Chapter 36: Enjoying a Feast
"It's been so long since I've ridden an elevator." Rick sighed.
Jenner clearly knew about the situation outside. "Atlanta has no water or power. Survival is difficult. But you're strong."
"I know there are many people outside who took advantage of the collapsed order to cause chaos. Very dangerous people. I've encountered quite a few myself."
At this point, Jenner noticed Carl holding his mother's hand. Carl's gaze had been fixed on Jenner's gun.
Jenner joked, "For instance, you, you little dangerous person. I better watch out for you."
"Hahaha." Carl's lips curled up. His attempt to suppress his laughter made him especially adorable.
This prompted the others to laugh as well. The entire elevator echoed with laughter.
After the laughter came prolonged silence.
A foul stench filled the elevator—the smell of rotting flesh and sweat.
The odor was strong. Jenner wrinkled his nose. Rick noticed his reaction and explained somewhat awkwardly:
"These past two days, we've been on the move outside, fighting walkers. We haven't had time to shower."
Jenner smiled politely. "Understandable."
After the elevator door opened, Jenner led everyone to a conference room.
All the chairs in the conference room were piled together, as if the room had been abandoned for a long time. A musty smell permeated the air. A thick layer of dust covered everything.
After clearing a few chairs, Jenner took out test tubes to draw blood.
Blood flowed slowly through the tube into the vials.
Jenner operated carefully.
Rick was the first to have his blood drawn. He watched Jenner and asked, "If we were infected with the walker virus, we'd turn into walkers immediately. Why test us?"
Jenner didn't speak, only looked at Rick with a complicated expression, then said slowly, "Letting you in already violated every regulation. Just let me keep this one last test."
With that, Jenner fell silent. The entire process became very quiet.
Rick was an experienced county deputy. He could read people's general nature and tell when someone was lying.
Rick's eyebrows raised slightly. The distrust in his eyes grew thicker.
This man is lying!
"My turn!"
After Rick's blood was drawn, Tate sat down with her legs spread, extending her arm.
Jenner saw Tate staring at him but paid no attention, lowering his head to focus on his work.
"So, Researcher Jenner, are you the only person left in the CDC?"
As Tate asked, her gaze wandered to Jenner's chest, where his ID badge hung.
Jenner knew this moment would come eventually. He never planned to hide it.
"Yes. I'm the only one left at the CDC now."
"Before the apocalypse began, there were already infected people. The CDC obtained samples very early."
"So the government launched the 'Wildfire Protocol' and called us in to research it. But even now, we don't know what this thing is!"
Jenner's voice carried heavy defeat. He wasn't some top-tier researcher. He was just a survivor with some research capability.
The one who truly had hope of developing a vaccine and saving the world from the apocalypse was his wife—now Test Subject 19.
Then Jenner hung his head. Everyone could feel the heavy burden of that time.
"Later, the apocalypse began. The CDC researchers left the facility. They wanted to spend the world's final moments with their families."
"Another group of researchers couldn't handle the apocalypse starting, couldn't accept this reality. They... they committed suicide."
When he said "committed suicide," Jenner's hands trembled. His words came in broken fragments. Clearly this had devastated him.
Lori thoughtfully pulled out a tissue and handed it to Jenner. Jenner said quietly, "Thank you."
After steadying his emotions, Jenner continued, "I was planning to commit suicide with them, but I—my wife stopped me."
"She made me promise that I would keep researching this thing, whether it's a virus or whatever else it is."
Jenner raised his head, tears streaming down his face, his voice filled with despair. "But my wife was the one with real talent, the real capability as a researcher. She was the one who could solve the apocalypse, not me."
In the cluttered conference room, everyone's faces showed sorrow. They understood that Jenner's wife was most likely gone, and they felt his grief and pain.
In the conference room, only Jenner's soft sobs and a few sighs could be heard.
...
CDC, underground level one, residential area.
Walking on soft carpet, the air held no foul odors, only a faint scent of disinfectant.
"You'll sleep here tonight." Jenner spread his arms. "But remember, when you shower tonight, be quick. Don't use too much hot water. We need to conserve resources as much as possible."
"Shower?"
"Hot showers? We can take hot showers tonight!" Jacqui clenched her fists excitedly and raised them in celebration.
In the small corridor, several people cheered, unable to hide the smiles on their faces, their eyes revealing urgency.
Jenner crouched down and patted Carl's head, pointing to one end of the corridor. "There's a rec room over there with all kinds of books and toys."
"Just remember one thing—no video games."
Carl's little face immediately lit up with joy. He looked up at Lori hopefully and asked, "Can I go?"
Lori pinched Carl's cheek affectionately. "Go ahead, go ahead! But shower and eat dinner first."
"Dinner?" Jenner paused, then said.
"If you want to eat, we have plenty of food in the cafeteria. Steaks and such, plus wine. We can enjoy a proper meal."
"Jenner, thank you for your generosity."
Rick extended his hand and gripped Jenner's, at a loss for words.
In the apocalypse, sharing food with strangers was an extremely noble act. Perhaps Jenner hadn't experienced it firsthand, but his willingness to share was worth Rick's gratitude.
"Yes! Yes! I'm going to eat a huge meal!" Hearing about meat, Tate raised both hands, celebrating wildly.
Since leaving the ranch, Tate had rarely eaten meat. Hey, you say canned meat doesn't count as meat?
Sorry, but after eating plenty of ranch-raised meat, she didn't consider that canned stuff real meat. It was just mechanical stomach-filling.
Jenner wore a polite smile. "Don't mention it. But my cooking skills aren't good. You'll need to prepare it yourselves."
"No problem, I'll cook." Lori raised her hand. "Since you're providing the ingredients, I'll definitely make my specialty tonight. I won't let your ingredients go to waste."
Then everyone quickly chose rooms.
As soon as people entered their rooms, they started shedding clothes as they walked. By the time they reached the bathroom door, they were completely naked.
As steam rose, the water felt like countless small hands massaging every inch of skin. That comfortable sensation penetrated deep into the bones.
The first thing everyone did in the shower was tilt their heads back at a forty-five degree angle and hum contentedly, "Ahh~"
Although the showers were comfortable and everyone enjoyed them, they remembered Jenner's reminder and finished bathing quickly.
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