to his office.

Glenn, who was standing behind the kids, turned around and faced the rest of the group with a smile on his face. "Hot water?"

"That's what the man said." T-Dog said from beside him as they both started laughing.

Everyone picked out rooms and put their stuff down. The first thing everyone took advantage of was the hot shower they had all missed so much. Kat had put Sam and Kaleb in one room, while she took her own, Dylan as well. She told them both to take a shower but they were more excited to go play in the rec room with Carl and Sophia, so she let them go. She was going to stand under that hot water for a good 20 minutes though.

After she was done, she changed into a loose pair of black yoga pants and her black DSO shirt, letting her damp hair hang around her shoulders. She grabbed the bottle of Jack from her bag, unscrewing the cap and walked out of her room. She was going to explore for awhile. She passed by Rick and Dale in the hallway on her way around the corner.

Rick made it to the landing and down the stairs from their rooms that led to the computer terminals, where he found Jenner. He knocked on the top of one of them as he approached. "How's the blood?" He said, walking over to the man, a bottle of wine he'd been drinking all night still in his hand.

"No surprises." Jenner said as he looked at Rick.

Rick continued until he came to the terminal next to the one Jenner was seated at. "I came to thank you." He said to the man with a smile.

"You did."

Rick smiled again as he went to lean against the terminal behind him. It ended up being a little further away than he thought it was in his inebriated state. His back hit the terminal as he slid to the floor with more force than he meant to.

"You all..you all right?" Jenner said as he watched the drunk man in front of him, who was breathing heavy.

"You don't know what it's like." Rick said as he bent his knees in front of him, propping his arm that held the wine bottle on one. He used his other to point briefly at Jenner before resting it on his other leg. Rick laughed as Jenner turned to face him. "You don't know what it's like out there." He said, leaning his head back against the terminal. "You may think you do, but you don't...We'd have died out there...It was only a matter of time. There's too many of those things...My, my boy...my-my wife, I never...I never told em what I really thought. I never even hinted, just...just kept it in. Kept it in and kept us moving, you know. Just kept it in. Kept us-"

"It'll all be okay." Jenner said to the man on the floor in front of him.. "It'll be okay."

Lori walked into the rec room with another glass of wine in her hands and a smile on her face after she changed her clothes from the shower. Carol turned around to look at her when she chuckled a bit. The older woman was lounging on a couch reading a book while the children were playing checkers with each other. Lori laughed a bit as she walked into the room more, coming closer to the small group. "Any good books?" She asked, looking at the various book shelves in the room. She walked over to look at a small little bar area at the side of the room.

"Uh huh." Carol said, closing the book she was reading and looking at the shelves in front of her. "Enough to keep us busy for years...All right. Come on, kids, it's bedtime." She said as she got up from the couch, grabbing another book she had set on the table in front of her.

"Baby, go say your prayers. I'm gonna browse a bit." Lori said as she walked over to the bookshelves.

"Come on," Carol said as she started walking towards the door out of the rec room that would lead back to their rooms. "This is the first night we might actually get some real sleep." She stopped, turning to look at Lori.

"Hmm." Lori said as she nodded her head in agreement.

"It's a miracle, isn't it?" Carol said, pointing to her daughter before leading the children to the door again.

Lori was looking at the titles at the books on the shelves when she stopped on one she remembered reading reviews for in a magazine. She decided to pull it off the shelf and read the back as she took a sip of her wine.

Shane walked into the room from a side door he'd found in his drunken adventures around the building. 'Gettin the feel of the place' he probably would've said if someone asked him what he was doing, when really, he'd gotten lost down all the different hallways this damn building had. He looked at Lori, who's back was to him as she read the back cover of the book. She had on a long-sleeved button down night shirt that came to about her mid thigh and a pair of Rick's boxer shorts on underneath. She put the book back before pulling another one off the shelf. He looked at her for a few more seconds before pulling the door he was at shut, making it slam.

She jumped and turned around, looking at him. She let out a sigh. "Jesus, you scared me."

Shane leaned against the door frame and looked at her. "I'm gonna tell you a few things and you're gonna listen to me."

"Now is not the time." She said, raising the glass to her lips and looking down at the book in her hands. Shane laughed.

"Come on. When is it ever the time?" He said, leaning off the wall and walking to the middle of the room. If she wanted to get back to her room, she'd have to walk past him to do it. He too, still had a bottle of alcohol in his hands.

Lori stood up straight from the bookshelf and began walking towards him.

"How can you treat me like this?" He asked as she came right in front of him.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No. Huh-uh." He said, shaking his head.

"Because you told me my husband was dead." She said as she walked past him in the direction of the door.

"Jesus, Lori. I didn't lie to you, all right. I didn't." He said as he turned around, trying to beat her to the door. "Do you know what it was like there? Huh?" He rushed around her and grabbed the open door, closing it and standing in front of it. "Stop. Things were falling apart. They were slaughtering people in the hallways. It was a massacre. There were Walkers everywhere."

"So you left him?"

"Everybody else ran. There were no doctors there. It was just me. He was hooked up to machines and I did not know what to do." He raised his voice, talking with his hands with every sentence. "I even took my ear and I put it on his chest and I listened for a heartbeat and I did not hear one. And I-I-I-I- I don't know why. Maybe it was gunfire. I don't know what it was, but there was no way he could've survived that." Shane said, kicking the door behind him. "No way."

"He did."

"Yeah," Shane said as he closed the distance between them, causing her to start walking backwards. "But then I had y'all to think about, didn't I?" He said, pushing her back more, becoming more aggressive. "I had you and Carl, and I needed to think about- I had to get you guys safe to Atlanta." Lori sat down on the chair to the piano that was behind her, setting her glass down next to her on the seat.

"Okay. No no." Lori said as she went to put her hands on his shoulders, thinking maybe he would let her get up.

"That's what I had to do." He pushed her back onto the seat as she tried to get up. "Just stop. If you thought for one second that he was alive, would you have come?" He said as he pointed at her. She just looked at him. "So I saved your life- you and your little boy's. That's what I did." He said, finally lowering his voice. "Right?" He whispered.

Lori looked at him wide eyed. She'd never seen him like this, he'd never been forceful with her or raised his voice at her before.

"Okay." He whispered. "And if I could've traded places with him, I would have. I would trade places with him right now because- No no no, you-"

"No no no. No." Lori tried to stop him, knowing where this was heading. He gently grabbed her neck, holding her there, as he looked in her eyes.

"I love you. Shh Shh."

"No. No, you're drunk." Lori said as she tried to lean away from him.

"I love you."

"No, you're drunk."

"And I know there were some things that say that you love me too, because there's no way that you could've been with me the way that you were." Shane said as he tried to pull her in for a kiss, while she was fighting him the whole time.

"Shane. Shane. Shane!" She said as he kept trying. She was pulling at his hands and pushing against him while she tried to lean away and get up from her seat.

"Just- okay, stop." He said as he grabbed her by the waist with one hand and tried to hold her still in the seat. He grabbed her, hard, by the chin and jaw with his other as he tried to kiss her again. "Listen. You love me."

"Get your hands off me." Lori said as she pushed at his chest, trying to get up again. "Get your hands off me."

"I love you. There's nobody here."

"Please! Ah!" She shouted as he brought his hand between her legs to her center as she reached for his wrist trying to push him away.

"Stop, Lori. It's all right. Just-"

Lori was pushing him away again as she brought her hand to his neck and gripped onto the flesh she found there. She put her other hand on his chest and with a shout she pushed him with all her might, standing up. He finally let go of her, her nails ripping into his skin as he pulled away, leaving several red scratch marks on his neck and jaw. He brought his hand to his mouth as his back hit the door. They stared at each other for a few seconds before he turned and hit the wall next to the door with his fist. He opened to door and walked out, closing it behind him. Leaving Lori there to catch her breath after what had just happened. She brought her hands into her hair as she started to cry.

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Shane was wondering the hallways again as he settled down from what just happened. It hadn't gone at all how he had planned. He wanted her to be all over him while it was just the two of them in that room. He made his way all the way back through the side door of the rec room again, on his tour. Seeing no one inside anymore, he shut the door behind him and walked to the other door that would lead to the rooms.

Mixed with the anger, the alcohol still flowing through him, and the rejection he had received from Lori, Shane was sauntering through the hall of the CDC trying to remember which room, exactly, he had put his stuff in. Everything looked the same. He just wanted to get into the privacy of his room, strip down and maybe have some time with himself since no one else would obviously be helping him tonight.

As he rounded the corner, he could see Kat coming his way. She must've been wonderin around this big place too. They didn't get off on the right foot, but he didn't care at this point. Maybe she was drunk enough. He'd been looking at everyone around the table earlier at dinner and caught her and the redneck taking some shots together and chatting. Why the hell's she so cozy around him? He thought. She knew him before, big deal. He knew she had been drinking hard liquor most of the night. And judging by the half empty bottle of Jack Daniels hanging from her left hand, she wasn't planning on turning in just yet.

She saw him as soon as he turned the corner, but chose to ignore him as she made her way to the rec room. She planned on grabbing some books and kicking her feet up while she read and drank some more. She was stopped when he got closer, putting his arm out in front of her face, resting his hand on the wall and blocking her path. He looked down at her pretty face, which was almost a full foot shorter than his, and into those eyes. You couldn't tell what color they were, living on a border between green and blue, with that darker ring around the edge. They were a little glossed over from the liquor but that didn't inhibit her from the little glare she was giving him. He gave her a lazy smile, turning his head partially to hide the scratches that Lori had given him when he tried his luck with her earlier. He didn't know he'd be walking away with a lot more than that in a few minutes.

"Why dontcha come 'ere and take care of me baby girl," Shane slurred, licking his lips as he pushed her against the wall. He caused her back to hit it harder than he intended to as he stumbled into her. Kat could hear footsteps coming from the corner down the hall and she half hoped it was Rick. Shane was too distracted with the proximity of her to notice. He pressed himself into her hip, wanting her to feel him.

Daryl heard something bang into the wall after he heard Shane's voice, but it was the voice he heard next that caused him to pick up his pace. He'd decided to get up and look around for her awhile after he heard her leave her room, which was next to his. He was sick of drinking all of the wine Jenner had and she'd stolen the only bottle of Jack. He was saving the Southern Comfort he took to his room for a rainy day.

"Yeah, I don't think so." Kat said, as she raised her hands to Shane's chest to push him off. He grabbed at her wrists and squeezed, causing her to drop the closed bottle to the floor. He brought her arms above her head and pinned them to the wall. "Get the fuck off." She raised her voice just as Daryl came around the corner, the scene ahead of him making his blood boil. She gave Shane a few seconds to let her go, moving her leg so it was in between his. When he didn't, she brought her knee right up between his legs with as much force as she could in her current position. Daryl was about to yank him off of her when she sent the man flying backwards, shouting in pain and grabbing at his groin. He leaned against the wall of the hallway behind him, taking quick breaths. He looked up at her as he tried to straighten up. Daryl had come closer at this point, standing a few feet from Kat. He passed looks between the two of them.

"Fine. Let the hillbilly give ya a ride." He said as he nodded his head towards Daryl. "Wouldn't want ya to take care of me anyway...You couldn't even take care of that pipsqueak of a brother." He said as he stood to his full height.

"Wanna run that by me again?" She said. Her hands were almost tingling. She brought them to her sides and made them into tight fists. An action that didn't go unnoticed by Daryl. He'd had to do the same thing a few times to stop himself from hitting one of the people in this group. Or his brother. Or some other idiot from his days before all of this. She wanted to hit something. Hard. And he had a pretty good feeling it was going to be the asshole in front of her.

Shane let out a scoff and smiled, looking down at her across from him. "Or what? You gonna climb up here and teach me a lesson, lil girl?" She took a step towards him. A step was all she needed to get closer in the small hallway.

"No. You're gonna come down here." She closed the small space between them and planted her knee right in it's previous spot, causing Shane to bend over, grabbing his manhood once again. But she wasn't done. Now that his face was more her height, she brought her arm back and sent her already closed fist right into the side of his face. Before he could stumble out of her grasp, she placed both hands on the back of his head and brought it down on her raised knee, slamming it into her knee cap. She took joy in watching his head snap back like a bobble head. He fell back and landed on the floor behind him, sitting with his back against the wall, legs spread in front of him. He opened his eyes and shook his head a bit to clear the stars from his vision, just in time to see her leaning over to pick up the bottle of Jack she'd dropped on the ground. She'd completely forgotten Daryl was standing a few feet away from her with a shit eating grin on his face. With tunnel vision, she raised the bottle over her head and was about to cause more damage when Daryl came up behind her and grabbed her wrist. He folded her arm over and made it rest against her stomach. He held it there, tight, as she tried to slip away. With his free arm, he wrapped it around her waist, pulling her back against him and away from Shane. She brought her free hand up and put it on the strong arm around her as she pushed back against him, trying to get away. Please stop moving like that. He thought. She had thin yoga pants on. He hadn't bothered slipping another pair of boxers on after his shower, and coupled with the thin fabric of his worn down cargo pants, her pushing and rubbing against him was causing friction in all the right places at the wrong time.

"He's done." Daryl said as he backed away from Shane, in the direction of the rec room. "'Sides, don't wanna waste the rest of that Jack...Come on, now. Settle down." He said as he leaned back slightly, picking her up off the floor. He half-carried her to the rec room that was just around the corner at the end of the hall.

The further she got from Shane, the less she was struggling against him. Thank God. He couldn't reach the end of the hall fast enough. Her still being flush against his front was pushing his limits of self control. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to keep himself in check before blood started pumping downwards. He made his way down the rest of the hall and into the room, releasing her from his grasp the second they passed the door's threshold. He closed the door and turned around, placing his hands on either side of the doorway. He took a deep breath before he turned back around to her. She wasn't facing him and had started walking to the counter island in the small kitchenette and pulled up a chair as she sat down. She placed the bottle in front of her on the counter and stared at it.

The adrenaline that was slowly dissipating and the alcohol still swimming through her veins had held off her thought process for a minute. All she wanted to do before was make him bleed. But now that she was just sitting there, she was letting Shane's words get to her. She was interrupted when Daryl pulled a chair up next to her at the counter, dragging it on the floor the whole way. She brought her eyes over to him as she reached for the bottle. She unscrewed the cap, throwing it over her shoulder, and took a quick swig before pushing the bottle towards him.

He watched her carefully. He could tell she was thinking too hard about what the man said. The way her eyebrows pulled together slightly and her face fell a little when she thought he wasn't looking as he took drinks. She sighed as he pushed the bottle back to her. They stayed like that for a few minutes. Enjoying the comfortable silence the two of them could easily share without it being awkward. After a few more shots, and Kat still deep in thought between the burns of the whiskey, Daryl turned towards her a little.

"Remind me to never piss ya off." He said, managing a small smirk, letting her know he was only joking.

"I'll do that." She said as she propped her head up with her hand. They each took another shot, already feeling the effects of the alcohol, but both silently agreeing they were going to finish that bottle whether they left this room or not. He pushed the bottle back to her.

"Kinda hot seeing ya in full attack mode though." He slurred with raised eyebrows. Fuck. Did that really just weasel it's way out? He'd been thinking it in his head, but didn't mean for it to come out of his mouth. His cheeks were flushed, but not from the Jack.

Kat saw the color change, noting the mishap he made and let out a small closed mouth laugh. "That wasn't even half." She said. He looked towards her and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged her shoulders with another shot. She put the bottle down with a sigh. "He just really...pushed my buttons tonight." She said, focusing her eyes on the bottle. She started picking at the sticker label. He nodded, watching her fingers.

"You shoulda let me hit him again." She fake pouted with her eyebrows raised, causing a corner of his mouth to pull up.

"That wouldnta done nothing. Other than maybe piss Rick off after Shane tried to feed 'im a bullshit story."

Kat shrugged her shoulders again. "Would've made me feel better." She said, looking at him. She looked into his eyes for a moment before looking away. "You know...he tried not to show it, but he was so scared...Blake." The remnants of the half smile he wore slipped away at the mention of the youngest Carsen. "At the beginning he was constantly glued to my side..Especially after I told them what I did...But he'd still cry or panic whenever he would hear or see one at first." She said, lifting the bottle to her lips again for another gulp. "I looked at him and told him I would never let one of those things touch him...I failed him." She looked into his eyes, hers threatening tears. He shook his head as he looked at her. "Daryl...He looked into my eyes and he trusted me." She shook her head, almost trying to shake away the water in her eyes.

"You didn't fail him...The world ain't what it used to be." He said, propping his head up on his hand.

A small laugh escaped her lips as she brought her fingers to her eyes to dab at the few tears that slipped over her lids as she set her elbows on the counter. "I don't think I've cried this much in my life as I have the last few days." She let her fingers come to rest at her temples as she held her head up.

"Ain't like you don't have a reason." He said, pushing the bottle to her.

"And this probably isn't helping." She said, laughing a bit as she took the bottle again.

"Sure it is. Just gotta get that buzz goin again."

"Yeah, that was a little sobering, huh?"

They sat there with each other until they finished the bottle. Remembering old times at the bar, how life used to be. At dinner and now, this was more the Daryl she knew before. Before this world closed everyone down. They left the empty bottle on the counter as they slowly made their way to the door of the rec room with a little help from each other. Daryl had a smile on his face as she was at his side having a giggling fit after he tripped over his own feet. They made their way down the hall, swaying back and forth, bumping into each others arms every once and a while. They saw Glenn make his way around the corner at the end of the hall, using the wall for support.

"Hey, Glenn." Kat smiled at the young man. He looked up at her with glossy eyes and gave her a small wave as he tried to keep his mouth shut tight. He knew if he opened it, he'd throw up all over the hall. He wanted to at least get to his room, which was a few doors down, across from her's and Daryl's. Just a few more feet. Daryl smirked at the kid. He knew that look. They walked the few more steps to their rooms. He had taken the one next to hers earlier that night, so they stood at the wall between the doors as Glenn made his way past them, into his room, not even bothering to close his door. They watched as he disappeared into the doorway then looked back to each other for a moment. Daryl looked down at her lips as he leaned against the wall. He wanted his on them so bad. He'd never been one for kissing, much. With the couple women he'd been with in his life, he hadn't kissed them. Just used them to get the job done and left. His only real kiss was in highschool and a couple quick ones after that. But he wanted to kiss her. Wanted to feel her on him. Maybe it was the alcohol waking a certain part of him up a bit, but he really just wanted to push her up against the wall and make out with her right in the hallway. But no, he wouldn't do that. A kiss goodnight wouldn't hurt right? The Jack was giving the little extra push he needed. What the hell? He licked his lips and was about to lean down. But Glenn retching from the room across from them stopped him before he even got close. Kat closed her eyes and smiled as Daryl hung his head, shaking it back and forth. He brought his head back up and put his elbow on the wall. He squeezed the bridge of his nose with his fingers before opening his eyes and looking back down at her. If it wasn't one thing it was another. She looked up at him under heavy eye lids and bit the side of her lip with a smile.

"Night, Daryl."

"Night." He said before she turned to her door and disappeared behind it. Daryl heard her lock click. He looked over into Glenn's room seeing the young man make his way out of the bathroom and to the cot before plopping down on it. Daryl let out a small laugh before he turned around and walked into his own room.

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The next morning, most of the group was around the same table in the cafeteria they had ate at last night. Only this time around, a little worse for wear. T-Dog was in the kitchen area behind the counter making breakfast for everyone. Kat stood in front of the counter behind Glenn, leaning against it, sipping a cup of coffee.

"Morning." Glenn mumbled from his seat next to Dale as Rick walked into the room.

"Mornin." Rick said as he got to the table.

"Are you hungover?" Carl said as he looked up at his dad from his bowl of cereal with a smile. Lori, who was sitting next to him, looked at her son. "Mom said you'd be." He said as Rick sat down at the end of the table, next to Lori.

"Mom is right." Rick smiled at his son as he sat back in his chair and grabbed a bottle of Aspirin off of the table in front of him.

"Mom has that annoying habit." Lori said as she ripped her piece of bacon into smaller strips, chewing the piece that was already in her mouth. Rick looked down to his hands as he tried to open the bottle of Aspirin.

"Eggs! Powdered, but..but I do 'em gooood." T-Dog said as he walked around the counter to the table with a skillet. Glenn let out a moan at the sound of food. Jacqui who had just entered the room, came up next to him and put her arms around his shoulders, comforting him, as he leaned over his plate, holding his head up with the side of his hand.

"I bet you can't tell." T-Dog said. Dale chuckled a little at Glenn. T-Dog began sliding some of the powdered eggs on everyone's empty plates. "Protein helps the hangover." He said with a smile as he put some on Glenn's plate, pulling another sickly moan from the young man. Jacqui was standing behind the poor guy, massaging his shoulders.

"Where'd all this come from?" Rick said as he held up the bottle he was struggling with.

"Jenner." Lori said.

"Could you help me, please?" Rick said, handing her the childproof bottle of Aspirin he couldn't open.

She took the bottle from him, wiping her hands off on her legs. "He thought we could use it."

"Thank you."

"Some of us, at least." She said, looking across the table at poor Glenn.

Jacqui had taken a seat next to him and still had her hands on his shoulders. "Don't ever ever ever let me drink again." He said looking down at his plate of food, still propping his head up with his hand on his forehead.

"Hey." Shane said as he walked in. After he managed to get into his room last night, he put some cold compresses on his head to offset some of the bruising he would've had from the beating Kat gave him last night, though some of it was still apparent. He walked right past Kat, not even looking at her. He kept his eyes on the ground.

"Hey." Rick said, turning his head in the direction of Shane as the man walked past him to grab a cup of coffee on the counter at the far end of the room.

"Feel as bad as I do?" Rick said from the table. T-Dog started walking to the end counter to get his own cup.

"Worse." Shane said, pouring himself a cup.

"The hell happened to you?" T-Dog said as Shane turned around to head back to the table. He was looking at the reddened, slightly bruised area under Shane's right eye that was swelling a little from where his head made contact with Kat's knee. She smiled as she brought her cup to her mouth.

"Was a little too drunk last night. Fell." He said.

"Your neck?" T-Dog asked again, seeing the scratch marks that Lori had given him on the left side of his head. Kat hadn't even noticed them before as she was busy admiring her handy work. She knew for sure she hadn't been the one that had given him those scratches.

"Must've done it in my sleep." Shane said as he sat down at the end of the table across from Rick.

"Never seen ya do that before." Rick said, looking at his friend.

"Me neither..Not like me at all." Shane said, sending a look to Lori. Kat noticed the exchange, as Lori looked at him and shook her head slightly. It had went unnoticed by everyone else, but Kat pulled her eyebrows together a little.

"Mornin'." Jenner said as he walked into the room to join the group.

"Hey, doc." Shane greeted him.

Dale looked to Andrea who was next to Shane as she gave him a nod. "Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing," Dale said.

Jenner was at the counter pouring himself some coffee. "But you will anyway."

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea said as she looked at the man's back before he turned around.

Daryl walked into the room and made his way to the table. He grabbed a plate of food and was going to sit down before he noticed Kat standing back against the counter.

"Let's let everyone eat first." Jenner said, looking around at the group.

Daryl walked over to Kat and stood next to her. "Morning." She said as he leaned back against the counter and dug into his food. He responded with a grunt as he shoved another fork full of eggs into his mouth. Her plate was sitting behind her at the counter. She had already ate what she wanted to. She was one of the first ones in the kitchen with T-Dog. Daryl looked up to everyone at the table as everyone else started entering the room and gathering around. His eyes landed on Shane's face and he let out a little chuckle. Kat was watching Dylan and her two younger brothers come in, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. She turned to Daryl and followed the path his eyes were on when she looked at Shane. She laughed a little and brought her cup to her mouth again. "He won't even look at me." She said quietly.

"Good." Daryl said with a mouth full of food.

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Everyone followed Jenner into the room with the computer terminals after they'd finished eating. He set his coffee mug down on the table at his station and pressed a button on the keyboard. He was greeted with a beep, letting him know the computer was ready for a command.

"Give me a playback of TS-19." Jenner said out loud.

"Playback of TS-19." Vi's voice said, echoing in the large room.

There was another round of beeps as the large screen in front of all the terminals came on. The screen was slowly being filled with different images of what looked like MRI's and different views of a brain.

Finally, maybe some answers. Kat thought.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few." Jenner said as everyone gathered around.

The screen had 4 smaller images to the left of the screen while the remaining right side, had a larger image. As the image completely loaded, you could clearly see the brain of the subject as it was slightly brighter than the rest of the image, to bring your focus away from the skull and outline of the face.

"Is that a brain?" Carl said as he looked at the giant screen in front of them and then to Jenner.

"An extraordinary one." Jenner said as he looked at the boy. "Not that it matters in the end." He said as he looked back at the screen. "Take us in for EIV."

"Enhanced internal view." Vi said as the screen changed. The larger image on the right took up the whole screen then, covering up the smaller images that were on the left, and the way you saw the image changed. It went from the subject sitting up, looking directly ahead, to laying down, giving you a side view of its profile, focusing on the head. You could vaguely see the outline of the face and skull again, but the main focus was the brain of the blue image. You could see the entire brain lighting up, small threads of light going in every direction. The image zoomed in, taking the viewers inside the brain. Giving a close up view of the little ripples of light dancing all over the screen. It reminded Kat of bits of sunlight shining through water to the ocean floor.

"What are those lights?" Shane said from the seat he had taken on one of the chairs around the computers.

Daryl looked at the man before sparing a glance at Kat who was a few feet from him, staring wide eyed at the screen. This is what she had come here for. He looked back at the screen.

"It's a person's life. Experiences, memories." Jenner said, turning to the group behind him, but pointing behind him at the screen. "It's everything." He said, turning back around. "Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you- the thing that makes you unique. And human."

Daryl crossed his hands over his chest, resting them slightly under his biceps. "You don't make sense ever?"

"Those are synapses," Jenner said, looking back at him, "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." He said, watching the screen take you on a tour of the subject's brain, all the while shooting ripples of light in every direction.

"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick said, stepping closer to the doctor.

"Yes." Jenner said. "Or rather the playback of the vigil."

"This person died?" Andrea said, looking at the screen but also stepping closer. "Who?"

"Test Subject 19." Jenner answered as Andrea looked over at him beside her. "Someone who was bitten and infected...and volunteered to have us record the process." He looked back at the screen. "Vi, scan forward to the first event."

"Scanning to first event." Vi said. There was the sound of beeping as the computer processed the command. The image zoomed out from inside the subject's brain, giving the view of its profile again as the video scanned forward.

Within the blue image, among the ripples of blueish white light in the brain, was a black mass forming. Small ripples of red light spreading through it.

"What is that?" Glenn said, looking at the black mass, that was slowly spreading through the brain. Little branches of black reaching in every direction, making itself bigger.

"It invades the brain like meningitis." Jenner said, pointing back and forth at the image. You could see the outline of the subject start to have trouble breathing, like it was gasping for breath as the black mass took over it's brain. "The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." He said as the blueish ripples of light slowly started to fade before the whole brain finally went dark and the subject stopped moving. "Then death...Everything you ever were or ever will be...gone."

Andrea closed her eyes as she let her head fall, remembering her sister.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked as she looked at her mom.

"Yes." Carol nodded at her and taking her hand before looking back to the screen.

Andrea drew in a shaky breath and looked away from the screen, trying not to cry. Jenner looked over at her, noting that she was upset.

"She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister." Lori said.

"So did Kat and her brother's..Their baby brother." Carol said, nodding at the young woman by Daryl.

Jenner looked at Kat, who's eyes were glued to the screen, waiting, watching. He looked back at Andrea and took a few steps closer to her. "I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." Andrea looked up at him before he turned back to the screen.

"Scan to the second event." He said, taking steps towards the screen.

"Scanning to second event." Vi said as the screen scanned forward once again.

"The resurrection times very 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." Jenner said as he looked at the screen.

At the brain stem, where the black mass originated from before it slowly spread, flickers of red light began to dance on the screen. But only occupying that small space, some spreading out farther, but only for a second at a time. Everyone looked at the screen, confused. Kat included.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori said.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving." Jenner said.

"But they're not alive?" Rick said, walking closer to the railing around the platform, closer to the screen.

"You tell me." Jenner said looking at the man, holding a hand out towards the screen as Rick came to his side.

Rick looked at the screen, shaking his head a bit. "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."

"Dark, lifeless, dead...The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part, that doesn't come back. The you part...Just a shell driven by mindless instinct." Jenner said as the subject on the screen slowly began to move.

Daryl looked down at Kat, who he'd scooted a few steps closer to. She had her eyebrows pulled together and was shaking her head. She let her mouth come open as she let out a deep breath.

"You seen this before?" He asked quietly as he leaned down to her.

She turned her head towards him, eyes still on the screen before she looked at him, but only for a second. "No." She shook her head and looked back at the screen. "What I know about anyway...No." Kat looked at the screen. This was nothing like T or G. They affected the body's cells first, changing them to something different, and slowly made their way to the brain last. The scans from them didn't look anything like this body's scan. This only affected the brain. This is completely different. Something entirely new.

Something entered the camera at the top of the screen. There was a bright flash of light as you saw a line go through the center of the subject's head, darkening the brain for the last time.

"God. What was that?" Carol said as she looked at the screen.

"A bullet." Kat answered, looking at the floor before looking to Jenner.

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea looked at the screen one last time. "Didn't you?"

"Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations." Jenner said as he turned towards the group and back to the computer he left his mug at.

"Powering down main screen and workstations." Vi said as the screen went black, along with all of the computer screens in the room, causing it to become a little dimmer. The overhead lights being the only light in the room.

"You have no idea what is it, do you?" Andrea said as she looked at him, crossing her arms over her chest. Everyone looked at the doctor.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal." He said.

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui said.

"There is that."

"So it isn't..any kind of virus..that you know of?" Kat said, choosing her words carefully. It seemed to work, as no one in the room really noticed. Of course other than her brothers and Daryl. But they didn't let on that they knew anything.

Jenner turned and looked at her, finally noticing the DSO emblem on the left side of her shirt above her chest. They were who sent them the first few calls about testing tissue for the T and G viruses to rule them out. "No." He said as he brought his eyes back to her face. He raised his eyebrows slightly at her, letting her know he knew who she was with. She looked back at the now black screen and sighed.

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere." Andrea said, coming closer.

"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Carol asked.

Jenner looked around the room. "There may be some. People like me."

"But you don't know? How can you not know?" Rick asked.

"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 said. "There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying right?"

Jenner didn't answer. He just looked at the ground.

"For fuck's sake." Kat laughed, causing everyone to look at her. She had her arms crossed over her chest and had backed herself up to the terminal behind Daryl. Leaning against it on her side, to face the group. She brought her hand up and closed her eyes, rubbing at her forehead with a smile on her face. She couldn't fucking believe this, it couldn't be true. Worldwide?

Andrea scoffed. "Jesus."

Everyone just looked around the room, completely taken aback.

"Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk. Again." Daryl said, shaking his head as he turned around and walked to the computer terminal behind him. Kat looked at him as he made his way to her. He rubbed at his eyes before letting his elbows rest on the terminal, standing in front of Kat. He held his head in his hands. She took her hand from her head and put on his back, rubbing up to his shoulder before crossing it back over her chest. He normally didn't like being touched but he took a little comfort in the small gesture she'd just made, almost wanting it again before Dale spoke up.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but," Dale said as he walked towards the far side of the platform, pointing to a large digital timer on the far wall, "that clock- it's counting down." Everyone looked to the large red numbers as they changed from an hour to 59 minutes. "What happens at zero?" He asked, turning around and looking at Jenner. Daryl stood up from the terminal.

"The..basement generators- they run out of fuel." Jenner said as he turned away.

"And then?" Rick said, looking at Jenner who was walking towards the exit of the room. Everyone watched him walk away. Not answering the question. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick said.

"When they power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur." Vi said over the speakers. Kat stood up straight. She was familiar with this procedure. Much too familiar, in her workings with Leon at the Umbrella facilities. They would purposely set it off before they escaped each time.

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Vi hadn't switched the lights on in the stairwell just yet so the group had a couple flashlights lighting the path.

"Decontamination- what does that mean?" Glenn said as they made their way down the stairs to the basement. The group consisted of Glenn, Rick, Shane and T-Dog. The light's in the stairway clicked on.

"I don't like the way Jenner clammed up. The way he just wondered off like that." Shane said as they got to the bottom of another flight of stairs, which ended up being the final set.

"What's wrong with him? Seriously, man, is he nuts, medicated or what?" T-Dog said as he and Glenn came up behind Rick and Shane. They were looking at a map of the building that was on the wall at the bottom of the stairwell.

"In there." Rick said, looking to the door on his right. The four of them headed to the door.

The room was dark as they stepped in, the only light source being the stairway and their flashlights. As they walked further into the room, Vi switched the lights on as the camera picked them up. The overhead lights came on revealing the generator room. There were fuel drums everywhere. Rick looked around the large room for a second. "Check that way." He pointed to his right as he looked between Glenn and T-Dog. "Shane." He said as he walked off to his left, the man following him.

The men spread out and began looking through the room, both for the main generator and any fuel they could find.

Rick and Shane managed to find it first. He walked around the large generator to the control panel, hearing it working, trying to use every last bit of fuel it still had in it. Rick looked at the pump that was attached. Above it, it said 'Emergency Fuel Intake' and the fuel gauge, itself, was right above 'empty'.

He leaned over to push at the fuel drum the generator was hooked to. "It's empty." He said as Shane walked up to him. The man let out a sigh.

Just then, the generator made a clicking noise before the room went completely black.

"Emergency lighting on." Vi said over the speaker as much dimmer lights lit up the room.

"What the hell is this?" Shane said looking above him.

Glenn and T-Dog turned around and went in the direction the other two men walked off in as the emergency lights came on. "Hey, you guys kill the lights?" Glenn said as he jogged over to the two men, shining a flashlight on them.

"Nah, it just went out." Shane said as he looked at the panel on the generator.

"Anything?" Rick asked Glenn and T-Dog as they came closer.

"Yeah, a lot of dead generators and more empty fuel drums than I can count." T-Dog said as he came closer to the men.

Shane took his flashlight to shine it on the fuel gauge again. "It can't be down to just that one." He said as he looked at Rick.

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"Why do we have to pack our stuff back up?" Sam asked as he looked at his sister, who was throwing their clothes from the night before back into the bags in their room.

"Yeah, I thought we were staying here." Kaleb said from his seat on the couch.

"Because we have to leave." She said as she picked up Sam's dirt covered jeans and put them into the bag.

"But why?" Kaleb asked.

"Just do as I say, all right?" Kat said as she stood up straight. She looked at the two boys and went to her room to put her own things into her bag before she went to find Rick. Dylan already knew what was going on so was putting his things away before he would help the boys make sure they had everything. She put her shoulder holster and her drop leg holster on as she put both her handguns in their places.

Down the hall in the Grimes' room, Lori heard the air conditioning shut off. She got up from the cot and stood below the vent in the room with her hand to it, not feeling any air flow.

Carl looked up from his science book Lori had him doing homework in to see his mother waving her hand around in front of the vent. "Mom?...Something wrong?"

"Uh, nothing. It's just...the air conditioning stopped." Lori said as she brought her hand to her side and turned towards her son. In a few moments, the lights in their rooms would shut off as well. Leaving only the lights in the hallway that led to the computer terminals on.

Jenner was sitting in his office, just around the corner from the rooms, that overlooked the large computer room. At his desk, he picked up a framed picture. He pulled a shaky breath in through his nose as he fought the urge to cry while his fingers traced the silver frame, staring at the woman looking back at him.

"I did the best I could in the time that I had...I hope you'd be proud of that." He said. He ran a finger over the woman's face before he set the picture frame back down on his desk. He looked at it one last time before he stood up, grabbing his ID card, and walked over to the glass wall that gave him an overhead view of the computer room. He put his hands in his pockets as he stared out into the empty room below him. He looked to the timer on the far end of the room. "We always think there's gonna be more time." He said as the sound of machinery shutting off echoed all around. The lights in his office and the surrounding areas, including everyone's rooms, turned off. "Then it runs out."

Everyone started to walk out of their rooms as Jenner made his way to their hallway.

"Why is the air off? And the lights in our room?" Carol said, looking at Lori who was leaning outside the door from the room next to her. Jenner just looked at them as he came around the corner, heading for the computer room. Kat leaned outside her door at the same time Daryl leaned out of his.

"Hey, what's goin on?" He said, looking down the hall, the bottle of SoCo hanging from his hand. "Why is everything turnin off?"

Jenner grabbed the bottle from his hand as he passed him. "Energy use it being prioritized." He said as everyone came out of their rooms, fully, and followed him down the hall.

"Air isn't a priority? And lights?" Dale said as Jenner passed him, taking a drink from Daryl's bottle of alcohol.

"It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down." He said as he rounded the corner to the landing and stairs that would lead them to the computer room.

"Hey! Hey, what the hell's that mean?" Daryl said as he picked up his pace, walking around Dale and Andrea, trying to catch up to Jenner. "Hey, man, I'm talkin to you." Daryl said as he put his hand on Jenner's shoulder but the man kept walking. "Whatta you mean it's shuttin itself down? How can a buildin do anything?" He asked as the sound of more machinery shutting down was heard.

"You'd be surprised." Jenner said as he walked to the end of the landing to the stairs just as Rick and the small group that was with him ran into the room out of the basement's stairway door.

"Rick?" Lori said as she leaned over the rail of the landing, looking down at her husband. Rick held his hand up to her, seeing the panic on her face. Jenner and the others started down the stairs to meet them.

"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick said as he walked over to the man as he reached the bottom. Jenner continued to the computer platform in the center of the room.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power." He said, walking side by side with Rick. "It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached to half hour mark. Right on schedule." He said, pointing toward the timer that now read 31 minutes. Jenner took another drink from the bottle as he came to the two steps that would bring him up onto the platform with the computer terminals. He stopped for a second, making everyone look at it. He held the bottle to Daryl who was at his other side. Daryl snatched it away from him, sending a bit of the alcohol flying out of the bottle to his left and onto the floor.

"It was the French." Jenner said as he looked at Andrea.

"What?" She looked at him.

"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."

"What happened?" Jacqui asked.

Jenner turned and walked up the steps onto the platform before turning back to them. "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?" He said as he turned around and walked further into the computer terminals.

"Let me tell you something-" Shane said as he walked up the stairs.

Rick put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back as he walked up the stairs with him. "To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care." He said. He turned around to the group behind him. "Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!"

"O-okay." Jacqui said, nodding her head. Just as everyone was backing away and about to head back up the stairs to their room, a loud alarm started blaring, a red light flashing from above the platform.

"What's that?" Shane said. Rick looked around, seeing the light go off overhead. He looked down as Carl came up to his side.

"What's that?" He said as he looked up at his dad. Rick put his hand on the back of Carl's head.

"30 Minutes to decontamination." Vi said as the large screen at the front turned on, putting the timer there. Jenner looked at the screen and walked to a control panel on the other side of the platform.

"Doc, what's goin on here, damn it!" Daryl yelled, still at the bottom of the steps on the other side of the platform.

Jenner swiped his ID over the card reader and put in a code.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go!" Shane yelled as he turned around at everyone still standing on the floor around the platform.

"Let's go, let's go." T-Dog said and turned for the stairs.

"Come on!" Glenn yelled.

"Get those guns." Shane said to T-Dog.

Jenner put the last of the code in as everyone turned around and started away. Just then, a metal door quickly shot up from the floor at the main hallway that led to the computer platform. The hall that led to the elevator. With a loud clang, the door sealed their only exit to the floors above. Rick ran to the door but it was much too late.

"No." Glenn said, looking at the now sealed exit. "Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!"

Jenner sat down at his station and turned on his video feed. "We've hit the 30 minute window. I am recording." He said into the camera. Everyone started to run over to the platform.

"Carl." Lori said as she came closer.

"Mom!"

Daryl turned and looked at Jenner. His face twisted in anger. He bolted for the couple platform stairs and quickly ran up them. "You son of a bitch!"

"Shane!" Rick yelled from his position by the sealed door. He pointed to Daryl, who was well past him at this point.

"You locked us in here!" Daryl yelled as he ran up behind Jenner.

"No, stop. Don't!" Glenn yelled, running towards the man.

"You locked us in here!" Daryl yelled again as he grabbed Jenner by the shoulder of his lab coat and attempted to yank him from the chair.

"No no no no! Don't!" Shane said as he came up behind Daryl at the same time he grabbed Jenner. Shane put his arms around Daryl's waist as he tried to pull the man back, making Daryl loose his grip on Jenner's jacket.

"Wait, no! No, don't do it!" T-Dog said as he ran up to help. Daryl lifted the bottle of whiskey he still had in his hands and was about to throw it at Jenner's head. But with Shane pulling him back and both men struggling with it, he couldn't get a good aim.

Kat ran up the platform, coming up behind Glenn who was still a few feet away from the fiasco in front of them. Daryl was practically growling as Shane moved his arms from his waist to the man's chest, picking him up and half carrying him away. T-Dog coming to his side, helping him. They put him down a few feet away behind a terminal.

"Hey, Jenner, open that door now." Rick said as he walked down from the door to the computers.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed." Jenner said from his seat Daryl hadn't managed to pull him off.

"Well, open the damn things." Dale said.

"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." Jenner said, pointing his finger at Rick, who turned, looking at the people around him. "It's better this way." He said as Shane walked up to the other side of Jenner.

"What is?" Rick said as he looked back at the doctor. "What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick said, looking at the clock then to Jenner as he stepped closer to the man.

Jenner just turned around and went back to his keyboard. Typing in his log book for what would be the final time.

"What happens in 28 minutes?!" Shane yelled as he walked up behind Jenner and kicked at his chair.

"Come on!" Daryl yelled.

Jenner finally stood up and faced Rick again. "Do you know what this place is?!" He said, looking at the man before turning around and looking at Shane. "We protected the public from very nasty stuff!" He yelled into his face before looking around at the whole group. "Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strands that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" Everyone looked at the man for a second. He took a seat at his chair once again. Rick and Shane looked at each other, Daryl pacing back and forth in front of Kat, wanting to pounce on the man. Jenner took a deep breath. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure- in a terrorist attack for example- HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"HITs?" Rick asked.

Daryl stopped when he heard Kat let out a breath. "You know what this is?" She didn't answer him, but she didn't have to. The look on her face was enough. This wasn't something good.

"Vi, define." Jenner said.

"HITS- 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." Everyone looked around, beginning to panic or cry after hearing what was about to happen to them. "The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired." Rick grabbed Lori and Carl, pulling them both into his chest.

"It sets the air on fire." Kat said, putting her arm around Kaleb as he came up and wrapped his arms around her waist, crying into her stomach.

Rick let go of his family and looked at Jenner as Lori knelt down to hold Carl against her.

"No pain." Jenner said. "An end to sorrow, grief...regret." Everyone looked at him, the sounds of Carol and the children crying in the background. "Everything."

Daryl looked at Kat and Kaleb and walked away towards the door, with Rick and Glenn following him. Rick pounded on it with his fists seeing how sturdy it was before turning back around. He looked at the time they had left on the screen and made the timer on his watch match so he could keep track where ever he was.

Daryl took a few steps back and threw the bottle of whiskey at the door in frustration. It busted against the solid metal, sending shards of glass all over the floor. He turned back around to Jenner. "Open the damn door!" He pointed behind him with his arm.

Jenner looked over to the small group but didn't make any movements.

"Out of my way!" Shane yelled as he ran up the platform to the door with an axe in his hand. Glenn walked back down the platform as Daryl and Rick leaned out of his way. He began hitting the door with the axe as soon as he got to it.

"Daryl!" T-Dog yelled, throwing another axe up to the man. Daryl caught it and spun around, planting himself next to Shane as the two continued to beat at the door. Grunting, heavy breathing and the clanging of the axes on the metal door was all you could hear from that side of the room.

Lori and Carol were both sitting on the ground with their backs to a computer terminal, their children in their laps, crying. Dylan was standing at Carol's side with both of his little brothers sitting next to her. Kat was standing at the base of the platform where the slant that led up to the door met the flat part the computers were on, pacing and biting at her nails as she watched Shane and Daryl hit the door.

"You should've left well enough alone. It would've been so much easier." Jenner said.

"Easier for who?" Lori said in an exasperated tone.

"All of you. You know what's out there-" He said as Rick walked backed over to him. "-a short, brutal life and an agonizing death." He looked at Andrea, who was also on the floor with her back resting against a terminal. "Your- your sister- what was her name?"

"Amy."

"Amy. You know what this does. You've seen it." He said. He looked at Rick. "Is that really what you want for your wife and son?"

"I don't want this." Rick said, bending over to get closer to his face as he pointed to the ground.

Daryl set his axe down by the door as he and Shane came down the platform. Shane set his axe down on top of the terminal on his way to Rick as Daryl stood by Kat a few feet away.

"Can't make a dent." Shane said, leaning over the terminal Rick was in front of, trying to catch his breath.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner said, making it sound obvious as he looked at them.

"Well your head ain't!" Daryl yelled, grabbing Shane's axe from the terminal. He raised it above his head and was on a warpath towards Jenner.

"Whoa!" Kat yelled as she ran up behind Daryl.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Rick yelled and sprinted around the terminal to stand in front of Daryl. Kat saw Jenner stand up from his chair, ready to run if they couldn't hold the man back. Why's he so scared, he's gonna die anyway. Kat thought. Dale was at Daryl's side as he grabbed a hold of his shoulders, trying to push the man back. "Daryl! Daryl!" Rick yelled trying to restrain him. T-Dog ran around the back of him and came to his other side, holding onto the axe, trying to pry it from Daryl's hands. Kat came up beside Dale, grabbing onto the back of Daryl's shirt as the 4 of them tried to push him back. "Just back up! Back up!" Rick yelled as they all gave him a push. He let go of the axe, letting T-Dog take it from him as he spun around and walked to the other side of the terminal by Shane. He rested his hands on top of it, holding himself up as Kat came to his side.

"Look, I wanna chop his head off too right now, but he's the only one that knows the code to that door, okay?" Kat said as she looked at him. He just stared at her face before he pushed away from the terminal and started pacing again. God, that man cannot hold still.

"You do want this." Jenner said as he looked at Rick. "Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead."

"What?" T-Dog said.

Rick looked at Lori, who was looking up at him.

"What? You really said that?" Shane asked. "After all your big talk?"

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick said.

"There is no hope. There never was." Jenner said as he looked at the man.

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody somewhere-" He said as he stepped closer to Jenner again.

"What part of 'everything's gone' do you not understand?" Andrea said, who hadn't moved from the floor.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it." The doctor said, nodding to Andrea. "This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." He said, sitting back down in his chair.

"This isn't right." Carol sobbed. "You can't just keep us here."

"One tiny moment- a millisecond. No pain." Jenner said, scooting his chair closer to her.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." Carol cried. She handed Sophia off to Dale as she got up. She needed a second to breath.

Shane was getting pissed off. He stood up from his place, bent over at the terminal, and walked towards his shotgun. If being threatened with a glass bottle and axe wasn't enough, maybe that would do the trick.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Jenner said.

Shane cocked his gun as he made his way through the terminals and back to Jenner. Everyone turned around at the sound of the gun.

"Shane, no!" Rick said as Shane came up behind him. He put his arm over Shane's chest to push him back.

"Out of the way, Rick! Stay out of my way!" Shane yelled as he pushed Rick off to the side. He walked up to stand in front of Jenner, aiming the shotgun at his head. "Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?!" Lori, who was still sitting on the floor right behind him got up, pushing Carl off to the side as they both got out of the way of the scene in front of them.

"Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this." Rick said, coming to Shane's side. "We will never get out of here."

"Shane, you listen to him." Lori said.

"It's too late." Shane said, not moving his gun.

"He dies, we all-" Rick said as Shane cut him off. The man let out a loud yell. "-we all die! Shane!"

Shane moved his shotgun to his left and shot at the computer terminals that were there, behind Jenner. Everyone in the room ducked as he let off 5 more shots before Rick grabbed the gun and turned it away from everyone. They wrestled with it for a second before Rick yanked it to the side, elbowing Shane in the jaw. Shane let go of the gun and fell to the ground as Rick raised the shotgun up at him, stock first, getting ready to knock him out with it if he needed to.

"Are you done now? Are you done?" Rick said, raising the gun again.

"Yeah, I guess we all are." Shane said looking up at him from the ground. Rick stood over him for another second before turning and walking towards T-Dog, handing him the gun. The man was quickly becoming the 'dangerous weapons holder'.

Rick looked around at everyone. Everybody staring back at him, their unspoken leader. "I think you're lying." He said, turning around to look at Jenner. Shane got up off the ground.

"What?" Jenner said.

"You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't...You chose the hard path. Why?"

"It doesn't matter." Jenner said, shaking his head.

"It does matter. It always matters." Rick said, stepping closer to him, bending down to look at his face. "You stayed when others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to." Jenner turned and looked at him as he stood up. "I made a promise...to her." He pointed at the big screen the images played on earlier. "My wife." A few quiet seconds passed as realization sunk in.

"Test Subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asked.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?" Jenner said. Daryl, who walked back over to the door, picked up his axe there and began hitting the metal again. "She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just...Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me."

"Your wife didn't have a choice." Rick said. "You do. That's- that's all we want- a choice, a chance." Daryl could still be heard in the background at the door. Grunting with every swing of the axe. Each bang on the door, like the ticking of the clock that was still counting down.

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori said, holding Carl to her, making Jenner turn around and look from Rick, to her. He looked around for a few seconds.

"I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." He said as he walked past Rick, over to the keypad at the bottom of the platform. He scanned his ID card and put in the code.

Daryl, who was getting ready to swing the axe at the door again, stopped, as it disappeared into the floor from whence it came. "Come on!" He yelled as he looked back at everyone. "Let's go!" Shane and Dylan ran to get most of their bags before coming back to the door to meet everyone.

"Come on, let's go!" Glenn yelled as he started for the door. Everyone turned and started running for the now open exit. Everyone was shouting to go and move.

"There's your chance. Take it." Jenner said as he came back up to the platform to Rick.

"I'm grateful." Rick said to the man, offering up his hand to him again.

"The day will come when you won't be." The doctor said. He looked at Rick's hand before he took it in his own. He pulled Rick to him and placed his hand on the sheriff's shoulder as he leaned into his ear and whispered to him. Lori ran back down the platform to her husband as Jenner let Rick go, looking at him one more time, she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door.

"Hey, we've got four minutes left! Come on!" Glenn yelled at the remaining people on the platform from the door.

T-Dog ran down the platform, putting his arm around Jacqui as he pulled her to the door. "Let's go. Let's go, Jacqui."

"No no, I'm stayin." Jacqui said, pulling back from him. "I-I'm stayin, sweetie."

"But that's insane!" He said stepping towards her again, reaching for her arm.

"No, it's completely sane." She said as she stepped back from him, pushing his hand away. "For the first time in a long time. I'm not endin up like Jim and Amy." She said. Everyone looked at them down on the platform. Shane and Dylan had come back now, handing everyone their stuff. Shane, who was closest to Rick, handed him Daryl's crossbow. "There's no time to argue and no point, not if you want to get out. Just get out. Get out." She said, pushing at T-Dog's chest with tears in her eyes, before putting both of her hands on the sides of his face.

Shane walked down the platform to grab T-Dog's arm and pull him to the door. "T-Dog. Come on, man. Come on! Let's go! Let's go!"

Dale walked up to Jacqui. She just shook her head at him and backed away before turning around and walking towards Jenner. Dale looked over at Andrea who was standing at a terminal by the man.

"I'm staying too." She said as she looked at the older man who had became a father figure to the group.

"Andrea, no." He said. She turned around and sunk to the floor again. "Just go! Go!" He yelled at the group by the door, waving them to leave.

"Come on." Shane said as he patted Rick's shoulder and they all started to run down the hallway, towards the dark stairway that would lead them to the upper levels. Those that had flashlights got them out to light up the dark. Even if the elevator were powered on and working, it would be cutting it too short on time if they used it.

"Andrea, this- this isn't what Amy would want for you." Dale said as he ran to Andrea, kneeling down in front of her.

"She's dead, and you need to leave." She said, not looking in his eyes.

The rest of the group burst through the stairwell out into the lit up main building. Jenner was able to open the shutters but not the doors, so light from outside was flooding through the windows that made up the entire front of the building. T-Dog was the first to the doors and starting banging on them, trying to push them open.

"Get them doors open!" Glenn yelled.

"Come on!" T-Dog yelled as he banged against them again.

"It doesn't work!" Glenn yelled as he tried pushing against one.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" T-Dog yelled as he ran over to the keypad at the door Jenner had used when they were first let in. "Exit." He said as he pressed the button. "Try it! Try it! Try it now!" He said, looking back at Glenn who pushed against the locked door again.

"Daryl!" Shane yelled behind him to the man as they ran up a few stairs to the windows.

Daryl had both of the axes in his hands so he threw one up to Shane and came up next to the man as they started banging away at the glass. "Come on! Come on!" Daryl yelled. The axes weren't even making a dent in the glass. The men kept swinging, grunting with the force of the hits they were giving.

Andrea looked over to the time clock on the wall. "Time's almost up." She said, making Dale look over. 3 minutes, 11 seconds.

"Daryl, look out!" T-Dog said.

Daryl turned around and jumped off the small landing as T-Dog ran up with a metal chair and began slamming it into the glass, yelling with each hit. Rick walked closer to them, putting Daryl's bow on the floor.

"Oh, damn it." Kat said as she turned away from the windows and to her bag over Dylan's shoulder. "T, if axes didn't chip it, I don't think a chair's gonna." She unzipped her bag and dug through it for her Assault Rifle. She pulled it out and jammed a magazine in.

Shane, seeing her start for the window, grabbed his shotgun and reloaded it. "Dog, get down! Get down!" He yelled as he and Kat ran up to the windows and both took aim. Every one ducked. They both fired at the same time and the bullets all but bounced off the glass. "Jesus." He said as they backed away. Kat stepped back towards Daryl. She clicked the safety of her AR on, as it wasn't doing any good, and slung it over her back from it's strap.

"The glass won't break?" Sophia said.

"Rick, I have something that might help." Carol said, digging through her bag as she walked up to him.

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." Shane said as he looked at the windows again.

"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket." She said as she pulled out a grenade. Rick looked down at it in her outstretched hand. He grabbed it and turned towards the windows.

"Come on." She said to Sophia and hurried her away.

"Look out!" Glenn yelled. Everyone ran for what cover they could, as Rick walked over to the window that had taken a severe beating, but still refused to give way.

Rick leaned down, pulling the pin out of the grenade, and let go of the lever. "Ohh sh-" He yelled as he got up and ran to where Kat and Daryl were ducked down behind a wall in front of the windows.

"Get down! Get down!" Shane yelled at him.

"Shit!" Rick yelled as he jumped away, towards the two in front of him as the grenade exploded behind him. The blast shook the room they were in and shattered the large window they had been trying to bust out of.

"Go! Go!" Glenn yelled. Everyone grabbed their things. Daryl stopped and grabbed his Horton off the ground and swung it around his back as he grabbed both the axes.

Dale put his hand on Andrea's cheek as he looked at her. She still wouldn't look him in the eyes. He took his hand away. "Okay." He said, looking at her and nodding his head. "You win." He said as he stood up. Andrea thought he was going to run to the door and leave her there like she wanted, but instead, he walked to the chair that was in front of her and sat down in it, leaning back.

She looked up at him. "What are you doing?"

"I said okay." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't pull this, Dale."

"I'm not pulling anything. If you're staying, I stay too. He's right. We know what's waiting for us out there. I don't wanna face it alone."

"Dale, get the hell out. I don't want you here."

"Too bad." The man said, getting upset. "You don't get to do that, to- to come into somebody's life, make them care and then just check out." He said, looking down at the woman. She looked away from him, to the floor in front of her. "I'm staying...That matter is settled."

The group all jumped out of the window to the ground. The grenade had attracted every Walker around. They were slowly approaching as the group made their way to the cars.

"They already know we're here! Shoot em!" Kat yelled as she grabbed her handgun from her side, taking a shot at one that was in their path, sending it to the ground. Shane brought his shotgun to his shoulder and took aim at another as Rick and T-Dog did the same with their guns. Dylan reached into Kat's bag for his gun as he took out a shambling corpse that was coming up on their side. Shane held the shotgun at his side and got out his handgun and started aiming again. Daryl put both axes in one hand, gripping them tightly like a baseball bat, and took a swing at the head of a Walker he was running up to, sending it's head flying off. They all ran the last few feet to the cars as they all came up to the vehicles they had arrived in just the day before.

Kat unlocked her doors as she and her brothers got in her car as Daryl ran past her and into his truck that was parked behind hers. Rick, Lori, Carl and Glenn were in the RV as Rick grabbed the keys from the sun visor and was about to start the engine.

"Wait wait wait. Wait wait." Lori said, pointing towards the shattered window. "They're coming."

Rick looked up to see Dale and Andrea duck under the window and jump outside.

Jenner looked at the camera feed from outside the building, seeing the same thing Rick was seeing, only from a different angle. "They got out." He said, looking at Jacqui, next to him. She smiled. They both didn't think any of them would make it out those windows. Or that Dale and Andrea would make it out in time at all. They were still too close to the building right now, though. 15 seconds.

Dale and Andrea ran in the direction of the cars as Rick looked down at his watch. They weren't going to get here in time. They were closer now, but still too far away.

Jacqui took Jenner's hand in hers as they looked at each other, tears streaming down her cheeks, despite the welcoming smile she had on her face.

"Come on." Lori said, watching Dale and Andrea slowly get closer.

Rick looked at his watch. They weren't going to make it to the RV. He started blaring the horn.

"Dale, get down! Down!" Lori yelled out the window.

"Get back!" Rick yelled as he waved the people in the RV to the back. "Everybody down! Down!"

From the commotion in the front of the caravan and seeing Dale and Andrea hit the deck, everyone in the car's behind the RV ducked their heads down as far as they could.

"Get down!" Dale said as he and Andrea were on the ground behind sand bags at the entry road to the CDC.

With a loud blast, fire engulfed the entire building, busting out the rest of the windows at the front, before continuing around the entire building. Crumbling it like it was made of cards. The shock wave from the force of the explosion bent all the trees surrounding the building back and caught everything near the building on fire. The force rocked all the cars, even though they were a good distance away. After the first explosion, everyone looked up at the building that was no longer there. That they could've been stuck in, had Rick not convinced Jenner to let them out.

"Come on. Come on." Dale said, as he grabbed Andrea to help her up.

"Come on. Come on!" Glenn said as he opened the door to the RV and leaned out to the two. "Get in, get in, get in. Get in!"

Once everyone was safe in their vehicles, breathing heavy, but alive, they looked at what remained of the CDC, of the doctor and friend inside. They watched the fire and black smoke rise into the sky for a few more seconds before Rick started the RV. He took one last look at the huge flames before stepping on the gas, making a U-turn and leading the caravan away. Where they were going, he wasn't quite sure yet. But he'd figure it out. He was going to make this chance Jenner gave them count.