Dexter and the Dead

Finally…I had him right where I wanted him, after all these months of searching Travis Marshall was on my table. This Dooms day killer was nothing more than a mad man with delusions of a higher power, a god. I realized now that the things Travis spoke of were no more than children's fairy tales designed to invoke fear, keep people on the straight and narrow. What I now knew for certain was that Travis Marshall's soul would not be saved and neither would mine. Our dark passengers would rule out any chance of absolution, we were too far gone. But still, wrapped in plastic sheeting awaiting my knives, Travis Marshall preached about his belief in his works and that he would be rewarded with a lifetime in the kingdom of Heaven. Very naïve beliefs but commendable none the less that he would speak only of these things on his death bed. Honestly it was a breath of fresh air from the lies and pitiful begging I had heard so many times before in these situations.

"This is not the end for me Demon; I will sit at the right hand of God." Travis barked towards me through gritted teeth as I sliced an inch long incision in his right cheek and collected the sample in my blood slide.

"What God would save you Travis, after all the people you hurt and killed why would he want you?" I asked as I clasped the blood slides together and placed them on the table by my knives.

"I kill in the name of God, humanity is nothing but filth and I am here to purge it."

I carefully selected my knife, the six inch stainless steel with the serrated edges (a favorite of mine) and held it close to Travis's face.

"My job here is complete Demon; it is in the lords hands now. God will wipeout this tarnished population and his creativity and cleverness knows no bounds." Travis spoke with such certainty.

I examined my knife in the dull light of the church, the stainless steel blade glistened in the sun that shown through the rafters and I raised it above my head for the kill strike. This "man of God" had killed dozens, attempted to kill Deb and kidnapped Harrison I could only take solace in knowing that if there was a hell, he would be going straight to it.

"The Lord God has sent floods, disease even angels to destroy the stray sheep of his holy flock and my only regret is that I will not be here to see how he eradicates you this time. The horsemen of the apocalypse are coming demon and they take many shapes, I will be…."

I thrust down with my knife cutting Travis's sentence short, I was careful to plunge the blade deep into his heart and waited for his death.

"You talk too much" I snarled

I stood there in silence triumphant this is what I was, a killer but directing my dark passenger to take out scum like Travis Marshall gave me a purpose in this world and I would continue until my dying day. I would use my darkness to keep people safe, Deb and Harrison would be able to live in a world were the villains that snuck through the cracks of the justice system would have to answer to me. My mind wandered for only a moment but the sound of a woman gasping and the familiar click of a gun hammer retracting brought me back to my senses.

"Dexter?" Deb asked confused as she shakily advanced up the altar gun drawn.

"O god" I murmured not even realizing the irony of that statement

My mind raced I had done everything in my power to protect Deb from seeing who I really was, how could I be so careless. I had gotten so enthralled in the chase and execution of Travis that I had gotten sloppy, this could only end badly.

"Deb…I…he came at me, tried to kill me I had to defend myself." As I lied once again to my sister in a desperate attempt to exonerate me I remembered I still had the knife in my hand, should I put it down, would I need to use it? No this was Deb, my sister I …cared for her… and I would not let it come to that.

"Dexter…what the fuck have you done?" Deb asked still shaken, her voice wavering

"I told you Deb he tried to kill me I…"

"The knives, the plastic wrap, the display…. Just like Rudy, Dexter… are you…are you the serial killer?"

I slowly began walking down the altar towards my sister shaking my head slowly right and left yet another lie.

"Stop, stop right there and put you're hands in the air Dexter I mean it." Deb ordered and tightened her grip on her service pistol.

"Deb, I'm not who you think I am please let me…"

"I'm not fucking around Dexter; put your hands up now!" Deb ordered once again this time with much more authority, the quiver in her voice had all but disappeared now.

I slowly raised my hands my right hand still clutching my knife, Travis's blood dripped to the floor.

"Drop the goddamn knife now you fuck!"

I now knew how it felt to be on the business end of Deb when she was taking down a criminal and I did not like it. Every bit of sisterly love and admiration in her voice was now replaced by utter disgust and betrayal; I couldn't blame her for feeling it either. I looked to the right and examined the blood soaked blade once more before dropping it to the floor where it clammed at my feet.

"Kick it over to me asshole." Deb barked as she inched closer to me.

I did as she told and tried once more to reason with her

"Deb, I'm sorry…I don't know what came over me, I snapped please lets just…"

"Shut up Dexter, Goddamn it I'm tired of the lies turn around and put your hands on your head."

I turned and placed my hands on my head, time slowed and I examined my last kill. Travis Marshall deserved what I did, all the criminals on my table did and I hoped that she would come to understand that someday. Deb grabbed her cell phone and I could sense the hesitation as she began to dial the number to dispatch but finally she did.

"This is Lieutenant Debra Morgan requesting back up at the church crime scene, one in custody."

My world had spun out of control it was over for me and all I could do now was stare at my latest victim and listen to the approaching sirens as my sister forcefully wrapped my arms behind my back and slapped on her cuffs. Before marching me out the front door to the awaiting crowd of press and fellow officers Deb slowed and whispered in my ear.

"I'll never forgive you for this."

I swear if I had normal emotions, I would have cried.

"Mellissa, its Dr. Medford could you please open the door your parents are worried sick and I'd like to check on you if that's ok?"

Dr. Richard Medford and Alex and Amanda Princeton stood outside their daughter's door to her room in their small Miami apartment. Mellissa Princeton had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and Dr. Medford knew that the outcome of such an aggressive disease in an eight year old girl was one hundred percent fatal. It was only a matter of time and his visits there were purely out of respect to her father a dear friend of his since childhood. Dr. Medford and Mellissa's father continued knocking on the door trying to get the attention of the sick little girl while Mellissa's mother ran outside and peered through the window of her daughters' bedroom. To her shock and horror Mellissa had ripped the IV lines from her veins, removed the oxygen mask from her face and was standing eerily still at the end of her bed, her long disheveled hair covering her face.

"Mellissa O my God my baby, Alex I don't know what's wrong with her… Alex!"

The doctor and Alex heard Amanda's screams from outdoors and began to beat the door in till at last the lock broke off the door frame in splinters and the two men stood in the center of the little girl's room. Dr. Medford first noticed a trail of blood running down Mellissa's arm from the hole were the IV was placed as it formed a pool on the floor at Mellissa's side. Dr. Medford held Alex at bay as he slowly crept towards the girl who ignored anxious questions from her father and stood silent slightly swaying at the foot of her bed.

"Mellissa, its going to be ok I promise just let me have a look at you." Dr. Medford gently placed his right hand on Mellissa's left shoulder and Mellissa slowly and lazily turned her head to the left. Dr. Medford was startled at the sight of the girls pale skin and dull eyes, something wasn't right.

"Mellissa, what's the matter honey?" Alex questioned again

Dr. Medford turned his head to her father to once again silence him in order to do his job and while distracted Melissa grabbed the doctor's hand and sank her teeth into his flesh. Dr. Medford screamed and cursed while trying to break the hold of the savage little girl that bit him completely unprovoked and now would not let go. Dr. Medford's terror made him instinctively hit Mellissa in the face and upon seeing this Alex became enraged and tackled the doctor to the floor.

"Don't you touch her you son of a bitch!" Mellissa's father screamed as he knelt on top Dr. Medford and beat him in the face with his closed fist, resting for only a moment to study his daughter who was apparently unconscious on her bedroom floor.

Alex turned back to his old friend bleeding beneath him and was about to swing down with one more punch when Mellissa jumped on his back and bite into the skin of her fathers neck. Alex screamed in horror and pain as he jumped off Dr. Medford and pushed himself into the wall behind him crushing his daughter into a closet mirror shattering it. Through this entire ordeal Mellissa still did not let up and continued to rip at the neck of her father with her teeth tearing chunks away and swallowing them. Barely holding onto consciousness Alex crawled towards the bedroom door his elbows sliding along in a puddle of his own blood. Once he reached the door he weakly raised his head and made eye contact with the horrified face of his wife Amanda who stood paralyzed in fear at the top of the stairs. Amanda could only stand there in pure terror and watch her once gentle little girl rip away at her husband like a rabid dog.

"R…Run." Alex wheezed as his head fell limply to the floor his blood slowly surrounding it.

Now lifeless, Alex was no longer interesting to the undead Mellissa and she turned her sights on her mother still standing at the top of the stairs whimpering in fear. Mellissa took one more bite of her dead father's neck and slowly rose to her feet, At that moment Amanda noticed Dr. Medford stir awake and get to his feet as well.

"Mellissa…it's…its ok honey mommies right here we're going to get you help ok, please just stay right there… Richard please help me!"

Mellissa continued shuffling towards Amanda and once again Amanda pleaded with her daughter to stay where she was and requested help from the slowly moving, seemingly dazed doctor. Mellissa kept advancing and Dr. Medford moved a couple of feet towards the doorway and collapsed to his knees, then persisted on taking bites out of the torso of Amanda's dead husband.

"What the fuck is the matter with both of you, O my God please stop this!" Amanda wailed and started to retreat backwards as her daughter crept closer snarling and biting at air with blood stained teeth.

Amanda stepped further back and lost her footing at the end of the top step and tumbled down the stairs the sound of cracking bones resonated throughout the apartment. Amanda's head was spinning as she slowly regained consciousness just as Mellissa came off the last step and lunged at her. Amanda scampered to the side and Mellissa landed on the floor where Amanda had just laid. Amanda attempted to get to her feet but a loud crunch revealed the ivory white bone of her left leg had broken and tore through her skin. Amanda crawled along the living room floor and reached for the phone on the table by the armchair while Mellissa crawled after her still snarling like a wild beast. Amanda crawled to the end of the living room and in her haste accidentally knocked the small flat screen TV off its stand by bumping hard into the desk it sat on. The TV fell to the floor and landed on the power button turning it on, Mellissa crawled frantically towards her wounded mother and Amanda jabbed at the keys of the wireless phone dialing 911.

"Miami Metro Police Department, what is your emergency?" The dispatcher calmly asked

Amanda was pinned against the wall of the living room and her only means of escape was going through her blood lusting daughter.

"Hello…Hello I'm at 792 Ocean Drive…my…my daughter she killed…just please send some help."

Mellissa was almost on top of her so Amanda apologized under her breath and kicked her daughter in the face. Mellissa staggered back but only for a moment then began to crawl back towards her.

"Ma'am, I need to know the nature of your emergency so we can better serve you, did you say your daughter killed someone?" the dispatcher asked a little less calm

Mellissa was now on top of Amanda and furiously tried to bite her, Amanda had no choice but to drop the phone and hold her daughters head back as she snapped her jaws. Losing the battle Amanda screamed for help for anyone that could hear her but still she held on and pushed back the head of her daughter. The Haunting sound of creaking stairs and footsteps caught Amanda's attention and she peered around her daughters snarling face just in time to see the undead Dr. Medford round the corner of the stairwell into the living room. The doctor paused for a moment and more thumping could be heard coming down the stairs and the blood drenched body of her husband crawled off the last step, the hideous gash in his neck still spurting. Amanda let out a bone chilling scream as Dr. Medford shuffled quickly towards her and fell on top of her, ripping away at her face with his teeth.

"Ma'am…Ma'am if you can hear me help is on the way try to get somewhere safe the Police will be there shortly….Ma'am?" the dispatcher screamed over the phone as blood splattered the earpiece, then the screen of the TV where a reporter was live on scene at a prison. The picture was blurry and distorted from the fall but the reporter's voice came out clearly over the sounds of ripping tearing flesh and groans from the undead.

"I'm here at the Florida state penitentiary, the new home of the infamous Bay Harbor Butcher. The Butcher ,once thought to be Sergeant James Dokes of Miami Metro Homicide department, was earlier this week found to be a forensic analyst still working with the Homicide department. Dexter Morgan a blood splatter analyst was arrested and later charged with the deaths of over twenty and now awaits the death penalty that was expedited because of the severity of his crimes. The arresting officer was none other than Lieutenant Debra Morgan of Miami Homicide who interestingly enough is the sister of the accused. Lieutenant Morgan along with others from the Homicide department and family of the victims will be arriving later to await the lethal injection of the REAL Bay Harbor Butcher."

I was trapped, trapped in my own segregated cell with no way out now but in a body bag. How had it come to this I was always so careful, so systematic in my kill system. But obviously not even the training from Harry could prepare me for everything and now I, the hunter of killers, was in a building full of killers. This should have been a dream come true but the Dexter to killer ratio was definitely not in my favor and soon I would be disposed of by lethal injection, the end of Dexter Morgan, put down like an old dog. I should be terrified, everyone's afraid of death but I was oddly calm as I ate my final meal of medium rare steak, potatoes and an ice cold beer. Maybe I was finally coming to terms with the fact that I would no longer have to live day in and day out with the darkness. Maybe knowing how much I shamed my sister and all my friends I secretly wanted to die to save them from more heartache, either way death was looming over me and I felt at peace. I stacked my plates together and signaled the guard that I was done with my meal, the guard whistled to someone out of my sight and the clattering of dolly wheels could be heard on the cold cement floor. A prisoner wheeled a food cart to the door of my cell and I slid the plates and utensils through the horizontal slot in the bars used for sliding food trays in and out. While handing the prisoner the last of my utensils he quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled my face closer into the bars.

"We've never met butcher, but you've meet my brother. My Names Jorge Chivio does that ring a bell?"

That last name did sound familiar I was very good at remembering all my victims and then it all came together. Fernando Chivio was a Meth dealer who had no boundaries, he would sell to anyone to make a dollar even teens. The real problem with Fernando was that his "product" was tainted and made poorly killing dozens and leaving others brain dead. Fernando's lawyer managed to get him off on just a possessions charge and a lack of evidence linking Fernando to the tainted Meth allowed for complete immunity. But Fernando didn't have immunity from me. So I met Fernando on his yacht where I had set up a kill room on the lower level, killed him, cut him up and dumped his body wrapped in trash bags in the ocean, one of my easiest kills. I knew Jorge was involved in Fernando's meth distribution business but he was just a pawn in a much larger game. Yet when confronted about the bad drugs on my table Fernando actually blamed Jorge for everything, a model brother.

"You better pray they kill your sorry ass today otherwise you're going to have to deal with me comprende?" Jorge smirked at me, squeezed harder around my wrist and pulled my face closer into the bars. In one smooth motion I broke Jorge's hold on my wrist grabbed his hand, and twisted it around the bars till I heard bones crack.

"comprende" I growled as the tough gangster knelt down and screamed in pain.

The guard finally got up from his chair and tazered me in the arm; I leapt back and sat on my bunk holding my head in my hands.

"You're dead Morgan I'm going to get in there and kill you myself!" Jorge screamed holding his right hand as the guard dragged him off.

"Come on Jorge lets leave the nice butcher alone and get that hand checked on, you're going to want to look pretty for your visitor later." The guard said through chuckles

I ran my hands through my hair and rocked back and forward on my bunk, call it survival instinct or the fact that people like Jorge Chivio still plagued this earth but I suddenly was not content with death. I wanted to live and I wanted…no, needed to kill it had been a week and I was immersed in this place were almost every one of these monsters met Harry's code. I slammed the back of my head into the concrete wall behind me and yelled in frustration I couldn't go out this way, finally I grew tired and lay down.

My eyes flew opened as I noticed movement in the corner of my cell I rose up in my bed and the kind face of Harry, my long dead step father and mentor immerged from the shadows and sat next to me.

"You know I feared this outcome everyday when I was training you." Harry said with sadness in his voice.

"I guess it was inevitable no amount of training and preparation could ensure that I wouldn't get caught one day, even though I was painstakingly careful." I said as I slammed the back of my head against the concrete wall again out of annoyance with my situation.

"It's ok son, we did our best and I'm here with you now." Harry extended his arms for a hug and for the first time in a long time I engaged in a loving embrace and broke down in tears.

As I cried Harry's hold tightened and tightened past the point of comfort, it felt as if he was trying to squeeze the life out of me.

"Dad…Let go…you're…" my voice trailed off as I noticed Harry's shallow breathing and a strange gurgling sound.

I struggled to break my hold but Harry held on tighter and began to snarl in my ear. I was finally able to push my step father off of me and he fell clumsily to the floor. Harry's eyes were lifeless and grey, blood poured from his mouth as he screamed and charged at me as soon as he knocked me into the wall and landed on top of me he lowered his head and dug his teeth into my shoulder….than I woke up. I rose out of bed startled, sweat stained my bed sheets. I felt my shoulder, no bite marks, I checked the perimeter of my small cell, I was alone. The sound of angry yells and the opening and shutting of the cell door next to me brought me back to reality.

"Calm down Chivio, I'm warning you we'll mace you again!" one guard yelled

"Fuck you, you goddamn pigs you killed her you bastards I'm going to rip your hearts out of your chest." The familiar voice of Jorge Chivio yelled back

"You should be thanking us you prick, your wife nearly bit your arm off" another guard retorted and I could hear the sounds of their heavy boots as they walked away.

I listened through the walls of the neighboring cell to Chivio as he sunk his head in his hands and sobbed loudly. I knew I should have just stayed quite this was none of my business but death was sort of my hobby and I was intrigued.

"What happened?" I asked cautiously

"Shut your goddamn mouth Morgan!" Chivio barked

I should have expected that sort of response, so I let this one slide and minded my own business. Moments later, desperately seeking counsel, Jorge began to speak softly.

"My wife, she came to visit me….even though she wasn't feeling well. God bless her she would push through anything to come and see me….She just stopped talking all the sudden and put her head down I kept blabbing on and on I thought she was just resting as she listened but then she wouldn't answer me. I tried to wake her up and she finally did but it was like she didn't even know who I was…."

Jorge trailed off for a moment and I stood at the entrance of my cell waiting breathlessly for Jorge to complete his tale.

"I asked her what was wrong, she didn't answer than she just lunged across the table and bite me right on my arm that's when….that's when those piece of shit guards came in and bashed her brains in!" Jorge yelled and the words echoed through the stillness of our cell block until there was nothing but silence again.

"That doesn't make any sense why would she just attack you and why would the guards not try another way of subduing her before acting with lethal force?" I asked perplexed

"Aw she's slapped me around before I admit I deserved it and the thing about my baby was she was strong. Shit it took three guards to take her down they didn't even make her flinch when they hit her with the batons….man you should have seen her my baby even bite those fuckers too before…"

"Before they beat her brains in" I concluded

"Yeah…anyways why am I even telling you this stuff shit head, you'll be dead soon and I'm just that much closer to you now so you better hope I don't get to you before the needle does."

I chuckled at the drug dealer's threat, we were separated by a wall of solid concrete and even if for some reason that wasn't enough it had been too long since my last kill and I wouldn't bet on him taking me down.

Hey…hey butcher…you want to see it?" Chivio whispered through the entrance bars of his cell.

Before I could ask what, Jorge reached his arm through his bars and around so I could see his wound inflicted by his now dead wife. I studied the bite for a moment and the gauze pad that Jorge had removed as it draped from one side of the adhesive tape. The blood was dull red and didn't seem like it was clotting and the bite was deep, how could someone inflict such damage on a loved one like that none of this made any sense.

"It looks infected." I told Jorge as I went back to lie on my bunk."

"Yeah, and what the hell would you know?" Jorge asked smugly

"I know a thing or two about blood." I responded

Jorge said nothing more and I laid there on my bed too tired to think but to afraid to sleep wondering what other nightmares awaited me. So I just sat and listened to the groans of my neighbor obviously he was in pain, but I didn't care I had my own problems to deal with. What felt like minutes really were hours but the guards finally came to my cell for the inevitable send off to my doom. They chained me, searched me for weapons and escorted me down the hall into another cell block. The angry screams from the prisoners was deafening, I've never received so many threats in such a short period of time, when people found out I was the butcher everyone wanted a taste especially those in close relation to my victims. Finally I waded through the filth of the cell block into the private area known fondly in the prison as the "death chamber". The lead guard fumbled with his many keys before finding the right one for the lock on the death chamber door. The rear guard forcefully nudged me in I hadn't even realized I hesitated; obviously I wasn't as fearless as I once thought. The guards removed my chains and laid me on a gurney; they strapped my hands and legs down with thick leather straps and in walked the doctor. I noticed several red scratch marks on the doctor's face and couldn't help but wonder if he was involved in the incident with Fernando's wife or if those scratches were from an unrelated incident. The doctor examined me thoroughly even checked my blood pressure and pulse, that was nice of him, make sure I'm nice and healthy before they kill me.

My brother the Bay Harbor butcher, how could this be real? All this time we thought the butcher was Dokes and for years the real killer was right under our noses and he was my brother! Fuck on Friday this was going to come down on me big time LaGuerta is going to have my badge and my head. For the past week I had made excuses to dismiss all this evidence stacked up against Dexter, wanted so desperately for all this to be just one big misunderstanding. Soon I realized though it was all true, all of it my step brother who I loved was a cold hearted killing machine. Finding him at the church killing Travis Marshall, the bag of knives wiped clean at the scene and at his apartment, the needles full of animal tranq and not to mention the biggest shit kicker the blood slide box hidden in his fucking air condition. I hated him for all of this, hated him so much how could he lie to me everyday hiding these things from me….saying he loved me, were they all lies? My concentration was restored as Bautista and Quinn were escorted in and sat down next to me and Masuka. I heard the door to the death chamber open next door and I could hear mumbling within it but the shades were drawn over the window so I couldn't see my brother…the butcher. My mind was numb just thinking about the events that were going to happen next so I decided to talk to Quinn and Bautista to get my mind off it.

"Where were you guys?" I asked

"Dispatch sent us to a triple homicide at some shit hole apartment complex turns out they weren't dead." Quinn answered

"What the hell do you mean they weren't dead, how do you respond to a homicide were no one got murdered?" I asked

"Family of fucking freaks lieutenant, assholes were lying still when the first on scene officers arrived but when we got there they were limping around covered in blood." Bautista said through labored breaths

"And get this, the sick fucks ate each other." Quinn chimed in "This crazy little girl even took a bite out of Angel here."

Bautista raised his bandaged hand and used his other one to wipe his brow, he wasn't looking so good, He was pale and his eyed were glazed over.

"Jesus Angel did the medics check you out?" I asked concerned, Angel was my friend I didn't want him to catch some sort of flesh eating bacteria from these assholes.

"Yeah they said I should go get it looked at more thoroughly at the hospital but I didn't want to miss this, killing this pendejo I once thought was my friend."

Angel pulled a flask from his jacket, took a large swig and passed it to Quinn who took an even larger swig and passed it to Masuka.

"No freaking way man, do you know how much bacteria is in the human mouth?" Musaka said as he pushed the flask back towards Quinn who took another drink than offered it to me. A drink was exactly what I needed right now and I reached for the flask, just as my fingers touched the cold steel container the curtains opened to the window of the death chamber. My body tensed and my blood ran cold I didn't know if I'd be able to sit through this, they were going to kill Dexter right in front of me.

The time had come; the doctor was through with my physical and now came the last part of the preparation for my humane killing. It was sort of fitting that my life be snuffed out on a table on display and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"What's so funny?" the doctor asked as he readied the IV.

I said nothing but continued laughing and it grew louder and louder till it poured out of me I was hysterical and I couldn't stop. Even through the slight pain from the prick of the needle I continued, the mechanical gears beneath my gurney sprang to life and hummed as they slowly pushed my table into a vertical position. From this vantage point I was able to see through the window of the adjacent room and my laughing fit stopped abruptly as I locked eyes with Deb, I could see the pain in her eyes and she turned her head in disgust.

"Deb…please look at me, Deb I'm not a monster please look at me" I begged her as.

Deb ignored me and continued looking towards the corner of the room and I inhaled deeply and pushed my pain deep down inside me while I steadied myself, I was not going to go out like a blubbering idiot. I choke down my fear and took a moment to scan the rest of the audience in the room. Dozens of people with many emotions ranging from extreme hurt to boiling anger and I had their strict attention. Then the shamed and disbelieving eyes of my ex colleagues, Vince Musaka, Joseph Quinn and Angel Bautista.

"Dexter Morgan you have been found guilty of numerous counts of murder in the first degree and the state of Florida recognizes your right to a final word, is there anything you wish to say to the family's of your victims and those you've hurt." The guard that stood behind me asked.

This was my time, my chance to explain to everyone especially Deb my reasoning for what I did and how I channeled my darkness into actions of good. I fought for the words I stumbled over what to say but in the end all I could muster was a short, simple unenthusiastic

"No"

"Then the state of Florida will proceed with death by lethal injection." The guard continued and I was somewhat unnerved by how well he knew his lines, as if he had done this sort of thing hundreds of times.

My gurney began to recline back to its original horizontal state and I braced myself for the end.

I had only taken my eyes off of my brother for a moment but in that moment the gurney was almost horizontal and the prison doctor was already loading a cylinder of chemicals into a mechanical pump in the control room. In my distracted state I didn't even notice Joey run out of the room than back in just moments later the look on his face worried me, Joey knelt down by my shoulder and whispered in my ear.

"Lieutenant, I've got to talk to you outside we've got problems."

I turned my head and stared at Joey his timing was horrible, did he really think I was going to leave right now to discuss work related shit.

"Quinn cant you see I'm a little fucking preoccupied here we'll discuss this after…."

"Deb this involves Angel!" Joey warned

I looked over at Angel his eyelids were heavy and his head hung low, I would need to make this quick despite how much it would hurt me I needed to witness Dexter's death for closure. It was my duty to the victim's families as Lieutenant to be with them now since I had failed their loved ones. I walked out of the room with Joey and told the nearest guard to please pass on a request to postpone the injection until I returned, the guard assured me he would do what he could and picked up a wall phone in the hallway and dialed up the control room. Joseph stopped midway down the hall were he was sure we were out of ear range and got me up to speed on the situation that had him so nervous, I've never seen Joey so scared even when we were together and he proposed to me.

"Deb, dispatch called me, the quadruple homicide Angel and I were working earlier all the bodies were quarantined."

"What the hell do you mean quarantined?" I asked

"All the bodies that arrived at the hospital were…Jesus I don't even know how to say this…they attacked people."

"Quinn I don't have time for your mind fuck games what is going on?"

"No one knows lieutenant but a couple of the medics on scene along with some cops and now a couple people at the hospital are all showing similar symptoms just like the original four we brought in. Their slow and unresponsive to directions but get increasingly more violent and have a thing for biting and scratching…Deb…Angel was bite on scene."

My heart stopped there was no telling what this virus was and Angel was alone in a room full of people, I turned on my heels and began running towards the observation room but stopped as Masuka exited.

"Lieutenant, Angels not looking so good, he's more sweaty than usual." Vince casually joked although I could see the worry on his face.

I pushed Masuka out of the way and tried the door but it was locked I searched frantically for the guard I had spoken to earlier but no one was around I slammed my fist against the door but no one answered something was wrong.

It seemed like hours had passed as I laid there with a needle in my arm waiting for the toxins to lure me off but nothing was happening. I strained my neck to the left to look through the window of the control room as I heard whimpers and loud thuds. The guard that had recited my last rights pulled out his baton and savagely beat the doctor on the head than continued doing so while he was on the floor. The guard wiped the blood from his baton on his shirt as he slowly walked towards me with a huge smile across his face.

"Let me guess, I killed someone you knew and the thought of me slipping away into death was not satisfying enough for you, you want to get a little justice of your own don't you?" I asked the deranged guard.

"Quite the contrary Mr. Morgan, we're both huge fans of your work." The guard answered

"We?" I asked

The guard stood behind me and cradled my head in his hands, he gently helped me raise it and I saw through the window another guard holding the audience hostage at gunpoint.

"What is all this" I asked still not sure if I should be thanking this madman or killing him.

"This is a chance for us to express our deepest appreciation for what you do for humanity Dexter, you don't even know what it's like to have to live with these animals every day…or than again maybe you do. We do all we can to make sure these bastards get a taste of their own medicine you know planting shanks during inspections, paying prisoners to take out other prisoners and I myself have even seen to a couple executions off the books if you know what I mean…but you…you're a master."

The guard unstrapped my right arm and continued his rant

"We are still bound by the law I mean we've got to be real careful I've still got to keep this job to pay the bills and all, but you operate outside the law you were untouchable. So concise and confident and far more experienced than us but I'm hoping to learn a great deal from you."

My right arm was now free and I rotated it to relieve the soreness from my wrist then asked the guard a very simple question to determine if they were following the law, my law.

"These prisoners you kill, do they all deserve it?"

"Of course, don't they all?" The guard responded with certainty

"All of them, the thieves, the small timers and first offenders?" I asked again

"Every single one." The guard assured me with murderous craze in his eye.

I quickly swung around with my freed right hand and hit the guard in the throat with the webbing of my hand causing him to stumble backwards and gasp for air. The guard fell to his knees and coughed, when he raised his head he was eye to eye with the doctor who he had bludgeoned to death. The doctor snarled and tackled the guard to the ground and tore apart his cheek with his teeth than continued to his shoulder and down the length of his arm until he was no longer satisfied. The doctor slowly rose to his feet and shuffled towards me as I fought with the strap binding my left arm. The doctor stood above me and dropped his head towards my neck. I managed to unclasp my left arm just in time to catch the doctor by the chin and hold him just inches from my face as he open and shut his mouth trying with all his might to tear me to shreds. The doctor grabbed the back of my head and pulled me closer and I fought against the straps still holding my feet to try and kick him off me. Finally I noticed a pen in the doctor's jacket, I quickly grabbed it with my right hand and buried the tip deep in his eye socket and continued to apply firm pressure until the doctor stopped moving and his head collapsed on my chest. I rolled the doctor off me and his lifeless body fell to the floor with a familiar thud. I released the straps around my ankles, removed the IV from my vein and hopped off the gurney to the floor. The guard was there waiting, still lying down bleeding with gaping flesh wounds and bite marks the guard managed to conjure up the strength to crawl across the room and now he had hold of my ankle and tried feverishly to bite into it. I shook the guard off my leg and knelt down for a moment to study him as he crawled back towards me. This was like nothing I had ever seen, even after death the body somehow was reanimated probably due to physical exposure from another person carrying some sort of virus. It seemed that all the infected wanted to do was consume human flesh if this wasn't such a dangerous situation I was in this would be very interesting. I placed the heel of my shoe against the guard's throat and placed pressure to collapse his windpipe, nothing happened. I pulled the pen from the dead doctor's eye socket and shoved the tip between the ribs of the guard into his heart but still he lived. Agitated and with no explanation as to the nature of this seemingly invulnerable being I slammed my foot down on the guards head till it exploded open on the floor and he finally stopped moving. Severe trauma to the brain, messy but it seemed to be the only way to stop these things after they had contracted the virus. Cries rang out from the room next door and several loud gun shots quickly caught my attention, a stray bullet had taken out one of the two florescent lights in the observation room leaving it poorly light. I placed my hands against the window and struggled to see in the room and it was suddenly illuminated by the muzzle flare of the other guard's pistol as it went off wildly. I saw a man rise up from the floor, take several bullets to the torso and tackle the guard. I stood there still trying to peer into the dark room and for moments I could hear nothing but screams than everything became eerily quiet. The shadow of a man slowly came into view and slammed against the window, I jumped back in a fighting stance armed only with my pen. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I watched Angel Bautista smash his head against the window in an effort to break through to get to me. I crept cautiously closer and examined him, blood stained his brightly colored Hawaiian shirt and a fold of flesh hung from his balding head. His eyes were bloodshot and shards of clothing and skin clung to his teeth. Angel continued beating the glass with his fists trying to break through and slowly the bodies of the audience stirred awake and shuffled up to the glass as well. I stood there intrigued but a thought shot like lighting through my body sending me into panic, Deb, was she part of this undead group? I studied every face closely as they clawed and beat against the glass but there was no sign of Deb from what I could see but I still wasn't sure. I received my answer shortly as a commanding voice screamed through the door of the observation room.

"This is Lieutenant Morgan my Detective and I are going to take the door down stand clear"

The screams drew the attention of the undead audience away from me and they focused it on the sounds coming from the other side as my sister, and I assumed Quinn began to kick in the door.

"Deb no, don't come in here it's not safe!" I yelled as I pounded on the glass.

The audience was still enthralled with the noises from the door however and I knew I needed to get in there. I ran to the exit door of the death chamber but it was obviously locked, I searched on the guard for the keys but he only had his ID card. I ran behind the desk of the control room and continued my search but there were no keys, I sat down in the metal fold up chair and gathered myself. I jumped to my feet and scanned the metal chair I was sitting in, this would have to do.

We were almost through, Quinn and I were kicking the door in and the locks were weakening even Musuka was lending a hand. We heard gunshots and screams and now nothing but moans something was definitely fucked up in there. Musuka slid to the floor holding his shoulder he had just used to try and slam the door in with, I looked at him shook my head and landed one more firm kick. The door exploded open and my eyes fell on a scene from a horror movie, blood splattered the walls and the ceiling and the clothes of all the audience members. I scanned wildly around the room, all this blood but every single one survived this was impossible. Just as I scanned the crowd they scanned me eyeing Quinn and I up and down like we were a plate of meat.

"Is…is everyone ok?" Quinn asked the stunned crowd

Without acknowledging the question the crowd went on a rampage and all at once rushed us out the door. Quinn and I instinctively went for our guns but quickly remembered we had to turn them over before entering the prison. Three audience members squeezed through the door frame. The first two went for Quinn and Masuka the last one went for me, the one after me was Angel. Masuka ran off into the nearest bathroom, the man pursued, Quinn fought the other with a barrage of punches but he just kept coming at him and I was left to deal with Angel.

"Angel, can you hear me? Angel you're infected with something we need to get you help" Angel kept coming while I crept backwards towards the wall my hands up in a gesture of peace.

"Sergeant Bautista I'm ordering you to stop right now….god damn it Angel please stop" I begged as my back hit the drinking fountain on the wall.

I was trapped Angel snarled and shuffled faster I pushed him in the chest and he fell clumsily to the floor. The sound of glass shattering made me look up but through the dim light of the observation room I could only make out a mass of bodies flooding back into the direction of the death chamber. However two stray audience members, a man and woman covered in blood and teeth marks stumbled through the exit into the hallway, we were overwhelmed. Angel shakily got to his feet and came at me again and through the corner of my eye I watched Quinn take one of the assailants to the ground and kick the woman that was sneaking up behind him. This was too much; Angel was inches from me and Quinn couldn't handle all of the others alone but Angel was my friend I could never hurt him. I begged and pleaded again with Angel but it was like he was in a trance, he lunged forward and I grabbed him by his neck holding him back. All the sudden something hit Angel in the back of the head and he dropped to the floor his weight taking me down with him. Angel still wouldn't quit through, he pushed himself back up and went to bite my thigh, but a flash of metal connected with Angels head and he rolled over next to me. I looked at Angel stunned on the floor still moaning and fighting to get up then I looked up and saw Dexter standing over me, a dented and bloody metal fold up chair in his hands. Angel began to crawl back towards me and without a second thought Dexter slammed down with one of the metal legs of the chair right into the center of Angels head and continued until he stopped moving.

I could clearly see Deb was disturbed by what I had just done, I had killed so many but doing this to Angel was no easy task under normal circumstances I might have even have called him a friend. I pulled the chair leg out of the deep indentation in the sergeant's forehead and locked eyes with Deb once more, I couldn't quite tell what she was feeling but I knew gratitude was far down on her list. I broke my gaze and redirected my attacks at the three other audience members that had made it through the door before I closed it when I made my escape. Quinn was becoming winded as he through wild hay makers and kicks trying to put some distance in between him and his attackers. I lifted the chair and swung it into the woman and pinned her head against the cement wall crushing it. She dropped and to make sure I wouldn't have to deal with her later I bludgeoned her with the backing of the fold up chair. Quinn was still holding off the last two men that had made it out of the observation room but he was backed into a door leading into a janitor's closet. One of the men lunged at Quinn and pinned him against the door, the other Quinn had managed to kick back putting a few inches between them. The man held Quinn against the door and went to bite his shoulder; Quinn struggled to hold the much heavier man off with his forearm while the other man he had kicked away was wading back into the fight. I came at the man who had been pushed back by Quinn and kicked out the back of his knees, as soon as he hit the floor I slammed the chair down on his head and the force broke the seat off the weak welds. With no time to waste I ran to Quinn's final attacker just as he was about to sink his teeth into his shoulder. With my chair in ruins I went for my last weapon on hand, the metal ballpoint pen I had taken from the doctor. I wrapped my arm around the obese man's neck and pulled him off Detective Quinn, the man snarled and went to claw at my face but before he had a chance to react I plunged the tip of the pen into the man's temple and kicked his body to the floor. I looked up just in time meet Quinn's fist as it collided with my face, I stumbled back over the body of the woman I had killed earlier and fell to the ground. Quinn came at me again but I landed a solid kick to his abdomen stopping him in his tracks. The detective held his gut and struggled for breath as I rubbed my jaw and got back to my feet.

"You're welcome, Detective." I said sarcastically

"Fuck you Morgan, you goddamn monster you killed everyone." Quinn retorted

"Yes I did and if you don't mind…."

I reached down and tore a leg from my demolished chair and examined the jagged metal tip. Then I walked with purpose towards the observation room door were I intended to finish what I started. I reached for the handle but Detective Quinn had come up behind me, put me in a choke hold and slammed me face first into the door.

"You're not hurting anyone else asshole." Quinn growled into my ear

I swung my head back and I heard a pop as I hit the detective's nose. Quinn's hold around my neck loosened and I grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm around and slammed him into the door. I stood behind him still holding his arm straight and his wrist twisted ready to break his arm in a moments notice. The noises from the scuffle had definitely excited the rest of the audience on the other side of the door and an array of animalistic sounds and thumps behind the door rang throughout the hallway.

"You really think you're something special don't you Morgan, Justifying your sickness by hearting the bad guys?" Quinn questioned through gritted teeth "you're not helping anyone that's what we're here for you're just another sick fuck that likes that sight of blood."

I applied slightly more pressure just to shut him up but still Quinn continued

"These people are sick they need help and you're going to have to kill me in order to get through this door, you hear me you crazy prick!" Quinn yelled and the swarm of undead grew more restless and began to beat on the door.

"You think these people are still human detective? I asked "I just stabbed a man in the heart and crushed his throat with my shoe and he still came at me for a snack. Now if you're too stupid to see that these 'people' aren't dangerous than by all means go right through this door and help them, here ill let you in."

I released my hold on Quinn and tossed him to the side, I opened the door slightly and hands and fingers began to slip through the cracks. I braced myself against the door holding it back as over a dozen undead pressed against it trying to break through and I turned to look at Quinn, his face white with fear.

"Come on detective help them." I gestured towards the door with my head as I purposely let it inch open a bit further "Help them." I ordered again but still Quinn sat paralyzed with fear.

"Fine, I'll help them." I said and just as I was about to release my hold on the door Deb pushed me to the side and put all her weight on it.

I was so surprised I couldn't move as my sister fought to keep the swarm at bay and began to bark orders at both Quinn and I.

"There is some seriously fucked up shit happening here and until we figure out what's going on you two assholes are going to work with me and work together am I understood?"

Both Quinn and I nodded our heads

"Good, now if it's not too much to ask can you help me with this door before these fucks eat us alive?"

Quinn and I jumped up and helped my sister slowly press the door back into place and used the remains of the chair to wedge in underneath the knob locking. Exhausted all three of us rested against the wall to catch our breaths but not for long.

"O shit!" Deb screamed

"What's up Lieutenant?" Quinn asked

"Masauka!" Deb wailed as she took off down the hall

Quinn and I ran after her but we all stopped and stared as Vince shuffled out of the bathroom he was hiding in, drenched in blood holding the ceramic backing of a toilet tank more blood dripping from that.

"Vince are you ok?" Quinn asked

Vince ignored his questions and kept shuffling forward, Quinn asked again and I stepped out in front of them my chair leg turned weapon in hand anxious for another kill. Masuka was just feet from me, and Quinn and Deb reacted too slowly to stop me. I extended my arm for the kill shot and just as I was about to swing forward, Masuka blew chunks on my already bloodstained jumpsuit.

"You…douche bag's… almost got me killed." Vince Panted as he threw the ceramic backing at the feet of Deb and Quinn.

"Jesus Christ Vince are you ok?" Deb asked

"Alive yes, ok no…I had to beat a man to death with a toilet that definitely doesn't qualify as ok"

Vince took one look at me and as if a light had suddenly snapped on in his head he finally remembered who I was. Masuka took a couple of steps back and pointed a shaky finger at me.

"What the…how…why is he out?" Vince asked

"Relax Vince he's trying to help; he's not going to hurt you." Deb answered

"Trying to help?" Quinn rhetorically asked my sister

Quinn knelt down, picked up the toilet backing and swung at my head with it. I managed to dodge out of the way and now Quinn and I were at a standoff.

"Joey what the hell are you doing I told you to stand down." Deb ordered

"Deb don't forget who this guy is, he's a psychopath." Quinn yelled

"Quinn put it down now!" my sister ordered again and I couldn't help smiling from my sister protecting me.

"Look Lieutenant I'm not going to stay in a room with a convicted murdered let alone an armed convicted murder so if he doesn't put that damn chair leg down I will put him down." Quinn laid out his ultimatum

"Dexter will not hurt us Joey." Deb said defending me yet again.

Deb looked at me for the first time in almost a month with the kind loving eyes I had grown so accustomed to and missed. Still I was confused why would she defend me all I had done was hurt and lie to her but now she was at my side. Red strobe lights began to blink on the hallway walls followed shortly by loud blaring horns from the PA system.

"What the hell is that?" Vince yelled over the noise as he held his hands over his ears.

"Lock down" I yelled back "I'm not sure but I think this is spreading and I think the guards are doing whatever they can to contain it. All the primary doors and cells are locked and cant be opened without a master card key that only a few high ranking guards have and the main exit has to be unlocked from the control room in cell block A."

"How do you know all this?" my sister asked

"I listen, and I've also planned my escape numerous times." The first bit of truth I had given my sister in a long time.

"What's the plan Lieutenant?" Quinn asked over the alarms

"Ok…we've got to get our weapons; if there are more infected people out there we're going to need them. We need to get back to security check in but before we do that we need to get a key card from one of the supervising guards." Deb said strategically laying out her plan

"I saw a lot of the guards heading towards the break room for lunches and shift changes when I first got here." Masuka said "The break room is connected to the kitchen and cafeteria." Vince continued and we all looked at him puzzled

"What? I was hungry."

"Fine it's settled then Masuka can guide us to the cafeteria from there we can get to the break room and grab a key card, but I'm not going anywhere until this asshole's in cuffs." Quinn said as he walked towards me still holding his ceramic shield, but Deb stepped in and blocked his path.

"There's no time for this shit Joey you saw how fast this spread there could be hundreds of infected people out there we'll need all the help we can get. When this is all over we'll handle Dexter ok?"

"Deb, we can't trust him" Quinn argued back

"I know we can't but if people need to be …stopped…who better to have with you than the bay harbor butcher. Plus he's still my brother and I know deep down there's the side to him I love."

I was gleaming, my sister loved me unconditionally even through this entire ordeal. But my happiness was soon overshadowed by darkness as I realized I may never feel the same way or share the same blind love for Deb that she had for me. Would I ever be able to fully grasp the concept of love? This question was definitely best suited for another time. I turned to Quinn and reassured him the best way I could that I would not harm our little group.

"Don't worry detective if I was going to kill you I would have done it by now."

Quinn scowled and was about to come back with no doubt a witty response but our banter was interrupted by a body slamming against the door leading out to cell block C. All three of us tensed up and watched a prisoner wearing my matching prison jumpsuit pound his fist against the windows on the door trying to get our attention.

Help me, O shit…O my god please help!" the prisoner screamed as he frantically tried the locked door knobs on his end.

Quinn and Deb both started for the door but I stopped them and pointed at the prisoner's neck with my chair leg. Deep gouges indicating teeth marks shown on him and the blood loss from that wound alone would cause death in a matter of minutes.

"He's infected and at the rate of that blood loss he'll be dead soon." I said to Deb and Quinn.

"Alright fine then we let him in and at least keep him comfortable, maybe even get some answers from him see how bad it is out there." Quinn said

"The problem with that is once he's dead detective, he won't stay dead and he'll attack all of us." I said

"What the hell are you talking about Dexter there's nothing on this earth that can bring someone back to life." Deb asked

"Deb trust me I've seen it." I answered

It was Deb's simple logic that got my mind spinning; there was nothing on earth that could bring someone back from the dead. So was this phenomenon not from earth, was it some sort of higher being a more intelligent, more powerful life form? Could this be the apocalypse, the calculated eradication of human by god that Travis Marshall had told me about? Travis had mentioned many forms of purging mankind, was this destructive unexplainable virus exactly what he was referring to? Maybe Travis Marshall was not so crazy after all.

Quinn was right about one thing though, we didn't know what we were walking into as soon as we walked out that door. We needed information from this prisoner and from the look on his face and the condition he was in I was sure he had plenty. I walked towards the door and placed my hands on the knobs, that got the attention of the prisoner and his terrified eyes meet mine.

"I'm going to let you in." I reassured "But first you need to answer a couple questions can you do that for me?"

The man nodded yes and I continued

"Do the guards have this contained, are the prisoners fighting or are they attacking each other?"

"Fuck man can't you just ask me these stupid ass questions in there I'm…."

"Answer them!" I yelled and the prisoner continued

"Um…. O man…no no they couldn't get it contained and …shit I don't know man most of them are just fighting stupid turf war shit but others are tackling people and biting them." The man stopped and pointed at his neck as if to show he wasn't making any of this up then began begging.

"Please man I've answered your questions let me in"

"The guards are they completely overrun?" I asked

"Yeah man their fucked the guards the riot response team its like some prisoners didn't care how much they got hit or pepper sprayed they kept on coming I've never seen anything like it now let me in god damn it."

I had my answers and just as I had assumed it was the worst case scenario the virus was spreading faster than anyone could contain it, we had a hell of a fight waiting for us. I turned to Quinn, Masauka and Deb and addressed them as calmly as I could without underselling the present danger.

"Ok there are a lot of them out there, we need to find someway of defending ourselves blunt objects, blades, any sort of weapon that can cause severe trauma."

The three of them looked at each other than back at me as if they hadn't understood what I had said.

"Find a weapon now!" I yelled loosing my patience

Quinn and Deb sprung into action looking but Masuka simply bent down and picked up his toilet tank backing.

"Vince, no"

"Hey screw you Morgan it's gotten me by so far." Vince responded

I sighed and watched as my sister and Quinn beat down the door to the janitor's office, now that they were distracted I knew it was time to handle our prisoner informant on the other side of the door. I opened the door and pushed the man back before he could rush in and pulled my chair leg from my waist band.

"I'm sorry" I offered my apology as I raised my shank and shoved it through the front of his skull.

I went back into the hallway and quickly shut and locked the door but the mans screams had gotten the attention of everyone.

"Dexter no!" Deb screamed

"You're a sick fuck Morgan!" Quinn chimed in and I immediately lost it.

"Can't you see what's going on here?!"

"I see what's going on Morgan but it doesn't mean you get to act like a big sadistic kid in a fucking candy store." Quinn said as he began to advance on me with his newly acquired wooden mop handle.

"Quinn's right Dex, you need to control your urges save your strength we need you." Deb said as she once again held back Quinn "We don't know if this condition is reversible and the less people we hurt and kill the better do I make myself clear?"

I scowled but reluctantly nodded, were Quinn and Deb right was it my need to survive driving me to kill or my dark passenger surfacing, sensing a free for all, and if that was the case would I be able to stop? I had never been forced with a challenge like this, in my old life I had to go by a set of rules to keep me under control and kill only a select few to keep me under the radar, with that atmosphere removed what would I be capable of?

I shook myself out of my dark thoughts and examined all three of them anxiously waiting on my next move as if I was the leader of this rag tag group armed with a broken mop handle, ceramic toilet tank backing and large monkey wrench (Deb). I looked down at my own pitiful weapon, sighed, and nodded at the other three to see if they were ready then opened the door. I was familiar with this particular hallway having taken my walk of death down it and lead the group slowly and cautiously through. I found it ironic that I had avoided the lethal injection only to walk back down it to a possibly more gruesome death. So far it was quiet and the bright florescent lights and shiny well kept linoleum floors almost made us believe everything was normal, that positive thinking was quickly extinguished. We rounded the corner to the last stretch of hallway before cell block C and we fell upon two inmates savagely tearing into a woman dressed in a business skirt, leggings and a blue blouse. The woman was obviously dead as she sat there propped against the wall in a puddle of her own blood and I looked to my sister to get her approval for what I was about to do. Deb stood, eyes wide not being able to comprehend the horror she was witnessing but although it was presented in a different setting I was very accustom to the gore and filth. Deb was right who better to have in this situation than the Bay Harbor Butcher. Deb managed to nod her approval and I was about to charge when I felt a hand on my shoulder I turned my head and saw Quinn gulp down his fear and nod as well, after what he had seen he was on board now and had silently agreed to help me kill. The two of us crept up on the two undead prisoners and they were so enthralled with their feast that they didn't even notice me as I kicked the closest one off the woman and thrust my chair leg into his head, Quinn was having a little more difficulty. Quinn hit the remaining prisoner in the back of the head with his mop handle, the force of the hit shattering it down from its original length to about ten inches. The hit only caught the attention of the prisoner and wasn't enough to faze him, the prisoner swung back and pushed Quinn. Quinn was so surprised he stumbled back and fell to the floor. The prisoner hurled himself on top of the downed detective and went for a bite but Quinn managed to work the rest of his mop handle in between the jaws of his attacker and pushed back the prisoners head with it. The prisoner snarled and chomped down on the handle as he grabbed Quinn's head. Quinn clenched his lips closed trying to keep the man's blood soaked fingers out of his mouth and fought harder to push him off but the prisoner did not tire and Quinn was obviously fatiguing. I ran to Quinn's aid and violently threw the prisoner off him and into the wall. I held my hand out to the detective to help him up but he slapped it out of the way jumped to his feet, wiped the blood off his face and stabbed the prisoner in the head with his remaining mop handle. I grinned and chuckled a bit to myself, in part to Quinn's hypocrisy about killing, the other how easily he was taken down. Quinn heard me, whipped his head around and glared at me.

"Don't you say a fucking word Morgan."

I held my hands up in a half serious gesture of peace and the detective pushed through me towards the exit door into Cell block C. Deb walked swiftly around the bloody scene of our kills and Masuka trailed. All the sudden the woman torn apart by the prisoners stirred to life, she grunted and snarled and that caught the attention of Masuka. Vince stopped and stared at the blood drenched woman as she reached out to him. Vince knelt down, examined the woman and began to reach out to her. Before their two's hands could touch Deb swatted Masuka's hand away.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now Masuka?" Deb asked completely baffled

"What I wasn't going to do anything I was…."

Yeah whatever you pervert get up lets go." Quinn said cutting him off and Vince rose to his feet leaving the undead woman, torn apart from the torso up and a fate worst than death.

Quinn and I stopped before the door leading from the hallway to cell block C and braced ourselves for whatever was on the other side. We gathered from Vince that there was a hallway on the lower level of cell block C that would lead to the cafeteria; from there we would find the break room for the guards down another corridor. I took point, Quinn behind me and Masuka followed by Deb; together we rushed through the door before either of us lost our nerve. What we walked into was a true horror show, dozens of guards in riot gear struggled to hold crazed infected at bay, prisoners lying in their cells bloody and beaten, bodies lined the walls of the cell block and some reanimated right in front of us. Screams of men being torn apart and inhuman grunts and yells echoed throughout the cold cement walls and we were immediately immersed in this hell having to push our way down to the doorway leading to the hall at the far corner of the room. Three undead rushed Quinn who had finally followed my lead by reacting fast and going straight for the head of all of them with the sharp edge of his mop handle. Musaka was overrun by four who quickly cornered him; he swung high and fast and managed to lay one out by bludgeoning him with his ceramic cover but three still advanced. Deb kicked one over the railing to the floor below and fought off a still living prisoner who put her in a choke hold trying to grab her wrench turned weapon from her hands. Deb pushed the prisoner against the wall hard causing him to loose his grip; she spun around and held her wrench up to strike but noticed the man was still alive and not bitten. I took out two more undead with my shank and managed to catch of glimpse of Deb as she hesitated, the prisoner rushed her but Deb bashed him in the head with her bloody chrome crescent wrench. This was slowly settling in for them, these people that were infected were no longer human which made it easier for them to justify killing them. But to them killing an uninfected man, prisoner or not, still hung heavy on their conscience. I had witnessed my sister kill a man and I could see that this had stunned her, myself on the other hand undead or alive I wouldn't think, I would do what I did best . Deb snapped out of her funk and ran to aid Masuka who was fighting clumsily to beat away his attackers. I landed a solid knee to a quickly advancing undead prisoner and stabbed him in the back of the head as he fell. I continued my rampage through a wave of both undead and alive prisoners blocking the stair well and called to the other three to follow. Quinn was down but managed to kick off a prisoner crawling towards him with two broken legs and got back to his feet, a piece of his mop handle sticking through his thigh. Quinn hobbled down the stairs and reluctantly took my shoulder for balance as he met me at the bottom. We were both knocked to the ground by a fast moving guard trying to get up the stairs and out the exit. Three undead prisoners and one undead guard bore down on us as I struggled to get Quinn to his feet. Masuka was at the top of the stairs and hit two more undead but was startled by the guard moving up the stairs and swung connecting with his riot helmet. The guard was knocked off balance and rolled down the stairs. This attracted the attention of our four would be attackers and they swarmed over him ripping through the exposed points of his Kevlar vest and into his gut with their bare hands. Deb had just managed to push through another two undead by the skin of her teeth and weakly stumble down the stairs. A large undead guard was moving in fast behind her and I handed Quinn over to Masuka and the two stumbled through the door to the cafeteria hall and locked it on my orders. I kicked a guard to the floor and sliced the throat of a prisoner to clear my way and jumped over the stair railing to get in between the snarling guard and my sister. I misjudged the angle of my strike and ended up hitting the guard in the corner of his riot helmet, the hard Plexiglas made my shank skim off . Deb managed to avoid more attackers and ran to the door; she pounded on it until Masuka unlocked it and let her in. The large undead guard grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me forward, he slammed his helmet against me trying to bite through it into the soft skin of my neck the shock making me drop my shank. The helmet collided with my right eye and I could feel warm blood trickle down my cheek, the smell and sight of that threw the guard into a frenzy. He tried to break through his own helmet to sink his teeth into me unknowingly bashing his head into mine and I was beginning to loose consciousness. I managed to look up and saw undead approaching, stumbling down the stairs. I looked behind me past the last three steps to the floor and saw my chair leg lying at the base of the stairs. I bear hugged the snapping guard and pushed off the step I was on; together we tumbled down the three stairs and hit hard on the concrete below. The guard landed on top of me and through the searing pain in my head, the approaching undead and the blackness of my unconsciousness settling in I managed to grab my chair leg lying next to me and shove it into the bottom jaw of the guard and into his brain. I laid there still, my ears rang and time slowed, my vision became hazy as the undead prisoners made it to the bottom of the stairs and went straight for me. I looked to my left and saw Harry sitting on a nearby table nodding his approval.

"You saved her Dexter, I underestimated you son." Harry said

All I could do was nod and close my eyes as I waited for death for the second time that day. I felt a whoosh of air and sensed movement and as my eyes inched open I saw Deb beat the approaching undead with her wrench. She grabbed me by the back of the collar and dragged me to safety behind the door of the cafeteria corridor. Deb knelt by my side and ran her fingers through my mangy, blood matted hair, and I looked deep into her kind concerned eyes and fell unconscious.

Dexter saved me, why would he do that, was the way he felt about me not an act? Somewhere deep down he must care otherwise why bother coming back for me. Lately I've been having some strange feelings for my step brother, feelings that my dumb bitch therapist had brought to the surface and even if Dexter had the capacity to love I doubt he would be in love with me. I looked at Quinn and Masuka as they rummaged through the nurses station we found on our way to finding the cafeteria. Masuka sat on the edge of the patients table staring off into space, blood splatter on his wide rimmed glasses. Quinn was busy bandaging up his leg wound and I heard him curse as he ripped the remaining piece of wood out of his thigh. I put a blanket under Dexter's unconscious head placed the ice pack under his eye then went to Masuka and put my hand on his shoulder. Masuka didn't move, I knew that if he made it through this he was going to need some major counseling. I left Masuka to go check on Quinn who was busy swallowing a fistful of painkillers and sat next to him within eye sight of Dexter.

"How the hell did that happen?" I asked pointing to Quinn's now bandaged leg

"Fucking inmate caught me off guard after I took out one of those things, dropped my mop handle he picked it up and stabbed me in the leg as I went after him that piece of shit." Joey spat and I saw a thin layer of blood coating his saliva as it trailed down to the drain on the floor.

"Are you ok?" I asked him

"Shit no, is any of this ok?" Quinn asked rhetorically "Look at us Deb we barely made it through one cell block, you almost got killed Masuka's a freaking nut case now and Dexter's unconscious….we're not going to survive this."

"You can't think like that Joey, we've got to push through get those key cards, get our guns and go for help it can't be like this everywhere." I reassured but not even believing it myself.

Masuka jumped from his seat and ran into the adjacent patient room, after a few moments I heard loud crashes as he threw things to the ground and then quiet sobbing. I decided to try again to comfort Vince, I mean come on he was a lab geek he wasn't built for this…shit I wasn't built for this.

"Can you keep an eye on Dexter?" I asked Quinn as I walked towards the other room to check on Vince.

"Sure, no problem" Quinn replied with a snicker that made me kind of nervous.

I was slowly coming back into consciousness; I heard mummers and the sounds of crashing, then the sobs of Vince Masuka. My head still felt light and I was stricken with a splitting migraine headache but I was otherwise ok. I inched my eyes open and saw Detective Quinn limp into the room and through my still blurred vision could barely make out something shiny and metal in his left hand. I closed my eyes and listened intently as Quinn stood over me and addressed me thinking I was still unconscious.

"You know when this is all over I'm going to put you back in a hole where you belong. You're not even going to get the luxury of the death penalty because Deb might be fooled but I know who you are." Quinn kneeled down and brought is speech to almost a whisper "I've seen people like you before while working on the force all these years. Killing is in your blood, it's your nature and you can pretend all you want that you're helping by hurting the bad guys but you don't really care if their good or bad, I know it's just a way for you to pretend to be normal."

I relaxed my hands at my side and braced myself for anything, and continued focusing on the sound of Quinn's voice and his movement.

"You're just another asshole that thinks he's above the law, that he can do whatever he wants and hide in plain sight well maybe I should just end this now so you can't hurt or turn on Vince…on Deb….on me!"

My eyes sprung open just as Quinn swung down at my heart with a scalpel, I caught his wrist and held my arm to help support the weight as Quinn pushed down. We both barred our teeth and growled at each other as we fought, I could see the hatred in his eyes and I'm sure he could see the blood lust in mine. I rolled the detective over and managed to get the upper hand as I turned the blade and brought it closer and closer to his neck but just as I was about to end it the door leading to the corridor burst open. Six undead waded through the door in an array of clothing from inmate to doctor, business man to prison guard. I jumped off Quinn armed with my new scalpel and went straight to work; Quinn jumped behind a gurney and used it as a battering ram to take out the straggling two that came through the door. Deb came out from the neighboring room armed with an I.V. stand and Masuka with two steel bed pans. We made quick work of this small group of undead and each of us stood in separate corners of the room panting and covered in blood.

"Dexter…are you ok?" Deb asked through labored breaths

"Fine" I answered as I held a stare down with detective Quinn.

"Ok well obviously this shits spreading further we need to get to the cafeteria, Vince how much further it is?" Deb asked

"Not much further Lieutenant if we don't get overrun by these zombie dick heads." Masuka answered as he kicked an undead man with a doctors coat who's head he had beat in with his bed pans.

Deb nodded and slowly opened the door leading into the corridor; I peered around and saw a handful of undead roaming around or swaying back and forth eerily.

"Let's move." Deb ordered and together we waded through the group of undead, killing only those that posed a threat following my sister's orders.

Finally we made it to the cafeteria, I opened the door and looked around it was completely empty minus the dead bodies littering the floor. I went through first, and then Quinn and Masuka and Deb walked in last. In a flash a man appeared from the shadows, came behind my sister and put a kitchen knife to her neck. Quinn and I spun around as we heard Deb yelp and were about to charge. The man pressed the knife harder against her neck enough to draw blood and immerged from the shadows. My eyes met the smiling, and sickly pale face of Jorge Chivio.

"Small world huh?" Jorge asked

I've never been one to plead but when a madman has a knife to my sister's throat I tend to get a little desperate.

"Jorge, it's me you want let my sis…let her go" in my panic I had given Jorge even more leverage. The knowledge that the woman he was holding hostage was not just a cop and friend but my own flesh and blood, how could I be so careless.

"Sister huh? Jorge said as he buried his face in Deb's hair and inhaled deeply "Can't you see the irony in this Morgan, you kill my brother I get your sister… its destiny."

"Wait you know this fucker? Quinn asked

"We were cell neighbors…briefly" I answered

"This demonic piece of shit…" Jorge paused and took the knife from my sister's neck to point it at me "…Killed my brother, chopped him up and threw him in the ocean."

I could feel Quinn boring holes into me with his eyes and could almost hear the scraping from his teeth as he grinded his jaw together.

"Why am I not surprised?" Quinn asked rhetorically

"Yeah the butcher and I have some unfinished business but before that you guys are going to walk me right through the front gate or this bitch's neck gets a whole lot shorter you got me!?"

I noticed movement in the shadows behind Jorge and decided to take a head count, Quinn Deb…where was Masuka?

"You…you've been bitten you can't survive this it's already too late." Deb struggled to say as the pressure of the knife cut off her airway.

"Bullshit you're going to get me out of here and get me to a doctor, their smart and shit with their college degrees someone has to have a cure for this." Jorge said then broke out into a painful coughing fit expelling a bit of blood on the floor. I took that moment to try and rush Jorge but he recovered too quickly and placed the knife even harder against Deb's jugular.

"Don't even fucking think about it butcher…I know what happens next when your bitten. Fevers, hallucinations, your whole body starts to feel like its on fire and being put in a meat grinder at the same time. Shit I'm already halfway dead, maybe I'll take your fine ass sister with me."

Jorge opened his mouth and ran his teeth along Deb's neck

"Would you like that sweetheart?" Jorge asked then looked up at me "I'm not going to kill her Morgan, but once I go Dracula on this bitch she's going to wish she was dead."

Jorge opened his mouth wide and went for Deb's neck I had to stop him, my mind raced and time slowed as I fought for anyway to stop this bastard from turning my sister into a soulless cannibal.

"You want to know what your brothers last words were Jorge, before I killed him?"

That got Jorge's attention and he brought his head up being just inches away from my sisters neck and stared at me with murderous rage in his eyes.

"You want to know how I wrapped him in plastic sheeting and cut his cheek to add to my blood slide collection. Then as he whimpered and begged for his life I jammed a stainless steel blade into his heart, Do you know what his last dying words were Jorge?"

Jorge just continued to stare I could see his grip tighten around the handle of the knife and his body began to quiver.

The shadow behind Jorge began to slowly creep closer and I knew I had to keep Jorge's interest drawn on me.

"Are you serious, you're going to toy with the bastard who's got a knife to your sisters throat you really are out of your goddamn mind aren't you?" Quinn yelled

I turned to Quinn; I had no time for his judgment I had to let him know my plan so he wouldn't interfere.

"You never took me seriously did you detective, on a crime scene, you just though I was some nerd with glasses standing in the background trying to be a hero."

I took one more step towards Quinn and we were now toe to toe I made sure to make eye contact with him as I repeated myself.

"Just thought I was some nerd in the background trying to be a hero didn't you?" I quickly darted my eyes to the left in the direction of the shadow getting increasingly closer to Jorge and I could see the light turn on in Quinn's head and he began to play along, a little to well. Quinn punched me in the gut and took me to the ground, we rolled on the floor kicking and hitting each other to the dismay of Jorge who had lost control of his hostages in which he needed to escort him out of the prison.

"Hey cut that shit out, I mean it stop now or she's dead."

I rolled Quinn off of me and yelled behind Jorge

"Vince now!" from the shadows Masuka came out still armed with his steel bed pans and clobbered Jorge in the back of the head. The hit stunned Jorge and he dropped his knife, Quinn ran up and tackled the prisoner over a bench seat and pinned him to the top of the table. Deb quickly recovered and ran to Quinn's aid and together they each grabbed one of Jorge's arms and held him down on the table. Vince came to my side and helped me to my feet.

"Thanks Vince that was good timing" I said as I whipped the blood from my face injuries Quinn had inflicted.

"You're welcome but I wasn't a fan of the nerd comments, I prefer genius." Masuka said through his usual smart ass grin.

I watched Quinn and Deb struggle to hold the enraged meth cook down to the table and I smiled ear to ear.

"No Jorge, this is irony." I mumble to myself as I bent down picked up Jorge's kitchen knife, jumped on the table and straddled him.

Before Quinn and Deb could think or make a move I thrust the knife deep into Jorge's heart and brought my head close to his ear.

"Your brother's last words Jorge…he blamed you for everything and now I finally gave you what you deserve."

I sat there my hands still firmly clasped to the knife buried in Jorge's chest and watched as the life dimmed in his eyes. Quinn and Deb were so surprised they let go of each arm they were holding and scurried on the floor away from me. I quickly snapped out of my daze realizing I had just performed my ritual killing in the presence of two cops one of whom was my sister. I pulled the knife from Jorge's chest and looked side to side examining Quinn and Deb who were both in a state of shock, their eyes wide and fixed on me. Everyone was brought back to reality by the nervous mumbling of Masuka

"Guys… I don't mean to ruin this beautifully fucked up moment but we really need to move now!" Vince yelled as he pointed to a small group of undead merging through the kitchen door and more stirring awake from the previously lifeless bodies scattered around the cafeteria.

All of us got to work looking through the bodies of the actual dead guards for the supervisor key card but couldn't find it. Deb and Quinn armed themselves with batons from the guards, Masuka kept his bed pans and I had my kitchen knife and scalpel tucked away in my pocket, together we fought through the kitchen to the door of the guards break room. Quinn and I beat the door in while Deb and Masuka took care of the undead funneling down the hallway and finally we were in. Deb slammed the door and locked it while the rest of us frantically searched the guard's personal belongings and lockers for the supervisor key card. A dim light in an adjacent room caught my attention and I walked in to find a small surveillance room, the CCTV's lighting up the darkness. I took a moment to examine the monitors and noticed that the guard's had finally wised up and took the fight outside so they wouldn't get backed into a corner in the tight prison interior. This smart thinking on their part relieved a lot of congestion in the cell blocks and I saw that the path leading from here to the security check in was clear. The check in was next on the plan that's where Deb and Quinn could get their guns evening the odds for us. From there we would make our way to cell block A and into the command center allowing us access to any exit we needed. Everything was starting to look up, only thing was we needed to supervisor key card to access both of the reinforced doors to the check in and command center.

"Damn it!" I yelled as I slammed my fists on the surveillance system keypad, under the desk I heard a whimper.

I cautiously poked my head under and saw a large man in prison guard uniform curled up holding his baton in a striking position.

"Please…O God don't hurt me…I have a family." The guard begged

I looked up and glanced once more at the brave prison guards battling hordes of undead along with just the normal psychos in the prison and became enraged. I felt a sharp pain in my shin from the guard striking me with his baton in an attempt to escape but there was no escaping me or my dark passenger. I ripped the baton from the guard's hands, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him from under the desk. I wrapped my hand around his throat brought him to his feet then slammed his face onto the keypad of the surveillance console making sure he was able to watch the screens.

"Do you see that? Dozens of guards out there putting their lives on the line to keep this contained"

The guard didn't answer and I became even more pissed off

"Look at them!" I snarled at the guard who had a stream of urine dribbling down his pant leg.

"I'm so sorry…This happened so fast I didn't know what to do where to send them…they don't pay me enough for this shit!" the guard whined again as I pulled my scalpel from my pocket and pressed it to his neck.

It was than that I noticed the stripes on the guard's shirt signifying that he was a lieutenant. I reached around, grabbed the key card dangling from the front of his lapel and ripped it off.

"You don't deserve this" I growled once more as I began to slice into the cowardly supervisor's carotid artery.

Before I was able to make the cut Deb tore into the room and stopped me

"Dexter no, stop!" she ordered

"Deb he left all of his subordinates to die while he sat here cowering under a desk, he deserved this" I pleaded

"He's not a murdered Dexter he's in over his head, under qualified and a major pussy but he hasn't hurt anyone personally that's how you determine who you kill isn't it?"

Deb had finally begun to understand why I do what I do but I was beginning to fear that this environment had opened up the flood gates for my dark passenger. I knew Harry would disapprove and Deb was now on the verge of acknowledging that I wasn't just a heartless killing machine but every ounce of me wanted to kill this man so badly.

"Dexter you're not a bad person I know you have a good heart I've known you all my life and this couldn't have all been an act, please you need to let him go."

The fight within me was like a hurricane my dark passenger needed a kill, craved it, begged for it but Deb was right this was against my code.

"You're lucky" I whispered in the guard's ear before I slammed his head against the desk knocking him out cold.

I handed the key card to Deb and she wrapped her arms around me for a warm embrace, I really wasn't use to this much affection and could only stand there awkwardly and take it. We walked back into the locker room and I explained to Quinn and Masuka the good fortune I had just discovered by watching the CCTV screens.

The four of us cautiously waded through the hallway back to the cafeteria and retraced our steps till we got back to cell block C killing only the undead that got in our way. From cell block C we had to go upstairs and go through the doorways that lead to cell block B, from there we could take a hallway that branched off to the security checkpoint. On the way up the stairs of cell block C I stopped and examined the large undead guard that had nearly head butt me to death and the three other undead lying at the base of the stairs were Deb had killed them. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I realized how close I had gotten to the end, what would it have been like to be torn apart limb from limb or worse live as one of those things. Deb placed her hand on my shoulder trying to get my attention and I leapt back startled.

"You ok?" she asked

"Fine." I responded and we continued up the stairs

Cell block B was eerily quiet, only a handful undead that had somehow been corralled into one cell. The four of us walked back to back searching for the hallway that split to the security checkpoint. Finally we found it and together briskly walked down the hall to the checkpoint. Three guards stood post manning the door that lead out to the yard and we quickly realized we would need to get through them to get to the security check in that stood right beside them. We hid behind the corner and began to strategize a plan, against my better judgment the group decided this battle could be won with words. Deb offered to simply walk up to them, pull the lieutenant card and ask for their weapons back. I reached out to Deb to stop here before she rounded the corner into the guard's sight it was too late. Deb stuffed her baton in the back of her pants and walked down the hall hands up in a gesture of peace, the guards reacted as I assumed they would, hostile.

"Stop right there, turn around and walk away now this area is quarantined!" one guard yelled

"Hold on guys I'm Lieutenant Debra Morgan with Miami Metro Homicide, I'm here to help I just need my gun ok?"

"We don't give a shit who you are bitch you keep moving or you'll be food for the biters!" the second guard threatened.

Quinn and Masuka were quickly realizing how futile this plan really was, in a situation such as this there is no rank. No boss or employee there is simply the dead and the living and these guards weren't going to take any chances.

"Come on fellas were on the same side here I'm just trying to do my part to help." Deb reassured as she continued to walk forward but still the three guards weren't going for it.

Guard three, who had remained silent up to that point, walked up to my sister and sighed.

"I'm sorry ma'am but you've been warned." The guard pulled his baton and striked Deb in the stomach

Deb faltered for only a moment but reached behind to grab her own baton and swing upwards and her baton connected with the guards chin. Blood splattered the wall as guard three's face exploded from the impact and he fell to the floor with a loud thud. Deb stood there breathing heavily and the two other guards stood paralyzed in surprise, but soon regained their composure and rushed Deb. Masuka, Quinn and I darted out from around the corned and came to the aid of my sister and out numbered the men two to one, an easy win. I whipped the blood from my knife and crept up on the guard Deb had hit with her baton, he was slowly crawling away leaving a trail of snot and blood. I put my foot under the guards belly and roughly rolled him over, the guard held his hands up to defend his face but little did he know I wanted nothing to do with his face. I took my knife and jammed it into the guards shoulder so hard it pinned him up against the wall. The guard wailed in pain, Deb came up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder.

"I'll handle this Dex." Deb said as she knelt by the side of the guard who had assaulted her.

"You stupid son of a bitch we would have helped you." Deb spat

"Screw you bitch!" The guard screamed back

I growled and inched closer but Deb looked back at me and I backed off

"What were you guys protecting here?" Deb asked

"There are hundreds of biters out there, we're the last stand if they make it through the door and back into the prison and you just fucked that all up!" The guard replied

Deb looked around concerned at the locked doors leading to the yard and than to the four of us.

"We need more guns, where are they?" Deb asked

"Too much liability for us to have guns on us inside the prison they said…" the guard spat blood on the floor and continued "…What a bunch of horse shit. Besides your guns the only other ones are clear on the other side of the prison on the lower level in the armory but you'll never get there we already tried too many biters."

Grunts and inhuman groans could be heard just outside the door leading to the yard and the doors began to creak under the pressure of dozens of undead pressing up against them.

"It's too late their overrunning this place we're dead we're all dead you stupid skank!" the guard yelled

I pushed back Deb and punched the man in the face knocking him unconscious. Deb jumped up and was about to lecture me but the doors to the yard burst opened and a wave of undead funneled in. Masuka and Quinn back peddled nervously, Deb stood and I pulled my knife from the guards shoulder and he fell in a heap to the floor. We were forced to make a quick decision, behind us was the hall that lead back into cell block B, back into the prison were who knows how many more undead were waiting. Or option two fighting through this wave and making it into the door of the security shack that no doubt housed the detective's guns and possibly a radio to call out for help.

"Deb we need to get in that shack and get our guns!" Quinn yelled over the groans and snarls of the undead.

"No shit Sherlock and how do you assume we do that!" Masuka yelled

We all kept back peddling down the hall moving further and further from the shack and the guns and I knew we needed to do something or we would loose them forever, we needed a distraction. I noticed a few undead straggling behind as they tore into the two guards we had subdued early and I had an idea, a deranged idea but an idea nonetheless. I scurried up and grabbed the third unconscious guard and pulled him to safety away from the waiting hands of the undead, I picked him up over my shoulder and braced myself.

"Dexter what the hell are you doing?" Deb asked

"Bait" I grunted as I threw the unconscious man as far as I could into the mob of undead.

Just as I assumed the monsters went straight for the fresh meat, fighting over it like pack of wolves and this left a slight gap between them and the door leading into the guard shack.

"Let's move!" Deb yelled and the four of us quickly walked along the walls careful not to excite the attention of the dinner party in front of us.

Deb frantically waved the key card in front of the censor that would open the door to the shack but it was beeping erratically and blinking red, something was wrong with it. The undead were quickly becoming bored with their meal and some of the ones further outside the circle were already beginning to rush us. Masuka, Quinn and I battled one after the other as Deb continued to try the key card. As eight undead barred down on us Deb finally got the key card to register and she flew through the door and we followed shortly after. Quinn and I each pushed against the door fighting against the undead outside trying to get in. Finally Masuka threw his weight into it and the door latched breaking the fingers of a female undead guard off and they fell to the floor inside the shack. All of us breathed a sigh of relief and slunk down to the ground for a moment of rest. Masuka jumped up and screamed as the fingers that were torn off in the door still wiggled towards where he sat. Deb jumped up and crushed them beneath her boots.

"All this shit and you're scared of a couple fingers." Deb teased Vince

I took a moment to examine our surroundings; we were cramped into an eight by ten guard shack that was thankfully protected with a thick layer of glass. Undead had surrounded the shack and beat against the glass with all their might trying to get in for another meal. I jumped to my feet as I saw a sign reading "Officer Weapon storage" behind the small desk littered with coffee cups and surveillance equipment. Deb noticed my excitement and went to the desk with me, she cursed loudly as she saw the lock on the drawer holding their weapons hostage. I rummaged through the other drawers of the desk and found a paper clip and broke it in two, then placed the two clips inside the lock and picked it open.

"Wow what else don't I know about you?" Deb asked and grinned

"Well, I don't like zucchini." I joked then pulled out the two pistols and an additional clip for each and handed them to Deb.

I sat at the opposite side of the room from Masuka and Quinn and Deb walked over and handed Quinn his gun, then muttered something that I assumed were along the lines of "now don't shoot Dexter with this" Quinn looked around past Deb sneered but nodded his head. Deb came back over and sat with me and for a moment I felt at peace even though there were dozens of undead slamming themselves against the glass.

An hour that seemed like an eternity passed and it was now or never we could be dead at any moment and I needed to tell Dexter exactly how I felt about him, no matter how crazy it sounded. It should have been so obvious to me, Dexter was always there he was my rock no wonder I was in love with him and we weren't technically related so I wasn't a total hillbilly.

"Dexter"

"Hmm"? He replied and I realized he was closing his eyes almost asleep, I was tired as hell too but there was no way I could sleep while all this was going on, but than again I guess he was somewhat desensitized to all this murder and mayhem.

"Dex…after Lundy was killed I started talking to someone, you know to walk me through the crazy shit in my life."

"Yeah, that's good Deb I hope it's helping." Dexter said and I could sense he was somewhat uninterested.

"Well anyways this chick wasn't a total quack she made me realized that there are certain… patterns in my life, a certain person who is always there for me listening and helping me through anything."

"O yeah, who's that?" Dexter asked his eyes still closed

"You, you dumb idiot" I said as I jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow

"Well it's because you're my sister Deb I….I care about you."

I choked up and tears swelled in my eyes and began rolling down my cheek. If Dexter, a serial killer could care about me than there has to be something there. I tried so hard to hate him and even after finding out what he had done and what he was capable of I still loved him more than anything, man was I fucked up.

"Dexter you mean more to me than you'll ever know and I love you." I said the words before I even knew I had said them.

"I know Deb and I know I haven't been the best brother, I'm probably the worst but you've got to know the way I feel about you it wasn't an act you're my sister and I would never let anything happen to you." Dexter replied obviously not getting my point

"No dumbass…I'm in love with you." I blurted out

Dexter's eyes flew open and he turned his head to me and our eyes meet.

"Deb… I…"

Masuka slid next to us and I had the sudden urge to kill him, maybe Dexter and I weren't so different after all.

"What the fuck do you want Masuka?" I asked through gritted teeth

"Deb its Joey he's not looking good, he's got a fever and he's coughing up blood I've seen these symptoms before…with Angel." Vince said as he hung his head

My mind was flooded with questions, how could she be in love with me? And how did I really feel about her? Unfortunately all those questions would have to wait due to the new development brought to our attention by Masuka. Deb and I jumped up and walked over to Quinn, Vince wasn't lying his face was pale white and beads of sweat dripped off his brow. Deb reached down and felt his forehead and took his gun from one hand and silver flask from the other.

"He's burning up…Quinn?!" Deb yelled concerned and shook the detective awake

"Wha…what? Quinn asked obviously inebriated

"Joey, how are you feeling?" Deb asked in her best nurse's tone

"Like shit, I think my leg wounds infected…we should probably get out of here and get to a hospital." Quinn said than he tried to get to his feet and fell back to the floor.

"Joey we can't go anywhere right now." Deb said as she helped him sit back down

"Just call an ambulance Deb, I'm hurting here." Joey said through labored breaths

"Quinn where do you think we are?" I asked

"That's a stupid question Morgan where at the station; don't you have some lab geek shit to do?"

This was obviously more than a drunken stuper, Quinn was infected and his fever was causing his brain to overheat and cause delirium. I looked at Deb she had realized it to and tears poured from her eyes. Quinn and her had been very close and had even dated since he got transferred to Miami after Dokes died and they were almost engaged. I put my hand on Deb's shoulder trying to do something a normal loving individual would do for a person in a time of heartache.

"Quinn you're…not well…You're infected." Deb said through sobs

"What, what do you mean infected like the flu or something…" Quinn trailed off but than as if a switch was turned on in his head he was lucid again.

"O Christ… Deb you've got to get away from me I'll hurt you." Quinn said and weakly pushed Debs hand off his arm.

"I'm not leaving you." Deb sobbed

"You have to go…Jesus I don't get it… I wasn't bite, I wasn't scratched what the hell happened." Quinn asked

"Airborne maybe" I said offering up my opinion

Masuka came forward, bent down and picked up the silver flask lying empty by Quinn's side

"I told you the human mouth is full of bacteria." Vince said

Deb and I turned to look at him and he raised the flask

"Bautista's flask." Masuka said then held it tight against his chest as if he was hugging his old friend.

"Deb…I can't become one of those things…you know what you need to do." Quinn said as he tapped himself in the head with his finger.

"Joey no…I can't." Deb managed to say between sobs

"You have to Deb I can't become a monster."

"We'll get you out of here… we'll find a way there has to be a cure, someone that can help us." Deb anxiously reassured while squeezing Quinn's hand so tight I could see the blood flow stop.

"Goddamn it Deb there's no time!" Quinn yelled and ripped his hand away from hers

"I'll do it." I offered and stepped forward brandishing my knife, although the detective and I were literally at each others throats I would take no joy in actually killing him knowing how much he meant to Deb.

"Fuck off Morgan you're not going to touch me!" Quinn said and weakly kicked me in the leg. "I'm not going to be another blood slide in your collection you sick twisted piece of shit!"

I took a step back and looked to my sister for guidance her face was blank, strange to think that one man could loath me so much he wouldn't even allow me to aid in his suicide. Deb begged Quinn once more to reconsider, to stick with the group until we got to safety but even Deb didn't believe fully that we would make it out of here in one piece and I know Quinn didn't either. Quinn reached out for my sister's hand again and she took it, then he looked deep into her eyes and asked again.

"Look Deb I know this is hard but you've got to be the one to do this, I'm not going to give Dexter the satisfaction and Masuka…well enough said."

"Hey fuck you Quinn." Masuka said obviously insulted

"Ok Vince you do it than." Quinn said pointing to his gun still in Deb's hand

"Well…I…um." Vince mumbled

"See buddy, no offence but even through all this you're not the man for the job." Quinn said through a weak smile then began coughing violently.

"Deb I don't have much time here, it's now or never and I don't want to be another animal in a mob tearing you to pieces." Quinn begged again

Deb nodded, whipped the tears from her eyes, stood up and pulled back on the slide of the gun to check if it was loaded.

"Joey I'm so sorry." Deb said as she shakily lifted the gun and put the barrel to Quinn's head

"It's ok Lieutenant; you just give those undead shit heads hell for me ok?" Quinn said as he closed his eyes tight.

Deb slowly began to squeeze the trigger fighting to keep from exploding in emotion. Finally the trigger snapped back and engaged the hammer releasing a round dead center into Quinn's head with a thunderous bang that echoed throughout the small guard shack.

Deb dropped to her knees and erupted into tears, still weakly clutching Quinn's gun in her right hand. I gently took the gun from her and placed it on the guard desk then laid Quinn's body down and covered his head with a document folder. I looked around the guard shack and noticed the sound of the gunshot had sent the swarm into frenzy. Uncountable undead were beating against the glass with blood drenched fists slowly beginning to crack it in numerous spots, Masuka had noticed it as well and armed himself with a pair of scissors lying on the desk. I knelt down by my sister and held her tightly

"Deb I know this hurts but we've got to move."

"This is hell Dexter this has got to be some kind of punishment we're not going to make it out of here." Deb cried

"Deb look at me." I said and grabbed her head so I could make intense eye contact with her "I'm not going to let anything happen to you and if this is some sort of apocalypse God himself will have to stop me, now get up!" I yelled and helped Deb to her feet

The swarm was focusing on the glass closest to the doorway, closest to Quinn's body and it was just seconds from shattering. I looked towards the opposite wall of the shack and noticed the undead were slowly working there way around to join with the others as they began to break through the glass. Masuka stood with his back against the wall bravely wielding his scissors that he had broken apart to allow him two blades. An undead prisoner pushed his face through the glass tearing chunks of skin from his cheeks and managed to push his body through as well. More glass shattered and undead began to push their way in as I walked Deb over to the wall to meet Masuka.

"Well Morgan I never thought I'd be going out like this, I never told you this but I'm glad you killed those scumbag's, guess I'm a little fucked up in the head too huh?" Vince asked

"Vince, we're all fucked up in the head, some of us just deal with it differently." I said as I formulated a plan.

Two more undead broke through the glass and more were about to come through and before I could stop him Vince rushed two that were already feeding on Quinn's dead body. Vince savagely stabbed them in the head with his separated pair of scissor blades and moved onto more as they began to flood into the shack, guarding Quinn's body with his life.

"Vince no come back!" I yelled but Vince was already surrounded.

I aimed Quinn's gun and began to fire wildly into the crowd taking down a handful before they jumped through the glass and continued to fire at a few that had almost pinned Masuka against the wall. Deb shook herself out of her daze and finally pulled her gun, she fired at more coming through the glass. I switched magazines and continued firing slowly working my way up to Vince who was still swinging away cutting undead to ribbons as they entered his path but there were just too many to handle. I was feet from Masuka still firing making certain to get headshots to preserve my ammo and took out all but one which Vince finished off with his scissor blades. Masuka turned to me with that smart ass grin; he had managed to hold them off. The entire door to the shack was busted in by undead hitting Vince in the head shattering his glasses. Masuka lost his coordination from the hit and stumbled to the floor as a wave of undead flooded into the shack and swarmed on top of him like ants on honey.

"No, No get off me you zombie pieces of shit fuck you get off!" Vince yelled and kicked wildly as one after the other began to sink their teeth into whatever piece of him they could get their hands on.

The wave of undead began to pull Masuka out the door into the hall and Vince whimpered and held out his hand for me. Knowing it was a senseless gesture I held mine out to him and our fingertips touched before he was violently pulled into the swarm. I felt a rush of air as a bullet whizzed past my head taking down an undead guard that was just inches from me. I whirled around and ran back to the corner of the room Deb was defending as she continued to cover me. We were overrun and I could almost smell the stench of the monsters breath as they barred down on us. From the corner of my eye I saw Deb place the barrel of her gun against her temple, I slapped her hand down.

"No, were getting out of here!" I yelled as I grabbed a heavy flashlight from one of the shelves and threw it as hard as I could at the weakened glass at the opposite end of the guard shack.

The glass exploded and I pushed Deb towards the exit, I helped her over while she shot behind me taking out undead that were way to close for comfort. She continued to fire as the swarm began to redirect their murderous path around to the other side of the guard shack. I crawled over the wall of jagged, broken glass and cut myself deep in the leg, I fell to the floor and Deb ran to my side to help me up.

"I'm out of ammo Dex!" Deb yelled

I handed her Quinn's gun, she lent me a shoulder to prop myself on and we stumbled down the hall the undead following the fresh trail of blood from my leg. Deb and I exhaustedly made it back to cell block B and made our way up the stairs. I used my kitchen knife to fend off some undead that blocked our path to the doorway leading into cell block A and finally we made it to our final destination. The Control center was on the second story at the south wall of the cell block and nothing was in our way but a few slowly moving undead prisoners. The swarms had closed the distance between us and were already almost through the entrance door from cell block B leading to A. Deb tried to shut the door behind us but dozens of them pushed it open. Deb back peddled aiming her pistol wildly not knowing what to shoot at. I opened the door to a cell further down the row and swung it wide so it blocked the second story walkway then took both mattresses from the bunks and wedged them behind the door as a make shift barricade. I knew it wouldn't hold long but it would give us some time to make it to the control center. Deb lent me her shoulder again and we continued towards the control center door, Deb used the key card and we were in. I closed and locked the door while Deb studied the control panel. The main exit gate buttons were clearly labeled and Deb switched them all open.

"You know that every prisoner still alive is going to walk right out the front gates right?" I asked Deb

"Everyone deserves a chance to live and if this gets any worse we're going to need all the help we can get." Deb responded satisfied with her decision

Before I had a chance to argue loud radio static and chatter erupted from the radio microphone posted on the control center desk.

"….This is Deputy Shane Walsh with the King County Sherriff's Department, I'm broadcasting on all emergency frequency's can anyone hear me?" The mysterious stranger on the other end yelled.

I looked up and saw the swarm pushing through my barrier, the two mattresses wedged against the heavy cell door obviously posing a minor inconvience for the large mob of undead. I tried to push Deb out the door; all we had to do was make it down the stairs to the last hallway to prisoner check in and out the exit to safety. Deb planted her feet firmly though and picked up the radio microphone.

"This is Debra Morgan Miami Metro Homicide, who the hell are you and what's going on out there?" Deb asked the stranger

"No time for that, just know that Atlanta is not safe I repeat not safe and the hospital…the hospital is over run. Did you say Miami, how bad is it over there?" the man name Shane asked

Deb took a moment to look up at the swarm as they began to push through the barrier and responded to the Deputy

"It's bad…prisons over run no telling how many are infected outside." Deb said as she hung her head.

"Stay away from large populated areas don't fight groups head on just run keep moving, I've got a small group with me we're heading towards [radio static] …we think we'll be safe [radio static]…. Do you copy?" Shane asked through a weak radio signal

"No repeat last I didn't copy where is your group heading?" Deb asked and anxiously awaited a response but all that came through was more static.

"Deputy Walsh do you copy…Shane can you hear me?" Deb screamed over the microphone "Goddamn it, fuck…can anyone hear me?!"

Deb slammed the microphone against the desk and threw it to the floor, we were alone. The undead were through the barrier and they walked along the top tier catwalk towards us. I pushed Deb out the command center door just as the swarm rounded the corner and were now at the corner of the catwalk face to face with us, in about fifty feet they would be on top of us. I looked at my sister and the stairway that lead down to the bottom level to the hallway to hopefully safety. I was injured, I would just slow her down she needed more time to make it through the hallway just in case their were more undead blocking her path I knew what I had to do. Deb grabbed my hand and attempted to pull me with her towards the stairs but I stood strong, I gripped her hand tightly and looked in her eyes.

"Deb you need to go, you need to leave me here I can give you more time I would only slow you down."

Tears began to swell in Deb's eyes and she fought hard to say her next words

"Dex, no we need to stick together I can't do this without you…I love you."

"I know Deb I love you to but you need to move now…GO!" I yelled and pushed her away as the swarm crept closer.

Deb didn't argue any further, she simply stopped at the top of the stairs were we exchanged one more loving glance and she ran down to the lower level out of my sight. I turned to the swarm of undead and readied myself to attack, I pulled my scalpel from my waist band and held it in my left hand and the kitchen knife I had in my right. Through the numerous snarling faces of the beasts in front of me I managed to make out a familiar one slowly making his way to the front of the group, Jorge Chivio. I laughed to myself realizing I hadn't inflicted any head trauma to stop Jorge from reanimating but was somewhat excited to be able to kill him all over again. The swarm almost seemed to come to a stop as we starred at each other and I taunted them.

"You think you're the monsters…you haven't meet me!" I yelled and without a second thought charged the army of undead.

It had been weeks maybe even months and we were still running, still seeking shelter and safety wherever we could. The group was depending on me looking to me for leadership believing I was the one who would save them from all this hell. I wasn't so sure I was the right man for the job anymore, I made so many mistakes and trusted the wrong people but Lorie, Carl, and everyone was depending on me. So I did what I could and what I though was best I ran. I ran to keep ahead of the walkers and the hunger and thirst but this was no way to live. We we're tired and loosing faith and Lorie was pregnant I had to do something I had to find somewhere safe. But until I could find somewhere worth calling home we continued fleeing putting hundreds if not thousands of miles beneath our feet and I wasn't entirely sure if we were even in Georgia anymore. Since Hershel's farm got overrun I had almost lost all hope that we would ever find some place as habitable but finally I found it. Daryl and I simply fell upon it while hunting, a prison guarded on all four sides by tall thick concrete walls and barbed wire it was meant to keep people in but it would serve the same purpose keeping them out. We strategically went through the yard and took out every walker we could find then entered the prison. We set up camp in Cell block A but I wouldn't feel secure until I cleared the rest of the cell blocks and got some food and fresh water for the group. T-Dog, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl, Hershel and I all cautiously crept through the prison halls back to back taking out straggling walkers that were in our path. We turned a corner and were immediately overrun by walkers; we fought them off and back peddled down the hallway until everything was clear. I heard a scream from Hershel down the hall the group rushed over and we found him lying next to a downed walker holding his bloody leg. Daryl put an arrow between the eyes of the walker and we helped Hershel through the doors of what looked to be a cafeteria, a dozen or so walkers on our heels. We lowered Hershel to the floor and I examined his leg.

"There's only one way I can save you." I said

I raised my hatchet above my head and before anyone could stop me I swung down and began roughly amputating the old man's leg just above the bite mark. When it was over and Hershel's separated leg laid in a puddle of his blood I fell backwards and examined my shoty work, what had I become? A blur of movement caught my eye to the left and I stood up braced for another fight. The deep brown eyes of a man with sandy blonde hair starred back at me, he was dressed in the usual prisoner attire. I crept slowly towards the food storage room he was in and he inched the door open just enough that I could see inside. I could clearly see the bodies of four lying on the floor bludgeoned also with deep gashes from a sharp object running along their bodies and then I noticed the shelves full of food.

"Hey" the run down man said

"Hey" is all I could say back

I continued cautiously creeping forward while I interrogated the strange man; I definitely had a weird feeling about him.

"We're not here to cause trouble, we just need some food and water."

"We?" the man asked

"Yeah I've got a small group we've been on the road for months we've got two young children and a pregnant woman please we need help."

The man stepped out of the doorway and gestured me in, I nodded a thank you and walk in still cautious but felt a little bit better as I noticed Daryl aiming his crossbow right at the prisoner head.

"These men" I said pointing down at the bodies littering the floor "Where they bitten?"

"No" the man said "Just a disagreement over rationing the food supply."

I looked around at the shelves stocked full of food and was immediately on edge.

"Looks like there's plenty of food in here enough to hold all you guys over for months." I questioned holding my hatchet tight in my right hand ready for anything.

The man just let out a weak chuckle and blew off my question

"What's your name?" I asked

Dexter, Dexter Morgan." The man replied

"Dexter Morgan…ok Dexter Morgan my names Rick Grimme's now one more question…what the hell are you?" I asked my heart racing in anticipation

The man named Dexter Morgan said nothing he only grinned…

That concludes Dexter and the Dead I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for your following I'm thinking maybe later continuing the story and have Dexter go on the road with Rick and the group let me know if that's something you would like to see.