"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick questioned.

Isn't that the question of the century? Edwin Jenner doesn't seem very willing to share any information which makes me even more suspicious of him. I'm telling you, there's something fishy with him.

"System is dropping all central uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running until the last possible second." Jenner explained.

I glanced at the clock to see we have thirty minutes left. Jenner took another gulp of alcohol before handing it to Daryl. He had stolen it from him earlier in the hall.

"It was the French." Jenner said.

I furrowed my eyebrows wondering if he was going insane or something. No one ever listens to me and that's why we're in this situation. I mean, I didn't exactly say that we shouldn't trust him but I thought that was obvious.

"They were the last one to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting through the door and doing suicides in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution." Jenner explained.

I raised my eyebrows suddenly interested in what he was saying. Maybe they found a solution then. I know said not to have hope, but I'm changing my mind if there's an actual cure involved.

"What happened?" Jacqui asked.

"Same thing that's happening here. The power grid ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel, I mean... How stupid is that?" He asked.

Shane marched towards him and a small smile appeared on my face. Is this going to be the next episode of Shane and Rick beating up people? Because I'm all in if that's the case.

"Let me tell you something-"

"The hell with this, Shane. I don't even care. Lori, grab our things. Everyone, get your things. We're getting out of here NOW." Rick shouted.

A loud alarm filled the room and I covered my ears in an attempt to block it out. God, I didn't see that one coming. It was easy to forget that alarms even existed in the first place.

"What's that?" Shane asked.

"Thirty minutes to decontamination." VI stated.

"Doc, what the hell is going on here?" T-Dog asked.

Ryan put his arm around Abby as his eyes glanced around the room in uncertainty. I wish Dakota was here. She'd know what to do or what to do say.

"Y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go. Go now." Shane ordered.

I looked at Ryan and nodded. It isn't safe here anymore. We went towards the doors with the others although our destination was different. However, the metal doors closed right in front of our eyes.

"Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in." Glenn exclaimed.

I inhaled sharply as anger consumed my entire body. Nobody puts my family in danger and gets away with it. I marched towards Jenner at the same time as Daryl.

"You son of a bith. You locked us in." He exclaimed.

Daryl was held back from attacking Jenner. However, no one predicted me doing the same thing. My fist came into contact with his face before the others could react. Jenner fell down looking pretty unfazed by the punch.

"T-Dog, hold her." Rick ordered.

T-Dog grabbed me by the waist and pulled me away from Jenner. He didn't get too far as I fought against his grip. Jenner was responsible for endangering my siblings and he has to pay for that.

"Let me go! He deserves it." I shouted.

"I know, Josephine. But this isn't the right way." T-Dog said.

"I don't care." I spat.

I thrashed against T-Dog's grip but he held me too tightly. Despite his attempt at making me see reason, all I wanted to do was make Jenner regret ever crossing paths with me.

"Jenner, open those doors now." Rick demanded.

"There's no point. Everything top side is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed." Jenner stated.

I glared at him still being held back by T-Dog. Just because I don't dislike him doesn't mean I won't throw a few punches his way too if I'm not freed. Doing nothing is worse than doing the wrong thing.

"Well open the damn things." Dale demanded.

"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you, once that front door closes, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way." Jenner said.

"What is? What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" Rick asked.

Jenner didn't reply and I recalled his exact words from when we met. He did say that the doors wouldn't open again but no one thought that meant that they wouldn't open ever again. Even I make better excuses than him.

"What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" Rick yelled.

"You know what this place is?! We protected the public from very nasty stuff. Weaponised smallpox, ebola virus that could wipe out half the country! Things you don't want getting out! Ever!" Jenner yelled.

I stopped trying to get free and that's when T-Dog let go of me. My eyes narrowed at Jenner. This is the first time he's shown any actual emotion since we met. Maybe now he'll finally explain what happens.

"In the event of a terrorist attack, for example. HIT's are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out." Jenner explained.

"HIT's?" Rick asked.

"VI, define." Jenner ordered.

I listened to what she said and I went white. In simple words, a giant explosion. My limbs couldn't move as I processed this information. We were all going to die. Abby's eyes filled with tears and she hugged Ryan hiding her face. Daryl smashed his bottle against the door.

"Open the damn door!" He yelled.

Shane grabbed an axe going towards the door. I swallowed a lump in my throat and looked at Rick. His eyes softened at the desperate look on my face. There had to be something we could do.

"Out of my way." Shane exclaimed.

He ran to the door and started smashing it against the metal door. Daryl got one too and did the same. Ryan slid down onto the floor and rested his back onto the desks. Abby was next to him crying into his shoulder.

I released a shaky breath. I glanced at Jenner to see him speaking to Andrea. He asked what was her sister's name. Ryan lifted his head at the mention of Amy. A single tear slid down his cheek as his body tensed.

"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 said emphasizing every word.

Shane came to us out of breath. His attempt to open the doors had failed. I released a shaky breath as I started pacing. I gotta-I gotta think. There has to be a way out.

"Can't make a dent." He commented.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner explained.

"Well your head ain't." Daryl exclaimed.

He aimed the axe at Jenner but the rest of the group held him back. At least he was doing something. Killing Jenner seems justifiable considering we were all going to die because of him. I'd do it myself but I think we need him.

"You do want this. Last night, you said, you knew it was just a matter of time before everyone you loved was dead." Jenner explained.

I looked at Rick in surprise. I didn't take Ranger Rick as the quitting type. Not after all those long speeches about morality and helping others. I put my family's safety in his hands and I'm trusting him now to save us.

"Have you really said that? After all your big talk?" Shane asked him.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick said.

He looked frustrated at the fact that Jenner brought this up now. Hope was all that kept these people going and I can see why he'd try to keep it alive. I just don't think this was the way to do it.

"There is no hope. There never was." Jenner said.

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here but somebody somewhere." Rick said.

Andrea protested at his words claiming that everything was gone. I guess for her it was. Jenner agreed with her saying this was our extinction event. Carol cried to him saying that her daughter didn't deserve to die like this.

"Wouldn't it be kinder? More compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?"

We heard a gun being loaded behind us. I turned around to see Shane making his way to Jenner. Rick tried to reason with him but Shane refused to even listen. He reached Jenner and pointed the gun at him.

"Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?" He shouted.

I tensed at his tone. Yelling doesn't seem very productive at this point. We've already done our share of screaming at each other.

"Brother, brother. This is not the way to do things. You do this, we'll never get out of here. He dies, we all die." Rick explained.

Shane screamed in anger and shot at the computers. I flinched and stepped back. My back hit Daryl's chest who steadied me. His hand held my elbow gently. I flinched at the sound of gunshots.

"Shane!" Rick shouted.

They fought for the gun and Rick punched Shane. Shane landed on the floor and Rick looked at him. He asked him if he was done now. Shane told him that we all were. I glanced at Daryl behind me.

"You alright?" He asked.

His voice was quiet, a soothing contrast to the gunshots. In that moment, our feud was nonexistent. It didn't matter who was right about what. We were all going to die anyway.

I hesitated before nodding. He let go of my elbow and stepped back a bit. His eyes went to the floor as he shifted uncomfortably. I cleared my throat before we focused back on Jenner and Rick.

"You're lying. About no hope. If that were true, you would've bolted with the rest and taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?" Rick asked.

He makes a good point. Although a coward, Jenner did stay behind when nobody else did. There has to be a reason for that. Perhaps even a reason to let us leave this place before it explodes.

"It doesn't matter." Jenner said.

"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?" Rick asked.

That was when Jenner revealed that he stayed because of a promise to his wife. Lori asked him if Test Subject Nineteen was his wife. It all made sense now. It was incredibly sappy but it made sense.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? She was dying. It should've been me on that table. It wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I-I just worked here. In our field, she was Einstein. Me? I'm just Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me." Jenner explained.

Rick told him his wife didn't have a choice and that he does. That was what we wanted a choice, a chance. That was Rick's plea and it worked.

"I told you top side is locked down, I can't open those." Jenner replied.

He unlocked the doors and for the first time in a long time, I felt hopeful. We could actually make it. Abby ran to me and I hugged her with a relieved smile on my face.

Glenn and Daryl rushed everyone to go. I turned to Ryan and my smile disappeared. He hadn't moved an inch throughout this entire endeavor.

"Ry? Let's go." I called.

"I'm staying." He spoke up.

He hadn't even looked at me nor Abby. My body froze as I looked at him in disbelief. His face was blank as he stared at the ground. It didn't take me long to figure out why he wanted to stay.

"Hey, we've got four minutes. Come on." Glenn yelled.

I quickly turned to Abby who was watching Ryan with confusion written all over her face. Dakota was gone, Ryan was in danger and I couldn't risk Abby as well.

"Glenn! Take Abby with you." I pleaded.

"But-"

"No buts, Abby. Just trust me."

Glenn came to her and grabbed our stuff. He glanced at Ryan and hesitated. However, one look from me and he was leaving along with Abby. Jacqui and Andrea decided to stay as well.

Rick looked at me and I knew he didn't want to leave us behind. He fought so hard so we could leave. I nodded at him as he frowned at my decision. He nodded back and ran to the others. I crouched down in front of Ryan.

"You should go with them, Josephine. I don't want you to die here." He stated.

I looked at him in disbelief. How can he be such a hypocrite? It's not like I want him to die here either and yet he's basically forcing that on me. Dakota's not here but I am and I won't let him make such a stupid mistake.

"And I don't want you to die. I know you're in pain, and I wish I could make it go away, but I can't. And doing this, dying, isn't going to make it go away either." I complained.

"Maybe but it'll be easier. Jo, I don't want to die like Amy did. I don't want you or Abby or Dakota to have to put me down. And this is the only way I can save you from that pain." He said.

Tears slid down his cheeks and he didn't bother fighting them. I never thought he'd give up on us. All four of us were experts in surviving the worst situations. Giving up is unacceptable and I will not let him die like this.

"You moron, how does letting yourself die save us any pain? You are my brother and I love you but you're being a fucking coward." I exclaimed.

My eyes flooded with tears as I imagined a world without my little brother in it. We didn't survive the damn apocalypse this long for him to give up. I took a deep breath to calm down before speaking again.

"Family comes first. So you're gonna get your ass up and we're gonna survive this." I stated.

I got up and held out my hand for him to take. He took a deep breath with struggle evident in his eyes. Yet he still put his hand in mine.

I helped him up and we wasted no time. We ran together skipping over stairs. Once we reached the hall, we saw a hole where glass used to be.

Ryan jumped through the glass first then helped me. We ran without looking back.

"In the car." I yelled.

I opened the door and he went inside first. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dale and Andrea exiting the building as well. I jumped inside the car and closed the door. Ryan leaned down and I covered him with my body just as the explosion occurred.

A wave of immense heat went over our bodies. It wasn't strong enough to hurt us though. After a few moments, Ryan and I looked up at the burning building. My back hit the car seat as I finally relaxed. It's over.

End of Season 1