〰

〰

Elodie picked at a piece of bacon on her plate, turning it over with her fork as she contemplated taking a bite. She wasn't particularly hungry. She wasn't used to eating with a bunch of people around a table, like a normal family. Back home, everyone would eat whenever they wanted. Her mother cooked the food, and then you had two hours tops to eat it before it was thrown out. So, they had never sat around a table with the three of them, eating dinner like a happy family.

It felt strange to do so now, without her mother and Jamie there. They should have been. They shouldn't have died, they should have been sitting right there next to Elodie, enjoying the food.

But they weren't. They were dead.

She looked up from her bacon, glancing around the table. Everyone was eating their food like everything was okay. Like they didn't just loose half of their group. Like Amy, Jamie, Jim, Ed, and so many others weren't dead.

The only one who wasn't happily eating his food, was Glenn. He had his arm propped on the table, palm pressed against his forehead as he occassionally let out a groan. Elodie knew it was because of the alcohol last night. Everyone seemed to be able to manage the hangover, except Glenn. Maybe he should stop drinking alcohol.

"Elodie," Lori's voice came from beside her, followed by a sweet hand on her knee. "Everything okay? You haven't touched your food."

"I'm touchin' it," the girl muttered, pointing at her fork that was picking at the bacon. Lori tilted her head with a knowing look, prompting Elodie to sigh and set her fork down. "Not hungry."

"You gotta eat somethin," Lori said, brows furrowed in worry. "T-dog's makin' some eggs. You think you can try some of those?"

Elodie shook her head. She never ate eggs in the morning because they made her feel sick. Any other time of day, she'd happily eat eggs, just not in the morning.

"How about some crackers?" Lori suggested, sliding a packet of crackers toward Elodie with a smile.

"'Kay," Elodie mumbled, accepting the crackers from Lori. She opened the packet and took out a cracker, cautiously nibbling on it. Instantly, she regretted her decision as the dryness of the cracker coated her mouth. Despite this, she continued eating, not wanting Lori to go out of her way to find something else for her.

"Mornin'," Rick greeted as he sat down at the table.

"Are you hungover?" Carl immediately asked. "Mom said you'd be."

Rick chuckled, and Lori grinned as she chewed on her bacon. "Mom is right."

"Mom has that annoying habit," Lori quipped, shooting a glance toward Elodie. Elodie had set her crackers down on her plate, having only managed to eat two of them.

"Eggs!" T-Dog announced, emerging from the kitchen with a pan of eggs. "Powdered, but I make 'em good. Bet you can't tell. Protein helps the hangover!" He served eggs onto Glenn's plate.

Glenn let out a loud groan in response, making a small smile tug at Elodie's lips. She felt sorry for him, but it was also a bit amusing. "Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again."

Slowly but surely, everyone began to stroll into the dining room. Elodie watched Shane heading to the coffee machine. She couldn't understand why adults enjoyed coffee. Firstly, it smelled terrible. Secondly, it tasted even worse. It was just... bitter. 

"Feel as bad as I do?" Rick called out to his friend, who responded with a huff.

"Worse," he admitted.

"What the hell happened to you? Your neck?" T-Dog interjected, drawing Elodie's attention to Shane's neck. Deep red scratches marked his skin, as if someone had clawed at him with long nails.

"I must have done it in my sleep," Shane explained as he took his seat.

"Never seen you do that before," Rick remarked, joining T-Dog in obsreving Shane's neck, though everyone was doing that now.

"Me neither," Shane said, taking a sip of his coffee. His gaze then shifted to Lori, and although it wasn't directed at Elodie, she couldn't help but shiver at the intensity of it. "Not like me at all."

Elodie furrowed her brows in confusion, glancing at Lori, who abruptly shifted her focus away from Shane, now picking at her food. Elodie didn't understand why they were both acting so strangely.

"Morning." Elodie turned her head to see Jenner entering the room.

"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing—" Dale began, only to be cut off by Jenner's sigh.

"But you will anyway," Jenner retorted, pouring himself some coffee.

Elodie frowned at his response. Of course they were going to ask questions. They came here seeking answers about the walkers, and now that they discovered Jenner was the only one there, he expected them not to ask any questions?

"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea said firmly.

〰

Not long after, Elodie was sitting on top of one of the desks in Zone 5. Andrea and Dale asked Jenner for more answers, and finally he was willing to give them exactly that. Jenner activated a large screen, causing Elodie's jaw to drop as she watched it light up. Initially, a bunch of numbers appeared on the screen, followed by a loading sequence, and then an image of a person's head came into view.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this," Jenner remarked, gesturing toward the screen.

Scanlines swept across the screen, revealing a brain inside the head.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.

Obviously, Elodie thought.

"An extraordinary one," Jenner replied with a slight smile. "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for the E.I.V," he commanded the smart computer.

"Enhanced Internal View," the system responded. The camera on the screen adjusted until they could see the side of the brain. It zoomed in further, revealing the inside of it, and Elodie's eyes widened at the sight of thousands of tiny lights flickering across the screen. It was as if a swarm of fireflies were living inside of the brain.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked.

"It's a person's life, experiences, memories. It's everything," Jenner explained. "Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique, and human."

"You don't make sense, ever?" Daryl interjected, his arms crossed over his chest.

"It makes sense to me," Elodie shrugged, glancing at Daryl, who responded with a huff and a shake of his head.

"Those are synapses," Jenner continued, pointing up at the screen. "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."

"Death?" Rick echoed, stepping closer to Jenner. "Is that what this is? A vigil?"

"Yes," Jenner said. "Or rather, the playback of a vigil."

"This person died?" Andrea's voice softened. "Who?"

"Test subject nineteen," Jenner said, his face twitching slightly. "Someone who was bitten and infected... and volunteered to have us record the process."

A brief silence followed as everyone fixed their gaze on the screen. Elodie, however, had barely even been paying attention, because her focus was solely on the pretty lights darting across the screen. She wondered if there were actual lights zooming about in her brain right now. She hoped there were, even though she couldn't even see them. It was a cool thought to know there were pretty lights in your brain.

"VI, scan forward to the first event," Jenner commanded. The computer complied, zooming out and revealing the brain once more—resulting in a frown from Elodie because the lights were gone—only now with black-reddish tree-like wires, slowly expanding and infecting the brain.

"What is that?" Glenn exclaimed in confusion.

"It invades the brain like meningitis," Jenner said. "The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." The figure on the screen seemed to stir, as if attempting to speak, before falling silent and the brain turning pitch-black. No more lights. "Then death."

Elodie stared at the screen. So this is what happened when you got bit? Strange black wires invaded the brain, they get bigger and bigger until you die?

Is that was happened to Jamie? And her mother?

Lost in her thoughts, Elodie barely registered Jenner's words as he continued his explanation. The image of the brain on the screen blurred before her eyes, replaced by the haunting image of Jamie lying motionless on the ground, his skin cold against hers.

No! Stop. Stop, stop, stop. Stop it.

Elodie bowed her head, bringing her hands to her forehead and lightly hitting her skull. She didn't close her eyes, because she'd see Jamie, and she was trying so very hard not to. She hit her forehead again, a little harder this time, scolding herself for constantly allowing herself to think about Jamie. She hadn't stopped thinking about him the entire morning. She couldn't stop. She had to stop. Stop, stop. Stop it.

"Hey, stop," she heard Daryl grumble from in front of her, hands wrapping around both of her wrists and pulling them away from her head. "Kid, stop it," he repeated when Elodie tried to resist his grip to hit her head again, her head bowed down so no one could see her face.

Daryl tightened his grip and pressed both her hands on the desk, maintaining his grip to keep them there. Elodie grumbled in response, keeping her head down to hide her tear streaked face. She wiggled her arms, trying to get them free.

"Let go," she said quietly.

She tensed when she noticed how quiet the room was, suddenly feeling all eyes on her. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks. She hated everyone looking at her, especially when she was sitting on a desk, hiding her face because she was crying. She was so, so weird.

"She lose someone, too?" Jenner's voice broke the silence, which made the redness on her cheeks spread to all over her face.

"Her brother and her mom," Lori answered. "It's been hard on her."

Elodie wanted to scream that she could hear every word they were saying about her. It reminded her of the times back at school when people would gossip loudly about how weird her hair looked, or something else stupid, unaware that Elodie could hear them. It frustrated her.

She felt Daryl release her wrists, prompting her to quickly retreat further onto the desk, curling her legs beside her and keeping her head down. She heard him sigh and mutter something under his breath, though she couldn't make out the words.

She felt a hand pat her leg, a different touch than Daryl's, prompting her to look up through her lashes to see who it was.

"How about you and I go do something different?" Dale suggested, opening up his hand for her to take.

Elodie blinked up at Dale, her tear-stained cheeks still flushed with embarrassment. She hesitated for a moment, unsure if she wanted to accept his offer. But something about the gentle kindness in his eyes reassured her, and she nodded slowly, reaching out to take his hand.

She slid down from the desk and stood beside Dale. She glanced around the room, noticing the sympathetic looks being exchanged between the others. This made her bow her head again.

She let Dale guide her out of the room, and as she stepped into the hallway she instantly felt better without everyone's eyes boring into her back. She kept her eyes glued to her feet as they walked, noticing the lines of dirt that covered the floor.

"Where are we goin'?" Elodie asked quietly, stealing a glance up at Dale.

Dale offered her a reassuring smile. "Somewhere else," he replied. "Sometimes a change of scenery can do wonders."

He led Elodie into the rec room, where the soft glow of the overhead lights cast a warm ambiance over the space. He motioned for her to take a seat on one of the plush couches, so she sat on the edge of the couch, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt as she glanced around the room.

"So, what do you say we find something to take your mind off things?" Dale suggested, his voice gentle and reassuring.

Elodie nodded slowly, a faint smile touching her lips. "Okay," she agreed.

Dale walked over to one of the shelves, scanning the contents before pulling out a box of colored pencils and a pad of paper. He set them down on the coffee table, patting the ground invitingly. "How about we try our hand at a little art therapy?" he suggested.

"Yes," she replied eagerly, getting up from the couch and settling down on the ground by the table. Dale slid the paper and pencils her way, and she was quick to pick up a pencil.

"What are you going to draw?" Dale asked.

Elodie thought about her answer for a moment before answering. "Can't tell. Ya gotta guess."

Dale chuckled, leaning back in his seat with a smile. "Alright, challenge accepted. Let's see if I can figure it out."

He watched as Elodie begin to sketch. She seemed to lose herself in the task, her movements focused. Dale watched as her face softened as she concentrated, the lines of worry easing from her brow.

After a few minutes of quiet drawing, Elodie looked up at Dale. "Done," she announced, holding up her drawing for him to see.

Dale leaned forward, studying the drawing. "Hmm, let's see... Is it a... dog?" he guessed.

Elodie shook her head, giggling softly. "Nope."

Dale scratched his chin thoughtfully. "A dragon?" he tried.

"Nope!"

Dale laughed. "Alright, last guess. Is it... a dolphin?"

"No way! It's a shark!" Elodie exclaimed, huffing and placing her paper back down. She traced a finger over the fins of the animal, raising her eyebrows at Dale. "See? It has fins."

Dale chuckled, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "I was way off, wasn't I?"

"Only a little bit." Elodie shrugged. "Dolphin's close enough."

The door to the rec room creaked open, and Lori stepped inside, followed closely by Carl. Their eyes fell upon the pair sitting on the floor.

"Hey, you two," Lori greeted with a warm smile, her gaze softening as she observed Elodie's drawing. "What's goin' on here?"

Elodie glanced up from her drawing. "We're drawin'," she said, holding up her sketch of the shark proudly.

Carl's eyes widened in excitement as he hurried over to join them, peering over Elodie's shoulder to get a better look at her drawing. "Can I join?"

Elodie nodded, scooting over to make room for Carl beside her. Dale smiled, standing up from his spot. "Well, I'll leave you three to it. Looks like Elodie's in good hands now," he said with a playful wink.

For the next half hour, Carl and Elodie were sat bowed over the table, the scratching of pencils against paper filling the room. Lori sat on the couch, watching the two with a smile. She had noticed how Elodie had been feeling worse lately, but it made sense. She just didn't know what to do to help her. Dale managed to distract her, so Lori figured that was good enough for now.

Lori's smile suddenly faltered as she felt the absence of the cool air. She stood up slowly, her brows furrowing in confusion as she waved her hand under the air conditioning vent, feeling nothing.

"Mom?" Carl's voice broke through the quiet, causing Elodie to pause her drawing and look up. "Something wrong?"

"Uh, nothin'. It's just..." Lori trailed off, her gaze fixed on the air conditioning vent before lowering her arm. "The air conditioning stopped."

She turned around to face the kids, putting out a hand. "Stay here." She then turned back around and headed straight for the door.

Elodie and Carl exchanged puzzled glances before both standing up and following Lori to the door.

"Why is the air off?" Lori questioned, poking her head into the hallway.

"And the lights in our room?" Carol added.

Elodie noticed Jenner walking past everyone, which only added to her confusion. Why was he ignoring them?

"What's goin' on?" Daryl called out. "Why's everything turnin' off?"

Lori stepped into the hallway, prompting Carl to trail after her, and Elodie followed suit, not wanting to be left alone in the room. She saw Jenner snatching a bottle of alcohol from Daryl's hand, earning him an offended look from the man.

"Energy use is being prioritized," Jenner explained, continuing down the hall.

"Air isn't a priority?" Dale questioned, his eyebrows furrowing. "And the lights?"

Jenner took a sip from the alcohol, shaking his head. "It's not up to me. Zone five is shutting itself down."

"Hey!" Daryl called out, hurrying to catch up with Jenner. "Hey, what the hell does that mean?"

Jenner kept walking, prompting everyone else to quicken their pace. Elodie stayed close to Lori and Carl, occasionally swerving out of line to keep an eye on Jenner. The situation reminded her of fire drills at school.

"Hey man, I'm talkin' to you," Daryl persisted. "What d'you mean it's shuttin' itself down? How can a building do anything?"

"You'd be surprised," Jenner replied dryly.

He descended the stairs, with everyone following closely behind. Lori called down to Rick, who had come running into the room as well. Elodie leaned over the railing, seeing that they were back in Zone Five. She furrowed her brow, feeling Carol's hand on her back gently urging her to keep moving. She was really confused about why they were returning to a room that was supposedly "shutting itself down."

Rick caught up to Jenner, immediately asking him what was going on.

"The system is dropping all nonessential uses of power," Jenner explained. "It's desgined to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark. Right on schedule." He gestured toward a large clock on the wall, which Elodie hadn't noticed before.

Jenner stopped near a desk, leaning forward with one hand on it as he took another gulp from the alcohol before handing it back to Daryl, who snatched it back as if he had bought it himself. Jenner then turned his attention to Rick.

"It was the French," he stated before walking further into the room.

"What?" Andrea said.

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and comitting suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs 'till the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?" Jacqui asked.

"Same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice." He turned around, letting out a breathy chuckle. "The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?"

"Let me tell you somethin'," Shane grumbled as he strode up the stairs, but was stopped by Rick pulling on the back of his shirt.

"To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care!" Rick turned around, pointing at Lori. "Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're gettin' out of here now!"

Elodie flinched at the sudden yell, but quickly turned around anyway. She didn't want to lose any of her stuff. Especially her doll. She paused in her tracks when a loud alarm started to blare along with the flickering of red lights. Everyone raised their heads in hopes of finding what the alarm was before redirecting their gazes at the screen in the back that now showed a countdown starting at thirty minutes.

Jenner did something so the alarm would stop, prompting Shane to immediately bark orders for everyone to gather their belongings. Elodie whimpered but turned around nonetheless, making a beeline for the door. Just as she was about to dash through, Rick snagged her and swiftly placed her behind him right when a barrier rose up. The doors had been blocked off.

"Did you just lock us in?" Glenne exclaimed, fear lacing his voice. "He just locked us in!"

Elodie started to panic. She didn't understand what was going on. Why did he lock them in? Why couldn't he just let them go?

Everyone started to run back towards Jenner, Carl and Lori calling out for each other. Elodie felt lost, unsure of where to go or what to do, so she simply stood by one of the desks, nervously fidgeting with her fingers.

Daryl gritted his teeth, his grip tightening around the bottle in his hand as he stormed up the stairs. "You son of a bitch! Let us outta here!" he roared at Jenner, raising his hand as if to strike the man with the bottle before Shane intervened, pulling Daryl away from Jenner. Daryl clung to the man's chair, continuing to shout at him to release them.

"Hey, Jenner. Open that door now," Rick said, eyes dark as he waltzed up to said man.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed," Jenner said calmly.

"Well, open the damn things!"

"That's not something I control. The computers do."

Doesn't he control the computers? Elodie didn't get it. She was scared and confused. She started to pull on the skin of her fingers, eyes darting from person to person.

"I told you!" Jenner exclaimed. "Once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way."

"What is?" Rick snapped, his frustration evident. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?"

When Jenner remained silent, Shane forcefully pulled back his chair while Rick repeated his question, his anger growing. Jenner shot up from his chair, straightening his shoulders as he glared up at Rick and yelled, "You know what this place is? We protected the public from very nasty stuff!" He got into Shane's face, the latter staring right back at him

"Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!"

Everyone stared at Jenner, shocked at his sudden outburst. Elodie slowly stepped back, attempting to hide herself behind the screens on the desk, but it didn't really work. She could still see Jenner sinking back into his chair, rubbing his chin.

"In an event of a catastrophic power failure in a terrorist attack, for example, H.I.T's are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"H.I.T's?" Rick echoed, tilting his head.

Jenner sighed. "VI, define."

"H.I.T's, high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consists of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other explosive..."

The computer continued to give a very detailed explanation, but Elodie blurred it all out as she redirected her focus at everyone around her. Everyone was either hugging each other and crying, or looking at Jenner in defeat. Elodie didn't even understand what was said, but she knew it was bad. Really bad.

"It sets the air on fire," Jenner murmured, staring at a distant point in the room. "No pain. An end to sorrow, grief... regret."

Elodie stared at the man, her tensed muscles relaxing as she let go of her now reddened fingers. Her mind raced as she considered Jenner's words. The idea of ending all the pain, sorrow, and regret sounded tempting. She was tired of feeling everything she was feeling. She was tired of seeing Jamie every time she closed her eyes or had a moment to herself. She was tired of missing her family. If there was a way to make it stop, to find some sort of peace, shouldn't she take it?

Maybe this was the answer. No more sadness, no more pain. Just peace.

〰

Elodie had moved to sit on a chair, her legs pulled up to her chest as she hugged them tightly. Her gaze was fixed on a distant point on the floor, but her mind was far away. Lost in her thoughts while the others were either trying to break through the door, or sitting on the floor in defeat.

She couldn't shake off what Jenner had said about the H.I.T's—the promise of an end to pain, sorrow, and regret. It echoed in her mind. She traced the lines of the chair beneath her with her fingertips, barely aware of anything going on around her.

Every time she thought about Jenner's words, she would see Jamie. And her mother. She could still see his face so clearly. She could still hear his annoying voice, the way he taunted her. She could see her mother, too, her blonde hair a painful reminder of their connection. She would always carry her mother's memory within her, always see her reflection.

She didn't want that.

"No pain. An end to sorrow, grief... regret."

No pain.

An end to sorrow.

Grief.

Regret.

She hadn't forgiven Jamie. She had been too caught up in her own emotions that she hadn't replied to him when he apologized. She had still been processing the fact he was even hugging her in the first place. She hadn't forgiven him—hadn't told him she'd forgiven him. He didn't know she forgave him. He died thinking she hated him.

What if it really was the answer to all her pain? What if ending it all was the only way to find peace? 

She snapped out of her thoughts when people started to yell, looking up to see Shane marching up to Jenner with a gun in hand. He stuck it right in Jenner's face. "Open that door. Or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?"

Elodie scooted further back into her seat, causing it to roll backward over the floor slightly, her eyes fixed on Shane and Rick—who was saying things to him, probably trying to get him to lower the gun. If Shane didn't lower the gun, if he shot Jenner, they would never get out of the CDC.

Shane then let out a loud yell and started to rapidly fire his gun into the machines around them. Elodie had to hunch over in her seat, cover her ears—wincing at the loud whistling feedback from her hearing aids—and duck behind the screens on the desks.

When the yelling stopped she removed her hands from her ears, peeking out from behind the desk to see Rick hitting Shane, causing him to tumble down on the floor. Rick seemed to attempt to hit Shane again with the butt of Shane's gun that he wrestled out of it's owner's hands, but stopped himself, instead looming over Shane.

"Are you done now? Are you done?" Rick seethed.

"Yeah, I guess we all are," Shane retorted, glaring at Rick.

Rick slowly backed away from Shane, handing the gun to T-dog. The room fell silent, everyone's chests heaving with tension, eyes wide with disbelief. Elodie gripped the armrests of her chair tightly as she looked from person to person.

She sighed and glanced around the room, Rick's voice muffling in her ear as her eyes drifted off towards the big timer on the wall, the digital numbers ticking away the seconds.

She couldn't tear her eyes away from the countdown, the numbers flashing ominously in red. If the countdown reached zero, they were all going to die. But Elodie found she wasn't scared when she thought of that. Not at all. If anything, she felt relief thinking about it. 

She felt fear when she thought of getting out of the CDC, going back to running from walkers day and night, thinking about their dead friends whenever she'd close her eyes. Nothing good would come out of escaping the building, in her opinion.

Flinching out of her thoughts, she snapped her head back to everyone else when they all started to yell. She sat up straighter in her chair, seeing that the door had been opened. People rushed towards the exit, eager to escape.

Elodie didn't move. She couldn't move.

Her gaze remained fixed on the countdown timer, the numbers ticking down towards zero. A part of her wanted to join the others, to seek safety outside the CDC. But another part of her, a small voice in the back of her mind, whispered that maybe staying inside wasn't such a bad idea after all.

People were scrambling to escape, their panicked shouts filling the air. But Elodie remained rooted to her spot. Not moving, and not making any attempts to. When she looked around, she saw that Andrea probably had the same idea. She hadn't moved either—only to stand up. 

Elodie then looked toward the door, seeing Jacqui reassuringly cupping T-dog's face. She was staying, too. At least Elodie wasn't the only one.

Then, her eyes met Daryl's, and she wished they hadn't. In an instant, he pushed through the crowd, running toward her.

"Hey," he said, his voice tinged with a hint of concern. "Did ya even hear? C'mon, let's go." He turned to leave, but paused when he realized Elodie wasn't following.

She remained seated, her blue eyes fixed on him. A flicker of annoyance crossed his face, causing Elodie to instinctively retreat into her chair, her knees forming a barrier of sorts in case he approached too closely.

"I said, did ya hear? It's open, let's go!" he urged, his voice firm as he gestured towards the door.

"I heard 'em," Elodie replied quietly.

Daryl's brow furrowed in frustration. "Then what're ya waitin' for? Let's go."

But Elodie shook her head. "I'm not goin'," she stated firmly.

"Like hell ya ain't," Daryl scoffed, glancing at the timer before turning back to Elodie. "I ain't arguin' with ya 'bout this. We're leavin', and that includes you."

Elodie clenched her jaw, her gaze flickering briefly towards the open door before settling back on Daryl. "I'm stayin'," she declared, her voice trembling slightly.

Daryl's patience was wearing thin, his frustration evident in the crease of his brow and the tightness of his jaw. He took a step closer to Elodie, his boots echoing against the tiled floor. Elodie recoiled further into her chair. She shook her head, her hands gripping the armrests tightly.

"This ain't the time to be stubborn, kid. Get up," Daryl sighed.

"No!" she protested, her voice trembling. "I'm stayin' here."

Daryl's jaw clenched as he reached out to grab Elodie's arm, intent on dragging her to her feet. But before he could make contact, Elodie scrambled out of her chair and attempted to run away from him, but she tripped by standing right on the thread that dangled from her jeans, sending her flying to the ground.

As Elodie stumbled and fell to the ground, Daryl wasted no time. He lunged forward, his reflexes kicking in, and he grabbed her by the arm just as she hit the floor. With a firm grip, he pulled her upright, ignoring her protests and struggles.

"Enough," Daryl growled, his voice firm and commanding. "I ain't lettin' ya stay here and get yourself killed."

Elodie squirmed in his grasp, but Daryl's grip was like iron. He hoisted her up off the ground, ignoring her protests as he lifted her into his arms and over his shoulder. She kicked and wriggled, but Daryl held her securely as he turned and strode toward the open door.

"Put me down! Let me go!" Elodie cried, her voice breaking. "Jamie! Help!"

"Your brother ain't here, kid," Daryl grumbled.

"I wanna stay! I wanna stay with Jamie!" Elodie kicked her feet into Daryl's stomach, making him groan in pain. He didn't let go though, he only carried her up the stairs, through the corridor and to the entrance. "Stop! Stop it! Let go!"

Daryl's jaw clenched as he heard Elodie's desperate cries. He knew she was hurting, grieving for her brother, but he also knew that staying in the CDC was not an option. Ignoring her protests, he pushed forward.

He paused when they reached the lobby, eyes flickering from the now missing window and the door.

"Guess that works," he muttered to himself, trying to block out Elodie's cries and sobs as he ran toward the window, clumsily putting her down. She tried to run off, but he held a firm grip on her arm and dragged her back toward the window, making her stumble.

"Let go of me!" she yelled, hitting his arm. "This is kidnappin'! Stop it!"

"Kidnappin'," Daryl echoed with a huff. He lifted her by her armpits, hoisting her over the sharp edges of the broken glass and placing her on the tiles outside. He held onto her as he climbed through the window himself.

Once outside, he picked her up again, grunting in annoyance as she squirmed and kicked in his arms. He glanced up at the sound of loud honking, seeing Lori halfway out of the window.

"Get down! Get down, get down!" she yelled at him, and apparently Dale and Andrea too, who were behind them now.

Daryl lowered Elodie to the ground, dragging her along the grass as he searched for cover. His eyes fell upon sacks of sand piled on top of each other, providing some kind of cover. He darted towards them, pushing Elodie down behind the sacks of sand and throwing himself to the ground beside her.

"Down, down, down," he breathed, gripping the girl's trembling shoulder as Dale and Andrea sought cover behind the sacks as well.

"Wait, wait, wait—" she yelled out, attempting to get back up. "My doll! It's still inside!—"

Suddenly, the ground rumbled beneath them, and a deafening roar filled the air as the CDC erupted in a massive explosion. Flames erupted from the windows, sending shards of glass and debris flying in all directions.

Daryl shielded Elodie with his body as debris rained down around them, the force of the explosion rattling their bones. The ground trembled beneath them, and for a moment, it felt as if the world itself was shaking apart. Elodie squeezed her eyes shut, her ears ringing from the intensity of the blast.

As everything subsided, Daryl reduced the tightness of his grip on Elodie, peeking out from behind the cover. Elodie remained curled up, her quiet sobs blending with the crackling of the flames.

The CDC was nothing but a burning ruin, the mountain high flames licking the sky as smoke billowed into the air. Debris littered the ground around them, and the smell of burning bodies of the dead entered their nose.

"You good?" Daryl breathed, nudging Elodie's trembling body. He felt her nod slightly. "Good. You crazy, thinkin' 'bout stayin' there?" 

Elodie didn't respond, eyes fixed on a pebble on the ground. She didn't know what she had been thinking. All she had been thinking about was Jamie, wanting to be with him again. And now she lost her doll.

Stupid.