SURVIVE.
❝ Let the end of the world be
inside you, then you don't
need to fear the end
of the world out there. ❞
THE WALKING DEAD.
DARYL DIXON.
BOOK ONE of the LANCASTER SAGA.
[ SEASONS 1 - 3 ]
******
I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its...
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[ xvi. firebomb ]
october 27th, 2010
➸➸➸
"WHAT THE HELL IS going on?"
Astrid Lancaster and her fellow group members had quickly reconvened in the computer room which had fallen into a state of semi-darkness. The lights above them were slowly dimming, casting eerie shadows through the area. Slowly, one by one, all the machines and technology within the CDC had begun to turn themselves off, and Jenner—who had finally reappeared from his office—could barely seem to care enough to explain why.
"Everything is being prioritized," The doctor simply said. He was entirely ignorant to the towering forms of Rick and Shane that glowered over him.
"Lights aren't a priority?" Dale challenged. "Or—or air conditioning?
"No," Jenner replied, his voice almost lifeless. "Those are the first to go. Zone Five is shutting itself down."
"What does that even mean?" Astrid asked irritably. She raised her hands up in confusion and raked them harshly through her hair. "How can a building shut itself down?"
"You'd be surprised," Jenner insisted. His gaze was still ahead. He had not bothered to look any of them in the eye since they had all come back together, storming for more information.
With her teeth grinding themselves down in her skull, Astrid whipped towards Rick. "Did you find the generators?" She questioned. "Were they really almost empty?"
Rick's tight nod confirmed her fears. "Running on fumes," He answered.
Astrid reeled backward, away from her group's leader. Her mind was racing now, trying to create a solution—to find a way out of this nightmare. "Can't we . . ." She broke off as she hit another brief dead-end. "Can't we just scavenge some more fuel, then?" She wondered, turning back to Jenner.
The doctor's response was disheartening. "You just don't get it," He whispered, his voice heavy with defeat. Astrid's hands clenched into fists. What the hell were they all supposed to get? Before she could demand another explanation, then, almost out of the blue, Jenner uttered, "It was the French."
The group exchanged uncertain glances, trying to comprehend the meaning of his cryptic words. "What?" Andrea Harrison asked, moving closer to Astrid. The latter woman could see her friend's hands trembling with fear, but her resolve was unyielding, a pale face set in strict stone. They needed answers, no matter how unsettling they may be.
"They were the last ones to hold out," Jenner explained. "While all of our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the halls, they stayed in the labs until the end. They thought they were close to a solution."
Astrid's heart pounded in her chest. It was as if, with each bated breath Jenner released, she could feel the walls closing in tighter on them. "So what happened then?" She prompted. Clearly, something had gone wrong in their research if there was still no cure.
