Morning Rescue

Lucas's eyes fluttered open just a crack, upon coming awake the first sensations he recognized were an aching sting in the pit of his belly.  With the vague recollections of dreams still receding into nothingness, he laid inert, staring up at an undefined ceiling somewhere above.  A faint patter of water licked against the window.  At some point in the night, one leg had drifted close enough to the bed's edge to dangle over the side.

Eventually, he realized that he could see the ceiling and sat up.  The first slight traces of morning light had crept into the room from the windows, spilling over the scattered detritus and general clutter of his life.  It seemed as if it had been light for a few minutes, judging by the growing levels of sight now present.  Jumbled thoughts to place the day as either Friday or Saturday morning were temporarily put on hold once a befuddled process to remember the previous day had begun.

Rising once he had recovered from initial bewilderment, Lucas tested his room's light switch.  The electricity was out, supporting the notion that memories of the last day were indeed accurate.  It wasn't precisely as if his recollection of the previous day felt dreamlike.  But in the early morning line separating conscious lucidity and quixotic nonsense, it seemed possible that the whole previous day was a strange phantom.  Yet his notes were on the table beside his glasses, ready to affirm everything unbelievable he had observed the previous day.

Even directly beside the window, it was still too dark to read, but beyond that, there was his hunger to concern himself with.  The previous day, Lucus hadn't eaten much at all and now he could feel the outcome of that neglect.  Although without power to boil water, cooking the cheap noodles would not be an option.  After searching for the opener mostly by touch, he emptied the can of chili into a bowl with an unsavory wet squelch.  Fetching a can of soda and a spoon, he sat at the computer desk and gazed out the nearby window at the scenery while eating.

As the intensity of light steadily increased, Lucas could make out ripples on puddle surfaces dotting the pavement below.  Like the previous day, no figures were visible in the walkway between this building and the drab structure across from his window.  A slim slice of the park blocks was visible just at the right edge of the frame, but at this angle it yielded little to see except bare branches, grass and a building further down that way.  Above, low clouds edged across the sky.

Scraping the last bits of chili from his bowl, Lucas speculated on what to do with his time until the promised rescue.  He had already thoroughly puzzled over the curious properties of the zombies nearly the whole previous day.  Apart from running his ideas past someone else, it didn't seem likely that he would make much more progress on that front without additional things to observe or more sources of information to peruse.  While careful, he had already drifted quite far into strange speculative avenues.

What he really felt like doing was going for a walk to escape his cramped room, but it would still not be safe outside.  After a few minutes consideration, it occurred to him that he could probably go up to the roof and walk around in the fresh air.  While there, he also figured he could survey the immediate vicinity for any activity.

The clothing he had worn from the previous couple days was disheveled, so he exchanged them for fresh jeans and a blue shirt.  If this were a normal day he would have taken a shower as well.  However it didn't seem like he badly need the cleaning, not that he expected the water would work anyway.  Neglecting to consider the flashlight, Lucus opted to adorn himself in a rather breezy rain jacket and slid on his glasses.  With his usual resilience it would probably be more than enough to keep him comfortable.

Locking his room on the way out, he navigated partly by touch along the wall to the stairs.  Large windows at the ends of the halls leaked murky light into the stairwell, aiding his ascent.  He didn't encounter anyone else on the way, but the sounds of other residents elsewhere in the building were unmistakable.

The air outside was brisk, but tolerable.  With the moisture had come a modicum of warmth, curtailin the worst of the previous night's dry freeze.  Drizzling rain pattered down upon the heavy stone rooftop, producing a slick sheen across the hard surface.  The sky indicated it would likely remain stormy throughout the day, with heavy, dark clouds drenching every horizon.

One other person was already present, hiding under the shadow of a big black umbrella and wearing a raincoat.  They didn't notice him and were at the narrow edge facing the downtown city skyline, so Lucus opted to not draw attention to himself.  Instead, he approached the long edge adjacent to the green park blocks, above the main entryway to the building.

Placing his arms on the stone edge lining the perimeter Lucas carefully leaned forwards, idly staring out at the empty walkways and streets below.  No movement was notable along the ground, indicating the area was still likely relatively free of nearby zombie activity.  Somewhat closer to the horizon, the Willamette river and the waterfront was visible along with the numerous huge bridges of the city.

Despite the hazing effect of the rain on his viewing distance, the rooftop of the six floor building still provided a pretty decent view of the city skyline.  Occasionally Lucas thought he saw something moving in the distance, but looking again he saw no obvious vehicle movement along the bridges or open roads.

Pushing away, Lucas gradually paced from one end of the building to the other, savoring the relaxing familiarity of the steady rainfall and its fresh smell.  His own low breathing and the sound of each footfall as it hit with a wet slap were among the only other audible noises.  Despite the sight of the urban environment the atmosphere upon the rooftop remained one of extreme isolation.  Aimlessly walking, he thought about the previous day, still overwhelmingly baffled but excited by the potential implications he had considered.

The silent contemplation was soon broken by a faint crackling noise, not that dissimilar from the regular patter of the rain.  It almost could have been mistaken for an increasing of the storm's activity except for the fact that it was more irregular in timing and slightly different in tone.  After some time, the sound came again, significantly louder and almost sounding like an irregularly timed string of firecrackers.  Returning to the edge of the building near the park blocks, Lucas examined the streets beyond, scanning for signs of activity upon the nearby ground.

Slow, plodding movement nearby created a heavy splashing with every step as it drew closer.  "Was that gunfire?  Is that the army?"  Came the unfamiliar man's voice with a slight Hispanic accent.

Lucas responded without looking at the person who had just spoken.  "I think so."  From his limited vantage point, he hadn't yet observed anything nearby.  Since most of the surrounding buildings were shorter than this one, some pretty broad swaths of nearby streets were visible beyond the park blocks along with a good chunk of the nearby freeway.  "It doesn't sound like they're very close, though."

"I hope they show up soon.  I'm about ready to be done with this."  There was a note of relieved excitement as he gazed at the scenery around them.  "Look, helicopters!"  The man raised his free arm, indicating a couple shapes hovering in the sky at a considerable distance.

"It will probably still be a while before they get to us."  Lucas replied in a bored monotone.  Without the masking effect produced by regular city traffic, the sound of gunfire seemed like it ought to carry for miles.  Although the helicopters were apparently distant enough for their sound to fade into the background.  Evacuating a city would not be a trivial effort.  "If they really are going to check the whole city, there's going to be a whole lot of people for them to get to."

"I can wait.  I'm just happy to know they're finally coming."

"Yeah, it's something at least."  Lucas paused for several seconds before adding a bit of an afterthought.  "Actually, I'm surprised the power isn't back on yet."

"Why does that surprise you?"

"It seems like it would be the top priority.   For one, power would make it a lot easier to communicate with everyone who's stranded.  Plus people would probably be a lot more calm if everything was otherwise normal."

"I'll be fine with anything as long as I know the rescue is coming."  Replied the man before he turned away.  He skirted the perimeter of the building, excitedly examining the ground immediately beneath them.

Over the next few minutes a couple others came up onto the roof and grew excited as they noticed the signs of their rescue growing imminent.  Lucas kept to himself, letting them talk amongst each other while he pondered alone.  There was nothing much left to do now but wait; he had little to add to their dull conversations.  Calmly waiting, Lucus gazed out at the surrounding scenery as he relished the relaxing feeling of the weather.

Lucas idly wondered what the organized response to finding someone who had been infected but not yet zombified would be.  He didn't think there were any obvious solutions for what ought to be done in that case.  If someone infected were mixed in with the other refugees, it would sort of ruin the point of any careful and deliberate evacuation process.  In his attempts to imagine what kind of response the people in charge would have to that situation, Lucas largely found it difficult to guess what might be done.

Lost amid his speculations, Lucus jumped as a loud bang startled him back to his senses.  Within the rain he could hear the sounds of engines and gazed around with fresh awareness.  The situation had changed far more rapidly than he had expected; he could see armored vehicles moving along the surrounding streets.  In the air not too far away some helicopters had approached, the sound of their blades producing a distinct buzz.  Looking up to watch them, droplets of rain gathered on his glasses.

On the walkways below a small armored vehicle drove down the narrow sidewalk of the park blocks.  Lining up alongside the university library, it gradually approached at a pace no faster than a walk.  A booming voice echoed out on a bullhorn as it moved closer and then down the hill.  It took Lucas a while to understand the speech as a firm command to remain inside until further notice and a further message that rescue vehicles would be along to transport everyone shortly.  Despite that, many of those on the roof left with an air of excitement, no doubt eagerly anticipating their rescue and the end of their trivial ordeal.

Everything was now moving with a whirlwind pace as the pouring rain hammered down.  Several hundred feet behind the armored vehicles came a vanguard of soldiers riding in jeeps.  On the streets a few blocks away several buses arrived, coming to a stop.  Milling groups of people congregated around the transport vehicles, jostling for entry as the soldiers attempted to impose some kind of disciplined order upon the riotous mobs.  Urgent shouting below mixed into a distinctly human white noise.

Observing the proceedings from the edge of the rooftop, Lucas noticed some refugees were exiting nearby buildings and rushing forwards to join the swarms a few streets away despite the firm warnings given not to do so.  Occasional cracks of gunfire broke out, but were rare and mostly distant.  The helicopters had flown beyond the immediate vicinity, keeping pace with the leading armored vehicles, which had incrementally proceeded further into the downtown region as the minutes wore on.

Everything suddenly changed as a jolting flash tore through the universe, a discordant piping note concurrently striking with an overwhelmingly intense clarity.  The next moment of awareness brought with it an intense feeling of cold moisture as a dull, aching pain lingered throughout every nerve.  Recovering his sense of place, Lucas realized he was laid out on one side within a shallow puddle, the jarring fault line in his consciousness had somehow left him staring at the water streaking down the concrete lip.  No sounds but the soft patter of rain came to his ears.

Slowly pushing himself to his feet, Lucas braced upon the edge lining the rooftop for support.  His glasses were streaked with obtrusive rivulets of water, so he removed them to clear his view.  Drawing in a slow, deep breath as he took stock of his surroundings, he suddenly felt utterly alone.  Every person had departed at some point prior and there was no evidence of the helicopters remaining on any horizon.  Carefully peering over the edge of the building confirmed that vehicles and people were still gathered below.  Lucas exhaled in relief at the blurred sight as he recognized he could hear the cacophany of the disorganized crowd after all.

Water had thoroughly soaked every scrap of clothing despite the rain coat, providing a minor contextual clue for the passage of time.  Drenched as he was, it would make no sense to linger in the cold, so he began making his way back inside.  When he was dry, he could safely ponder what had taken place.  Favoring the leg with a stinging soreness, Lucas limped back to the doorway leading inside.

From the periphery of vision, Lucas thought he detected a flicker of light but it wasn't there when he turned to look.  It dawned on him suddenly that he could have been struck by a solitary, errant bolt of lightning.  Lightning was never something he would normally worry about, yet even he realized it would be foolish to remain exposed on a towering rooftop during a thunderstorm.  Breaking into a rush, he darted towards the dark opening leading back inside and descended several steps into the inky abysss before the door behind him shut out the light with a heavy thump.

Trauma

Evan sat alone in a comfortable chair within the small central lobby of the Mansfield building, staring down the long corridor beyond the sturdy glass entryway.  With the flashlight laid along the right arm of the chair, he could view most of the length along the outside walkway.   At the far edge of vision, dimly lit figures writhed against clanking metal.  Fortunately, the sound of their struggles and moans were partly obscured by distance and gusting wind, but served as a steady reminder of their close proximity.

Cold seeped in through the tiny spaces between the glass doors and the surrounding glass frame composing the building's sole exit.  The heavy coat Evan wore had been partially removed and draped over his shoulders, offering more than enough warmth to make up the difference for the leeching outside air.  Now and then a faint, barely audible whistle came through the tiny cracks as a strong gust of wind overcame the mitigating impact of the surrounding structure.

Now that his skin had time to recover from the numbing chill, Evan could feel the lingering sting of the scraped skin upon his forehead.  The wound had been wiped clean with disinfectant and covered with a bandage, but the sharp pain would likely remain for the rest of the night.  Mild aches shot through the remainder of his body due to the tumble across pavement taken during the scuffle, but the bruised soreness had been alleviated somewhat after the first few minutes of relaxation.

Since Evan's return to the building, quite a few people had entered the lobby to investigate the noises they had heard coming from outside.  Beyond initial alarm upon learning that the zombies had reached their front gate, each person soon returned to their rooms.  Many indicated they would inform others of the updated information.

With an aura of light preceeding her, Jennifer emerged from the hallway to the left. Once she was nearby, she clicked the light off, using the ambient glow created by the already present source to navigate.  "Robert and Minoko are set up in one-oh-nine.  It's the room by the stairs over there."  Approaching, she held out a clear bottle with a blue label.

"Thank you."  Evan replied as he accepted the offerred item.  "So they're doing okay?"  He twisted the cap, unsealing the container and taking a deep drink of the refreshing liquid.

"Yeah, Minoko had the key for Robert's cuffs and they're making sure he can be safely locked up.  Zack and Ryan also went to get them something to eat."  Jennifer walked quickly but cautiously around, navigating with ease through the mostly empty chamber.  She made her way to the back corner of the lobby near the elevator doors, retrieving a metal folding chair from a small cluster of them.  Pulling it forwards with a gentle scrape of rubber on hard tile, she aligned it beside Evan and sat.  "Anyway, how are you feeling?"

"A little sore."  Evan briefly glanced towards Jennifer as she placed her right hand upon his left forearm. "But okay."

"You sure you don't want anything else?"  Her dark eyes regarded Evan with concern.  The heavy coat had been unzipped and parted, revealing considerable cleavage from her low cut shirt underneath.  She pressed her warmth against him.

"Not right now."  Evan still felt a little queasy from witnessing a skull broken open with direct blunt force trauma.  He was trained for personal defense, but had only ever used it in very limited circumstances before today.  On top of that, people would stop attacking once they had taken a certain level of injurious pain.  The sort of strikes required to inconvenience, let alone incapacitate the undead were considerably greater than what a human could tolerate.

"Okay.  Just let me know when you feel like talking."  Jennifer fell silent, leaning against Evan and breathing softly.  The natural sounds of the building's echoes, the zombies and the windstorm mingled into an uneven background murmur, creating an almost normal white noise for a city.  Appreciating the transient calm with someone was itself the sort of pleasant moment Evan had not had a chance at feeling for most of the day.

In the relative quiet, Evan's mind returned to the memories of agonizing meaty cracks produced by a human figure driven forcefully into the brick facade of the building.  Or the reverberating forces of bone shattered between heavy blows and the hard ground.  Even worse, every time he had witnessed such painfully incapacitating things, it barely served as an inconvenience to the infected.

Evan struggled to place such thoughts out of his mind.  Instead, he tried to focus his energies on what else could be done about the cluster of figures rattling the gates.  Even if he could not manage the destruction of each individual zombie, concocting any method to mitigate the danger they posed together would clearly be better than doing nothing.

Unfortunately, with his distracted and weary condition, Evan could not think of any plan which would be safe enough to justify enacting.  It wasn't as if they had a lot of resources in the dormitory to use in such an attempt.

Eventually, there was the nearby sound of a door opening, not too uncommon an occurence during the wait.  This time, murmuring speech spilled out before the subdued thump of a closing door.  Familiar tones of low speaking mingled with approaching footfalls, signalling the end of the period of calm.  Soon, Zack and Ryan appeared together within the hallway corner and proceeded into lobby with the illumination provided by a shared light source.

Zack waved to Evan and Jennifer as he entered.  "Well, they're all set up now.  Thanks for taking over our watch out here.  Did we miss anything?"

"A few people came down to see what was going on, but not really."  Evan replied as he rose from the chair, setting the flashlight upon the seat.  He draped his coat over his shoulders, allowing the long, bulky sleeves to dangle at his sides.  "I was just trying to think of what else we might be able to do about those zombies."

"Not sure we can do much, honestly."  Zack shrugged as he neared the glass entrance and stared down the shadowy walkway to the gate.

"As long as they're outside here, they're not attacking someone else."  Jennifer contributed with a slight tone of optimism.  She had risen from her chair at the same time Evan did, standing at his side.

"That's a good point.  And we're going to have someone down here keeping watch all night long."  Zack nodded as he looked to Evan inquisitively.  "As long as they see us in here, they won't wander off, will they?"

Evan sighed as he considered the question.  "I don't think so.  But I'd rather we did something to guarantee that won't happen instead of just hoping that it doesn't.  If that's at all possible."

"Well, let's see if we have anything that would be useful."  Carrying his flashlight, Zack circled around to the back corner with the folding chairs and retrieved a clipboard with several sheets of paper upon it.

"Would a sword help?"  Ryan asked, as the others looked in his direction.  An almost smug grin was the only feature of his face easily visible due to the brown, shaggy hair draped over his eyes and the poor lighting conditions.

"A sword?  What are you talking about?"  Jennifer replied before anyone could respond to the unexpected question.

"When we searched the building to check our supplies.  I remember someone talking about how one of the rooms had this totally awesome sword hanging on the wall."

"Why didn't you mention that before?"  Jennifer asked, obvious irritation in her tone.

"I don't think it would have been very useful to us before.  A sword would get blood all over and probably increase the wielder's chances of infection."  Evan suggested as he touched Jennifer tenderly upon the shoulder in a subtle effort to soothe her agitation.

"I just remembered it now."  Ryan shook his head.  "Anyway, whoever found it basically said the same thing.  He said a dude would have to be pretty suicidal to go fight a zombie out in the open with a sword and end up getting blood all over him.  But everyone knows these are just bite zombies.  So a sword should be totally safe."

"That's crazy."  Jennifer huffed.  "You don't know that."

"Yeah.  There's no way we're going to gamble that the blood isn't infectious."  Evan waved his arms in a dismissive gesture before taking another drink of water.

"Hey, chill out.  Even if that's true, there's still no risk." Ryan made a point of gazing through the glass at the cluster of wailing dead beyond.  "They're just standing right there at the gate so you should be able to chop them up through the bars and still remain protected the whole time."  Ryan waved his forearm as if to demonstrate such a strike.  "Just wear a rain coat or something if you don't want to get the blood on you."

"That might work, actually."  Evan affirmed with a sigh, thinking about his earlier careful disposal of the bloodied corpse with Leon's aid.  "If we had a poncho, gloves, goggles and a mask, someone could probably do it while being careful enough to keep all the blood off themselves."

There was a faint ruffling of papers as Zack flipped through the pages.  "Yeah, I don't see any sort of awesome sword listed here.  But we do have a fire axe in the utility room.  And we should be able to find the other stuff okay, I'd think."

"That'll work."  Ryan declared as he turned back with the same grin he had before.  He scratched at a bit of not-quite stubble on his chin.

"It's worth considering in case there's nothing better we can figure out."  Evan accepted with a sigh.    He didn't relish the thought of hacking off bits of outstretched human arms, gradually whittling away the limbs.  But he knew such an approach would be necessary to safely deliver a killing blow to the brain through the iron bars.

After a short deliberation, no other plan became apparent.  Replacing the list where he had retrieved it, Zack departed to retrieve the fire axe.  Jennifer likewise departed to retrieve some of the gear needed for an improvised protective suit.

Upon Zack's return, he carefully presented the tool in his palms, handing it to Evan.  "So, here it is."

"This might work out."  Evan observed as he took the implement in both hands.   Carefully, he skeptically tested the weight and examined its sharp edge.  If it was truly the only option available, he would grudgingly do it to spare the others from the gruesome experience.  And ensure the effort had its maximal chance of success.  "Too bad the handle isn't longer.  I'd like to be as far away as possible while it's done."

"I guess we could find that sword that supposedly is around here."  Zack quizzically glanced at Ryan.  "It might have a longer reach."

"That's probably a decent idea."  Evan nodded as he cautiously set the implement against the front doors.  Zack and Ryan left shortly afterwards to begin a search for the sword.

Once again, Evan sat alone in the lobby, idly staring at the figures outside.  Listening to the sounds, he could feel himself drifting into a temporary lapse of focus.  Despite his weariness he couldn't leave a matter like this while he slept, so he waited for the plan to fully come together.  Uneasy at the thoughts of the grim actions to which he had already dedicated himself, he tried not to linger too much on what the near future held.  Breathing deep, Evan instead relaxed his nerves to allow himself some measure of serenity before the violence upon the horizon.

He was drawn out of his personal reverie by Minoko's sudden appearance inside the hallway.  She wiped at her eyes with a distraught look on her face.  Without needing to exchange so much as a word, Evan approached to offer a comforting embrace.  A long moment of silence followed before she finally broke away.  Soon afterwards Jennifer returned with the gear needed for their improvised protective suit.

With spirits low, Jennifer left again to escort Minoko to a private room to grieve with few words spoken between them.  Once Zack and Ryan finally returned with a flimsy looking, absurdly ornate fantasy sword replica, Evan had become quite anxious to bring the day's events to a close.  Securely draping himself in the protective gear, he strode outside with the axe in a firm two-handed grip.  Dampened awareness told him that someone followed at a good distance with a flashlight to provide sight.

The following hour or so passed in a horrific blur of tearing flesh and splitting bone.  Within his cobbled together protection, a clammy heat rapidly grew and refused to abate, despite the aggravating cold drawn inside with every puff of air.  A few times the head of the axe got lodged in place, but wrenching and tugging eventually freed it with a sickening squelch.  Deliberately aimed swings followed after one another, flesh ripping and bone snapping until the wailing, gnashing figures lurking beyond the gates were all finally disposed and haphazardly strewn about.  Eerie silence once again dominated the city's streets.

Depositing the axe against the brick wall and shedding the suit afterwards was a wonderful relief.  With great exultation at finding he had no trace of blood on him, a sweaty, exhausted Evan finally retired to his room to collapse on his bed in peace.

Winding Down

Awkwardly leaning against the wall with his flashlight aimed up, Lucas remained otherwise silent as the two newcomers continued their sullen approach.  Among those present, the only person Lucas knew by name- Erin- gave him a brief nod of recognition as she edged beyond him.  The chubbier blond girl sniffled and sobbed again as Erin ineffectively attempted to console her.  There were a few seconds of relative silence before they halted beside the Hispanic couple sitting on the hallway floor; pressed up against the wall.

They were all gathered just close enough to Lucas that the notion of quietly sneaking away somehow felt a little too awkward.  Instead, uncertain of what else he ought to be doing, Lucas remained there as the others spoke, idly inspecting the walls, doors or ceiling of the drab, concrete passage.  Unfortunately, none of his available options for examination were terribly interesting.

"I still can't believe Simon did that."  Said the Hispanic woman sitting upon the floor.  She wore an expression of hurt shock upon her face as she held her unconscious boyfriend tenderly.  She mostly still didn't look up at the others so her long hair partly draped in front of her face, concealing her own bruises.

"Oh, I can believe it.  Simon and his friends are a bunch of assholes."  Erin's voice was fringed with her frustration and anger.  "Right now they're all still down there guarding the doors.  So nobody could let Robert back inside."

"I should have goh- goh-"  The crying woman's speech quickly broke down as her voice hitched over a syllable repeatedly.  Soon, she broke into a fresh bout of uncontrolled weeping.

"Shhh..."  Erin cajoled, giving her a comforting hug and pulling her close to her blue blouse.  The ambient light shifting as the arm holding the light moved into the embrace.  "It's going to be okay.  Robert wanted you to stay and he still has Minoko looking out for him.  Nobody would ever blame you for staying."

Occasional noises radiated through the sightless halls, but it was of a rather subdued nature- characteristic of the typical sounds Lucas was long familiar with within the dormitory.  The disquieting outburst of sobbing lasted for about a minute before it was eventually brought to an uncomfortable end of sniffling and short gasps of breathing.

"They're not still waiting around out there, are they?"  The Hispanic woman ventured to speak once the emotional outburst had been brought under a temporary restraint.  "In the cold?"

"I don't think so.  They left to go find shelter after they were forced outside.  After a bit, we couldn't see where they had gone."  Erin replied as she still embraced the distraught person she had brought with her.

"S-some people found them and they went with them."  The curvy girl responded, her voice wavering as she evidently expended great effort to speak clearly.

"Oh."  Erin brushed some of her curly hair back with her hand as the person she consoled had momentarily pulled away.  "I guess I didn't see that happen."

The distraught woman momentarily drew her breath in short spasms, then breathed deep before adding.  "I think one of them might have been Evan."

"Evan?"  Lucas looked over suddenly at the distressed woman.  "Are you sure?"

"I don't know."  There was an audible sniff before she continued.  "It looked like it could have been, but I couldn't really tell.  It was too dark to see much."

"When I last saw Evan, he said he was going to find some medicine for Robert."  The Hispanic girl repeated her earlier statement to the new arrivals as she cradled her still unconscious boyfriend.  The bundled up fabric of her pink dress rustled against the hard floor as she adjusted her legs.

"That was Evan, then."  Lucas declared.  "If there wasn't any medicine around here, he'd leave to find some as long as he thought it would be safe to do so."  Suddenly the events of Robert's exodus made a lot more sense.  Evan didn't stop the expulsion because he simply wasn't here to prevent it.  In retrospect, it really should have been more obvious.  What Lucas was witnessing- the wounded and the melancholy- was an outcome of unfortunate coincidence.

"So, he's..."  The grieving woman's eyes were still red and puffy as she looked at Lucas with an expression of injured hope.  Erin continued to stroke at her shoulder in a soothing gesture.

"They're probably just over at the Mansfield building.  It's only a couple blocks away."  Lucas offered uneasily with a shrug, then added as he thought of the accounts of bitten survivors lasting for a day with the feverish infection.  "I'm sure Evan will keep Robert alive as long as possible."  Smiling uneasily, Lucas saw the distressed woman was tearing up again.  "He might still be alive when we're rescued in the morning."

"Don't say that."  Erin hissed under her breath, scowling at Lucas.

"What?  I didn't say he was going to die.  It's possible to surv-"

"Stop it.  Just stop it!"  Erin tersely commanded while drawing the woman into another comforting embrace.

An awkward semi-silence among those in the hallway resumed its unwelcome pressure.  With the shift in focus more squarely upon him, Lucas felt so unnerved that it was clearly more uncomfortable staying around than awkwardly departing would be.  It wasn't his fault that his statements were taken the wrong way; eventually the others would come to realize that.

As he slinked away, Lucas breathed a sigh of relief once he was out of sight.  Unfortunately, without Evan there wasn't much he could think to do, so he just opted to return to the solitude of his own room.  Keeping the light low and his focus on his path, Lucas passed by someone else on the stairs and gave them no more recognition than a cordial nod and a mumbled greeting.

Unlocking the door and entering swiftly, he slammed the entryway behind him, then scanned the flashlight over the length of his room.  Everything was just as he had left it before.  At least within the safety offered by isolation, he could maybe even return to idly pondering the anomalous details of the bizarre epidemic.  Beyond that, there wasn't much possible while trapped in isolation and without electricity or a good source of lighting.  After securing the deadbolt he laid down on his bed, clicking off the flashlight to think in the dark.

Laying there for a few minutes, he ruminated upon the various things about the undead he had been able to observe so far or reason out.  Lingering questions still tugged at his mind, but without any easy means of answering his curiosity, he hadn't really thought about what else to do about them.  In part, he wanted to find Evan so that he would be able to have someone else to consider his ideas.

Chloe's observation about there being no zombie animals was just the sort of reason that Lucas craved someone to talk with.  He hadn't thought of it himself, and at first it seemed like an odd thing to consider at all.  But combined with other factoids it did perhaps make some degree of sense.  After all, the zombies were shut down by destroying the brain.  Were animal brains simply too small or simple for the effect of z-rays to trigger upon them?  It seemed like a fairly reasonable explanation, even if Lucas could think of no way to easily test that particular notion.

But generally- on reflection- Chloe hadn't seemed terribly interested in the speculative things Lucas had suggested to her.  Of course it was understandable to be rather skeptical of any statements or conclusions.  Although at this point any theories which could provide testable predictions would only likely be possible once a number of brainstormed ideas were carefully considered using the available information.  In the meantime, it would be worthwhile to keep as many of those new ideas on hand.

Rising from his bed, Lucas thought to take note of the animal idea.  With how many different wild notions he had been considering throughout the day, it would be optimal to be certain.  He might possibly forget something, but paper would not.  Setting the flashlight beside him aimed at the wall provided just enough dim light to make his notes.  Once completed, he flicked the switch again and returned to bed to lay on his back and resume his mental wanderings in pitch black.

Several times over the following hours, Lucas repeated the process, laying upon his bed, thinking about what he knew, what he thought was reasonable to guess and some of the questions he had.  Then occasionally he would rise from his bed to make a few more notes of his thoughts.  Just in case whatever had occurred to him today would not remain within his memory when he wanted it later.

Eventually, Lucas grew drowsy and fell asleep; dreaming about deep space, cosmic radiation and wormholes.

Adrenaline Rush

The small cluster of people approaching the Mansfield building quickened their already frantic pace as the sounds of heavy footfalls reached their anxious senses.  From the uneven clamor, it soon became distressingly clear that the distant noises could not have been caused by a mere individual, but a small cluster at the very least.  The distant echoing, clattering slap of shoes upon the hard surfaces within the city echoed and mingled together with the undead's distinct moans.

With the heavy iron gate just within sight, Evan felt an uneasy dread as he realized what his senses indicated.  The absense of light spilling out from Mansfield's corridor revealed that nobody was waiting directly on the other side of the locked gate.  "Zack!"  Evan called out with a harsh, gutteral voice as the frozen air blew against his exposed skin.

"Not so loud.  I'll check."  Jennifer barely whispered before darting ahead.  Eagerly crossing the street, the restrained undead woman became visible again as the bearer of their light source moved closer to the building.  Thankfully, Jennifer kept the beam of the flashlight aimed low, ensuring the trapped figure was only partly revealed in shadow by the immediate environment's reflected illumination.

Feeling the burden of Robert grow heavier upon his shoulders, Evan realized the sick, overweight man's footing was faltering with their shared sense of forced urgency.  "Hold up a second."  He whispered, exhorting his companions to halt in the street; allowing the illness ravaged man a brief respite to regain his footing.  Minoko and Robert were both panting in exhaustion from their efforts, their breath billowing out into the air in a dense cloud.  Taking just a few seconds to allow a repreive, Evan ensured once they did resume that it would not be at a pace that would sabotage their own progress.  "Slow, steady.  We'll get there."

Standing before the wrought iron bars, Jennifer lifted her hand to strobe the beam into the dark corridor beyond.  After a moment, she lowered the light again and turned around to look back at those still lagging in the middle of the street.  "He sees me!"  She harshly whispered back.  Helpfully, she returned the radiant orb to linger just before those following her; careful to keep her distance from the zombie tightly threaded into the nearby iron.  It wailed at her, its teeth clattering forcefully with each snap of its jaws.

As Evan led the group through the center of the narrow street, the avalanche grew into a riotous crescendo, echoing between unseen buildings and seeming to arrive from multiple directions.  With growing clarity, he realized he could discern new sounds within the chaos.  He could hear a heavy, gasping noise trapped within the approaching wailing and the thumping clamor of the stampeding horde.  The heavy breathing was almost reminiscent of weary panting.

The undead did not gasp for air.  The sudden realization came to Evan only a moment before a horrified scream cut into his ears, making his skin crawl.  The screaming only lasted a few seconds before abruptly clipping out.  At the same moment the footfalls and wailing ceased.  The avalanche of noise had ended with a sudden finality, only leaving what echoed for the moments before that too was swallowed up into frigid silence.

Now the eerie calm was only disturbed by the nearby zombie woman locked in place, the harsh breeze whipping against coat fabric and whistling between buildings.  A soft metallic scrape as the bindings still on Robert's ankle dragged behind them.  It was almost as if the experience had been a nightmarish hallucination.  Jennifer peered around herself, a skittish, frantic look on her face as she gazed down the calm street towards the limits of vision strictly enforced by the environment.  Her hands jittered from either cold or anxiety.

Time had seemed to lose its normal flow to Evan as events transpired.  Robert wheezed heavily as they finally arrived at the chained gate.  Down the narrow corridor, Zack emerged from the doorway and bounded towards the group with his own flashlight in one hand; keys in the other.  Minoko exhaled a fearful breath of air, producing a slight whimper along with the humid fog of her heavy breathing.  Jennifer turned her eyes fearfully towards Evan as the group now stood with her at the heavy gate.

"What happened?"  Minoko whispered, her voice shaking as she spoke, making her mild accent all the more noticeable.  "Are they gone?"

"I don't know."  Jennifer croaked with restrained fear as she peered into the darkened city streets.  Zack halted before the gate, proceeding to unlock and peel back the heavy chains keeping the gate shut.

Jennifer tentatively shifted her arm to match where she was peering, the illuminating cone crawling along the pavement towards the vacant city streets beyond.  Revelatory light spilled across the stark stone or brick facades of the nearby buildings.  Recognizing the potential disaster of such curiousity came too late.

Looking over just in time, Evan witnessed the shadowy silhouettes of two figures standing in the road a couple hundred feet distant.  In that instant, Evan could see the moving figures clearly enough to feel a pulse of dread clawing at his heart.  The light only flicked across their form for a moment, but it was long enough to recognize them.  As if on cue, their reveal prompted the pair to break into a nearly blind dash.  Their wailing voices breaking out in unison.

Evan responded just as reflexively, gingerly shouldering away Robert's weight and moving past Jennifer.  "Get back!"  He swiped the flashlight from Jennifer, springing forwards to meet their would-be assailants away from the gate and entering the nearby intersection.  The refugees clustered together in his wake, one of the group shouting out with alarm, but all remained behind.  Rapid footfalls echoed across the empty street.

Shifting the means of sight into his left hand, Evan angled it down the street to make the approaching pair easily visible for cursory inspection.  Snapping the light back onto the figures, he could determine they were looking right at him as they dashed.  The direct shining glare did not phase them, but Evan already didn't expect that to make any difference.  Thankfully, they were both focusing on their nearest target- him.

The leading zombie was a tall man who had been wearing a dark jacket over a rumpled suit and tie.  The other- lagging behind by ten or fifteen feet and a little to the right side- was a below average in height pudgy man still wearing a bulky coat and jeans.  Their pallor had been tinged by the unrelenting bite of winter, but other than that they didn't have anything immediately obviously wrong with their appearance.  Like the zombie he had encountered earlier, they both charged forwards without any grace.

With tense muscles waiting for the proper instant to act, Evan took a deep breath.  The chill numbed exposed skin, but his important muscles were still warm and ready on a hair trigger.  Within the backdrop of a whistling gust of wind, Jennifer called out to him.  Comprehension of the words were lost as all his focus was drawn to the task at hand.  Precious seconds mattered for his companions to escape, and Evan would buy them in one way or the other.

The moment came.  With the undead reaching out to grasp him just feet away, Evan leapt leftwards.  The illumination moved away from the figures, rendering their forms nearly invisible.  The tall zombie's momentum clumsily faltered with the sudden shift, but would inexorably carry it forwards into striking range.  Whipping his leg up and out in one expert motion, the blow connected solidly along the right side of the zombie's body with a meaty thump.  A strong echo of the strike's force reverberated down Evan's leg.

In the darkness, sounds provided the sole indication of what transpired as Evan lowered his leg and quickly hopped back.  The force of the strike sent the thing off-kilter, its shoes scuffing hard against asphalt as it struggled to maintain a faltering balance and slowed.  The sudden change in the tall undead's motion led to a hard thump as the other zombie's momentum forced a collision.  Unable to anticipate, the undead could topple like dominoes with a single blow.

As Evan reoriented the light upon the undead from a slightly safer distance, both figures were still tumbling on the nearby ground in a tangled heap of flailing limbs.  In another rapid strike, Evan circled around and chose a relatively safe ankle to hammer upon with his foot.  Of course, he would have felt better delivering the blow with a heavy object, but the flashlight would be too flimsy to use for that purpose and it was far more useful as a tool providing light to risk damaging it.  He hoped the attack would at least inflict some minor damage before he had to back away from a lunge.

Standing again where Evan had waited for them in the center of the intersection, the zombies disentangled from one another and rose up again.  Taking a brief moment to look beyond the former men, Evan could see that the chains threading the gate closed were being tugged loose.  Just a few more moments and the refugees about fifty or sixty feet away would be entering safety.  Now the attackers were somewhat between him and the gate; he just needed to delay them a little longer.

Luckily, both undead still turned their heads and bodies to Evan as they regained their footing, the overweight form rising up first and beginning a charge.  With a heavy exhale, Evan took a step back and prepared to move again.  With less distance between them, the zombie's full momentum was not attained and thus, it wouldn't quite be possible to do the same thing as before.

Instead, Evan focused on nimble dodging and knocking the reaching arms away with his free hand.  It wasn't as easily accomplished as he would have liked, considering the coat he wore was restrictive.  But fortunately, the zombie was just uncoordinated enough and short enough for the tactic to succeed.  Against a human with his bare fist, such diversionary strikes would have pained the muscles, but it didn't deter or slow down the zombie at all.  Carefully, Evan led it towards the building on the corner opposite from Mansfield, careful to not trip over the sidewalk.

With his weaving motions, the cone of illumination jittered all around the environment as he moved.  Flashes quickly spilled over objects, making it quite difficult to sense his surroundings beyond what he needed all his focus to accomplish.  As the tall undead stood again and ran to join the assualt, Evan tightly gripped one outstretched, chubby arm with his hand.  Pivoting back on one foot, he whipped the form around forcefully, guiding him towards the brick corner of the building.  He let go just slightly before the zombie collided with a hard brick corner.  Then leapt to the side to dodge the other coming zombie.

The dodge came just too late, and Evan tumbled to the ground as the taller zombie roughly tackled him and sent them back onto the road.  A meaty crack echoed from the nearby collision as he tumbled upon the ground with his assailant.  The tall zombie attempted to bite his neck as they rolled to a stop on the sidewalk pavement, but Evan shielded the attempt with his arm.  He felt the tight pinching as the human teeth pressed against heavy coat fabric.  A piercing scream came from somewhere.

Kicking out with his legs and pushing his arm back, Evan tossed the figure from himself and leapt to his feet.  As he whirled around the light, another zombie came into view merely twenty feet away, a dark skinned woman in a heavy dark coat.  Two more were behind her, walking.  The instant he recognized them they leaned forwards, engaging in a run with a bellowing wail.

There was no time left.  The swarm they had heard before was now nearly upon him.  Turning to flee, he saw the gate was open just a crack and the others were helping Robert squeeze through.  Charging in that direction, Evan came in just behind the others, crashing into Jennifer as he tugged the iron bars shut with a loud squeal and slam.  The first zombie came forwards to collide with the heavy bars just after they were shut.

In his adrenaline fueled state, Evan realized the sturdy binds that held the gate closed on his side still needed to be weaved through the bars, and acted.  Kneeling, he dropped the light source where it clattered to the ground and grabbed one end of sturdy chain.  Reaching his hands through the bars just long enough to loop around cast iron, he jumped back.  A new set of teeth hit against iron, producing an unpleasant scraping noise where his gloved hand had been moments ago.

Evan passed the chain end to Zack and held on tightly as more grasping appendages reached out, gripping his hands and arms.  Holding firm so the zombies would not unthread their primary means of protection, Evan tugged and leaned back with all his strength.  The undead's grip was strong, but it slipped along the fabric of his coat or gloves.  He lost one glove to their grasp before Zack managed to ensure the lock was once more secure and dropped it against the firmly sealed entryway with a heavy clatter of metal on metal.

It was a harrowing few seconds as Evan used all the strength he could muster to shake off the grip of those on the other side of the gate.  Thankfully, with the primary task complete the other survivors gripped his shoulders and chest and engaged in a brief but successful tug of war with the undead.  Finally, he slipped free and they stumbled backwards.  Evan breathed deeply, recovering from the activity with a great sense of relief washing over him.

Looking at him with a shared sense of nervous relief, Jennifer spoke.  "You're bleeding!"

Becoming dimly aware of a hot sensation on his cheek, Evan reached up his ungloved hand to touch at his temple.  With cold numbing him, he could barely feel the sensation, but his fingers did come away moist with blood.  "It's not a bite."  Evan replied with a heavy breath, remembering the moment he was tackled and crashed upon the ground.  "It's a scrape from falling down.  It did almost bite me though, but I blocked it with the sleeve of my coat."

There was still concern at his assurances, but they put it aside for now and proceeded into the warmth of the Mansfield building.  Evan remained in the lobby to let Jennifer clean and bandage the injury with their medical supplies.  The others worked to find Robert a safe, empty room to continue resting.

Before leaving with Robert, Evan made sure to pass off the antibiotic medicine he had come out to fetch for Robert originally.  Minoko briefly spoke to Evan in reply.  "Thank you for everything you've done for us."

"No problem."  Evan replied as Jennifer applied an alcohol soaked cotton ball to his skin.  "If we're expecting someone from outside to send help to us, then we've got to be willing to help those around us when we can."