' That was...awesome '
Walking down the corridor, Sasuke was still surprised by Katniss's boldness and her crazy actions she did in there.
That hour was the best he had since coming to this place.
He was about to turn to the section of the library when he let an arm sneak to his and pull him to another room.
"It isn't good surprising people like this, Amy"
"Hehe sorry, I was looking for you"
"And you found me...you need something ?"
"Yeah, today is my birthday" That surprised him slightly.
"Well, happy birthday then, sorry i do-" Again, she did something unnecessary.
"Why?" Amy asked a little hurt, feeling the fingers separating their lips...his fingers that appeared there even when she did it suddenly.
"I'm sorry but...i-" She cut his words again.
"Is it Katniss? I don't mind, just treat this as my birthday gift." She bit the fingers lightly before going for the shortest kiss he let her have.
"Happy birthday again, and please don't put me through this situation even when knowing mine" He pushed her gently and kept to his way.
Sasuke wouldn't lie to himself, he liked it...this kind of attention from a beautiful and kind girl.
But that's it, it didn't mean he would be fine diving in this mess just after what happened with Katniss thus, he drew the line.
Amy doesn't deserve having her hope for someone like him who didn't even know what wass he doing and what to do when it comes to this kind of relationship...
He preferred being tossed at a horde rather than this, and he made a note that he will talk to Katniss and Amy both as soon as he doesn't have to worry about a fucking bomb going off.
Reaching the supposed rec room, he was confused seeing the door closed and was about to knock when it swung open with a very anxious face coming to view.
Sasuke just stood there watching Shane suddenly fumbling with an even worse fumbling person behind him, Lori.
He kept his expression neutral even when he saw the bad scratch marks on Shane's neck.
"Ah yea hey Uchiha...go in, nobody reads books anyway other than woman there" Even the drunken Shane didn't know what he was saying and just passed him rubbing his hair leaving a very hyperactive and sweating woman behind whose thoughts turned to jumble.
' Did he see?, did he hear my talk with Shane, does he know, what to do, what to say...?' Lori's knees felt so weak from the panic.
Watching Sasuke walking toward her with a face telling nothing.
She wondered if he was going to threaten her, She shouted at him before, what if he was going to threaten her with this now? What if he was after the same thing Shane was-
Sasuke ignored her and walked past her to the shelves behind her, taking random books that should be entertaining for Ciri and her friend, a board game and left.
He didn't care what was going on between those two as long as they didn't make him do so.
As for telling Rick? That was a pit he wasn't willing to go down into.
"Um, hey Sasuke..?"
"Have a good night Mrs.Grimes" With that he left the room, heading to the one Katniss and Ciri are using alongside other women.
Tapping, he waited, and soon Andrea opened the door.
"Can I trouble you with passing those to Ciri?"
"Sure Sasuke, do you want to come in? Nobody really minds" She smirked, taking them from his hands.
"Lovely idea but i'm busy with something, have a good night" Sasuke chuckled and left. Now was the time for the big reveal.
He passed by and waved to Billy that it is time to move.
"Finished enjoying life?"
"Yeah...you?"
"Me? Life enjoyed fucking me way too much for my liking...so what now?" Billy laughed and asked him what they are about to do.
"Let's talk to our welcoming scientist, we need to clear things about the walkers"
"Why the backpack ?" Billy asked seeing the thing Sasuke was bringing with him.
"Just in case i need a cover to retrieve something" Hearing that Billy understood nodding.
"Sasuke...are you sure about the hypothesis,, that thing about the time running off reducing this building to ash?"
"We will figure that out soon, little snake found a bomb reaching to the building, and that horloge was still going down...it looked like a timing trigger to something. Too many coincidences. His manners, the situation here, the bomb, the timer"
"And the empty fuel tanks i found in the basement...So we have less than 12 hours to act and get out of here" Billy stretched, feeling like shit, it sucks how a good place like this won't be theirs.
"Yeah, look, he is still here" With that they stepped into the big room named zone 5, with many computers around and Doctor Jenner sitting before one, doing whatever he was doing.
Billy glanced at a big timer on one of the walls.
{12:27:13}...{12:27:12}...{12:27:11}..and it kept counting down.
' how come i didn't notice this before? '
"I see you aren't drunk like your friend" Jenner told them, pointing at Rick who was sitting on the ground and was about to leave.
' Your wife was about to be drilled...' Sasuke imagined what would happen if he said that...it was an amusing thought.
"Rick"
"Butcher, Sasuke," the half-drunken Rick nodded at them, curious why they are here.
"It's been a long day for you, shouldn't you be resting now?" Jenner asked them, he honestly just wants to be left alone.
"We are here to speak about the important thing with you, doc. May I ask what do you know about the virus or whatever is causing this?" Sasuke leaned on a chair and asked him.
"Hahh" Jenner sighed, he didn't know what it was either, and so he clarified.
"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal..."
"So unclear source, any indications of it being cell mutation, radiation..."
"Hah? We thought so, but it wasn't. as far as we know" Jenner answered Sasuke, not expecting that interest from someone young.
"So...is there a cure?" Rick asked, not wanting to hear the answer he already knows.
"None, whatever this is...it is an extinction-level event for humanity, it can't be guarded against." Jenner was done with them.
He was about to turn off his computer when Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder to gain his attention.
Ignoring the drunken Rick who was saying something about how this can't be.
And the still possibility of others like Jenner out there, even when Jenner confirmed all the contacts were lost with other facilities that were working on this too in and outside the country.
"Look man, i know. You lost so much and fought for too long, all alone. It's tiring and you want a rest already. No one here is judging. But we need you. No one knows as much about this virus as you."
"You don't understand, there's no cure! I tried everything, but... I'm not her, I'm not like my...wife.
She headed this whole facility, she was our Einstein, Me? I'm just working here. And until now i didn't find anything to point me to the light. THERE'S. NO. CURE" He yelled with frustration.
Do they think he didn't want to end this madness too?
" The sooner you accept that, the better you will be off" he turned to leave, but Sasuke stood on his way with the same determination.
Rick and Billy started losing hope for the cure.
"I got it, but I saw something, horrifying. And I need you to help clarify this, figure it out or anything. My life depends on this, everyone's here and those outside."
"*Sigh*—why can't- alright what is it, unless it isn't the cure. I may know something"
"Yeah, so, I witnessed a human die, no bite, i'm sure of it. But after some time passed, she woke up from death just like them, another walker" Rick hearing that sobered up real quick and even more after hearing Jenner's reply.
"So you saw it..."
"Huh, you know about this ?" That too got Billy's full attention, only he knows how much that was worrying him and Sasuke, who noticed it first.
"Yeah, look. This may be hard to believe, but we are all carriers, already infected, everyone. It's been in the air all along"
"What the freakin' hell? But we didn't turn"
"Yet, once a concentrated dose enters your bloodstream from their bites. Or your body's natural resistance failed in cases of death. It takes over, the virus or whatever this thing is".
"This..." All the relief from finding a shelter vanished as Rick didn't know what to do anymore.
How to tell his family this, knowing that they won't be able to shoulder the reveal.
' Now i can move to the main point '
"And that's why we need your help, We aren't asking about a cure, if that was impossible, but maybe you can find something, something enough to prevent this.
Look, there are countless families and people out there who may be safe now, who think it's safe in whatever shelter they are now. Like us, but it took but one single natural death amongst them. And everything..."
Even for Sasuke, that possibility was scary, he was but a one man, and it was unrealistic to be guarded all the time against such a thing as natural death....at least his current self is.
"Is gone, I saw it firsthand, the army outside. It got breached by the civilians they kept to their backs, few succumbed to their injuries and you can imagine what followed" Jenner sighed, remembering those hard times.
"Breaches from the back, chaos and disorder making it hard to fight effectively, and more hordes being attracted to the sound of gunfire. All ends in one bloody massacre and a new bigger party of them emerges." Billy stated as he too happened to witness such scene.
"But that won't change anything, i still won't be able to do anything, and i have no more samples, most of the facility is already closed"
"I can take care of samples. What else do you need?"
"Something that isn't existing, a sign of immunity, one that is somehow better than the one we got into our body naturally against it"