Radioactive

"It's always the old to lead us to the war, it's always the young to fall."

---

The C wing was on the third floor. The wandered down a long hallway, stopping at a double door. Harper tugged on the handles to make sure it was locked. It was. "Okay, so now what?"

"We barricade it." Brown told her, opening the door to the nearest room. He emerged a second later, dragging a long table. He realized she was just standing there and gave her a look.

"I'm, uh, not really supposed to lift heavy things." She explained a bit awkwardly.

His gaze flitted down to her stomach. "Oh, right."

While he continued to drag tables from the room, she crept over to the door, trying to see through the crack in the middle. The hallway was dark, and she couldn't see anything inside. She was just pulling away when a piece of cloth fell over her head, tightening around her. Even with the threat of the zombies on the other side of the door, she screamed, kicking wildly at her attacker. Strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her into the air, where she could do less damage.

She continued to flail around, yelling for Matt, Taniss, and Amaryllis even as she heard a door open. She was thrown down on something soft. It felt like a mattress, which only intensified her screaming. "MATT!" She managed to cry out before she felt a heavy weight on top of her. Her arms were pulled above her head and tied to something, followed by her legs, leaving her sprawled out. She tugged at the ropes, still screaming. Suddenly, the cloth over her head was ripped off. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, her suspicions of her kidnapper were confirmed.

Brown folded a piece of cloth in half and shoved it into her mouth, muffling her screams. "Be quiet, Harper." He said rudely, sitting on the side of the bed. She only continued to thrash around as much as the ropes would allow. "I'm not going to do anything bad to you." He promised, standing up and fixing his crumpled shirt.

"I've been trying to work on my serum for a while, but it's hard to do that without someone to expirement. You coming here was the Lords doing. He gave you to me so I can finish my work. This is a sign. My theory must be correct!" He appeared over joyed by this, not even caring that she was staring at him with tear soaked eyes. "I hate to say this," he continued with a sigh, "but you're going to be in this room for quite a few months. So you might want to get used to it."

He crossed to a table set up on the other side of the room, laden with equipment. He picked up a syringe, testing it. She pulled at the ropes as he came to join her by the bed again. "I could explain to you what this is, but I'd rather not." He grinned down at her as he rolled up her sleeve.

-*-*-*-*-*-

Taniss, Matt, and Amaryllis met back in the control room. "Where'd they go?" Taniss questioned, sitting down in the swivel chair.

"I dunno." Amaryllis pulled up a chair beside him. Only Matt hovered in the door way, appearing nervous. She caught sight of this, and raised an eyebrow at him questiongly, "what's got your underwear in a twist, pretty boy?"

He scowled at her, "are you ever going to be nice to me?"

"Probably not." She answered honestly.

He opened his mouth to reply, but a hand landed on his shoulder, startling him. It was only Brown. "That was crazy out there. You guys are lucky."

Matt ignored him. "Where's Harper?"

Brown glanced sharply at him as he waved Amaryllis out of his chair. "She was feeling sick, so she went back to your room."

"Oh," Matt said, looking relieved. "I should go check on her, then. She's probably--"

"No, no--" Brown interjected, waving a hand at him. "We need you here. Could you do something for me?"

"Sure, what is it?"

Brown looked as if he hadn't considered this, making Matt even more suspicious. "I need someone to send a report in for me, and you're the only one who knows how to do it."

"Oh, okay, sure."

"Mention that we'll keep them updated on the zombies as we kill them off."

"Move out of my seat!" Amaryllis demanded Taniss.

He only grinned up at her, "No. I was here first."

She tugged at his arm, trying to pull him from the chair, not even noticing as Matt hurried from the room looking worried. "Get out, fatty!" He didn't budge, so she resorted to sitting on top of him and ordering him to spin.

Brown didn't seem phased by their childish antics. He tapped at a few buttons, feigning an alarmed expression. "Oh no, the security cameras in the C wing won't come on."

Amaryllis volted off of Taniss, "what? Is that bad?"

"I'm afraid the zombies may have been riled up from all the noise," he explained with a grim expression. "I've barricaded them in, but I'd prefer to keep an eye on them."

"How can we get them back on?" Taniss asked.

"There's a braker box in the basement. We could turn it on down there. But there are a few zombies down there. They're chained up out of reach, but there's a possibility one could've gotten loose."

Taniss checked his gun, making sure he had plenty of ammo. "Show us where it is, we'll get it on for you."

Brown pushed himself out of his chair and lead him down a long hallway. They reached the basement in record time. He pulled out the keys he had taken back from Harper and unlocked it. The lighting was dim, only flooding in from the open door, but it was enough for them to be able to see. "It's right by the stairs." He told them, holding the door wide open.

Taniss started down the stairs first, Amaryllis close behind him. They were half way down the stairs when the door slammed shut behind them, engulfing them in darkness. "Amaryllis?"

"It's dark, I can't hear you!" She said from behind him.

"Check the door!" He demanded, ignoring her sudden stupidity. They darted up the steps. She pulled at the door handle, but it had been locked from the outside. Taniss slammed his hand against the door. "Damn it. I knew we shouldn't have trusted that guy."

"You don't say!" Amaryllis drawled, earning herself a hard look that she couldn't see through the darkness.

"Come on, we need to figure out another way out." He kept his gun at the ready, in case the zombies Brown had mentioned came snapping at him.

"I'll just stay here then."

"Amaryllis." He snapped, reaching behind him to grab her hand. "Stop being Harper."

"Excuse me?"

He dragged her down the stairs, letting go of her hand when he reached the bottom. She gripped onto his shirt with one hand, the other holding up her gun. "I don't hear anything.." He noted as they inched their way into the darkness.

"Don't shoot unless you have to." Amaryllis tugged tightly at his shirt as she spoke, keeping herself close behind him.

Taniss cursed, causing Amaryllis to let out a girlish whimper, as a cold, thin chain hit his face. He reached up and tugged at it, filling the room with a dim light. The sight before him made him scramble backwards in alarm, almost tripping over Amaryllis.

Zombies were chained to the wall every ten feet. The basement had to be atleast half the length of the large first floor, and he couldn't see the end from where he was standing. The zombies were oddly silent--even a few of them that were foaming at the mouth. They were all standing straight up as any regular human would, standing as far away from the wall as their chains would allow. Rows and rows of zombies, stretched as far as the light would reach. Amaryllis had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming.

Taniss gripped her hand tightly, sensing her terror. "Stay quiet and stay close." She wrapped her hand tightly around his arm, pulling herself so close that she was practically on top of him. His stomach fluttered.

He lifted his gun, facing it at the nearest zombie as they started down the aisle between one of the rows. This time he was prepared to pull the next chain and switch on the light before he ran into it. The zombies had their hands held out in front of them, their mouths opened and closing, groans and moans escaping them. "What are they down here for?" Amaryllis questioned, her lips only inches from Taniss' ear, sending a chill down his spine.

"Expirements or something? I don't know." He murmured back, hardly audible. The zombies fingers were only inches from them on both sides.

They continued inching down the aisle, taking slow, deliberate steps. The concrete floor didn't make a sound beneath their feet. The darkness made it impossible to see the loose pipe on the floor. Taniss' foot bumped it, and it rolled across the concrete, creating a loud grating sound. Amaryllis squeezed his arm as tight as she possibly could. The zombies had a slow reaction to the noise. No doubt they'd been stuck down here in silence for weeks.

One at a time, growls wrenched their way from their throats, and they threw themselves forward, the chains jerking them backwards. "Run," Taniss demanded. She dropped her hand from his arm, intertwining their hands. They took off at a run down the aisle, pausing only to yank on the thin chains that turned on the lights. The zombies growled frustratedly, scrabbling to get a hold on any part of them that came into reach. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the grey concrete wall loomed in front of them, showing no signs of any way out. Taniss cursed to himself, dragging Amaryllis after him as they skirted along the wall. The only thing they could find was an air vent. Going back to the door was useless, so he bent down and ripped the rusty screws right from their perch.

"You go ahead of me," he told her, motioning towards the vent.

She gave it a hard look. "Into the ventilation shaft?"

"Yes." He responded, his face completely straight. She only gazed back at him in surprise, and he sighed. "Amaryllis, it's the only way out of here unless you want to be fed by zombies."

"Good pep talk," Amaryllis conceded, crawling into the shaft. She heard Taniss follow after her. "Don't stare at my butt."

"Sorry."

-*-*-*-*-*-

Matt pressed send on the report, sitting back in his seat. With a sigh, he pushed himself to his feet and wandered out of the lab. He made his way to the living quarters, throwing open the door to his and Harpers borrowed bedroom. "Harp?" He called, flipping on the light, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Just to be sure, he opened up the bathroom door to make sure she wasn't in there sick. It was empty. He slammed the door shut behind him and darted down the hallway and down the stairwell, not stopping till he reached the security room. It was also empty, leaving him to stand in the doorway to catch his breath, his mind whirring. He slid into the swivel chair, flipping quickly through the monitors to try and figure out where she was. They all came up empty. He couldn't find Taniss, Amaryllis, or Brown anywhere. He stared at the screens in confusion before he realized he'd gotten no footage of the C wing. Unsure exactly what to do, he began testing out the different buttons, his eyes glued to the screen. It took ten minutes before he figured it out. A few of the empty monitors whirred to life, and he slid closer to them, flipping through the different cameras. He was going so fast that he almost missed the image of Brown standing beside a table.

The camera was zoomed in, so he pressed a button to zoom out. He caught sight of Harper now, at the edge of the screen so that he almost missed her, tugging at ropes that were binding her. He jumped out of his seat so fast that it went flying behind him, clattering into the adjacent wall. He took only a moment to figure out where exactly the room was before he was running down the hall, checking his gun as he went.

-*-*-*-*-

"okay, move over, fatty."

"Who are you calling fat?"

"You, you idiot. Get away from me."

"I'm trying to help."

Amaryllis sighed. This definitely wasn't working. "Yeah, well, you're not helping."

Since they were in the basement, they had to get to the next floor, which was nearly impossible in a ventilation system. They had to practically shimmy their way up a vertical four walled space. And somehow, they both got stuck, standing face to face. She tried to wiggle her way out of the enclosed space, but it wasn't working. Their faces were only inches apart, her chest practically pressed against his, enough that she could feel him breathing. "Seriously, what were you thinking?" She snapped.

"You couldn't reach! I was trying to help!"

"This isn't helping anyone. We're stuck. And your breath smells like peanut butter. I'm kind of allergic."

He only grunted in response, reaching his hands up to try and grip onto the ledge. He was able to reach it by barely stretching, but it was impossible for her.

"You're going to have to climb." He ordered her.

"How? You're pressed against me, you idiot." He tried to keep his breath from quickening as she wiggled against him. His gaze flickered down to her face, the ledge forgotten. She was so close that he would easily be able to kiss her. He was unable to keep himself from glancing at her lips. He could feel her flat stomach pressed against him, her belly button ring lightly scratching his skin. He let out a light groan, tilting his head back to bang it across the hard metal. She froze against him. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing." He answered sheepishly, "just, uh, get off me."

"I'm working on it!" She stretched her arms above her head, leaning towards him, trying to reach the ledge above them. She purposely didn't glance at him, knowing her face would grow hot if she even bothered. "I can't reach it! Can't you pull yourself up first?"

"This is the weirdest situation I've ever been in!" Taniss cried, exasperated.

She cursed suddenly, dropping her arms, "this stupid shaft! It's scratching the crap out of my back."

"Okay." He only replied, before silently cursing.

She glanced at him before averting her attention. "Okay, i'm gonna jump and try to grab it." She braced herself. "1. 2. 3." She jumped upwards, her fingers only brushing the ledge.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to calm his manly desires. He cursed again under his breath.

She registered it only a moment later. His bulge pressed against her. She froze. "Woah, Taniss. You getting some ideas over there?"

"It's not me--" he said quickly, "it's my jeans. I swear." He lied through his teeth.

She only gave him a cold look, trying to ignore the way her stomach fluttered. "Yeah, right. I'm gonna jump again, you hormonal teenager."

"I'm twenty years old." She ignored him, braced herself, and threw herself upwards. This time, she managed to grasp onto the ledge. a little bit of space freed up between them. He sighed in relief as she pulled herself upwards and out of the shaft. She disappeared over the edge. He readjusted his jeans while she wasn't paying attention before gripping onto the ledge and pulling himself up after her.

She was leaning against the wall of the shaft, wiggling her eyebrows at him. "Hey, how you doin'?"

He only grunted, motioning down the shaft. "Just keep going. I'm a man with man desires."

"You're an ignorant slut." And with that, she turned and crawled off through the small space. He would've been more offended if the motion of her hips swinging back and forth wasn't so distracting.

-*-*-*-*-

Matt slid to a halt outside of the C wing, spinning around in search for the door number. He spotted the 106 sign, and wrenched open the door, holding his gun up as he darted inside.

Harper was still tied to the bed, and she yelled something as he appeared, the cloth over her mouth muffling it. He trained his gun on Brown, "what the hell, man?!"

Brown dropped the vial he was holding, and it shattered on the ground. "It's for science!" He explained desperately, his gaze flickering towards Harper and then back to Matt before fixing on the gun.

Matt lowered his gun. "Oh, right, sorry." He mumbled apologetically. He let that hang in the air for a moment and had Brown sighing in relief before he held up the gun again, "Are you freaking kidding me?!"

"You understand the way science works!" Brown replied in alarm. His calm voice was almost frightening. "You can help me! And when the child is born and my expirement is complete, you can reproduce again! Although I don't think you'll want to if you listen to some of my theories on--"

"Please tell me you're joking." He cried in exasperation. He glanced at Harper, "is he joking?" She mumbled something into the cloth.

"I have big plans for this baby. Harper will be fine. I worked for a short time at a nearby hospital, although I never worked right in the delivery room--"

"Okay so, you want me to leave my pregnant girlfriend with you for an expirement. I'm just supposed to be cool with that?"

Harper mumbled something unintellegiable into the cloth.

"Matt, you're a man who understands."

"Harper was right. You are extremely creepy." And with that, he shifted the gun towards his heart, and pulled the trigger.

As soon as Brown slumped to the ground, blood pooling around him, Matt stepped over to the bed, pulling the cloth off of Harpers mouth. Before she could even get a single word out, he turned and stalked right out of the room. "Matt? Matthew?! I'm still tied down, you idiot!" She heard aboslutely nothing from the other side of the door. "My child has no father!"

Matt appeared in the door way at that moment. "Oh my gosh, chill. I had to make sure no walkers were nearby." He set his gun down on the edge of the bed, untying the ropes around her hands, and then her feet. As soon as the last rope slid from his hands, she wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"H-he injected me with something."

Matt held her at arms length, his eyes wide. "What? Where?" She pointed to the red, bruised part of her arm. "He didn't say what it was?" She shook her head, and he cursed to himself, wishing he had left Brown alive long enough to get information out of him. He pulled her off of the bed to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her standing. She was shaking against him. After a minute, he lifted her into his arms, and carried her all the way to the security room, setting her down in one of the swivel chairs. He kept a close eye on her as she wrapped her arms around herself. He turned on the security cameras, flipping through to find out what exactly had happened to Taniss and Amaryllis.