Thank you all so much for the reviews! They truly do mean a lot! :D Please keep reviewing and letting me know how I am doing and what you all think I can work on! It truly helps! :D Anyway, here is Chapter 6! The journey through the infected library! :D Enjooooy!

Chapter 6: Alexis

I could not believe that we had all agreed to go back into the mess that was the world outside, but even I knew that we could not have lasted very long behind that small office door and glass window if even one of them had found out that we were in there. The best shot at us getting anywhere and out of this situation was if we got out of this office and to a safer location.

As soon as the door opened I heard a loud roar from the undead signifying that they had now noticed our existence. The first shots sounded as I ran out of the door behind Riley who was keeping a firm grasp on my hand as we came face to face with what appeared to be hundreds of the undead that had managed to make their way up to the top floor.

"Stay behind me!" Officer Harris yelled as he continued to fire into the growling crowd of undead that was charging toward us as if they were Olympic track stars.

All of the undead were blocking the stairway and it seemed that for every one that was shot down there were two more to take its place. Turning around I saw Officer Poralis firing into a smaller group of undead who had been feasting on the group of three that had ran in after we had taken shelter in the office. The three young men's bodies were nothing but a mound of what appeared to be flesh and blood. Intestines were splayed about as if they were wall decorations and I thought what appeared to be an eye lying on the floor near one of the severed feet that still had the designer tennis shoe on.

"Come on!" Officer Poralis' voice freed me of my trance on the carnage before me. "We'll never be able to get passed them to the stairs, we have to take the elevators!" She yelled as she pointed to the elevators near the back of the room.

Surprisingly, within my time in my own mind, she had managed to clear out most of the undead on her side. The only ones that remained were those that had to crawl or had too many severed limbs to be able to move. It baffled me how they had managed to get here, or whether they had once been survivors that had attempted to escape and had been torn apart and turned after they had reached the dead end of the top floor.

"Shit!" Officer Harris yelled as he continued shooting into the crowd that was starting to easily crawl over the bodies that he had strategically piled up in order to create a small wall to make it harder for them to get to us.

"Run!" Hayley screamed as we all started hurriedly toward the elevators dodging the stretching grasps of the crawling demons who yearned for us.

Before I knew it I heard a scream sound from behind us, but it was one of pain more-so then of fear. Turning around I saw one of the undead had a jaw-locked grasp on Officer Harring's shoulder. I heard an unrecognizable gasp come from within the group as we all turned to see the frightening sight.

"Keep going!" Officer Poralis pushed Riley and I forward as we continued on toward the elevators, being the first two in as Salem, Jacob, and the others came crashing in behind us. Officer Poralis used the butt of her gun to forcefully hit the undead being in the middle of the forehead causing him to loosen his grip and letting the male officer run out of its grasp. However, not a second later another of the undead had managed to take hold of Officer Poralis' outstretched hand. Before it was able to cause any harm Officer Harring did a charge toward the undead male and loosened his grip and knocked him off of his feet as the two officer's regained their composure for a brief second before sprinting in the direction of the elevators.

Both officers, covered in blood, squeezed into the full elevator as Riley began frantically pressing the button to close the doors. Officer Poralis raised her gun and began firing into the crowd taking out the first few that were closest to the elevator as the doors closed. A multitude of hands almost immediately began hammering on the other side of the doors as we all hovered around the crouching male officer whose shoulder was bleeding extensively.

"Merrill?" Officer Poralis was the first to speak as she still kept her gun pointed toward the elevator door as we knew that we soon would be back into the world of the undead as soon as those doors opened. "Are you doing ok?" She asked as we heard tearing of a garment only to see that the woman who had let us into her office had torn off the bottom hem of her dress and was using it to wrap the man's wounded shoulder to stop it from bleeding.

"Thank you, Miss…." It was then that not only Officer Harring, but all of us realized that we had not yet learned the woman's name.

"Li Xiang." She spoke, her accent was less noticeable as she said her name. "Min Li Xiang." She smiled at the man as she finished mending his wound.

The elevator began to slow in speed as I looked up from the male officer toward the elevator doors. I heard shuffling around me as the elevator rang signifying that we had reached out destination. Bracing myself for what I was about to face I stared at the doors as they slowly began to slide open. However, the sight I saw nearly left me baffled as the group of us slowly stepped out of the elevator and took in our surroundings.

The room had been cleared of all of the undead that had been there before, the only ones that remained were those that were too dismembered to actually move, and truthfully I was confused on how they had even managed to still been able to turn into the undead considering how much of their body was missing. Walking around the once survivor-housing lobby, I could hear faint growls from the undead from the stairwell, which comforted me that they were all still on the upper floors.

"Here." I heard a voice come from beside me. I turned to see Officer Poralis handing a handgun to Riley, saying that she had found it on the ground and it could be useful.

"Let's look for more weapons." Officer Harrings voice had become raspy and was breaking a bit as he spoke. "You guys are going to need them if we're going to make it outside of this library. Although there aren't any of those things here, there is no doubt that they will be outside."

Riley, Salem, Jacob, and I walked with Officer Harring on one half of the lobby area, every once and a while keeping our distance from an immobile undead being hissing at our presence. We searched the area, finding one other gun, which Salem took possession of, and a few make-shift blunt force weapons that Jacob and I took in our hands, hoping to never have to use them.

As we searched I could not help but notice that Officer Harring was sweating heavily and his bangs, once styled neatly, were now matted to his forehead. However, the sound of another near motionless undead caught my attention as I let my gaze fall upon the open doorway to the stairwell, still able to hear the angry howls of those undead that were now menacing the top floors.

"We should get out of here." I voiced my worry as I kept my eyes on the stairwell.

"She's right. Let's go." Officer Herring agreed as the others voiced their agreements and we wandered over to where Hayley, Julia, Min, and Officer Poralis were located. "We should get going before we have to deal with the ones upstairs finding us as well as the ones we're going to have to deal with outside."

"Oh." Julia was the first to respond, now realizing the high risk of danger that did not bode well for us. "Yeah, let's get out of here."

Both of the officers lead the way out of the library through the frames of the boarded up glass doors that once had been seen as a means of safety to them. I heard glass crumple beneath my shoes as the bright sunlit hindered my eyesight for the first few seconds of my departure into the outside world. Looking up into the sky the world almost looked normal, and if my eyes weren't deceiving me I think there was a plane among the clouds.

It wasn't until I looked down into the area that used to be known as the quad that I came back into reality. What was once a masterfully landscaped center of the university had now become a bloodstained warzone littered with what appeared to remains of human organs splattered on the walls and stoned pathways of what I used to call my second home.

"The area appears to be clear." Officer Harring's voice was getting weaker and raspier the more he talked. "But keep on your guard. These things are sneaky sons-of-a-bitches."

The others sounded their understanding as I tore my eyes away from the scene knowing very well that it was highly unlikely that, other than those that I had around me, I would never see any of my other friends again. I knew now was not the time to be thinking of such things, but I could not stop thinking about my friends and family. I could not help but wonder if Salem was thinking about our family as well.

"Shit!" Salem's voice tore my attention back to the matter's at hand and before I had time to react I saw two undead women running in our direction. Luckily it was only two and Salem and Officer Poralis easily took them down.

However, that's when it hit me; my younger brother was now firing a gun and taking down those who used to be our fellow classmates. Never in my life had I wished this life for either of us, or anyone for that matter. I could not believe that this was actually happening.

"Alright." Officer Poralis spoke as once again my distracted mind was interrupted. I knew that I had to keep sharp and focused and could not continue to let my mind wander, especially when we were out in the open like this. "Let's keep moving before more of them find out we are here."

That was all she had to say for the rest of us to begin our fast jog around the back of the library. Lined up against the side of the wall I took a quick glance upon all of the others faces only to see the same fear and uncertainty that I knew shown on mine. It was the same looks that had been showing on our faces ever since we had first seen the two men slamming on the doors outside of the student center when all of this chaos had begun.

"It's pretty messy by the vans, but they don't appear to be there." Officer Poralis spoke, but it wasn't her voice that I was paying attention to at the time. My mind was focused on her partner. "We're going to have to move quickly…" She continued speaking as my eyes were still glued to the male officer who was now sweating much more than before and looked to be in a lot of pain. I was beginning to become worried about his state of being.

As we all darted around the corner I began to notice that at this time and place I was simply going through the motions more than actually thinking about what I was doing. Fear had truly overtaken my body and the only thing that was keeping me moving was the adrenaline and will to keep going.

"Alexis…" I heard my name as I looked up at Riley with a blank stare. Behind his voice I could hear Officer Poralis in one of the vans with Salem and Jacob attempting to hotwire it considering the keys were probably strapped to the belt of an undead menace. "Baby…" His voice spoke out again, this time it was softer and was filled with worry. I stared into his concerned eyes but did not say a word. I felt his warm hand take hold of my own as he pulled me into his embrace. We stayed there for what seemed like an eternity as he spoke words of consolation softly in my ear.

"What's wrong with Officer Harring?" We slowly separated as Julia spoke. I looked over to Merrill who was now sitting on the tar covered parking lot. It appeared the wrap that Min had made for him was not keeping the bleeding from happening. His entire right side of his body was covered in his own blood that continued to drain down the side of his body.

"Merrill?" I hadn't even noticed that Officer Poralis had already gotten the van started and was now walking slowly toward her bleeding partner. "Answer me." Her voice demanded as all of our attention was now on her partner who sat motionless on the black top parking lot.

I felt myself take a step behind Riley as the male officer looked up and scanned across all of us as if it was the first time he was seeing us. His face looked pale and was covered in sweat, but that was not what part of his face that had my attention. His eyes; they were different.

OH NOOOOO! Meeeerrriiillll! D: Well, I hope you all liked it! :D I certainly enjoyed writing this chapter much more than most! Just meant a lot more knowing that some of you actually wanted more to come, and here it is! :D Anyway! Please R&R! Let me know what you all think! I always appreciate Constructive Criticism! It really helps! :D