The cool, crisp air outside was rather brisk. Carried upon the breezy winds, the distant wail of a car alarm was faintly audible. An occasional bird call broke the eerie, desolate calm lingering in the air. It was fairly warm for winter, and the sun's heat was welcome, but when the breeze became a heavy gust that rattled the branches of the nearby trees, it was still quite uncomfortable.
As Evan emerged into the mild winter air, he took a moment to zip up his tan jacket. Walking across the flat dormitory rooftop towards the side of the building near the park blocks he examined the ground level for any signs of movement. Blackwood dormitory was six floors high, so standing on the rooftop allowed him to see more of the immediate area than a view from one of the interior windows. Doing this to check the immediate area was what he did before he left the safety of his own dormitory to come here.
Approaching the raised edges of the rooftop, Jorge followed and spoke to Evan. "So what are you going to do?" Jorge was the Hispanic man with the impressive moustache. He had introduced himself after getting Victor, Simon and George to reluctantly agree to the proposed bargain of refuge for Robert. "Drop something heavy on it? Try to break its bones?"
"No." Evan examined the walkways and grass below for signs of movement, scanning up and down through the park blocks. "If someone dropped something from here, it could bounce into the door or a window and break it." He saw no movement down there save for the unwelcome guest still tugging and pushing at the locked door.
Across the intervening park blocks was the Sanders building, a stone and brick
building with broad glass windows. Along the bottom
floor on the right and left of a big double doorway, the windows looked
into the cafeteria space for the university. Curious, Evan spared a
moment to glance inside, but didn't see anyone at the windows of the
first or second floor. Not that the angle he had would allow him to see very far into the rooms. Glare from the afternoon sun reflected from the windows, making it harder to see inside.
There was a small amphitheater placed in the block between the Blackwood and Sanders buildings. A small raised platform was close to the far left corner of the space, and at the lower point of a gentle slope that went uphill to the right. Dozens of long benches were placed on small steps and were arranged in a quarter circle around the raised platform. On warm days, sometimes a band would perform there or someone would come by to deliver a speech. Most days, people would just sit on the old wooden benches to eat lunch, read or talk to one another.
Walkways ran around the perimeter of the square patch of land. A few large and small trees along with manicured patches of grass dotted throughout the rest of the space. Luckily for Evan, it was pretty easy to see through the branches of the deciduous trees to the empty sidewalks below. He adjusted his view a little just to make sure nothing was hiding out of view, but confirmed the immediate area was devoid of activity except for the single zombie.
"So, what is it that you are planning to do?" Jorge followed Evan as he began to inspect the ground along the other sides of the building. Victor and Simon were there as well, but they were just watching Evan from the doorway that led back into the building. George had waited at the door to Esteban's room.
"First I'm checking to make sure the area is clear." Evan replied as he moved around the rooftop of the L shaped building. "I don't want to go outside and be surprised by more than I expect to see." As Evan circled around the building he did sight two other figures, trying to get into another building. They were in the opposite direction from the park blocks, on the other side of a small grassy hill and quite some distance away. They weren't anywhere near where he was planning to be.
Jorge followed Evan, speaking quietly as if the zombie on the ground might overhear him. "So how do you plan on killing it, then?"
"I'm not going to kill him. I'm just going to break his legs."
"How will that help?"
"He at least won't be able to run after people with broken legs." Evan replied as he surveyed the area between this building and the library. "There aren't any real weapons around here, are there?"
"I don't think so." Jorge replied. "Just what we've found laying around that seems like it would work."
"Has anyone checked through the empty rooms yet?"
"You mean going into peoples' rooms? I don't think so."
"Do you know how many people are even in the building? Has someone tried to count?"
Jorge shook his head in response.
"Well, someone might have left something useful in their room. We should look through the building and see what we can find." Evan thought back to his own dorm. Counting people and getting a good understanding of what was useful in the building had been the first thing they had done after the news broke. Out of those who listened to the suggestion and didn't immediately leave to go somewhere else, there were twenty seven.
A similar number would probably be holed up here. It wasn't likely that they were all hiding in the common room. "And as long as you're doing that, you should see how many people are in here. If we're going to be rescued by someone, they might want to know how many people there are to pick up."
Evan returned to the small square structure that led back inside, the entryway held open as Simon and Victor chatted briefly to each other. As Evan approached, the two stopped their conversation. "Are you ready now?" Victor asked, looking apprehensive.
"I think so. It looks mostly clear down there, but I still need to do this quick. What do you have for a weapon?" Evan asked as he passed between the two and made his way down the stairs. As they approached the first landing, Victor handed Evan a sturdy length of pipe. Evan tested the weight of it in his hands as he took the lead in the descent. "Well, it's better than nothing."
