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TS-19
The Next Morning
Natalie couldn't bring herself to get out of bed.
She was paralyzed by both her sadness and her crippling hangover.
She looked over on the bedside table. There was a plate of food, a bottle of water, a bottle of aspirin.
There was a note taped to the aspirin bottle that read:
"I figured you might need these. -Glenn"
When Natalie finally pulled herself off of the couch, she found the rest of the group in the room full of computers.
"Are you okay?" Glenn asked quietly, walking over to her.
"We don't have to talk about this," Natalie said quietly, patting his arm gently.
"Thanks for the food and meds, Glenn," Natalie added.
"Ah, I was wondering when you would get up," Dale said with a chipper smile.
Natalie was silent.
"Jenner was just telling us all about his research," Dale whispered.
Natalie made eye contact with Shane, whose eyes were locked on her.
She glared at him before looking away.
She hadn't forgotten what had happened the night before, but she also didn't blame him. He was drunk and angry and just needed someone. She understood. She needed someone, too, just not Shane.
"The hell did you and Shane do last night?" Daryl asked gruffly.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Natalie asked.
"You seen his neck?" Daryl asked.
She noticed the scratches on his neck. She knew she didn't put them there. She also noticed that Lori seemed to be avoiding Shane. She wondered if Lori and Shane had gotten into a fight.
"Oh, yeah. I guess you can say I've always liked it a little rough," Natalie said.
She didn't want to blow Shane's cover. She still cared enough about him to keep his secret safe.
"Uhm, alright, okay," Daryl said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Vi, scan forward to the first event," Dr. Jenner said.
The screen in front of them showed a scan of the human brain. The scan zoomed in and showed the brain being infiltrated by a series of red and blue lines.
"What is that?" Glenn asked.
"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage. The brain goes into shut down, then the major organs. Then death," Dr. Jenner said.
"Everything you ever were, ever will be, gone," Dr. Jenner said.
Natalie felt sick to her stomach. She knew that that's what happened to her son. She felt hot tears well up in her eyes. She turned away from the screen.
"Is that what happened to Jim? To Nick?" Sophia asked her mother.
"Yes," Carol answered quietly, as not to upset Natalie or Andrea.
Dr. Jenner looked at Natalie and Andrea, who were both crying.
"They lost people two days ago. She lost her son. She lost her sister," Lori said, pointing to each woman.
"I lost somebody, too. I know how devastating it is," Dr. Jenner said to Andrea.
"Scan to the second event," Dr. Jenner ordered the computer.
Natalie turned around to face the computer.
She saw a red light at the base of the brain stem.
"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked.
"No, just the brain stem," Dr. Jenner said.
"Basically, it gets them up and moving," Dr. Jenner said.
"But they're not alive," Rick interjected.
"You tell me," Dr. Jenner said.
Natalie looked at the screen in shock as she saw a bullet get shot through the patient's head, gasping audibly.
As she watched the bullet go through, the picture changed. It wasn't a blank, faceless scan anymore. She saw Nicky's head.
Natalie screamed quietly.
All eyes turned to her as she slowly slid down the side of the desk.
She slowly rocked back and forth against the desk, holding her knees to her chest, tears streaming down her face.
She blocked out all other noise.
She tuned out the conversations happening around her.
All she could think about was Nick.
It had only been two days since he had died.
Shane crouched down in front of Natalie, trying and failing to snap her out of her trance.
"That clock-- it's counting down. What happens at zero?" Dale asked, pointing to a clock at the back of the room.
"The basement generators run out of fuel," Dr. Jenner said vaguely, walking away.
"And then?" Rick asked.
Dr. Jenner ignored him, walking away silently.
"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asked.
"When the power runs out, a facility-wide decontamination will occur," the computer said.
Shane cupped Natalie's face in his hands, trying to get her to look at him.
Her eyes were transfixed in the distance, glazed over.
"We need to go down to the basement, now!" Rick ordered.
Shane gave up on trying to break Natalie out of her trance and followed after Rick and the other men.
Jacqui crouched down next to Natalie and stroked her hair out of her face.
Natalie didn't even acknowledge her presence. She couldn't even feel Jacqui's touch. She was too far gone.
She didn't even notice the power start to shut down around her.
