TS-19

The group stands outside the C.D.C. staring at the open door in shock. Rick raises his gun and moves towards the doors, ready for anything or anyone on the inside. The others follow closely, not wanting to be anywhere near the Walkers. Daryl stays next to the doors with his gun up, while the others make their way into the building. Keeping watch, the alpha listens in.

"Hello? Hello?" Rick leads the group into the empty lobby. Calling out for the person who opened the door, the Alpha tries to keep his voice low, "Hello?"

The group turns when they hear a gun cock and find another Alpha with a military issued machine gun. "Anybody infected?"

Rick lowers his gun slightly, a rumble of warning escaping his chest. The group moves closer together, Sophia whining slightly as Carol pulls her closer. Rick and Shane move in front, keeping this new Alpha away from their Packs. Rick clears his throat. "He didn't make it."

The doctor observes the group, deciding, "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

Rick nods, thankful that this Alpha was allowing two unknown Packs onto his territory without a fight, "We can do that."

Shane glares at his Prime but nods his consent as well. Jenner lowers his weapon. "If you're bring stuff in, do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed."

...

STILES was the last to have his blood drawn, and after almost passing out, Dr. Jenner took the group to the cafeteria, Daryl's crossbow loaded and pointing at his head the whole time. Rick lays a hand on the alphas shoulder, causing the man to lower it with a sideways glance.

"Try to be more discreet about not trusting him. We don't want the pups and their mothers freaking out right now. We're in this Alpha's territory and we can't afford to be kicked out. Be ready if the guy pulls something, but not bluntly threatening, ok?"

Daryl nods and shoulders his bow, one hand resting on his knife. He leans in to scent Rick's hand before moving away from him causing the Alpha to nod at the alpha archer with a smile. He moves to sit next to his pups and Lori where they are seated at a large round table eating pasta, while Dale passes the wine. Stiles filled cup getting a look from rick...but his father didn't say anything.

"You know," The Elder chuckles, pointing the bottle at Carl, "in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France."

Lori smiles from where she was laying her hand over her son's glass, "Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then."

Rick turns to the Beta laughing, "What's it gonna hurt? Come on."

Lori shares a look with her husband, ready to snap at him for disagreeing with her, when she sees Carl's face and the smiles on everyone else's. Shaking her head, because she knows if she causes a scene Rick would be pissed at her, she allows Dale to pour a small amount into the cup. Anything was worth getting back in the Alpha's good graces, so the three of them could be a family and Rick could forget about the divorce papers.

"Eww." Carl's reaction to the taste has the whole table laughing, including Jenner and Daryl. Lori pours his wine into her glass, while telling Carl to drink some soda like Sophia.

Daryl grabs the bottle and pours more into his glass, making the whole table go quiet, "Not you, Glenn."

Stiles looks up blankly at the alpha,

"What?" Glenn ask

"Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get." Daryl laughs along with the others when Glenn tips his cup back and swallows the rest, raising the cup to show it was empty, the Asian Alpha was just happy the archer was being social. The men cheer as Daryl pours more into Glenn's cup.

Rick turns to see how everyone was doing and notices that Jenner isn't enjoying the party. He takes his fork and taps his glass, standing up. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

"He is more than just our host."

"Here's to you, Doc, booyah!"

"Booyah!"

"Thank you. Thank you, Doctor."

"Booyah!"

Shane decides that the Packs had had enough fun. Now they needed answers. "So, when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, Doc? All the-the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

Rick glares at the Alpha. His rumbles of warning could be heard throughout the now silent room. Shane glares right back at Rick, letting out his own rumble. Rick bares his teeth at his second, daring him to challenge his Prime. Carol pulls her pup closer to her with a whine, while Carl tries to bury himself into Lori's side when Rick stands up. Lori was watching the silent battle with little interest to her son. When Carl lets out a minute whimper, it was Daryl who laid his hand on the pup's shoulder, lightly scenting him and offering comfort.

Glenn and T-Dog notice from where they had stood up as well, waiting for a signal from their Prime on how to handle the situation. They share a smile at seeing the alpha comforting the other Alpha's pup and a frown for Lori's dismissal of sorts to her son. Lori might be a Beta, so her instincts weren't as strong as Daryl's were to provide comfort to a distressed pup, but it still should have triggered something in her.

Rick scowls when the other Alpha refused to back down, "We're celebrating, Shane. We don't need to do this now. Back down."

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move-supposed to find all the answers. Instead we-we found him. Found one man. WHY?" Shane chuckles darkly.

Jenner had been watching the two Alphas with a deep-seated curiosity. It was unusual for two Alpha males to be a part of one Pack. When their attention focused on him though, he sighs, "When things got bad, a lot of people went off to be with their families. Many... opted out. There was a rash of suicides."

Andrea joins the conversation, "You didn't leave. Why?"

The Alpha grimaces, "I just kept working, hoping to do some good."

Glenn sighs heavily, looking at Shane, "Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man."

Jenner shows them the rest of the living area when everyone finished eating; telling them where they can sleep, and a rec room with some games for the pups. Reminding the whole group to not plug in anything that draws power and to go easy on the hot water, Jenner returns to Zone 5 to test the blood samples. The group takes turns showering, ecstatic at the feeling of hot water. When Rick was done with his shower, having ignored Lori's beckoning into her's, he checks in with his Pack. Carol had the pups occupied with some games in the rec rooms and Glenn and T-Dog were playing cards in their room. Rick Scents them both with the door closed before moving on. Dale was on his way to his shower and had stopped to help Andrea clean up her puke. Lori and Shane were nowhere to be found. As he passes one of the open doors he sees stiles who was sitting on a cot drinking straight out of one of the bottles. Rick walk into the Omega's room and clears his throat. Stiles look up at the Alpha and gestures for him to close the door. Once the door was closed, Rick walks over to stiles and sits on the ground next to the cot.

"The hell ya doin', dad?" The Omega snorts.

"It's a technique we are taught in the academy to calm distressed Omegas. I figured this would be the appropriate way to go about being in your territory, since you claimed this room." Rick shrugs. "I went to check with Jenner about the blood and apologized for the stare down at dinner. I might have said something I'll regret tomorrow, though."

"Why the hell you tellin me, Dad?"

"Because I know that you'll tell me off regardless if I'm an Alpha or your father. If I do or say something out of line, you'll set me right. Shane used to be the one that would, but I don't think I can trust him again. Not after Lori." Rick clicks his tongue with a sorrow filled smile.

"You might be an Alpha but you're still human. Why me though? You got Glenn and T - Dog as Pack, why me?" Stiles grunts with restrained curiosity.

"They would have my back, I don't doubt it. But Glenn is beyond submissive for an Alpha and T - Dog was always part of a Traditional Pack; I feel that he might not know what to do in some situations and I will go beyond what an Alpha is supposed to do. I know you will knock me on my ass if I push too much."

Stiles huffs, secretly pleased and honored that Rick would trust him so much. "What'cha say that ya think you'll regret?"

"That it was only a matter of time before we all die and that we...OOWW!" Rick growls loudly as he cradles his head, rubbing the spot where stiles had hit him. The Alpha grimaces when he puts pressure on the bump and turns to the Omega who was glaring at him as he takes a sip from his bottle.

"You're an idiot father. The hell ya thinking saying shit like that." Stiles huffs, grabbing Rick's arm and pulling him up on the cot.

"I was thinking that the last thing I remember was getting shot in a car case and being loaded in an ambulance wondering if I was going to see my puppies again while Shane went to tell my Mate I was in a coma. I wake up and the dead are eating people, my Mate is fucking my best friend, my puppies thought I was dead and I've got a new Pack I'm responsible for before it can even register that my life is gone. My family... everything I knew... gone, dead."and as much as Rick want stiles to say his little pup the kid was growing up more everyday..

"Shit dad, ain't no one expecting you to take care of everyone. If ya needed help I'm sure ya would have gotten it."

"Lori said that it's been three months since I was in a coma, two since this whole thing started. Everyone has had months to come to terms with everything." Rick sighs and lays down on the cot, looking up at the ceiling, "I've had four days."

"Four what?" Stiles looked a little surprised at the reveal. "You're handlin' it better than most people."

"Yeah. I think I outta get ready for sleep. Gotta check on Carl, then find out where I'm sleeping." The Alpha gets up with a grunt and wipes his hands on his jeans.

"Thanks again son."

.....

Jenner leads everyone into the big room after breakfast the next morning. Most stumble after slowly, holding their heads and groaning. Daryl snorts at them as he passes them and makes it to the front with Stiles and Rick.

"Bunch of sissy can't take a little hangover. Wasn't even the good shit." Rick looks at Daryl, one eyebrow raised, causing the alpha and his son to laugh at Rick's bloodshot eyes. "Sissy."

The men chuckle as the group gathers around Dr. Jenner at his computer station. "Give me a playback of TS-19. Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few."

Up on the wall an oversized display shows varying 3-D views of human skulls. The main screen changes to show the upper shoulders and head of the subject. The screen skews to a horizontal view then increases the magnification. The image becomes more and more detailed. The magnification shows the inside the skull. It appears to be lit with bright blue threads of energy. Some areas are denser with light than others but there are lighted threads throughout the skull. The detail zooms in until the threads become closer and pulses of light can be distinguished.

"What are those lights?"

Jenner addresses the Alpha who asked the question, Shane, as he speaks, "It's a person's life-experiences, memories. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you-the thing that makes you unique and human."

Daryl rubs his face with a sigh. "You don't make sense ever, do ya doc?"

Jenner points at the blue lights on the screen, "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. This is a vigil... or rather the playback of the vigil, for Test Subject-19. Someone who was bitten and infected... and volunteered to have us record the process. VI, Scan forward to the first event."

The brain has lights still flickering in the outer areas, but the center has become dark as if black roots were growing inside. Glenn gasps at the image of the spreading darkness in the brain; blue lights being replaced with red. "What is that?"

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death." Jenner clears his throat as the brain goes black, all the lights gone, "Everything you ever were or ever will be...gone. Scan to the second event. 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."

A red glow flickers at the base of the brain. The rest remains dark. Random sparks shoot out into the larger area of the brain, but no further lights grow.

"It restarts the brain?" Stiles asks in shock, staring at the screen with wide eyes.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving." Jenner says.

Rick watches the body move as he walks closer to get a better look, "But they're not alive?"

Jenner gestures to the monitor, "You tell me."

Rick shakes his head no, "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."

"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part-that doesn't come back; the you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct." The subject moves, its mouth opens and closes. The head moves side to side, the shoulders move as if the arms were being lifted. The barrel of a gun appears at the forehead pointing down. A bullet enters the brain and tears through the red cluster of embers. The brain goes completely dark, the subject stops moving.

"God. What was that?"

Jenner starts to shut down his computer, "VI, Power down the main screen and the workstations."

"He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you? You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea looks at the Alpha, waiting for an answer while the computer was powering down the main screen and workstations.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal."

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but..." Dale points at the huge clock on the wall as it hits one hour, "that clock-it's counting down. What happens at zero?"

"The basement generators-they run out of fuel."

"And then? VI, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asks when Jenner ignores the question and walks out of the big room.

The computer answers, "When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."

.....

Jenner had locked the group in zone 5, waiting for the HITs to detonate and set the air on fire. After a couple attempts on Jenner's life, which Rick had broken up before the doctor was hurt, the Alpha begged Jenner for a second chance. Once the doors were reopened everyone, but Jenner, Jacqui, Andrea and Dale run up the stairs to the ground level. T-Dog and Daryl run for the doors, banging against them. T-Dog tries the electronic security pad beside the door.

"Try it! Try it! Try it now!"

"Daryl!" The Alpha tosses the axe into Shane's hands. They both start hitting the glass, but it doesn't break. T-Dog makes a run at the window with a chair.

"Daryl, look out!" The chair doesn't work. Shane loads his shotgun and fires a round at the glass. It barely makes a dent.

Seeing no progress, Carol reaches in her bag, remembering one important detail from Rick arriving at camp. "Rick, I have something that might help."

Shane scuffs as the timid Omega fumbles with her purse, "Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it."

"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket." Carol ignores the other Alpha as she speaks to the Prime, pulling out the grenade Rick had picked up in the tank in Atlanta. She gives it to him and takes Sophia away toward the back of the lobby.

"The fuck Officer Friendly?"

"Oh my god, that's a GERNADE!"

"GET DOWN!"

Everyone but Rick takes cover while he removes the pin and puts the grenade on the window sill. Terrified at what he's just done he leaps back and away as quickly as he can.

"Oh, Sh-" stiles doesn't get to finish his words

Only the window nearest to the grenade shatters but it's big enough for them to escape through. Once outside the group runs to their vehicles, the guys shoot down any Walkers that are in their path; Daryl takes one's head off with his axe. Rick leads the way, the pups and their mothers right behind him. He climbs into the RV and gets keys to start the engine. Lori points out the window as Andrea and Dale jump down out of the building. "Wait wait wait wait wait. They're coming."

Andrea and Dale make a run for the R.V. and Rick checks his watch. They weren't going to make it. Lori sees the flames building up in the window and sticks her head out the window "Dale, get down! Andrea, down!"

Dale and Andrea take shelter behind the sandbag cordon out by the guard shack. Everyone else ducks down in their vehicle as a huge fireball builds up inside the C.D.C. building until it fills the entire place. The heat blasts out the windows, setting fire to everything around it, exploding tanks, cars, trucks, everything it touches. The explosion expands until the roof disintegrates and the building implodes on itself. Everyone is shocked at the destruction. Behind the sandbags Dale reaches down to Andrea and helps the Beta up.

Stiles opens the R.V. door, ushering them into the vehicle as he sees the Walkers getting closer. "Get in, get in, get in. get in!"

Rick drives the R.V. away, looking shaken. The five cars turn around and drive back up the road they'd come down on, the burning of the C.D.C. sends a column of black smoke high up into the Atlanta sky.