A Vote For Mercy

Lucas had only been watching the news for a few minutes since the live footage from the helicopter had ended, and a lot of the same information was starting to repeat.  According to the broadcasts, new information was being reported as soon as it came in, but they still didn't know much.  There was a website to visit to get more information, but as his computer was still in his room, Lucas would have to look at it later.

Now that his attention was wandering, Lucas noticed that he was alone on the couches.  Ten others were gathered around the doorway to the hall and talking loudly to each other, almost arguing.  An athletic black girl named Chloe sat alone in the nearby corner staring at her laptop and typing.  Lucas got up from the couch and approached her quietly.  She had a narrow face and usually wore dark clothing.  She kept her hair very short.  Today was no different.

"What's going on?"  Lucas asked when Chloe looked up from her computer.  "With them, I mean."  Lucas pointed over to the people standing by the door, arguing with one another.

"They're worried that one or more of the people who came in were bitten."  Chloe looked back at her computer screen and began to type.  "Also, a couple of people were talking about leaving before the back door gets blocked off as well and we get trapped in here."

"That's crazy.  Why would they want to leave?"  Lucas glanced towards the direction of the arguing.  Simon and several others he recognized from the building were in the group.  "We're safe in here, and the news says to stay inside, anyway."

"How many days do you think we're going to be on our own before we get help?"  Chloe asked as she looked up.  "And how much food do you have stored in your room?"

"Not much."  Lucas said hesitantly.  "But it's better to stay in here where it's safe than go running around out there.  In here we can't be attacked, but out there we can."

"Unless one of the people that came in here is infected."  Chloe countered.  Lucas could see that she had a baseball bat leaning against her leg, within easy reach of her hand.  Come to think of it, many people in the building were either holding blunt objects or had one close at hand.

Nobody, as far as Lucas could tell, had a firearm with them.  "I guess I see your point."

The group near the door began to chatter amongst one another in a flurry of activity.  Standing up, Lucas decided to approach to listen to what they were saying.

A curly haired blond girl spoke tentatively as a lull in the conversation presented itself.  "But how do we know he's even infected?  If he's healthy, then we will condemn him to die."  After a moment of trying to recall her name, Lucas finally recognized her as Erin.  She wore a simple blue blouse and skirt, and had her hair braided into a ponytail.

"He and the others shouldn't even be here."  A red haired guy named Victor said.  "We shouldn't keep them in here with us where they can put more of us at risk."  There were a few murmurs of agreement after that.

"If you don't like it, you can just lock yourself in your room."  Erin responded.  "Besides, if he's infected, he'll come down with a fever before he starts to turn.  If that happens, then we can do something about it."  Erin replied.

"Everyone shut up."  Simon spoke up.  "We're going to settle this right now.  Everyone here gets a vote."

Lucas voted to let the people stay, which ended up winning, and a few people left the room angrily.  Afterwards, Simon told them that if the newcomers showed any signs of infection, that they would do something about it immediately.  The people remaining in the room continued to argue with him or one another.

Having had enough, Lucas decided he ought to return to his room to call people and maybe see what more he could look up on the Internet.  In a few minutes he'd come back down and wait in the common area for Evan to come back.  Lucas figured that Evan was probably busy helping the strangers and would be okay on his own for a while.

Not Welcome

Evan stood several feet away from the table occupied by the three newcomers, watching the doorway to the hall.  When they had first entered the room, a bald black man in his thirties rushed to the newcomers and introduced himself as Leon.  He quickly ran to the kitchen and retrieved a small medical kit.  Since Leon seemed to know what he was doing, Evan let him work without interference.  The man had quickly wiped a dab of blood from Robert's hand and sterilized the area before wrapping it in a bandage.

The room was briefly overtaken with agitated chatter as news of the zombie outside spread.  One girl announced she would would call the number to report the sighting.  Several others cautiously left the room, possibly to look at the thing grasping at the glass door and trying to get inside.  A few more were agitated at the presence of the newcomers but kept to their corner of the room, chatting excitedly amongst themselves.

The Hispanic couple from before approached Evan after a momentary concerned look at the overweight, injured newcomer.  "Is he going to be okay?"  The man spoke with a mild accent.  He had a thin, bony face with a smooth, clean shaven jawline.  His dark hair was short and he wore a deep blue sweater and jeans.  The slender, long haired girl with him watched Leon and Robert, but said nothing as she held his arm.  She wore a simple pink dress and had her hair tied back in a ponytail.

"I think so."  Evan thought that Rob's hand only had a small cut or scrape on it, but he knew what they were thinking.  According to the news, the infection was spread by bites.  All things considered though, Rob's face was less red than when he entered and his breathing had evened out since he sat down.  At least for now, he seemed to be okay.  The two girls with him looked shaken by their experience, but otherwise seemed to be doing fine.  "Just give them a few minutes."

"You're not from the building, are you?"  The man said.  "Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Esteban."  He offered his free hand in greeting.  "And this is my girlfriend, Casilda."  Casilda glanced at Evan when her name was spoken and offered a little smile, but said nothing.  "Anyway, I don't think I've seen you around here before."

"Evan.  And I'm not.  I came here to check on a friend."  Evan motioned over towards Lucas over on one of the couches who was still staring intently at the news broadcast.  "He wasn't answering his phone, so we thought something might have happened to him.  Turns out he was just asleep since right before this all started."

"You came out here just to check on someone?"  Esteban shook his head and whistled.  "Brave man."

"Not really, I just came over from the Mansfield building."  The buildings were only a couple blocks apart.  In fact, it probably took Evan less than a minute to run the distance one way.  "I didn't see anyone outside at the time, either."

As Leon finished the bandaging and returned the first aid kit to a cabinet in the kitchen, the Asian girl stood up and turned towards Evan, drawing attention to herself.  "Evan, was it?"  She said, continuing as she noted the confirmation nod.  "My name is Minoko.  And this is Robert and Evelyn."  Evelyn was still sniffing a little as she quietly talked with Robert.  "I want to thank you again for your help."  Minoko continued.

"It's no problem.  What were you doing out there anyway?  The news has been telling people to stay inside."

"We didn't see any of them nearby and we thought we could get to Robert's car so we could escape the city.  When that zombie tried to bite Evelyn, Robert pulled it off her and we ran."

"Well, I think you shouldn't try that again."  Evan noticed there was now very little noise in the room apart from the television broadcast and the small group of people talking around him.  Lucas and someone else were still watching the television, but the other eight people still in the room were watching Robert and the others.  One guy standing in the kitchen held a baseball bat firmly in both hands and stared at Robert.

There was a growing sense of tension in the room which Evan pretended to ignore.  Leon began to return, but noticed everyone watching and diverted his path awkwardly to the table he was sitting at before.  A red haired man at the table asked Leon if the injury he looked at was a bite, and Leon said he didn't know.  After a moment, he approached them and demanded.  "Were one of you bitten?  You shouldn't be here with us if you were bitten."

There was a momentary murmur of agreement throughout the room and Robert looked up with alarm.  He shook his head.  "I'm fine."  He breathed in deep between each word, still not quite recovered from his ordeal.  "This is just a scrape."

Evan thought Robert's voice sounded unconvincing.  Worse still, the people in the room didn't look like they believed him either.  Simon entered the room with a couple others who left before and chatter began to pick up again.  As the red haired guy retreated to talk with Simon, Evan approached the table and whispered.  "I think we need to go somewhere else in the building.  Are you well enough to walk, Robert?"

Robert nodded, and rose from his seat at the table.  Evan led him, Evelyn and Minoko from the room, back into the hallway.  Esteban followed, with Casilda still quietly holding onto his arm.

In the lobby, the chubby zombie still grasped and pushed at the glass door, rattling it inside its frame as it stared blankly.  The skinny black guy holding the pipe from before stood nearby, turning to watch as the group entered the lobby and proceeded towards the stairs.  Evan stood at the base of the stairs, letting Robert and Evelyn go up first.

Minoko paused for a moment to speak to Evan.  "So where are we going?"

"Away from everyone else for a while.  They're a little on edge, and we need to give them some time to calm down."  Evan waved for Minoko to continue up the stairs with her companions.

Esteban and Casilda approached last and as they ascended the stairs with Evan, Esteban spoke in a whisper to him.  "Let's go to 317.  I have a few chairs and he can lay down on my bed if he needs to."  Evan silently nodded at that and let Esteban take the lead.

The small group proceeded up two flights of stairs.  They walked by doors with posters or printouts taped up.  Small pictures or drawings, names placed with the things on the doors, all indicating something of the person who resided there.  Finally, they came to a stop before Esteban's door, with a small printout of a cross and his name taped up.  Beside it there was a poster of a dinosaur.

In the hallway as they waited for the door to be opened, Evan felt uncomfortable as he addressed the group.  "By the way, if one of you were bitten instead of just getting a scrape, it is something that we really should know about.  It could be very important."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before the door was opened, but in that moment the look of worry among the three told Evan what he wanted to know.

News Report

The common room was a rather large chamber, with broad windows lining the left and right sides.  Large curtains were drawn tightly shut all around the room.  There were a dozen circular tables scattered throughout the room with four to six simple chairs in front of each.  At the far end of the room a large flat screen television hung on the wall.  A couple couches were placed around the television along with low coffee tables.

Just to the right side of the door there was a counter top separating space for a small kitchen, to be shared by the residents.  Several people had been standing in the kitchen area when Lucas entered the room, and were watching with concern as Rob and the blond girl walked to a nearby empty table and sat down.

About a dozen more people were scattered in small groups at a few tables, with three watching the television at the two comfortable couches.  They briefly looked up from their conversations as the new people entered.  An older black man Lucas couldn't recall the name of approached them and began to look after Rob's injury.  Quiet murmuring mentioned the zombie outside the building as the others came in from the front lobby.

Lucas heard agitated chatting in snippets around him, but disregarded it as he walked towards the back of the room, focusing singularly on the television broadcast, its volume just loud enough to hear over the excited chatter.  As he sat down on a couch close to the back of the room, the guy sitting beside him stammered.  "T-There's one outside?"

"Yeah."  Lucas said flatly without looking at him.   The man stood up and rushed away.

"-stay inside with all your doors and windows securely closed and locked until the crisis has passed.  The Center for Disease Control also recommends that if you see anyone behaving erratically, that you keep your distance, and find a safe place away from them until help arrives.  If a family member bitten is showing signs of infection, it's also recommended that they are restrained or kept in a separate area of the house until help arrives."  The slim man with a goatee on the television said.  He had dark, short hair, wore a suit and tie and seemed remarkably calm, considering.  "They also recommend that any water used in your home should be thoroughly boiled for five minutes before it is used for cooking, drinking or bathing.  Although confrontations are not recommended if you do have to defend yourself from an attack by an infected, keep in mind that injuries to anywhere but the head appears to have minimal impact."

A text crawl steadily scrolled at the bottom of the screen, showing regional alerts and closures.  The time at the bottom of the screen declared it was 12:47 PM.  The other newscaster was a pretty young blond woman with a nervous smile.  Names for both of them briefly appeared on screen, but Lucas didn't care to read them while they were there.  He was distracted by the presence of a number on screen labelled 'infected reporting line'.

"Approaching hour twenty of this crisis, as new reports of -uh," The woman began, "New reports of infected are coming in from Florida and Michigan, and as we get reports we are updating the map on our website of sightings throughout the United States where this outbreak is so far confirmed to be taking place."

The screen changed to a broad green map of United States and Canada, with about a third of the land marked in red.  All three west coast states were red, as were several nearby.  A scattering of other states were also marked in red.  Lucas noticed that Hawaii and Alaska were not marked.

"Since our last update, new sightings of infected have been confirmed in Brazil, bringing the total number of countries with confirmed cases up to twelve so far."  The woman continued on.  A list of countries appeared on screen as she read each one off, but Lucas was still staring at the map.

The map vanished and the calmer man with the goatee appeared on screen.  "We now go live to images from the news chopper.  At the scene of the earlier reported mob near the Oregon Convention Center and the Rose Quarter.  We would like to first warn you that what we are about to show you may be disturbing for some viewers."

The image changed again, an overhead view of the downtown area being shown.  The Willamette River was on the left of the screen and one of the many bridges was also visible.  A few cars were seen driving down the raised highway running from the top and bottom of the screen.  Elsewhere on the roads, few cars were parked, and an occasional figure was visible walking aimlessly through the mostly empty streets.  In a few places a motionless body laid on the ground.  The greenery of the Rose Quarter plaza was on screen and a group of zombies was pressed up against the building at the top left.

The camera slowly moved, panning over the area slowly and scanning, but keeping a wide angle.  As it shifted down and to the right another swarm of figures were visible outside the other large building and a few people were standing on the rooftop.  Although the camera was purposefully not zooming too close, Lucas could barely make out a few figures motionless on the streets surrounded in pools of dried blood.  The helicopter circled around, the angle of view changing slowly as it flew over the riverfront.

"According to reports last night, over five thousand people were trapped in the convention center as of last night when the mob formed outside, biting those people they could reach outside.  We don't have exact numbers, but we do have that minimum according to the Portland mayor's office.  Again, authorities are recommending that if you are anywhere near one of the danger areas, to keep indoors until the situation can be controlled.  If you see an infected, there is a hotline set up to report the sighting shown onscreen now."

As the man spoke, the camera suddenly shifted back up and left and zoomed only slightly, drawing focus on a small group of heavily armed people running from the large building along the top of the screen.  The view shifted as it followed them, as they were quickly noticed and chased by several of the zombies closer to the building.  "It appears some survivors are trying to make their way to safety, and are being pursed by a group of infected.  This is not recommended for anyone to attempt."

Lucas watched as the scene unfolded horrifically before him, the survivors running towards a nearby parking lot, where several figures had lingered.  As the people ran in silence, they split into two groups and began to weave between the parked cars.  The people ran into the lot, followed closely by several zombies, and as they approached, the three lingering figures in the area turned and charged towards them between the parked cars.

The armed people in the group raised rifles and shotguns, firing at the few zombies already in the lot or trying to pick off the closest pursuers.  A single zombie fell down and rose up again.  Lucas heard a surprised gasp as either a newscaster or someone in the room with him reacted to the sight of the crowd of zombies gathered outside the building rippling suddenly with reaction to the gunshots.  The swarm fractured into two groups and a tide tirelessly charged in the direction of the parking lot.  From the other side of the street, twenty more figures emerged from the inside of a parking garage, closing in around the survivors as they were now surrounded.

Those armed in the group fired again and successfully dropped another zombie, falling behind in their run as they made their way to the near edge of the lot.  The pursuing figures closed in, some now no further than a dozen feet away from those furthest back.  A man in front cracked a zombie in the head with a baseball bat, knocking it down as he ran past.  After he and the woman with him ran past, the zombie rose up again.  They ran to a red car and opened the doors, climbing inside as a few of their companions behind fired at the pursuing figures with their weapons.  Two turned to run but were knocked to the ground by their attackers.

It was hard to follow what happened next.  In an instant the remaining survivors broke into a disorganized chaos, scattering in random directions and trying to run between the swarms.  Some were only just barely able to move between pursuers for a moment, desperately running before they were grabbed by reaching hands and knocked to the ground.  Someone jumped onto the hood of the red car and kicked at a zombie trying to bite his legs, firing wildly at the four zombies gathered around the vehicle.  One door was still hanging open and a zombie was climbing inside the car.

When the car backed out of the space with a jolt, the man on top of it fell to his knees, and the swarm behind them spilled through the lot.  As the car drove through the lot in a rush, it slammed into several figures and crashed into a parked vehicle, grinding to a halt.  The man on top was thrown onto the pavement and disappeared beneath the mob.

After a few seconds with no sign of the survivors, the image returned to the newscasters, and the man with the goatee reminded viewers to stay indoors until the authorities could get a handle on the situation.

A Favor For Strangers

Evan had a rather busy, frantic day, but he hadn't even seen one of the zombies until now.  He heard from others the news had shown a couple images and video fragments, but he had always managed to miss the showing.  He was too busy making phone calls and checking the entrances to his own dorm in order to consider seeing actual pictures important.

Now a zombie was pressed up against the surface of the glass door, attempting to get it open.  It was a chubby, short, bald man, maybe about forty years old.  It was dressed in a formal grey business suit and had a small mark on its neck.  A fine ribbon of dried blood ran down its neck and had created a small, rusty red stain on the front of the suit.  Otherwise, he could have been healthy.  It made a sound, a groaning moan as it opened its mouth.  Its blank stare met Evan's eyes briefly as it watched him through the glass, rattling the doorknob against its lock.

The three newcomers gasped for air as they clustered together in the far corner of the lobby, staring at the front door.  Evan noticed the large man had retrieved the metal pipe and was watching him angrily.  "Okay, I think we're safe for now."  Evan said as he backed away from the door carefully.  "It can't get through."

"Thank you, thank you so much."  One of the refugees said with a mild accent.  She was a nice looking Asian about five feet tall, with long, straight hair and smooth skin, probably a college girl.  She wore a heavy, dark blue coat with a long black skirt and leggings.  She appeared to be the most physically fit of the three.  "It came at us while we were trying to get to the car."

"Are you all okay?"  Evan glanced between the group of people huddled in the back and moved away from the doorway.

"He, he tried to bite my arm."  Said the other woman in the group with a stunned, shaky voice.  She was a particularly curvy girl about five and a half feet tall with a light tan.  Turned away as she was at first, her curly blond hair partly obscured her face.  Even so, Evan thought she looked familiar.  She could have been in one of his classes.  "But he couldn't get through my coat."  She sniffed and wiped at her eyes with one hand.

The man with them was breathing heavily, his face red and sweaty.  He was about average height and overweight by about a hundred and fifty pounds.  He had pale skin that looked paler with his dark hair and wore thick rimmed glasses.  He spoke in short spurts between breaths.  "I'm okay.  Just a scratch.  When I pulled him away from Evelyn."

"You don't look fine."  Said the heavy, tall man with the length of pipe.  He took a step closer.  "Is that a bite on your hand?"

"He has asthma."  Said the Asian girl as she knelt beside her companion.  "Are you okay Rob?"  The overweight guy, Rob, nodded in reply without saying anything.  He was inhaling deep and exhaling, making an effort to recover.

Since the commotion, Evan noticed a few new faces had arrived, a Hispanic man and woman from the hallway to the common room and a skinny black guy also holding a pipe lingering in the hallway to the exit on the other side of the building.  None of them seemed to be getting involved, so he didn't pay them any attention.

"The news says it spreads by bites.  If he's bitten, we can't let him stay here.  He'll need to go out the back and find another place to hide."  The large man said assertively as he approached the gasping Robert.  "And if anyone else is bitten, they need to go too."

"We're not putting him or anyone else outside."  Evan said as he glanced sideways at the big jerk.  "Let him catch his breath first and then we'll figure out what to do next if he's bitten."

The large guy postured threateningly for a moment, prompting Evan to ready himself to react.  Something about his posture and size made him look like a football player.  Eventually, he pointed to the nearby wall, plastered over with several faces and names.  "I'm in charge of keeping everyone safe here, I'm one of the building-"

"Okay, try to throw him out."   Evan stepped between the large man and Rob.  "See what happens."

There was a moment of tense silence, broken only by the unearthly snarl from the zombie outside and Rob's rapid breathing.  Evan kept himself ready, the heavy man nearly twice his weight, and quite muscled but evidently untrained for anything but raw physical force.  The tension hung thick in the air as everyone stared at the confrontation.  Eventually, the gasping faded into a more manageable breathing and Rob slowly got to his feet, assisted by the two girls.

Lucas ventured to speak first.  "Rob, is it?  He looks like he's recovered, Simon, it's just a small cut.  He's not even really bleeding at all."

"If he's bitten, he needs to go."  Simon said again, staring at Evan more than anyone else.

Evan could hear Lucas move, speaking quietly and guiding the newcomers away from the lobby, down the hallway to the common room.  Evan remained, barring Simon's path from following them until they had moved a safe distance.  Then he carefully moved after them and left Simon in the hallway.  As he approached the entryway to the common room, the Hispanic man give him a covert, approving nod and a wave of welcome.

The Asian girl lingered in the hallway just before the doorway to the common room.  "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome."  Evan said, almost reflexively as he entered into the chamber.