Evan came to an abrupt stop. The stars were gone, wiped from the sky by a vast carpet of flowing shadow. Without even the moon's reflected light above to provide relief, the surrounding city streets had been torn away from sight. For one creepy moment, there was nothing but the sound of his own light breathing and the rustling whistle of bare tree branches accompanying the blowing of the wind. Cold seeped into muscle, weakening it.
Standing there in frozen silence with his heart pumping in his chest, Evan became aware of indecipherable whispers coming from the darkness. Jennifer and Zach were attempting to cajole his return and without better lighting, there was little other immediate option available to him. He turned to face them, noting a couple of glowing screens not too far away and quietly spoke out. "I'm still here. I'm okay."
Evan had lingered for a moment, hoping he could continue his return once he had acclimated to the absence of light, but now he began to realize that it would not help. Only the barest wisps of texture overhead provided some contextual clue to make out partial silhouettes of some surrounding buildings against the sky. He could probably use his cell phone light to provide rudimentary illumination, but without a stronger light source it wouldn't be wise to attempt a run. In the meantime, the tiny pinprick of light would also serve as a beacon for any stray zombie attacker. Who would likely have no similar qualms about charging blindly in his direction.
Gingerly pocketing the bottle he had come to claim, Evan retrieved his cell phone and held it facing outwards to let it cast its paltry sum of light into the environment. As he moved across the narrow road and stepped back onto the opposite curb, the two waiting for him opened the sturdy barred gate, swinging the metal bars wide with a plaintive squeaking from the hinges. Evan rushed inside, and they swung the bars of the iron gate closed together with a resounding metallic clatter. Swiftly, the heavy chain on the gate was locked again.
"Flashlight, we have a spare flashlight around here, right?" Evan spoke now that the gate had been quickly resecured. The surrounding structure's high walls kept the wind's biting embrace from being quite as bad within the corridor.
"Yeah." Zach led the way to the building's sole entrance, retrieving his own cell phone in order to shed more light for the walk. Moving through the passageway, a couple more light sources came on. One shone out from the small lobby space at the end of the path.
"You're shivering." Jennifer observed as her warm fingers touched Evan's hand. "I know I can't stop you, but you should at least take your coat before you leave again."
"I'm fine, but okay."
"You know, you could have brought that sick man here with you." Jennifer speculated out loud. "So you wouldn't have to go out there again so soon."
"Robert was resting when I saw him last. I don't know if he's in good enough condition to run if we had to. But I'll keep that in mind."
Entering the doors of Mansfield, Evan enjoyed the pleasantly warm air spilling over his body. Exhaling in temporary relief at the sensation, he smiled and cordially nodded as Zach retrieved one of the flashlights to give to him. A couple other dormitory residents were down here chatting but since this place had no common room, most occupants were waiting elsewhere for the following day's promised events.
As Evan worked his way up the stairs towards his room, Jennifer remained at his side. Finally, just as Evan retrieved his coat and slipped it on, Jennifer breathed out in a heavy sigh. "I want to go with you."
