A/N: 🍋 warning and attempted sexual assault. The two warnings aren't related to the same incident.

Three days into the Outbreak.

Shane opened the door to Rick's room to see a scene of utter chaos. The news reports had gotten worse over the last 48 hours, and Shane had rushed to Carl's school after a call to 911 of a teacher attacking students.

He had rushed to Carl's school, where he had found the boy hiding under his desk with half a dozen other students in the classroom. They were frozen in fear as monsters and screams and blood filled the school's halls. Shane kicked the classroom door open, saw Carl and grabbed him, throwing the boy over his shoulder and not even looking back as he ran out the classroom door to an emergency exit and back to his car. After dropping Carl at home, he told Lori to pack while he rushed to get Rick.

Shane had entered Rick's room to try and bring the comatose man with him, but having no idea how to safely detach the cords plugged into him did he exited the room to look for a nurse. As he opened the door to said chaos, he saw men in military gear running past him and up the hallway.

"Hey, hey!" Shane yelled, trying to get someone's attention but he was ignored. He grabbed a nurse who was being rushed along by the soldiers and asked:

"Ma'am. Ma'am, please. Please, can you help me?"

"No! No!" the woman yelled, breaking free of his grip and running with the others. Shane ran down the hall in the direction they came from, grabbing a spare gurney he could use to push Rick out of here. As he got to the gurney, he reached a corner and heard a man yell:

"Check them all. Check them all."

He looked up to see soldiers in full camouflage gear and gas masks massacring doctors and nurses in the hall. Shane's eyes widened in horror as he realised the soldiers were going room to room and massacring every patient they found. As he stared in disbelief a door opened behind the soldiers, one of them being grabbed by a monster who bit into the man's neck. As he was attacked, he squeezed the trigger, shooting half of the soldiers he was with as more monsters came through the door. Shane grabbed the gurney tight and ran as fast as he could with it back to Rick's room.

He left the gurney at the door and rushed in, speaking to Rick's lifeless body:

"Okay. I'm gonna get you out of here, bud."

Shane grunted with exertion, picking Rick up but struggled as he had to stop, four different cords and wires not just attached to Rick but inside of Rick- a catheter, a cord to his gun shot draining blood- how the hell was Shane supposed to disconnect all this?

"What do I do, what do I do?" he whispered to himself in panic, looking over the life support machine on the far side of the bed. He quickly ducked down, hiding as a soldier in a gas mask with an AK 47 entered the room. He held his breath, praying to God the soldier didn't pull the trigger. His prayers were answered as another soldier called out:

"Come on, Corporal, move out!"

The soldier backed out the door and followed command, leaving without firing at Rick, and Shane punched the bedframe at the helplessness he felt. He got up and looked at Rick in a cross of rage, fear and heartbreak.

"Listen to me. If you're gonna wake up, I need you to do it now. Okay? Now. Please, man, you just show me a sign, anything. Please Rick."

There was the sound of a helicopter whirring, then an explosion that shook the building, the lights flickering on and off as one of the men in the hall yelled:

"The place is coming down! Fall back! All units fall back."

Shane put his head to Rick's chest but couldn't hear any sounds, he watched his best friend closely, seeing no sign of life as he began to cry. After a moment he composed himself. He looked back down at his deceased brother.

"I'm...I'm okay. I'm gonna get them out Rick. I'm gonna get them out for you."

He walked to the door and pulled his gun out. He could hear the soldiers retreating, still shooting anyone they came across. He walked out the door, gun aimed at the soldier's direction when he heard moans and groans behind him. A dozen monsters arrived at the corner he had found the gurney and were heading towards him.

"Fuck" Shane whispered to himself. He couldn't get Rick out, couldn't give him a proper burial, but he sure as fuck wasn't about to let him be torn to pieces either. He picked up a towel to cover his mouth, closed Rick's hospital room door and wedged the gurney against it, hoping to God they couldn't get in. He pointed his gun at the monsters but didn't fire, backing up and running towards the soldiers.

--~--

The group stood out the front of the CDC, standing in the light from the open doorway.

"Dixon, Y/N, cover the back" Shane yelled out.

"The fuck you think we're doing, get them inside" Y/N yelled back, still dropping walkers with short sharp bursts of ammunition. The others entered, looking around as Rick yelled "Hello? Hello?"

Y/N motioned to Daryl, and he ran in first, Y/N slamming the door as Daryl dragged a bench across to block it. Both men puffed and chuckled, Y/N holding up a fist to Daryl. Daryl chuckled but nevertheless fist bumped Y/N back as Y/N smiled:

"Good looking out, man."

"Yeah, you too" Daryl replied. The two turned to see Rick and the group face to face with a middle-aged man standing with a rifle.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" the man asked.

"A chance" Rick replied. The man lowered his weapon.

"That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know" Rick replied.

The man looked at everyone:

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission"

Rick smiled: "We can do that."

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed" the man said in a serious tone. The group grabbed what they had brought with them and rushed in, following Jenner into an elevator. As they entered the man called out:

"VI, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here."

Rick stopped and held his hand out: "Rick Grimes."

The man looked away nervously.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner."

The group got in the elevator, and it was a tight squeeze. Y/N and Amy were in the back right corner, Y/N's arms were over Amy's shoulders and down her chest, holding her tight. Amy's hands were sat on Y/N's arms, slowly running her forefingers up and down his large biceps and forearms.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked with worry. Amy lifted her head and smiled, kissing his jawline and replying:

"Just a little nauseous. That smell was horrid."

"It definitely was" Y/N replied, squeezing again lovingly. Clementine smiled at the couple before looking across at Daryl as he spoke:

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked from the back right corner, looking at the rifle in Jenner's hands. Jenner turned back to him:

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough."

He turned to look down at Carl with a smile on his face:

"Except you, I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Carl smiled back happily at the doctor.

The group reached their destination and walked along a corridor with dozens of closed doors. As they walked Carol asked:

"Are we underground?"

"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asked, looking back as he walked.

"A little"

"Try not to think about it" Jenner smiled. They entered a large, darkened space and Jenner called out again:

"VI, bring up the lights in the big room. Welcome to Zone 5" he smiled.

"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" Rick asked.

"I'm it. It's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking with? VI?" Lori asked in confusion. Jenner smiled.

"VI, say hello to our guests. Tell them... Welcome."

"Hello, guests. Welcome" An artificial intelligence computer program answered in a clearly robotic voice.

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry" Jenner said sadly.

--~--

The group were sat in a large testing room, Amy was having her blood drawn, the last one to be done.

"Can I ask the point of this? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever" Andrea asked as Y/N sat holding Amy's hand. She had always been afraid of needles. She had broken her ankle when she was five, and had to go to the hospital, obviously. She was staying in, her mum Jude staying with her.

When Jude had gone to the toilet a doctor and a student doctor came in while she was out, to insert a drip in Amy's arm to prepare her for surgery...

Six times the student doctor stabbed her trying to find a vein. Amy had screamed in pain and since then had a real phobia of needles.

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough" Jenner replied before the syringe clicked as he withdrew the blood vial, and he smiled to the couple:

"All done."

Amy stood, before say "ooh" and falling into the arms of her lover who gripped her tightly.

"Are you okay?" Jenner asked in concern.

"She was sick up there, the smell of the bodies, it's been a really rough few days" Y/N smiled sadly as he held Amy and rubbed her back gently.

"Why don't we give you a reason to smile then?" Jenner chuckled.

--~--

Everyone, including Jenner, was sat at a large round table eating pasta and drinking wine, in a large room within the CDC. Everyone was laughing.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France" Dale said with a chuckle after Carl had asked to try some.

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then" Lori replied.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on. Come on" Rick chuckled. Lori sighed and nodded. Dale handed Carl a glass with half an inch of wine in it and smiled:

"There you are young lad."

Everyone watched as Carl took a sip and shook his head in revulsion.

"Eww" said as the others laughed, Lori taking his drink and replying:

"That's my boy. That's my boy. Good boy."

And poured his wine into her glass.

"Yuck. That tastes nasty" Carl said revolted.

"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud" Shane laughed. Daryl said loudly:

"Not you, Glenn!"

Glenn looked at him half drunk and puzzled and Daryl explained to the amusement of the others:

"Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get."

Y/N looked at Amy sitting next to him, the only one of the four of their immediate group not drinking wine:

"Are you sure you don't want a drink, love?"

"No, thanks baby. It's just my stomach, after... earlier. I'll stick to soda with Carl."

She giggled and Y/N leant down and cupped her face.

"I'm so sorry I scared you outside, Amy. I had to stop those walkers. If that many got on top of us it would have been over."

"I know, believe me I'm grateful. It just scares me, seeing you in danger" Amy smiled as she leant her face against her lover's hand. Andrea and Clementine smiled; Rick meanwhile had noticed Jenner had a sad look on his face. He took his fork and tapped his glass.

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

Various replies came from the guests:

"He is more than just our host."

"Hear hear!"

"Here's to you, Doc, booyah!"

"Booyah!"

"Thank you. Thank you, Doctor" Rick smiled. Everyone sat in a contented silence until Shane spoke up:

"So when are you gonna tell us what the Hell happened here, Doc? All the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

Y/N sighed, and muttered:

"As subtle as a punch in the face."

Andrea laughed back:

"Pot meet kettle" to the amusement of the others. Rick replied to Shane with obvious frustration.

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now."

Y/N sighed. Tensions were definitely building between the pair, the women had told him Dale needed to talk to him urgently, without Shane knowing. It was a bit hard at the moment, everyone being on top of each other, but he would wait for the right chance. Y/N was pulled from his thoughts as Shane got more heated.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move- supposed to find all the answers. Instead we, heh, we found him. Found one man, why?"

Jenner answered plainly:

"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane asked in shock.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They... opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

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

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good" Jenner replied.

"Well you saved my families lives today, Doc. All these people here. Can never thank you for that, I'd say that's a hell of a lot of good" Y/N said honestly.

Jenner smiled for the first time as Glenn drunkenly looked at Shane:

"Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man."

--~--

The group had finished dinner and Jenner was showing them through one of the living centres.

"This was set up for a team that never made it back, so it's ready to go for you all, over a dozen bedrooms and a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies- if you shower, go easy on the hot water."

"Hot water?" Glenn asked.

"That's what the man said" T-Dog replied as they both laughed.

--~--

The various members of the group were underneath the showers in their rooms. Lori was stood under the water when Rick joined her, kissing her from behind. Shane was stood under the water in his room, having found a bottle of whiskey and was drinking it straight as the water washed over him.

Andrea stood looking sad as the water soaked her.

🍋🍋🍋

Meanwhile, Y/N stood under the shower, his hands against the wall and his muscular frame glistening from the water that cascaded over it.

He was joined by Amy, who wrapped her arms around him and kissed his back as her hands rubbed his muscular chest and defined abdomen.

"With Nanna and everything, if you don't want to... I know we take every chance we can, but if you don't feel up to it it's today fine, but if you do want to then-"

Amy's stammering was cut off by Y/N gripping one of her hands gently and lowering it down to his hardening cock.

"I feel like I need to babe, I need to be inside you" Y/N replied as he threw his head back in pleasure at Amy's skilled hands.

She got up on her tippy toes kissing his neck.

"Trust me, I need you inside me as well."

Y/N turned, the water splashing on Amy's face causing her to laugh as he leant down and kissed her passionately. As they kissed he reached down slowly, running a finger tip down her body, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

He trailed down her perk breast, her hard nipple, trailed down further until he reached her pussy. He massaged around her labia, Amy moaning in pleasure as he slipped a finger in, massaging her clit with his thumb as he did.

"You're so wet already" Y/N said in a low, husky tone, one that made Amy gush even more.

"I'm ready, just enter me, baby. I want you deep inside me" Amy sighed lustfully.

She was silenced by Y/N's tongue entering her mouth, at the same time he lifted her easily, his core strength holding her up as her legs wrapped around his back and his raging hard on entered her cunt.

🍋🍋🍋

--~--

Dale walked passed Rick in the corridor, the two men in bathrobes smiling at each other. Dale entered the rec room and picked a book that looked interesting, taking it back towards his room when he heard crying coming from Andrea's darkened room.

He knocked on the door, and popped his head in, walking in on her crying on the bed. He rushed over, pushing the door to behind him and sat next to her, gently gripping her arms.

"Andrea, Andrea, what's wrong?" he asked with genuine concern.

"It's gone. It's all gone" Andrea cried.

"What do you mean?" Dale asked as he rubbed her arms.

"You know, it's over. There's nothing left. Don't you see that?" She continued to sob.

"Oh, I- I see a- a chance to make a new start. And it's not all gone. We're still here Andrea. Even though we lost Margaret, and we lost Jim. We're still here."

Andrea laugh cried and wiped her eyes.

"How the hell can you always stay so positive?"

"What I said to Y/N, those weren't just words Andrea. Your family... you, Andrea. You made me care again" Dale answered honestly as he gently rubbed her arms and smiled.

Andrea looked down at his hands, then back up, shocking Dale as she leant over and kissed him passionately. Dale froze in shock before he kissed back.

--~--

Rick and his bottle of wine joined Jenner in the big room.

"How's the blood?" Rick asked drunkenly.

"No surprises" Jenner replied.

"I came to thank you."

"You did."

Rick tried to lean against a console but instead he fell to the floor, landing in a sitting position.

"You all- you all right?" Jenner asked with genuine concern.

"You don't know what it's like" Rick laughed: "You don't know what it's like out there. 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 kept it in. kept it in and kept us moving, you know. Just kept it in. Kept us..."

Rick was overcome with emotion and alcohol, stammering into silence.

"It'll all be okay. It'll be okay" Jenner feebly tried to reassure Rick.

--~--

Carl, Carol and Sophia were in the rec room. The kids were playing checkers and Carol was happily reading a book. Lori walked in, smiling, a glass of wine in her hand.

She looked at the kids and sighed in relief. They looked so relaxed and happy. Both the kids smiled when they saw her.

"Any good books?" Lori chuckled.

Carol smiled:

"Uh-huh. Enough to keep us busy for years. All right. Come on, kids, it's bed time."

"Baby, go say your prayers. I'm gonna browse a bit" Lori smiled to Carl.

Carol smiled and walked the kids out. As she got to the door she turned back:

"This is the first night we might actually get some real sleep."

Lori smiled as Carol walked out, looking at the books as the door closed behind her.

From a different doorway Shane was peering in, watching Lori. He was drunk and a possessive, foreboding glare was on his face.

Lori was wrapped up, reading the dusk jacket of a book when Shane grabbed a door handle, opened the door and slammed it shut. Lori jumped a mile and turned around, looking at Shane angrily.

"Jesus, you scared me" she glared. Shane stormed forward, clearly intoxicated:

"I'm gonna tell you a few things and you're gonna listen to me."

"Now is not the time" Lori replied, trying to ignore him by reading the book in her hand.

"Come on. When is it ever the time?" Shane snapped in frustration. He still had the whiskey bottle, taking a drink as Lori gave up trying to ignore him and instead tried to leave.

"How can you treat me like this?" Shane asked, obviously hurt as he blocked Lori's way to the door.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No. Huh-uh."

"Because you told me my husband was dead" she snapped angrily and walked around him. Shane reacted emotionally.

"Jesus, Lori. I didn't lie to you, all right? I didn't. Do you know what it was like there? Huh?"

As he was talking he walked past Lori. Before she could walk out the open door he pulled it closed and stood 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. 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. No way."

Shane banged the door in frustration as he spoke.

"He did" Lori replied coldly.

"Yeah, but then I had y'all to think about, didn't I?" Shane gripped Lori by the shoulders. She got a really bad feeling in her stomach, one she hadn't had around Shane before, and tried to back away from him. She had no luck though, Shane not letting her go and backing her all the way to a table.

"I had you and Carl, and I needed to think about..."

"Okay. No.No" Lori started to get desperate, wanting him to back off immediately.

"I had to get you guys safe to Atlanta. That's what I had to do. Just stop!" Shane said as Lori tried to get up but was pushed back again.

"If you thought for one second that he was still alive, would you have come? So I saved your life- you and your little boy's. That's what I did. Right?"

Lori was scared and speechless, unable to do anything but shake her head as Shane continued his rant.

"And if I could've traded places with him, I would have. I would trade places with him right now because-"

"No no no. No" Lori pleased, trying to get away.

"No no no. You- I love you. Shh shh" Shane whispered as he turned from drunk sympathiser to predator.

"No. No. You're drunk" Lori snapped.

"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 pushed in closer and closer. He grabbed her chin with his hand to keep her from looking away. Lori tried her hardest to fight him off.

"Shane. Shane. Shane!"

Shane tried to kiss her and then pulled back, just an inch:

"Just- Okay, Stop. Listen. You love me"

He tried to reach between her legs.

"Get your hands off me. Get your hands off me" Lori screamed as Shane was suddenly smacked hard in the back of the head with a thick book.

--~--

Clementine was walking down towards the rec room. Her first port of call was the room Y/N and Amy had claimed. She knocked on the door and heard Amy call out "come in."

She entered with a smile.

"Hey guys, just wondering how you were. Did you want to-"

She stopped and looked around puzzled, no one was there before she heard from the bathroom:

"Don't stop, don't stop baby please. I'm gonna cum."

Y/N grunted.

"You're so fucking tight"

Amy's voice raised.

"You're so fucking big. God I'm full. I'm cuming, I'm cuming, I'm-"

Clementine left and shut the door as Amy began to scream. She widened her eyes and shook her head, whispering: "Lucky lady" to herself before walking down two doors to Andrea's room. The door was ajar but the room was in darkness, she entered quietly in case Andrea was asleep. She was about to call out gently, asking if Andrea was awake before pausing at what she saw.

She closed the door quietly and smiled. Dale was way, way, way, too old for her tastes, but if Andrea was interested and happy then good for her, Clementine wasn't going to judge.

She entered the rec room alone, hearing a scuffle inside. She walked in and saw Shane, pinning Lori down against a table, reaching for her groin as she desperately fought him off.

Clementine rushed over, picked up a heavy book off the table to their right and smashed Shane over the back of the head with it. He turned around yelling in pain and got another to his face, causing blood to spurt out his nose.

He backed off in pain as Clementine jumped between the two and held the book up in a threatening manner.

"Get the fuck out of here! Now!" Clementine roared.

Shane looked around in shock, and shame, and quickly backed out of the room, punching the wall on the way out.

As soon as the door was closed Clementine dropped the book and turned to Lori.

"Lori are you-"

Lori's arms were instantly wrapped around Clementine as she cried and cried, Clementine just holding her and letting the poor woman release her emotional shock and trauma. When the tears finally stopped, Clementine wiped Lori's eyes and smiled, sadly.

"Thank you" Lori whispered.

"You don't need to thank me. I'm so sorry that bastard did that to you. Let's go to Amy and Y/N's room, Y/N will-"

"No! No! Please!" Lori suddenly yelled panicked, trying to stop Clementine moving.

"Hey, it's ok. It's ok. You don't need to be afraid. Y/N despises rape. Friend or not he'll tear Shane to pieces."

"No please, you can't tell Y/N, or Rick, or anyone. Please."

Clementine sighed.

"Because you were sleeping with him?"

Lori looked at Clementine horrified.

"Y/N and Amy tried to hide it too, when they were 14. Thought it might mess up our friendship. Dating I mean, not sleeping together. My point is I recognised the signs."

"Please, please don't say anything, not until I have a chance to somehow tell Rick. Please."

Clementine sighed.

"Fine. But if I think for a moment he's a risk to you or anyone else again, I have to go to Y/N."

Lori nodded and thanked her profusely.

"Let's just get you back to Rick and Carl, hey."

Clementine supported Lori to the door and out of the room, only just realising, in her panic, she had forgotten her glock was still strapped to her leg.

She got Lori to her bedroom door and opened it. Carl was asleep on the couch and Rick was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll wait until-"

"No. No honestly, I'll be ok. Thank you, Clementine. I can never thank you enough."

The two women hugged and Clementine smiled as Lori closed the door.

Clementine had the glock in her hand within a moment, walking down towards her room. As she got to her door and opened it, someone grabbed her arm from behind and she turned and aimed:

"Whoa, I just wanna talk to you, Clementine. Put the gun down" Shane said as he stood back with his hands raised.

"I don't think so. Walk away now" Clementine said firmly.

"Clementine look, I don't know what you think you saw but-"

"Oh I know exactly what I saw. You saw what Y/N did to Ed because he hit a woman. What do you think he'll do to you if he found out you to tried to rape one?"

Shane's eyes bulged in shame and anger, Clementine though was not one to back down.

"You have no idea who Y/N really is, what he is and what he did before the fall. You keep away from me, you keep away from my friends, and most importantly you keep away from Lori."

She snarled, wanting to spit on him before she backed up slowly, into her room with her gun raised, and closed the door, quickly locking it on the handle from the inside. She lowered the gun and exhaled, putting the safety on and her gun back away before looking at her hands. She was shaking like a leaf.

--~--

Lori was lying on her bed sobbing to herself when the door opened behind her. She laid there quietly, terrified, before hearing her husband's voice muttering and shushing himself as he shut the door, undid his belt and tripped over his own pants as they were halfway down his legs.

He managed to get himself into bed without waking Carl, wrapping his arm around Lori and squeezing her tight. She laid there too afraid to breathe until she heard him snoring behind her, and she began crying again.

--~--

The next morning Y/N and Amy were sat at breakfast, sat next to each other as Y/N looked down at his plate, eating powered eggs and rehydrated free dried bacon.

Carl was sat on the other side of Y/N, poking his cheek happily getting only grunts in return.

Lori sat looking down in a similar way to Y/N as she picked her food. Across from them Andrea and Dale sat next to each other, stealing glances and looking happily at each other.

Amy was watching them wondering what was up with the pair while Clementine, on the other side of Andrea, was looking at Lori with concern.

Rick approached the table with a less than sober gait in his walk and Carl turned from tormenting 'Uncle Y/N' to torment his father.

"Morning" Rick said with a seedy look on his face. He got a couple of different responses as Carl almost yelled excitedly:

"Are you hungover? Mom said you would be."

"Mom was right" Rick replied to a number of laughs.

"Mother's are always right" Andrea said with a smile. Amy smiled at her sister's words and wrapped her hands round Y/N's arm. On his other side Carl once again yelled:

"Y/N's so hungover too. Look what I can do" and he returned to poking Y/N's cheek, getting only laughs from the others and grunts from Y/N in return.

"Eggs powdered, but I do 'em good" T-Dog said as he came around the tables.

"I bet you can't tell" he added as he walked past Glenn, the next table over.

Glenn was sat with his head down barely above his plate, groaning as Jacqui rubbed his shoulders feeling sorry for him. T-Dog dished out the eggs to Rick and Glenn, putting the remainder in the middle of the table for anyone else as he smiled at Glenn.

"Protein helps the hangover."

Glenn just moaned again. Rick held up a bottle of aspirin, asking:

"Where'd all this come from?"

"Jenner" Lori replied.

"Could you help me, please?" Rick asked struggling to get the bottle open. Lori took it and opened it for him almost instantly, replying:

"He thought we could use it. Some of us, at least" she concluded looking at Glenn who was still moaning as Jacqui fussed over him.

"Don't ever let me drink again" he moaned.

"Hey" Shane said as he approached, getting himself a coffee.

"Hey. Feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked.

"Worse" Shane replied hoarsely.

T-Dog was the first to see the scratches on Shane's face and neck, as well as the swollen and bruised nose.

"What the Hell happened to you?" He asked shocked.

"Fell over in my room last night, woke up in a pool of blood. Must have hit it on the way down."

"Your neck too, damn that looks like it hurt."

Shane took a seat at the table with Glenn, and Amy looked up and noticed Lori and Clementine looking at each other. Clementine looked pissed but looked down quickly.

"Never seen you do that before, black out I mean" Rick said to Shane.

"Me neither. Not like me at all" Shane replied quietly.

A minute later Jenner walked in saying good morning. Everyone at the table greeted the doctor before Dale asked:

"Doctor: I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing..."

"But you will anyway" Jenner replied.

--~--

Jenner lead everyone into the big room from the previous night and called out:

"Give me a playback of TS-19."

"Playback of TS-19" Vi replied.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few" Jenner stated.

Up on the wall an oversized display showed varying 3-D views of a human skull.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.

"An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V."

"Enhanced internal view." Vi noted.

The main screen changed to show the upper shoulders and head of the subject. The screen skewed to a horizontal view then increased the magnification. The image became more and more detailed.

The magnification shows the Inside the skull. It appeared to be lit with bright blue threads of energy. Some areas were denser with light than others but there are lighted threads throughout the skull. The detail zoomed in until the threads became closer and pulses of light can be distinguished.

"What are those lights?" Y/N asked.

"It's a person's life-experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you-the thing that makes you unique and human."

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asked next to Y/N. Y/N chuckled and was elbowed by Amy, groaning and causing Daryl to chuckle.

"Those are synapses. 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."

"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick asked.

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

"This person died? Who?" Andrea asked.

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected... and volunteered to have us record the process. VI, Scan forward to the first event."

"Scanning to first event" Vi noted.

The footage fast forwarded as all the different synapses started darkening.

"What is that? Glenn asked

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be...gone"

As they watched the brain began to go dark before the person went into their death throes and the brain went black.

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

"Yes" Carol replied.

Y/N stood there, looking at the screen, tears rolling down his cheeks as Amy wrapped her arms round him tightly, catching Jenner's attention.

"He lost somebody two days ago. His grandmother" Lori explained sadly. Jenner looked at Y/N with genuine sympathy.

"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is. Vi scan to the second event."

"Scanning to second event."

The screen fast forwarded again as Jenner spoke.

"The resurrection times vary 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."

A red glow flickered at the base of the brain. The rest remained dark. Random sparks shot out into the larger area of the brain but no further lights grew.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked in shock.

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

"But they're not alive" Rick asked.
Jenner gestures to the monitor.

"You tell me."

Rick shook his head.

"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."

The subject on screen moved, its mouth opening and closing, the head moving side to side. The barrel of a gun appeared at the forehead pointing down. A bullet enters the brain and tears through the red cluster of embers. The brain goes completely dark, the subject stops moving.

"God. What was that?" Carol asked.

"He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?" Y/N asked. Jenner didn't answer, simply saying:

"VI, Power down the main screen and the workstations."

"Powering down main screen and workstations" Vi reported.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Y/N asked with a chuckle.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal"

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui asked.

"There is that."

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere" Andrea exclaimed.

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

"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" Jenner snapped.

"So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" Clementine asked.

"Jesus" Jacqui sighed. Daryl tapped Y/N on the arm and motioned with his head:

"Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk again. Come on."

Dale though, spoke up loudly:

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but...that clock- it's counting down. What happens at zero?"

"The basement generators-they run out of fuel."

"And then?" Rick asked.

Jenner ignored the question and walked out the room.

"VI, what happens when the power runs out?" Y/N asked, assuming Vi wasn't based off voice recognition only software. He was correct.

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."

--~--

Rick, Daryl, Shane, T-Dog and Y/N were running downstairs looking for the generators. The rest had returned to the rooms to pack everything they could.

As the group headed down lights came on automatically as they entered different rooms.

"Decontamination-what does that mean?" Shane asked.

"I don't like the way Jenner clammed up. The way he just wandered off like that." Y/N snapped as he ran.

"What's wrong with him? Seriously, man. Is he nuts, medicated, what?" T-Dog asked as Rick stopped and looked at a map on the wall.

"In there."

The men checked room after room of generators. All they found were empty petroleum barrels.

The lights flickered out, red lights on the walls barely lighting anything as Vi spoke:

"Emergency lighting is on."

--~--

Lori was packing in her room when there was a 'pssh' sound and the air stopped.

"Mom? Something wrong?" Carl asked.

"Uh, nothing. It's just...the air conditioning stopped" Lori replied.

--~--

Jenner sat at a desk in the big room, looking at a woman's photo and crying.

"I did the best I could in the time that I had. I hope you'd be proud of that."

The group met up and headed into the big room after Jenner.

"What the hells going on?" Y/N asked.

"Energy use is being prioritized" Jenner replied.

"Why? What the fuck is happening?" Y/N asked stepping forward, the anger starting to rise.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark. Right on schedule."

Jenner took a sip out of a whiskey bottle on his desk. He handed it to Daryl and then turned to Andrea.

"It was the French."

"What?" she asked, confused.

"The French 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?" Clementine asked.

"The 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?"

"Let me tell you-" Shane said storming up.

"To Hell with it, Shane. I don't even care. Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!" Rick said worriedly.

An alarm blared out and Vi said over the loud speakers:

"30 minutes to decontamination.

Jenner ran up to a panel and scanned his badge, entering a code. Security doors slid across, locking the big room, and the group, in.

"No. Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!" Glenn yelled.

Daryl ran at Jenner.

"You son of a bitch!"

Y/N grabbed Daryl with one arm over his chest and easily held him in place.

"You locked us in here! You lying-"

"We don't have time for this. Jenner open that door now" Y/N said, seething with rage as he let Daryl go.

"I can't."

"Do you know how much pain you can feel in half an hour, doc?" Y/N said coldly as it was his turn to be held back, this time by Amy.

"Hey, Jenner, open that door now" Rick yelled. Jenner yelled back:

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed. 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. It's better this way."

"What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick asked.

"The fuck happens in 28 minutes?!" Y/N roared.

"You know what this place is?! We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!"

Jenner collected himself and sat back down at his station.

"In the event of a catastrophic power failure-in a terrorist attack, for example-H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"H.I.T.s?" Y/N asked.

"VI, define" Jenner sighed.

"H.I.T.s-high-impulse thermo baric 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. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5,000 degrees and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."

"It sets the air on fire. No pain" Jenner smiled. Carol held Sophia and they both cried.

"An end to sorrow, grief...regret. Everything."

Daryl threw the liquor bottle at the door and roared:

"Open the damn door!"

Shane ran at the door with a fire axe. T-Dog tossed one to Daryl. He caught it and they both try to destroy the door.

"You should've left well enough alone it would have been so much easier."

"Easier for who?" Lori snapped.

"All of you. You know what's out there. A short brutal life and an agonizing death."

He looked at Y/N:

"Your grandmother; what was her name?"

"Margaret" Y/N answered coldly.

"Margaret. You know what this does. You've seen it. Is that what you really want for your wife and son?" He finished by turning to Rick.

"I don't want this!" Rick yelled.

The men continued to smash the door.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher" Jenner yelled.

"Well, your head ain't!" Daryl yelled charging with his axe before Shane and Rick held him back.

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

"What?" T-Dog asked as Lori's face registers shock to hear it.

"What? You really said that? After all your big talk?" Shane chuckled. Rick looked at his wife:

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

"There is no hope. There never was" Jacqui sighed.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event" Jenner added.

"Jenner, look at my girl. Look at her left hand" Y/N said calmly.

Jenner did, noticing the mermaid engagement ring.

"I gave that to her three days ago because even in all of this, we have to believe, for a better life, for a future, for children. You have no right to steal that from us."

Jenner stared at the ring before walking over and pressing a button, the security door opening.

"I can't open the upstairs doors. There's your chance, take it."

"I'm grateful" Y/N smiled.

"The day will come when you won't be" Jenner replied.

"We've got eight minutes let's go" Glenn yelled.

Y/N reached out to shake Jenner's hand. He grabbed it and pulled Y/N in close, whispering in his ear. Y/N looked at him in shock before Amy yelled:

"Baby!"

Y/N turned and ran, grabbing bags and following the others. T-Dog was pulling Jacqui who stopped.

"No no. I'm staying. I'm staying, sweetie."

"But that's insane!" T-Dog said, horrified.

"No, it's completely sane. For the first time in the long time. I'm not ending up like Jim and Margaret. There's no time to argue. And no point, not if you want to get out. Just get out. Get out."

Everyone stopped when they heard T-Dog yelling at Jacqui. As she finished speaking she pushed him away.

"Dog, come on, man. Come on! Let's go! Let's go!" Y/N yelled, running back, pulling T-Dog by the arm and following the others.

They made it to ground level and began to smash at the thick glass windows, even firing guns. Nothing was making a dent. Carol walked up to Y/N with her handbag.

"Y/N, I found something in Rick's pocket, the day I did his laundry."

"Ok Carol, but-"

Y/N looked down at the hand grenade in her hand and kissed her forehead.

"Everyone get back" Y/N yelled.

"You used that before?" Shane yelled.

"More than you. Get back!"

Y/N pulled the pin but kept the safety lever in place. He held his hand right near the glass... and released, running to cover...

"One Mississippi, two Mississippi"

...He got down next to Rick and Shane...

"Three Mississippi"

...and covered his head as the grenade exploded.

"We're through, we're through" Daryl yelled.

Rick and Shane were the first out, shooting the straggling walkers in their way. Y/N was at the back, making sure no one slipped and got left behind. They ran and made it to the vehicles starting them up.

--~--

"They made it" Jenner said to Jacqui, the two smiling and holding hands as Vi dropped to a minute.

--~--

The group drove away as quick as they could, getting close to a mile down the road when they heard a huge implosion and saw flames flying up into the sky in their rear view.

"That was cutting it a bit close" Y/N said to the three ladies in the Impala as Amy rested her hand on his upper leg in relief.