I was originally going to release this after New Frontier was finished, but I accidentally deleted a chapter of one of my fanfics, which made me have to reschedule. So I had to rewrite that, which resulted in both getting delayed so that I wouldn't delay another fanfic. After that fanfic was finished, I had to transfer my data to a new device, which resulted in even more time being lost. This fanfic keeps becoming the victim of aggressive rescheduling. I'm hoping to return to weekly updating, with new chapters on weekends.

...

Everett is holding a metal pipe. It has blood on it, so I know it's been used. There's a few other pharmacy workers, mostly unarmed. They look shaken. They probably weren't expecting me to rush through the door. Or maybe they thought those things were getting smarter. "Just stay calm. That's the most important thing to do during a crisis." I instructed.

"Stay calm? People are cannibalizing each other out there!" Another one of the Pharmacy employees. Name tag reads "C. Reid". If the employees are hiding here, then the Everett's Drugstore was probably overrun. Makes sense. That's where panicking people would rush for help, which means that people are more likely to die there.

"But as long as we can find a way to escape here, we have nothing to worry about." I assured. At least, that's what I'm hoping.

"How are we getting out of here? They're right outside!" Reid isn't panicking, but he is angered at my choice of words. He might have mistook it for a lack of concern, or he thinks I'm underestimating the situation.

"Those things are easily distracted. If someone draws their attention, they'll go after them." I explained. It's their numbers that's the real problem. I don't have enough bullets to kill a lot of them.

"Whoever volunteers for that is probably going to die." Everett reminded. Not that anyone needed him to.

"I'm a cop. I can live with that choice." I responded. Hopefully, I won't have to.

"So what's your plan to keep them off us?" Everett asked.

"First, I need to know how many of them are out there." I answered. The windows were boarded shut. I can't see anything on the outside. But I can hear them. Their animalistic growls. Some of them are eating. I opened the door partly. "If we wait until night, we might be able to slip past undetected." I concluded.

"You're assuming they don't have night vision or something." Reid noted. He's right to be paranoid about the unknown. We don't know much about them.

"Yes, I am." I replied calmly. He probably doesn't trust me because he doesn't know anything about me. Just that I came in with blood on my clothes.

I can hear gunfire outside. "The hell is that?" Everett asked. I don't know. The gunfire is coming from fully automatic weapons. Definitely not standard issue. Sounds like what Trotsky stole from the prison. But if Trotsky is dead, then that means it has to someone else.

"Williams! You're going to wish you died in my basement!" It's Falconeri. I should have just killed him.