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The next morning, Emmalyn jumped into the shower before changing into camo pants and a black V-neck. She unwrapped the bandage on her arm and applied some more antibiotic cream onto it, she was satisfied by how the skin had lost the strange grey tone and now appeared as a simple cut; she rewrapped it before tying her hair back into a ponytail. Walking out of the bathroom with the bag, she was momentarily stopped by Daryl who held out her jacket, she took it from him with a grateful smile. "Thank you," Emmalyn spoke before she leaned up and kissed him, she pulled back slightly to see his expression but he leaned forward and kissed her happily enjoying the action.

The two pulled away and Emmalyn lightly shoved Daryl's chest, "Shower and put some new clothes on." Daryl chuckled, "Yes, ma'am." Emmalyn bit back a moan at that before she slipped around him pulling on her jacket as Daryl headed into the bathroom. After pulling on her combat boots, she headed out of the room and towards the cafeteria where some of the group were currently already seated together. She took the seat next to Lori and sent the woman a smile while Carl smiled brightly at her. "Morning," Rick spoke with a slightly pained expression, he placed his hand on Emmalyn's shoulder and squeezed, she leaned back and smiled up at him before looking at Carl and winking.

"Are you hungover?" Carl asked with a goofy smile on his face, "Mom said you'd be." Emmalyn laughed as Rick took the spot between Lori and Carl. Rick smiled at Carl, "Mom is right." He winked at Carl as Lori spoke up, "Mom has that annoying habit." They all laughed together as T-Dog walked over, "Eggs. Powdered, but - I do 'em good." Emmalyn smiled proudly at T-Dog who smiled back as a scoff like moan came from the other side of the table, "Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again." Glenn spoke making Emmalyn laugh again before she started eating her food that T-Dog had quickly served her with a smile on his face.

Shane walked into the room and both Emmalyn and Lori tensed up as he sat down next to Glenn, his eye was clearly bruised and the scratches stood out clear for all of them to see. "The hell happened to you?" T-Dog questioned Shane whose gaze landed on Emmalyn and Lori who were now holding hands in hopes to comfort each other. "Morning," Jenner spoke up as he walked in to grab a cup of coffee. Daryl had walked in and stood behind Emmalyn's chair with a coffee in his own hand, he reached down and stole some of Emmalyn's food and she playfully glared up at him. "Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing-" Dale started to say but was cut off by Jenner, "But you will anyways."

Andrea spoke up next, "We didn't come here for the eggs." Jenner nodded before leading the entire group into a large room. "Give me a playback of TS-19," Jenner spoke before turning to the others, "Few people ever got the chance to see this." A bunch of brain scans showed up on the screen causing everyone to focus their attention on it, Daryl walked up to stand next to Emmalyn. She leaned into him a little bit causing him to shift on his weight and close in the space, unnoticeable to others. Emmalyn noticed the subtle glances that Jenner sent her way, he seemed to have mixed emotions with every look; sorrow, anger, pain and most of all, guilt.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked making Jenner look at him with a pained smile, "An extraordinary one." Jenner muttered something under his breath as the brain got larger, covering the whole screen. He started to have it play different segments of the brain. Until it turned black, but moments later a small red flashed started in the brain stem. Everyone was mesmerized by the screen until a flash of light shot through the brain which caused everyone to gasp. The screen and stations started to power down as they gathered as a group again. Everyone began to realise that the hope of a cure was just a pipe dream and Emmalyn found herself angry for believing that there might have been a chance of a cure.

"So that's just it?" Carl asked with a saddened expression, he turned his face to look at Emmalyn and she felt terrible for not having any answers for the boy. "Sorry, kid. But that's it. And without a team, I have no way of further research," Jenner spoke before glancing at Emmalyn with that same gaze of intrigue and understanding. Dale stepped forward, "Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, again..." He turned to the wall and pointed up, "That clock - it's counting down. What happens at zero?" Jenner stood shocked but silent for a few moments, "The-the basement generators - they run out of power," Jenner stammered on his words proving that he was lying to everyone.

Emmalyn spaced out as everyone began to panic while Rick, Glenn, T-Dog and Shane went running out the door. Emmalyn turned to look at Daryl who motioned her to follow him, She followed behind him until they reached their room. "Pack up our things, be prepared for us needing to leave," Daryl instructed Emmalyn, she looked up at him and nodded before moving to do so. Once she was done, she sat down on the couch and sighed, "I don't trust Jenner... something about this is off." Daryl walked over to stand in front of her and went to speak when the A/C suddenly shut off alerting them that something was about to happen.

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Everything turned to chaos as they were all locked in the main room with Jenner who was clearly at peace with his fate, Emmalyn tried her hardest to focus on her breathing while everyone else cried around her. Emmalyn knelt down to Carl and pulled him into her arms as he cried for her, Jenner wanted to die and now he was taking them with him believing that there was no hope for their survival. Rick walked over and pulled Lori, Carl and Emmalyn into a tight hug while Daryl tried hitting the door down with an axe; he had just gotten Emmalyn back in his life and he wasn't going to let her die in this building, neither was he.

Jenner spoke aggressively towards Rick, "In the event of a catastrophic failure event, a terrorist attack for example - H.I.T.S are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out." Rick stepped forward, "H.I.T.S?" He questioned making Jenner sigh, "Vi, Define." The computer responded instantly, "H.I.T.S - high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives." Emmalyn tightened her hold on Lori and Carl as realisation hit all of them that they were gonna die today. Emmalyn stepped away from the Grimes family and met Daryl halfway where he wrapped his arms around her, she gripped a fistful of his shirt while crying into his chest. He rubbed her back soothingly as Jenner spoke up, "Sets the air on fire." Her heart clenched as she began shaking.

Daryl leaned down to her ear, "Go stand with Lori and Carl." She pulled back slightly looking up at him, he wiped away the stray tears below her eyes before kissing her forehead. She quickly walked over to Lori and Carl as the men argued with Jenner, begging him to let them out and give them a chance to survive on their own will. Emmalyn couldn't stand this anymore, she had to do something or these people will die and she knew that they deserved a chance out there, a chance to survive and win through whatever war the world was currently suffering through. Just because Jenner was done, doesn't mean the rest of them were.

Anger consumed Emmalyn at the sight of Carl and Sophia's broken expressions, she took quick steps towards Jenner before pulling out her pocket knife, holding it to his stomach as the others watched in surprise. "If I were to stab you right here, it'd take three agonizing minutes to bleed out and I'd make sure to add to that pain while preventing everyone from helping you, trust those words, Doctor," Emmalyn threatened in a dark tone and despite the shock some people had over hearing her voice for the first time, they were all startled by the aggressive tone she had even if it sounded calm. Jenner looked up at Emmalyn with fear in his eyes, he wanted to die without pain and with a quick strike, she was promising to take that away from him.

She moved the blade closer, "Let. Us. Out!" Jenner swallowed carefully as he looked around at everyone, their faces showed him how shocked they were by the woman's actions. "You... have no idea..." Jenner muttered out as he looked up at Emmalyn with sorrow before he finally agreed, opening the door to let them out of the big room however, they would have to break their own way out of the main building themselves. "No idea about what?" Emmalyn asked him with a confused expression. "It doesn't matter... all hope is lost and only the things in this building could help us all," Jenner replied to her as Daryl grabbed Emmalyn's hand in his before the two rushed out of the main room.

Emmalyn had glanced back to see Jacqui, Dale and Andrea still in the room making her heart break, she didn't realise this would be the end of some people she greatly cared for. They met up with the remaining group who were trying to break the glass when Carol gently held out a grenade she had found in Rick's uniform. T-Dog had pulled Emmalyn down to cover her from the explosion before he pulled her up and they all rushed out of the building and towards their vehicles a distance away from the building. Emmalyn ripped Daryl's truck open and climbed in as he did so on the driver's side, he pulled her down and covered her with his body.

The building exploded in a loud boom, the heat could be felt from the inside of the car itself and it made Emmalyn flinch, her heart pouring out to Jacqui, Dale and Andrea ─ who she had assumed stayed inside the building. After a moment, Daryl sat up and looked around to ensure it was safe before he helped Emmalyn sit up, the sight of Dale and Andrea walking towards them eased Emmalyn greatly. She turned to Daryl and cupped his cheek before giving him a kiss, she had almost lost him right when she had the courage to take the next step. "We're okay," Daryl assured Emmalyn as he pulled away and leaned his head against her own.

Rick approached the door and leaned down to the two, "We're heading off. Shane's idea is Fort Benning, so that's where we'll go." Daryl nodded his head while Rick turned his eyes to Emmalyn, a strange glint in them made Emmalyn furrow her brows. "Are you okay, Rick?" Emmalyn asked making the man smile. "Yeah. You've got a nice voice, would love to hear it more," Rick teased making her smile. "Guess you might," Emmalyn replied before leaning back in her seat as Rick closed the door and walked off to his own vehicle. "Let's do this," Shane called out to the others as he climbed into the RV leaving his jeep behind.

Daryl started up the truck and followed behind the others as Emmalyn picked up her bag and pulled out her sketchbook, focusing her attention on drawing Jim and Jacqui, the two they had lost on their travels. Daryl glanced at Emmalyn to see her focused expression, her sketches were lifelike already with the limited shading and he knew by the end of the piece, they would look like black and white photos; a final reminder of those they had lost. Emmalyn's hope had taken a beating from what they had learned about the reanimation of the dead but her mind was also reeling as she tried to understand what Jenner's words to her meant.

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Rosemary Speaks

Heads up, the chapter titles are the songs in the playlist of this book. They may not connect to the chapter directly, they can connect to characters and their emotions. Does that make sense?

What could Jenner have possibly meant?

Will they find somewhere safe?

How are we feeling about the relationship between Daryl and Emmalyn?

What about her bonds with the others?

Thoughts, Suggestions or Questions?

See you in the next chapter!