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chapter ten | the other plan
"WOULDN'T IT BE easier?" Jenner asked, holding his arms out, "more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?"
Shane had enough. Cassie flinched when he loaded his shotgun and charged towards Jenner in a hurry to shoot him. She watched from behind Laurel as the men screamed at Shane, begging him to stop as he pointed the gun in Jenner's face.
"Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this. We will never get out of here." Rick grabbed his shoulders, "If he dies, we all— we all die! Shane!"
Shane shouted as he shot the computers behind Jenner and Laurel shielded her family as glass and sparks flew, and everyone else ducked. Rick grabbed Shane's gun, twisted it so Shane lost his grip, and slammed the butt of the gun into his face, making the man fall on his back. "Are you done now? Are you done?" Rick hovered over him, prepared to knock him out.
Shane chuckled coldly, "Yeah, I guess we all are."
Everyone stood still, eyes wide open in fear and breathing heavily from the adrenaline.
Rick let his friend stand up, taking his shotgun away from him. As Rick approached the doctor who was keeping them in this building of death, he handed the gun to Glenn, knowing he wouldn't have a meltdown and try to shoot the doctor.
"Why did you stay?" Rick asked Jenner.
"What?"
Rick leaned down to his level, "why did you stay? Why did you choose the hard path while the others ran?"
"It doesn't matter," Jenner tried to shrug him off but Rick didn't budge.
"But it does, you stayed to help find the cure or even just the answer to this, why?"
"You think I wanted to? I made a promise... to her," he pointed at the big screen, "my wife."
"Test subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asked.
"She begged me to go for as long as we could."
"That's all we want. To keep going for as long as we can." Laurel pleaded.
"Your wife didn't have a choice, but we do. A choice, a chance," Rick begged.
Jenner looked at every person in the group before locking eyes with Laurel and her family. Laurel tried to hold back the tears, but Jenner could see them. She was trying to put up a front so her siblings wouldn't have to see their older sister cry and become more freighted. She was their rock. Jenner knew she could survive, she just had a certain strength, and how she carried herself made Jenner so positive about her survival. He was scared, just like everyone else.
