Chapter Ten: Cold Paralysis

Connor sat uneasily in the recliner, shadowed by a mistrustful-looking Serbian pointing a gun between his eyes and a confused American standing at his side. "Look, I get that you don't trust me after what hap-"

"I don't think you do get it or you wouldn't be here," Niko cut him off. "You are either stupid or you have a death wish."

"Or he's telling the truth about not having anywhere else to go," Gen said. "Let's hear what he has to say before you shoot him."

Connor got a worried look. "He's not really going to shoot me...is he?"

"I'm pointing a gun at your head, idiot," Niko said. "The thought obviously crossed my mind, and it's looking better by the second. So, I would suggest you start explaining yourself."

"Okay, okay." Connor sighed. "After what Cole made me do, I realized you were right." He looked at Gen, severity in his face. "He's not the guy I thought he was."

"What did he make you do?" Gen asked, though she already had a good idea what it was.

"I'll tell you, but...could you ask him to stop pointing that thing at me?"

"I don't fucking think so," said Niko.

"Come on, Niko," Gen said. "You're making him nervous."

"Good. He should be nervous."

"He's one unarmed man. Even if he wanted to do something, he can't. At least stop pointing it at his head."

Niko knew she had a point, but his hesitation was still there. He didn't like that this man was here, nor the fact that he had known where they were. The whole thing smelled funny, and he was sick of things smelling funny.

"Okay..." Niko said with a menacing look. He lowered the gun from Connor's head, and aimed it at his knee instead. "Talk. Quickly. I have an itchy trigger finger."

"Oh, Jesus, Mary and Joseph," Connor moaned, squirming in the chair. "Is he insane?"

"Possibly," Gen answered. "So, you might want to do what the man says."

"Cole made me send those men after you." Connor felt a gun muzzle press hard against his knee. Niko looked very unhappy with him. "Ah! J-Just calm down, okay? In my own defense, I didn't know they were going to try to kill you! I swear to God! I just thought he'd changed his mind and wanted them to lend a hand with the supply run he sent you on! I only learned afterward that Cole actually wanted you both taken out! I swear! Please don't shoot me."

Niko remained uncertain and suspicious. "How did you find us?"

"I saw the bodies on the street," Connor answered without hesitation. "One was shot in the head and the other looked like he'd been stabbed a hundred times. They were both eaten up at the throat, too, but the Reds don't stab or shoot, so I figured you guys must've killed them before the Reds got to them. Considering it was storming and I saw that you left all your supplies back at the club, I figured you wouldn't have gone far. What better place to wait out the storm and restock your supplies than at an apartment building? It's the only one on this street. And lucky for me you guys chose the first apartment on the bottom floor."

"Why are you here?"

"Because, like I said, I have no where else to go. I couldn't stay with Cole's group anymore, not after what he made me do. Killing Reds is one thing, but I want no hand in killing what few normal people that're left in the world, intentionally or not. It's unspeakable. Besides, you guys seem like good people. Well, she does and he does." He gestured at Gen then Bernie, then he looked up at Niko, frowning a little. "You're just...well, no offense, but you seem kinda...unstable."

Connor flinched prematurely, expecting to have his knee blown off, but Gen said in a considering manner, "We could always use another person good with a gun."

Niko gave her a hard, angry look, then he latched onto her arm with a vise-like grip. "Can I speak to you for a moment? Alone?" It wasn't a request, as he was already dragging her off into the kitchen.

"Have you lost your goddam mind? He is not teaming up with us."

"He doesn't have anywhere to go. We can't just leave him on his own."

"I can. He's one of them; he sent those men to kill us!"

"Um..." said Connor. "I can actually still hear you. Kind of defeats the purpose of standing way over there."

He was ignored.

"He sent those men to kill us under orders that weren't exactly clear to him," Gen argued.

"Then he shouldn't have followed them if he didn't know what the fuck he was doing."

"He trusted Cole because Cole knows how to lie and make people believe what he wants," she said. "It was a mistake a lot of people have made, but he isn't to blame for that."

"I don't trust him."

Gen rolled her eyes. "What else is new? You don't trust anyone. I'm surprised you even have any friends."

"Don't make this about me! Trust is earned, Gen, not given freely."

"Hey," Connor spoke up again. "I figured it would come to this, so I brought you guys something that might earn your trust." He reached for his backpack sitting by the recliner, then thought better of it when Niko advanced on him, pointing the Glock between his eyes again.

"Don't you fucking move!"

Connor put his hands in the air, eyes wide. "Okay! Goddam, you're wound up tight! Just look in the backpack, all right? There's proof in there that you can trust me."

Niko didn't move. "Gen, do it."

Gen did it without protest, kneeling before the pack and opening it up. She was rather surprised by what she found inside. "Niko..." She looked up at him, pulling out a small ammunition box and opening it, revealing the bullets inside. "It's all of our ammo."

"See?" Connor said. "If I was your enemy, if I meant you harm, would I have brought this? Would I have even come unarmed? An enemy isn't going to supply you with what you need to kill them."

"Maybe, maybe not." Niko narrowed his eyes. "How did you know to bring the ammo in the first place? How did you even know we would be alive?"

"I took a chance on you. You guys were able to survive a few days on the streets prior to your arrival at the club. I figured you'd be able to handle two of Cole's men."

Niko considered this, but his eyes stayed narrowed in suspicion. "I still don't trust you."

Connor smiled, nervously. "Hey, as long as you don't have any inclination to splatter my brains around or blow off my knee anymore, that's fine. I'll earn trust. No problem. So...can I stay with you guys?" His smile turned hopeful.

"Get the hell out," Niko commanded. "We need to discuss this in private."

Connor nodded and stood from the chair, backing away, as he had no intention of turning his back on a potentially unsound man armed with a gun.

When the apartment door closed behind him, the little group converged at the kitchen island.

"Shall we do this the old fashion, democratic way? Put it to a vote?" Gen asked.

"I think we should weigh the pros and cons," Bernie suggested. "If there are more pros, we let him come with us. If there are more cons, we send him on his way. That is a more fair approach. I have a feeling we would only cast our vote for one reason, and we should have many reasons for him staying or going. We may be deciding whether he lives or dies."

Gen assented with a nod of her head. "Good point. So, let's start with the cons."

Niko went first, to no one's surprise. "He's one of them; he can't be trusted."

"That's not a fair reason," Gen disputed. "There were children and old people at that club. Does that make them treacherous bastards just because they're a part of Cole's group? You can't lump them together with him; it's a biased judgment."

"He sent those men to kill us."

"We've already been through this," Gen said with a bored tone. "He didn't know what he was doing."

"Then there is your con. He can't think for himself."

"That's not-"

"That is a fair assumption, hon," Bernie said.

"No, it's not. He left safety because of what he was made to do, for moralistic reasons. That's thinking for himself."

Bernie chewed his lip. "Okay, good point."

"He could be lying about not knowing what Cole made him do," Niko suggested.

"Or he could be telling the truth."

"We are not going to get anywhere on this topic," Bernie said. "We need solid reasons, not could bes or maybes. So, let's just forget the whole thing with Cole for now."

"The thing with Cole is the reason why we're doing this in the first place," Niko reminded him.

"Just for now, Niko. We will come back to it later."

"Fine. Having someone else with us is going to slow us down more."

"I agree with that," Gen said, nodding. "Also, having a bigger group will attract more lunatic attention, or anyone else who might want to do us harm."

"Now we are getting somewhere," Bernie said. "Anything else?"

"An extra mouth to feed means our supplies will dwindle faster."

"He's not armed, either," Gen said. "And I have a feeling a certain someone among us will want him to stay that way."

"You're right," Niko replied in a heartbeat. "And that ain't going to be up for debate, either."

"So, he's not going to be useful in a fight."

"We will count not being armed and not being useful in a fight as one con; they are basically the same thing," Bernie said. "So, we have four cons."

"I can't think of anything else," said Gen.

"Niko?" Bernie prompted.

He considered for a moment, then reluctantly admitted, "Nothing else comes to mind at the moment."

"Okay, so what are the pros?"

"Since he won't be useful in a fight, he can be made useful as a pack mule. He can carry the brunt of our supplies, taking the weight off of us," the woman said.

"I have no problem carrying my supplies," Niko said. "It hasn't weighed me down."

"If that's the case, then he has room to carry his own supplies, plus extra stuff. That crosses out the dwindling supplies con."

"Okay, so now we are down to three cons and one pro."

"It doesn't count as a pro if it negates a con," Niko argued.

Bernie sighed. "Three cons and no pro."

"He's an extra pair of eyes," Gen said. "That'll mean we have four people watching out for lunatics, five if you count Eve. So, we'll have all our main directions covered."

"If we run into lunatics, we can use him as bait or a distraction," Niko said with a fiendish half-smile.

Gen gave him a look. "I can't believe you would even suggest...no, scratch that. I can believe you would suggest that."

"I hate to admit it," said Bernie. "But that does work as a pro, but I'm certain we will all make sure Connor doesn't get killed if it should come to that...right, Niko?"

The man merely shrugged, that one corner of his mouth still sinfully curved.

"He can be useful as a reloader," Gen put forth.

A perplexed look inhabited the man's face. "A what?"

"Reloader. In the midst of a fight, he can reload our empty mags with fresh bullets, providing us with a steady flow of ammo. That'll give us time to take down more lunatics if we happen to find ourselves in a situation where we can actually do damage and not get mobbed to death."

Niko nodded. "That is possible, I guess."

"Cons and pros are now tied...unless you can think of anything else for either side," Bernie said.

There was a knock on the door, and then Connor's voice, "Hey, you guys done yet? It's uh...kinda lonely out here. And spooky."

"He's annoying," Niko promptly added to the con list. "And we don't need another annoying person. Gen does the job well enough on her own."

Gen pursed her lips. "I will reach across this table and slap you, sir."

"No, you won't. I will see it coming...madam."

"I didn't say when I'd do it," she replied with a toothy grin.

"Anyway," Bernie disrupted. "Being annoying doesn't count; it's an opinion not a fact."

"It's a fact to me."

"Maybe, but not one we can all agree on. So, let's go back to the thing with Cole."

"We're not going to find a tie breaker there," Gen insisted. "It's all doubt and speculation. Connor may be here to deceive us, or he may be here because he has no where to go. He may be a liar or he may be telling the truth. It seems more likely that he may be telling the truth. I mean, only an idiot would come unarmed and supply us with ammo if he meant to do us harm."

"So, he's an idiot," Niko suggested. "Another con."

"Or we're the only safety he has now. The right thing to do is to let him come with us. That's a fact, and it's a pro."

"No, it ain't. It's no pro if he betrays us."

"It's a pro," Gen insisted. "For our conscience's sake."

Niko snorted. "Not mine. You think I give a fuck what happens to him? I don't."

"So you're a liar? You haven't really changed? Should I just go back to believing you're nothing more than a heartless, murdering bastard?"

"Believe what you want. All I will say is if that was true, we wouldn't be standing here weighing the pros and cons. I would have killed him already."

"You don't need a gun to kill someone, Niko. Words can be just as deadly. In this case, all it will take is a 'no' and Connor will be left to the streets alone, and he will die on them, alone. Maybe you'll be able to live with yourself, but I won't."

"Will you be able to live with yourself if he betrays us and gets one of us killed?"

"That depends entirely on which one of us he gets killed," she shot back, coldly.

Niko folded his arms, a stiff look on his face. "Oh, really?"

Frowning, Gen dropped her gaze to the table. "No." She heaved a long sigh and leaned her elbows on the table, chin in her hands. "I don't know what to do. I can't just leave Connor to fend for himself, but I know we can't exactly trust him, either."

"I got an idea," Bernie said, leaning over the table and lowering his voice to a whisper. "We let him stay with us for a while, but we pretend to trust him. If he thinks we trust him and if he actually means us harm, he will act sooner. And we will, of course, be prepared for that."

Gen looked at him in surprise. Then she glanced at Niko. "Has he always been this conniving?"

"I'm as surprised as you are."

Bernie frowned. "Conniving?"

She gave him a reassuring pat him on the cheek. "I meant that in the best way possible. You're definitely onto something. Essentially, we want to force him to act, and by forcing him to act, we can draw him into a trap. To do that, we're going to have to arm him."

"No," Niko persisted. "We are not giving him a weapon. That is the stupidest-"

"I'm not saying we give him one now," Gen cut him off, keeping her voice lowered. "In time. The more gradual we give him fake trust, the more the trust will appear genuine to him; he knows we don't trust him now, so it'll look suspicious if we show him trust too soon. He's probably going to try to earn it with some selfless deed or something. That's when we say 'oh, you're not such a bad guy', then we give him a gun-"

"And then he shoots one of us with it," he cut in.

Gen made a face. "Would you let me finish? He needs a gun if he's planning anything, otherwise it's pointless. And he's probably expecting us to give him one when he thinks he has our trust. So, we give him one with the firing pin removed; he won't know it's been removed until he tries to use the gun. And giving him one will build his confidence. If he's got something bad planned for us, that confidence will make him act sooner, and that's when the trap closes. He can't do shit with a gun that can't fire, and we're free to fill him with lead."

Niko considered this, then admitted, "You know, that might actually work."

"Then we're agreed this is what we're going to do?"

"I guess so."

"I'm on board," Bernie said. "It was my idea, after all. Well, sort of."

"I'll go let him back in," Gen said, and made for the door.

When she opened it, she found Connor a ways down the corridor, leaning against the wall with his arms folded at his chest and looking quite bored.

"You can come in now."

As soon as she closed the door behind him, the three of them crowded the man there. Connor looked between them all, nervous.

"You guys aren't going to...jump me, are you?"

"Always a possibility," said Niko.

Gen elbowed him, then said to Connor, "We've come to an agreement."

"We have decided to let you come with us," Bernie said.

"On several conditions," Niko added.

Connor nodded, looking relieved. "What are the conditions?"

"You will not be armed."

Connor's face fell. "Guys, I get that you don't want me to have a weapon, but how am I supposed to defend myself or help out if we come across any Reds?"

"We'll defend you," Gen said, "And the only thing you'll be doing in a fight is loading our mags when they run empty, keeping the ammo flowing."

"You will also be carrying some of our supplies, as well as your own. It will be your responsibility to keep yourself stocked up on what you need. It ain't going to be our concern," Niko said.

Connor nodded. "That all sounds fair enough. Look, guys, I just want to say-"

"And you will not speak unless you are spoken to," Niko cut in.

"Too much, Niko," Gen said. "I think we can let him talk."

"Can we? Fine, but I won't be held responsible for what I do to him if he annoys me."

"I'm trying not to annoy you," Connor said. "You're the one person I don't want to annoy."

"You ain't trying hard enough."

"That's it for the conditions," Gen said. "So...welcome aboard, I guess."

"Thanks. I really appreciate you guys doing this."

"It's the right thing to do," Bernie said. "As Gen has said in the past, we're all in this together. So, we need to help each other out."

"I'm glad there's people out there who still know what the right thing to do is," he said.

Bernie nodded, then grinned. "So, Connor, would you like some soup?"

"Man, that really hit the spot," Connor commented, slurping his last spoonful of broth. "It seems like forever since I've had something hot to eat."

"With as many supply runs your former group must've been on, I would've assumed you'd come across a propane stove or something, like we did," Gen said from beside him.

"No, Cole usually had a list of things he sent with the supply runners," Connor explained. "Necessary stuff. A propane stove is more of a luxury. We mostly ate emergency rations or heated a can of whatever over a candle flame. Never really worked well, though."

"Would you care for another bowl?" Bernie asked.

Connor shook his head. "That's okay. Thanks, though."

"This is probably a pointless question to ask you," Niko spoke up. "But do you know of a way to get into Broker?"

"No, sorry. I'm sure you know all the bridges were blown up, and not just the regular vehicular bridges, but the ones the subway runs on, too. The Booth Tunnel was even sealed off, with wreckage."

"Did any of your supply runners happen to come across a police station with a helicopter?" Gen asked. "Or maybe a hospital with one?"

"It's funny you should mention that," Connor said. "The day after the lunatic's first gathering, we saw a police chopper take off from that station in Suffolk. Flew right out over the islands, heading towards the mainland. That's the only police station we've seen with one, though. The one in Lancaster might have had a chopper, but the whole building was destroyed. And we haven't seen a hospital with one, either."

Niko's frustration showed plainly on his face, and in his voice, "It's hopeless. I'm never going to find a way there."

"Stop it," Gen told him. "You will."

"You don't know that."

"I'm telling you we will find a way," she asserted. "You have my word that we will. And I never-"

"Break your word," he finished for her, shaking his head. "You may end up breaking it anyway. At this point, it's looking inevitable."

"Have you considered finding a way over the wall?" Connor suggested.

"With what?" Niko replied. "We have nothing that will get us over a seventeen foot wall, and we've found nothing remotely useful for the task."

"Plus, we don't have a way across the river," Gen added.

"You could swim," Connor said.

"And die of pnumonia," she said. "It's too cold. If we adults don't get sick, Eve definitely will. It's hard enough to find food, and considering ninety percent of the population was hopped up on some kind of medication before all this happened, it would be safe to assume that the pharmacies have been picked clean."

"We could always try that place where you can take aerial tours of the city," Connor mentioned.

"Those choppers are usually just sitting out there on the dock," Niko pointed out. "Someone would have found them by now."

"I doubt it. There aren't many of us normal people out there," Connor said. "And how many of them do you think can pilot a chopper?"

"I don't think the know how will matter," Niko argued. "The situation is hopeless enough that people will take the risk to escape this shit. And if you're going to die, better to die trying to leave than getting ripped apart and eaten."

"It may be a long shot," Gen said. "But maybe it's worth a try. I mean, we don't exactly have any other ideas. And there's always the chance we'll come across a hardware shop or an outdoor retailer that hasn't been looted or destroyed. Maybe we'll find a twenty foot ladder or something. We'll just have to swim the river and find a way to tow the ladder with us, and hope none of us gets sick or drowns."

"Inflatable rafts," Connor suggested. "An outdoor retailer would carry them, and the Coast Guard will have them."

"You're forgetting," Gen said. "The Coast Guard headquarters is in Alderney."

"Oh. That's right. Damn."

She smiled. "At least you're trying. That's more than I'd expect from one of Cole's men."

Connor frowned. "Come on, cut me some slack. I'm a good guy."

"You're an idiot," Niko corrected, ever the blunt one.

"Look, I made a mistake trusting Cole," Connor said, his temper flaring. "I'm sure you've made plenty of mistakes yourself, so don't stand there and act like your shit don't stink."

"Excuse me?"

"Let's play nice, boys," Bernie insisted.

"Yeah, stop instigating, Niko," Gen added.

"I wasn't instigating. I was stating a fact."

"You need to get your facts staight, then," Connor said.

"You have already proven this one accurate," Niko shot back.

Bernie sighed noisily. "This is so typical. By some miracle, you and Gen finally stop fighting like two wet cats in a bag...only for you to find someone else to argue with. Will we ever know a moment of peace?"

Gen pouted. "I'm heartbroken. I thought he was saving those fights just for me."

"I'll give you a fight, if you like."

She laughed. "Tempting, but I'm going to pass now that I know you're an argument whore. I thought our petty fights meant something to you. I'm going to be crying into my pillow tonight."

Niko pulled a face. "Shut up."

"So, um...what's the plan?" Connor asked. "Are we staying here for the night or moving on?"

Gen glanced at the kitchen wall clock. "It's only 2 PM. Plenty of daylight left."

Niko nodded. "We should make use of it while we can. It may storm again."

"Off to find a chopper, are we?"

He shrugged. "As you said, it may be a long shot, but we are strapped for ideas. Let's do this."

"You sure you're good to go with that head?"

"It hurts, but not like it did. Those pills helped."

Gen smiled. "See? Trusting people doesn't always come back to bite you in the ass."

"I suppose it all depends on who you trust. Thanks for not doping me up again," he replied with a dry tone.

"What are friends for?"

"Oh, we are friends now? I wasn't aware."

Gen shrugged as she slipped off her stool. "Well, it might be worth trying to be, for Eve and Bernie's sanity if not our own."

"Maybe. Stranger things have happened."

"Well, potential friend, we've got some preparing to do before we head out. Guess we better get at it."

The temperature had dropped several degrees from earlier. Even without the gust of storm winds, the air was still frigid, biting at exposed skin and making breath fog.

Eve complained about it the moment they all stepped outside, and Niko was kind enough to wrap her up in his jacket; it was big enough on her to provide warmth to every inch of her skin but her face, though she pushed the collar up over her head as a makeshift hood, so at least she could keep her ears warm.

She looked up at him with a big smile. "Thanks!"

"Anytime, little one."

Niko headed off down Galveston Avenue, taking the point position as was usual, and keeping to the sidewalk. Eve hurried along after him, trying to keep up with his longer strides. Connor followed with bulging backpack, and Gen and Bernie took up the rear, walking side by side.

"Is that crap too heavy for you?" Gen asked the newcomer. She'd noticed he'd had some trouble with the weight before they'd left the apartment, and he was walking a little wobbly now.

"Uh...no, not really. I'm just used to traveling with only a rifle, so this'll take time adjusting to. Something keeps poking me in the ass, though."

"If it gets to be too much for you, let us know," she said. "We can't afford to have you slowing us down."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for the concern," was Connor's caustic reply.

"Cheer up," Gen said. "We'll only be out on the streets for about four hours. You should adjust to the weight by then."

"It's kind of hard to be cheerful when everyone hates you."

"It's not hate, it's just a lack of trust."

"Well, Scary up there hates me, I know that for sure. And to be honest, he's the one I'm concerned about. I really don't want to be shot in my sleep or when my back is turned."

"Don't worry, Connor," Gen said, grinning. "He's the kind of guy who'll shoot you in the face, not in the back."

"Oh, great. That's real reassuring."

Up ahead, Niko passed a street corner, froze mid-step as his head turned to his left, then he backtracked with all haste to take cover behind a tall fence at the corner. Eve was beside him, trying to look around him to see what he'd seen, but Niko eased her back. He didn't want her to see it, as she was like to scream and alert the threat. He waved the others over.

"What's up?" Bernie asked with a low voice when they were gathered together.

"Two," Niko said. "On that street. Feeding." They were the same ones he'd seen earlier, feasting on the corpses of Cole's men, but he felt there was no point mentioning that. Lunatics were lunatics.

Eve whimpered and pressed against his hip. Niko put a comforting hand on the back of her head, and went on, "They are turned away from us. We can make it across the street, but we will have to do it one at a time. As a group, we might attract their attention."

"If there's only two, why don't we just kill the bastards?" Connor suggested.

"Killing them is a last resort, when there's no other choice. If there are more nearby, they will be drawn to the sound of gunshots," Niko said. "How did you survive on those supply runs?"

Connor looked abashed. "Well, uh, I didn't actually go on a lot of them."

"It shows," Niko remarked. "Gen, you will go first. I will send the kid over to you next."

The woman nodded, checked around the side of the fence to make sure the loonies were still busy, then made her way across the street, her step casual and silent. Once she made it to the other side, Gen hid behind the wall of the corner building and checked the lunatics again, then she nodded to Niko.

The man looked down at the girl. "Go to Gen. Walk, don't run; running will make noise. Keep your eyes on her. Don't look at them."

"I'm scared," Eve said, clutching the jacket to her as if it might keep her safe.

"It's okay. We are not going to let anything happen to you."

"Promise?"

"That is a promise."

Eve took a breath and turned in Gen's direction. The woman made a gesture that it was safe to cross, and Eve stepped out into the street. She kept her eyes on Gen, but the disgusting sounds the lunatics were making eventually got to her, and she looked at them. And she froze.

No, Niko thought in dismay. Keep walking. He thought the words at her, over and over, as if he might will them into her. It was all he could do. She was caught midway between him and Gen; they couldn't exactly call to her and she was too far away to hear a whisper.

But Eve couldn't move. Her eyes were enormous as they filled with the horrible sight of feeding lunatics; the hideous amount of blood and the obscene moist, slurping sounds - things that should only appear in nightmares or horror movies, but were all too real. Eve trembled and was not aware when her bladder let go.

Whether it was the smell of urine or the smell of fear, the lunatics' attention was drawn. The man and woman turned toward the girl, dropping their limp, drained victim, their faces smeared with a crimson as bright as their eyes.

Eve screeched like a siren, and turned to run away. She tripped over the hem of the jacket and fell on her hands and knees as the lunatics sounded off in rage and barreled on her.

The others seemed to have the same thought at the same time, for they all broke cover at the same moment and bolted to the girl's rescue. Bernie rushed to her side as Connor went the opposite direction, heading right for the on-coming lunatics, and effectively getting in Niko and Gen's way before they could fire off any shots. Connor threw himself into the lunatic woman's path, and she fell over him. Gen promptly put a bullet in her head and Niko ended the lunatic man's life in the same manner.

Connor pulled himself up and turned around only to meet two disapproving looks.

"Are you nuts!?" Gen scolded.

"I told you he was an idiot," said Niko with contempt.

Connor shrugged the insults off. "It worked, didn't it?"

"This time," Niko said. "We might not be so lucky the next."

"Well, excuse the hell out of me for trying to help!"

"We had it handled. When we want your help, we'll fucking ask for it. Until then, stay the fuck out of our way and stick to the task we gave you!"

Connor threw up his hands in a gesture of anger. "Fine! Fucking asshole."

In one fluid step, Niko was standing almost nose to nose with the guy. "I don't think I heard you right. You want to say that again?"

Gen pushed the men apart before things could get worse. "Easy, guys. Deep breaths. Count to ten."

Connor backed away, but not before saying, "You got fucking problems, man."

"Yes," Niko snapped at him. "You are one of them."

Connor waved a dismissive hand at him and went to go stand near Bernie, who was kneeling on the ground beside Eve, trying to calm her. The girl was wailing.

When she saw Gen and Niko approach, Eve scrambled to her feet and flew at the man, attaching herself to his waist with a strength that made him fall back a few steps.

"I'm sorry! I messed up!" she wailed at him. "I tried not to look, honest! I couldn't help it! I'm sorry!"

Niko held her back by the shoulders and knelt in front of her. The girl stared at her feet, ashamed and sobbing. "Look at me."

Eve shook her head, wildly. "Just yell at me and get it over with!"

He tilted her chin up and found it difficult to look in those sad, terrible blue eyes of hers. He made himself. "I'm not going to yell at you. This is not your fault, okay?"

Eve sniffled. "But I looked."

"You couldn't help it," he said, brushing a tear off her cheek. "This is my fault. I should not have sent you across on your own."

The girl's face scrunched up, sadness mixed with anger. "You're lying again."

"I'm not-"

"Guys," Bernie cut him off, pointing. "We got company. A lot of unwanted company."

Everyone looked in the direction Bernie's finger aimed at. There was a mob of lunatics up the street where the other two had been feeding on their victim. There had to be thirty. The foremost broke in a rush for the non-lunatics, and the rest followed.

This was not a fight they could win.

"Oh, holy shit, run!" Connor cried, and shot off down Galveston, Bernie taking the cue to follow.

Gen stayed behind, shooting off a few rounds at the closest loonies. Three fell dead.

Niko picked the girl up. She was going to slow him, but she wouldn't be able to keep pace with the rest of them, either. A sacrifice had to be made. He gave Gen a look. "Stop fooling around with them and run."

"I got your back," she said. "Go."

"Stay close," he insisted, and took off after Connor and Bernie, the girl's arms squeezing his neck for fear of falling.

Midway down the street, Gen turned and backpedaled, seeing how far away the lunatics were. They were close and gaining a lot of ground on them. She leveled her M-16, switched it to three-round burst mode, and fired, aiming at legs. Headshots would be near impossible on the move. All she could do was slow some of them down.

Her three-round burst took down two lunatics in the front, and that had a domino effect on the ones coming in behind them. Running too fast to stop in time, lunatic fell over prone lunatic. That one shot alone had slowed down eight, but there were still others in front and getting closer.

Gen fired off another three-round burst, then whirled on her heels and rushed onward.

Up ahead, there was a lone man on the street near a Globe Oil gas station still standing, pushing a shopping cart full of propane tanks.

"Get off the street!" Connor called to him.

The stranger turned, and his eyes grew big at what he saw coming his way. "Sweet Mother Mary! Hey, follow me!" He pointed to the gas station. "In there! It's safe in there!" Leaving his shopping cart, the man vaulted over the concrete barrier separating the station from the street and hurried inside the building.

Connor and Bernie exchanged a look, then the latter glanced over his shoulder at Niko and Gen. "We're going with this man!" The two scrambled over the barrier and fled into the gas station's shop.

"Should we trust this guy?" Gen asked Niko, puffing for air.

"I don't think we got a choice now."

They ran to the barrier. Niko put the girl on the other side of it, then jumped over. "Run inside," he told her.

Eve nodded and took off as Gen vaulted over, feeling lunatics on her heels. She whirled around to see three of them reaching the barrier, but before she could raise her M-16, Niko blasted them all in the face with his own. More were coming; too many. The two bolted for the shop.

The sliding doors had been left open for them. Gen dodged inside and Niko came after. Bernie and Connor worked together to push the doors shut. No sooner were they closed, two lunatics crashed into them, growling and banging.

"Oh, fuck," Niko swore, realizing their mistake too late. "We're trapped. If they get through those doors..."

"Those doors ain't glass. They're polycarbonate," the stranger said. He was a gaunt man with a haggard face, a light growth of beard, and faded blue eyes. He was perched on the check-out counter, puffing on a cigarette. "Tough shit. They ain't gettin' through that."

"They're unsually strong," Niko pointed out. "And they have all the time in the world to get through it."

The stranger took the cigarette from his mouth, flicked ashes on the floor, and smiled at Niko in a way that made him wonder about the man's sanity; he was acting far too casual for the dire situation. Then the man asked, "You folks wanna see a neat trick?"

Well, now Niko was certain the guy was off his trolley. "What? No, I would like to know how the hell we are going to get out of here alive."

The man laughed. "Trust me, mister. You'll want to see this."

He stuck his cigarette between his teeth and slipped off the check-out counter. "There should be one here somewhere..." the man spoke, mostly to himself as he bent down to poke around the shelves under the counter. "Ah, here we go." He straightened up with a fire extinguisher in his hands, grinning through his cigarette. He took the firefighting tool over to the doors.

After a brief exchange of confused looks, the others surrounded him to see what he was going to do. More lunatics had gathered at the doors by now, pounding and clawing at them. The man knelt down and moved them apart.

"Are you insane!?" Niko shouted at him. "Close the-"

"I'm only openin' it a little. These freaks have a one-track mind. They're too hell-bent on us to figure out how to open the doors; they're just gonna keep bangin' on 'em. So just cool off," he said. "Two of you come over here, one at each door."

Bernie and Connor moved forward as the man worked the fire extinguisher's horn through the crack in the doors, aiming it up. "Okay, push the doors closed," the man said. "Not too hard, just enough to keep the horn in place."

They worked the doors closed until the man told them to stop, then he looked up at everyone, grinning through nicotine-stained teeth and a haze of cigarette smoke. "Now watch and be amazed."

The stranger squeezed the fire extinguisher's trigger and kept it squeezed as the horn emitted a continuous thick, white fog. The lunatics who were hit full on with it screamed and backed away. And then they stilled, stood like statues. Others bumped into them, and when they fell over, they were still in the same posture they had been when they were standing, as if they were caught in some suspended animation.

"Fuck me," Niko breathed, staring at the spectacle with unmasked shock. "I don't believe it."

"Oh, my God," Gen gasped. "It...froze them."

The stranger looked at her, still grinning. "You're close to the mark. It's the cold; for whatever reason, they don't like it. It don't actually freeze 'em, and it don't hurt 'em enough to kill 'em, but it'll leave 'em paralyzed for a while. An hour tops."

"I'm looking forward to winter," Niko said.

Bernie nodded in agreement. "Me too. Wow, this is amazing!"

"No, that's the thing," the man said. "It's gotta be extreme cold or it don't work. The temperature of a fire extinguisher's discharge is around negative hundred and ten fahrenheit, maybe colder. So far, it's the only thing that has this effect."

"How did you find out about this?" Niko asked.

The man's grin was gone. "Long story, and stories can wait. We should focus on our problem at the moment. How many of those freaks were after you?"

"We didn't count," Gen admitted. "It looked like there were around thirty of them."

The stranger nodded. "Right. You folks just sit back and relax for now. I got this covered. Should be able to take out a good number of 'em before the extinguisher runs out." His grin came back. "You folks can have the leftovers."

Bernie and Gen stood guard while Connor watched the stranger continue his bizarre fire extinguisher assault on the lunatics. A number of them were laying in a paralyzed heap just outside the doors, but there were plenty left, still pounding against the doors or trying to elbow their way forward. The stranger had been at it for twenty minutes, and he informed them that the extinguisher was still half full by the feel of its weight; it was likely he would be able to take them all out with it.

Tired of standing around doing nothing, Niko looked through the shop for Eve, finding her huddled up against the wall near the counter with her knees hugged up to her chest.

She spared him a distasteful glance. "Go away."

Maybe Bernie had been right to be sarcastic about his having a way with females. He had a knack for pissing off the ones in his company, and apparently by doing nothing more than existing.

Niko sat before Eve, leaning his back against the counter. He noticed she had taken his jacket off. It lay in a heap beside her. "Aren't you cold?"

"Maybe, maybe not," she replied with an insolent tone.

He couldn't help but smile. That was something he said often; it seemed he was rubbing off on her. "That's why I gave you my jacket."

"I can't wear it."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

Eve curled up tighter, turning her face away. "I...I wet myself when I got scared." She started crying again. "I think it got on your jacket. I'm sorry."

Niko scooted closer, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. It's nothing to cry over."

She smacked his hand off. "I'm mad, too!"

"I can see that. Why?" he asked.

"Because you lied."

"I didn't lie, Eve."

"Yes, you did, and you're lying even now; lying about not lying!" she shouted at him. "Why do you have to lie all the time?"

Niko studied her for a moment, then asked, "You want me to tell you the truth?"

"Duh!"

"You shouldn't have looked. If you hadn't, you would not have gotten scared."

"See? Was that so hard?"

"But you cannot be blamed for having a natural reaction to what you saw, and I'm sorry you had to see it."

"Even if someone had come with me, I still would've looked," Eve confessed.

His brow bent. "Why?"

"Because I don't want to be scared. I want to be brave like you, like Gen. But I'm not," she said with disgust. "I'm just a stupid, scared little girl who pees in her pants."

"You are not stupid. And it's good to be scared, little one. You can't be brave if you are not scared."

She made a confused face. "That doesn't even make sense."

"Bravery is not fearlessness. It's facing what you're afraid of in spite of being afraid of it. It's stupid to not fear anything."

"Oh," Eve said. "Are you afraid?"

Niko never hesitated with his answer. "I'm terrified."

Eve studied his face for a moment. "It's hard to tell; you don't look terrified. Are you scared of the crazy people?"

"A little. Mostly I'm afraid I will never find my family, or that they may already be dead or have turned into lunatics."

"I think they're okay."

"Yeah?"

"Uh huh. If they're like you, I bet they're kicking crazy people's butts! I wish I knew how to use a gun like you guys. I could help."

"No, you don't want that."

She cocked her head. "Why not?

"It's...not easy hurting people. You hurt yourself, too. You know what a conscience is?"

"It's a voice inside you, that tells you what's right and what's wrong."

"Hurting people hurts your conscience. Sometimes to the point where your conscience can't tell right from wrong anymore."

Eve frowned. "That sounds bad."

"It's very bad."

"All right, folks," the stranger announced. "The kids have been put to bed. Time for the grown-ups to go out and play."

Niko rose to his feet, turning toward the doors, and sure enough, most of the lunatics that had been crowded there were now laying corpse-still on the ground. The rest were standing frozen. He hadn't even realized the banging had stopped.

"I can't believe something this simple can stop these lunatics," Gen said. "We have got to get this news out to everyone and quick. It'll save lives."

"Or it will create more chaos," Niko said.

"How so?"

"This is another defense against the lunatics, and people will brave the streets for it, they will kill each other for it as they would kill for guns or anything else that may help them survive."

"How is that any different from now?" Gen asked.

"How many people have we seen looting since we left that hospital?"

"None."

"And what do you think will happen once they all find out there's another way to deal with these lunatics? They will start looting again. Bring them all together and they will fight and tear each other apart for what they need."

"So, what, they're all just better off not knowing?" she replied, angrily. "Jesus Christ, Niko! There may be someone out there who could figure out how to use this on a larger scale, and you would keep it a secret?"

"That's not what I'm saying. We tell a few people, if we come across any, and let those few spread the word. This needs a gradual approach. If only a few people know at a time, then only a few people will be out looting. Not only will that avoid mass murder, it won't attract lunatics as a larger group of people would. They'll have a better chance on the streets."

The stranger nodded, puffing on his tenth cigarette in the last thirty minutes. "The man makes a good point. I considered findin' a way to make the grand announcement to everyone myself, then I thought that same thing. If too many folks know at once, they'll all go nuts tryin' to find fire extinguishers. No point givin' people a life savin' gift if they're all gonna kill each other over it. Best to do it gradual, like he said."

"I guess," Gen gave. "Just as long as people know about it, that's all I care about."

"Well, we best get movin' before the 'kids' get up," the man said. "You folks need a place to stay for the night? Mi casa es su casa. Plenty of room and it's comfortable livin' for this shitty situation." His face grew grim. "And...well, I know things. Things you folks need to know, about the freaks and what's goin' on."

"Um...give us a moment to confer," Gen said.

The man nodded. "Do what you gotta do."

The group huddled together away from the stranger, speaking in low tones.

"What do you think?" she asked them.

Bernie shrugged. "He seems like an okay guy."

"And he says he has information," Connor said. "It might be a good idea to listen to what he has to tell us."

Gen nodded. "I agree. If he knows what's going on, what's really going on, this is likely the only chance we're going to get to find out." She glanced at Niko, raising a brow. "You're quiet. No opinion on this?"

"I don't know how I feel about it. This guy kind of gave me the creeps before, but he showed us this thing with the fire extinguisher...like I said, I don't know. Just don't let your guard down around him. Any of you."

"So, we are going with him, then?" Bernie asked.

Gen shrugged. "I guess we are."