George waded through the waist-deep water, trying his best to ignore the aching pain in his leg. Luckily, when the giant leech spit the acid, George's pants withheld the majority of the damage. However, through the new hole in his pant leg, George could see the reddened skin reacting to the potent mixture. It was ironic he thought, going to the hospital posed a larger hazard to his health than the streets.

Regardless, he was thankful that they were safe for the time being. Ever on guard, Kevin had his forty-five still firmly gripped in his hand, even though they hadn't run across any monsters down in the sewers after the encounter with the giant leech. He seemed on edge --maybe George was just mixing up caution for fear.

As they passed through tunnel after tunnel of similarly painted sewers, George began to think they were lost. How they could get lost going relatively straight and only turning when there was no other option, was beyond George, but lost they were. He sighed as he tightened his grip on his split pants, trying to hold them closed so the wound wasn't exposed. It felt like his entire body was on fire, broken, and possibly worse. Pain was his constant companion, following him everywhere throughout this ordeal. Once it was all said and done though, he had to be glad to still be alive. George could handle discomfort and pain as long as his life was still his.

After what seemed an eternity, they finally came upon a locked gate. The padlock hung a short distance down from a length of chain. Considering for only a moment, Kevin brought up his pistol, but hesitated. "I can shoot this one right?"

George caught the sarcasm in his voice, but ignored it and nodded his approval. Taking a step back, George held his ears as Kevin let off a controlled shot from his pistol. The lock broke open and clanged to the bottom of the sewage where it hit with a dull thud. Kevin looked back to George to convey a silent message of "I told you so". George waited while Kevin pushed open the gate and walked through. The tunnel seemed suddenly to open up. A pathway went off to the left toward a ladder and another platform. Above the ladder, a fan spun rapidly, cutting off any entrance to the shaft. In front of them, another gateway stood, but beyond that was what looked like a rusted door on top of another platform.

"So, which way?" Yoko asked, looking between their two options as she asked.

"I say we go straight, I don't like the idea of turning now. There's a doorway up ahead and we should check it out before going off on random whims." David pointed to the rusted door as he spoke. George saw the logic in his reasoning. These tunnels were like a maze, anyone could easily get lost in here. By pure luck, they had found what looked like a way through and George didn't want to give up what they had to go on fantasies.

A short silent debate happened amongst themselves, after which they decided to continue straight through the rusted door. When Cindy started to climb onto the platform, George cupped his hand for her to step in, pushing her up as she climbed. She smiled back down to him and offered her hand to help him up as well.

Once through the door, the scenery didn't change much. Rusted concrete walls were replaced by compacted dirt and a makeshift wooden walkway. The startling change made George think that it was built hastily and meant not to be seen by the layperson. Little vibrations in the surrounding area caused small portions of dirt to float to the ground in a fine powder. George brushed some dirt off his jacket as the floor below him turned from dirt to concrete suddenly. In front of him, a large tram hung from a thick wire suspended over a small drop below.

Mark let out a low whistle and Jim cursed at the sight. Along with the tram was a shelf full of useless materials that was positioned on the wall closest to where they stood. Next to the tram was a control panel, George assumed it was for the tram and possibly the lights that were installed the entire length of the chasm. George walked to the side of the tram opposite the control panel and leaned over the railing.

By his estimation, the chasm was big enough to warrant the tram, but not big enough, that if necessary they could walk through it with only minor difficulty. The only problem with that was that he couldn't accurately see into the darkness. For all he knew, it could lead right out into the river.

Suddenly, the lights flickered on and the tram hummed to life. Kevin came into view from around the other side of the tram and checked the doors. They rolled to either side and revealed the inside of the tram. One-by-one they all piled in and sat down on the chairs, with only enough seating for most of them, David stood. Kevin flipped a switch in the front of the car, and with a jolt, the tram began to move.

"So, anyone have any idea where this thing could lead?" Alyssa asked aloud. George noted that Yoko looked uncomfortable, but didn't say anything. She mopped her brow and hugged her backpack to her stomach, feeling for something without trying to look suspicious. George was uneasy about her, but decided to keep it to himself; she had proven to be less than malicious on more than one occasion.

"Maybe it's just a maintenance shaft; we've got some of those at the subway station." Jim suggested, but by the tone in his voice, George wasn't sure Jim believed what he was saying himself. David cast him a don't-be-so-stupid glance before responding.

"This is a little high tech for a simple maintenance shaft don't you think? I mean, it's really remote and not at all efficient for those purposes." David folded his arms and leaned against the wall, but didn't offer any other suggestions himself.

"Well, seeing as how it looked to be built in a hurry and out of the way, I'd say we weren't meant to find it. Which means, we're not supposed to find what's on the other side as well." Cindy seemed to sum up exactly what George was thinking. He smiled inwardly that they had had the same train of thought, but quickly caught himself. They were about to enter some place unfamiliar and possibly met by people who didn't want them there. It was no time to be thinking about Cindy. Nevertheless, what other time would he have?

The weight of Cindy's words hung thick in the air. Everyone was contemplating the severity of the implications if she were to be right. Somehow, they would have to convince those people that they needed refuge, that they needed a way out of the city. They would have to explain what was going on in the city. Even if they didn't believe them at first, with enough people they would have to believe them at some point.

What if they believed it was a prank? No, no one would even know about this place.

George had a sudden flash of realization. What if the place they were going was already infected? What if the zombies were there too? Could the zombies get to a place so secure? While the questions piled in around him, George could see the same questions etched on the faces of those around him. Was there really any safe places left in this forsaken city?

The tram came to a sudden stop and George felt Cindy grab his hand. He squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her that he wouldn't leave her. She flashed him a private smile of thanks before getting up and leaving the tram.

Shadows danced along the wall as a light flickered near a doorway to their right. Since the platform only had one working light, the rest of the area was bathed in darkness. George rested his hand on the grip of his pistol, waiting for a creature to attack from places unseen. As they passed through to the door, George kept shooting a glance back at the tram, still wondering what trouble they were approaching.

An odd sort of hallway was just beyond the platform, crenate walls stretched down the hall until it reached a junction. Around the corner, was another short distance before a T-intersection. Everyone stopped suddenly when they heard the familiar muffled moans and shuffling of feet. George's heart hammered in his throat, hoping he misheard what he thought were the sounds of the undead. Somewhere deep down, he knew that they couldn't have all misheard the sounds. Before he realized it, his pistol was in both hands, aiming at the intersection. He noticed that the others too had weapons drawn, staring down the hallway. Their faces displayed the same heart wrenching fear that tried to make them back away.

Despite the fear, they inched closer, driven not by their courage, but by their instinctual need to get to safety. Kevin headed the pack because he was already in the front before they heard the noises. George almost laughed, part of him was happy he was scared. This fear meant he wasn't getting used to the killings, he wasn't becoming desensitized. Maybe when he was out of here, he might be able to lead a relatively normal life. Not being able to push himself back into the heart of the group, Kevin resided to his appointed position and hugged the wall, inching closer to the intersection with each passing heartbeat. His forty-five was raised up to his face, with his elbows bent near his ribs. Slowly, he came up to the corner and heaved an audible sigh. Taking one last look at everyone, he peered out around the corner.

Nothing.

No movement, no bodies, nothing that sounded like it could make those sounds were in the adjacent corridor. Kevin began to garnish a little of his natural courage and peeked his head out farther. In one swift movement, he pivoted around the corner and brought the gun down in front of him. His feet moved with a trained efficiency. The rest of the group followed his lead around the corner. Before long, Kevin came up to another corner and motioned for Mark and Alyssa to take a look down the opposite 

corridor to the one he was about to go down. As they followed his silent instructions, George adjusted his weight to his other leg and brought the pistol up, aiming it at the opening of the corner. If anything was going to pop out, he was determined to be ready. Kevin noticed and gave him a nod of approval, a silent thank you. He breathed deeply, watching as Kevin peered around the corner, but by the way he relaxed, he didn't see anything. Swiftly, he pivoted again and brought the gun around with his body, facing the empty hallway. On the far side, a ladder rose up along the wall to a manhole cover. Lights flickered, giving the hallway a foreboding feeling.

Alyssa screamed.

Wind licked past George's face; before he knew it, he was running at a break neck speed down the long hallway. He flew past the T-intersection and stumbled for only a split second before righting himself. Falling now could cost him; he reprimanded himself as he rounded the corner, with his pistol in the lead. Mark stood over Alyssa, trying to pry a zombie off her. He used his weight as leverage to try to fling it onto its back. Using the zombie's shoulder, he pulled.

Quicker than Mark could react, the zombie turned its head and sunk its teeth into Mark's hand. Mark recoiled and grabbed his injured hand. With Mark out of the way, George trained the pistol on the zombie's head and squeezed the trigger. A single hole pierced the zombie's forehead and blood poured out of the wound on both sides of its head. Alyssa pushed the zombie off with a grunt and rolled to the side.

Mark's eyes were wild; he knew what this meant. Almost instantaneously, Kevin brought up his forty-five and aimed at Mark. George reacted and stepped in front of the gun.

"Stop" George put his hand on Kevin's gun, but Kevin didn't lower it.

"He's infected, we can't have him around. While, he's been useful to us, he's a liability now. You saw what a bite did to Will at the bar." Kevin glanced at Cindy quickly, seeing the ghost of the incident in her eyes.

"Well, it's not only him that's infected then. Most of us are by now." George felt the phantom pains of the bite marks on his own arms. "We need to find a cure, that's the only way."

"There is no cure, George. It's hopeless to cast away our safety for that pursuit." Kevin paused, waiting for what George might say.

"Why? Why are you giving up so easily? If it comes down to it, we can shoot those who are turning, but until that time, they're useful to us all. We need to stick together, or we will all die." George raised his hands once more, but didn't touch Kevin or his gun. "Look, we don't know anything about this disease or virus or whatever it is, assuming the worst might get us all killed. Until we know more about it, we can't and we shouldn't do anything rash."

Kevin looked as though he was seriously considering George's heated words. After a short while, he looked around and noticing he was alone in his thinking, lowered his gun.

"I'm sorry Mark." Kevin said, putting the gun away in its holster. George put his own pistol back in his pants and turned to Mark, who nodded. Now that the immediate threat was over, George walked up to Mark and looked at his bleeding hand. He was happy to see that it was still bleeding; the rapid coagulation from Will's bite didn't seem to be affecting Mark. That could only mean either the bites weren't the cause for infection, or the infection spread through people at different rates. George tore a little bit of Mark's shirt off and wrapped his hand in the bandage.

"We can't stay here, if we are infected, it won't take too long for the infection to spread. It might even become incurable." George didn't want to sugar coat it for them; they needed to know the truth. Only once they knew the severity of their situation could they make rational decisions as to how they are going to find a way out.

"There's that ladder over there, it seems to be our only escape route, and frankly, I'd like to be out of here sooner than later." David grumbled, pointing down the other way. Everyone mumbled their concurrence and shuffled down the other way, now demoralized by the revelation that even if they make it out of the city, they may not survive. This whole ordeal looked to be a lot less hopeful and a lot more dangerous to George.

It broke his heart to have to tell them about how important a cure was in such a crude fashion, but he didn't want them to find out when it was too late that they may not live through this. His heart was as hollow as the metallic ding from the ladder as he climbed.

Once he was through the manhole, he saw what looked to be a larger version of the control panel for the tram. Since it looked similar, he assumed the mechanism it controlled would be similar to the tram. They may have a way out of the city yet, but finding the cure was going to be the real tough part.

George moved out of the way, allowing Yoko a chance to climb through the hole. She didn't look surprised by the room, and it looked as if she thought she might recognize it.

"You ever been here?" George asked her as he pulled her aside. She looked confused and a little frightened, by his question.

"N…no, it just looked like something from where I used to work, that's all." He wasn't completely satisfied by her response, but let it slide for now. He had more important things in his mind than what Yoko may or may not know. Off in the distance, David growled and cursed as he looked at the panel.

"Damn things got no key to start the tram car." He pointed through the window and low and behold, there was a tramcar stationed on a circular platform that looked like it was mobile. "We have to find that too?"

George let out a sigh of frustration, but he wasn't all together surprised. David shrugged and waved a hand at the panel before turning and leaving through the door that led to the room outside. As they piled out, a voice came from behind.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Yoko…"