[Ash]
I gasp awake and I am expecting to see a ceiling but I just find the black nothingness. I pant as I smile. I...I'm alive. And no matter what, I will keep fighting. I hear shuffling to my left. "Daryl?" I ask and I hear him grunt.
"You okay?" He asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Where are you going?" I ask. I heard him walking to the door so I know he was about to leave.
"To breakfast. And stop talking so loud. Got a headache." I hear him grumble and I chuckle softly.
"Okay, bring me some later. I'm gonna go back to sleep for now." I say and I hear him grunt again before I hear the door open then close behind him.
I try to move my arm to my face but I can't. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply and put all of my focus onto my finger. I use my energy to lift it and it slowly lifts and twitches and a smile spreads onto my face before the pain comes.
I groan as the pain shoots through my arm and through my whole body. I lay still for a moment as the pain subsides. I smile and reopen my eyes to blank room. Hope. It floods through my veins like a tidal wave. I can do this. I can get better.
Suddenly, a computerized voice comes on. "Emergency lighting on." I tense up as I hear the AC turn off. "Daryl? Rick? Hello? Is somebody out there?" I call as I start to panic.
Suddenly, someone opens the door. "Daryl?" I ask hopefully.
"Yeah, it's me." He says as he walks to the side of the room, I guess to the AC.
"What's going on? What happened?" I ask in a panic.
"I don't know." He replies and then there's a commotion outside the door. Daryl walks over to it and opens the door. "What's going on? Why is everything turned off?" Daryl asks.
I hear Jenner speaking about the energy being prioritized or something as he walks down the hall. "Stay here." Daryl says and shuts the door as he walks off.
"Wasn't planning on moving." I mumble as I am once again left in the dark.
3rd POV
Rick, T-Dog, Shane, and Glenn run into the large circular room after coming from the basement to see everyone coming through the door.
"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asks as he and everyone walk with him.
"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark. Right on schedule." Jenner says as he points to the clock that reads '00:31.28'
Jenner takes another drink of the alcohol and then hands it to Daryl, who snatches it from him with a glare. "It was the French."
"What?" Andrea asks.
"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution." Jenner says as he walks up the couple of stairs.
"What happened?" Jacqui asks.
"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs off fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" Jenner says.
Shane goes to attack him. "Let me tell you--"
"To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care." Rick says as he stops him. He then turns to his wife. "Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!"
"Oh, okay." Jacqui whispers as they all turn around to go back to their rooms. An alarm starts blaring causing everyone to jump.
"What's that?" Shane asks.
Everyone looks around in a panic. "What's that?" Carl asks Rick.
In the room, Ash is panicking more than ever. "Daryl! Rick! Somebody!"
"30 minutes to decontamination." The computerized voice says, causing Ash to panic more.
"Doc, what's going on here?" Daryl screams at Jenner as he places his card over a scanner. "Everybody, y'all heard Rick."
"Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go!" Rick screams and everybody starts running to the door.
"Let's go!" T-Dog yells.
"Come on!" Glenn screams at everyone.
Suddenly, the doors are blocked by a metal door. "No." Rick whispers.
"Did you just lock us in?" Glenn asks with wide eyes. Jenner ignores him as he sits down. "He just locked us in!"
Everyone panics and runs towards the middle of the room. Daryl runs at Jenner. "You son of a b****!"
"Shane!" Rick yells.
"You locked us in here!" Daryl screams in a rage.
"No, stop. Don't!" Shane yells as he grabs ahold of Daryl.
"You lying--"
"No no no no!" Shane screams as Daryl grabs ahold of Jenner and pulls him out of his wheely chair. Daryl holds his glass bottle up as T-Dog and Shane pull him away from him. "Wait, no! No, don't do it!"
Rick walks up to Jenner at a fast pace. "Hey, Jenner, open that door now."
"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed." Jenner says.
"Well, open the damn things." Daryl says.
"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way." Jenner says.
"What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick asks.
Jenner ignores the question and turns around and starts typing on the computer. "What happens in 28 minutes?!" Shane yells at him.
"Come on!" Daryl exclaims, worried about Ash.
Jenner stands up suddenly. "You know what this place is?! We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!"
Everyone stands, staring at him with wide eyes, as he sits down in his chair once again. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure--in a terrorist attack, for example--H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."
"H.I.T.s?" Rick asks.
"Vi, define." Jenner says.
"HITs--high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structure is desired." The computerized voice says.
As everyone listen, they hug their loved ones or let tears run down their faces. In the room, Ash is crying loudly as she listens to the the voice. She knows what that means.
"It sets the air on fire. No pain. An end to sorrow, grief...regret. Everything."
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Into The Dark
Fanfiction[Currently Under Rewrite] She was lost. She was alone. She was scared. She was surrounded by the dead. Ashley Grant was thrown into the terrifying world of the dead walking the streets. All she wanted was to go to the grocery store but she ran into...
