𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐔𝐌 (𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛)

𝑁𝑖𝑛𝑒

I jumped as Daryl's booze went flying at the metal door blocking our exit, shattering upon impact.

"Open the damn door!"

I shook my head from my place in another swivel chair, this one closer to the blocked off exit. Like everyone else, I couldn't stand to sit near Dr. Jenner. Glenn sent me an exacerbated look as someone threw Daryl an ax and he and Shane started working at the door. From somewhere behind the rows of computers, I could hear the children crying.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher," the doctor called to the men from his work station. Daryl whipped around and scowled, running forward with his axe raised.

"Well, your head ain't!"

I watched in disbelief as Daryl tried to swing at Dr. Jenner. Rick, T-Dog, and Dale had to hold him back, once again, from splitting the doctor's head in two. T-Dog pried the axe from Daryl's hands and he stormed away empty handed. Everyone was frustrated and on edge, some just showed it more than others.

"This isn't right. You can't just keep us in here. My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this," Carol sobbed.

"One tiny moment, one millisecond. No pain," Dr. Jenner leaned towards her and Sophia.

I scoffed and stood out of my chair. The familiar cocking of a gun sounded throughout the control room and I glanced to my left to see Shane speeding towards Dr. Jenner with a shotgun in his arms.

"You've gotta be kidding me," I ran a hand through my hair. It was the third time someone had tried to kill this man today.

"Outta my way," Shane shoved past Rick and aimed the barrel right at the doctor's face, "You open those doors, or I will blow your head off, you hear me?!"

Rick rushed over to Shane and tried to talk him down, "Brother, if you do this, we'll never get out of here!"

"You listen to him Shane," Lori voiced sternly.

I felt my body tense up in anticipation. It seemed like I was right about Shane after all, he did have quite a temper. I saw Daryl move closer to me, somehow he had gotten a hold of another axe. He kept his eyes trained carefully on Shane as he tightly gripped the handle of his axe. 

Shane let out a monstrous yell and directed his aim away from Dr. Jenner, shooting wildly at the empty monitors next to him.

"Shit," I cursed and ducked behind one of the work stations as the shots continued, pressing my hands over my ears. Shane had proven himself to be a loose cannon, and I didn't know how well it would bode for the rest of us if we ever got out of there.

The gunshots ceased and I waited a moment before peeking out from behind the work station. Shane was on the floor with Rick standing over him, shotgun now in his possession.

"Are you done?"

"Yeah, I guess we all are," Shane answered bitterly.

Rick handed the shotgun to T-Dog and looked around at all of us. I heard a heavy panting next to me and looked to find that Daryl had moved closer during the shooting. His chest heaved up and down as he rested the axe on a monitor, standing up straight and gazing back at Rick.

"You're lying," Rick said and turned to Dr. Jenner.

"What?" The doctor's head perked up.

"I think you're lying about there not being hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"

"It doesn't matter," the doctor scoffed.

"It does matter. It always matters," Rick bent down to meet Dr. Jenner's eye, "You stayed when others ran. Why?"