Day Sixteen – Evening

"What do you mean you are dating Lewis? How, and when, did that happen?" Cassandra asked Louise, puzzled by this new development. It was obvious they got along pretty well and that something like this may have been brewing for the future but they had only known each other for two days.

"Well he kind of dropped it into the conversation I was having with Viktor. We were both kind of surprised, especially me." She admitted, her cheeks turning increasingly rosy with embarrassment. "I do like him and with everything that is going on it does seem kind of stupid to waste time when you like someone."

Understanding what her sister meant made it easier but it had still come as a shock to her. One minute she had been sitting on the bed in the guest house they now occupied, writing on her diary, and the next Louise shows up acting like a high school cheerleader excitedly telling her how she's officially dating Lewis.

"You barely know the guy, you do realise that right? And he is a mercenary, a nice one I give you that but a mercenary all the same. And the way he dresses looks like he is into some kinky stuff Louise. What if he wants to spank you or something?" Crossing her legs Cassandra turns to face her sister, her expression a mixture of concern and teasing.

"Hey I might like a little spanking," Louise teased her sister right back. "He doesn't look like the kind to hurt a woman and if it turns weird at any point I will stop it, but I do like him a lot. Just give him a chance ok?"

"Yeah OK." And reclining back into the soft pillows Cassandra continued with the task at hand, updating her Diary with the things she had observed on their outing that day.

Survival Guide – Cassandra's Notes

Physical Characteristics – Add on*

Today we came across a large number of bitters. With the use of a grenade we disabled large numbers of them. The premise that blowing them up, or at the very least disabling their use of limbs, worked as I predicted. Without destroying the brain the zombies continued to try to move towards us but all in all it made it much harder for them.

Several zombies were decapitated with the explosion and their eyes continue to blink along with the mouth moving. It shows that the head remains alive after decapitation but since we left rather quickly I don't know if this is temporary or permanent.

It would also indicate that if they have any operating internal organs then they do not rely on them for survival. It merits further investigation.

Interaction with Zombies – We already know that the smells and noises of the living draw them towards you; today we can add to the list noises of any kind. After Paul used a rotary cutter to gain entry into a store the zombies starting moving towards us, drawn by the grinding metal noises.

It would seem that noise of any kind attracts them. This could raise problems since we use projectile weaponry to kill them. We are essentially attracting more dead every time we kill one with a gun. I will have to discuss this with Lars to see what our options are for other available weapons that are silent.

Contagion – What the hell allows for death to occur and resurrection to happen?

What's more how do these zombies continue decaying yet their sight and hearing remains?

Will they last forever or will they eventually rot beyond the point where they are no longer a threat?

Closing her diary Cassandra placed it on the bedside table and turning the light off she lay down. The day had been tiresome and stressful, it had been far too close for them surrounded by large number of zombies but life may well be like that forever so they would have to get used to it and learn to deal with it. It was hard to have to kill someone who until two weeks ago had been a living breathing person, someone with friends and family, loved and cherished by others. They may have been a postman or road sweeper, or they could have been doctors and nurses saving the lives of others and making the world a better place. Now they were dead rotting things, which preyed on the living and nothing seemed to remain that tied them to this world in a significant way. You had no choice but to kill them, to bash their brains in or put a bullet to their heads, if you wanted to survive. It did not make for a good life or for warm and fuzzy feelings about the future of mankind.

As Cassandra closed her eyes and went to sleep the last thought that came to her mind was hard to deal with it.

How long can we continue before we become no better than the monster we are trying to outrun? How long before we are so desensitised to death and blood and gore that inflicting those injuries on the living becomes just as easy as inflicting them on the dead.

Morning arrived much too soon and both sisters got up early, having offered to make breakfast for the others. They had showered quickly in their corner of the bunker and got dressed in the new clothing they had gotten the previous day.

Walking into the kitchen the sisters gathered the supplies they needed for their meal as the men made their way to the showers, in various states of undress. Lewis walked out of his bedroom wearing only tight black boxers, a towel hanging from his arm. The other men had draped towels around themselves to protect their dignity but not Lewis, who enjoyed the attention this was likely to attract.

Hearing the steps Louise raised her eyes towards them, just as Lewis stopped and faced her, posing with his legs slightly ajar before turning over and shaking his rear at her.

"Good..." Louise started saying before seeing Lewis and his antics, chocking on the glass of orange energy drink she had just taken a sip of, "Morning?"

"Lewis I don't need to see your backside, get moving." Cassandra yelled across the bunker, covering her eyes with her hand.

"No but she does." He replied, nudging his chin at Louise, "Got to keep her interested. Go on tell me I don't have a nice bum!" giving it another wiggle as he said it and finally walking off towards the showers.

Removing Cassandra's hand from her eyes Louise bit on her lip. "You have to admit he does have a nice butt."

"Oh honey, that was obvious considering those leather trousers of his fit like a second skin. I prefer to not ogle at your man though."

"You can always ogle at Lars." She replied, teasing her sister somewhat.

"What? Are you crazy? The man is a Neanderthal. He really is a close to a Viking as you ever going to get."

"Yeah you tell yourself that but I've seen the chemistry. I'm not saying anything is going to happen now but in the future? Imagine that long hair of his brushing against your..."

"Louise! Have some respect." Cassandra replied, interrupting her sister's long speech before leaving the kitchen and going into the store room to fetch the coffee tin from the shelf it was stored in. She distracted herself admiring the full larder they had and how they were making some pretty decent food out of the dry and long life good the bunker had supplied.

The men had been impressed, they had been served with Breakfast Burritos; the tortillas handmade and stuffed with scrambled eggs, bacon chunks and fried potato followed by fresh waffles covered with tinned raspberries and syrup. Not a word had been uttered until every single lump of food had been devoured, even Rina had been silent but obviously unhappy with the positive attention the sisters were getting. Her own culinary skills were lacking which was why she had been relegated to housework and did not do the cooking anymore.

Once the meal had been cleared Lewis pulled Louise away into a corner of the bunker, telling Rina to get on with the dishes on her own. On her part Cassandra took Paul's share of the breakfast she had put aside, which he always ate at his post, into the office where he was finishing his watch.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked him when he started eating.

"Of course."

"How safe is my sister with Lewis? He seems like a nice guy and all but you know him better. Is he likely to hurt her?" she asked carefully, not wanting it to sound like she disliked him which she didn't.

Turning his chair over so he faced her Paul smiled gently. "You have nothing to worry about. She will always be safe with him. He is deadly with others who pose a risk but he would never harm anyone he cared about or anyone in this group unless they posed a risk to the rest of us. You are both part of this group and even if things don't work out he would not hurt her. He is..." he thought for a moment before continuing, "special. He's a favourite with the ladies but he rarely ever takes it to the next step. The fact he has so obviously made his intentions known means he sees her as a long-term partner he wants to share his life with, however long he may have."

"So that thing with Rina wasn't physical?" Cassandra was perplexed at that; he didn't seem the type to not sleep around.

Paul laughed at her question, but understood the assumption. "No and not because of Eli either. He just doesn't do the casual relationship thing. Rina is hard work, she is needy and jealous and difficult to live with. She will cause trouble for them if she can but he never saw her as anything other than somebody to tease. That doesn't make him a bad person, just someone who was using Rina's own actions and throwing them right back at her."

"I see. Thank you for telling me that. Louise is the only person I have left. Our parents are probably dead so it's my job to look out for her. Mind if I sit with you for a while until you are finished your shift?"

"Not at all, I like the company." He told her kindly.

Taking a seat in the bed on the floor in the corner of the room Louise opened her Diary to re-read what she had written, trying to think of anything else she wished to add at this time.

"You know we have cameras all over the bunker?" Paul asked, his back turned away from her as he studied the screen in front of him.

"Yeah." Wondering where he was going with this conversation.

"They include sound." He added.

"Alright." She said again, still not understanding where he was going.

"So both Lars and I heard your little exchange in the kitchen and the mention of chemistry." He told her, finally reaching the point of the whole questionnaire.

"Oh God. Shoot me now!" Cassandra whined, hiding her face in her hands.

"Not yet, maybe later if you start trying to eat someone." He replied in an amused tone of voice.

"I didn't say it, she did."

Turning his chair around again until he could look at her he waited for her to raise her eyes to his. "You know the type of person I said Lewis was? Well that's not Lars. That will never be Lars, certainly not now. I love him like a brother but I don't want you to think he is something that he isn't. "

"Thanks Paul, I have no illusions where he is related and I have no plans for any type relationship between us other than strictly survival related."

Paul faced forward again, looking away from her. He thought for a short time, worry lines etched in his face as he remembered his own life and the way Lars had helped him overcome his own tragedies. He did truly look to Lars like family but if his daughter had survived into adulthood he would never have been the type of man he would allow anyway near her. He was too damaged, to unstable. More animal than man, but highly intelligent, and he wasn't sure that the woman that could make him human would ever be found. His twin had tried for years, actually making vast improvements on Lars but after his death he had immediately reverted back to the half crazed man he had first met.

Eli had started his shift earlier than usual, so that Paul could join the others around the dining table when they started discussing their trip to the animal clinic Louise had spoken about. After speaking to Lars, Eli had offered to take Paul's place in the raid to allow the man more resting time before going out but the Viking had turned him down. Not one to argue, Eli had accepted the decision and made his way to the office to start his surveillance shift.

After much discussion they had decided that they would head for the clinic closer to the hospital. The coroner's building was a few blocks down from the hospital so they could scout their access and any dangers they would face while they were there. Giving his opinion Max had pointed out that despite the dangers the hospital posed the shopping centre may have been worse. Inside they had multiple stores which included pharmacies, clothing, food stores and more. If there was anywhere that would have been heavily raided and, as such, drawn large numbers of bitters then the shopping centre would have been one of such places.

They took some time to ask questions and clear doubts about what their strategy would be. Looking at Cassandra for what seemed a lot longer than necessary Lars had decided she would stay with Paul, where he went then she went too, surprising everyone who had assumed he would expect her to stay with him for this raid. Finally they went to get their gear ready.

Each person took a bottle of water and a MRE in their individual bags (in case they were trapped overnight outside the bunker), several clips of ammo and grenades, a tactical knife and their own side guns and assault rifles. They were kitted out for war and that wasn't very reassuring to Cassandra, feeling like they knew they would have problems. She had to wonder if this trip was truly necessary or if they had another way to get the supplies they needed without going into the eye of the storm to get them.

Petrified Cassandra had prepared herself as well as she could. She had been shaking by the time she took her seat in the armoured land rover with Paul and Viktor, Lewis and Max sitting in the other car with Lars. On his part Lewis had been upset about the changes, having promised to Louise he would keep an eye on her sister. He had a quiet but aggressive exchange with Lars about the whole thing but in the end the decision went unchanged.

Both went were furious, both looked like they need to punch the living daylights out of the other one and it had taken both Paul and Viktor to make sure that nothing happened.

Starting the engines they made their way out of the garage and into the streets outside, weaving their way through the debris of abandoned cars, dead bodies and the grasping crowds that were beginning to follow them.