Juliet walked out to the dining room, looking around and admiring the paintings on each wall. Rem was adding life to the dreary home of Bulwark, and every day more drawings were up. Juliet was fascinated in Rem's creativity. She saw paintings of things she never thought to imagine.

The wall was covered in scenes. There were gruesome images of a soldier carrying a wounded teammate from a battle; a picture of two kids holding hands, one of a little boy giving his mother a flower. Along with the scenes, the walls were designed with swirls of color and splotches of paint; all of it looked like a professional collage. Juliet was impressed.

She wandered around the open space for a minute, and then turned down an unfamiliar hall. It's going to be her home, why not explore? As she walked, Juliet noticed the paintings fade away and the lights start to dim. She pondered it for a moment, but quickly lost focus of that thought when she came to a large room. The place was nearly pitch-black, the only real light coming from the hallway behind her. As far as Juliet saw, besides a large Supply of tables and chairs, the space was vacant; no drawings, no lights, no people. Once she realized there was nothing to look at, she turned to leave; but a faint glow stopped her in her tracks. Juliet turned back to the source of the distraction and found a small window in a metal door. A light was on behind the glass, around a corner of what looked like another hall. Its dim gray color shone into the room; showing Juliet the contents of the isolated space.

Inside were several people; standing in their spots, shuffling a foot or two at a time, looking down at their feet or at a wall with a blank expression. But they were not people. Their skin was pale and bloody; their eyes were fogged; parts of their bodies were torn up or missing, varying in extremity with each being. Blood leaked from their eyes and mouths and noses in a dry stream. Their hair was tangled and covered in dirt and blood, either hanging from their heads in a matted mess or clinging to their necks in a dried clump of dirt. Each being wandered aimlessly around the small room, unaware of anything going on around them. Juliet could do nothing but stare in terrified fascination.

One female walked into view of Juliet, stopping mid shuffle. She turned her head toward the detective and stared at her with dead eyes. Both watched each other for a minute, and then the woman's blank expression turned to one of ferocity.

She curled her lips back, showing red-coated teeth, and moved to the door in such speed it shocked Juliet. The woman slammed into the door, clawing at the metal and window, attracting the attention of every other being in the room. In a matter of seconds, the sealed exit was surrounded by a swarm of lost lives. They all scratched and hit the door, snarling and groaning. Juliet could actually hear their hungry moans. And she couldn't move. She could only stand in frozen terror and watch as the creatures attempted to have her as dinner.

Juliet was so intently focused on the beings, that she hardly noticed the figure next to her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped back, unable to suppress a shriek. Erik stood by her with a grave expression, and glanced to the sealed door.

"Let's go, before they attract more attention." he said, heading down the lit hallway.

Juliet followed, not once looking back, "I thought we were safe from them down here."

"We are," Erik assured, "That door is sealed tight, and the window is double paned with bullet proof glass. It's too small and high for any of 'em to fit through anyway."

"Why are they down here?"

Erik was silent for a minute as they entered the dining room. He turned around to face Juliet when they were far away from the hall, "There were dozens more that made it down here. But they were all infected by then. We couldn't let them down here and spread the virus. They wouldn't leave, though; they wanted to be safe from what was outside. They raced down here, pushing and kicking and dragging others behind them, but we couldn't let them in. So we locked the first door, which was to the second hall in the room. We left, but Ben stayed."

"Ben is the one that wasn't at dinner?"

Erik nodded, "he watched them through the window; watched them die. He wanted to make sure none of them broke the door down or something- he was paranoid like that. So we let him guard the room, and we shut the other door. Before we got to the hallway, we heard him scream. Tad and I were the first to open the door, since we were closer to him than the others..." Erik paused as he recalled the event, "We saw the sick people tearing into him, ripping him apart and eating his insides. Ben kept screaming and spazzing until his eyes rolled back and he went limp..."

Juliet put her hand to her mouth in shock of the story. She breathed in a small gasp, "That's horrible, I'm so sorry."

Erik nodded solemnly, "before we knew it those beasts were up and sprinting toward us. So we slammed the door shut and sealed it tight. There's no way those guys will get through. No way in; no way out."

He looked at Juliet, his green eyes fierce, "someday I'm gonna go out there and kill those lifeless demons." Juliet would have waved the comment off as venting his anger, but the look in his eyes made her consider the chance that he was serious.

They stared at each other for several seconds, and then Erik looked at the walls around him, "Tad and I knew Ben for five years. He was a real pain in the neck sometimes, but, man, there aren't enough words in the world to describe what a good friend he was."

He smiled, "he was one of those rare people that stick with you no matter what, till death..." he shook his head and smiled more, "maybe even after that." then

Erik looked at Juliet, "What's your story?"

"What?"

Erik shrugged, "We find you at our other door, a wreck; we take you in; and we don't know anything more than your name. You have to have a history."

Juliet thought silently for a minute, and Erik crossed his arms, "you have a boyfriend?"

This brought Juliet to grow tense. She looked at Erik, and then to her hands,

"No. I don't."

Erik nodded silently, but continued as if he hadn't heard her, "D'you see him before this happened?"

Juliet looked at him, somewhat surprised that he guessed she did have a boyfriend, "Yes."

"Did he get sick?"

She shook her head, "He wasn't sick...I don't know what happened. He left."

"So you don't know if he's alive or not."

"Well," Juliet shrugged, genuinely doubtful, "sure...it's unlikely, though."

Erik's only response to this was a smile, "I wouldn't doubt so quickly. In this world, we need all the hope we can get."

Juliet gave a half-smile and watched as Erik left to his room. She frowned at his words...if only it were that easy.