"So how are you feeling?"

"My ankle's broke, my shoulder's dislocated and Matthew thinks I have a couple cracked ribs, plus a rather lovely assortment of your average bumps, bruises and abrasions. How do you think I am?" Tara fairly growled.

Emily was almost sorry that she'd decided to pay her a visit. Barry was supposed to be in the room baby-sitting her, but of course he was no where to be found. "Yea, you're right, that was a pretty dumb question," she said placatingly. "Anything I can get for you?"

"Unless you have some serious pain meds tucked up your sleeve or something, I highly doubt it."

"Okay. Sorry I stopped by, I just thought I'd see how you were," Emily said softly, moving back towards the door of the office where Emily reclined on some bigwig's leather couch.

"Wait, Emily, please don't go," the girl pled. "I'm sorry I'm being such a bitch, I'm just going a little stir crazy. I don't mean to take it out on you, it's just that I've been stuck here for the last two days listening to those things outside, and my whole fucking body just aches. I swear, if it wasn't for all the attention Matthew and Aaron have been giving me, this whole experience would truly suck."

"Matthew and Aaron?" Emily said questioningly.

"Look, uh, I'm really sorry about the other night, during the poker game," Tara hedged. "I shouldn't have been so jealous, I mean you are so much older than I am."

"Gee...thanks."

"No, I don't mean it like you're old old like grandma kind of old, just that you're, you know, old."

"I reiterate, gee, thanks," Emily said, starting to leave once more.

"Don't go, please. I really didn't mean it as an insult, you're just kinda twisting my words around, that's all. I just wanted to let you know that I can understand why two hot guys like that would be totally in to you at first. You know, since you're old and you've got all the experience and stuff. It probably takes them awhile to get ready for a hot young thing like me."

"Okay, and I'm not supposed to find this insulting because?" Emily asked. "And since when were you all hot for Aaron? I thought he was just some kind of reject to you and Barry?" she added angrily before the teen could respond. Whether or not the redness of Emily's face was due to anger, or to the hot memories of the previous morning on the rooftop that the mention of Aaron continuously brought to mind was a toss-up.

"I'm really not trying to insult you!" the younger girl insisted, struggling to set up on the couch more fully. "And Aaron's always been kinda hot, he just grows on you more the longer you know him. Besides, Barry was the one who declared him a reject, not me. Of course Barry did say he was the ideal booty call material, so I'm really not sure on his whole little 'reject' thing. Anyway, I was the one who said he had a great profile and awesome cheekbones. And then there's the way he climbed down that elevator shaft just to save me," she sighed dramatically. "He's a real hero, and now I realize that he's like totally thinking of me as a slammin' hottie too. Did you know, he couldn't even stay in the room with me yesterday morning when Matthew and Thomas set my ankle? I think after seeing all the pain I was in when he helped with my shoulder he just couldn't bear to watch me suffer any more. And then Matthew. What can I say, I don't think an hour has gone by since they pulled me up that he hasn't stopped to look in on me. I mean, he practically can't take his eyes off me. I'm hot even when I'm all bruised up."

"You really have a flair for the dramatic," Emily said when the girl finally came up for air, a touch of anger sneaking its way into her voice. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask the girl if she had any idea where Aaron had gone after fleeing from her bedside, but she held her silence.

"Ooohhh, do I hear the start of a cat fight?" Barry asked, materializing suddenly in the doorway, bearing a makeshift tray with a couple cups full of what was presumably coffee.

"No we were just having a little bit of girl talk," Tara responded cheerfully, flashing a quick look at Emily, her demeanor doing a complete 180 from just moments before.

"No, you were hearing the tail end of a rather one-sided discussion that has officially ended," the other woman gritted out, pushing her way past Barry and out the door.

"Em?" her friend called after her. Failing to get a reply, he turned towards the injured teen, "Okay, what did I just miss here?"

"Nothing! We were just talking about Matthew and Aaron and she just got totally bent out of shape about nothing."

"Look, I'm like a total gossip whore, so I know there's got to be more to the story than that," he said goadingly. "I've known Emily for more than five years, it takes a lot to push her buttons like that."

"Well...I may have pointed out how I the guys might find they need to practice on an old woman like her before they tried their luck with me."

"Oh my god! Tara, tell me you didn't say that!" he shrieked excitedly.

"Maybe not in quite the same words, but in effect."

"That's priceless! I wish I could have seen her face, was it like this total bright, splotchy red color? She gets that way when she's really mad. Her face went red like that one night when we was out clubbin' and to this day she's never told me what the guy said to her, but she totally laid his ass out on the floor. That girl has a serious set of balls when she's pissed off."

"But I wasn't trying to piss her off, I was just telling the truth," Tara told him.

"The truth according to who?"

"I'm not blind you know, I've seen the way the two of them have been looking at me since this all happened, and the way Aaron climbed down that elevator shaft to save me. Please, I know they're both hot for me."

"Not that I don't think you're a hot little number capable of having two men drooling over you, but I have a little bit of a reality check for you. It's not like he climbed down some deep cavern to rescue you, it was only half a floor,"

"It was still brave."

"And all the extra attention. I probably should have told you about this sooner," he said slowly.

"Told me what?"

"Matthew said that from the way that you fell, or, at least from the way you landed, there'd be at least a small chance that you could have internal injuries."

"So what? He already told me I probably have a couple of cracked or broken ribs. That's why my chest hurts so much when I breathe."

"Right, and broken ribs have been known to do things like puncture lungs or something. I think I saw that on TV once or something. Anyway, with all of the others thinking along the lines of internal injuries, they wondered what the odds were of something that we couldn't see being lethal."

"You mean I could die?" she whispered hoarsely, her face going even paler than it was already.

Barry looked at the floor, unable to meet her eyes. "Matthew said it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. And once he said that, I think they were more concerned about the thought of what would happen after...I mean, if, you died. So, what I'm trying to say..." He shook his head, reluctant to continue, but knowing deep down inside that she deserved to know what the others were saying. "Look, there's really no nice way to say it, so I'm just going to say it. The guys have been watching you more closely because they're all a little bit nervous that if you were to die from something like internal bleeding or punctured organs or something totally icky like that, then you might come back and come after us. If they didn't take care of you first."

Tara was stunned. "You keep saying that 'they' think and what 'they' said. I want to know what you think?" She looked expectantly up into his face.

"I know you're going to be fine," he told her, plastering a smile to his face.

"Emily's right. You don't have much of a poker face," she told him, her voice quivering slightly. A tear began to roll down her cheek as she thought about what he'd said, hastily she wiped it away.

"Tara, honey," he said, sitting down on the floor in front of the couch and taking her hand. "I know that there's nothing wrong with you, and I think you're going to be fine, just as soon as that ankle and your shoulder get better." He smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry about my shitty poker face either, I just let those doomsayers get to me a little bit, that's all."

"She's one of them," a voice rasped from the doorway. Barry whirled about to face the door and saw Jonathan standing there.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he demanded.

"Barry," Tara squeaked, trying to cower down behind him as much as she could when she caught sight of the menacing rifle the crazy man in the doorway held.

"She's one of them, maybe she doesn't look like it now, but she is. If we're not careful and get rid of her now, she'll get us all. You should let me do her now, quick, before she turns."

"Thanks for the offer Jonathan, but I'm sure she'll be fine. It's been over a day now, she's getting better."

"That's how it starts, they lull you into a false sense of security and then BAM!" he finished with a shout, causing both of the people in the room to jump. "They're tearing out your heart...popping out your eyes...shredding your flesh and eating it all. And when they're finished...that's when what's left of you gets up and joins them."

"Jonathan!" Matthew's voice called out from behind him, just before the medic pushed the other man out of the way. "Hey man, it's really great to see you out of that office. Maybe you should got grab yourself a nice hot shower in the security locker room before Barry over there uses up all the hot water." Though his voice was cheerful, he flashed Barry a hard look, letting the other man know he'd heard everything the crazy man had said. "Now if you gentlemen don't mind excusing us for a few minutes, I really need to check on my patient here."

"Sure. No problem. Tara, I'll be right outside the door if you need me," Barry said, scrambling to his feet. As he passed Matthew, the medic whispered to him.

"Let the others know what he said, maybe they can try to get that gun away from him."

Barry nodded, focusing his attention on the man in the door. "Come on Jonathan, why don't you grab that shower. I think Emily was getting ready to fix some breakfast for everyone, maybe it'll be ready by the time you get done." Very cautiously, his heart racing the whole time, Barry pushed the other man out the doorway, firmly pulling the door shut behind them.

"I don't need a shower, I need to eradicate that thing in there. You know it, the others do too, so there's really no point in delaying the inevitable," Jonathan rasped.

"You totally need a shower, I've smelled better things cleaning out my cat's litter box. And Tara's not one of those creatures, and she isn't gonna be, so don't even think about killing anyone," Barry said bravely.

"Of course you'd say that, you're probably one of them too! I'm the only one left!" he cried wildly, sprinting away and back to his office. "You won't get me too you bastards!" he shouted out just as he slammed the door shut.

"Great, just great. Of all the building to get myself trapped in, I have to choose the one with the psychopath with a gun," muttered Barry. He waited outside the door, listening to a series of thuds that was presumably Jonathan barricading his office shut, until Matthew emerged once more.

"What are you still doing here? I thought I told you to go tell the others what happened."

"I was going to, but then Jonathan started spouting off about how he was the only one left here and that the rest of us would never get him, and I kind of thought I should stay here and watch the door in case he came back."

"Came back from where?"

"Oh, he's back in his office, barricading himself in so that the 'things' can't get him."

"Those creatures aren't gonna get inside here," Matthew said confidently.

"Maybe not, but according to our little psycho, we're the bad guys."

"Okay. Here's what we're going to do," Matthew said, pulling a 9mm pistol from the waistband of his pants where it had been concealed by his shirt and handing it to Barry. "I want you to stay here with Tara, make sure that asshole doesn't try anything. I'll go fill in the others, see what we want to do about him. You do know how to use one of those, right?"

"I know the bullet come out this end," Barry replied.

"Look, here's the safety, on, off, think you can remember that? This button here releases the clip, you've got nine shots left in here. Slide this back, click off the safety, and you're ready to go, just make sure you point the dangerous end at the bad guy."

"Since you're the one who knows how to use one of these things, shouldn't you be the one to stay behind with Tara?"

"Probably, but I also don't want to lead the girl on. Between you and me, I think she's got a little bit of a crush on me."

"You're kidding?" Barry said dryly. "I hadn't noticed."

"Has it been that obvious?"

"Pretty much, unless you're like completely blind and stone deaf."

"Okay, I get the message, and it's all the more reason for me to back off. Just stay here with her, the rest of us will be back soon."

Inside his own office, Jonathan overheard the hushed voices in the hall. He sat on the floor his ear pressed to the wall, listening. As he heard Matthew's footsteps retreating down the hall, he sat up, hugging his arms about his kneesand rocking back and forth, lost in his own thoughts.

Those two in the hall, they talk like there was something wrong with me, like I'm the one with a problem. But they're creatures, just like the ones outside who ate Phil. It's payback time. They might think they've got me trapped in here, but I'll show them. It'll be so easy to take them all down after all, just a matter of divide and conquer. The girl is all alone with her little protector now, first them, then the others. It'll be so easy.

The chilling sound of his laughter echoed through the room, penetrating through the thin walls with ease.