Two chapters in one day! I love days off with nothing else to do. :) Jac Lag :) In response, sure! As long as there's not a snarling horde on her tail :) Enjoy!

Jane had run the marathon, and swore to herself she'd never do it again. It was ironic that she was doing it again, this time across a dead city with a legion of undead on her tail. The outskirts of downtown was a snarled mess of broken down cars and military vehicles. It had slowed her down considerably to crawl over and under the mess that had been made. The moon was high enough now to give her light to see by, and once she'd cleared the traffic jam, she'd picked up her pace again.

It had been an unnerving process. Hands reaching for her from broken car windows, and crawling bodies snatching at her feet was enough to have her heart rate soaring. The cars seemed surprisingly intact, in fact she'd seen several backseats full of food and supplies. They'd practiced the same "evacuation survival" themselves on the interstates and highways near the harbor. When the swarms had started pushing their way out of the city, people had abandoned everything and ran.

It was while they'd been picking through the long stream of cars Maura had made the comment that they'd gone from predators to scavengers almost overnight.

"I don't know Maura, I still feel pretty predatory." Jane's smirk was plastered to her face as she straightened up and turned to where the doctor was loading canned food into a milk crate.

A raised eyebrow and evil smile met her, "I don't feel much like prey, Jane."

Jane let a chuckle escape. She was moving into a residential area now, and the updates and conversation was growing frequent, even if it was one sided. "...finally got Maura to rest..."

Frost's voice, Jane smiled. "...gotten foul-mouthed since the apocalypse...look she gave me."

A sharp laugh escaped her and she slapped a hand over her mouth, scanning the houses to see if she'd been heard. Quiet for now. Picking up her pace again she kept her eyes open to any dangers listening to the static filled voice in her ear. "...when we told them we needed safe houses in case something like this happened...rethinking it now..."

They were led by committee. Meaning a few city councilmen didn't get eaten and were carrying on in their own dysfunctional way. Survivors from BPD had managed to get Korsak into their little meeting of minds, and he'd taken the basic running of the warehouse. Unfortunately the time it had taken cost them. Now they'd finally made contact with another outpost on the other side of the city, gone to meet for an information exchange and been set up.

The runner from the other outpost had raised a hand in greeting, even smiled at her before the cars beside him had gone up in flames and thrown her into the mess she was now in. It didn't make sense that they'd blown up their own man, but it didn't make sense that a third party would attack at that moment either.

Shaking herself from her thoughts she turned her attention back to her surroundings. There was a fire up ahead. She slowed her steps and gripped the nightstick nervously. There was no one that she could see, and she crept closer. The wind from the bullet literally lifted the hair on the side of her head and she ducked yelling, "I'm not dead! I'm human!"

Scrambling behind a mailbox she listened for an answer. "No trespassers!"

"I'm just trying to get home! I'm unarmed!" She couldn't pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

"Your mistake!" Of course it was, she'd left her gun in her vehicle which was now in a twisted heap on the other end of the city. Bullets thunked into the mailbox.

"Look I don't want anything, just to move through!"

"...we hope you're still out there partner..." Frost's voice distracted her, and she yanked the ear piece out, stuffing it down her shirt.

"Heard that one just a couple of days ago! They shot up our hideout, and tried to take our supplies!

"I'm a cop! I'm not here to hurt anyone!"

"That doesn't mean much to me anymore!" The voice was from a young man, and he was moving closer. Trying to get a better angle. "The last guys claimed to be military!"

"What can I do to you? I'm alone!"

"No one's innocent anymore!" There he was. Moving through the cars to her right.

As quietly as she could and staying low, she left the relative safety of the mailbox, and moved into the maze of cars. Another shot rocked her previous shelter. "It's not enough the world's gone to hell, they've got to victimize people just trying to survive! Never again, not here, this place is ours!"

'Yeah, and you'll never keep it if you don't shut up.' Jane shifted the night stick in her hand, listening to the tirade. He was standing right next to her now, and didn't even know she was there.

Letting police instinct take over she swung the nightstick up, catching the rifle as it came into view, forcing the barrel to point at the sky. Swinging again she caught the man in the stomach, and then in the knees, sending him flat on his back. Jane kicked the rifle out of reach and put both knees in the man's chest, the nightstick across his throat.

"Move and I crush your trachea."

His movement stopped and he stared up at her with wide eyes. Christ he was just a kid. "Now, as I was saying, I don't want to hurt you, but I've been shot at enough times today, that it's starting to get on my nerves. Not to mention you just let every zombie in the immediate area know that the buffet's open."

She let up the pressure on his throat so he could speak. "Can't take any chances."

"Bad excuse for being stupid."

Jane stood and grabbed the gun examining it, while trying to keep an eye on her new "friend." He got up slowly rubbing at his throat.

"Ok, so maybe you're not a maurader."

The detective shook her head, "I just want to go home, like I said."

In the distance she could hear moans. They were running out of time to chat. "How many in your group?"

He looked at her suspiciously. "Why?"

Jane sighed. "Ok, how about this, my name is Jane. What's yours?"

This he would answer, "Jacob."

"Fine, hello Jacob. There are over 50 in my group, we have food, water, and shelter. I want to go back to them, and I'd prefer to do it with as few bullet holes as possible."

She took a moment to look him over. He was no older than twenty, and looked like he was about to fall over. A burst of static sounded from her shirt and she hastily grabbed the earpiece, shoving it back in her ear. "Jane...starting to show up...wanting to shut the gates, but I'm holding them off..."

Setting his rifle on the hood of a car, she took a deep breath. "Go to where ever it is you're holing up, lock the doors and stay quiet." More moans, she had to move soon.

She turned to leave, knowing that if they shut the gates she would be trapped outside with nowhere to go. She certainly wasn't going to stay with a trigger happy teenager. "Please, we're dying."

Jane stopped. He hadn't made a move for the gun. "There's ten of us. I said they tried to take our supplies but they managed to get most of them."

"Who?"

"They were mobile, trucks and a Humvee. I don't know who they were."

Jane nodded, "I'll send someone back, but I can't do that if I don't make it there. Get inside, stay there."

"But your radio?"

The detective shook her head. "One way unfortunately."

Behind him she could see the first shambling bodies headed their way. One or two wasn't bad, but they were riled up, and that meant trouble. "Go now!"

She watched him snatch up the rifle and take off for the shadows between houses, before turning and running herself. "Hustle partner...I've bought you an hour...then...trapped..."

Trapped wasn't the word. She'd be bait. They would certainly warn her if the gates closed, but she desperately wanted to be there before that. Trying to clear and secure shelter in the dark without a gun...it would be an effort in futility. She could have stayed with Jacob she supposed but he didn't offer, and she just didn't trust him enough. She was close. Close enough that her one hour deadline was doable. Barring massive hordes of the undead and mobile mauraders.

She was going home. She reached the top of the hill at the end of the street and looked at the horizon, just making out the red beacon from the harbor.

She knocked on the door lightly hearing Maura's voice call entrance. The doctor was in one of the offices on the top floor of their new shelter, converting it into quarters. Ever since the building had been cleared the offices were being claimed as bedrooms. "I love what you've done with the place."

"It doesn't have a yoga room, but its manageable." She motioned Jane in watching as she plopped down on the bare mattress they'd salvaged.

"You'll have it livable in no time." Maura sat beside her and sighed.

"No place like home I guess."

Jane studied her friend's profile for a moment, easily seeing the distress. She scooted closer and wrapped an arm around Maura's shoulders, feeling her head rest against hers. "We'll make it feel that way Maura. I know it's not ideal, but for now it's safe."

"It does have one thing going for it."

"What's that?"

"I'm not here alone. I've got you." Jane squeezed the shoulders under her arm and smiled.

"Yeah, you do Maura."