"We've been holed up here for about two days now. I guess you could say it was about three nights ago when the shit started to hit the proverbial fan. That's when the news broadcasts began, I'm sure it was pretty much the same for you all too." He allowed himself to trail off. Fran picked things up without missing a beat.
"The first reports of the walking dead started about a week ago in Philly. The last four days, things just completely went out of control. We got out just in time I guess you could say."
"So have you seen any other survivors?" Nicole asked.
"Or heard anything over the radio, tower traffic, that kind of thing?" Michael added.
"Nah, headset's been quiet ever since we left the city. We were able to fuel up a couple of times, little country airports way off the beaten path. From the looks of things, people lit out of both of them in a real hurry as soon as things started going to hell. The only question is where'd they all go," Stephen finished around a big yawn.
Roger added, "The last survivors we saw were some National Guard units and a bunch of rednecks out hunting those bastards. They seemed to be holding their own pretty good though."
Steve gave one of his humorless laughs. "Well I guess we should just wait for the cavalry of rednecks to arrive then huh? All whistling through their tooth. Hey Daniel Boone," he called to Michael, "maybe you should turn CJ loose so he can bring them all running with one of their mating calls or something. Bunch of jackasses. You still seriously think we'll actually be rescued." He poured himself another drink.
Fran stared at him, momentarily at a loss for words. She lit a cigarette, ignoring the look Stephen gave her, and looked again towards Michael. "So what's the situation here? Is it safe?"
"About as safe as we can make it, all things considered. the outer doors all have shatter proof glass, they seem to be holding up pretty well. We've reinforced some of the weaker spots with doors from the back offices of some of the stores. We're planning on reinforcing all that with furniture and stuff, kind of create a barricade sort of thing," he replied.
Fran nodded. "Is there a way out? If those things get inside I mean."
This time Kenneth answered. "We don't have a way out. Best we can do is hope we can get rescued before they make it in here." His response made everyone uneasy, putting into words something they all preferred to leave unsaid.
"Michael, Kenneth, these guys look like they're about ready to drop," Ana said quickly,
hoping to divert everyone's thoughts from the fate Kenneth reminded them of. "Why
don't we get the set up with some beds in one of the stores, we can go over all of this stuff
later."
Kenneth looked like he wanted to argue, but instead stood up and began walking in the
direction of the elevators, calling over his shoulder, "I'm gonna go have a talk with Andy,
fill him in on what's going on."
Ana, following his cue, stood up too. "If you guys are ready, I'll show you where some beds are." Everyone started going their separate ways then. Michael accompanied Ana and the crew from Philadelphia.
Terry and Nicole headed towards the elevators, exiting at the second floor. There they went to the now quiet electronics store where he still slept, usually joined by Kenneth. They began talking about the turn of events, offering each other what comfort they could.
André hurried back to Luda. He didn't like staying away from her for as long as he had,
but couldn't resist hearing the news. He didn't think she was in danger of changing yet,
the infection seemed to be spreading slowly, but he didn't want to take any chances. Luda
still didn't realize what was happening to her, just attributed everything to the baby and
their run for survival. All except for the obviously infected bite on her arm. But he just
couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth, more because he feared admitting the truth to
himself than anything. This was his family, his wife and unborn child.
Monica dragged Norma to some of the clothing stores, insisting that shopping for clothes was therapeutic. Steve elected to remain at the Hallowed Grounds bar, drinking. Tucker joined Kenneth on the roof.
Glen had gone to the detention cell to take CJ and Bart some lunch.
"Come on man, what the hell do you mean they let some more people in here?" CJ groaned. "They gotta stop or else those bleeding hears are gonna let the wrong ones in and we're all gonna be well and truly fucked."
"But CJ they got a helicopter! We can get our asses outta here!" was Bart's response.
CJ just shook his head. None of them knew what had happened to make those crazy fucks outside. If someone did they would have come up with a cure by now, all those scientists in Washington DC or wherever it was the government kept them. It'd been more than 12 hours since they'd last had any kind of TV news report, not even the emergency broadcast system was working. And now this dumb kid thought they were as good as rescued because a helicopter had landed on the roof.
Glen peered at them through the wires of the detention cell. "They came here from Philadelphia, escaped in that helicopter, before the city was completely overrun I guess. Two of them were S.W.A.T. team members, the other two worked for a news station. They said they saw some National Guard troops still fighting back east somewheres, I didn't catch where. Maybe there are troops coming our way right now," he finished.
"So there's still a good chance we'll be rescued soon," Bart said happily. He could put up with being stuck in the detention cell for a little while longer, even with CJ's current bad mood, if there truly was a rescue party on its way.
"You idiots! Everyone out there is dead!" CJ almost shouted. "And you all are thinking that just because four people stole a helicopter and managed to fly it this far we're going to be rescued. Why in hell do you think they flew this far? Because there was no place else to go. And why did they stop here? Because there was no place else to go." He looked at Glen and almost sneered, "And you keep talking about National Guard troops still fighting 'back east.' That was what two days ago? Seems to me Ft. Pastor was still fighting two days ago too." With that, CJ grabbed a bottle of water and an old Cosmopolitan magazine and sat down with his back to both of them. Bunch of fucking idiots, he thought, furiously flipping through the magazine.
In the store called Metropolis, Stephen immediately fell asleep after being shown to the beds. Fran lay next to him, unable to sleep, silently listening to Peter and Roger talk.
"So what do you think man? Looks like they got a pretty good set up here." Roger started.
"I don't know brother. First thing I want to do is take a good look at all the entrances,
see how secure they really are. Then I want to focus on getting those barricades that that
Michael guy was talking about put into place." Peter paused, "Then once we have it as
secure as we can make it, we'll be able to decide how good of a set up we have."
"Peter, it's not like we have much else in the way of options," yawned Roger.
"True, but that doesn't mean we're not going to look for them anyway."
They continued talking like this for a few more minutes, until exhaustion finally got the better of them and they fell asleep. It was a long while before Fran was able to fall asleep. She was lost in her own thoughts about the complete change in their circumstances from that morning. She'd desperately wanted to find other survivors, a sign that they would be able to make it through. But now that they had, she still was afraid. She hoped it was just the hormones, thought maybe it was the fear associated with bringing a child into the world, especially when it all seemed to be ending around them.