Theo woke up the following day, noticing Daryl was still asleep on the floor beside her.

She noticed how peaceful he looked when he wasn't stressed out, simply asleep. The crease in his brow had relaxed. 

He slept on his back, one arm above his head, the other resting on his chest. 

She decided not to wake up Daryl, but he woke up anyway as soon as she moved anyway.

"Hey," She awkwardly smiled as he sat up.

"Hey, you sleep okay?" He asked, stretching, looking at her like she was glass and about to break at any moment.

"Mhm," Theo nodded as Daryl stood, Theo following.

"Last night..." Theo began, remembering everything. 

The kiss. 

The discussion. 

The truth. 

"Stays between us", Daryl reassured her as she smiled at him.

"Come on, let's get some food," Daryl smiled as they headed out, only to be awkwardly met by everyone else, who looked at them confused as they left a room together. 

They looked pretty rough from the drinking, but they looked like something else to the others.

Theo awkwardly closed the door behind her as Daryl ignored everyone's looks. 

"Something I need to know?" Rick asked his daughter angrily. 

"No, it's not what it looks like," Theo explained before walking away. 

Daryl headed to the showers quickly. 

Everyone sat in the same place as the previous night for breakfast. 

She walked over to Glenn to see him hanging onto a thread. Glenn wasn't one to drink; he was suffering from an awful hangover.

"Morning", Theo smiled as she hugged him from behind, swaying him from side to side. 

"Ughhhhh shhhhhhhhh!" He told her off, shoo-ing her off.

It caused everyone in the room to laugh as she grabbed a coffee—the first coffee she had had in months—some bacon and toast and sat next to Carl, who was enjoying a large bowl of cereal.

"Glenn, you drank too much last night?" Theo asked, but once again, all she got was the reply of a moan.

She smirked at the boy before digging into her breakfast.

"Where are Daryl and Shane?" Lori asked, looking around the room. 

Theo looked around, worried. 

Everyone shook their head, not knowing where they were

"You and Daryl seem to be getting close..." Dale smirked at Theo

"No, no, we are friends, that's all" " she corrected, avoiding eye contact

That's when Shane walked into the room. 

She sighed, knowing that at least he hadn't been killed by Daryl.

She continued to eat her food as everyone else made small talk.

Daryl walked in a few moments later, staring down Shane before grabbing some food.

Daryl sat on the other side of Theo, making sure Shane didn't have the chance to take the seat next to her; he gave her a small smile before she returned one.

"How are you feeling this morning?" he asked, leaning down towards her, whispering.

"Okay," she said with a small smile before grabbing a piece of toast off his plate and trading it for her bacon.

"I can get on board with that," he smiled at the extra meat on his plate.

She went to get another coffee when she noticed Shane standing there waiting for his own.

"I'll grab one for you," Daryl noticed as he grabbed her mug and headed over to make one for her. 

She smiled gratefully as she watched Daryl walk next to Shane, ignoring every word he said to Daryl as he made Theo a coffee. 

Jenner then entered the room, saying good morning to everyone.

"Hey, Doc, I don't want to rush you with questions first thing in the morning..." Dale began looking around the room, causing Dr. Jenner to sigh. 

"But you are going too?" Jenner answered while grabbing a plate.

"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea finished. 

They all wanted answers, and now they were more settled; they knew it was time.

Jenner realised what they meant and made them all get up and follow him as he ate while walking to his lab. 

He took them to the central area of the building, where all the research took place.

He talked to his computer-operated voice to play a recording, making them all wait and stare at the large screen in front of them all.

An image of a brain came on the screen.

"Very few people came to see this," he began.

Everyone in the group focused entirely on what Jenner was telling them.

The image then zoomed into what they were already looking at, showing in-depth brain images so they could see every tiny nerve inside their heads. 

Theo looked at it, amazed; it was almost beautiful.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked while pointing at the specific areas that were white and glowing.

"That is a person's life; that's you, your memory..." he began looking at the screen himself. 

Theo stood back and watched behind the majority of everyone else.

"What makes you human, from the moment you are born to the end of your life..."

"This is Vigil?" Rick asked. 

"Yes, or it was", Jenner answered, waiting for more questions. 

"This person died?" Andrea questioned, taking a step forward.

"Yes, they were test subject 19; they were bitten and infected, and they volunteered for us to watch and see what happened to the brain during the infection," Jenner explained as he clicked a button on his desk. 

He then showed them the brain when the infection took its hit.

Part of the brain was black and rotten.

"Part of the brain, the first part infected..." Jenner said as they continued to watch.

It was fascinating but terrifying to the group; they watched someone die and turn into one of those things from the brain's point of view.

Something they will only ever get to see. 

"It spreads throughout the brain before taking out the major organs," he explained as they watched the infection spread until it was completely black.

The room was silent; Theo sat back, taking it all in. 

It was shocking, finally knowing every detail of what was going on. 

This was real, and from its appearance, there was no cure.

"Scan to the second event", Jenner called out.

"The time it takes for the patient to come back differs. We've known one to be as little as three minutes; this patient was two hours," he said as the group watched the images on the screen.

Suddenly, a red light came from inside my brain, like fire.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori gasped in complete horror. 

"No, just the stem", Jenner corrected. "It makes them get up and begin to move again."

"But they are dead, right?" Theo asked, making everyone turn to her. "You know what I mean, they aren't alive", Theo said due to the 'really' looks she had coming her way.

"The brain isn't alive, just that part that makes you, you, is alive,'' Jenner explained.

They continued to watch when a white light shot across the X-ray of the head.

Some knew exactly what that was and stayed quiet.

"What was that?" Carol asked, looking at everyone else who, by the looks of it, knew. 

"He shot his patient in the head, didn't you?" Andrea asked Jenner. 

She was annoyed; they didn't even try to save that person.

"Power down," Jenner told his computer.

"You don't know anything; you don't know how to stop it. Do you?" Theo said, watching the man. 

Everyone looked at her, and she was understandably angry.

"She is right, isn't she? You have no idea what it is," Andrea said.

"Putting it simply. It could be anything," Jenner snapped. 

"Somebody must know, right?" Andrea asked, looking at the room for backup.

"I don't know; there might be others, but communications went down, and there is no way of contact. The last country we spoke to was France." 

"You're trying to say that it isn't just here; it is everywhere, isn't it?" Andrea asked, "Global."

Jenner looked down to the floor. That gave them their answer.

"Okay, now, one more question," Theo said, stepping forward. 

He looked at her; his face was covered in guilt.

"That clock, it's counting down, so what the hell happens when it gets to 0?" she asked. 

She had noticed it when she walked into the room; it was putting her on edge.

"Power out." 

"T-Dog, Glenn, Shane with me now," Rick said, running to where the power was stored.

They all looked at Jenner with disappointed faces. They had come here for safety, and he had been hiding something from them the entire time. 

The rest of the group went back to their rooms, worried. 

About 30 minutes had passed when the lights went out, causing a complete blackout. 

Theo turned on her survival mode and began throwing stuff in a bag before a slam came from outside the room.

They all looked out their doors to see Jenner walking down the corridor, snatching the bottle of spirit Daryl was drinking as he walked past.

"What's happening?" Dale asked, but there was no answer until Jenner stopped

"The last remaining power is sent to the computer, so they have the last of it", he said before walking towards the computer room, making the group bump into Rick and the others.

"Everyone, get your stuff. Now!" Rick told them sternly.

No one questioned him; they all returned to their rooms, packing everything and anything they could.

Daryl ran into Theo's room to ensure she was okay.

"You good." He asked, slightly out of breath. 

"Carl?" she asked, reminding herself he was the only thing that mattered. Daryl didn't have to ask; he left her room and went to find her mother and Carl.

She ran out, following the others back to the room where they had all been previously.

An alarm began to blast throughout the place, causing everyone to jump and panic.

"Shit", Theo sighed when she noticed that all of a sudden, the doors started to close.

"Did you just lock us in?" Glenn yelled at Jenner; he ignored Glenn, turned on a computer, and started talking into it.

"Carl?" Theo yelled, not yet seeing him.

"I have him," Lori responded.