#claustrophobic Edwin?

[obsessiveagony2point0]

Similarities

Edwin and Dream share something in common. Something more than a love of books.

⚠️❓ - Possible Trigger Warning

[ficlet contains mentions of fear/anxiety and being afraid of small spaces/claustrophobia]

•—-•—-•—-•—-•

Dream didn’t talk about his imprisonment much.

It was said mostly in passing, as a way to explain why he hadn’t met Hob when that story was told, but the how and why and other details had never been told.

Hob, of course, knew. He knew what had happened to Dream as the Being had told Hob everything. So, when he reminisced about the past, which he often did, Hob never talks about those details. That was for Dream to talk about and Dream alone, when he was ready.

No one ever expected or anticipated that the day Dream would be ready to tell someone else about it, it would be in a chaotic, noisy pub.

Dream, Edwin and Charles were loitering around The New Inn, as they usually did when it was absurdly busy and Hob needed to jump in and lend a hand.

Edwin was at the bar, reading a book Dream had produced from his library in the Dreaming, while Charles was trailing closely behind Hob, asking questions and knowing no one else could see him while Hob, who could see him, talked away.

In the beginning, the customers would ask Hob if he was ok, concerned that maybe he was working too hard and was slowly losing his sanity, but he would just flash them a big grin and say, “I’m alright. Just talking to a ghost.”

They stopped asking.

Dream was perched next to Edwin by the bar, sipping on a glass of white wine that never seemed to grow to room temperature no matter how long it sat there. He wasn’t paying much attention to Charles’ mischief or to Hob’s multitasking chaos.

Instead, he was keeping an eye on Edwin.

If you passed a quick glance at the young spirit, you wouldn’t notice anything amiss. Just a boy, casually reading his book, trying to dive into the pages and words.

But Dream knew better.

Edwin may have had the book open, but in the hour they’d been sitting there he had barely gone through 5 pages. His gaze may have been trained on the inked words in front of him, but his eyes showed that his mind was elsewhere. His jaw was tight, his shoulder’s stiff, and Dream could see a small tremor in his hands where they gripped the edges of the book.

Dream recognized this look. The look of fighting the rough waves as you tried to stay afloat, trying not to sink and drown. He himself had to tread through those rough waters until they settled.

Sometimes, he still had to.

“You do not have to read the book if you are not enjoying it.” Dream said before bringing the glass of wine to his lips.

Edwin blinked, the fog in his eyes dissipating as he looked at Dream. “I am.”

Dream raised an eyebrow. “Are you, though, Edwin Payne..?”

Edwin opened his mouth, closed it, looked back at the book, and then shut it softly before whispering, “No…”

Dream hummed.

“It’s not that it’s not a good book.” The young spirit said quickly as to not offend the Prince of Stories. “I just…”

“Are currently unable to enjoy it.” Dream finished. “Your mind is…occupied. By feelings and images of the past.”

Edwin looked again at Dream, eyes wide. “How did you know?”

“It is not often I find myself understanding how one may feel.” Dream said softly as his thumb ran up the curved glass. “It is even more rare that I understand because I have gone through a fairly similar experience myself.”

Edwin stared at Dream, who was staring at his white wine with furrowed brows. He realized, with surprise, that Dream was very much referring to his own imprisonment. “You’re…well…you’re you. How could you possibly have gone through what I have?”

Dream’s eyes hardened, growing dark. “Endless may not be able die like most creatures do…but we can be captured and hurt through the use of the occult.” White stars glanced at Edwin. “Humans often meddle with things they do not understand. You know this to be true.”

Edwin was silent for a while, turning his attention back to the book that laid on the bar counter. He brought a hand up to stroke the velvet cover and traced his fingers over the gold lettering.

Perhaps…Dream could truly understand…

“I thought what I experienced in Hell would be the trigger to this fear…” Edwin whispered after silently gathering his thoughts, his hands dropping to his lap. “But…instead…what triggered it the first time was a dark basement. It wasn’t until it happened a second time I realized it was because of that room. That room in the attic of the school where I was dragged to and sacrificed….” He scoffed venomously. “4 bloody walls in the dark overpowered all the terrors of Hell.”

“It’s frustrating…” Edwin continued. “It’s been decades since that night and the fear of it prevents me from going into any small, dark space that remotely resembles an attic. It impedes on our detective work if I cannot enter a small room where a crime has been committed.” He clenched his fists tight as he hissed, “I want it to stop.”

The dream eldritch was silent as he stared at the young, frustrated spirit. Though Edwin was over a century old and very wise, there were times where he showed that, deep down, he was still a 16 year old boy.

Eventually, Dream spoke. “I was also confined to a small room, much like your attic. Inside this small room was my prison, that was even smaller than the space it resided in.” He stared at his warped reflection in the wine glass. “My prison was a sphere. A sphere made of steel and glass…hidden away in a pathetic man’s basement where ancient markings kept me in place and where above me was cruelly decorated like the night sky to mock me and remind me of what I was missing.”

Dream let out soft sigh. “Once I was free, it took me many months to finally be able to stay for long periods in a small room where the walls felt too close and the ceiling too low.” He looked up at the ceiling of the pub. “Even now, there are times that this space becomes fearful.”

“It does…?” Edwin asked, his voice trembling a little. “So…the fear…it doesn’t leave?”

“No.” Dream replied turning his gaze back on Edwin. “It does not. Though it happens less, that fear still plagues me. It will always be there in the back of your mind, trying to drown you.”

“Then there is no hope for me.” Edwin said, defeatedly, his shoulders dropping.

Dream smiled a little. “There is always hope, Edwin Payne. That hope, that raft that will keep you afloat during those fears…that comes from the people around you.”

“The…people around me…?”

The Being turned his gaze. Edwin follow his line of sight, seeing it had landed onto Hob, who was laughing with some of his customers. The immortal caught their stares and waved. Charles looked where Hob was looking, noticed them as well, and grinned widely, also waving.

“The people who love you and care for you…they will be your raft. Your life line. Even if you have no hope in yourself, even if you tell yourself you cannot do it…they will be the hope that will tell you that you can.”

“Hob was…and still is…my raft…” Dream said softly. “He possesses an otherworldly patience I have only ever seen in my sister…and even she has her limits. He has endlessly showered me with it as he has helped me through my fear.” He turned to look at Edwin again, still smiling. “You do not have to battle those waves alone, Edwin. You have many around you who are willing to be your raft.” He placed a slender hand over Edwin’s that had loosened their grip on his slacks. “Myself included.”

Edwin opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Hob, who had finally been able to make his way down to the end of the bar.

“Bloody hell what a night.” The immortal smiled apologetically at them. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to be around much this evening. One of the hazards to owning a business.”

“You were around me.” Teased Charles, who had come up behind Hob.

“Look here, you little shit, that was not because I chose that. That was because you decided that tonight was the night to make ol’ Hob seem more crazy than usual.” Charles laughed as he dodged a swat from Hob, running around to hide behind Edwin.

To any remaining concerned patrons in the pub that evening it looked like Hob was scolding the air next to a shadow of a man and then swatting at a fly.

Those patrons quickly returned their attention back to their drinks.

Hob shook his head at Charles, trying to look stern but unable to as he laughed at the young ghost stick his tongue out. “To make up for it, I’ll watch whatever movies you wanna watch. No complaining.”

“Really!?” Charles beamed.

“Not you.” Hob said as he pointed a finger at Charles. “You don’t get to pick.”

“What!? Robbie, c’mon!”

“Don’t ‘c’mon’ me, you menace.”

“I’ll just possess the TV again.” Charles replied, smugly.

“Do that and I’ll invite Death over for a visit.”

The spirit boys had long since been told by Death herself that she wasn’t going to take them. They were free to roam on earth as long as they continued their work.

Regardless, Charles still paled at the threat. Death was still Death, the taker of souls, the Grim Reaper. Their non-lives were in her hands.

Charles huffed and crossed his arms. “Well played…you win.”

A few customers waved at Hob, beckoning him over to order. “Ah, bollocks…here we go again.” He smiled sheepishly at the spirits and the Endless. “Only a couple more hours, promise.”

Hob hurried away and Charles was about to follow, when he stopped and turned to Edwin. “Hey, are you doing alright? I know…I know you don’t like small rooms very much.”

Edwin blinked, then glanced at Dream. “I…I’m ok right now. Thank you, Charles.”

“Of course. Anything for my best mate.” He placed a hand in Edwin’s shoulder. “If you aren’t ok…please come get me. We’ll…we’ll go outside or something, alright?”

Dream’s words echoed in Edwin’s mind.

‘The people who love you and care for you…they will be your raft…You do not have to battle those waves alone, Edwin.’

The young spirit smiled and placed his hand over Charles’. “I will come get you, I promise.”

Charles grinned and gave Edwin’s shoulder a squeeze before he bounded after Hob once more.

Dream smiled at Edwin. “I believe you will find yourself able to read now.”

The ghost boy looked down at the velvet covered book. He picked it back up, then took in a deep breath and opened it once more.

He did, indeed, find he was able to read.

•—-•—-•—-•—-•

Twitter/X•AO3•Pillowfort •Linktree•Bluesky•Ko-fi

I struggled a bit with this one.

I will admit, I haven’t watched DBD yet. I will be this weekend tho.

But that doesn’t stop me from falling in love with the characters. I am the type of person who “spoils” movies and shows for themselves. I enjoy learning about the characters and the plot and story before I dive into the show. It helps me connect.

The problem with this…method…is I don’t always know the entire plot of something.

Which was issue here.

(If you do not wanna read spoilers for the show and comic, then do not read past the line)

Because DBD is so new, there not a lot out there yet on the show’s version of things. What I mean is, is that in the DBD comic fandom wiki, it says:

“He (Edwin) was abused by bullies who, one evening in 1914, dragged him up to the attics where they dressed up, drew a circle on the floor, and sacrificed him along with frogs and rabbits in an effort to raise devils that never came.

They hid Edwin's body in a trunk, and it was never found, Edwin thought no one looked particularly hard for him since his killers barely covered their tracks.”

I do not know how accurately the show went with the comic as the only thing I can find is an article about how the boys died, which states:

“Edwin's past in 1916 is quite heartbreaking. He had a crush on Simon at their British boarding school. He was invited to a date, only to be ambushed by Simon and his friends. The bullies thought they would have some fun with an occult ritual meant to summon the demonic Sa'al. It feels like they weren't sure that the tome they had would really bring the demon up. But they just wanted to hear Edwin scream and cry. The drunken hazing quickly turns sour as Sa'al comes up and roasts the bullies to ashes. He apologizes to Edwin, but the rules are the rules. Sa'al drags Edwin to Hell as the sacrificial part of the ceremony must be honored.”

So, as I stated above, I struggled. I truly wanted Edwin’s fear to be of the box his body had been hidden in. The fear of the confined space and the four walls and the darkness, because, perhaps, maybe his spirit had been stuck in the box too before he realized and figured out he could leave it.

But the box wasn’t used in the show.

So, I opted for the room, the attic.

Anyway, I’m rambling about this too seriously. I can headcanon things and situations all day long, but I like when those headcanons and my fics have true to the original story details if I can get them in there.

#dreamling #obsessive_dreamling #dream of the endless #hob gadling #centennial husbands #dream x hob #dream of the endless x hob gadling #hob adopts the dead boy detectives #sandman and dead boy detectives #dead boy detectives #Dream adopts the dead boy detectives #charles rowland #edwin paine #edwin payne #paineland #payneland #I swear I’m gonna watch the show this weekend #and then you’re all gonna be in for my much more accurate detail fics #dream can relate to Edwin being afraid of small spaces #fishbowl #claustrophobic Edwin? #EternalFamily #obsessive_Payneland

[finleycannotdraw]

yo, hi,

please rant about the use of colours/shots in dead boy detectives (if you want to), that would be amazing to read!

omg hell yeah i would love to. <3 buckle up everybody!

(there were some other people in the comments who wanted to hear more as well. for convenience's sake i'm going to keep it all in one post.)

I'm not going to talk about every single frame in the last post, because there are a lot, but I'll be sure to touch on all of the ones that have a good amount of depth beyond the dramatic lighting. (sorry, Angie shot.)

...this is going to get long.

so first, this one:

With Edwin's brown coat, Niko's green coat, the brown bushes in between them, and the trees behind Edwin, this shot is cohesive and satisfying. I drew the orange lines to sort of illustrate how your eye moves across the frame; the line of eye contact, the tree branch (dashed lines) almost parallel to that, the sidewalk/grass line, and the lapels/shadows/folds of their jackets all form a general diagonal streamlined snapshot. Then the black post behind Niko, the tree between them, and the tree trunk behind Edwin continue to divide the frame vertically and add to the additional invisible "line" created by their height difference. Finally, the sky behind Niko, as well as her hair, contrast heavily and very well with the darker colors of the tree behind Edwin, though there is still white on his side (the building) and brown on hers (tree branches). If you were to take a single diagonal line from the bottom left corner to the top right, you would get two incredibly distinctly colored sections, but they complement each other so well.

This whole scene is gorgeous because of the pale sky and water up against Niko's hair and the brown tree trunks with Edwin's jacket, but I also love it because it's so simply colored. We have the classic blue+orange color dynamic, but diluted down to very pale blue and very dark brown. This shot specifically features Edwin focused at the center (the blue lines show that he is standing mostly straight up, while the trees on the borders of the frame are all leaning inwards), with Niko crouched down to fit with the shape of the hillside (orange) AND the silhouetted rocks in the foreground. Then the hillside, the shadow on the water, the general cutoff of the tree branches, and the island in the distance (purple) frame the two of them in the middle without making a Point of it. It looks very natural, especially with the dark shadows around the border of the frame. (personally sort of brings to mind Wanderer Above The Sea of Fog).

I don't think I need to add any annotations to this one. The lighting is sharp and so are the shadows. The fog and the shine on the water, his hair, and the collar of his coat are starkly lit, while everything else, including his face, is deeply shadowed. Plus it's all an ominous, murky green. It's almost the opposite of Lilith coming out of her blood-red ocean. 10/10 frame, I have no words.

I gasped the first time I saw this shot. There are so many vertical lines (orange), which make the space feel thinner: the spike, the bulletin board(?) on the far left, both doorframes, the edges of the table and boxes, the tile on the wall on the right, Maxine herself... and then there are the diagonal lines, all sort of spreading out from Maxine, which includes the table edge, the shadows, and the wall tiles again. Then there's the fact that it's all so dark, but not quite pitch black. Once again we have a green/orange combo, and the light behind Maxine being so small in the whole frame makes it very effectively claustrophobic. We also never saw her enter this room from behind, which elevates her as threatening, because the camera work makes it seem as though we, the audience, are backing away from her as she enters, and then hiding from her as well. While I am devastated by the lack of a sapphic romance arc, I have to say I was blown away by the production of this scene.

I love this one because they're arranged so neatly around the book. I didn't draw a curve over their heads, but it's easy to visualize by following Monty's hairline up to Edwin's, and then Edwin's down to Charles' down to Crystal's. The height order is perfect. Then there's the black-brown-black-brown of Monty's jacket, Edwin's jacket, Charles' jacket, and Crystal's hair. The book itself helps frame their faces (diagonal blue lines), and their clothes fall into uniform with the vertical trees behind them, creating a satisfying, natural, unobtrusive background. This is definitely more visually appealing than a shot of them leaning over and looking down at the book/camera. It's also broken up very nicely by the greenery. Plus, none of their faces are shown from the same angle! Refreshing!

Poor Monty :( but hey, he gets a really awesome shot here! We're back to orange+blue, and the angle of this shot makes it look like the vertical trees behind him are positioned diagonally (orange) to follow the dark blue shadow behind his head. We also get two light sources: one of them is the moon, and the other one comes from the same place as the music. The moonlight (blue) sort of encircles his head and cuts off at the line of trees about halfway across the frame. Both the back of his hair and the far side of his face are illuminated, which is very effective in terms of bringing him into the foreground and making him the focus of the shot even though he's not in the middle of the frame. It's also balanced nicely by having background detail on the left, with the orange trees, but not on the right, where there's nothing but dark blue behind Monty. This is also a great shot when it comes to his hair and jacket, because the jacket is used to add to the framing of his face with the dark blue background, and his dark brown hair is lit sparingly, which ties in the left side of the frame.

Like the frame with Maxine, this one has a lot of shadow and a little bit of light, and again works with an orange/blue (or teal, really) color scheme, but this one is much friendlier. The windows are larger than the doorframe and Charles isn't actually blocking the light the way Maxine did. Instead, he's illuminated from the right by Edwin's orange lantern, and the shot is balanced by highlights (blue) that stop it from becoming cramped and stressful. There are stable vertical lines (purple) and rafters and shadows spreading out from the center (orange). Charles, though he is blocking the window, is wearing a white tank top, and his skin takes on the warmth from the lantern, so he's not in silhouette and he blends very nicely with the scene. I love that he's not at the center of the shot, but instead framed almost perfectly in the right window. (Another thing I love about this show is that the characters almost always interrupt the continuity of the background even when they're positioned to be framed by it. It makes the scenes feel much more natural even while they continue to be gorgeously directed from an artistic/stylistic point of view.)

This is one of the simpler ones, but it's perfect. The Night Nurse's hair and vest are the same brownish orange, and her shirt is the same as the walls, sticking with our tried and true brown/green (easy variation on orange/blue) color scheme. She is framed in the blackness of the doorway, but once again interrupts the white doorframe on the left side. Even the lamp and the board (?) on either side of the frame fill the negative space in a natural way. Also, the vertical lines of the board, doorframe, door, and lamp aren't perfectly spaced apart, which makes the whole shot feel more down-to-earth.

There is so much going on in this shot. The beams of light (orange) are emanating from behind Edwin in a shape sort of reminiscent of wings. The angles of light/shadow and the immediately obvious position of some of the mirrors (blue) also spreads out from behind him, reinforcing the wing imagery and focus. The background is lighter than the floor, and Edwin's clothes blend in with the floor and the reflecting highlights (green) in the mirrors. It's all balanced by shadows (purple), which aren't so much shadows as they are dark-colored mirrors and the blood on Edwin's face. This shot is an unsettling combination of chaos and order, increased by the strange phenomena of mirrors endlessly reflecting into each other, especially since Edwin doesn't show up in any of them. You'd expect him to look out of place, and he mostly does, but there's just enough immediate immersion with the color scheme and light angles to make him fit perfectly. And he wouldn't fit in this shot nearly as well if he were wearing his usual clothes. It's such a good way to introduce Despair. I love this scene.

Now I needed to include these two next to each other, because they're. They're the same scene. Maren is on the porch looking down at Crystal and the boys, but the color schemes and blocking are so starkly different. Maren is wearing black, and the house is washed-out yellow and maroon, both unfriendly colors in this scene. The windows all show the gray reflections of the dead tree instead of even a glimpse inside the house, immediately showing that Maren is hiding something. Then in the shot with Crystal and the boys, they're positioned behind her on the path. Edwin is next to the brown gate and gray stones, and Charles is sort of shadowing Crystal and framed by the green bushes. Crystal's shirt is flower-patterned to match the pink petals on the ground, and her red hair and purple jacket make the whole shot more vibrant and friendly-looking than Maren's, even though Maren is supposedly the one being helpful/friendly/hospitable. The first time I watched this episode I knew I couldn't trust Maren as soon as I saw her standing on her front porch. This scene is, as Charles would say, brills.

Okay, last one, I have to stop somewhere. (I have so many more. I have. SO many more. that i could talk about. but this post is so long already). There are three windows, evenly spaced, white light and curtains framed in them. Charles is in nearly full silhouette as he opens that chest; his head and the lid of the chest intersect with the vertical window frame, and his arm runs parallel to the middle bar. He also blocks a good portion of the leftmost window, while Edwin stands in front of the one on the right. He's fully framed by the window and standing farther back than Charles, not quite silhouetted but still very dark compared to the background. When he ducks down to inspect the cabinet, his head ends up in front of the wall between the two windows. This whole scene is an excellent display of blocking/framing/lighting, just in terms of where they end up holding any given position while they talk. Once again, there's nothing artificial or manufactured about their blocking. These aren't statement shots (all film projects have a few Really Good Shots, but they're often at extremely important, pivotal, or emotional times, instead of spread out through the storyline.), which makes them even better.

I might have to make another post and include shots with Jenny, the sprites, the Cat King, Esther, and more landscape shots. There is no shortage of stunning frames and scenes, and there's no reason not to dive into the production and hidden meanings.

TL;DR: this show is an ARTISTIC MASTERPIECE. Please watch it. :)

#dead boy detectives #edwin payne #charles rowland #crystal palace #niko sasaki #monty finch #monty the crow #film stills #cinematography #this. got away from me. #appreciation post #color schemes #film techniques #analysis #symbolism

[philsmeatylegss]

Can I talk about Cat King because no one else will???

I haven’t finished the show yet so this might be wrong or age like milk

I could talk about his role in the story for hours. Tbh I overly identify with Edwin because I’m gay with a lot of problems in the past and Edwin’s historical typical internalized homophobia already makes a history nerd like me giddy with glee. And Cat King easily can be written off as a gag character, which I do think is part of his purpose, but he also represents the aspect of this story regarding Edwin’s sexuality not solely being sexual, but also still being sexual. As in obviously Edwin sexually fantasizes about men, but there’s much more than just that. That implication, acknowledging the fact, feeling free to tell Charles and the others, acting on that, just day to day life. Edwin had gotten by for thirty years ignoring his sexuality until cat king came along. Edwin acknowledging his sexuality, acting on it, and discussing it (in his own way) is a large part of his character growth which is fully pushed on because of Cat King. I know he’s supposed to be the bad guy, but I genuinely believe he is an anti hero or something along those lines. I think at first it was to just tease Edwin, but it grew into something deeper.

Don’t even get me started on the cuff. It is SO symbolic I could almost cry. It’s a physical representation of how limiting and claustrophobic it is to be in the closet. Specially not being out of the closet to close loved ones. You couldn’t have a closer relationship than the relationship between Edwin and Charles, but it doesn’t seem that way before Edwin comes out. And that’s multiple reasons on both of their parts, but part of it is that complete shut down to that side of himself. People don’t realize how much sexuality plays into day to day life. And Cat King made Edwin realize how much he’s missed out on. And also that he can’t put off his problems forever. Slay relatable.

I think the addition of Crystal and Niko also makes Edwin realize that he needs to at least recognize his sexuality. I think they help him realize how much he is missing out on by not being himself in general, nevertheless outing his sexuality.

And all of this goes back to the cat king!!! It drives me insane no one talks about it!!! There’s also the aspect that, on the surface, cat king is just supposed to represent lust. The difference between his feelings for Monty or Charles is that there’s emotions there while cat king is purely lust and a giggle. But when you think about the story, that’s just not true. When media deals with a character’s sexuality not being straight, it’s usually over sexualized or not acknowledged as anything sexual. Cat king gives that balance to his feelings for Charles. Because being gay is partly explicit. As is being straight, bi, pan, whatever (other than asexuality). Saying you are ___ sexuality is implying that you are sexually aroused by whatever gender(s). And cat king is that reminder while Charles and Monty are the reminder that love and relationships are also part of it. Cat king adds balance that makes Edwin’s character feel way more authentic and actually gay.

I haven’t even gotten to cat king pushing for Edwin to admit why he solves cases. WHY DOES NO ONE TALK ABOUT IT?!?! I was gnawing at the bars of my enclosure during that scene. It is arguably one of the most important scenes of the entire show. And it’s entirely brought on my cat king. Every single time Edwin either decides or is forced to reveal something vulnerable about himself, it’s Cat King!!!! Edwin’s confession that it is about preparing a justification as to how he should be allowed into heaven even though he is gay is such an insanely important moment and I’m gnawing at my enclosure again!!!

I may be studying history, but I’ve always been an English kid at heart and symbolism about religion and childhood trauma brings me to my knees. And Cat King is scratching an itch I’ve had for years that I had no clue was there anD NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT WHILE IT IS DRIVING ME BANANAS.

Anyway, that’s my case for talking about cat king. I just finished episode 4 and it’s gonna be really embarrassing when something happens the next few episodes that completely invalidates all of this

#this is me doing a quick summary about my feelings btw #rae’s rambles #dead boy detectives

[incorrect-fnaf-quotes]

Edwin: Can you not stand so close? You’re making me claustrophobic.

Mimic: What does “claustrophobic” mean?

David: It means he’s afraid of Santa Claus!

Edwin: No, it doesn’t mean-

Mimic: HO HO HO!

David: Stop it Mimic, you’re scaring him!

#Incorrect Five Night’s At Freddy’s Quotes #Source: Spongebob Squarepants #Edwin Murray #The Mimic #David Murray #FNaF: Tales from the Pizzaplex #Tales from the Pizzaplex

[alyssaforevermore]

Unearthed ↦ Daryl Dixon season one, part seven

Synopsis: Based on the events of The Walking Dead television series, Y/N Grimes, younger sister of Rick Grimes, attempts to survive in a world now inhabited by walkers. Family has always meant everything to her, but in this new world, can she keep her family safe and together?

Show: The Walking Dead (S1-S11)

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x fem!Reader

Warnings: coarse language, violence, character deaths, drug and alcohol references, series spoilers and general The Walking Dead content warnings!

TW FOR SA AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER!! This specific scene will be following material from the show and I tried to avoid details, but please take care of yourself and skip that final bit if needed.

Tags: @1ivinqdeadqir1 @callmeyn @thegeorgiahuntsman @mellxander1993 @bigbaldheadname @cjmonsterwolf @abbi23323 @actuallyklee @lanxsee @livingdeadblondequeen @sweetz1919 @moonmark98 @sarahbaker2010

Masterlist

“Daryl, cover the back!” Shane commanded. “Everyone inside, now.”

You all pushed through the doors, entering a main lobby that was completely empty.

“Hello?” Rick called out, the sound of a gun cocking caught your attention.

An older man stood in the doorway, rifle in hand. “Anybody infected?”

“One of our group was. He didn’t make it.” Rick confessed.

“Why are you here?” The man asked. “What do you want?”

“A chance.”

“That's asking an awful lot these days.”

Rick nodded, shifting his feet. “I know.”

The man looked everyone over for a moment, letting out a sigh. “You all submit to a blood test. That’s the price of admission.”

Rick nodded. “We can do that.”

The man lowered his gun. “If you’ve got stuff to bring in, do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed.”

Already having all you needed, you followed the man towards an elevator. He swiped his access card and it opened, him ushering you all in ahead of him.

“VI, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here.”

He pressed a button, the elevator kicking into gear with a small beep.

Rick held out his hand. “Rick Grimes.”

The man looked down at Rick’s hand before looking away. “Dr. Edwin Jenner.”

“Doctors always go around packing heat like that?” Daryl asked.

“There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself, but you all look harmless enough.” Dr. Jenner spoke, before looking down at Carl. “Except for you, I’ll have to keep an eye on you.”

Carl smiled, looking up at his mother.

The elevator came to a stop, the doors slowly creeping open. Dr. Jenner stepped off and you all followed close behind.

“Are we underground?” Carol asked.

Dr. Jenner looked at her. “Are you claustrophobic?”

She nodded. “A little bit.”

“Try not to think about it.” He responded, his tone cold.

You all came to a large dark room, Dr. Jenner asked “VI” to power on the lights. Then, he turned to you all. 

“Welcome to Zone Five.”

You looked around the room. “Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?”

“It’s just me here.”

“What about the person you were speaking with? VI?” Lori asked.

Dr. Jenner smiled. “VI, say hello to our guests. Tell them ‘welcome’.”

“Hello guests. Welcome.”

His face fell as he looked back at your group. “I’m all that’s left. I’m sorry.”

You didn’t want to push right away, but you couldn’t help but wonder where everyone else had gone. Did they leave? Did they die and turn? Was this place as safe as you’d all thought?

Dr. Jenner began taking blood from each person in your group. The last up was Andrea.

“What’s the point of this?” She asked. “If we were infected, we’d all be running a fever.”

“I’ve already broken every rule in the book by letting you in here.” Dr. Jenner responded. “At least let me be thorough.”

Andrea nodded. “Fair enough.”

When Dr. Jenner was finished taking her blood, Andrea stood up, her knees immediately giving out. You caught her before she could fall, Andrea slowly regaining her senses.

“Are you okay?” Jacqui asked.

Andrea nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Jacqui turned to Dr. Jenner. “She hasn’t eaten in days. None of us have.”

Looking between the members of your group, Dr. Jenner gave you a soft smile. “I think we can fix that.”

…

You sat at a large dining table with your group, laughing as your nephew took his first sip of wine. The boy recoiled, sticking out his tongue as he handed the glass to his mother.

“That’s disgusting.”

Lori smiled, pouring the wine into her own glass. “That’s my boy.”

“Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud.” Shane smiled.

Daryl pointed across the table. “Not you, Glenn.”

“What?”

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

Everyone continued to laugh and enjoy their first real meal in months. You couldn’t help but soak in the looks on their faces; you had begun to feel as though this kind of joy was impossible now.

Rick stood up, tapping his fork against his glass. “It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly.”

“He’s more than just our host.” T-Dog gleamed.

Daryl held his glass in the air. “Here’s to you, Doc, booyah!”

You held out your glass for a moment, slowly bringing it back towards your lips and taking a sip. Across the table, you noticed Shane, his brows furrowed as he was slumped in his seat.

Shane cleared his throat, sitting up straight. “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?”

“Is this really the time for that?” You asked. “Can’t we just enjoy this moment?”

“Whoa, wait a second. This is why we’re here, right? This was Rick’s move—supposed to find all the answers.” Shane responded. “Instead we found him. Found one man, why?”

“Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left,” Dr. Jenner explained. “Went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted.”

“Every last one?”

“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.” Andrea whispered. “Why?”

“I just kept working, hoping to do some good.”

The room fell silent for what felt like forever, everyone taking in his words. If the members of the CDC had given up so soon, how were any of them to believe there was any hope?

“Dude,” Glenn spoke. “You are such a buzzkill.”

The rest of your meal was mostly spent in silence. Dr. Jenner then showed you to the dorms, everyone piling into their own rooms. He’d mentioned hot water, and you absolutely could not wait to have a shower. 

You placed your bag on the bed, unzipping it and removing a hair brush. That was one of the things you’d kept close since the world ended. You could still remember your mother brushing your hair after each bath when you were a little girl, a small comfort that meant the world to you, especially now.

Grabbing a change of clothes, you headed into the small bathroom of your dorm.

…

Later that evening, you decided to leave your dorm, wanting to visit the rec room. You hoped there might be some good books there; it had been weeks since you’d finished the last one you’d managed to bring with you to the quarry. 

You exited the room, your body instantly colliding with someone else's.

“Shit,” You mumbled, looking up. “I’m sorry.”

Daryl eyed you, opening his mouth to speak. He quickly closed it, taking a moment before finally deciding to respond. “It’s fine.”

“Is everyone else asleep already?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t seen anyone.”

You looked down, noticing a bottle of wine in his hands. He seemed to notice, letting out a sigh as he handed you the bottle.

“Thank you.” You smiled, taking a sip.

Daryl shifted his feet, his eyes locked on the floor. “What do you think about all this?”

You raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Everyone abandoned this place.” Daryl spoke. “What does that tell you?”

“It tells me that he’s no closer to finding a cure than they were when the world went to shit.” You sighed, taking another sip before passing Daryl back the bottle. “Look, I’m thankful we have a place to sleep tonight, but I really don’t think we’re gonna get the answers we came here for.”

“You think we should’ve followed Shane’s plan?”

This question took you aback and you weren’t entirely sure how to answer it. In your head you felt this was a dead end, but you knew you’d have gone wherever Rick had wanted to go.

“I think it’s still an option.” You shrugged. “Sure, we’re low on gas but surely we can find some somewhere. Enough to get us all to Fort Benning. What do you think?”

Daryl looked confused. “What do I think?”

You nodded. “I mean, I know you probably still wonder where Merle could be. I know I would. If this place doesn’t work out how we wanted, would you come with us?”

There was a small silence between the two of you. “Maybe it’d be better if I didn’t.”

“Better for who?”

“In all this time I’ve been with this group, you’re the first person who’s asked where I stand.” Daryl confessed, taking a sip of the wine. “I think everyone would be better off if I just went to look for my brother.”

You couldn’t help but frown. “Like it or not, you’re one of us. You see things differently than we do, and sometimes, that’s a good thing. If you want to go, I won’t stop you, but I’d feel better if you stayed with us.”

A small smile crept across his face, though you could tell he was trying to hide it. “Even after this morning?” 

“You saved my life last night.” You responded. “I get where you were coming from with Jim. I think we all do. Sometimes it’s just not so easy, you know?”

Daryl nodded, handing you back the bottle. “I’m gon’ head to bed.”

You nodded, watching him as he slowly disappeared down the hall. There was a calmness falling over you. For the first time since you’d met Daryl, you were beginning to believe there was some good he was hiding beneath the surface. As much as you felt awful for thinking it, maybe he was better off without Merle around?

The sound of a door slamming shut down the hall caught your attention. You knew it came from the direction of the rec room, so you slowly made your way over. When you placed your hand on the doorknob, you began to hear faint whispers.

“I love you.” Shane spoke.

“No, you’re drunk.” You froze, Lori’s voice catching you off guard.

“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.”

You could feel your heart shattering into a million pieces. How had you missed this all this time? When did this even start? 

“Shane.” Lori spoke. “Shane!”

“Just, stop.” He continued. “You love me.”

“Get your hands off me.”

“I love you. There’s nobody here.”

“Stop it!”

With that, you swung the door open, just as Lori scratched Shane’s neck. He pulled away from her, taking a moment before looking behind him; right at you. The silence was deafening, a million different things running through each of your minds.

“I think you should go, Shane.” You finally choked out.

Shane looked back at Lori for a moment, taking a deep breath before pushing past you and out of the room.

Lori’s eyes locked on to yours, her eyes filled with tears as she searched for the words to say. She wasn’t sure how much you’d heard.

You looked back in the hallway, making sure Shane was out of sight before you closed the door. As you stepped towards Lori, she tensed up, trying her best to keep her eyes on you.

“Are you okay?” You whispered.

Lori stood there for a moment, letting her feelings sink in. “I-I think so.”

You nodded. “I’ll walk you back to your room.”

“Y/N-”

“Please, don’t.” You whispered. “We don’t have to talk about it right now.”

In that moment, Lori knew that you’d heard enough. As much as you wanted answers, your main focus was getting her safely back to her room.

----

AN: I didn't exactly plan to include that scene, but writing this chapter just slowly took me in that direction. It also sets up a lot for season two, including Reader's feelings about Shane and her internal conflict over if/how she should tell Rick. I won't get into spoilers with those plans, but you'll see later. The final chapter of season one should be out later this week. If you'd like to request to be tagged in future chapters, you can do so here. Please be sure to like and reblog <3

#daryl dixon; unearthed #twd #twd fanfiction #twd fanfic #daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon x reader

[scarisd3ad]

To the end and back [daryl Dixon x reader]

Chapter five - everything has changed

Masterlist

Taglist

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Summary - after the world ended you were sure you’d never find love again but a certain archer catches your eyes and changes the entire trajectory of your life.

A/n - Last chapter of season 1, season 2 coming soon.

Tw- death, mentions of suicide, suicidal thoughts

'Ts-19'

Season 1 ep 6

edited

tw - death, mentions of suicide, and suicidal thoughts.

It opened it actually opened, I was sure no one was in there, that not one part of the government was left. We all walk in ready to see hordes of walkers, ready for this to be a trap set by some sick fuck that broke into the CDC. "Daryl, you cover the back" Shane orders. We walk in with Rick leading the way. He's got his gun pointed forward, ready to fire "hello? Hello?" he shouts as he walks forward.

"Close those doors. Watch for walkers." We slowly walk through the building. We're all alert, ready to see a horde of infected former CDC workers but there isn't its clean and pristine there's not one drop of blood in sight it looked like the world hadn't ended. every other building I've been in since the world ended had been littered with bodies, and blood stained the walls, but this looked like how it probably looked in the old world. like it was ready to be filled with doctors and scientists trying to figure out cures for diseases in the world. "Hello?!" Then we see him, a guy, a doctor, he has light brown hair, and he looks at least in his forties. At first, we think he's a walker, so we all get ready to shoot. "Anybody infected?" The guy shouts we put down our guns. "One of our groups was...he didn't make it" Rick answers.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" The guy asks as he walks a bit closer, he sounds tired like he's ready to give up. "A chance" Rick replies breathily. "Thats asking an awful lot these days." The guy inches a bit closer. Rick shakes his head agreeing "I know." a chance is a lot to ask for, sometimes even got a hefty price on it these days.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." rick nods and replies "We can do that". The guy lowers his gun "you got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed." Some of us end up running out grabbing anything we might need.

Dale, and t-dog close the two main doors and the man says "vi, seal the main entrance. kill the power up here" the rolling door closes back. "Rick grimes" Rick says sticking his hand out "dr. Edwin jenner."

-

The elevator hums as it descends. We're packed in it like sardines. "Doctors always go around packin' heat like that?" Daryl asks referring the the large gun dr. Jenner carried. "There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself....but you look harmless enough." He replies. "Except you, I'll have to keep my eye on you" he says to Carl which makes Carl grin a bit.

-

We're walking down a white hallway; it reminds me of the somehow eerie hallways of a hospital. "Are we underground?" Carol asks, with her brows furrowed up in confusion. Jenner turns around "Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asks, "a little." Carol replies "try not to think about it." He says Turning back around and continuing to walk.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." Jenners voice echos as he shouts. We enter a large room with bunches, and bunches of computers. computers that are supposed to be occupied by doctors. The lights flicker on. "Welcome to zone 5."

Where is everybody? The other doctors the staff?" Rick asks confusions flooding his face. we hoped for there to be more staff, more doctors trying to figure out what the hell was going on, but it seemed like Jenner was the last one left. "I'm it...it's just me here" Jenner replies which is disappointing to most of us. "What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori asks as we all come to a stop. "Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them...welcome." Jenner shouts.

A computerized voice comes over the overhead speakers "hello, guests. Welcome."

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry" Jenner says as he turns around. We all get blood test. Since we haven't ate properly in the past month or two, we're all a bit woozy afterwards. I'm sitting across from Jenner watching as my blood drains into a small vile. He takes the vile out and retracts the needle. "All done" he says. I dizzily stand up from the chair. Glenn's stood behind me. He grabs both my arms stabilizing me. I've lost a lot of blood in the last few days. "You, okay?" Jenner asks. I nod slowly. "She's lost a lot of blood already; she hasn't eaten in days either. None of us have."

Jenner offers us dinner. He's got so much food and drinks. I haven't seen so much food in my entire life. We all seem happy, for the first time in the last few months. We're actually happy. We're all laughing and chitchatting like we're old friends.

"You know in Italy; children have a little bit of wine with dinner" Dale says as he hands a cup of wine to Lori. "And in France" Dale adds. "Well, when Carl is in Italy of France, he can have some then" Lori says covering up the cup that sat in front of Carl. "What's it gonna hurt? Come on" Rick says trying to persuade his wife to let there 12-year-old have some wine. Lori turns her head towards Rick with a small smile on her face "come on" Rick laughs.

"What?" Everyone's giggling as Lori shrugs. Dale hands Carl a cup with just a little bit of wine in it "there you are, young lad" Carl puts the cup up to his lips and takes a tiny sip we're all staring at carl waiting for his reaction. "Eww" Carl says as he scrunched up his face in disgust. We all burst out laughing again. I'm pretty sure we all remember our first drink and our reaction was pretty much the same as Carls.

"That's my boy. That's my boy" Lori says as she takes the cup from Carl and pours it into hers. "That tastes nasty" he says as he shakes his head. "Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane says. Glenn hasn't drunk much tonight. Probably doesn't want to be as hung over as he was this morning. I've had myself a few cups. By few I mean like five but I'm fine. "Not you, Glenn" Daryl says. Daryl's drunk as fuck. He's going to be fucked in the morning. "What?" Glenn asks raising his head, a little embarrassed that he's gotten called out. "Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get." Daryl says which makes all the men start laughing. The clinking of glass makes us all stop and turn our attention to Rick. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." Rick says standing up. "He is more than just our host." T-dog says raising his glass.

"Hear hear!"

"Here's to you, doc. Booyah!" Daryl says raising the bottle of wine he had been drinking out of.

Booyah!"

"Thank you, doctor." Rick says quietly. "So, when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane asks. Which subsequently makes everyone's smiles fade. "All the uh..other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane don't need to do this now" Rick hisses as he sits back down. "Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move—supposed to find all the answers, instead we uh..we found him" Shane chuckles as he points towards Jenner. "Found one man. Why?"

"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 uh military cordon go overrun, the rest bolted." Jenner explains. "Every last one?" Shane asks as he sinks down in his chair a bit. "No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They...opted out. There was a rash of suicides" that definitely killed the mood. What Jenner just said confirmed my suspicions, this was never going to end. We were just going to have to adapt, adapt to this new harsh reality, adapt to the monsters that have now taken over. If we didn't then we're dead. There was no end to this shit, this was just how we were going to have to live. One day hopefully when we get used to it we can have normalcy, homes, families, pets, but not now we have to learn first. Learn how to survive, learn how to live in this new world, learn how to live amongst the monsters, if we didn't, we'd never live.

"That was a bad time." Jenner whispers solemnly "You didn't leave, why" Andrea asks. "I just kept workin', hoping..to do some good."

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man" Glenn groans.

-

Once we were finished with dinner Jenner shows us around. We follow him down a hallway "most of the facility is powered down. Including housing, so you'll have to make do here." Jenner explains. "The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy." Jenner turns around addressing Carl, and Sophia. "Just don't plug in the video games, okay?" Both kids nod. "Or anything that draws power. The same applies—if you shower, go east on the hot water." Jenner says before turning back around and leaving, Glenn turns to all of us eyes widened "hot water?"

"That's what the man said" t-dog says with a laugh.

I decide to take a shower. I haven't had one in so long; I can't even remember the last time I washed my hair. Yeah, at times we'd go and bathe in the quarry but that was only sometimes.

The hot water feels like heaven. I'm so glad I had collected up shower supplies just hoping one day I'd be able to have a normal shower. I haven't shaved my legs in God knows how long. it's not like I miss having to shave my legs every day, but I do miss the feeling of bare legs under freshly warmed sheets. I miss the soft feeling of my legs after lotion. I miss the aspect of life that us as humans wouldn't think we'd miss. Things we found a hassle at the time but now we long for it. Like washing clothes, or dishes. At the time I hated slaving over the sink washing each dish, but now I miss it.

I shave my legs, and arms just to feel like the world was normal again. I'm sure I spend at least 2 minutes just smelling at the bottle of shampoo that smelt like strawberries and cream. I'm sure I stunk of sweat beforehand, I'm sure we all did. But we eventually didn't smell it our brains tricked us into not smelling it like our brains makes it seem like we can't see our nose even though we can.

-

I find myself a room to settle into, it's an office but it's got a couch so that's fine. I pull my blanket out of the bag I had brought in it's not clean and kind of smells like wood and fire, but it's a blanket.

Knock, knock, knock.

I sigh as I walk over to the door and unlock it. It's Daryl stumbling over his words like he's trying to practice what to say. His eyes widened as he sees me. "I- um I really fuckin' like ya" I peek out the hallway to see Glenn, and t-dog peeking out from behind a corner. All three are drunk (I'm probably just as equally drunk but we're not going to talk about it). "You like me?" I ask raising my eyebrows teasingly. I don't know when I started liking Daryl, I was scared of him for the longest time, but when did that fear turn into adoration. Maybe when he stayed with me when I was hurt in Atlanta. Maybe when he gave me that package of ramen noodles. "Yeah, I really f-fuckin' like you" I smile as he slurs his words. "I like you too Daryl" I whisper as I place my hand on his cheek and lean in kissing him. He wraps his arms around waist pulling me closer. I can hear Glenn and t-dog trying to quietly celebrate down the hall (there not, there actually really loud) I pull away my hand still on his cheek. He's blushing, it's kind of cute seeing a man so big, and tough be flustered. "You wanna come inside?" I ask he nods rapidly, and I pull him in closing the door behind us.

What I've learned is that drunk Daryl and sober Daryl, are two completely separate people. Drunk Daryl is way more open about his feelings, softer, nicer too.

-

I wake up in the middle of the night my body halfway on top of Daryl. He's got his arms wrapped around me while he's snoring quietly. We were lucky this couch was able to fit the both of us. I lay my head back against his bare chest and listen to his heartbeat.

The next time I wake up is when Daryl wakes up.

We're both sat on the couch, discussing what had happened last night. "So do you really like me, or was it like something Glenn and t-dog made you say?" I whisper. His brows furrow as he looks at me "it wasn' a lie. I wouldn' lie bout somethin' like that." I nod as I inch closer to him. "Do ya really like me?" He asks I nod. "Yeah, I really like you" he smiles, I've never really seen him smile much. He's always got this stone-cold serious look on his face, but not now.

He leans in close and presses a kiss to my lips. After a while of just sitting soaking up each other's company we get up and head to the kitchen area. Almost everyone's already there, I guess it's a little harder to estimate what time it is being underground and all. Glenn's moaning and groaning about his hangover which makes me laugh. He probably drank more than he'd even drank in his life yesterday.

The rest want answers about the walkers, what's causing it, and shit like that so Jenner takes us back to the big room with the computers. I don't wanna know much about them, I like to know as little as I can, if I know too much it makes me paranoid. I'm happy living my life just trying to avoid them at all costs. He presses a few buttons and then says, "give me playback of ts-19."

"Playback of ts-19"

The big screen in front of us starts to show a video of a brain "few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few." Jenner says. "Is that a brain?" Carl asks, "an extraordinary one...not that it matters in the end." Replies Jenner.

"Take us in for e.i.v" Jenner says. "Enhanced internal view" the video then zooms in. We watch as we get closer and closer into the brain until we see the neurons. "What are those lights?" Shane asks. "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." Explains Jenner.

"You don't make sense ever" Daryl says. "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 asks as he approaches Jenner. "Yes" Jenner says "or rather the playback of the vigil." We all watch the screen so interested in what Jenner is saying as well as the neurons. "This person died. Who?" Andrea asks "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."

It zooms back out and fasts forward. the brain stem begins to darken. "What is that?" Glenn asks "it invaded the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." The brain goes completely dark. They died. "Then death" Jenner whispers to himself. "Everything you ever were or ever will be..gone."

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asks "yes" her mother replies nodding. It's what happened to Jim, Amy, my brother, and possibly us one day too.

Andrea tries to blink back tears, but it just doesn't work "she lost somebody two days ago. Her sister." Lori explains to Jenner who is looking at her with his brows furrowed together.

"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." Jenner says to Andrea. it is truly devastating, losing someone to this, watching them slowly lose their lives and then become the very monster that took it from them. "Scan to the second event!" Jenner shouts to vi as he walks away from Andrea.

"Scanning to second event."

"The resurrection times vary wildly. We have 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."

The brain stem flickers back on. "It restarts the brain?" Lori asks. "No just the brain stem basically, it gets them up, and moving." Jenner says it just brings back the basic part like walking, biting, grabbing but not the human part. "But they're not alive?" Rick asks. Jenner walks back to rick pointing up to the screen "you tell me." Rick shakes 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." Then something goes straight through its brain. "God. What was that?" Carol asks, "he shot his patient in the head, didn't you?" Andrea asks.

"Vi power down the main screen and the workstations."

"Powering down main screen, and workstations"

The lights shut off. "You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea asks as she walks towards Jenner. "It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal" he doesn't know. No one does. There's not going to be a cure we're just going to have to suck it up and learn to live this way because life will never go back to what it used to be.

"Or the wrath of god?" Jacqui asks. "There is that." Maybe it was the wrath of God, or Mother Nature, or maybe our time was just up. Maybe human lives time was up, just like the dinosaurs. "Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere" in times like this when I know I'm destined to die, and I just want to go back. Maybe do something different, maybe it's my fault I'm stuck in this situation. Maybe I did something as a kid to deserve this. I wish I got bit in the early days, died, became one of the walkers in the city because this is hell. Trying to survive, but also keep some kind of normalcy was hell. I don't know what day it is, or the time I'm just going on day to day, an empty shell of the person I used to be. I'm no longer that bright lively person, and I know it. how can you when you're living through the apocalypse. I'm not truly happy I'll never be, not anymore, I don't think I can. No matter how many people I have around me, how many of those I love are around me, I'll always think about the people I left behind, my roommate, my brother, my granddad. They're all dead, they're lucky they got the easy way out. I wish I did too.

"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Carol asks. "There may be some. People like me." Jenner replies. "But you don't know? How can you not know?" Rick asks. "Everything went down. Communications, directives, all of it I've been in the dark for almost a month." Jenner explains. "So, it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying right?" We came here for no reason, we came for answers, and Jenner had none.

Andrea scoffs, we're all finally realizing this is not going to end. "Jesus" Jacqui mutters. "Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk..again" Daryl says as he leans himself against a cubicle "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 clock is at 59 minutes. "The...basement generators they run out of fuel." He seems uncertain or as if he's lying. He's not telling us the full truth, and I know that. Jenner begins to walk around "and then?" Rick asks. Jenner doesn't answer he just walks away. "Vi what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asks.

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

-

I sit in the office I had claimed as my sleeping quarters the previous night. Facility wide decontamination. Decontamination, we're going to die. The doors won't open back up that's what Jenner said at the beginning, once they shut, they aren't opening back up. So, if we wanted to leave, we can't. We'll have to die. And I'm fine with it. I'm fine with dying, I'm not sure if I even want to live this life anymore.

The air conditioner has shut off.

I'm becoming more and more comfortable with the thought of dying. If I died, I wouldn't have to do this anymore, I don't want to do this anymore.

The lights shut off next. There's not much time left. Am I convincing myself I'm ready to die or am I really ready to die. I don't really have an option anymore, do I? So, I shouldn't think about it. If I think about it, I'll panic, so I should just not think about it. If I don't think about it will be fast, without any struggle, or crying just death in a flash.

I can hear everyone in the hallways asking what's happening. They're probably talking to Jenner. I'm staying curled up on the couch, I'm not moving.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in" I say meekly.

The door opens, and in comes Glenn. "Come on" I look up at him brows furrowed. "I want to stay in here" he sighs "come on just..please come with me" I begrudgingly get up and follow Glenn into the big room where everyone else is. Everyone's confused, and scared.

"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asks as he power walks after Jenner. "The system is dropping all the nonessential use 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"

31 minutes 28 seconds.

Jenners got a bottle of alcohol in his hands which Daryl snatches from him. "It was that French" I furrow my brows "what?" Andrea asks "they 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." Jenner answers. He begins to walk father away from us "what happened?" Jacqui asks. "Same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice." Jenner explains. "The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" Jenner says with a chuckle before turning back around. "Let me tell you-" Shane says trying to run after Jenner. Rick grabs at Shane "to hell with it Shane. I don't even care."

Rick turns towards his wife "Lori, grab our things, everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!" Rick shouts most of us start scattering when an alarm starts blaring "what's that?" Shane asks.

"30 minutes to decontamination" vi says.

Jenner walks over to a desk "doc, what's going on here!" Daryl shouts. "Everybody y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff, and let's go! Go now! Go!" Shouts Shane. Just when everyone was about to run out the door shuts.

"Did-did you just lock us in?!" Glenn stammered out. Jenner sits down not answering Glenn. "He just locked us in!" Glenn shouts fearfully. Everyone else begins to run back towards Jenner.

"Carl!"

"Mom!"

Daryl begins to run up to Jenner angrily. "You son of a bitch." Daryl barks as he sprints at Jenner. "Shane! Shane!" Rick shouts. Shane chases after Daryl "you locked us in here!" Shouts Daryl as he grabs onto Jenner. "No, stop don't!"

"You lying—"

"No, no, no, no!" Shane says as he pulls Daryl away. "Wait, no! No, don't do it." Shane and t-dog has to hold Daryl back as he angrily punches and tries to wiggle out of their grip. Rick marches up to Jenner "hey, Jenner, open that door now." Rick demands.

I'm leaning against one of the desks my face buried in my hands with my fingers spread so I can still see what's going on. "There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed." Jenner replies. "We'll open the damn things!" Shouts Dale.

I can't talk, I won't talk to anyone if I do, I'll cry, and I'll change my mind on being okay with dying. "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." Everyone else is stressing, carol especially she doesn't want her little girl to die this young. She wants Sophia to have a life, live a long life even during this mess. "It's better this way" Jenner says. Rick turns his head towards Jenner a little offended "what is? What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick says through his teeth as he walks closer to Jenner. Jenner doesn't answer just begin to type away at his computer. Shane begins to walk up. I guess he could see some tic in Rick because one second later he's shouting, "what happens in 28 minutes!"

Jenner stands up "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 shouts in both Shane and ricks faces before sitting back down. "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." Jenner explains. Rick walks over to Jenner "H.I.T.s?" Jenner doesn't want to explain so he shouts to vi "vi, define."

"H.I.T.S high-impulse thermobaric 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, 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 says. Carol is crying while holding her daughter close. "An end to sorrow, grief...regret......everything." Jenner whispers. He's right, this is the best way to die, death is almost instant. It's an end to all the grief, and sadness I've felt since the moment this thing started.

-

Daryl's throwing shit at the door trying to...I don't know break it? "Open the damn door!" Daryl shouts. I stare at my feet, what was there to live for anymore? "Out of my way!" Shouts Shane before he hurdles towards the door with an axe. It makes a noise similar to when you run your fingers nails down a chalk board. Blugh, it makes me want to puke. Both Daryl and Shane are pounding these pickaxes maybe regular axes I don't even know anymore. But they're just hitting, and hitting, and hitting, and all I want to do is curl into a tiny ball, and cry. My brain isn't working, and sound is starting to blur, fizzle out as I stare at my feet.

There was no need to live anymore, we were just going to be stuck in this mess of a world anyways. So why not die right now? Why does everyone but me want to get out? Is something wrong with me specifically? Am I just that fucked up in the head, that I don't want a second chance at life? I'm ready..but I'm not at the same time. Every time I convince myself I'm ready I just begin to think about what I could have in the future, but then I think about what I could've had, then I'm right back at the beginning. I don't want to live my life in constant fear of getting bitten, I don't want to live in the constant cycle of grief, and regret.

I'm not paying attention to anything that's happening. I'm ready, I'm ready. I keep telling myself that. I'm re-

"Come on, hey y/n he opened the door." Glenn snaps me out of the trance I was in. I shake my head "it's for the better" I whisper. Glenn furrows his eyebrows "what?" I let out a shaky breath "I-I don't want to live like this anymore Glenn, I want to stay" he shakes his head. "No, no I'm not leaving you here! I don't care I'm not leaving you here." He says I shake my head again. "I don't want to go" I whisper "I love you y/n, I can't just leave you here." I don't reply.

"Daryl!" He shouts waving him over. He runs over kneeling down next to me. "She doesn't want to leave, help me convince her to leave." Glenn whispers. I shake my head. I don't want to leave, I want to die. "We don' have time" Daryl says picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder. I kick and punch at Daryl begging him to let me stay but he doesn't do anything.

"Let me go Daryl" I cry "I want to stay."

We end up stopping at the door. "Hey, we've got four minutes left! Come on!" Shouts Glenn. "Daryl please, please, please. Leave me" I sob. "No, no, no m'not doin' that" he mutters. I can barely hear anything over my thoughts.

You need to stay. You need to stay. You need to stay. it was like a virus infecting my brain telling me that I needed to die.

Then we're running again. That's what snaps me out again. The only thing I notice is that dales, Andrea, and Jacqui are staying. If dales staying, I want to stay too, but Daryl won't let go. He's got a tight grip on me, that I can't wiggle out of.

We're going upstairs, and then we're on the top floor. I'm placed on the ground as Daryl, and Shane try to break through the windows. It won't work. This is a government building the windows are only able to break if there's an explosion. It won't break for axes, chairs, or gun fire.

"The glass won't break?!" Cries Sophia. "Rick, I have something that might help!" Carol says running up to Rick as she dug into the bag she held in her hands. "Carol, I don't think a nail files gonna do it." Carol ignores Shane's misogyny and continues to talk to Rick. "Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform, I found this in your pocket." She says showing Rick a grenade.

Rick takes it from her, and everyone begins to take cover.

"Oh shi—"

Boom.

The windows broken. I'm still set on staying. I'm hoping Glenn, and Daryl will forget about me and leave me here. "Come on" Daryl's kneeled down next to me. I shake my head. "No, I want to die Daryl why can't you just let me die" I cry. "God dammit women ya can't just do this to me" he mutters before picking me back up and throwing me over his shoulder again. I'm being stupid, and stubborn I know, but why can't he just leave me here. I already said I want to die.

We're running towards the cars. Rick, and Shane shooting at walkers at the same time. The bomb definitely was bringing a bunch, so we had to hurry.

We make it to the cars unscathed. Daryl places me in the passenger side of his truck instead of the SUV I was originally in with Rick, and his family. We brace for impact.

3, 2, 1. Boom.

I think it's the most fire I've ever seen in my life. Jacqui's dead, but Dale, and Andrea made it out. Jacqui was a sweet lady. She cared for everyone even people who had wronged her. She didn't deserve to die, but she just ran out of hope. Hope, how can we have hope when we're going through this.

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Taglist

@e1d0lonk3k @soul4death @furiousheartpoetry @silicone-bonez @nezukos-number1fan

#fanfics #x reader #the walking dead season 1 #the walking dead #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixion x reader #daryl dixon #glenn rhee #Lori grimes #Rick grimes #Carl grimes #zombie apocalypse #zombie #female!reader #fem!reader

[topazy]

Tomorrow’s promise

Pairing: Shane Walsh x reader, Rick Grimes x sister reader

Warnings: Swearing, sexual content, mentions of injury and character death

Chapter: 1.03

Your breath caught in your throat as you stared at the bright light that comes out of the CDC. Everyone stood frozen for a moment until Rick and Shane took the lead and went inside while Daryl covered you from behind, making sure no walkers got in.

You step inside the lobby that looks completely empty and say, “Hello?”

Hearing the sound of someone cocking a gun, you turn the other way to see a man pointing a rifle in your group's direction. He looks nervous and asks, “Anybody infected?”

“One of our groups was. He didn’t make it,” Rick answers.

“Why are you here? What do you want?”

“A chance.”

The man gulps down, “That’s asking an awful lot these days.” He looked around the room, still seeming unsure of what to do next. “You all submit to a blood test. That’s the price of admission.”

“We can do that,” you nod. You step forward and reach your hand out to shake his hand. “Lily Grimes.”

He lowers his weapon and shakes your hand. “Dr. Edwin Jenner You've got stuff to bring in; do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed.”

Shane placed his hand on your back as you started to quickly follow Jenner, and you flinched when the metal shutters slammed down, covering all the windows and doorways in the lobby. Seconds later, the sounds of walkers trying to get in echoed through the room.

As everyone entered the elevator, Jace started to make a gurgling noise. Shane bent down and kissed him on the head before brushing Jace’s cheek with his finger and saying, “Hey little man, it’s all going to be okay.”

The sight warms your heart, but the feeling of loving warmth disappears when your eyes land on your sister-in-law, who is watching as Shane interacts with his son with an emotionless expression on her face.

—

When the elevator doors open, Jenn steps out first and says, “VI, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here.”

He leads you down a hallway. “Are we underground?” Carol asks from behind you.

Jenner looks back at her and asks, “Are you claustrophobic?”

“A little.”

“Try not to think about it,” he answers casually. Jenner opens the door to a room that’s in complete darkness and says, “VI, bring up the lights in the big room.”

A hum of fire cuts through the air before the lights come on, and you stare in awe at what looks like a sci-fi lab you’d see in movies.

“Welcome to Zone 5.”

“Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?” Rick asks, trying his best to keep the concern out of his voice.

“I’m it. It's just me here.”

Lori looks at him confused. “What about the person you were speaking with? VI?”

“VI, say hello to our guests. Tell them… Welcome.”

A computerized voice starts talking, “Hello, guests. Welcome.”

“I’m all that’s left. I’m sorry.”

—

“Shane,” you whisper while nudging his arm with your elbow. “Cut it out.”

Shane gives you an annoyed look before returning his attention back to Jace, whom he was holding protectively. When Jenner said he’d need to test everyone’s blood, that included your baby. Although you weren’t happy with it, you didn’t see another choice. Shane disagreed but reluctantly agreed to let Jenner take blood from your son, which now led to him shooting death glances at the man.

When Andrea stands after having her blood taken, she stumbles forward but is caught by Jacqui before she hits the ground. She shakes the blonde's shoulder and asks, “Are you okay?”

“Mmm.”

“She hasn’t eaten in days,” Jacqui explains to Jenner. “None of us have.”

—

Everyone is seated at a large round table, eating pasta, laughing, and drinking wine. Minus yourself. Having a normal meal with family wasn’t something you thought you’d ever get to do again, which is why the moment felt so precious to you. You watch amused as Dale hands your nephew a glass with a small amount of wine in it for him to taste. Carl pulled a look of disgust after tasting the alcohol, causing everyone to laugh.

Lori stroked the back of his head before pouring the wine from his glass into hers. “That’s my boy. That’s my boy. Good boy.”

“That’s disgusting!”

Shane chuckles, “Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud.”

Daryl lets out a laugh. “Not you, Glenn.”

“What?” Glenn’s face flushes slightly.

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

You feel Shane tense beside you while others laugh. He didn’t look happy. You place your hand on his and ask, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just thinking,” is all he says before kissing the side of your head.

The look on Shane’s face makes you feel uneasy, but you don’t push for further information and return to devouring the meal in front of you.

While everyone else was laughing and talking among themselves, Lori leaned back in her chair to get your attention. There was a slight gap between your chairs, but nobody else was sitting between the two of you. She points towards the untouched glass of wine sitting in front of you and asks, “You going to drink that?”

Since you were breastfeeding, you wouldn’t be able to drink it, and it would be a shame for it to go to waste. You handed the glass to her, and the smile on her face pissed you off. “What’s mine is yours,” you say low enough that only she can hear you. “At least you asked this time, right?”

The smile on her face falls. Your attention is drawn to Rick when he stands and taps his fork against his glass. “It seems to me we haven’t thanked our host properly.”

“He is more than just our host,” T-Dog points out.

Dale raises his glass, “Hear hear!”

Everyone cheers to Jenner, thanking him for letting you in when Shane cuts in. “So when are you going to tell us what the hell happened here, Doc? Where are all the other doctors who were supposed to be figuring out what happened?”

The atmosphere changes immediately, and the lightness of evening and the heaviness of how the world was dammed were all real again.

Your brother shoots him a look. “We’re celebrating, Shane. You don’t need to do this now.”

“Whoa, wait a second. This is why we’re here, right? This was your move—you were supposed to find all the answers. Instead we—” Shane, let’s put in a sarcastic chuckle. “We found him. I found one man, why?”

A look of sadness falls over Jenner’s features. “Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left and went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted.”

“What happened?” You ask, feeling sorry for him.

“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 asks.

“I just kept working, hoping to do some good.”

Glenn turns to Shane and sighs, “Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man.”

After finishing the rest of your meal in an awkward silence, Jenner begins to show you more of the building, including where you’d be sleeping.

“Most of the facility is powered down, including housing, so you’ll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. I think there’s also a crib in one of the rooms that your little one could use,” he says, smiling at you. “There’s 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.”

“You have showers here?”

“With hot water?” Glenn asks excitedly.

Jenner nods.

T-Dog claps his hands together and laughs, “That’s what the man said.”

—

“You know, I didn’t like what you said earlier.” Shane’s voice reaches you through the sound of running water.

You look over your shoulder at him and ask, “What?”

He joins you in the shower and kisses the back of your shoulder. “When you introduced yourself to Jenner, you said your name was Lily Grimes. I didn’t like that; it should be Lily Walsh.”

Lily Walsh. You liked the sound of that. From the first time Shane told you he loved you, you knew you wanted to marry him and be his forever, but that was before the world went to shit. In another life, you’d be planning your over-the-top wedding and spending your days daydreaming about saying ‘I do.’ But instead you were washing off a couple of weeks' worth of dirt, blood, and sweat. As you looked down at the dirty ring at the bottom of the shower, it made you regret ever taking such a luxury for granted before.

“Hey, are you still with me?” Shane’s voice brings you back to reality.

He looks at you with concern as you turn around to face him. “Yeah, just lost in my thoughts. Jace?”

“He’s sound asleep. I asked Carol to watch over him for ten minutes.”

He goes to say something else, but you cut him off with a kiss. You pull back and pour some shampoo into your hands before rubbing it into his hair. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of you massaging his scalp before you pulled him further under the spray of the shower with you.

He wipes the soap that’s dripped down his face with his hand, giving you a playful grin. Suddenly, he wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you in close as he starts to leave trails of kisses over your neck and face. “That felt good,” he says with a grin. “Now, I think I should return the favor.”

“I’ve already washed my hair.”

“There’s more than one way to make you feel good,” he says in between kissing your jawline. You are hesitant at first, but when Shane drops to his knees in front of you, you let out a soft moan as he kisses your stomach. He puts one of your legs over your shoulder and starts kissing up your thigh, “I can stop; just tell me and I’ll stop.”

You tangle your fingers in his hair, “whatever you do, don’t stop.”

He smirks before putting his mouth where you want it. One of your hands slammed against the wall while the other pulled on his hair as he devoured and worshiped you with his skilled tongue.

—

You walk into the rec room and smile at Carol, who’s gently rocking the crib Jace is in, and quietly say, “Thank you so much for watching him.”

“He’s slept like an angel,” she smiles before saying good night to you; her young daughter Sophia does the same.

At the same time, they leave. Lori and Carl come into the room. You smile at the young boy, “Hey munchkin, you hungover?”

He lets out a giggle before noticing a couple of board games that are in the room. “Aunt Lily, can you play a game with me?”

You glance down at Jace, who is still sound asleep, then back at Carl, who is staring at you with pleading eyes. “Of course, but only if you let me win at least one game.”

“You're such a sore loser,” he says before setting up a game of chess.

Lori places her hand on your shoulder and says, “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

A part of you wanted to rip her hand off and yell at her squints; she didn’t need to appreciate it because Carl is your family and you’d do anything for him, even something as small as play a board game with him to make him smile because that’s what families do. or are supposed to do. But instead, you bite down on the rage you have towards her and give her a nod before sitting down across from Carl.

As you put away the chess board, Lori says to Carl, “Baby, go say your prayers. I’m gonna browse a bit.”

“Night, Aunt Lily,” he says before looking down at Jace. “Night little cuz.”

So sweet. Seeing the sweet interaction made you want to wrap your son and Carl in bubble wrap. Silently, you pick Jace up and go to leave, but Lori calls after you.

“Lily… Do you—are you—how are you holding up?”

“Holding up?”

You see an uneasy look pass over Lori’s face. “Being a mom is difficult. God, I remember spending so many nights crying because I just didn’t know what to do with this tiny human who depended on me. And no matter how hard your partner tries to help, the loneliness of it gets to you. I couldn’t imagine going through all that again when the world is like this.” She swirled the tiny amount of wine left in her glass before sitting the glass down. “Being a new mom in a new world must be really stressful.”

“It would be a lot less stressful if my sister-in-law didn’t bang my fiancé.”

She stares at you in shock and struggles to form a reply. You turn your back on her and walk out of the room and back down the hallway to the room you’d be sleeping in for the night.

—

You try not to laugh at Glenn as he groans into his arms as everyone sits around the same table as the night before for breakfast. The smell and look of the powdered eggs were enough to turn your stomach, but you imagined being hungover would have made it much worse.

“Protein helps the hangover,” T-Dog says, putting a plate down in front of Glenn.

“Hey, Aunt Lily, how come you eat eggs now?”

You let out a quiet laugh, watching him shove a forkful of food into his mouth. You sometimes forget how observant Carl is for such a young boy. You didn’t want to bring him down and tell him the truth—that the choice to be vegan was no longer an option—so you just lied.

You shrug, “because I heard you were being taught how to cook, and you can’t learn to cook without an official taste tester.”

You and Rick exchange a look. He smiles at you before returning to his meal. You glance at Lori and notice she still hasn’t lifted her head. From the moment she'd sat down, she’d avoided eye contact with you, Shane, and Rick.

“Morning,” Jenner says, entering the room.

Shane continues to lightly bounce Jace in his arms and looks over at him. “Hey, Doc.”

Everyone at the table greets Jenner. You watch disapprovingly at the way Dale stares at your host while he pours himself a cup of coffee. You understood that everyone’s mind was spinning with questions, but the least you could do is let the man have his breakfast.

Dale didn’t share your line of thinking and says, “I don’t mean to slam you with questions first thing—”

Jenner sighs, “But you will anyway.”

“We didn’t come here for the eggs,” Andrea adds.

—

You stood in awe, staring at a big screen inside the lab, watching as it zoomed in on a skull, detailing the threads as they became closer and pulsed with different colors. “What are those lights?”

“It's a person’s life—experiences, memories,” Jenner explains. “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 try to soak up as much information as you can, but Jace starts fussing. You walk over to the other side of the room and begin to feed Jace while your eyes scan different things in the room.

The atmosphere in the room became heavy as Jenner explained what happened to a human body after it died, how it shut down, and how long it took before it resurrected. Andrea became upset thinking of her sister Amy, who had only died due to being bitten by a walker a few days prior.

After death, if you were bitten or scratched by a walker, you’d be alive enough to get up and move, but that was it. All your memories and consciousness were gone. Nobody knew what had caused the apocalypse to happen. Jenner also shared that all communication with other labs had gone silent months ago.

“Man, I’m going to get shitfaced drunk again,” Daryl says, shaking his head.

You look over his shoulder at the large countdown on the wall behind him. “Dr. Jenner, I don’t want to harass you with any more questions, but what’s that countdown for? What happens when it reaches zero?”

“The basement generators—they run out of fuel,” he deadpans.

“What happens then?”

Jenner ignores your question and walks out of the room. Rick gives you a confused look before looking up at the ceiling and asking, “VI, what happens when the power runs out?”

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

Oh shit.

—

With the countdown getting closer to zero, the energy from the generator was being prioritized, so all the lights in the hallways and bedrooms have been turned off.

You studied Jenner as he finished off the bottle of whisky he’d taken from Daryl. The building was shutting down with all of you still inside it. “No power grid. It ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuels. I mean, how stupid is that?” Jenner says casually.

“Let me tell you—” Shane tries to follow him, but you grab onto his arm, holding him back.

“To hell with it, Shane.” Rick says, turning to address the group, “Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!”

Before anyone can leave, an alarm starts blaring, and Vi confirms the decontamination will start in half an hour. Jenner ignores everyone’s questions about what's happening and scans his badge and enters a code into a security pad. Security doors slam shut, locking everyone in the room.

Daryl runs at Jenner, attempting to hit him on the head with a glass bottle, but Shane and Rick hold him back.

“Hey, Jenner, open that door now,” your brother says firmly. But Jenner seems unfazed.

“Rick,” you stand beside your brother, close enough that only he can hear you. “He let us in here so we can die with him. This place-”

“There’s no point,” Jenner cuts you off. “Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed.”

“Well, open the damn things?”

Jenner looks up at you from his desk. “That’s not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that the front door would not open again. You heard me say that. It’s better this way.”

“What is? "What happens in 28 minutes?” Rick asks, and when Jenner ignores him, he asks again. “What happens in 28 minutes?!”

Jenner jumps out of his chair and shouts. “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!” He sighs and sits back down, regaining his calm composure. “In the event of a catastrophic power failure—in a terrorist attack, for example—HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out.”

“H.I.T.s?”

Jenner rolls his eyes and says, “VI, define.”

“H.I.T.s—high-impulse thermobaric 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 and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired.”

Everything starts to feel like it’s moving in slow motion when people start to cry out of grief and fear, while Shane and Daryl try to break down the door with axes.

“An end to sorrow, grief, and regret. Everything,” Jenner says sadly. The Doc remains unfazed when Daryl tries to get to him with the ax. Jenner looks directly at Rick and says, “You do want this. Last night, you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead.”

You watch Lori’s face fall along with your own at hearing those words. Shane glared at your brother and said, “What? You really said that? After all your big talk?”

“I had to keep hope alive, didn’t I?”

“There is no hope. There never was,” Jenner says blankly.

Shane stares at Jace for a moment before picking up his shotgun and storming towards Jenner. Your brother tried to stop him, but Shane aimed the gun at Jenner’s head. “Out of the way, Rick! Stay out of my way! Open that door, or I’m going to blow your head off. Do you hear me?”

“Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this. We will never get out of here,” Rick says, trying to calm him down. “If he dies, we all die.”

Frustrated Shane yells before shooting at the computers on the other side of the room. Rick knocks him to the ground and takes the gun away from him.

You kneel in front of Jenner and place your hand on his, an action that visibly pisses your fiancé off. “You and Rick are both wrong, you know? There is hope, and if you didn’t believe there was a chance of a better life, you wouldn’t have kept this place going for so long.”

“I didn’t do what I wanted to. I did it because I promised my wife. She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?” He blinks away tears as he points to a picture of a woman who was used as a test subject to see how long it took the dead to turn. “She was dying. It should’ve been me at 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.”

“Your wife didn’t have a choice in how or when she died, but you do. And if you want to die like this, then it’s on you... but please, please give us the choice as well; give us a chance to survive.” You look down at Jace, and fear strikes as the reality of your son's death hits you. “Give me a chance to save him.”

Jenner turns away from you, types a code into the security pad, and unlocks the door. You squeezed Jenner's hand and said, “Thank you.”

“Lily!”

Hearing Shane call your name, you walk towards him, where he’s waiting by the doorway for you. You glance back at your brother, who’s still talking to Jenner, and say, “Rick, come on!”

Your attention is drawn to T-Dog arguing with Jacqui, who has decided she wants to stay behind and die with Jenner. T-Dog looks completely heartbroken and doesn’t move until Shane takes him by the arm and leads him up the ramp into the hallway. “Dog, come on, man. Come on! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

—

“Fuck!” You hear me reaching the door in the lobby. “The doors are locked! We are still trapped!”

Daryl and Shane try to break the glass with the axes while T-Dog tries to unlock the door with the pad by the door, but none of it works.

“Try the gun!”

Shame aims his shotgun at the glass and fires, but the bullet barely makes a tent.

“Rick, I have something that might help,” Carol says, reaching into her bag. “Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform, I found this in your pocket.”

Carol hands your brother a grenade, and you immediately run to the other side of the lobby to take cover from the blast. Rick looks terrified as he pulls the pin on the grenade and leaves it on the window sill. He quickly jumps down, making it far enough away that blast just misses him.

One of the windows shatters, and you all run towards it. You jump down from the ledge onto the ground outside and cuss, “Ah fuck!”

You stand long enough to feel a sharp pain in the back of your thigh, but Glenn wraps his arm around you and helps you as you try not to stumble forward.

Rick and Shane cleared a path for everyone by shooting the walkers that were attracted by the noise of the explosion.

When you reach the vehicles, Shane looks back, notices you struggling to run, and practically carries you to the car while everyone else gets into the RV.

He jumps in the car beside you and asks, “What happened?”

You look down to see what's causing you such pain and see a shard of glass sticking into the back of your leg. “Fuck, that's what I must have done it when I jumped.”

Mentally, you made a note to make sure Shane kept his promise to take Jace to safety if you ever got hurt, slowing them down again in a life-or-death situation. But now wasn’t the time.

You look up when Rick starts to honk his horn, and you see Dale and Andrea running out of the building. You duck down, doing your best to cover Jace without hurting him. Shane covers your body with his own to protect you from the blast.

The CD explodes into a huge fireball, and you feel the heat from the blast, but luckily the fire doesn’t reach you. The sky starts to fill with thick black smoke that will no doubt attract all the walkers in the area.

When Andra and Dale get into the RV, Rick starts to drive away. Shane looks shaken as he stares at the distraction that’s left behind. “Hey,” you lightly grip his chin so he faces you. “We’re okay, we got out.” You felt guilty saying those words knowing not everyone made it, but you needed Shane to snap out of his shock before any walkers reached the car. “Baby, I know this is hard, but we’ve got to go.”

Shane offers you a small smile and follows behind Rick, with T-Dog and Daryl behind you.

#the walking dead #Shane Walsh #shane walsh x you #shane walsh x reader #TWD #fear the walking dead fandom #the walking dead fanfiction #rick grimes x reader #rick grimes #rick grimes sister #Shane Walsh smut #TWD s1 #twd smut #the walking dead smut #tomorrow’s promise #Shane Walsh/you #Shane Walsh/reader #the walking dead x reader #the walking dead x you

[dannyo000]

This is the first part of my Rick fanfiction. Follow the character through their life and attraction to the taken sheriff.

Word count: 4.6k

Warning: Self harm; suicidal talk/mentions; angst; character death (not sure what else)

《•○●○•》

I yawned sitting in the main lab. Computers and gadgets surrounding me. I rubbed my eyes and stood up from the computer.

I froze when my eyes caught sight of our security cameras. There was a group of living people outside our heavily armed doors. I could see 2 guys arguing while everyone around them looked upset and worried, constantly glancing around, making sure no walkers were close.

"Come on, let's go. Let's get out of here. Let's go. Please." A man with a black t-shirt on and army pants begged the sheriff.

I hurried over to see how many people exactly the group was. I moved the camera over and saw it was quite a big group. I laughed and smiled, other living people.

The sheriff was the only one who noticed the camera move. He was trying to convince everyone that someone was inside. I grabbed my gun and looked around to make sure my dad was nowhere close by. Quickly, I made my way to the front of the building.

"Vi, open the main entrance door." I called out and slowly the door began sliding upwards.

"Hello?" I spoke, cocking my gun. "Anyone infected?"

"One of our group was but he didn't make it." The sheriff spoke, his gun also pointed towards me.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, looking around behind them. "What do u want?"

"A chance."

I nodded and uncocked my gun.

"Im going to have to have you all submit a blood test. My father would kill me if I didn't have you guys do it."

Not like he might already since I'm breaking our number one rule of not letting anyone in from the outside.

"We can do that."

"Grab all your things. Once this door closes it has to stay closed."

《•○●○•》

Everyone finally got into the building. I turned around and gulped, seeing my dad standing behind everyone.

"Vi, seal the main entrance! Kill the power up here." Dad spoke and crossed his arms with his brows raised as the door beeped and clanged.

I put my gun in the back of my jeans.

"Rick Grimes." The sheriff held his hand out to my dad.

He eyed his hand before shaking it with his own.

"Doctor Edwin Jenner. And my daughter Beatrice Jenner." He pulled me to his side.

I gave Rick a side smile and a wave. My dad pulls me and leads us to the elevator. We all fit in packed tightly.

"Your daughter always go around packing heat like that?" The guy with a crossbow asked referring to my gun.

"There was so many left around that I took it upon myself to learn how to use one. Took forever go convince my dad to learn." I laughed answering the question myself.

Rick laughed and smiled at me. Seeing him up close. He was honestly very attractive. And im not just saying that because he's the first guy I've seen since all hell broke loose in the labs.

We made it down to our zone and began walking towards the big room. Dad in the lead with me behind him a bit.

"Are we underground?" A lady with super short hair asked.

"Are you claustrophobic?" My dad replied back to her.

"A little."

"Try not to think about it." I shrugged looking back at her.

We walked in silence to the big room and began walking into it.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." Dad speaks out.

The computers lit up, and then the florescentlights above turned on illuminating the whole room.

"Welcome to zone 5." I looked back at everyone before heading towards the middle of the room.

"Where is everybody?" Rick asked walking a bit faster than his group to catch up to us. "The other doctors, the staff?"

I sat down and looked at my lap.

"We're it." My dad sets his hand on my shoulder. "Its just us two here."

Rick slowly looked down defeated.

A brunette with long hair spoke up, "What about the person you were just talking to?"

"Vi?" I asked.

"Vi! Say hello to our guests." Dad outspoke. "Tell them welcome."

"Hello guests, welcome." The computer spoke through the speakers.

"Its just my dad and I. Im sorry." I frowned at everyone's devastated looks.

My dad clapped his hands together. "Shall we get started on those blood tests."

Everyone followed him out of the room and down the hall to a room with medical supplies. I listened while everyone introduced themselves, and then, while my dad took care of them, I pushed through the group and made my way to my room. It wasn't anything special. As soon as the world went to shit my dad rushed me to get here as soon as possible, and once I got here, there was no leaving.

My bed is in the corner of the room, it's enough for maybe two people. All white sheets and pillowcases. I have my suitcase sitting on the floor wide open with all my clothes in it. Well, what I could fit in it. Next to my bed a have a cart with wheels that I use as my nightstand, I have a desk lamp on it that I took from someone's desk and a picture of myself with my dad and mom.

I laid in bed and read a book for about an hour before heading out to see where everyone was. I heard laughing and cheering coming from the "dining room." I walked in and saw everyone drinking and eating food. My dad nodded to me in a way of greeting. I took a seat next to him and took a drink of his wine. He stood up and patted my shoulder before putting some dinner on a plate for me.

I sat quietly as everyone talked and laughed with each other. It made me feel awkward, and I could tell my dad felt the same way. We'd been alone for a little more than a month, and to have so many living people with us is overwhelming.

I glanced over at Rick as he sat with who I would assume is his wife and kid. He made eye contact with me before nodding and standing up, clinking his fork on his wine glass.

"Its seems we haven't thanked our hosts." He smiled at me and nodded his head to my dad.

I smiled back. Looking back down at my plate as I blocked out everyone's cheers.

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

I froze and looked up at him. He looked between Dad and I waiting for an answer.

Rick got serious and glared at Shane, "We’re celebrating, Shane. Don’t need to do this now."

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we’re here, right? This was your move—supposed to find all the answers." Shane shakes his head and chuckles humorlessly, "Instead we- we found them. Found one man and his daughter, why?"

Shane looked at everyone in the room and it got quiet. Everyone began wondering the answer.

I swallowed the last of my spaghetti and glared at Shane, I didn't like him.

"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?"

I scoffed at his reply and opened my mouth to speak but my dad beat me to it.

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

I scratched at my wrists nonchalantly before quickly standing up and taking my plate to the sink. I quickly rushed out of the room and headed to my room. I sat on my bed and tried my best to calm myself down. It felt like hours before I felt okay again. I grabbed spare clothes and a towel before heading to the showers.

Few of the guys walked out with smiles on their faces, and I chuckled softly. I stepped into a stall and closed the glass door. Luckily, it has texture, so u can't see completely through. I stripped out of my clothes and tossed it out the door before turning the water on.

I washed myself and washed my hair before taking a seat on the floor of the shower. I grabbed my razor from the hidden spot between the stalls and cut at my thighs. The water that ran under the stall to the drain was red. I turned the water cold and sat under it with my knees to my chest. I shivered and started crying.

Ever since I watched my mom slowly turn into a walker, I've been falling apart. Recently, it's gotten worse. As the days dragged on with nothing new happening or being accomplished, I started giving up hope.

I gasped as the door to my stall was pulled open. I froze seeing Rick looking from me to the red water going down the drain.

"Wh-what are you doing?" I spoke as sternly as I could in my state, trying to keep myself covered in certain places.

"Shit! Im sorry. I saw the water and-and I needed to make sure nothing bad happened."

I gulped and looked away from him ashamed. Suddenly the water stopped and a towel is wrapped around me. I looked up at Rick and he helped me up off the floor.

"Where is the blood coming from?" He asked checking over my arms and face.

I scoffed, "You don't actually care Rick. You don't know me and you just met me."

"You're right I don't know you and we just met but that doesn't mean I don't care. You saved us earlier which means you cared about us and you didn't even know who we were. Now quit being stubborn and tell me where ur bleeding at."

I rolled my eyes and took a seat on a toilet seat, lifting my towel a tiny bit to still keep me covered but show him what I did. His face changed to guilt and maybe sadness? I rolled my eyes.

"I assume you have never seen someone hurt themselves."

He shook his head, "Yes but not like this."

"I've been locked in here for over a month. No one to talk to except my dad and that's when he doesn't ignore me."

"Does he know about this."

"He knows. This isn't my first rodeo."

I got up and walked over to the cabinets, grabbing some gauze, wipes and bandages I put in there for times like this. Walking back to the bench I cleaned my thigh up and put bandages on the small cuts before wrapping my thighs with the gauze. I looked up at Rick.

"Im perfectly fine. You can go now." I fiddled with my towel and he blushed and nodded before making his way out the showers.

I pulled on my undergarments, then an oversized shirt and a pair of sweatpants. I towel dried my hair and threw it in the corner of the bathroom. I walked out into the hall and made my way to the big room. My dad sat at one of the computers looking over the blood samples from everyone. He looked over at me and smiled.

"Whats up honey?" He asked as I took a seat next to him.

"Just figured I would see how you were doing thats all." I shrugged and laid my head on his shoulder looking at all the data.

I sat up at the sound of footsteps walking towards us. Rick came walking in holding a wine bottle which I could see was half full.

"Hows the blood?" He asked.

"No suprises." My dad replied back beginning to pack his papers and binders up.

I turned in my seat to look up at Rick , who stood next to me now. I could easily tell he was tipsy on the verge of drunk.

He wiped his mouth, "I came to thank the both of you."

"You did." My dad spoke and we glanced at each other confused.

He was smiling at us before he suddenly stumbled back a bit and slid down the side of the computer desk. I gasped and tried to steady him, but he was too far away from me. He sat on the ground, leaning up against the desk.

"You alright Rick?" I asked him getting down on my knees next to him, gently taking the wine from him which thankfully he let me.

"You don't know what it's like." He laughs a little and looks to the side away from where I am. "You don't know what it's like out there." He got serious, his head resting against the desk behind him. "You may think you do. But you dont."

I get up off the floor and sit back in my chair, looking over at my dad with the same guilt ridden look on his face that I have.

"We'd have died out there. It was only a matter of time. There's too many of those things." He pauses for a second, his eyes getting glossy. "My-my boy.. My-my wife, I never- I never told them what I really thought. I never even hinted, just-."

He closes his eyes. "Just kept it in."

"Kept it in and kept us moving you know?" He began getting a little hysterical.

"It'll all be okay." My dad promised. Rick stared at him, "It'll be okay."

Rick stayed where he was for quite some time. I stayed with him while my dad put his things away before heading to bed. I stared at Rick before standing up.

"Let's get you to bed."

I reached down and helped him up, throwing his arm over my shoulder to keep him from falling or running into something. He was quiet the whole walk to his room. I let him go once he was outside the door.

"Pretty sure everyone is in bed so rest well." I smiled and turned around to walk to my room.

《•○●○•》

I smiled at everyone as we ate breakfast. Carl was absolutely adorable. Even though I wasn't super close to everyone, I still felt like I was part of the family. I smiled bigger seeing Rick walking towards us. Definitely hungover. Not gonna lie he looked pretty cute.

"Are you hungover?" Carl asked and glanced at his mom tryna not laugh. "Mom said you'd be."

Rick smiled at his son and nodded as he took a seat. "Mom is right."

Lori ripped pieces of her bacon and put a piece in her mouth, "Mom has that annoying habit."

She glanced at Rick and he looked down.

"Eggs powdered but I do 'em good." T-dog announced, walking towards us with a plate of eggs, dishing some out to Glen who looked way worse than Rick.

Shane walked into the room and sat down with scratches on his neck.

"Must've done it in my sleep."

"Never seen you do that before." Rick said.

"Me neither." Shane shook his head, "Not like me at all."

Shane stared at Lori and she looked over at him before looking down at her plate. I furrowed my brows at their weird body language towards eachother.

In came my dad, "Morning."

Shane replied "Hey doc."

"Doctor I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing- but you're going to anyways." My dad interrupted Dale.

His back was to us all as he got himself a coffee.

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

My dad itched his nose as he turned around, looking at everyone. "Follow me." He nodded towards the door and made his way out it, everyone got up from the table. I quickly rushed after him, knowing exactly what he was doing.

"Dad."

He kept walking.

"Dad!"

He continued to ignore me. He walked down the ramp to his main computer, pressing a fre buttons before speaking.

"Give me playback of TS-19."

'Playback of TS-19.'

The giant screen in front of us loaded to a picture of the scan of a human brain.

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

I stare at the screen as everything around me suddenly disappeared.

The screen changes to a side view. The imagine begins to zoom in. The image becomes more and more detailed. You could see the inside of the brain. Bright blue threads of energy racing around. The detail zooms in until the threads become closer and pulses of light can be seen sparking throughout the brain.

"What are those lights?" Shane 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." My dad informed them.

"You ever gonna make sense?" Daryl asked.

Dad looks to me to speak "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."

I turned away from the screen as he fast forwarded to the end. I closed my eyes and covered my ears not wanting to see or hear anything that's about to be done.

My dad rubbed my back as a way to tell me it's okay now. I looked at everyone and took a deep breath.

"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."

I furrow my brows and look at my dad confused. He wouldn't look at me.

"And then what?" I asked him and he ignored me, walking out of the room.

Rick watches him in disbelief as he walks out the room.

"VI, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asked the computer

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

Most Everyone ran out of the room to who knows where because I went after my dad. I checked a few rooms before finding him in my mom's office looking at a picture of all 3 of us smiling and happy.

"Did you ever think to tell me what was going to happen?" I asked him hurt.

"No, I figured we would both just go out quick and painless." He stood up from the desk.

"I think I deserved a choice to choose what I want for myself. This wasn't up to you!" I shouted at him.

"Im what I think is best for you! You saw the way your mom died. You wanna go out like that?!" He shouted back, slamming his hands on the desk.

I went to speak but the air shut off and shortly after the power shut off. I stormed out of the room followed by my dad. Dale and Lori were in the hallway and spotted us.

"Why is the air off?" Carol asked walking out of her shared room with Sophia.

"And the lights in our room?" Lori asked.

I see Daryl poke his head out his door, "Whats going on? Why is everything turned off?"

My dad began walking past everyone, "Energy use is prioritizing itself."

"Air isn't a priority? Or lights?" Daryl scoffed.

"Its not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down." We all followed him to the big room.

"Hey! Hey, what the hell does that mean?" Daryl began to get angry, storming towards my dad faster.

But Dad ignores him of course.

"Hey, man, I’m talking to you. What do you mean it’s shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?"

I see Shane, T-dog, Glen and Rick came into the room. All looking pissed off as ever.

"You’d be surprised." I shook my head sadly looking at Daryl.

Lori and Carol stayed close to the rooms exit with their kids while the rest of us were in the center of the big room. I pushed through everyone and sat down at my dad's computer, looking through everything to find a way to stop the building from exploding. Anything.

A loud alarm sounds in the room, and I look up at the stopwatch on the screen, seeing only 30 minutes till we are all dust and ash. I mumbled to myself, ignoring everyone's yelling and crying. I stood up and threw the computer mouse across the room. I stressfully raked my fingers through my hair.

"We need to go now." I spoke and walked towards the doors only for them to shut as a few of us got close.

I flipped around and noticed my dad by the security lock keypad by his desk. I felt my heart break seeing him take a seat in his desk. Completely calm and okay with locking everyone in the room. He opens up his video recording and begins speaking to it.

Rick and my dad are arguing with each other. I couldn't hear the words over the sound of my rapid heartbeat. I'm scared. I'm not ready to die. Before, I thought I was, but I'm not. Meeting Rick and his group has made me want to keep surviving, keep living.

"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!" My dad was up from his seat shouting louder.

"Open the damn door!" Daryl growled.

Shane runs at the door with a fire axe. T-Dog tosses one to Daryl. He catches it and they both try to destroy the door.

"You should’ve left them alone it would have been so much easier." Dad gritted his teeth at me.

"Easier for who? They would have died!" I cried out.

"And they are still going to, just not painfully. You guys know what’s out there. A short brutal life and an agonizing death." My dad turns to Andrea who is sat on the floor leaning against one of the computer desks, "Your—your sister—what was her name?"

"Amy."

"Amy. You know what this does. You’ve seen it. Is that what you really want for your wife and son?" He looks to Rick.

Rick gets in my dad's face, "I don't want this!"

He walks to Shane and they converse for a second.

"The doors are built to withstand a rocket launcher." I sighed walking over to them.

"Yeah well his face ain't!" Daryl shouted as he ran towards my dad with an axe.

"Woah, woah!" Everyone blocked Daryl and grabbed the axe from him.

I stood back and listened to how hysterical my dad has become. Suddenly I hear a gun cock. Shane angrily comes towards my dad and I.

"Shane, no!"

"Get out of my way Rick! Stay out of my way"

Shane comes towards me pointing the gun at my forehead. I raise my hands and keep my face normal as I stared him in his crazed eyes.

"Open that door! Or I'm gonna blow her head off, do you hear me?!" He looks to my dad.

"Brother, brother. This is not the way we do things." Rick reminded Shane, trying to calm him down. Rick kept glancing between Shane and my 'tough exterior look. "We will never get out of here."

"Shane you listen to him." Lori speaks up.

"Its too late." Shane mutters.

"She dies, we all-"

Shane interrupts Rick by yelling and pushing the gun further into my forehead before turning away to the side away from my dad and I and shooting the computers over and over all while still yelling. I cower away and go running into Rick's arms in a matter of seconds after the gun is out of my face. I finally broke down. He gently rubs my back for a second and then hands me over to his wife, who rubs her hand up and down my arm as it's wrapped around me.

Rick struggles as he takes the gun from Shane. Shane was going crazy. Once he got the gun from him, he had to hit him with the butt of it and elbows his shoulder, dropping him to the ground.

I hid my face against Lori's shoulder, crying quietly as Rick began talking to my dad again.

"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."

She never would have wanted him to do this to me let alone to a group of people who didn't ask for it.

"Your wife didn’t have a choice. You do. That’s—that’s all we want—a choice, a chance." Rick begged.

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori tightened her grip on both Carl and I.

My dad made eye contact with me before looking down.

"I told you topside’s locked down. I can’t open those." He walks over to a keypad and scans his card and types in some numbers, opening the doors to the big room.

Everyone began rushing to the exit. I shooed Lori off as I stayed in the room.

"There’s your chance, take it."

"I’m grateful."

"The day will come when you won't be." My dad warned.

My dad takes Rick's hand and shakes it before pulling him close and whispering in his ear. I ran over and dragged Rick away, pushing him towards the doors.

"You staying?" He asked me quietly.

"I need to say goodbye but I will be right behind you." I smiled softly and nodded at the door.

"We've got 4 minutes let's go!" Glen shouted.

I walked over to my dad and let out a sob. He let a few tears drop from his eyes.

"I can't stay here dad." I shook my head and gave him a sad smile.

"I know baby I know. It's not your time yet." He pulls me into a hug. "But it is mine." He kisses the top of my head.

I pull back and wiped my eyes.

"I love you dad."

"I love you too sweetie, don't forget it." He kisses my forehead and gently pushes me towards the exit.

I nodded and ran quickly out of the room. I ran as fast as I can to my bedroom to grab my family picture, then made my way to the front of the building. The walls shook with a loud explosion. I got to the front and noticed they had broken a window. Everyone was running towards the vehicles, but Rick, he stood waiting. He smiled when he saw me and climbed out the window first before helping me out, making sure I didn't cut myself on any of the glass. Both of us came running to the R.V. I got on before Rick, and he quickly took a seat in the driver's seat, grabbing the keys that were left sitting on the dash.

I stood behind him watching the building. Suddenly, Dale and Andrea slowly came out of the exit. They began running towards us. Rick began honking the horn.

"Get down!" I yelled and Andrea and Dale took cover behind a small barricade of sandbags.

Not but 2 seconds later did we all get down, and the loudest explosion happened. Heat from it hit all of us. I quickly stood up to see the aftermath of it. I began sobbing, knowing my dad was gone. I quickly moved to the couch and sat on it with my head facing down. I feel the vehicle began to drive away. With one last look out the window, I saw black smoke and an unrecognizable building.

#rick grimes #twd #the walking dead #walking dead #fanfic #fanfiction #twd fanfiction #rick grimes fanfiction #zombie #lovers #angst

[lemonbxrry]

Doctor's Orders

ZERO / ONE / TWO / THREE / FOUR / FIVE / SIX / SEVEN

Season One, Episode Six: TS-19

A BRIGHT LIGHT engulfed us.

"Daryl, you cover the back," Rick said, everyone filing in.

"Hello?" I called out, "Hello?" I called again, louder, after receiving no answer.

"Close those doors, watch for walkers," Shane told everyone. We looked around, lost. Then, our eyes locked onto a man who stood with a gun aiming at us.

"Anyone infected?" he called out, keeping his distance.

"One. Just one of our group was," I answered, standing behind Shane and Rick. "He didn't make it," I answered honestly.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" the man asked, taking a couple of steps towards us.

"A chance," Rick answered him, I bit the inside of my cheek, watching how he walks towards us.

"That's asking for an awful lot these days," he answered. Rick nodded.

"I know," The man just stared at all of us, our eyes meeting each other, he glanced at Rick.

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

"We can do that," I told him, looking back at the others.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed," we all hurried and ran out and grabbed our bags from the cars, running back in. When everyone was in, the man pressed on a security system.

"Vi, seal the main entrance, kill the power-up here," he told it. The shutters closed, blocking the outside world.

"Rick Grimes," Rick introduced himself, holding out his hand.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner," he replied. I perked up, looking at him.

"Whoa, we have another doctor," Carl exclaimed, looking between Dr. Jenner and me.

THE WALKING DEAD

We rode in the elevator in silence, all looking around.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked, raising a brow.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself," Dr. Jenner answered, looking around at us. "But you look harmless enough," he glanced down at Carl, giving a small smile. "Except you, I'll have to keep my eye on you," he gave Carl a small smile and he chuckled.

THE WALKING DEAD

"Are we underground?" Carol asked as we walked down a long hallway.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asked in response.

"A little,"

"Try not to think about it," the sound of our footsteps bouncing off the walls.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room," the room lit up in response. "Welcome to Zone 5," Jenner said, the room is lit up and a humming noise emits throughout it. We all stared in awe, amazed at what was inside.

"Where is everybody?" Rick asked as we continued to walk after Jenner did. I took a small glance at Shane, furrowing my brows, then looking back at Jenner and Rick. "The other doctors, the staff?"

"I'm it," Jenner answered, "It's just me here,"

"What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori asked him, holding onto Carl's hand and holding her bag up. "Vi?"

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them, welcome," Soon a robotic voice sounded throughout the room.

"Hello, guests. Welcome,"

"I'm all that's left, I'm sorry," Jenner said, turning away from us.

THE WALKING DEAD

"What's the point?" Andrea asked as Jenner drew her blood. I sat in the front, watching closely, "If we were infected we'd all be running a fever,"

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here," Jenner said in response, "Let me just at least be thorough," he puts the syringe down, letting out a small click as it settled into the waste bin. "All done,"

"Ooh," Andrea said, stumbling a bit. I stood up quickly, catching Andrea just as Jacqui did. I rubbed her back softly, trying to make her steady again.

"Are you okay?" Jenner asked, worry in his voice.

"She hasn't eaten in days, hell, none of us have," I answered, looking back at him. "Might have been good for us to have eaten before this," I muttered to myself, sitting Andrea down. He looked at us all, realization finally set in at how long we've been out there and how long he's been sitting in there.

THE WALKING DEAD

Everyone was laughing around the table, drinking wine or some juice, especially seeing that the kids couldn't drink it.

"You know in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner," Dale said, handing a glass to Lori, looking at Carl, "And in France," he pointed out, setting the bottle back down.

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then," Lori replied, drinking from her glass. I sat in my chair, having one of my legs crossed over the other, eating my food and just watching everyone mingle. Rick was trying to convince Lori to allow Carl a taste, everyone around them giggling and laughing. She throws her hand up in the air slightly, giving in.

"There you are, young lad," Dale said, handing him a small cup full. Carl takes it, drinking and pulling himself back, a look of disgust on his face.

"Ew," he replied, grabbing his cup and drinking that to get the taste out. All of us laughed in response.

"That's my boy, that's my boy," she said, rubbing his back, a smile on her features.

"Just stick to soda pop there, bud," Rick said, passing Carl another soda.

"Not you Glenn, you too, (Name)" Daryl said, pointing at him slightly.

"What?" we both asked, I drank some more of the soda in retaliation, staring right at Daryl.

"Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get," Daryl replied, picking up another beer, slightly stumbling. He then pointed at me, "And you, you need to drink, haven't seen you drink a single thing," he said, plopping a bottle of beer in front of me.

"Hey now, I'm still a doctor, I gotta be not under the influence," I replied, "I will drink some later when everyone is settled," I told him, putting the bottle in my bag. Soon the sound of glass being tapped against sounded, causing our talking to quiet as we looked over at Rick.

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly," Rick said, standing.

"He is more than just our host," T-Dogg replied, holding his glass up. A couple of 'Hear hear' sounds throughout the room as everyone raised their glasses or bottle, I give a small grin to Glenn, tilting my head and holding up my cup of soda.

"Here's to you, Doc. Booyah!" Daryl said, sitting back down. Everyone murmured the same and went back to talking.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane asked, an accusatory tone in his voice. I sat up a little straighter, still eating some of my food. Everyone went silent, looking between Shane and Dr. Jenner, eating their food slowly. "All the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" He tapped the rim of his glass, looking into the middle of the table. I set my utensils down.

"Shane, we can talk about this later, right now we're celebrating, let's just have this moment of joy and happiness," I told him, slightly exasperated.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move. Supposed to find all the answers," he gave me a small stare down. I just stared at him right back, trying not to feel small against his stare. "Instead we," he gives a small empty chuckle, "We found him. Found one man. Why?" he asked, pointing at Dr. Jenner.

"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," he stared into the distance, having a blank look on his face. I understood though, hell, even I ran when the hospital was being overrun.

"Every last one?" Shane asked, not believing him.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They," he gave a small pause, "opted out. There was a rash of suicides," I placed my arms on the table, setting my face in my palms. I felt sorry for him, having to deal with his co-workers leaving and the others killing themselves, it felt, awful. "That was a bad time," he looked down.

"You didn't leave," Andrea said, looking at him with sympathy. "Why?"

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good," he answered, I felt a small twinge of respect fall onto everyone.

"I get it, I mean, if I was in a building that could protect me and have a possible way to end this all, I would stay and do my hardest," I told Jenner, we locked eyes for a moment, nodding to one another softly. Glenn got up, looking right at Shane.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man," sitting down next to me, holding my hand and grabbing it, placing a gentle kiss. I give him a small smile as we now ate in silence, finishing off our plates and drinks.

THE WALKING DEAD

"Most of the facility is powered down, including housing, so you'll have to make do here," Jenner said, giving us another small tour as we walked through the hallway, pointing at the various rooms. "The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's 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," he told the kids, getting down to their eye level. Sophia and Carl nod, understanding. "The same applies," he pointed at us adults. "If you shower, go easy on the hot water," Glenn turned back at us, squeezing my hand in excitement.

"Hot water?" he asked in disbelief, smiling at us.

"That's what the man said," T-Dogg said, the three of us slightly jogging after him, trying to find a suitable room to stay in.

THE WALKING DEAD

I let the water run down my face, it was on a lukewarm setting, so it was bearable. I took in a couple of breaths, leaning against the wall, my arms covering my face. I closed my eyes tightly, feeling the grunge of everything that's happened come off. I felt a few tears escape, thinking about who we'd lost over the past month or so. Time felt so long and so short like it doesn't even exist now. I tried keeping track of everything but then the days seemed to merge like it was all one big moment. I washed my hair, and feel relieved they at least had that here. Things still feel tense, especially with how Shane has been acting, I don't know what happened since Rick got here, but he has not been his best. I shrug it off, feeling some light kisses pepper my shoulders, I look up, meeting a pair of brown eyes. I smile, giving him a couple of kisses.

"Glenn, I thought you were coming in after me," I joked.

"Couldn't wait, decided to join," he replied, I closed my eyes and deepened the kiss as he pushed me against the wall gently.

THE WALKING DEAD

I sat in my room, humming softly, drying my hair out as best as I could. I look at my new clothes, which were a pair of grey sweat pants, and a cream nightshirt, having my plaid jacket lay on the spot next to me, feeling like it was too warm to wear. I pop my neck, standing up and unclicking a button on my nightshirt, feeling like it was lightly choking me. Then I felt a cold feeling wash over me, I stopped at where I was, my hands shaking. Something is wrong. Something is very much wrong. I began to walk around, trying to find where everyone is or if someone at some point has seen them with another person. Then I saw Shane come out of a room, stumbling and angry, I pressed myself against the wall, trying to not be noticed as he walked down the other way. After a moment of waiting, I went into the room and saw Lori sobbing and holding herself. My heart stopped, seeing her on the ground. I sped up to her, pulling her into my arms as she cried, shaking and continuously telling me that she told him no and how he said that Rick was dead the entire time before Rick showed up. I held her tightly, murmuring that it wasn't her fault.

"Shane told me he died. You told me he died," she cried against my chest as we slowly sunk into the floor. I nodded slowly, brushing my hand through her hair.

"I know. I know Lori, We thought so, hell, I couldn't even detect a heartbeat and I'm a certified doctor," I told her, furrowing my brows, "That doesn't excuse what he did to you, what he did was wrong and is not your fault," I muttered to her, listening as she cried and repeated everything. We stayed there for a while until it was time to go back, making sure she was okay enough to walk, I gave her the bottled water I brought with me, having not noticed I even brought it while looking. She drank it, thanking me softly.

"Please don't tell anyone. Please don't tell Rick," she quietly begged, I nodded my head.

"Patient confidentiality, I won't say anything without permission or if you're bit," I told her, rubbing her arm. I walked her to the room that Rick and Carl shared, making sure it was safe. "I am right down the hall, if you need me, just come to my room," I told her, she nodded in response, entering the room. I walked back to my room after a minute of waiting to see if Shane was going to show up. I sat down on a cot, pulling my knees to my chest and Glenn laid back, resting. I rubbed at the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes and lost in thought. Since Shane tried to rape Lori, this was going to cause a rift in the group, especially with Shane not knowing that I know. I give a small sigh, getting under the covers with Glenn as he turned and wrapped his arms around me, I pressed my face against his chest, trying to calm my breathing.

"We're safe (Name), it's okay, we're safe," Glenn mumbled against my forehead, pressing soft kisses.

Are we safe when Shane is losing himself around us?

THE WALKING DEAD

"Hello," Rick said as he entered the cafeteria, I look up from my plate, smiling at him and rubbing Glenn's back softly as I sat across Lori. I continued eating my eggs and toast, attending to the two.

"Morning," I replied trying to get Glenn to eat.

"Are you hungover?" Carl asked Rick, having a small smirk as he ate some of his cereal. Lori looked over at him, having a small exasperated look on her face. "Mom said you'd be,"

"Mom is right," Rick answered as he put himself next to Lori, smiling at her.

"Mom has that annoying habit," she replied, eating her bacon. I give a small laugh, nodding.

"Extra annoying if it's coming from your mom while you're in med school," I told them, smiling faintly, remembering my mom calling one morning after seeing my posts on Facebook about my night out with a few colleagues after pulling off a good surgery.

"Eggs, powdered, but, but I do them good," T-Dogg said, coming from the corner with a pan. Glenn only groaned in response, I give him a small sigh, giving him some more water.

"Protein helps the hangover," T-Dogg said, I only nodded in response, agreeing with him.

"Thank you for cooking T-Dogg," I said, smiling up at him and trying to feed Glenn again.

"Where'd all this come from?" Rick asked, confused.

"Jenner," Lori and I replied in unison.

"Could you help me, please?" Rick asked, handing her a bottle of aspirin.

"He thought we could use it," Lori told him.

"Thank you," he responded.

"Some of us, at least," Glenn muttered, "Don't ever ever ever let me drink again," he said, looking at me with a small pained look.

"Not my fault you can't handle your alcohol," I joked, pressing a kiss against his head. He only groaned again in response, finally accepting some eggs, his face seeming to relax.

"Hey," Shane greeted, I glance behind me, watching him walk up.

"Feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked, trying to make small talk.

"Worse," Shane answered, pouring himself coffee. I take a small glance at Lori as she swallows her food slowly, looking only at her plate.

"The hell happened to you?" T-Dogg asked, looking at Shane with a worried look. "Your neck," he commented.

"I must have done it in my sleep," Shane responded, not looking at any of us.

"Never seen you do that before," Rick said, concerned for his friend.

"Me neither, not like me at all," he said, looking right at Lori. I bit the inside of my cheek, my grip on my fork tightening until my knuckles paled from how much I was gripping the fork.

"Sometimes people do things in their sleep all the time, doesn't mean that it's not unlike you," I responded, we had a small staredown, his attention now on me and not Lori, I felt the wave of relief hit her as he took his eyes off of Lori.

"Morning," Dr. Jenner said, joining us.

"Hey, Doc,"

"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing," Dale began, looking up at him.

"But you will anyway," Jenner said, brewing himself a cup of coffee.

"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea said. Dr. Jenner turned to us, giving a small sigh, but nodding.

THE WALKING DEAD

We walked into the area where we first entered the facility and saw the actual building, looking up at the big screen.

"Give me playback of TS-19," Jenner said, clicking on the computer.

"Playback of TS-19," Vi replied, the screen turning on.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this," he told us, looking back at our group spread out. On the screen multiple scans of someone's or multiple people's brains were on display, I stared in amazement, only imagining what medicine would look like if we had these types of scans available at the hospital, "Very few," then a small montage of a person on the scan started playing, showing their brain and the pale outline of their body on the screen. I stood next to Carl, my eyes wide at the technology.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked, confused and intrigued.

"An extraordinary one," Jenner tells Carl, leaning down to the boy. Carl smiled at him and looked at me back at the screen.

"Have you seen a brain?" He asked me quietly, amazed. I give a small smile back at him, ruffling his hair.

"Yeah, it was gross, you wouldn't wanna see one, it's slimy," I told him, wiggling my fingers at him, he gave a small laugh, the two of us looking back up at the screen.

"Not that it matters in the end," Jenner continued, giving a solemn look. "Take us in from E.I.V.," he told Vi, the computer immediately responding 'Enhanced internal view'.

We stared in silence as the screen went into the hologram of the brain, showing all the billions of neurons that scattered around in your brain, relaying each message that it needed.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked confusion and amazement in his voice.

"It's a person's life, experiences, memories. It's everything," Jenner explained, looking back at the screen, I gave a small gasp of awe, enjoying seeing how it's all there for us to see. "Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light is you," he pointed at us all, a small smile on his face. "The thing that makes you unique, and human," he explained to us all, the smile still there.

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asked him in a slightly condescending tone. I cleared my throat, looking over at him.

"He means that there's something in our brains that all make us unique, like how your parents always said you were special or similar wording," I explained, popping the knuckled on my thumbs. Jenner gave me a small nod, beginning to talk again, pointing up at the screen.

"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, Jenner finished.

"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick asked, walking over to him.

"Yes," Jenner said, sounding like he was far away, he then turned to us a bit, "Or rather the playback of the vigil,"

"This person died?" Andrea asked quietly, taking a couple of steps forward. I gave a slight frown, knowing what it was like to lose a patient.

"Who?" I asked him, looking at him, "If you don't mind me asking," I added, slightly backtracking.

"Test subject 19," Jenner said, sounding flat, "Someone who was bitten and infect, and volunteered to have us record the process," he sounded a little pained, I would have to question about that soon. "Vi, scan forward to the first event," the computer replied. A small beeping sound emitted throughout the room. Then the screen showed all the once light blue branches growing dark and black, I raised my hand to my mouth, having a small shocked expression.

"What is that?" Glenn asked, confused.

"It invades the brain like meningitis," Jenner said, the person on screen gasping for air, panicking, "The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs," as he said that the whole brain went dark, the body convulsing for a moment and then stopping, "Then death," he said solemnly, "Everything you ever were or ever will be," he gave a small pause, "Gone."

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked Carol, looking up at her.

"Yes," she said, giving a small and strained smile. We all stayed quiet, looking around at each other, Glenn came up next to Carl and me, grabbing my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, I squeezed his hand back, reassuring him as best as I could. Andrea choked back a sob, looking down, wrapping her arms around herself.

"She lost somebody two days ago, her sister," Lori told Jenner, a look of sympathy going towards the other woman.

"I lost somebody too," Jenner told her, "I know how devastating it is," the two share a small look, and he backed up a bit from her, standing straight. "Scan to the second event," he called out, Vi simply repeating what he said, "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 the patient, it was two hours, one minute, seven seconds," I watched in fascination as a red electricity-like cloud sparked up in their brain, biting on one of my fingernails.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked, appalled that it was doing something so outwardly.

"No, just the brain stem," I told her, "It's just getting them up and movin'," I explained, my eyes going all over the screen, trying to take as much information as possible.

"But they're not alive?" Rick asked, stepping closer to Jenner.

"You tell me," he replied, gesturing up to the screen.

"It's nothing like before, most of that brain is dark," Rick stated, trying to figure out if it was dead or not.

"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," he said, we then watched as an object came into view, a bright flash going through the patient's head, and watching as it glided through the brain.

"God, what was that?" Carol asked, I stayed looking at the screen, not daring to take my eyes off of it.

"He shot his patient in the head," I stated, gently squeezing Carl's and Glenn's hands, "Didn't you?" you asked Dr. Jenner, looking over at him.

"VI, power down the main screen and the workstations," he replied, turning around and walking away. Vi repeated back what he said, turning everything off.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea asked, leaning against one of the monitors, then she stood up and started doing a small circle around Jenner.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal," Jenner listed off, his voice monotone.

"Or the wrath of God?"Jacqui said.

"There is that,"

"Somebody must know something, I mean, [Name] doesn't know and she's a doctor, you don't know and you're a scientist. Somebody somewhere," Andrea said, exasperated.

"There are other facilities, right Dr. Jenner?" I asked, hoping that he wasn't our only last hope. He looked at us then back down.

"There may be some, people like me," he answered, swallowing.

"But you don't know? How can you not know?" Rick asked, fear and anger lacing his voice as he stood up to Jenner.

"Everything went down communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month," Dr. Jenner answered Rick.

"So it's not just here," Andrea said, "There's nothing left, anywhere? Nothing?" She asked, trying to hope that this trip, despite it being a haven, was for nothing. "That's what you're really saying, right?" she asked.

"Hey, there might be something, we don't know, I mean for God's sake we were up at the Quarry when everything went to shit," I told her, trying to defend Jenner. Everyone stayed silent, Andrea only scoffed, shaking her head, and Jacqui gave a soft 'Jesus' at him not answering.

"Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk again," Daryl said, about to head off, rubbing at his eyes.

"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?" Dale asked, looking over at him.

"The basement generators, they run out of fuel," he turned around quickly, not trying to look at us. There's something else.

"Then what?" I asked, he walked away, not answering. "VI, what happens when the power runs out?" I ask, looking around the room.

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

THE WALKING DEAD

"Decontamination, what does that mean?" Glenn asked as T-Dog, Shane, Rick, and I raced down into the basement.

"It means to remove anything hazardous, but I don't know why it's facility-wide," I answered, holding the flashlight tightly in my hands as I glared at the back of Shane's head.

"I don't like the way Jenner clammed up. The way he just wandered off like that," Shane said as we followed after Rick.

"What's wrong with him? Seriously, man, is he nuts, medicated, what?" T-Dog asked, fed up with how Jenner acted. We stopped to look at a map on the wall, and find the area we needed.

"In there," Rick said and we marched down the hall, flashlights turned on and pointing around. As we entered the room I felt around, feeling a switch and flicking it, the room lighting up. We turned off the flashlights and looked around, "T-Dog, Gleen, you check that way, [Name], Shane and I will check this way," I furrow my brows, biting the inside of my cheek, looking over at Glenn, he gave me a small sympathetic smile, not knowing why I didn't want to be grouped with Shane. We continue walking around, finally stumbling onto a generator using a canister. Rick went to move it, almost tipping it over. "It's empty," he muttered, the generator clicked, the lights go off and I quickly take a step away from Shane, almost bumping into the other compartments as the lights turn back on, except much dimmer this time.

"Emergency lighting on," VI said, her voice sounding throughout the area.

"What the hell?" Shane asked, then noticing how I moved, he raised a brow but decided not to ask as Glenn and T-Dog ran up to where we were.

"Hey, you guys kill the lights?" Glenn asked, spotting us.

"It just went out now," I told Glenn, looking at the meter, seeing how dangerously low it was.

"Anything?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, a lot of dead generators and more empty fuel drums than I can count," T-Dog replied, making it to where we were huddled up at.

"It can't be down to just that one," Shane said.

THE WALKING DEAD

We race back upstairs, seeing that everyone was getting back into the main area where we just watched the screening of TS-19.

"Rick?" Lori called down, we all halted in our tracks, looking up at them. I look back to see Dr. Jenner coming down the stairs and watching as everyone followed him, he only walked silently and quickly.

"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asked, more demanding than anything.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power," Jenner replied, "It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark," he glanced at the clock on the wall, "Right on schedule," he took a large swig of whatever he held, handing it to Daryl who snatched it out of his hands. "It was the French," I furrowed my brows.

"What about the French?" I asked, grabbing Glenn's hand. "They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know," he answered Andrea's question from earlier, "While our people were bolting up 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?" Jacqui asked.

"The same thing that's happening here, no power grid, ran out of juice. The world runs off of fossil fuels. I mean, how stupid is that?" Jenner said, finally seeming to lose it.

"Let me tell you," Shane began to charge at him, Rick and I pushed forward to grab Shane before he did anything stupid.

"To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care," Rick said, turning to look down at where I stopped after grabbing Shane and then at his wife. "Lori, grab our things, [Name], grab anything you can that can help. Everybody, get your stuff, we're getting out of here now!" Rick ordered, his voice rising at the end as we all began to scramble away. A loud alarm started to sound throughout the room, I duck and covered my head, my eyes widening and tears threatening to fall out, I tried taking in some deep breaths and looking around.

"What the hell is that," I heard someone say, not seeing who said it. Everyone else stopped, looking around.

"30 minutes to decontamination," Vi called out.

"Doc, what's going on here?" Daryl yelled from where we were, which was halfway across the room, I shakily stood up, clinging onto Glenn's arm.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick, get your stuff," Shane shouted over the alarms. Right as we ran to the doors they went up, locking us in. I stopped in my tracks. He's locking us in.

"He locked us in!" Glenn screamed turning around. Jenner sat down in an area, seeming to be talking to something. We all ran back up the stairs to where Jenner, Shane, and Rick were. There Daryl began to charge at Jenner.

"You son of a bitch!" Daryl hissed, wielding the drink from earlier, about to smash Jenner's head with it.

"Shane! [Name]!" Rick called, the two of us racing to hold onto him before he could make it to Dr. Jenner.

"Daryl, don't!" I yelled, holding onto one of his arms, trying to pull him off of the man.

"You locked us in here!" Daryl yelled, his anger coming off in harsh waves, he struggled against Shane and me, trying his best to continue at Daryl. I gritted my teeth, closing my eyes and making sure not to lose hold of the angered redneck, opening my eyes and glancing back at Dr. Jenner and the others, seeing T-Dog come and help Shane and me with holding Daryl back.

"Daryl, I know you're mad, I know you're really fucking mad, but you cannot attack him when he is the one who knows how to get us out," I tried reasoning with him as he continued thrashing around, he glanced around at the three of us having a semi-circle around him, keeping him in place and not allowing him to throw the wine bottle at Jenner. "You cannot be acting like this right now," I told him, glancing back to see Rick and Jenner arguing.

"Well open the damn thing," Rick almost yelled, frustration evident in his voice.

"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," Dr. Jenner said, not budging from his spot. Daryl stilled for a moment, before locking eyes with me, giving a small nod, finally not trying to charge after him. Shane, T-Dog, and I released our hold on him, finally going over to meet with the group. Everyone had various reactions and held onto those who they held close. "It's better this way," Dr. Jenner said, trying to convince us that this was the best way to go out.

"What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick asked, getting close to Dr. Jenner. The scientist stared at Rick for a moment before turning and typing on his computer, not answering what Risk asked. "What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick yelled, shoving Jenner a bit.

"You know what this place is?!" Jenner screamed back, rising to his feet and almost going toe-to-toe with Rick, his face flushed an angry red, "We protected the public from very nasty stuff!" he screamed, walking a bit, looking at everyone. "Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" he screeched, spit flying from his mouth. We circled him, almost like a small moment of cat and mouse, yet it was hard to distinguish who was the cat and who was the mouse in this scenario. He sat back down after everyone stayed quiet, fluffing out his lab coat and making himself almost presentable again. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure, a terrorist attack, for example, H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent organisms from getting out," He explained, looking up at Rick and me.

"What, what is that? H.I.T.s?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

"VI, define," Dr. Jenner said, looking down.

"HITs, high-impulse thermobaric 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 computer defined. I stared at Dr. Jenner, horror was written on my face, and I felt my body grow cold. I took in a shaky breath of air, holding my hand to my chest, and hearing the cries of Carol and Sophia behind me. "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," I feel a hand on mine, looking to my side I see Glenn, I give it a small squeeze, soon wrapping my arms around him, tears threatening to pour yet I couldn't bring myself to even cry.

"It sets the air on fire," Jenner said, not daring to look at any of us, "No pain, an end to sorrow, grief, regret," he monologues, "Everything,"

THE WALKING DEAD

Daryl throws the wine bottle from earlier at the door to our exit, the bottle not even making a dent in the metal door. "Open the damn door!" he screamed, pointing behind him as he looked at Jenner. I stayed over by Lori and Carl, looking at the others trying to break the door down, watching as Shane ran at it with an ax, and just hearing the metal grind on each other. T-Dog tosses Daryl another ax, then Shane and he begins to continuously hit the door, not making any progress. The kids sobbed into their mother's arms, Carol crying alongside them, Lori and I didn't cry though, the two of us having lost expressions. I held my head in my hands, looking down at my lap, trying to think of anything that could help us get out without Dr. Jenner continuing his death speech.

"You should have left well enough alone, it would've been so much easier," Dr. Jenner said as Dale came over.

"Easier for who?" I asked, looking up from my lap, having my patience wear thin from everything around me.

"All of you, you know what's out there. A short, brutal life and agonizing death. Your, your sister, what was her name," he said, turning to Andrea. I felt my blood rise.

"Don't fucking talk to her," I hissed, standing on my feet, and walking to Andrea, gently placing my hands on her shoulder from where she sat. Andrea gave me a sad look, shaking her head.

"Amy," she replied, looking at Dr. Jenner.

"Amy," he repeated the name, "You know what this does. You've seen it, is that what you really want for your wife and son?" Dr. Jenner asked Rick, looking up at him from his chair.

"I don't want this," Rick said emphatically, turning away from Dr. Jenner and going over to Shane.

"Can't make a dent," Shane said, shaking his head.

"Those doors are made to withstand a rocket launcher," Dr. Jenner said, Daryl, making a speedy walk towards him.

"Yeah, well your head ain't," Daryl said, raising his ax and about to swing it down onto the man.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Daryl!" everyone screamed, rushing to hold the man back.

"Just back up! Back up!" Rick ordered as we pushed Daryl back, I turn back seeing as the other men carry him off, seeing Dr. Jenner stand.

"You do want this," he said, "Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead," he was looking directly at Rick.

"What?" I heard Lori ask, her eyes glazed with tears, she looked between her husband and the scientist.

"You really said that?" Shane asked, anger lacing his voice. "After all your big talk?"

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick said, looking at his wife.

"There is no hope," Dr. Jenner began, "there never was," he tried convincing Rick.

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody somewhere," Rick said, appalled that Jenner even tried convincing him that there was no chance of survival out there.

"What part of "everything is gone" do you not understand?" Andrea asked from her spot, she had already given up.

"Andrea," I mumbled quietly, shaking my head, "No, there is more out there, there has to be," I said, looking at Rick, and then back to Dr. Jenner. "There is more out there and you're taking it away from us,"

"You should really listen to your friend," Dr. Jenner said, shaking his head. "This is what takes us down, this is our extinction event," he ended, everyone stayed quiet or continued crying. My hands turned into fists at my side as I looked down, hot tears threatening to pour down my face. Glenn came up beside me, pulling me into his chest for a tight hug, trying to comfort me. I shook with hot anger, anger at Dr. Jenner and for planning all of our deaths without our voices, anger at the world for becoming what it is, anger at myself for not being the doctor I wanted to be. I just felt anger.

"This isn't right. This isn't fair. You don't get to play God because you gave up," I said, lifting my head from Glenn's chest, and pointing my finger at Dr. Jenner. "You don't get to force us to give up either," I shouted at him, the angry tears spilling out finally.

"One tiny moment, a millisecond. No pain," he said, trying to convince me. He already made up his mind.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this," Carol cried out, shaking her head.

"Wouldn't it be kinder? More compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Dr. Jenner asked, a solemn look on his face. The sound of a rifle being cocked brought our attention to where Shane was, walking towards Dr. Jenner with a rifle.

"Shane, no!" Rick yelled, trying to block Shane.

"Out of my way, Rick!" Shane screamed back, "Stay out of my way," he pointed the gun right at Dr. Jenner, glaring down at him. "Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?!" Shane screeched, I stood in front of Lori and Carl, Glenn standing in front of me. I glanced between the two men, not daring to move and grab a gun out of Shane's hands. Rick carefully walked beside Shane, gently pulling his arm.

"Brother, brother, this is not the way we do this. We will never get out of here," Rick told him, glancing back at the rest of us, his eyes softening seeing Glenn and me in front of his family.

"Shane, please, listen to Rick, if you kill him we can't get out," I spoke up, placing my hand on Glenn's back, looking at where Shane and Rick stood. "If he dies you run the chance of us never getting out," I tried convincing him. He faltered for a moment before screaming and shooting at the computers that were behind Dr. Jenner, everyone yelling in fear.

"Shane!" I screamed, ducking and still covering where Lori and Carl were sat at, trying to make sure nothing flew at them from his shooting. Rick pushed up the gun in Shane's arms, shooting at the lights above us, sparks shooting out. Rick punched him, and then shoved him down using his elbow, Shane falling onto the floor with a loud thud. Rick held onto the gun tightly, looking down at his friend. Lori stood up, everyone having a bewildered look at what had just happened.

"Are you done now? Are you done?" Rick asked Shane, holding the butt of the gun up in case he had to hit Shane with it.

"Yeah, I guess we all are," Shane said, an angered look in his eyes and something else that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I reached my hand out for Carl's giving it a tight squeeze before I helped him up, Glenn checking over us both. After a moment of silence, Rick handed the gun to T-Dog, glancing around at everyone. We stared at Rick in silence, scared to even speak in case something happened again.

Rick turned towards Dr. Jenner, "I think you're lying," he told the scientist, stepping back a bit.

"What?" Dr. Jenner asked, not understanding what Rick was saying.

"You're lying about no hope. If that were true you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?" Rick asked him after his small declaration. I watched Dr. Jenner's movements, holding my breath.

"It doesn't matter," Dr. Jenner shook his head, Rick took a couple of steps towards him.

"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?" Rick pressed further, crouching down to look at Dr. Jenner eye-to-eye.

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise," he pointed at the screen, "To her. My wife," he said, his voice quiet.

"Test subject 19 was your wife?" I asked quietly, holding onto Carl and Glenn.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could," he shrugged, throwing his arms out a bit and they landed at his sides with a light slap, shaking his head. "How could I say no?" Pounding could be heard from Daryl trying to take the door down still. "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," he gave a small pause, "Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me," he said defeatedly.

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's, that's all we want. A choice, a chance," Rick told him, trying to convince him one last time.

"Dr. Jenner please just let us have this one last chance," I begged softly, Lori hugging onto Carl tightly. Dr. Jenner looked at us all before locking eyes with me, nodding softly before looking right back at Rick.

"I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those," he made his way to his keypad, using his ID and passcode, unlocking the doors that held us in here in this room. The door opened quickly, Daryl lowering his ax.

"C'mon, let's go!" Everyone started saying, racing to the door. Glenn and I waited at the door, waiting to make sure everyone was coming. We glanced back, seeing Rick and Dr. Jenner still together, talking.

"Please watch him," Lori said, gently pushing Carl into my hands, I nodded, holding onto his shoulders and watching her run to her husband, grabbing him as he leaned back from Dr. Jenner. He had an expression I couldn't read before I glanced over at the clock.

"We have four minutes, let's go!" I yelled.

"I'm staying!" Jacqui said, pulling away from her husband. We stared at her, I felt my heart crack a bit.

"Jacqui," I began before she shook her head.

"There's no time to argue. Now get out. Get out," she said tearfully, backing away.

"Dog, come on, man," Shane said, grabbing T-Dog's arm, almost dragging him away. We turned away, racing to our rooms before I look and realize Andrea isn't there. I stop in my tracks, Glenn almost falling over.

"[Name], we gotta go," he said, glancing between the group and me.

"No, no, not without Andrea," I said, "Go get our stuff, I'll see you soon," I told him, leaning up and kissing him gently on the lips and racing back to the control room where Dale is standing with Andrea and Jacqui.

"Andrea, this isn't what Amy would want for you," I heard Dale tell her once I reached the pair.

"She's dead, and you need to leave," she said numbly, not looking at him.

"Please Andrea, we have to go, I can't lose you too," I told her, looking at the timer and our exit.

"Time's almost up," she said, watching the clock tick down. I held her hand, tears in my eyes, I blinked furiously, trying to not let them fall.

"You win," Dale said, I open my eyes, looking over at him, and he stood up and sat down in a chair.

"Dale, what are you doing?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

"I said okay," He's planning to stay too.

"Don't pull this, Dale," she glanced at me, seeing me sit down next to her, quiet, "[Name], don't do this too,"

"I'm not pulling anything, neither is [Name]. If you're staying, we're staying too. He's right. We know what's waiting for us out there. I don't want to face it alone," he stated.

"I don't want to face it without my sister, I don't care if we're not blood, we are sisters," I told her, holding her hand.

"Dale, [Name], get the hell out. I don't want you here," Andrea said, tears in her eyes as she began to lightly cry.

"No, no you don't get that choice," I told her, shaking my head, "You can't come into our lives and make us care and then check out. That isn't fair," I gripped her hand and she squeezed back.

"We're staying, the matter is settled," Dale and I sat quietly, tears dripping down my face as I tried to dry them up, biting the inside of my cheek. Yet, this was probably one of the safest choices that could be brought up for us, to just go out peacefully. The world will probably never get back to how it used to be, so what's the point of trying. But I still have Carl, who is learning so much, Glenn, who makes it so much easier day today, and Lori and Rick, the two feeling like the closest I have to parents that I could have. I can't leave them.

"I don't want to die here," Andrea admitted, looking at us.

"Then let's go," I told her, standing up and grabbing her hand, helping her up. Dale nodded, getting up. Dr. Jenner, grabbed my arm gently, pulling me to the side, a small look of comfort on his face.

"I am only telling you and Rick this, nobody else knows," he said quietly, leaning down and whispering in my ear, my eyes go wide as I look at him, feeling my mouth go dry.

"You're certain?"

"Yes, but I know you'll do great things Dr. [Name], now go, try and change the world," he said, gesturing to where Dale and Andrea stood, the group already having gotten their stuff. We raced down the hallway, seeing the glass broken from where they came out at. We raced to the cars before Lori screamed out at us to get down. We hid behind the sandbags and huddled over one another as the building exploded. I peeked my head out, looking over the bags at where we were at just a moment before.

"Holy shit," I muttered, helping Andrea and Dale into the RV before heading to the jeep Shane was in, breathing heavily. Everyone started the cars, heading back to where we came from.

"You made it [Name], you made it," Shane told me as I closed my eyes, taking in deep breaths and nodding, I choked out a cry, leaning my head onto the dashboard as he rubbed my back with his other hand, driving with the other. I continued to cry from how much has happened in the past couple of months, finally feeling the weight of it all hit me after that near-death experience.

I feel like I'm going to puke.

#reader insert #romance #x reader #daryl dixon #female reader #twd fanfiction #fanfiction #twd daryl #twd #thewalkingdead #shane x reader #rick grimes

[relishredshoes]

Hi Folks, I'm Red, the Admin of Potions & Parchment and in honour of WIP WEEK I would love to tell you about my favourite WIP, Self Slain Gods on Strange Altars by scumblackentropy. It is a WIP in the way that Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge or The Mystery of Edwin Drood remain works in progress. It is "in progress" the way that lost US submarines are designated as "still on patrol". A polite, but heartbreaking, falsehood for those observing. First up, I feel the need to clearly express this fic is absolutely not for everyone. Trigger warnings apply. By turns, bleak and brutal and dark, it is also brilliantly written and hauntingly beautiful. It has an ethereal quality to it that lingers with you long after you finish reading. Anyone who has suffered from depression will instantly recognise the suffocating, claustrophobic weight in some passages and its depiction of a person undergoing a complete mental break is just heart-achingly real. This work is a masterpiece. One which I strongly suspect will never be completed. However, it is not diminished by that, it should not be shunned. Its beauty is not lessened by the lack of an "ending". After all, we are, every one of us, works in progress. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8869173/1/Self-Slain-Gods-on-Strange-Altars

#sshg #sshg fanfiction #snamione #sevmione #snamione fanfiction

[coffeeinkblog]

#BookReview #WhoToBelieve by Edwin Hill #NetGalley

Publisher: Kensington NetGalley Summary: Description In a twisty, claustrophobic suburban suspense novel for fans of Ruth Ware and Liane Moriarty, the aftermath of a murder in a quiet coastal New England town reveals a web of dark secrets among friends . . .“An inventive and fiendishly-layered exploration of secrets dark and deep.” —LOU BERNEY, Edgar-winning author of November Road“Hill…

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#Book Review #contemporary #domestic suspense #edwin hill #mystery #netgalley

[rrickgrrimes8]

Normality is Death

Chapter Ten ~ A Chance

masterlist

The group quickly filtered through the new opening, the bright ray dying promptly as they all made it through. Jacey's father took charge once again a rifle in his arms, aimed at no one in particular. Shane followed after him, along with Glenn and Daryl. "Daryl, you cover the back," Shane told the redneck while watching over the rest of the people. Jacey watched as Daryl did what he was told, still surprised that they were let in, to begin with, or rather, anyone was still alive to do so.

Carl still quietly cried into the nape of her neck while Lori walked ahead with Rick calling out to the seemingly empty building. "Hello?" The officer called out before getting greeted by the distinct sound of a gun cocking. "Anybody infected?" Jacey could see the man clearer now, he was a well-built man dressed in plain colours and an aged face that seemed too mature for someone his age. "One of our group was," Rick informed the stranger, "He didn't make it." Jacqui's face saddened at his words, still reaping the grief his death left.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" "A chance," The hopeful man said, gun still raised. "That's asking an awful lot these days," His voice was strained and cold as if he was trying to convince them he wasn't likely to help them.

"I know," Rick looked to Jacey who was slowly putting Carl down on the ground. "You all have to submit to a blood test," He offered, "That's the price of admission." Jacey spaced out once again, watching the man carefully, debating whether or not to trust him. She observed the fast movements of Shane, Rick, Glenn and Daryl who rushed out of the building returning moments following bags in hands. "VI, seal the main entrance," the man said pressing buttons on a screen, "kill the power up here."

"Rick Grimes," Her dad said offering out his hand. "Dr Edwin Jenner."

The group packed into the elevator, Jacey suddenly feeling overly apologetic for the smell she had on her. "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl questioned, looking from the man's eyes to his gun, the one he previously had pointed at them.   "There were plenty lying around, I familiarised myself. But you look harmless enough," Jenner started before turning to Carl jokingly, "Except you, I'll have to keep an eye on you."

Unimpressed with the strangers jokes, Jacey put a protective arm around him, causing Jenner to finally catch the blood-soaked young girl. Rick saw his eyes widen with shock, his mouth part ready to question it until he looked at him, seeing his threatening face. The elevator dinged soon after opening up to reveal a room separated by rows of desks accompanied by computers, but no people. The place was deserted.

"Are we underground?" The short-haired lady looked to the doctor, frightened. "Are you claustrophobic?" He asked. "A little," Smiling at him and then back to Sophia. "Try not to think about it," He advised, "VI, bring up the lights in the big room."

Walking further into the room, Jenner looked back towards the group, "Welcome to zone 5."   "Where is everybody?" Rick followed him closely, "The other doctors? The staff?" "I'm it," Jenner relaid honestly. "What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori asked, "VI?" Edwin chuckled, "VI say hello to our guests. Tell them," He paused, looking over them all, eyes meeting Jacey's once again, "Say welcome." The room lit up more joining it was a robotic females voice, "Hello guests... Welcome." "I am all that's left," the reality of the statement started to settle in with Jacey, no one else was there. No one was going to save them. "I'm sorry."

Not long afterwards, Jacey found herself sat awkwardly at a dinner table watching her new friends and family laugh and drink excessively as if nothing they all just went through happened. She felt even more uncomfortable after becoming eerily aware of her appearance so many times that day. She remained in the now cemented blood of Addie and Mitchell and although she noticed the looks of concern from Jenner he was yet to offer her an alternative. Jacey felt as if she was merely a viewer of this scene. No one spoke to her, apart from the odd glance. She felt at such a distance from her family even though they were situated so close.

The girl watched Carl pick his mother's glass of red wine up, taking a sip before his face contorted into one of disgust followed up a long-winded 'ew'. The group laughed at the boy's reaction, and Jacey wished she could, but her face remained straight and monotone. She wished she could forget all that had happened just like they did, but as the moments grew shorter, she knew that it was next to impossible.

She started to pay attention, barely, when Jenner explained what had happened to the rest of the faculty. He revealed how many left, in order to spend the time they did have left with their family. Jenner also told the group about the suicides that occurred, but he used the much kinder words of 'opting out'. But the whole story didn't surprise her. Especially if they felt anywhere close to how Jacey felt right now.

Jacey let herself disappear in her thoughts again, not bothering to pay attention to what this place had to offer as it wouldn't change anything. She hated it, but she couldn't help but think about Jenner's words, about the suicides. She thought maybe that they had it right. After all, they were doctors, right? Maybe that's what she needed. Maybe it was the antidote to the disease of grief.

"Jacey," Someone called her, but she ignored it her mind clouded and obsessed with the idea, "Jacey!" This time a pair of hands came down on her shoulders shaking her lightly. She opened her eyes, despite not realising she had closed them, to see her father, worry tracing his young features. "What?" The man smiled softly, glad to hear her speak for the first time since their argument if it could be called that. "You're crying," Rick told her still wary of the hatred she held for him.

The brunette looked around the room, which had now been emptied -  some part of her missing the happiness it held moments before. "I-I'm fine," She croaked, wanting to ignore the tears cascading down her cheeks. "No, you're not, angel," The father looked at her full of sorrow, "C-can I hug you?" Her first instinct was to say no, to push him away, to blow up on him once more but instead, she let herself give a small nod. Rick's arms encased the girl, shielding her just how she knew they would. "I'm so sorry, angel," He apologised still cautious of her reactions. "N-no I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that to you," Jacey quickly began to sob into his chest, "I don't hate you." "It's okay angel," He whispered into her ear. "No. No, it's not. I don't hate you," the girl cried, shaking heavily," No, I hate me. I hate m-me. It's my fault. It's all m-" "Hey, no, baby, no it's not," Rick cupped her cheeks, "Look at me, Jacey. It's not your fault it never will be okay?" "B-but i-i..." "No, angel it's not your fault. You have to know that," He pulled away from her slightly looking at the gore that painted her body, "But for now lets maybe settle with getting you washed, huh?"

Jacey nodded, connecting her arms around her father's neck while he lifted her. Rick carried the girl through the compound and into the room Lori and Carl had allocated as their own. Lori's head shot to the door as they entered. She looked relieved to see the pair so close after the events of the morning as did Carl. He placed Jacey down on the bed, Lori bringing over a white towel for her, and a clean set of clothes. "I'll go get the shower ready for you, okay?" Lori told her daughter feeling a wave of deja vu pass over her from the many times she did this for her as she grew up. "Thank you," She mumbled, offering a small smile to her mother. Moments passed, Lori returned telling her that it was ready for her and left the room once more, taking Carl with her this time. Rick helped the girl up once again and brought her over to the compounds bathroom. She could hear the water running as soon as they entered and she saw how the room had already started to steam up.

Upon seeing everything ready for her, Rick turned to leave assuming she'd want some privacy, "Please don't go." Her voice was so fragile and broken that it pained Rick to hear, "Of course, angel."  

Slowly, Jacey began to take off her grotesque attire with the help of her father. Every so often she'd whimper growing the concern Rick had for, "Are you hurt, baby?" Jacey nodded languidly. "Where?" "M-my back." Rick reached down to the rim of her shirt, the one thing that she had yet to take off. He lifted it immediately revealing a pathway of black and purple bruises that trailing from the beginning of her spine till around the middle. Accompanying it was a small cut, that he assumed was the fault of whatever she fell into or got hit with but was more than glad to not see a bite. "H-how did this happen, angel?" He could tell Jacey was struggling to say it, cries were the only thing that could pass her lips. "A-Addie." To say he was surprised to hear the name of a person was to put it short. It angered him just thinking about someone laying a hand on his baby, his angel, "Who's Addie?"

Unable to control herself, Jacey broke down at the question, "I loved her, daddy." Suddenly he pieced it together, Addie, whoever she was, was something a lot more than just a friend or someone she knew. He realised that Addie was probably the 'her' she had claimed he helped to kill. And the blood too, it must've been hers. Now he could finally understand what had happened to her that would cause such a change. "She didn't mean to. S-she was already gone. Oh god, dad, I killed her. I killed her," Rick instantaneously smothered her with a hug, his heartbreaking more and more as she continued, "I killed Mitch too. God, I killed them. I killed them all."

At this, she began to roughly rub her hands of the blood of what Rick gathered was both Mitch's and Addie's. "It's okay, sweetheart. Just breathe, you're okay. It's not your fault," He repeated as he continued to cradle her, but he couldn't help but put the blame on himself. If only he had gone with her when she left, she wouldn't have to deal with this alone. Hell, if he didn't even let her leave to begin with, then she wouldn't have this on her conscience. But on the opposite side of his mind, he worried if she hadn't arrived at his camp that night, she would've also fallen victim to that massacre, and she would've really been dead. Even with the state she was in now, he was still glad to have her here. He hated to admit it, but he was happy that this Addie girl was dead rather than his angel.

#the walking dead #the walking dead fanfic #twd fandom #twd fanfiction #rick grimes daughter #grimes oc #twd oc #shane walsh #lori grime #richard harmon #amandla stenberg #carl grimes #rick grimes #chandler riggs #andrew lincoln #daryl dixon #kaya scodelario #normality is death series

[spookyboywhump]

I mean... do you really need a reason to put a whumpee in a straight jacket?

(Zander has claustrophobia, if Nicholas found this out im sure he'd exploit it, along with the thunderstorm things)

I have an equal desire to do it to both Zander and Wren at this point, Edwin had a good reason to land Zander in that situation and I’m sure his claustrophobic ass would just LOVE that/s

[thewalkingdead-fan101]

In this hell Daryl Dixon X Reader part 2/??

Hey guys! Part one received so much more feedback than I was expecting!! Thank you all so much!! :)

And a big thank you to @samnoel3​ for giving me one of the ideas for this chapter! Hopefully you all enjoy this part!

Warnings- Blood tests, medical procedures, swearing?

“(Y/n)... (Y/n), wake up.” I felt a hand on my shoulder, making me jump as I open my eyes. “It’s just me, calm down.” Daryl spoke next to me. Turning my head I look at him. “How long have I been asleep for?” “About 45 minutes.” “Damn, I didn’t mean to doze off, sorry.” He just shrugged in response. Returning my head to rest against the window, I watch the trees.

Greens, yellows and browns all slightly blurring together as we trail behind the others along the deserted road, with the occasional walker along the side, stumbling, looking for its next feast.

Turning back towards Daryl, I brung my legs up and rested my knees to my chest.

“Stop ya staring.” “I’m not-“ “Hey everyone, we’re almost there. We have about 10 minutes left on the road.” Rick spoke through the static of the radio.

A comfortable silence fills the truck. The only sound i can hear is the wind from outside of Daryl’s open window, his arm resting on its frame.

“What do you think we’re going to find?” “I don’t know.” “Maybe the CDC is fine, and the scientists are already working on a cure for whatever this is.” “Nah, Probably just a bunch of pricks in white coats.” “Let’s try to be positive about this. They could have food, water and shelter for us, even medicine.” “Don’t get ya hopes high.” I sighed, putting my hands over my face. “I know. It would be too good to be true.”

It didn’t take much longer for us to reach our destination. Everyone pulled up outside of a giant curved building. Getting out of our vehicles, surrounded by an urban battlefield. Dead soldiers were everywhere, some shot in the head, others were half-eaten corpses, the streets were littered by mass death.

Other bodies lined the steps to the CDC. They obviously went hand to hand with the countless walkers filling the street. A massacre on both sides.

I looked around, Carol was holding Sophia close, Lori next to Carl taking in the horrific sight. Jacqui stood, staring in shock, Dale shaking his head in disbelief. Glenn was looking at Rick and Shane, then he looks at T-dog as if to ask “what now?” Carl was watching his father who was taking everything in. I felt Daryl pull me slightly closer.

A gunshot rang out, making the group jump. I turned to the source, looking at Shane who had fired his gun at a walker. We all started to run to the entrance of the CDC as more walkers made their way toward us. Rick started to press buttons to the doors, but it's all dead. As a last resort, he pounds on the door. "There's nobody here." T-dog sighed. I took in the situation that we are now in, the doors are locked, no one is in there, it's going to be dark soon and were surrounded by the dead.

"You led us here! The hell were ya thinking?" Daryl yelled. "He made a call." Lori defended her husband. "He led us to a dead end." Carol said "What are we going to do now?" Dale asked "Dammit!" T-dog sighed. "We should have gone with Morales." Carol said in frustration. "Carol...." Lori sighed. "There is nothing here." Dale sighed. "You're done man, I ain't listening to you!" Daryl scoffed. Rick stood frozen. "Let's not start turning on each other." Shane tried. "This was a mistake." Jacqui stated. "Since that guy showed up it's been one mistake after another." Daryl snapped at Shane. Rick kept banging on the doors. "Man! There is nobody here!" T-dog yelled at rick. Everyone started yelling at Rick, trying to get him away from the doors. “Guys! This isn't going to work!" I yelled at them getting their attention. "We have to go someplace safe!" I said once they were all looking at me. "I agree." Carol said. We started to walk away.

"Did you see that? The camera moved!” Rick stated. He walked up to the camera and started to talk. "If you can hear me...please, help us. We have women and children, no food and no where to go, if you don't let us in, you're killing us... Please." Shane pulled rick back. "Maybe the cameras are still working, but everyone's dead." Shane said. "No, Shane, the cameras here only work if someone is controlling them. Dad taught me this when he took me to work with him before he died." I piped up, looking at the camera. "But they won't open up, it isn't any use." We gave up and started to leave.

As soon as we reached the stairs, we heard the doors open, as we turned around we were met with a bright light.

We all readied ourselves with a weapon, but walked in with caution. "Daryl, you cover the back." Shane ordered "Hello?" One of us called out. "Watch those doors, watch for walkers." Dale said. I smiled as the blast of the cool air conditioning hit me, breathing out a chuckle.

"Hello?" An unfamiliar voice broke out. I seen tense up and he raised his crossbow. Everyone looked toward where he was now pointing the crossbow, holding their guns up.

A man in his mid 40's entered, aiming a gun at us, He had short strawberry blonde hair and green eyes, he was sporting black pants and a grey tee.

"Anybody infected?" "One of our group was..he didn't make it." Rick replied. "Why are you here? What do you want?" The man asked "Well, I for one just want safety!" I shot now slightly exasperated. Lori chuckled. Rick glanced at me..

"A chance. We all want a chance." "Well that's asking an awful lot these days.." The man said "I know." Rick answered. There was a moment of silence, our group was watching him intensely, him watching back. "You all submit to a blood test, that's the price of admission " He told us. "We can do that." Rick said. I let out a shaky breath. "You got stuff to bring in, do it now. Once that door closes it stays closed." He told us sternly. Daryl, Glenn ,Rick and Shane ran outside and got some stuff. Once they returned the man pressed the button.

"Vi, seal the main entrance, kill the power up here." He ordered. The door had sealed up and the power went down. "Rick grimes" Rick had told him "Dr Edwin Jenner." He got us to follow him into an elevator, a huge one at that. "Do doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked. "Well there were plenty left lying around, so I familiarised myself. Besides, you all look harmless enough." He said. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you." He smiled at Carl, making him laugh slightly.

Once the elevator stopped, we walked out, into a white bricked hallway. "Are we underground?" Carol asked. "You claustrophobic?" "A little." She answered "Try not to think about it." It was silent for a few minutes until we reached a dark room. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." Jenner called out. The room was as he described... big. "Welcome to zone five." "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 "Vi, say hello to our guests, tell them.... Welcome" Jenner said looking at us all. "Hello, guests. Welcome." A female AI Boomed through the room. "I am all that's left." Jenner said sadly. We were all silent for a moment. "I'm sorry." He said. I stood forward. "Why are you sorry?” I asked. "I know that you guys were expecting more people, follow me." He replied stalking off. We all followed and entered the room he had led us to.

Everyone has had their blood taken, besides myself and Andrea. "Your up." Jenner said looking at me. I nodded and sat down. "I take it you don't like needles?" "They aren’t my favourite thing." I replied in a whisper. "Just close your eyes and relax." Jenner instructed I felt the sting for a short while and got up, moving to sit next to Lori.

"What's the point? If we were infected we'd all be running a fever." Andrea stated. "I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here, let me just at least be thorough." He smiled. "All done." He stated. Andrea got up and almost fell. "Are you alright?" "She hasn't eaten in days.. None of us have." Jacqui answered Jenner. He smiled softly. "Come with me."

We did as instructed and we followed him to a room with a decently big wooden table in the middle surrounded by chairs. "All of you sit." We did as instructed and after about 10 minutes he served plates with cooked vegetables and small steaks. "Here you go." He said after serving all of us. "Thanks." I smiled. Him nodding in response. I sat in between Shane and Jenner. Daryl standing up with Glenn. I was laughing and smiling among everyone else, when Lori agreed to have some wine. "You know in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner." Dale spoke pouring Lori a glass. "And France." He added "Yeah, well when Carl is in Italy or France he can have some then." She said glancing at me smiling then looking to her husband. "What's it gonna hurt? Come on. Come on." Rick laughed. Lori smiled slowly, lifting her hand off of Carl's glass, letting Dale pour some in. "There you are young lad." Dale smiled handing him his cup. We all looked towards Carl, watching as he took his first and only sip. "Eeew!" He exclaimed pushing the glass away. Making us all laugh. "That's my boy. That's my boy." Lori smiled patting his shoulder. "Good choice" I chuckled. "Yuck, that tastes nasty." He said shaking his head. "Stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane said. "Not you Glenn." Daryl spoke up. "What?" "You're drinking little man, I wanna see how red your face can get." Daryl laughed. Making Glenn look away laughing as we all joined in.

"Why aren't you having any?" Jenner whispered in my ear. "I've never been a big drinker." I smiled. "It's also not good for the baby." I whispered into his ear. He looked stunned for a second. "I wasn't sure." "I am." “I take it Daryl is the father?” "Yeah. He is.. I am lucky to have him." "No, He is lucky to have you." I looked at my plate, a small blush appearing. “I have some old medical equipment in storage, I can bring some out tomorrow if you would want me to. Give you a proper more thorough check up.” “That’s really nice, I don’t expect you to-“ “It’s no hassle.” I heard the tinker of a glass, we looked at rick. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." Rick announced. "He is more than just our host." T-dog spoke a bit tipsy. "Hear, hear!" Dale spoke. We all raised our glasses to Jenner. "Booyah!" Daryl said raising the bottle he adopted. Rick whispered a thank you. Jenner nodding in response. "Thank you Jenner. For letting us stay here, and for feeding us." I laughed. "It's no problem." He said sipping his wine.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here doc?" Shane asked. "All the- All the other doctors figuring out what happened, where the hell are they?" Shane added. "We're celebrating Shane, we dont need to do this now." Rick spoke "Woah, hang on a second. That's why we're here, right?" Shane asked. "This was your move, supposed to find all the answers. Instead we found him." Shane scoffed. "We found one man. Why?" He asked again. The room went silent. "Jenner you don-" I tried "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." Jenner said. "Every last one?" Shane interrupted. "No, Many couldn't face walking out the door. They... Opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." Jenna finished "You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asked. "I just kept working. Hoping... To do some good." "Way to kill a good mood Shane." I said venom in my words. "Dude, you are such a buzz-kill, man." Glenn stated. Everyone sat eating in silence. "Everyone, i'll show you to where you all can sleep." Jenner said standing up.

He led us to a hallway. "Most of the facility is powered down, including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you'd like them. And there's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games of anything that draws power. Same applies if you shower, go easy on the hot water." He finished walking away. Glenn looked over to T-dog. "Hot water?" Glenn asked smiling. "Well, that is what the man said." T-dog answered. "I found you a room." Jenner said  leading me into a room that had a futon folded out with blankets and pillows. "I hope you will be comfortable." "Jenner as long as I have pillows i'll be fine. And thank you." He nodded his head and walked away. I look over to see Daryl walk over. "What did he want?" He sniggered. "Nothing, he was being friendly, that's all." "A little too friendly." He mumbled. "What was that?" I asked. "I saw ya flirting at dinner." He snapped. I shook my head and scoffed. "You know what, think what you want to. I am having a shower." I said grabbing a towel and pushing past him.
 I entered the bathroom and got into the shower. I felt the warm droplets of water run down my body. I closed my eyes and relaxed. After a minute my body tensed up as I felt someone put their arms around my waist from behind. "He was flirting with ya." "Daryl...” He went to say something but I butted in. "You know, you don't have to be jealous of Jenner, I'm having YOUR baby. Not his. I am YOURS. Not his." I said turning around and giving him a small peck. He kissed back. "Here, let me wash your back."  He said turning me around and putting soap on my back then rinsing it off. "I'll do yours." I did the same thing. We got out and dried ourselves getting dressed, then exiting the bathroom. “Goodnight everyone." I called out, getting a chorus of responses back. Daryl and I went to our room and shut the door. I laid back on the futon, watching curiously as Daryl locked the door. “What are you doing?” “Making sure we ain’t gonna get interrupted.” He stalked over. “Ohhh, and what is so important that needs no interruptions?” I played along as he sat down. “You know what.” He smirked as he crawled his way over to me.

I woke up the next morning, looking over at the clock on the wall reading 9:00 am, Daryl still sound asleep. I got up and changed into my jeans, pulling on a black singlet top. I quietly put my boots on making sure not to wake Daryl. I unlocked the door and walked out to where we had dinner last night, to see Lori, Carl, Rick, Glenn, Dale and Jacqui were seated. "Just in time to have some amazing powdered eggs, cooked by T-dog." Lori smiled. "Thanks." I said sitting down as he put some on a plate for me. I looked over to Glenn and saw him hanging over his plate, groaning in disgust. "Take it you won't drink again." I chuckled. "Shut up, you're lucky, you didn’t drink." Glenn looked up with a small smile. "I've never been a big drinker.”

"Hey." Shane said walking into the room. Everyone greeted Shane but me. I ate a little bit of food and got up and left before Shane could even talk to me. "Shane. I'll go." I heard Lori say standing up. I heard footsteps running toward me. "Come with me honey." Lori said guiding me to her room. She sat me on the lounge with her. "What was that about?" She asked. "Shane, his behaviour last night... He made Jenner talk about something that had obviously hurt him. Like cant he learn to not be so self centred?" "Honey, He is your brother, he was asking that stuff to protect you and to protect the group. But the way he said it and the way he made it come out was I’ll admit rude." I nodded my head. "How'd you sleep?" Lori asked me smirking. "Yeah, Fine. Why?" I looked at her face, she was trying to keep a straight face. "Oh god!, were we loud?" "No, I walked past and heard it. But I was the only one awake, I checked for you. Just be happy Shane didn't hear, otherwise the door would be broken." She chuckled. "Come on, let's go back, or the others will think something's up." I nodded and started to walk when I started to bolt for the bathroom. I ran in and hovered over the toilet, throwing up everything I've eaten in the past 24 hours. After a few minutes of torture, I got up, flushed the toilet, went to the basin and rinsed my mouth out, wiping my face. "Let me help you." I heard Lori say, helping me get up. I looked at Lori. "Thanks." She nodded.

We walked out slowly to the dining area. "Sit down." "You okay?” Everyone asked. “Im just Peachy." I smiled softly. "What's for breakfast?" Daryl asked walking out. "Have the rest of mine.” I said handing him my plate. "I can't eat it. T-dog it's not the eggs, thank you so much, but the baby just can't stand it." "It's all good." He smiled. I looked at Daryl to see him already half done with the plate. “Good Morning." Jenner said walking into the room grabbing coffee. "Hey doc." “Good morning." I smiled.

"Doc, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing." Dale piped up "But you will anyway." "We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea stated. "Guys. He just woke -" "It's alright. Come on." He said taking his coffee to go. We followed him to the big room 'zone five' as he called it. "Vi, give me a playback of TS19." "Playback of TS19" Vi responded.

The screen turned on, with an X-ray of a head on it. "Very few people got a chance to see this." It focused more on the brain. "Is that a brain?" Carl asked looking at Jenner. "An extraordinary one, Not that it matters in the end." Jenner replied. "Vi, take us in for EIV." "Enhanced internal view" Vi replied. The video moved so that the person was laying down, Then it went into the brain. "What are those lights?" Shane asked looking at the flashing lights moving from the brain stem. "It's a persons 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." Jenner explained. "You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asked. "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." Jenner explained more. "Death? That's what this is? A vigil?" Rick asked. "Yes, Or rather the, Playback of the vigil." Jenner replied. "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." It took us back to  where the test subject was laying down, but the stem of the brain all black. "What is that?" Glenn asked. "It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands haemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs, then death." The subject stopped moving and the whole brain was black. "Everything you ever were or ever will be… Gone." Andrea put her head down, I walked up to her and gave her a side hug. "Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked. "Yes." Carol admitted. I lost tears as well as Andrea did, for all of the people we lost. "She lost somebody two days ago, her sister." Lori spoke up. Jenner walked over to us. "I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is... Scan to the second event." "Scanning to second event." "Resurrection times vary wildly. We have 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 and seven-seconds." We looked back to the screen. From the core of the brain little red flickers were spread out across the stems of the brain. "It restarts the brain?" Lori asked. "No, just the brain cell." Jenner responded. "Basically it gets them up and moving." Jenner finished. "But they're not alive." Rick said "You tell me." Jenner said. "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark." Rick answered "Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobes, the human part, that doesn't come back, the 'you' part. It's just a shell, driven by a lifeless instinct." Jenner finished. I looked back up at the screen to see something tear thought the subjects head. "God! What was that?" Carol asked. "He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?" Andrea asked. "Vi, power down the main screen. And the work stations." Jenner ordered. "Powering down main screen and work stations." "You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea asked. "It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal." Jenner stated. "Or the wrath of god." Jacqui said, tears brimming in her eyes. "There is that." Jenner agreed "Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere" Andrea answered. "There are others right? Other facilities?" "There may be some... People like me." Jenner stated. "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 said calmly. "So it's not just here? There's nothing left anywhere. Nothing, That is what you're really saying, right?" Andrea asked Jenner stayed silent. Andrea scoffed. "Jesus..." Jacqui sighed. "Man, I'm gonna get shit faced drunk again." Daryl sighed "Dr Jenner, I know taxing for you, and I hate to ask one more question, but... That clock. It's counting down, what happens at zero?" Dale asked. We all exchanged looks and then waited for his answer. "The... Basement generators, they run out of fuel." "And then?."Rick asked. Jenner wouldn't respond. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asked. "When power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur." We all exchanged looks. Glenn, rick, Shane and T-dog went to find fuel and to check it all out.

Jenner looked over at me, and motioned his head back to follow him. I grabbed Daryls arm and dragged him along. He led us to what looked like an office, with paper strewn across the desk. “What do ya want?” Daryl asked once we entered. “I’m bringing you guys both in for a more thorough check up on your Foetus.” Daryl raised his brow. “That means baby.” Jenner corrected. “I know what it means.” Daryl growled in response. Causing Jenner to raise both hands in Defense. “Daryl. Please.” I looked at him. “Fine.” He shook his head and pouted. Jenner opened the door to a conjoining room, dragging in a bulky monitor and ultrasound system. “It’s a bit old and outdated, but it will still get the job done.” He chuckled as he shut the door once again. “Just sit on the recliner, and recline back, lift your shirt and I bottom your jeans.” Jenner instructed, I sat in the recliner and did as instructed. “Hold on a second!” Daryl tried to cover me. “Daryl, calm down. I only need access to the abdomen. This is professional. I can not do this if you prevent me from doing so.” Jenner responded. Daryl only huffed in response. “I’m sure you know what comes next?” “The gel. I should brace myself? Probably will be cold.” He nodded. Gently he squirted the gel onto my abdomen, then rubbed the wand over it. On the screen we seen a grey area, with a little black area in the centre. “What’s that? Is that the baby?” Daryl asked. “That‘s the gestational sac, and that tiny little bean is the baby. It looks like you’re 5 weeks along, I’m no gynaecologist but that little flicker there is a heartbeat, it’s to early to hear it but you can see it.” I looked up to see Daryl staring at the screen. He was unreadable, as always, but looking at him in this moment, all I can feel is love and adoration. “Everything seems to be fine. And we’re done.” “Thank you so much for this. It means a lot.” “Your welcome.” He nodded, taking the monitor back. I wiped the gel off of my stomach, feeling happier than I probably should be considering what’s going on in the world. “It feels more real now.” I stared as I did my button back up and moved my shirt back down. “Yeah.” Daryl sighed. “I need to speak with the mother to be.” Jenner stated. “I’ll meet ya back at the room okay?” I asked Daryl, in response nodded and left.

“What’s happening Jenner?” “I spoke to your leader last night, Rick?” I nodded. “No matter how you die, you always come back as one of them.” “What?” “Everyone is infected... This pregnancy is dangerous. We can’t be sure that the baby is or isn’t infected.” “Jenner?” “It’s an air-borne virus. We can’t be sure that the infection hasn’t already or won’t infect the baby.” “Whatever it is that you’re insinuating, please-“ “What happens if it dies in your womb and it is infected? It could tear you apart from the inside. What if you die before it’s born? You’d kill it. I can help you get rid of it.” “Look I appreciate everything Jenner. But I’ve got to go.” I replied. “There’s no way that this ends good.” He called out as I left the room. I found an unused area. Sitting down I let out the breath I didn’t even know I was holding. I gave myself 15 minutes to calm down before meeting Daryl back in our room.

I laid on the bed reading a book, with Daryl sitting up drinking. The air conditioning stopped and the lights all turned off. "Daryl?" "Yeah." "What just happened?" I asked putting the book aside, getting up off the bed and going into the hall. I saw Jenner walk down towards my room. Everyone asking questions and following behind him. "What's going on? Why'd it turn off?" Daryl asked hanging out the door, bottle in his hand, Jenner stealing it from him. "Energy Is being prioritised" Jenner said. "Air isn't a priority? And light?" Dale asked. "It isn't up to me." Jenner started. "Zone five is shutting itself Down." Jenner continued. I looked into Daryl's eyes, I know he could see the worry my eyes held. "What the hell does that mean?" Daryl asked. Jenner ignored him. "Hey, man, I'm talking to you! What do you mean Shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?" Daryl asked "You'd be surprised." Jenner said. We looked over the railing.

"Rick!" Lori called. We all followed Jenner down the stairs to where rick and the others were. "Jenner! What is happening?" Rick asked. "The system is dropping down all non-essential uses of power. It is designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. As soon as we approach the half hour mark, right on schedule." Jenner said. It was all silent then Jenner gave daryl back the bottle. "It was the French." Jenner randomly said. "What?" Andrea and I asked. "They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting up the doors and committing suicide in the halls, they stayed in the labs working until the very end, they thought they were close to a solution…” "What happened?" Asked Jacqui. "The same thing that is 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 started getting aggravated. "To hell with it Shane, I don't even care! Lori get our things. Everybody, We're getting out of here now!" Rick ordered. An alarm started sounding. "30 minutes til decontamination." Vi said. "Doc, what's going on here dammit?" Shane asked "Everybody! Get your stuff! Let's go now!" Rick yelled "Let's go!" T-dog said. I was with Lori  and Carl when we ran to the exit when it slammed down, Carl pulling me back just as it started to. "Did he just lock us in? He just locked us in!" Glenn started to panic. "Carl!" "Mom!" "You son of a bitch!" Daryl yelled running at Jenner. "Shane! Shane!" Rick yelled. “No! Stop! Don't!" Shane yelled at Daryl. I started slowly walking over to where Jenner was, as I heard screaming and yelling. "Jenner, open that door now!" Rick demanded. "There's no point."  Jenner replied. "Everything topside is locked down, the emergency exits are sealed." "Well, open the damn things!" Dale yelled "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." Jenner stated. "What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick asked. "What happens in 28 minutes?" He yelled loudly to Jenner "Do you know what this place is? We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponised small pox! Ebola to wipe out half of the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" Jenner finished screaming. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure and a terrorist attack. For example, HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms getting out." "HITs?" Rick asked. "Vi-" "It's High-impulse thermobaric Fuel-air explosives." I answered. Everyone looked at me. "It consists 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 ignites the oxygen between 5000 and 6000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage is desired." Vi finished. "It sets the air on fire. No pain, and end to sorrow. Grief, Regret, Everything." My head turned and I looked at Daryl. He threw the bottle at the door. "Open this damn door!" I looked to Jenner, then over to Lori who held Carl protectively in her arms, scared. My hands went to my stomach and rested there for a brief moment. I started to think.

I'll never get to see my baby, never get to hold it. Watch it grow up or anything. After everything he said to me, it’s all put in perspective. When he said he could help get rid of it this is what he meant?

I walked over to Jenner. "Jenner, please open the door. Do it for me! I want my baby to live. Sophia and Carl are too young to die!" He just ignored me. My hands collided with his chest, pushing him back, causing Shane to grab me and move me away. "Jenner don't ignore me! Test subject 19 was your wife!” I yelled from Shane’s arms. Causing everyone to shut up for a moment. “Now you're going to take away mothers as well as fathers! Daughters as well as sons! Sisters as well as brothers and wives as well as husbands! You're taking our choice away! Don't do this! It's not what you want! It's not what she would want!" I continued.

Shane gave me to dale, and he held onto me. He grabbed an axe as did, Daryl and started to hit the door. "You should have left it all alone, it would have been so much easier." Jenner said. "Easier for who?” "All of you, you know what's out there, a short brutal life, and an agonising death. Your sister, What was her name?" "Amy" "Amy, You know what this does, you've seen it. Is that really what you want for your wife and son?" Jenner asked Rick. "I don't want this!" Rick answered. "I can't make a dent." "Those doors were designed to withstand a rocket launcher." "Your head ain't!" Daryl stated going for him. I stood in front as the guys pushed him away. "Daryl!" "Daryl!" "Just back up!" "Daryl, he isn't worth it. " I told him. "You do want this…” Jenner said to rick. “You said you knew it was just a matter of time before everyone you loved was dead." He finished. "You really said that? After your big talk?" Shane asked. "I had to keep hope alive didn't i?" Rick answered. “There is no hope. There never was." "There's always hope, maybe not you but somebody, somewhere." "What part of everything's gone don't you understand?" Andrea asked. "Andrea…” "Listen to your friend she gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." "Jenner! Listen to me! You don't have to do this." I said "This isn't right! You can't just keep us here!" Carol cried. "One tiny moment, a millisecond, no pain." "My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this!" "Wouldn't it be kinder? More compassionate to hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" I heard a gun click. My attention went to Shane, holding his rifle. "Shane no!" Rick pushed him away. "Out of my way Rick!" Shane yelled "Now you open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off! You hear me?" Shane yelled. "Brother, you do this, we'll never get out of here."Rick said "Shane! You listen to him!" Lori yelled. "If he dies, we all die!" Rick yelled as Shane screamed. Shane moved the gun and shot at the computers. "Shane!." Rick yelled. He wouldn't listen so Rick grabbed the gun and pinned him to the ground. "Are you done now? Are you done?" Rick asked. "Yeah, I guess we all are." Shane replied. It was silent for a few seconds

"I think you're lying..." Rick started. “What? " Jenner asked. "You're lying. About having no hope. If that were true you would have bolted with the rest taking the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?" "It doesn't matter." "It does matter, it always matters. You stayed when the others ran. Why?" "Not because I wanted to. I made a promise." "Yeah, to your wife." "I'm surprised that (Y/n) guessed it. How'd you know?" "The way you looked at the footage. The ring on your finger and the picture in the office and in the room you gave Daryl and I. I'm not stupid, I connected the dots." I replied. "She begged me to keep going as long as I could, how could I say no? She was dying. It should have been me on that table. It wouldn't have mattered. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place, I just worked here. In our ripe old she was an Einstein, Me? I’m just Edwin Jenner. She could have done something about this, Not me." Jenner said “Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's... That's all that we want a choice, a chance." Rick said. "Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori piped in Jenner looked at me. Then where my hands were gently against my abdomen. "Please Jenner." I said for everyone to hear. " I told you topside is locked down. I can't open those." Jenner said staring at us all. Happy tears started to form in my eyes. The door opened. And I walked to Jenner and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, goodbye." I turned and started to walk away. "You're one of the reasons I opened the door you know… You are exactly like my wife was." He smiled gently.

"Babe! Let's go!" Daryl yelled. I ran toward the exit and daryl grabbed my hand. "Come on! Move it! Move it!" Everyone yelled. Rick and Jenner talked for a minutes and them Rick ran toward us. "Come on! Four minutes left!" Glenn yelled. "Let's go Jacqui! " T-dog yelled "I'm staying! I'm staying sweetie." Jacqui said making T-dog to let go. "What? No!" I cried. "But that's insane!" T-dog said. "No! It's completely sane for the first time in a long time! I'm not ending up like Jim and Amy!" She cried. We all looked at her. "There's no time to argue, and no point. Not if you want to get out. Just get out. Get out!" She yelled. "Hey dog, come on, man. Come on! Let's go, come on!" Shane said grabbing him. "I'm staying too." I heard Andrea. "Andrea, no!" We looked at dale and he looked at us. "Just go! Go!" "Dale!" "Go!" He yelled again. "Come on!" Rick yelled as we all ran. We ran up the flights of stairs quick. "Get the doors open! Come on!" Shane yelled. "It doesn't work!" Glenn yelled. "Wait a minute! Try it!" T-dog said after pressing some buttons. "Daryl!" Shane yelled grabbing an axe and hitting the windows. Daryl next to him. "Stay close to us sweetie." Carol said to Sophia. "Dog forget it!" Shane yelled at t-dog T-dog screamed hitting the window with a chair. "Dog! Get down! Down!" Shane yelled at everyone pumping shots from the python at the window. "Jesus!" Shane exclaimed. "The glass won't break?" Sophia asked. "Rick I have something that might help!" Carol said going through her bag. "Carol, I don't think a nail file will do it." "Shane! Shut up!” I snapped "Look your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform, I found this in your pocket." She said handing him a grenade. He took it. He pulled the pin and dropped it next to the window. "Oh sh..." Rick yelled running toward us. The grenade went off and  the window shattered.

We all ran out, the guys shooting the walkers that were stumbling towards us. We all made it to the vehicles, getting into them. I saw Andrea and dale duck behind a post. "Get down!" Daryl yelled. We both Ducked down in the truck, Daryl protecting my body with his. There was a shake, and I could hear the sound of glass breaking, I could feel the heat. “It’s clear.” Daryl sighed after slowly lifting himself off of my body. Looking up I see what was the CDC, up in flames, Andrea and dale got into the RV. Everyone in-front  started to drive once again. Daryl  followed carols Cherokee, Shane behind us.

Once we were on the road I felt Daryl's hand on my thigh. "What did that guy say to ya in there after he opened the door?" "All he said to me was I reminded him of his wife." Daryl scoffed, removing his hand. The rest of  the drive was quiet. The RV pulled over, at a station just out of town.

"Okay guys we need to ditch some vehicles and siphon gas out of the ones we're abandoning." Rick said. We all nodded and Daryl got Merle’s motorcycle off of the back of the truck, getting the fuel out of the truck that I have grown fond of. T-dog ditched his van, Shane left his jeep. “(Y/n), I don't think that the baby will like the motorcycle... So you're going in the RV with Dale, Glenn, Shane, T-dog and Andrea. Daryl you're covered. Carol, Lori and the kids with me in the Cherokee. Is there a Problem?" Rick asked. "Not at all.” I looked at Daryl, I walked over and kissed him. "Please, be safe." "You know I don't need to be." I rolled my eyes. "Daryl, you take the lead." I got into the RV and laid in one of the beds in the back, picking up the book from before and continued reading, Feeling the RV pull out and back onto the road. That’s when we left Atalanta... This time, for good. Series Masterlist Next Part

#daryl x reader #daryl x you #daryl dixon #daryl fanfiction #the walking dead #twd

[isleofancients]

She waves goodbye to the other two and hurried behind. Nope, she does not feel bad for leaving them there. Why should she if she didn't do anything bad?

He leads you down the hall to the examination room.

Inside areare strange tubes and mixtures and powders and dried herbs hanging all over the many cabinets and drawers, what little space left plastered with old yellowed diagrams and charts. Every counter and tabletop has scribbles on it, crossed out and emphasized and barely legible like the ravings of a madman. Unidentifiable tools and supplies are stacked on top, smearing the words that weren't given time to dry.

Its a hectic, almost claustrophobic, aesthetically insane mess, yet from the rustic browns, warm lights and the soft smile of the bitty leading you, the place feels almost cozy.

Edwin leads you to a red cushioned examination table, fiddling with a few levers to lower it to an acceptable height, and pats the top once the adjustment is complete.

"Here y'are, just sit down right here and I'll grab the doc for you." He scampers out a different door with a reassuring smile back to you.

[caryltrash]

TS-19 - 01x06

Carol: "Are we underground?"

Dr. Edwin Jenner: "Are you claustrophobic?"

Carol: "A little."

Dr. Edwin Jenner: "Try not to think about it."

(Daryl STILL knows that...of course he does!)

#caryl #twdspoilers #twd s10 spoilers #twd caryl #caryl is coming #caryl spoilers