With the remnants of evening twilight departed, the building hallway took on an eerie quality. A sputtering light in the hallway produced a soft buzz. Although there were a few muffled voices audible within the hall, it felt abnormally quiet for what he felt should be the normal level of noise inside the building. The faint, chill breeze that occasionally trickled through the air didn't help either.
Evan quickly proceeded through the hall to approach the nearby stairs, making his way to the staircase leading to the front lobby and walking down the steps in a rapid pace. Circling the drafty well with his hand loosely gliding along the rail, Evan heard a couple of distinct voices speaking quietly to one another in the lobby below. Oddly, there was no sound indicating the zombie was still outside.
Moving halfway down the stairs, Evan paused, listening to the conversation below. George and Simon were speaking to one another in what sounded like an argument. He could see their large and skinny shadows within the hallway between the lobby and the common room. Suddenly realizing he hadn't heard the zombie's persistent moans, Evan paused a moment to crouch upon the steps and looked through the large glass front for the building's main opening,
There was a low wail just as Evan saw the figure outside lit by reflected light from the chamber below. Its eyes were latched onto his and it pushed its arms at the broad glass doors in a futile attempt to enter. Dark stains colored the bottom of his suit, shoes and the ground beneath them. Simon growled from the nearby hallway. "I said get the-" After a couple steps to the edge of the lobby, Simon halted as he recognized Evan and scowled. "What the hell do you want?"
"I'm looking for Leon." Evan stood up and took a couple steps down the stairs. "Is he in the common room right now?"
George glanced down the hallway and replied hesitantly after a couple seconds as Simon just glared silently in reply. "I think so. Why? Is that guy doing okay?"
"He's fine, he's just resting right now. I wanted to ask Leon a couple of questions." Evan came to the last step and approached the hallway.
Simon stood in the center of the entry to the hall, staring down Evan and blocking his way. "You didn't kill the zombie." He spoke neutrally as he held the length of pipe he had kept with him in one hand. The sleeves on his thick wool sweater had been pushed up to expose his forearms.
"I made sure it won't be able to attack anyone." Evan replied calmly. He took a deep breath of air, tension in his muscles. He was ready for an attack if it came. The zombie rattled the door faintly as they stood within its sight.
"That wasn't the deal. You were supposed to kill it." Simon declared. "Go now and finish the job."
George spoke with obvious discomfort. "It can barely move anymore, Simon I-"
"Shut up!" Simon tersely spoke without taking his gaze from Evan. Evan could tell that Simon was holding the length of pipe with him very tensely as he tried to stare him down. "Don't be a coward, go outside and finish what you started. Bash its head in until it stops moving or the deal is off."
"I agreed to take care of the problem and I did. I injured it so that it can't run after anyone." Evan took a deep breath and shuddered as he thought about how casually Simon demanded something so horrific of him. He doubted anyone else in the building would be able to confront Simon's bullheaded authority if they needed to. Considering how he had been acting, Evan thought it would be unlikely that Simon would let him back inside if he went outside again. "If you want it dead so badly, you do it."
"It's making noise you idiot." Simon stepped forwards aggressively with the length of pipe in his hands. "It needs to be killed before it attracts any more of them!"
Evan stepped back, ready to dodge a swing of the blunt implement and strike in return. Simon unexpectedly turned away and moved towards the front of the room. Confused for a moment at the sudden change, Evan didn't quite move into the hallway yet, watching for the purpose of the aggressive movement.
Simon took out the key to the front door from his belt, making his intentions to unlock the front door clear.
