CHAPTER THIRTEEN,
a chance

SAMANTHA WASN'T SURPRISED when she woke up with a cold sweat, her skin slippery and her eyes wide as she took in her unfamiliar surroundings. With her heart pounding in her throat, she realized it was just another nightmare and she kicked off the drenched sheets from her body.

Nightmares have become a part of her routine, etched into her subconscious and making it less surprising to her whenever they would sneak up behind her. She felt like it gave them less power over her. She rubbed her face, trying to get rid of the remaining sleepiness that made her eyelids heavy.

She was happy that she had gotten sleep, but she hated the feeling of dread that lingered. It made her feel trapped.

Signing, she glanced over to her sleeping brother. Shane was asleep on the couch near her cot, a bottle of barely any liquid left and she cringed - he's going to have one hell of a hangover.

On the wall near her she spotted a clock, and it read eleven o' clock, meaning that the sun was up outside of the concrete walls and the others had to be up. The thought of breakfast made her stomach rumble and so she hurried to the restroom, taking a quick rinse in the shower - avoiding her reflection in her mirror before and after she was finished.

Shane was still fast asleep and his sister thought he deserved it, so she quietly slipped out of her room and went into the cafeteria.

The smell of eggs greeted her before anybody else did, but when they did they were all full of energy, their good mornings full of energy that Samantha hasn't seen before within the group.

Samantha took her seat next to an agonized looking Glenn. Her eyebrows furrowed in humor at his silence, and with a mischievous smile she leaned forward into her ear. "Good morning, Glenny." Her voice came out high pitched, causing the Korean to cry out.

"Okay, Sammy! Good morning, good morning! You look great, now leave me the hell alone!" He moaned, his face falling into his hands.

His response called an outbreak of laughter, and Jacqui rubbed his shoulder soothingly. Carl glanced at his godmother's shirt, confusion and curiosity twisting up his expression. "What's Nirvana?" He asked.

Samantha grinned. "One of the greatest bands to live, midget." She stated, saying a silent prayer for Kurt Cobain.

"Nah," A new voice disagreed, and people turned to see Nathan entering. He looked almost worse than Glenn, darkness shadowing his eyes and his skin paper than usual, as if he hadn't slept a wink. "AC/DC is the band, don't listen to her."

Samantha's nose wrinkled. "Kurt Cobain is a legend in the flesh." She protested.

"Only because you want to sleep with him." Nathan quipped, and another chorus of laughter ripped through the air.

Through the agonized groans, Glenn looked at Samantha with a pained, cheeky smile. "You need some ice for that burn?" He teased.

Heat reached Samantha's face, but before she could retort her eyes fell on Rick. "I'm not really a rock and roll person," The leader chimed in, smiling at his family as he sat next to him. "Mornin'."

"Are you hangover?" Carl asked. "Mom said you would be."

"Well, mom is right." Rick laughed, ruffling his son's hair.

T-Dog approached Glenn and Samantha with a skillet, piling eggs onto Glenn's plate. "Eggs, powdered but I do them good," His laughter brought more pain to the drunk man. "Protein helps the hangover."

"Where were you throughout all my hangovers?" Samantha asked, giggling when Glenn moaned a response barely audible.

"Working at a local church." T-Dog responded, making sure not to leave the twenty year old's plate empty.

"Where's all this from?" Rick asked.

Lori explained that they were from Jenner, pulling out a bottle of painkillers. "Some of us at least." She added. Samantha was glad she didn't touch any alcohol, even if it was a special occasion. Alcohol and Samantha Walsh weren't meant to be in each other's lives.

"Better than the way my gram used to cook her eggs." Samantha boosted, and T-Dog grinned widely.

"Better than a grandma's cooking? Damn."

Rick shook his head with a smile. "Jean made the best Thanksgiving's dinner." He reminded.

"Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again..." Glenn mumbled, struggling to eat his eggs. At that moment her brother finally made his entrance, going straight to the drinks.

"Hey, feel as bad as I do?"

Shane barely looked at him. "Worse." His voice came work out, his hangover and guilt making his head throb.

"The hell happened to you?" T-Dog's concern voice made her look at her brother. Shane turned and with widened eyes, Samantha caught sight of the four angry scratch marks on his neck. Shane collapsed into his seat, avoiding his sister's worried stare. "Its alright, I must've done it in my sleep." He shrugged.

Samantha rose a brow. Even when he used to have night terrors, he never hurt himself. Yet she remembered the horror of the world they reside in, so she chalked it up to that.

Rick found it strange. "Never seen you do that before." He noted.

"Yeah, not like me at all."

Samantha's attention from the situation was taken away when Jenner walked in. She smiled at him kindly. "Mornin, Doc."

"Morning."

A man came in behind him, and her heart thumped in her chest upon realizing it was Daryl Dixon. The images of last night plagued her memory, every detail so vivid that she could remember the scars, his reaction, the look of shock and anger in his eyes. But now that she's thinking about it again - there was a hint of vulnerability in them too.

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

"But you will." Jenner sighed knowingly, pouring himself some coffee.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea said, her tone etched with seriousness.

As everyone went to follow Jenner, Samantha stood next to Daryl. Anxiety filled up her belly and chest when she cleared her throat and his cold eyes looked her up and down. "I," Her lips had become dry and she quickly swiped her tongue over them. "I'm sorry about last night-" Her voice had been cut off by his own.

"I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout." Daryl said gruffly, his response making Samantha falter and remove any confidence she had - which was very unusual.

"I won't tell anyone, if that's what you're worried about-"

"Ain't nothin' to tell cause nothin' happened," He asserted her, his harsh words as cold as ice. "Stop actin' like you care." At first, Samantha felt a rush of anger - but then she remembered his scars, and that anger was replaced by both sympathy and determination. He wouldn't be able to avoid her for long.

She caught up with the others in zone 5, standing near Jenner as he commanded Vi to give the group a playback of TS-19. "Few people get to see this." He remarked, a picture of a human showing up on the big screen. It was internal, highlighted with blue lights.

"Is that a brain?" Carl's question bounced off the walls.

"Yes, an extraordinary one," The scientist stated, glancing at her godson before turning back to the big screen. "Its a person's life. Their memories, their experience, everything. Somewhere in all that wiring in all that ripples of life - is you."

Samantha was filled with amazement. All those complexed things were inside of her head right now, creating her identity and who she was as a person. They made her human. The human mind was a wondrous thing, and that's why she chose psychology.

"You gonna speak sense, ever?" Daryl asked impatiently.

"Those lights are synapses. Electrical impulses in the brain that carry all your messages. They determine everything a person does, says from the moment of birth to the moment of death. VI, forward it to the first event." The brain was alive with beautiful, blue shimmering lights, until what appeared to be the person breathing their final breath, and the lights faded to darkness.

"What happened?" Carol demanded nervously, her daughter being clutched to her side.

Samantha felt twinge of sadness. "They died." She answered, Andrea emitting a small sob from behind her, alerting Nate and he was comforting her in a second.

"She just lost someone," Lori informed, her words directed towards Jenner. "A few days ago - her sister."

Understanding, the scientist gazed back at the screen. "Vi, fast forward to the second event." Jenner commanded. The computer obliged, now showing the group small, red lights pulsing through the corpse. There was movement.

"It restarts the brain?"

Jenner sighed. "No, just the brains stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving."

Rick stepped forward. "But their not alive?" He pressed, moving closer to the large screen.

The scientist turned to him. "You tell me." He retorted, gesturing towards the image.

The two men gazed at the screen. "It's not like before," Rick observed. "Most if that brain is dark."

"Dark, lifeless, dead," Jenner listed. "The neocortex, the frontal lobe - the human part, that doesn't come back, the you part," The group gazed on at the screen, trying to swallow the information with revelation. Samantha thought of all those people that turned - including Amy, and by now Jim too. Their identities had been ripped away, replaced by something monstrous. "Just a shell." He added, and on the screen the body reanimated, shifting its jaws and bodies. Suddenly, something tore through the skull of the test subject and the red lights abruptly stopped. Everything went black once again.

"Holy crap," Samantha breathed. "What was that?"

Her best friend glanced at her. "He shot the patient." Nathan explained, arms around Andrea who looked up with narrowed, teary eyes.

"You really don't know what's going on, do you?"

Jenner glanced around. "It could be microbial, fungal, even viral..."

"Or the wrath of God." Jacqui added sharply.

"There's that."

Samantha stepped forward, scanning the scientist with disbelief. "So, all this time - you been here all by yourself, and you haven't found anything? No hints, no origins, no cure?" Her raised voice echoed around the room and each of the group members shifted to look at her and the scientist expectingly. "What about the World Health Organization? Anybody at all working on this?" She was trying to grasp onto anything, anything that stop the hopeless feeling weighting down on her chest. She knew there couldn't be a cure, but there had to be something out there trying to find it.

There was solemness behind Jenner's eyes. "We've lost all communication with everyone weeks ago - you guys are the first humans I've seen in awhile."

"And what a great first impression we've made on that." Nathan mumbled.

Their silence was prolonged, at a loss of words to say anything. They had come here for answers and for hope, but they were left with only ashes of what was. The CDC was just in the dark as they were, and that was a hard thing to digest.

Finally, the silence was broken by Daryl Dixon. "Man, I'm going to get shitfaced drunk, again." He announced, rubbing his head.

"Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but," Dale started, making his way towards the scientist. He gestured towards a clock with bright red numbers. "That clock, it's counting down. What happens at zero?"

Jenner glanced at the clock and then at everybody else. "The uh, the basement generators run out of fuel." He answered, walking away from the questioning group.

"And then?"

Samantha gazed up and cleared the lump from her throat. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" The robotic voice immediately spoke, her answer filling everyone with dread,

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

Shane managed to talk Samantha out of heading down and into the basement with the men. His sister didn't put much of a fight, knowing that time would be wasted if doing so - so she watched as Shane, Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog rush down the lower levels, putting Nathan in charge for the time being to watch over the women (and Daryl)

Samantha's fingers traced the spines of the books in the library, her eyes browsing the many titles and the many covers. Her eyes caught a peculiar title and her interest was peaked, a feeling of familiarity washing over her as she pulled the book from the shelf.

Dante's The Divine Comedy felt old in her hands, the book clearly worn out. On the front of it was a picture depicting hell, both fire and brimstone. A scoff sounded from her lips as she opened it, her eyebrows furrowing at the first line. Inferno.

She remembered the first time she had met Dale, and he referenced the book in his first sentence. Such a book, especially in times like these, seemed like a peculiar coincidence - as if the universe was trying to tell her something.

"Increasing your low IQ?"

Samantha slammed the book shut, whirling around to meet the ones of her best friend. He was leaning up against the door way and as her eyes trailed him down, she noticed the bottle of alcohol clutched in his hand. Her eyes rolled, the same selfish rush of betrayal heating her up as she held the book in her hands.

"At least I'm not destroying my liver." She quipped, watching as he entered the room and sat at one of the couches.

Nathan grinned. "Hate to break it to you, princess, but your liver has been destroyed." He took a drink from the liquor, his actions making Samantha's upper lip curl.

Anger courses through her veins, but not just him but at herself too. She could see it in his eyes whenever he thought nobody was looking, whenever he was too deep in thought to notice - and she did nothing about it. Even if she didn't do anything about it, he could've still told her, could've let her helped him at least.

"Aren't you supposed to be keeping watch on the group?" She asked, her grip on the book becoming tight as well as her pursed lips. "Getting drunk off your ass isn't going to help you do that."

He pointed a finger at her. "That's mean."

Her greens narrowed. "Well, maybe I'm not such a nice person."

The grin slid off his face and was replaced by a frown, concern and confusion bubbling in his stomach. "What's wrong with you?" His voice came out gentle, layering her bitter selfishness with guilt.

"Everything is wrong," She laughed sarcastically. "But at least I'm not keeping secrets from my best friend," His eyes blinked, and he opened his mouth again but her words ripped away that chance. "I tell you all my deepest secrets about me, yet you couldn't even tell me," She shook her heard, her thoughts running a marathon. Her impulses were taking control. "I talked to Jenner about everything about you. Why in the hell couldn't you have told me that?"

Her best friend averted his gaze, not wanting her to see the storm brewing in his darkening eyes - because if she saw, she would see everything, and if she saw everything it would scare her. Nathan didn't want to pull her under into the mess of himself.

"How do you tell someone that?" He questioned. "The things that I've seen, the things that I've done-"

"I don't care," Samantha interjected roughly. "That is a part of the package of being your best friend."

His jaw was clenched, his heart going insane in his chest. "You don't understand-"

"Then make me understand!"

He stood up so fast that it made her stumble back and his height towered over her like a dark shadow, his face red and twisted into rage and shame as his fingernails embedded into palm of his hand.
"Do you want to look at me differently? Do you want your fucking blood to run cold?" Nathan words shook as they left the barrens of his mouth.

Samantha could see all the memories in his eyes, all the pain that blurred from then to now - it was haunting to look at. This is what Jenner meant, this is what he warned her about, and she had already failed to follow it. With a slow shake of her heard, he turned away from her and she could faintly see all the muscles in his back tensed up.

"Nate..." Samantha whispered his name.

But the sound of the air conditioning going off and the lights soon following made any future action between the two best friends disappear.

The twenty year old heard movement in the hall, ducking her head out to see Jenner walking down with his lab coat on. "Doc, what's going on? The air conditioning stopped working."

"Energy is being prioritized." The scientist informed curtly, snatching the bottle out of Daryl's hand as he walked past.

"And air isn't a priority? And lights?" Dale was the next to speak.

"Its not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down."

"What the hell's that mean?" Daryl demanded, more people stepping out of their room to follow the scientist. Jenner didn't answer, his silence making the hunter become agitated. "Hey, I'm talkin' to you!"

Instead of acknowledging the redneck, he took a swig from the bottle and continued briskly down the hall. Samantha pushed past Daryl to catch up to the man.
"How can a building shut itself down? Independent technology?" She questioned, and at this Jenner sighed as they entered the large room, murmuring, "You'd be surprised."

The men came back from the basement, meeting with the rest of the group. Shane found his sister and grabbed her shoulder. "You alright?" But his sister only nodded, but deep down she wasn't. Her conversation with her best friend shook her up, and her big brother had noticed quickly.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of the power. It's designed to keep the computers running for the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark, right on schedule," The group nearer the large screen. "It was the French." He said, looking at Samantha.

"What?" She asked, her brows knitting together.

"You asked earlier if anyone was working on it - the French," He reminded her. "They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out of the doors and committing suicide in the halls, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?" Jacqui questioned.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice," He spoke. "The world runs on fossil fuels. I mean, how stupid is that?"

Shane had lost all his patience, stepping away from his sister and towards the nonchalant man. "Let me tell you somethin'-"

"To hell with it, Shane!" Rick yelled, turning towards his group. "Lori, grab out things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here, now!" Just as those words left his lips, loud alarms went off in the room, red lights flashing off everywhere.

"30 minutes until contamination."

Shane pulled his baby sister with him as the others scrambled towards the exits but before they could, it ascended it down. "Did you lock us in?" Glenn gasped in horror, Jenner lowering himself into a seat. "He just locked us in!"

"You son of a bitch!"

Daryl charged for Jenner who sat in front of his computer, speaking. He had barely grabbed hold of the man when both Nathan and Shane pulled him back.

Samantha let her gaze go to the scientist. "Why'd you do that? Let us out, please."

"There's no point. All the power on the top level is cut off. All emergency exits are sealed."

"So open the damn things!" Dale demanded.

"That's something I can't control, the computers do. I told you once that front door was closed it will stay close, you heard me say that," As his eyes fell to the ground, the group felt like they were hostages, being forced against their will. "Its better this way."

"Better what way?" Samantha retorted, her eyes squinted. "What's going to happen?"

Jenner turned around, Rick stalking behind him. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" He demanded, but the scientist was silent. Shane slammed his hands onto the desk. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?!"

Jenner jumped from his seat, his eyes burning with anger. "Do you know what this place is? We protected the public from some very nasty stuff! Weaponzied, smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out, ever!" He screamed, before exhaling sharply and sitting back down. "In the event of a catastrophic power failture, a terrorist attack for example, HITs are deployed to prevent an organism from getting out."

Nathan staggered back, his eyes wide. "Oh, my god." He breathed.

"Wait, what is that?" Samantha demanded, and Jenner's eyes met hers, a quick flash of guilt filling them before he heaved a tired sigh.

"Vi, define."

"H.I.T.s high impulse thermobaric fuel- air explosive consists of a two staged aerosol ignition which produces a blush wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear."

Each word was like a punch to Samantha's gut, weakening her body and she slowly slid to the ground. Her brother gripped her shoulder, trying to remain calm but the reality of what's happening was crumbling behind his eyes. The same place they came to be saved would ironically be the very thing that killed them, and that fact made her heart drop a thousand feet.

"You're going to set the air on fire." Came her best friend's voice, the fear unfamiliar on his tongue as Samantha has never seen it on him before.

Jenner's face remained vacant of any emotion. "No pain, end to sorrow, grief, regret. Everything."

Agony and defeat clashed against one another in the mind of Samantha Walsh, torn between emotions. She could feel the distraught of her group taking its toll in the atmosphere, it intertwining with anger. This wasn't fair, this wasn't fair to them.

But even if it wasn't fair, for a second - she felt a selfish rush of relief. Maybe this was their way out, out of a world full of hatred and decay. Maybe by doing this, they wouldn't have to suffer from the cruel circumstances they were placed into.

That's when she gazed at Sophia, Carl, Rick, Shane, everyone. They didn't want to die, they wanted a chance - Samantha wanted a chance, an option.

This was just murder.

Daryl threw his bottle of alcohol at the panel of glass, the sound of it crashing making Samantha cringe. "Open the damn door!" He demanded.

Shane left his sister's side, grabbing an axe and charging towards the sealed exit. "Out of the way!" Her brother belted, hitting the sealed door with full force. T-Dog tossed Daryl one and they both joined in.

"You know what's out there," He said softly, trying to persuade Andrea. "Your sister - what was her name?"

"Amy." The blonde answered quietly.

"You know what this does, you've seen it," He gazed at Samantha. "You almost died a horrible death. You even told me yourself you didn't want that. Is that how you want to live?"

No. The selfish part of her spoke.

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

Shane slammed his ax down, breathing heavily. "Can't make a dent..." He sighed, looking at Rick.

"Of course you can't. Those doors are built to withstand a rocket launcher."

"Yeah, but your head ain't!"

There was a sound of rushed footsteps and Samantha turned in time to see Daryl lunging towards Jenner with a raised axe. Shane left his spot and made it in time before the redneck could strike, struggling to hold him back.

Amidst the commotion the scientist was back on her.

"Samantha, you know what's out there."

He was full of pity as he stared at her, as if she was a victim fallen into the hands of the world. This made her stomach churn, because she was far from that.

"Don't talk to her!" Shane snarled.

Samantha glared up at Jenner with angry tears blurring her vision.

"You're fucking sick," She hissed. "You aren't saving us, you're killing us! You're a murderer. We deserve a chance!"

"There's nothing out there."

"Where there's life, there's hope!" She shot back, rubbing her head furiously.

"Where there's life, there's destruction," Jenner corrected. "Don't you get it? We are a war species, built on blood - we are the virus! This is our extinction event," Samantha was at a lost of words, staring at the monotone doctor in complete shock.

"You're going to die out there in the most agonizing, brutal way possible," He continued, his voice unsettlingly calm. "Wouldn't it be more passionate to just hold yo ur loved ones and wait for the clock to run out?"

"I said, don't talk to her,"

With his gun cocking and his protectiveness seething, Shane Walsh stood in front of his little sister and raised his shotgun at the scientist, placing the barrel on his face.

"Say another word to her, I dare you," He barked, a a wild look in his eyes. "I will blow your brains across this room, do you hear me!?"

"Brother, brother, this is not the way," Rick had rushed to his side. "You do this, we'll never get out of here - Samantha, say something!" He turned to the little sister desperately, knowing she was the only one to get to him, but she didn't know what to say with Jenner's words echoing in her head. We are the virus, we are the virus. Something about it seemed complexed.

Jenner remained calm, impassive to death being pointed at his face. "Your sister will die out there," The scientist continued. "she'll be ripped apart. This is her only way out of that-"

A scream left her brother's lips as fiery monster of hot rage possessed him with red. He ripped the shotgun away and fired at the technology around them, sending sparks everywhere. Rick and Shane struggled against one another, bullets flying everywhere, the group ducking down and behind desks. "Shane!" Samantha shouted and he turned at her voice, giving Rick the time to knock him down with his own gun.

"Rick, don't!" She peeled herself from the ground and and scurried forward, stepping in between them and placed her hands on the shotgun. "Please, I got him." She begged, tears slipping frown her cheeks. Having Rick and Shane fight one another was the last thing she wanted. They worked better together, not against each other.

The former cop gave into her pleads and backed away. She knelt next to her brother and wiped at her tears.
"I think you're lying," Rick stated. "About there being no hope, but if that were true you would have bolted with the rest. You didn't though, you chose the hard path. Why?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does, it always matters," Determination filled Rick's voice and traveled around the survivors. "You stayed when the others ran. Why?"

"I made a promise to someone that would continue working, no matter what." Jenner answered, his eyes drifting away to a picture frame on his desk.

Something clicked inside Samantha brain, the puzzles piecing together. "Test subject 19 was your wife." She whispered. By the look on Jenner's face, her claim was right.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? 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."

Rick shook his head. "Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's all we want. A choice, a chance."

Lori was holding her son, now looking at the scientist with desperation."You can't let us die in here. Let us keep fighting out there, for as long as we can," Lori spoke, glancing at Samantha as she added, "Where there's life, there's hope."

Jenner looked at the ground and sighed, before finally reaching over to the keypad and opened the sealed doors. "I can't do anything about the doors up there, they're locked down."

Samantha's heart leaped in happiness. He was letting them go.

"We're grateful." Rick said.

Jenner merely frowned. "They day will come when you won'be be." He promised.

Shane was up on his feet in a second and grabbed his sister's arm. Samantha watched as Jenner pulled Rick in to whisper something into his ear, but she didn't have a chance to figure out what it was. They scrambled to the doors, only to find them closed.

"Stay here, okay?" Shane demanded, his voice both soft yet there was fright somewhere there. She nodded and her brother left her as him and Daryl threw all of their strength to break the glass. Nothing was working.

Her heart was to my throat, her anxiety on a roller coaster. They were only minutes away from death, desperate as time went by. She could feel the panic setting in the pits of her stomach, clenching her fists tightly.

And then a miracle happened. Carol had grabbed her purse, frantically going through it. "Rick, I have something that might help."

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." Shane said sarcastically. Her first thought was to go off at him for being sarcastic at the wrong time, but then Carol pulled out a grenade that made Samantha forget to all together.

"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket." She explained. Without any hesitation Rick took it and moved towards the window.

"Everyone get down!"

A hand grabbed the back of her neck and forced her down onto the ground. Not a moment later there was a loud boom that sounded like lightning on a thunderous day. Samantha felt her surroundings shake and the glass shattered.

She was pulled up by Shane as he rushed her forward. She looked around at all the survivors as we made it out the door, and realized something that made her blood run cold. Nate wasn't with them.

Her thoughts raced and she whipped around, screaming out his name and ready to go back inside the building but her brother grabbed me. She struggled against him, swinging at him.

"My best friend is in there!" Samantha cried. Shane's response was throwing her over his shoulder and she gasped, screaming and crying as she pounded into his back.

He threw his sister into his jeep and climbed in, and she was ready to jump out when she noticed three figures step out of the building.

Andrea, Dale, and...Nathan.

She poked my head out of the jeep as Rick started honking the horn of his car. "GET DOWN!" Samantha screamed, being jerked back.

Shane put his body over her own, shielding her away as the ground begun to shake violently. There was a great roar, a mass amount of heat overwhelming her skin, the explosion causing a great ring in her ears.
And then everything stopped but the ringing. She could see Shane speaking, but she couldn't hear him over the humming.

She looked around dazily, my mind clouding with thoughts. There movement in the smoke.

Three figures rose up, the figures revealing themselves to be the surviving Dale, Andrea, and Nathan. Andrea looked just as daze, the soldier holding her up as they walked towards the vehicles.

Behind them stood a blazing building that was once called the CDC. It burned fiercely, burning away its history and any hope that it once carried.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟnote

THIS IS MY LONGEST CHAPTER

HOLY SHIT

LIKE LMAOO

words ; 5369
edited ; ✔️