Lucas fell into silence, mind lingering for a moment upon the basic ideas he had just exposited. Due to his researching before the power went out, he did appear to know a few more details about the situation that others did not, but it wasn't like he could really be all that certain about any direct conclusions based on them. Only some of the more curious facts could be ruminated upon until a comprehensive theory could be adequately devised and tested. Still, the possibility of wormholes were pretty exciting to consider. If this phenomenon indicated what he thought it did, this situation could possibly be leveraged to get humanity into the stars.
"Wormholes and z-rays, huh?" Chloe had a sarcastic tone in her voice as she collected a headset and stuffed it within one side pouch of her laptop case. She glanced sideways at Lucas as she drew the pouch closed with a faint buzz from the zipper's movement. "Sounds pretty out there."
"This is a crazy sort of situation." Lucas shrugged. "Whatever explanation there is behind this, it would probably have to sound kind of nuts."
Chloe set the laptop case along its side upon the nearby table. "But z-rays? Seriously?"
"Z-rays is the least crazy part of that, actually. It's just a placeholder name for whatever the thing was that created the zombies." Lucas lifted his left hand to nudge the frame of his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "When we know more about what they actually are, someone will probably think of a better name. Unless someone comes up with something better sooner than that."
Chloe shook her head with a slight laugh. "Don't look at me." She then knelt beside the table, her eyes scanning the immediate area, presumably looking for any more of her belongings. Lucas swiveled the flashlight around to assist her efforts without needing to be asked.
"Anyway, there's evidence to show that the spontaneous generating event for the zombies happened only once so far. So if we do assume the initial outbreak was a single source of z-rays in time and space, about the only thing we know for sure is that z-rays must travel pretty fast and aren't blocked by a shield as big as a planet."
"So you are just assuming things." Chloe casually replied as she was apparently satisfied with her scan and stood up again. She frowned at Lucas, one hand resting upon the table. "You don't actually know anything."
"Not exactly. Like I said, there's good reason to think there was only one zombie generating event, so it's not completely unreasonable to consider for now that the z-rays probably all came from a single source. Beyond that, it probably isn't something we can directly test, so it would be good to keep in mind it's just a tentative hypothesis for now." Lucas admitted. "Another possibility is that there's multiple z-ray sources, but then then that would mean the outbreak was somehow perfectly coordinated to hit all over at the same time. I don't know how we could tell those two things apart until we come up with a working theory for z-rays. And that will probably only happen once we have a better idea of what z-rays are doing to a person when it turns them into a zombie. Until then, any hypothesis about z-rays should use what seems like the most reasonable idea."
"What about animals, then?"
"What about them?"
"Well, if your z-ray idea makes so much sense, wouldn't a bunch of random animals have also been exposed at the same time?"
"That, uh-" Lucas had not thought about that and paused to consider the idea. Several seconds passed.
Chloe frowned, tapping her fingers on the table. "Well, if you're done, would you mind taking me to my room?" Skeptically watching Lucas, she grasped the handle of her carrying case and let it rest at her side. "It's up on floor two."
"Oh. Sure." Using his flashlight, Lucas lit the way to the doorway leading into the hallway. Approaching the glass, he could tell the furor had diminished quite a bit, but judging from the muted voices a residual knot of dissent remained within the front lobby. They proceeded through the door and flit up the nearby stairs, passing only a couple other figures as Chloe walked ahead.
Idly following with the flashlight, Lucas was too absorbed in new speculation to speak. Searching his memory, he certainly hadn't read any accounts of animal zombies. Yet if a bunch
of cows, chickens or even just house pets were attacking each other or humans in a
mirror of the ongoing human phenomenon, it seems like someone would
have noticed and reported it. Similarly, he doubted such a headline would be possible to overlook.
It was unfortunate the power was out, as that was yet another weird piece of information he could have used the Internet to more directly verify. Were humans the only animals susceptible to z-rays? And if so, what theory could possibly account for such a strange fact, considering it must also account for so many other odd properties?
"Well, here's my room." Chloe tersely announced as she halted at one of the many doors littering the gray corridor. The printout decorations taped to her door depicted a character from a shooting videogame Lucas couldn't quite name and some black and white photo of a woman. Chloe opened the lock and entered her room quickly, closing it behind her unceremoniously.
Standing mostly alone in the hallway and ruminating for a little longer, Lucas eventually had his thoughts returning to discovering where Evan had gone. With his initial search having come up fruitless, he felt that his friend was next most likely to be where the sick man had been until very recently. Or failing that, they'd probably know where he was at the very least.
Setting out again, Lucas passed someone else with a flashlight and paid them no attention. Making his way to the floor where the mob had been not too long ago, he saw only a couple crouching figures down at the far end of the passage. Upon approaching, it became clear one of them was beaten up pretty badly and propped sitting upright against the wall. The other figure cradled him in her arms and looked up as Lucas approached.
"What happened?" Lucas spoke as it became apparent the man was unconscious. Both the man and woman were a Hispanic couple Lucas had seen around the building several times before, but he didn't know their names. The man had been pummeled badly enough to cause a black eye and some minor cuts and swelling to his face.
"Simon did this to get to Robert." The woman replied, her voice wavering a bit as she kept her gaze down. A closer look revealed she had a sizable bruise as well, which was easy to miss because of the poor lighting.
"Oh." Lucas paused for a few seconds, not sure what to say. It certainly didn't surprise him too much to hear that. "Wasn't Evan up here with you?"
"He was getting some medicine for Robert."
Just then, there was a startling fit of sobbing from somewhere nearby. Whirling around, Lucas could see the chubby white girl who had arrived with the sick man was approaching. Erin walked at her side while holding a flashlight, allowing the distraught woman to lean upon her. The stranger had puffy, red eyes as she shook with emotion as she wailed. "I should have gone with him, but I- I was too scared."
"Shh, it's okay." Erin spoke in an almost calming tone, lingering fury obviously flush on her face as she ineffectually attempted to soothe the stranger.
"He's gone." The girl choked out. "He's somewhere outside and I'll never see him again."
Lucas pressed himself against the wall as the two women approached. Feeling awkward caught between the two groups facing such misfortune, he said nothing. Not knowing where Evan had gone wasn't that big a deal by comparison. It's not like Evan wouldn't turn up eventually.
