"Oh, sorry, I think I got a little too excited." Dr. Jenner said as he regained his composure.
"Mr. Jenner, can I trust you to keep this a secret?" I asked when our gazes met.
"I will." Dr. Jenner replied after thinking carefully about it, I could feel the honesty in his words.
"Good, now we need to leave the facility and find a safer base somewhere else." I said while looking at the countdown one more time.
...
A few minutes later, everyone was gathered in Zone Five, obviously as sleepy and confused as people could be after getting drunk.
"Vi, turn on the main screen, Test Subject Nineteen." Dr. Jenner ordered after pressing a few buttons.
Suddenly, the enormous screen began playing a dynamic MRI video showing a cross section of a human brain.
The folds and grooves were clearly visible, and the neural synapses flickered with lights representing electrical signals, similar to an electrical grid in a large city.
"This is your brain, your consciousness, memory, emotions, everything is inside the neural synapses taking place here, but when that fails.."
The electrical networks began shutting down starting from the cerebral cortex, the darkness spread like ink, eventually swallowing the entire brain.
"This is death, the body stops functioning, the heart stops, the brain runs out of oxygen, everything ends."
Suddenly, the screen flickered, in the center of that brain submerged in absolute darkness, a strange red light suddenly lit up inside the brainstem.
It did not spread through the entire brain like the previous electrical signals, instead, it remained concentrated only in the most primitive region.
"The reset, it happens after a few minutes, maybe hours, only the brainstem regenerates, it does not need food, it does not need sleep, it does not need love, it does not even need to breathe, it only needs.. to eat." Dr. Jenner said while staring at the simulation.
"What about their humanity, is that person still in there?" Andrea asked with a trembling voice.
"It's gone, the frontal lobe shut down, the person you knew is dead, what remains is just an empty shell." Dr. Jenner replied while turning off the image that caused him pain.
"But that is not even the worst part, do you think you're safe as long as you don't get bitten?" Dr. Jenner suddenly asked, causing everyone to turn pale.
He pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his pocket, it was the blood analysis report he had done earlier that afternoon.
"Everyone, whether you get bitten, scratched or die from natural causes, the moment your heart stops beating, you become one of those things."
"You mean... we're all infected?" Shane asked while standing up abruptly, making his chair screech against the floor.
"That's right, whether it's a virus or some damned punishment from God." Jenner said while spreading his hands. "The truth is that we're all carriers."
"What about the cure? Laboratories all over the world were researching it, there has to be some progress." Rick asked, unwilling to give up.
"There is no cure, not yet, the French lasted longer, but just when they thought they had an advantage, their electrical grid collapsed, as for us, we're the same." Dr. Jenner replied, crushing their hopes.
"Wait, you said there is no cure yet, does that mean there will be one in the future? Also, why are you only telling us this now?" Carl suddenly asked, drawing everyone's attention.
"Hm, it seems at least someone is paying attention, you're right, I think there can be a cure, maybe not a definitive one, but it's something." Jenner said while nodding, immediately making everyone frantic.
"What does that mean? Have you discovered something?" Rick asked, filled with hope once again.
A smile appeared on Carl's lips, all of this was a script carefully prepared by him and Dr. Edwin Jenner to persuade everyone.
"That's right, however, it's still experimental, normally that would not be a problem, but we're running out of time." Jenner said while pointing at the countdown.
"Running out of time?" Andrea asked in confusion, an ominous feeling invading the group.
"The automatic decontamination protocol, when the main fuel reaches zero, the system will seal every door and release a thermobaric explosion to destroy any biological agent inside the building."
"Shit!" T-Dog cursed as fear sank deep into his bones.
The others did not react much better, everyone had pale faces with sweat covering their skin.
"We need to leave, right now!" Andrea panicked while grabbing Amy, ready to run away.
"Everyone, calm down, I think Mr. Jenner still has something else to say." Carl intervened once again before both blondes ruined everything.
"Exactly." Jenner said while taking a deep breath as every gaze fell on him.
"The research cannot continue here, the CDC is finished, but I do not need this building to keep working, I need samples, equipment, records, medicine and time."
"Then let's leave already." Shane immediately said while still staring at the countdown.
"It's not that simple." Jenner replied while turning toward the console.
"There are sensitive materials in the laboratory, hard drives, samples, reagents, medical equipment and part of my research, we also need to gather supplies for the trip." He said before pausing so everyone could process it.
"That is why I decided to tell all of you now instead of waiting until tomorrow, we still have more than ten hours before the power runs out, if we work together, we can move everything important before the system completely shuts down."
"Then stop talking and start telling us what the hell we need to carry." Daryl said while adjusting the crossbow on his shoulder, the others nodded after realizing they still had plenty of time.
Dr. Jenner nodded and immediately got to work, since everyone seemed to temporarily trust him, there was no need to waste more words.
The plan was divided quickly, Jenner took control of the technical areas together with Glenn, Morales and Jim, Rick and Shane went after medical supplies, from antibiotics, painkillers, anti inflammatory medicine, vitamins and even surgical equipment, the CDC was truly a treasure.
As for the rest, they went to raid the storage rooms to grab all the canned meat and vacuum sealed food.
The entire team moved like a well oiled machine, despite the noise and panic, they worked at full speed.
After nearly eight hours of intense work, Zone Five looked as if it had been looted by a group of professionals, medical boxes, hard drives, documents, sealed reagents, canned food, water containers, thermal blankets and medical equipment were loaded into the vehicles.
"This is everything I can take without compromising safety." Jenner said while closing a metallic box containing cryogenic samples.
"It will be enough for now, we'll find more later, right now, the important thing is getting out of here." Rick said anxiously.
"Everyone listen, load the rest and get ready to move in fifteen minutes, I don't want anyone left behind." Rick ordered with a firm voice.
The entire group immediately began moving again, although their nervousness was obvious, everyone seemed to have recovered something important, hope.
"It's just as I imagined, the most valuable thing about Dr. Jenner is not whether he can create a cure or not, it's the hope he brings everyone with his presence." Carl murmured while observing them all.
"Alright, everything's ready, nobody gets left behind, it's time to move!" Shane shouted while climbing into one of the vehicles.
Everyone else quickly started moving, preparing to return to the main road, only after they had driven several kilometers away did they let out silent sighs of relief.
Immediately afterward, cheers erupted inside the vehicles, it felt as if they had escaped from a grave with their own hands.
Amy hugged Andrea while crying, Carol held Sophia against her chest, Glenn hit the steering wheel with a dumb smile on his face.
Even Daryl, who normally looked annoyed at the entire world, glanced at the CDC fading in the rearview mirror and let out a satisfied snort.
Considering everything, it seemed like a good outcome, even though they could not find a permanent shelter, they at least obtained supplies, medicine and even the hope of a cure for this hell.
"Wait, what is that?" Glenn suddenly asked.
Just when everyone was filled with euphoria, terror invaded them once again, the sound of a loud alarm echoed from the direction they had come from.
"I think.. I think it's coming from the CDC." T-Dog replied.
"Everyone speed up, don't stop!" Rick shouted through the radio.
"I'm trying!" Glenn responded while pressing the accelerator as the RV engine roared with effort. ...
One hour earlier, inside the CDC, after everyone had successfully evacuated, a figure appeared inside Zone Five, the figure moved skillfully toward the heavy equipment left behind.
With a touch of his hand, the heavy experimental machines disappeared as if they had never existed, in only a few minutes, the entirety of Zone Five was emptied, even the servers used by VI were looted.
Of course, the figure did not stop there, it traveled throughout the entire CDC from top to bottom taking everything it could, even though the group had already taken many things, it was not even a fraction of all the supplies inside the building.
Just the food he looted would be enough to last for years, the medical supplies were even more abundant, everything that would have been difficult to transport normally was looted with ease by the mysterious figure.
Of course, the figure was none other than Carl, well, more specifically, one of Carl's clones, it turns out the inventory can be used by all his clones similar to Ender Chests.
After looting every supply inside the CDC, Carl arrived at the control room, he approached the only monitors he had not looted, pressed a few buttons and suddenly, the exterior doors opened, allowing access into the building.
"Come on, rotten trash, today the CDC will give you your final treatment." Carl murmured while his fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard.
Suddenly, a deafening alarm echoed throughout the entire building and spread across the surrounding area, awakening everything dead still crawling among the abandoned cars.
The walkers began turning their heads one after another, drawn toward that unbearable noise, first there were dozens, then hundreds, staggering figures emerging from alleys, parking lots and broken buildings, all moving toward the open doors of the CDC.
Carl's clone watched the cameras with a cold smile, observing the rotten tide slowly entering the building.
"Come on, all of you get inside, don't be shy." Carl smiled while turning the alarm volume to maximum.
The walkers were not shy and entered with staggering steps one after another, at first there were only dozens, but one hour later, thousands of walkers had invaded the building while hundreds more continued arriving from outside.
Inside the control room, Carl's clone watched the cameras one final time, seeing how every hallway had turned into a trap overflowing with walkers.
"Perfect." He murmured with a cold smile.
The next second, his body disappeared in a puff of white smoke, leaving the room empty just as the countdown reached its final seconds.
Kaboom!
A terrifying explosion echoed out, the shockwave illuminated the night as if a second sun had been born in the middle of Atlanta.
A pillar of fire rose from the CDC devouring the upper floors, glass exploded outward, concrete shattered and thousands of walkers trapped inside were reduced to ashes in an instant.
Several kilometers away, the convoy shook violently, the windows rattled and some vehicles nearly lost control on the road.
"Shit, that was the CDC!" Glenn shouted with a pale face while trying to keep the RV under control.
"Everyone keep moving, don't look back!" Rick ordered through the radio, although even he could not stop himself from staring through the rearview mirror at the cloud of fire rising in the distance.
Inside one of the vehicles, Carl slowly closed his eyes while the distant sound of the explosion continued echoing across the horizon.
[ Points +5,737 ]
A faint smile appeared on his face while he rested his head against the seat, if he had been alone, he probably would have laughed like a maniac.
"Awesome, I can finally get enough points to free myself from the weakness of being just a ten year old kid!" Carl thought while silently clenching his fist.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Hello guys, the author here, I came to recommend an application I just created called Reader Browser.
As the name suggests, it is focused on readers, it is a browser with Nodes/Extensions that allow you to do things such as changing the names of characters inside stories, for example changing Chen Luo into Jack, you can do it on any website, including Webnovel.
You can also translate any comic into your preferred language in real time, as you may know, Webnovel and other comic websites are usually focused on a single language, now you will also be able to read those comics in your own languages.
The app is a browser and includes a free ad blocker, if you download it now, you will receive some extra benefits, you can download it from the Play Store.
Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who decided to give the app a chance, I will continue updating this book in the future, so feel free to comment and leave your ideas.
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