Shoot Or Run

Chapter 6

  I felt someone shaking me gently, "Elena, Baby, get up," Mom said. I opened my eyes slowly. She smiled. "Good morning, get up," She said. "Good morning," I muttered as I got up and rubbed my eyes.

I took clothes out of my bag and went to the bathroom. I changed out of my pjs and changed into my clothes. I brush my fingers through my hair. I look in the drawers, hoping I would find some toothpaste and a un-used toothbrush. And I did. I brush my teeth, feeling the month fresh taste in my mouth.

I walked out of the room with Mom. We walked in the cafeteria, seeing the group is already there making breakfast. I heard Carl asking his dad if he was hangover. "Mom said you be," He said. "Mom is right," Rick replied, sitting next to Lori. "Mom has that annoying habit," Lori said with a smile.

I grab a plate and T-Dog walks up with a skillet. "Eggs. Powdered, but- I do 'em good," He said with a smile, and he pours some eggs on my plate. "Thanks T," I said with a smile. I grab a piece of bacon and set right next to Glenn while Mom set next to Dale.

"Hangover?" I teased Glenn. He gave me a look. "Never again," He said, rubbing his temples. "I bet you can't tell. Protein helps the hangover," T-Dog said as he pours some eggs on Glenn's plate. Glenn looked at the eggs, and he looked like he was about to throw up, and moans again while Jacqui rubbed his shoulders.

"Where'd all this come from?" Rick asked, holding a little bottle in his hand. "Jenner," Lori replied. "Could you help me, please?" Rick asked. I took the little bottle and opened it. "He thought we could use it," Lori said as she looked at Glenn. "Thank you," Rick said as I handed him the little bottle back. "Don't ever ever ever let me drink again," Glenn complained.

Shane walked in and said hey. "Feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked him. "Worse," Shane said. "The hell happened to you? Your neck?" I looked up at T and Shane and I can see some scratches on Shane's neck. "I must have done it in my sleep," Shane replies. "Never seen you do that before," Rick said, "Me neither. Not like me at all," Shane said. Jenner walked in, "Morning."

We all said good morning back to him. "Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing," Dale said. "But you will anyway," Jenner gave a little chuckle. "We didn't come here for the eggs," Mom said. We all looked at him. "Follow me, I think I should show you something."

Jenner took us down to the lab. I stood next to Mom, Lori and Carl. Jenner was sitting on the computer with the buttons, "Give me playback of TS-19," Jenner ordered. "Playback of TS-19," The computerized voice, Vi.

The big screen pulled up some files. "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few," Jenner told us as we all gathered to see the big screen. A picture of a brain showed up on the screen. "Is that a brain?" Carl asked. Jenner turned and nodded. "An extraordinary one," Jenner said. "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V."

"Enhanced internal view." The screen moved sideway, to show that it was a person. The person was lying down. The camera deep into the brain, into where a bunch of stems were glowing. "What are those lights?" Shane asked. "It's a person's life," Jenner replied. "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 said. "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 said. "Death?" Rick asked, taking a step towards the doctor. "That's what this is, a vigil?"

"Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil," Jenner said. "This person died? Who?" Mom asked. Jenner took a deep breath and looked at the ground, "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." The camera zoomed out and the brain stem was turning black. "What is that?" I asked. "It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs," Jenner said. The color soon started taking over every part of the brain until it turned completely back. "Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be ... Gone."

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked her mother, who nodded. Mom moved me close to her. "They lost somebody two days ago," Lori told Jenner, who looked confused. Jenner walked closer, "I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is."

Then Jenner went back to the monitor. Carl slid his hand in mine and squeezed it. "Scan to the second event," Jenner ordered. "Scanning to second event." He looked at us, "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 this patient, it was two hours, one minute ... Seven seconds."

Little red lights sparked throught the brain. "It restarts the brain?" Lori asked. "No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving," Jenner said. "But they're not alive?" Rick asked. Jenner turned to look at him and pointed at the screen. "You tell me," He replied.

"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark," Rick said. I watched the light moving thourgh out the brain. "Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part. That doesn't come back. The you part," Jenner said. Whoever this patient was, started moving and snapping its jaw. "Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

In the corner of the screen was a weird looking object, and suddenly, something went through the patient's head. "God. What was that?" Carol asked, pulling Sophia closer to her. "He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?" Mom asked. "Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations," Jenner said. Vi copy Jenner's words and did actually what he said.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Mom asked. "It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal," Jenner said. "Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui said. "There is that," Jenner said. Mom shook her head, "Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere," She said.

"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Carol asked. "There may be some. People like me," Jenner said. "But you don't know? How can you not know?" Rick asked Jenner, everyone wanted to know the answer. "Everything went down. Communications, directives ... all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month," Jenner said. "So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" Rick asked.

Jenner said nothing. It was clear that there is no hope. "Jesus. Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk again," Daryl said, running his fingers through his hair. Dale got up from his chair and walked over to Jenner. "Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but ... That clock-" Dale pointed at the digital clock on the wall and we all looked at it, "It's counting down. What happens at zero?" He asked.

Everyone looked at Jenner and waited for an answer. "The basement generators... they run out of fuel," Jenner said. And then he walking off. "And then?" Rick asked, but Jenner just kept walking. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asked the computer. "When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."