We're Gonna Die, Rick

Wake up sunshine." My eyes fluttered open and the light in the room was on. Daryl was putting on his boots. I pulled the blanket over my eyes and he dragged it away.

"Hey, wake up." He nudged my leg.

"Go away." It came out muffled.

"We're having breakfast. Let's go. Otherwise you'll get no food." I threw the blanket off and sat up.

"I'm up. Happy." I glared at the man who was walking round the room.

"How are you not hungover?" I asked him.

"I woke up early. Got everythin' out then." He explained lacing up his boots.

"Thanks for that visual." I scrunched up my nose. I brushed my teeth and got changed following the corridor back to the room we were eating it.

"That smells good." I all but licked my lips.

"Hello." I said to Carl, Sophia and Carol who were tucking into powdered eggs. Carol waved and smiled at me whilst Carl spoke through his food.

"Hi Dr Jenner." I said to the man entering the room with a frying pan and putting it in a plate. He gave me a wave and went back to get more food. T-Dog and Jacqui were sitting around the table. T-Dog had his face in his hands and I chuckled. Hungover. Jacqui mouthed to me and I nodded. Andrea and Dale entered the room followed by Daryl who plopped down on the chair to eat. I sat beside him and waited for more food to come.

"Good morning!" I beamed at Rick who held a hand to his head.

"Shh," he closed his eyes.

"Are you hungover?" Carl looked at his dad.

"Oh for sure kid. He is." I grinned as he sat down opposite me next to Carl.

"Mom said you'd be." He said decidedly stuffing food in his mouth.

"Mom is right. Mom has that annoying habit." Rick said rubbing his face.

"Such a lightweight." I teased nudging his arm with my hand.

"I bet you think this is hilarious." He narrowed his eyes as everyone around the table started laughing. Even Daryl cracked a smile.

"Mornin' everyone," Lori came in the room smiling but her eyes were puffy. I looked at her and gave her a reassuring smile which she ignored.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked which seemed nonchalant to the rest of the group.

"Fine." She said with a tight lipped smile.

"Your husband can't hold his drink." I pointed to Rick who glared at me playfully.

"I've known that for a while." Lori smirked and sat down next to him rubbing his arm.

"Hey," Shane said walking in the room.

"Hey," Rick said looking at him. He came round to sit at the head of the table with a blueish mark under his eye. Where I punched him. I tried not to smile at how everyone noticed it.

"Feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked narrowing his eyes at Shane.

"Worse."

"Man what happened to your eye?" He pointed and everyone looked at it. I could feel Daryl giving me a sidelook and I lowered my right hand under the table.

"I think I walked into something like the wall. I was crazy drunk." Shane chuckled and glanced up at me. I snorted then tried to cover it up with a cough.

"If the wall had a fist." Rick joked.

"This is nice an' all doc but we came here for some answers. And I don't really wanna bother you with questions first thing," Shane began.

"But that's what you're gonna do," Dr Jenner sighed.

"Follow me." Everyone finished their food and got up to follow him to the control room. My stomach started hurting again and I lifted the shirt up to check. Phew the stitches are holding.

"Lori," I called out gently to her and pulled her arm back so we were alone from the rest of the group.

"How are you really?"

"A little shaken up but I'll be fine." She sniffled not meeting my eyes.

"Hey you can talk to me." I nudged her gently. I can honestly say she was becoming a good friend, she took care of me. Now it was my turn to take care of her.

"It's morning I encouraged him I think maybe I-I hinted to him or somethin," she trailed off trying to defend his actions.

"You don't need to defend anything he did. What he did was not right, it was abuse plain and simple. Have you talked to Rick yet?"

"No. I haven't." My jaw dropped slightly.

"You're not gonna tell him?" I asked her shocked.

"He just got us back, his family and Shane's his best friend. Rick needs to lead this group and he needs our support, the last thing he needs to worry himself with this." She said putting her hands on her hips.

"But Lori," I began but she cut me off.

"Please just don't tell him. Please." She begged me and I looked into her eyes.

"Fine. If that's what you want." I smiled but sighed rubbing her arm. Just another secret to keep.

We began walking off towards the main control room to join the others.

"I like what you've done with Shane's face though." She said grinning.

"Oh I'm glad." I laughed as we rejoined the others. They were looking up at the giant screen at the front of the room which was showing a scan of a human brain.

"Few people ever get a chance to see this." Jenner explained playing the video.

"What are the lights?" Rick asked.

"Those are the electrical impulses firing between the neurons at the synapses. It's what makes us up, our memories, thoughts, desires." I glanced at Rick quickly before clearing my throat and looking back on the screen.

"Are you a scientist Pol?" Jenner asked looking at me curiously.

"Uh I was. I worked in research." The rest of the group looked at me in shock. Rick looked surprise as with the rest of the group but Shane looked suspicious.

"She's right anyways. In all that organic wiring is the soul. It's what makes us human." Jenner said eyeing the screen closely. The lights in the brain suddenly went out.

"What was that?" Shane asked.

"The moment of death." I muttered.

"The soul determines everything a person says to the moment of death.

"Is that what happened? This person died?" Shane asked the doctor who nodded slowly.

"Who is it?" I asked him and a painful look crossed his face.

"Test subject 19, they were bitten and infected. And volunteered to have us record the process."

"Vi scan forward to the first event". The playback was forwarded until an image of the brain was shown once more.

"It invades the brain, like meningitis." A parasite that's what it is. An aggressive viral strain which was incorporated into a lentiviral vector which combats HIV inside T-lymphocytes. It was successful in animal trials then we reached clinical phase human trials on army veterans. It didn't go so well.

Dr Jenner forwarded the vigil to the second event where the brain is shown in red.

"Resurrection times vary. For this patient it was 2 hours." Smaller red lights started travelling up to the the base of the brain.

"It restarts the brain stem. You tell me if you think that's life."

"It's not. The front cortex, the part that makes us human looks lifeless." I spoke up causing Rick to look straight at me. Suddenly the lights in the brain went out as something went through it.

"You shot your patient." I said with raised eyebrows still staring at the screen. The countdown appeared on the screen working its way down to 0. My eyes widened. Oh no. Oh no no no. Facility wide decontamination. I had been informed about this protocol in emergencies before I came to the CDC.

"Oh," I said softly and Rick was standing next to me.

"What is it?" He asked turning to look at me. He bent down slightly to look into my eyes.

"We're gonna die Rick."

"I'm sorry Doctor I know this has been taxing for you, but what happens when the countdown reaches 0." Shane asked him and Dr Jenner remained silent. Tell them you idiot please so I don't have to.

"The basement generators run out of fuel. Then the power runs out." He explained shutting down the workstations.

"And then?"

"Facility wide decontamination." He said before leaving the room. I closed my eyes and they felt hot suddenly as they were filled with tears.

"Decontamination?" Glenn asked quietly.

"What does that mean?" Rick looked around the group then looked at me.

"This whole facility is going to blow up." Half of the group were in the shock and began panicking.

"Wh-what?" Rick stuttered. I was about to put my hand on his back but the fact Lori was standing there clutching Carl stopped me.

"Come on," I nudged him and together we ran after Jenner with the rest of the group in towZ

"If we don't get out of here soon, we're gonna die Rick." I sighed wiping my eyes slightly. I had finally found a home with a new group and we were going to die in the CDC. Rick and I ran off after Dr Jenner with the others following suit. The lights went out in the corridor and it was pitch black.

"Rick?" I asked in a small voice reaching in the dark for him.

"I'm here." He said calmly.

"follow my voice." I held out my hand and hit the wall.

"Where?" I asked panicking slightly.

"It's okay. Stay calm." I reached my hand forward and felt his hand. He grasped my hand in his and we walked forward touching the wall. If I wasn't freaking out so much about the dark I would cheer right now. Thank god its dark because I'm blushing so hard.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Yeah." I said, he squeezed my hand in response and walked forward.

"Ow!" I said feeling someone step on my heel.

"Oh sorry,"

"Glenn?"

"Yep."

"Where are the others?"

"We're here." Daryl called out.

"Carol? Sophia?" I asked into the darkness.

"We're with Daryl." Carol replied breathing heavily.

"Where's Rick?" Shane asked from far away.

"Uh he's with me." I said blushing in the dark.

"Lori? Carl? You alright?" Rick asked.

"We're fine sweetie." Lori replied coming up beside me. The backup side lights turned on and I released Rick's hand quickly before anyone could see.

"Pol?" Glenn asked curiously looking at my flushed face.

"I'm good." I grimaced and saw Rick glance at me out of the corner of my eye.

"I just checked the generators." T-Dog came up to us.

"Anything?" Rick asked.

"Lot of dead generators and empty fuel cans."

"The air conditioning's stopped." I said looking up feeling hot in the hallway. Rick pushed open a door and saw the lights were off.

"The air is off. And the lights in our rooms." He said head leaning into the room.

"Why is everything being turned off?" Sophia asked Carol.

"Energy use is being prioritised." Jenner was standing in front of us looking solemn.

"Air isn't a priority?" Shane walked up to Jenner until he was almost in his face.

"It's not up to me." He shrugged and began walking back to the control room.

"Zone 5 is shutting itself down." We went after him as the countdown clock was nearing 30 minutes.

"We need to get out." I said worriedly to Rick and he nodded.

"What happened?" He asked Jenner walking fast to keep up with him.

"No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuels. It's stupid." Jenner scoffed.

"To hell with it. Lori grab our things, everyone grab your stuff. We're leaving." I began running towards the door to get to my pack as it started closing, I ran faster and jumped through the crack as it slammed shut behind me.

"No!" I shouted pounding the door.

"Are you guys alright?" I shouted.

"Yeah we're okay! Jenner locked us in!." Rick shouted.

"I'll figure this out." I said thoughtfully.

"How much time do I have left? The exact time!"

"30 minutes from now!" He shouted and I synced my watch.

"I can't make a dent!" I heard hitting against the metal.

"Daryl?" I asked against the door.

"Yeah! it's me. You okay?" I could hear this southern drawl. I felt a pang in my heart, Daryl honestly felt like a friend to me whether he'd want to admit it or not.

"I'm fine Dixon! Im gonna gather up all your packs and put them near the front of the building. I'm working on a way to get you guys out." I reassured him.

"Okay," He didn't sound convinced.

"Be safe!" I walked away from the door and ran down the hallway to all of the rooms. It took me 15 minutes to gather everyone's stuff and carry it through the elevator to the entrance we all came in, until there was a pile by the front door. I ran back down to basement level below Zone 5 to check the generators. The main lights were off showing it was conserving energy and I found it slightly difficult to breathe. I went back outside the door to the control room and pulled out a paper and pen.

It's getting a little difficult to breathe out here. How's everyone holding up in there?

- P

I pounded my fist against the metal door and slid the paper through the gap. I sat down in front of it waiting for a reply. A minute later the paper was shoved back:

Yeah the air's a little thin in here. Everyone's pretty quiet but we're managing. Any luck?

- Rick

We went back and forth having a conversation on the paper so we wouldn't have to shout and could conserve the air.

I'm working on it.

- P

None of this is your fault Pol. None of it.

- Rick

"Oh Rick if only you knew how wrong you were." I said out loud to myself finally letting the tears fall.

Thanks. Sit tight Officer Grimes.

- P

I ran to the front where the glass doors and emergency exits were sealed off. We could.. No it's too crazy. As soon as we break the glass the missiles would reach this place. We'd have 2 minutes but it's our best chance. I ran back to the outside of Zone 5 and began scribbling a note on the piece of paper when suddenly an alarm went off and the doors changed open. Everyone ran out charging for the exit. I walked fast and struggled to keep up with my stomach still healing but talked as I ran.

"How did you get out?" I asked incredulously.

"Jenner let us out!" Rick shouted as we ran through the building.

"We've got 4 minutes till this place blows."

"I've got an idea. But we don't have the gunpowder to break the glass." I said.

"We'll figure it out. Come on." We reaches the front of the building where everyone grabbed a pack and Shane and Rick held up their rifles.

"Where's Jacqui, Andrea and Dale?" I asked the group who looked down.

"They chose to stay." Lori said. My eyes widened as I took in the news. I never even got to apologise like I wanted to Andrea about Amy, this is my fault.

"Rick I've got something." Carol said reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a grenade which I gasped in shock at.

"Well aren't you full of surprises." Carol smiled as Rick pulled the pin.

"Get down!" Shane shouted as it was thrown and the glass shattered. We ran through the building and I pulled out my knife stabbing walkers as we reached the RV and the cars. I was stuffed in the car with Rick, Lori and Carl in the backseat, when Dale and Andrea came out of the building.

"They're going to make it!" I gasped excitedly. They scrambled into the RV along with T-Dog and Glenn as the building blew up and the sky was filled with flames

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