―

chapter eight: hot water
― ts-19

Everyone stared at the open door, a safe haven being offered to them. It took a few moments, but Rick snapped out of the stupor first, ushering everyone in.

"Daryl, Ferne, you cover the back." Shane instructed, the pair nodding and holding up their respective weapons as their group inched into the building.

"Hello? Hello?" Rick called out, his voice echoing off the walls.

"Watch those doors," Daryl instructed, "Watch for walkers."

"Hello?" Rick called again, only to be answered with the sound of a gun cocking.

"Anybody infected?" A voice called from the shadows.

"One of our group was," Rick said, "He didn't make it."

"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man who the voice belonged to, him stepping out into the light.

"A chance."

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man said.

Rick gave a small nod, "I know."

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

"We can do that." Rick told him.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."

It was the men who went to the vehicles and brought back all of their bags.

Once they were all safely inside, the man swiped his security card across the door's pad, "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." He instructed, the shutters closing with a loud rattle.

Rick held his hand out to the man, "Rick Grimes."

"Dr. Edwin Jenner."

As the doctor lead them to an elevator, Ferne glanced over at Daryl to see her bag in his hand. Rolling her eyes, she took it off of the man.

"I had it."

"I can carry my own things."

Soon, they were all crammed into the elevator, everyone waited to reach their destination with uncomfortable looks on their face.

"Sorry." Clay muttered once he'd realised that the shotgun in his hands was digging into Glenn's back.

Daryl eyed Jenner carefully, "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?"

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough," Jenner said, his eyes landing on Carl, "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

The elevator then dinged and the doors opened, Jenner leading them down a hallway.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked.

Jenner raised an eyebrow, "Are you claustrophobic?"

"A little."

"Try not to think about it," Jenner told her as he lead the group into a dark room, "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room."

Humming and beeping emitted around the room, the lights coming on and everyone looked around in amazement.

"Woah," Parker muttered, "It's like the control room of the Death Star."

Jenner sent them all a small smile, "Welcome to Zone Five."

"Where is everybody?" Rick questioned, "The other doctors, the staff?"

"I'm it," Jenner sighed with a frown, "It's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori wondered, "Vi?"

Jenner looked up, "Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them... Welcome."

"Hello, guests. Welcome."

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry."

―

"You okay?" Jenner asked Clay as he finished taking his blood sample, seeing the tense look on the boy's face.

"Yeah," Clay nodded, standing up and letting Andrea take his place, "Just not a big fan of hospital related stuff."

Jenner nodded, having suspected that when he took his sister's blood sample, having Clay leaning over his shoulder and scrutinising every move he made.

"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever." Andrea said as Jenner withdrew her blood.

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here," Jenner  muttered, "Let me just at least be thorough. All done," He said and Andrea stood up, faltering as she did, Jacqui helping to steady her, "Are you okay?"

"She hasn't eaten in days," Jacqui told him, "None of us have."

―

Laughter echoed through the food court as the group divulged in the feast Jenner had provided them with.

"This might be the best beer I've ever had." Ferne said from where she was sat ont he counter next to Glenn, holding the bottle up to her and admiring it.

"You want me to leave you two alone, or?" Glenn chuckled, the girl shoving him with a laugh.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner," Dale said, pouring Lori a glass, "And in France."

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori said, putting her hand over Carl's empty cup.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on." Rick shrugged.

Lori couldn't help but chuckle as she allowed Dale to pour her son some alcohol.

"There you are, young lad," The man muttered, "Parker?" He asked, turning to the girl.

Parker glanced up at her brother, who nodded as he drank his beer, "You can if you want. I mean, I'm underage, so screw it."

Parker nodded and Dale also gave her a small glass, the group watching in anticipation as both kids tried the wine.

Carl's face scrunched up, "Eww."

"That's my boy. That's my boy," Lori nodded, taking his cup and pouring the rest into her own glass, "Good boy."

"Yuck. That tastes nasty." Carl said.

"I think it tastes great." Parker said with a laugh.

"And that's my girl." Clay nodded, high-fiving her.

"Well, just stick to sour pop there, bud." Shane told Carl.

Daryl pointed over at the Korean man room from across the room, "Not you, Glenn."

"What?"

"Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get." Daryl grinned, causing more laughter, Glenn trying ot slap Ferne's hands away as she squeezed his cheeks.

Rick then stood up, lightly tapping his glass, gaining everyone's attention, "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

"He is more than just our host." T-Dog said, raising his glass.

"Hear hear!" Dale also raised his glass.

"Here's to you, doc. Booyah!"

"Booyah!"

"Thank you!"

"Booyah!"

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane spoke up, silencing the sounds of thanks, "All the... the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane," Rick said, sitting back down, "Don't need to do this now."

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right?" Shane shrugged, "This was your move... Supposed to find all the answers. Instead we... We found him. Found one man. Why?"

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

Shane raised a cynical eyebrow, "Every last one?"

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door," Jenner shook his head, " They... opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave," Andrea stated, "Why?"

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good."

Glenn looked over at Shane, "Dude, you are such a kill, man."

"Been sayin' it from day one." Ferne raised her beer with a small smirk, gaining a few chuckles.

―

Not soon after they'd finished their meal, Jenner lead the group down some more hallways and showing them where they could sleep.

"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. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay?" Jenner said to Carl, Sophia and Parker - who nodded - and he looked back at the rest of the group, "Or anything that draws power. The same applies if you shower, go easy on the hot water."

Glenn turned to his friends with a grin, "Hot water?"

T-Dog matched his grin, "That's what the man said."

―

"Dibs on the next shower." Parker grinned as she rushed past Artie, who had just come out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Yeah, I love sitting in my own sweat," Clay chuckled as he pushed a cot he had gotten out of storage against the wall for Parker and turned around, freezing and raising an eyebrow at the British man, "Oh my God."

Artie's eyebrows creased as he continued to towel dry his hair, "What?"

"You are such an old man." Clay laughed.

Artie smiled, looking down at his pyjama set and dressing gown, "What? It's called grandpa chic."

"It's called something, that's for sure," The younger boy nodded, "I literally saw Dale wearing that same dressing gown when I was bringing the cot in."

"You guys got room for one more?" A voice asked, the pair turning to see Ferne in the doorway, her bag slung over her shoulder and a beer hanging from her hand.

"Yeah, of cour-"

"You can bunk with me." A gruff voice said as Daryl passed behind her.

Ferne shook her head as she looked at the man who was looking at her expectantly next to his open room, "It's fine, I'll stay here."

"Actually, I don't think there's enough room." Clay said with a small smirk as he crossed his arms, leaning against the wall.

Ferne fixed a glare onto the boy, "There isn't?"

"There's barely enough room, what with us now putting the cot in here." Clay nodded.

"I'm sure we could-"

"No we couldn't," Clay cut Artie off, walking over to Ferne, "Looks like you're gonna have to bunk with Daryl, so sorry but you snooze, you lose. Goodnight." He said with a shit-eating grin as he shut the door in the blonde's face.

Ferne let out a frustrated huff as she continued to glare at the now closed door, "I call the couch." She said, before brushing past Daryl and walking into what would now be their shared room, dumping her bag on the couch.

The pair stood in an awkward silence as they got the things they needed for the night out of their bag, neither one being brave enough to address the tension between them.

"Why'dya want me to?"

Ferne raised an eyebrow as she turned to face him, "What?"

"You keep sayin' ya want to let me in," Daryl said, "Why?"

Ferne shrugged lightly, "I'm a pretty cynical person, not exactly awesome when meeting people. But, when I met you, I guess I felt comfortable. Like I could trust you. I do trust you."

Daryl looked down, picking at the dirt under his fingernails, not answering the girl. Ferne sighed, grabbing a T-shirt and a pair of pyjama shorts from her pack. "Dibs on the first shower," She muttered, grabbing her clothes and her beer before she walked into the bathroom.

―

Clay raised an eyebrow as he, now being freshly showered, walked into the rec room that Jenner had pointed out with Parker and Artie, "You okay, Shane?" He asked the man, who was sat on the arm of the couch, a bottle of wine dangling from his hands.

"Yeah." The ex-cop slurred as he nodded slowly before he slugged his way out of the room.

"I don't think he's okay." Clay noted.

"It's Shane. He's never okay," Parker said as she walked over to the bookshelf, "Jeez, it's like being back in your room at home." The girl chuckled, glancing over at her brother.

Clay let out a hum as he stood beside her, running his fingers lightly over the spine of the books, "Add another five of these things and then you'd be closer." He laughed.

"Not seen one of these since I was a kid," Artie spoke up, the siblings turning to see him examining an old arcade game - though it was powered down to save electricity, "I practically lived in the arcade growing up."

Parker let out a laugh, "You're not helping your old man case, you know."

"Jeez, these are all classics." Clay muttered, pulling a book off the shelf.

"So, basically they're all boring?" Parker cocked an eyebrow with a smirk.

Clay chuckled, lightly tapping her on top of the head with the copy of Sherlock Holmes in his hand, "One day, I'll get you to appreciate good literature."

"Yeah, I'll stick to Twilight, thanks."

Clay stared down at her, "Say that again and I'll denounce you from the family name."

―

Ferne let out a soft sigh as she got out of what could well have been the longest shower of her life, moving her head to the side in order to get a good stretch in her neck. Standing on the side of the sink, the beer bottle glistened at the blonde, making her reach out and empty the contents of it.

With the bottle hanging loosely in her hand, she glanced up at the mirror - which was now fogged over with compensation. She hadn't looked in it when she first entered the bathroom, having been to excited at the thought of warm water to even think about it. And now that the thought had entered her mind, she wasn't too sure if she wanted to.

A knock on the bathroom door brought her out of her mind.

"Hey, you alrigh'?" Daryl's voice called, "Been in there a while."

Ferne nodded, her eyes still trained on the mirror, before she realised that he couldn't actually see her. Reaching back, she unlocked the door with a click and Daryl slowly opened the door, confused once he her numbly staring at the reflective object.

"Y' okay?"

Taking a gentle step forward, Ferne gingerly reached out and wiped the condensation away from the mirror, taking a step back and staring at the reflection of herself.

Only, that wasn't her.

A few months ago, her hair was much shorter and now it reached her collarbone, perfectly framing her face. She had lost a lot of weight since the beginning of the end of the world - which would obviously happen due to the food shortage there now was. The skin on her face was starting to sink in and she could see her cheekbones slightly jut out, as well as new purple bags under her eyes.

"I'm scared."

Daryl raised an eyebrow at the meek voice of Ferne, who was so quiet he almost didn't hear her.

"You see, I trust you, Daryl," She continued, before glancing back at the reflection of who she was now, "It's her that I don't."

―

"Oh my God," Parker muttered at breakfast the next morning, "I can't remember the last time I had orange juice."

Clay smirked, "I can't remember the last time you had an orange."

Ferne chuckled as she watched Clay unsuccessfully dodge the hit that his sister managed to land on his arm when she noticed an obviously hungover Rick enter the canteen, "Howdy, Sheriff."

Rick nodded at the group, "Morning."

"Are you hungover?" Carl asked his father with a small grin, "Mom said you'd be."

"Mom is right." The man said, noticing the bottles of painkillers that were scattered across the table.

Lori let out a hum, "Mom has that annoying habit."

Clay glanced up from his plate when something was placed in front of him.

"Thought you could use it." Artie said with a small smirk as he sat next to the younger boy, who gratefully accepted the cup of coffee.

"Are you hungover too?" Carl asked Clay.

"No, just a sore loser." Parker said with a grin.

"It's not losing if you stop playing." Clay countered.

"I'm never playing Monopoly with either of you again." Artie chuckled as T-Dog came out of the kitchen with a pan of scrambled eggs.

"Eggs. Powdered, but I do 'em good. I bet you can't tell," The man said as he filled Glenn's plate with them, "Protein helps the hangover."

Ferne chuckled as Glenn only answered with a groan.

"Where'd all this come from?" Rick wondered, one of the bottles of painkillers in his hand

"Jenner." Artie told him.

"Could you help me, please?" Rick asked his wife, who nodded and opened the bottle of aspirin for him, which made Parker have to stifle a laugh.

"He thought we could use it," Lori said, handing Rick the bottle, earning a thanks, "Some of us, at least."

Glenn let out a loud groan at the comment directed towards him, "Don't ever ever ever let me drink again." He begged as Jacqui rubbed his shoulders.

Ferne smirked at the Korean boy, "I'll give you my last cookie if you let me bang some pots right now."

Glenn only glared at the blonde as Shane wandered into the canteed.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked his best friend.

"Worse." Shane gruffly replied as T-Dog handed him a plate of eggs.

"The hell happened to you?" T-Dog asked, "Your neck?"

Ferne raised an eyebrow as she watched the man lightly trace the cuts on his neck, "Those are from fingernails." She noted.

"I must have done it in my sleep." Shane shrugged off as he joined everyone at the table.

Rick's eyebrows furrowed, "Never seen you do that before."

"Me neither," Shane said, his gaze landing on Lori, "Not like me at all."

Clay and Ferne shared a look as Dr. Jenner made his way into the room, "Morning."

Everyone replied with a scattered chorus of , "Hey, Doc."

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

"But you will anyway." Jenner finished, poring himself a cup of coffee.

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

Jenner let out a sigh as he turned back to the expectant faces on him, "Then follow me." He sighed, starting to leave the room, the group following him.

"I just wanna eat my eggs, man." Clay groaned as Artie pulled him out of his seat.

"Just drink your coffee and stop complaining." The older man said, putting the cup in his hands.

"Yes, mom," Clay rolled his eyes as he started to walk next to Ferne, leaning over to her and asking, "So, the scratches? You thinking the same?"

Ferne nodded, "Lori."

"You think Rick knows?"

"I don't think he's letting himself find out." Ferne frowned as Jenner lead them into the control room

"Give me playback of TS-19." Jenner told Vi.

"Playback of TS-19."

Jenner glanced quickly back at the group, "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few."

Clay cocked his head to the side as he studied the blue, lit up screen on front of them, "Woah."

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked as Parker scrambled for the video recorder in the pocket of her hoodie, making sure to press play.

"An extraordinary one," Jenner nodded, his small reminiscent smile fading, "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V." He told Iris.

"Enhanced internal view."

"What are those lights?" Shane wondered.

"It's a person's life," Jenner said, eyes glazed over as he stared at the screen, "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."

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl commented with a raised eyebrow, making Ferne snicker.

"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?" Rick asked, stepping forwards, "That's what this is, a vigil?"

"Yes," Jenner said, "Or rather the playback of the vigil."

"This person died?" Andrea asked, her eyes never leaving the screen, "Who?"

"Test subject 19," Jenner said, swallowing thickly, "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."

Parker made sure to zoom in on the screen as as black vein-looking lines started to grow from the centre of the person's brain, the lights snuffing out.

"What is that?" Glenn asked.

"It invades the brain like meningitis," Jenner explained the virus, "The adrenal glands haemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs," He continued, as the test subjects brain went completely black, their movement stopping, "Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be... gone."

Artie swallowed thickly, having to look away from the screen as he wrapped his arms tightly around himself.

Sophia glanced up at her mother, "Is that what happened to Jim?"

"Yes."

Jenner glanced over at Andrea, sensing her uncomfortableness at the conversation, Lori speaking up for her, "She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister."

"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is," Jenner gently told the blonde woman, before turning back to look at the large screen, "Scan to the second event."

"Scanning to second event."

"The resurrection times vary wildly," The doctor began, "We had 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."

As they stared up at the screen, the brain which had previously been dark started to have flickers of red lights dancing around the centre of the organ, though these red tendrils didn't spread to the rest of the brain.

Lori stared in wonder, "It restarts the brain?"

"No," Clay shook his head, squinting, before turning to look at Jenner, "At least not fully, right?"

The man nodded, "Just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive?" Rick asked.

Jenner gestured to the screen, "You tell me."

"It's nothing like before," Rick shook his head, "Most of that brain is dark."

"Dark, lifeless, dead," Jenner listed, "The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part, that doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

From her place at the back of the room, Ferne looked down as tears began to pool in her eyes, jolting slightly as she felt something brush against the back of her knuckles. Glancing to her left she saw that Daryl had silently moved to stand by her side, his eyes focused on the screen, but still making her aware of his presence.

The subject on the screen started to move, its mouth snapping at nothing before the barrel of a gun came into frame and a shot was sent into the creature's head - making Ferne visibly flinch - and leaving it motionless, its brain returning black again.

"God," Carol muttered, "What was that?"

"He shot his patient in the head," Ferne spoke up, swallowing thickly, "Didn't you?"

"Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations." Jenner quickly said, moving away from the group, which was answer enough.

"Powering down main screen and workstations."

Andrea took a step towards the doctor as all of the electronic began to shut off, "You have no idea what it is, do you?"

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal." Jenner listed the possibilities as Parker turned off and put away the video camera.

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui suggested.

"There is that."

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere." Andrea exclaimed with a frustrated huff.

"There are others, right?" Carol asked, "Other facilities?"

Jenner's face remained indifferent, "There may be some. People like me."

"But you don't know?" A frustrated Rick asked, "How can you not know?"

"Everything went down," Jenner told him, "Communications, directives... all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

"So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" Andrea asked, any sign of hope leaving her body as she received no answer and the doctor looked away from everyone's questioning gaze.

"Jesus." Jacqui muttered.

"Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk again." Daryl groaned, head in his hands as he leaned on a monitor.

"I'll join you." Artie muttered, leaning back against the railing he was stood by.

"I second that." Ferne said.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question," Dale started, though he didn't seem too bothered about asking more, "But that clock... it's counting down. What happens at zero?" He asked, the group all staring at the time counting down, only an hour left of the timer remaining.

"The basement generators... they run out of fuel." Jenner vaguely answered, avoiding all of the questioning gazes being thrown at him.

"And then?" Rick asked, only for the doctor to leave the control room in silence, "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" The Grimes man desperately asked the AI.

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