Everyone was discouraged at the lack of communication equipment at the radio tower, especially since they had spent the entire day fighting their way to get there. Ellis was the most visibly distraught, as he felt personally responsible for proposing the idea that had led them to this dead end. Zoey took notice of this, and when she placed her hand gently on his shoulder, Ellis shuddered.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," she said. "Your plan was still a good one. Sometimes these things just don't work out."

"Yeah, but look what happened today?" Ellis asked. "Coach got covered in that goo shit, and we ain't got no idea what that does. Louis nearly died, like, a dozen times. What are we gonna do now?"

"Survive," Bill said. "That's all we really can do, son."

"Yeah," Nick said, "and don't expect me to save your sorry ass if you fall behind. If it's ever a choice between me and you, you know I'm gonna save myself every fucking time."

"Come on, Nick," Louis said. "That's not helpful."

"Nah, Louis, Nick's right," Ellis said, standing up straighter and taking a deep breath. "If I'm slowing down the pack, y'all shouldn't feel obliged to risk your lives for me. If I can't keep up, I don't deserve to stay alive. Gotta carry my own weight."

"That's not what I was getting at," Nick said, "but you do you, man."

"So what's our next move?" Rochelle asked.

"Get some sleep," Bill said. "Unfortunately, there's no safe place to camp in this area except back in the radio tower. I know it smells bad there, but we have to barricade ourselves to stay safe for the night. We'll start planning our next move in the morning."

"I'll take the first watch," Rochelle said. "I'm feeling restless at the moment, might as well put it to good use."

"Thank you, Rochelle," Bill said. "Everyone get back in the tower. We'll have to use whatever we can find in there to block the door."

The eight survivors re-entered the radio tower and shut the door carefully behind them. Francis and Coach found desks and filing cabinets near the lobby area that, with effort, they were able to move to the door as a makeshift blockade. After they were finished, it was clear that none of the Infected would be able to break in without a major effort.

"I'd like to see those zombies try busting in here now," Francis said, placing his hands on his hips and taking a deep breath. He then recoiled at the odor in the tower. "Damn, I forgot how bad it reeks in here."

"Sorry, son," Bill said, "we're all gonna have to deal with that for the night."

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to call it a night," Coach said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Wake me up in a couple hours, Rochelle," Louis said. "I'll take the next watch."

"Thanks, Louis," Rochelle said. "Night, everybody."

The other survivors said goodnight to Rochelle before lying down and trying to make themselves as comfortable as they could. With Rochelle now alone with her thoughts, she had time to reminisce about how this had all started.

Rochelle was setting up for a live shot in Savannah, Georgia, where she had been sent to cover the onset of the Infection. She and everyone else had been told to wear masks and keep their hands properly sanitized as a way of mitigating the risk of contracting the disease, about which much was still unknown. The reporter who would be covering the story was David Bland. Despite his last name, he was anything but bland, and Rochelle couldn't help but notice his perfectly coiffed hair and dazzling smile. She always joked that his makeup team must have the easiest job in television.

Rochelle and David liked to flirt with each other, which was mostly harmless. Obviously, because of their professional relationship, there was no way for them to actually explore whatever feelings may have existed between them. Still, it was fun to be able to fantasize about it.

With the live shot set up, the cameras began rolling, and David began to report on the breaking news.

"I'm here in Savannah, Georgia," David said, "one of the earliest so-called 'hot zones' for an illness known only as 'the Infection.' Public officials in Savannah say that despite the spike in cases here, they are taking every precaution necessary to slow the spread and prevent the Infection from spreading beyond the city limits. However, we have been receiving reports that people have been trying to evacuate the city to prevent themselves from becoming sick. One such standoff happened a couple days ago, when members of the National Guard had to fend off a large group of people with tear gas and rubber bullets to prevent them from breaching the border. We have not been able to—"

Suddenly they heard a bellowing roar. David, Rochelle, and the rest of the crew turned towards the sound and saw an enormous Infected person barreling for them. Before anyone had time to process what they were seeing, the creature plowed into David, lifted him, and slammed him repeatedly to the ground until he died.

Rochelle started running, breathing heavily and mind whirring. Whatever had just attacked David could be coming for her next. She needed to find a place to hide. Her only option was to divert down an alleyway and hopefully find a build to hide in. She could hear the creature roaring in the background, but the noise was fading slowly as she put distance between the two of them. The alley she had gone down had no open doors, so her only recourse was to crouch behind a dumpster and hope that the creature could not find her.

After ten minutes that felt like ten hours, there was no more noise. Whatever had just attacked and killed David seemed to have finally moved on. Rochelle took a few deep breaths to calm herself and slow her heart rate. She was trembling, and with the immediate threat now gone, she started to cry. She couldn't believe how quickly that creature had attacked, and could only hope now that at least one other member of the crew had survived. After a couple more deep breaths, Rochelle left the dumpster behind and retraced her steps back to where they had set up the live shot.

When Rochelle returned, it was to find that every other member of the crew had been slaughtered. She was the only one who had been able to escape. She started to cry again, grieving for the loss of her colleagues and feeling guilty that she had been the only one to survive.

"Rochelle," a voice said, and she was startled back to reality. She looked around the lobby and saw everyone was still fast asleep except Louis, who was standing near her.

"Did I fall asleep?" Rochelle asked.

"Um...yeah," Louis said, "but it's okay. Nothing bad happened. We're still okay."

"No thanks to me," Rochelle said. "I'm sorry, Louis, I should've woken you earlier."

"It's okay," Louis said. "Just don't tell Bill."

Rochelle allowed herself a small chuckle. "Well, if you want to take the next watch, be my guest. I gotta find a place to freshen up."

With that, Rochelle left Louis behind to look for what was hopefully a working bathroom. She finally noticed a ladies' room nearby, but when she opened the door, she started to hear a soft, whimpering voice. "Oh no…" she whispered.

Gingerly, Rochelle looked underneath each of the bathroom stalls. Behind the last one, she noticed legs dangling that could only belong to one type of Infected. She gasped with fright, then immediately put a hand over her mouth, hoping that noise had not been enough to awaken the creature. Completely forgetting why she had come here, she backed out as quickly and quietly as she could and returned to the lobby.

"Louis," she said in a harsh whisper. "We have a serious problem."

"What's the issue?"

"There's a Witch in the ladies' room."

Louis's eyes widened and he put a hand to his mouth. "You didn't...you didn't wake it up, right?"

"I wouldn't be here talking to you about this if I did."

"Damn. Well, we're definitely going to need to kill it. I'll wake the others."

"Hold on." Rochelle put an arm on Louis's shoulder to get him to stop. "We need to sweep this radio tower to make sure there aren't any other Infected in here. I don't want to kill a Witch if the noise risks waking up five more of them."

"Okay."

Louis and Rochelle gently woke the other six survivors, making sure to tell them to stay quiet.

"What the hell's going on?" Francis asked once everyone else was awake. "I was having an awesome dream for once."

"We have a serious issue," Rochelle said. "I saw a Witch in the ladies' room."

"Wow," Francis said, "this is actually how my dream started."

"What?" Nick asked.

Francis's eyes widened, then he shook his head. "No, forget I said anything."

"We have to split up and do a total sweep of this tower," Rochelle said, "and make sure we know exactly how many Infected we have to deal with."

"I agree," Bill said. "Hopefully it's just the one Witch, but until we know for sure, we can't take any action that might alert other threats. One person needs to stand by this entrance to make sure nothing else gets in."

"I'll do that," Louis said. "It's my watch anyway."

"Thanks, Louis," Bill replied. "Everyone else spread out, take a thorough look around, and be back here in five minutes to report."

Louis watched as the other seven survivors spread out to search the tower. He kept a close eye on the door, but he wasn't able to hear anything else happening on the outside. He nursed his submachine gun, hoping that he wouldn't have to use it too much more tonight. Though it was normally easier for him to be optimistic, the apocalypse coming had certainly taken its toll. He didn't want to dwell too much on the past, his life before the Infection, but in moments like this when he was alone with his thoughts, it was hard not to reminisce.

Fortunately, other survivors began coming back to the lobby after only a few minutes.

"Everyone report," Bill said. "What are we dealing with?"

"Other than the Witch I saw earlier," Rochelle said, "I couldn't find anything else."

"Okay, show of hands, who was able to find something?" Bill asked.

Nick and Zoey both raised their hands. Everyone else did not.

"I caught a glimpse of my ex-wife in Studio C," Nick said.

"Funny," Zoey replied. "I saw one up in a hallway on the top floor."

"So we've got three Witches in here," Bill said. "Clearly, killing one will easily make a noise loud enough to trigger the other two, so unless we time our attack perfectly, we risk waking one of them up."

"How are we gonna do that?" Coach asked. "I don't know about you guys, but my cellular phone ran out of battery weeks ago."

"Coach, I swear to God, no one calls it a 'cellular phone' anymore," Nick said. "But he's got a point. My phone's dead, too, and my only timepiece is this shiny gold Rolex." Nick showed off the piece on his wrist, which had some dried green fluid from the Infected.

"Actually, Nick, that may be helpful," Bill said. "Do we have two other people with working watches?"

"My watch isn't as nice as Nick's," Louis said, pointing to the watch on his own wrist, "but it's still ticking."

"Anyone else got a watch?" Bill asked.

None of the other survivors were able to produce a watch.

"Shit," Bill muttered. "Hold on, I need to think about this…"

The survivors all began thinking about the predicament as well.

"Wait, I got it," Nick said. "The studio I saw with the Witch had a working clock in the room. I remember hearing the seconds tick by and being grateful it didn't trigger her."

"Okay," Bill said. "I need you and Louis to head back to that studio and synchronize your watches to the wall clock, then report back here immediately. After that, we'll fan out and choose a time to coordinate our attack."

"Okay!" Louis said. "Let's go, Nick."

Nick rubbed his temple. "Okay, fine, I'll lead the way."

The two of them left the lobby, with Nick leading Louis to Studio C. On the way, they had a hushed conversation.

"Hey, Nick," Louis said, "do you ever stop and think about what you had before the Infection?"

"What? No," Nick said. "Despite outward appearances, my life was shitty before this damned Infection. When the apocalypse hit, all it was for me was a change of pace."

"Sure," Louis said, though he didn't fully believe it.

"Okay, here's Studio C," Nick said. They turned a corner and entered the studio. As Nick had reported, the wall clock was ticking away. Unfortunately...

"Where's the Witch?" Louis asked.

"Shh!" Nick said.

The two of them carefully looked through the studio, trying to find any sign of the Witch. After looking around for a good five minutes, they realized that she was nowhere in sight.

"Well, fuck me," Nick replied when he met Louis back at the entrance of the studio. "We're gonna have to deliver the bad news."

"Let's at least synchronize our watches while we're here," Louis said. "We can at least accomplish that much."

"Fine," Nick said, "but I don't see the fucking point now."

Nick and Louis took a minute to line up their watches to the wall clock. Once that was done, they snuck carefully back to the lobby.

"The fuck took you two so long?" Francis asked.

"Lower your damn voice," Nick said in a whisper. "When we got back to the studio the Witch I saw earlier was gone. We have no fucking clue where she went."

Francis looked about ready to punch someone, but he took a deep breath instead.

"Now what?" Ellis asked.

"We still have to try to kill the other two at least," Bill said. "The noise from that will undoubtedly lure the third Witch to at least one of us, after which we'll have to take her out."

"Sounds like a suicide mission to me," Nick said, "but I can't think of a better plan."

"If all else fails," Bill said, "we have some Molotov cocktails, which should slow the Witch's attacks. I say at this point we should split into two groups of four."

"I say we stick to the people we know best," Francis said. "Bill, Zoey, Louis and I can go after the one on the top floor. The rest of you can take the one Rochelle saw in the bathroom."

"Any objections?" Bill asked. No one spoke up. "Good. Everyone take a note of the time. It's 11:26 PM now. At 11:30 PM, on the dot, take out your Witch and get ready for the one who's been wandering around. Let's move."

Zoey began leading Bill, Louis, and Francis up to the top floor, while Rochelle led Coach, Ellis, and Nick to the ladies' room. Once Rochelle brought them to the restroom door, she, Nick, and Coach started to go on, but Ellis hesitated.

"The hell's your problem?" Nick asked in a whisper.

"I can't go in there," Ellis said. "That's the girls' bathroom."

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Nick spoke up again. "That is the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard. Get your ass in there."

Nick stepped behind Ellis and shoved him in the bathroom with Rochelle and Coach. They were able to hear the Witch still moaning in the far stall.

"Coach, get ready to open that stall door very carefully," Rochelle said. "Nick, you got the time?"

"11:29 and ten seconds," Nick said.

"Okay," Rochelle said. "Go, Coach."

Coach pushed the stall open as slowly as he could muster. The door creaked loudly as it opened, and the Witch inside was starting to grumble. She did not attack, however, so the four survivors positioned themselves at the stall door, ready to fire.

"Counting down from ten," Nick said. "Nine...eight…"

"Shit," Ellis muttered.

"Be quiet," Rochelle said.

"Five...four...three...two...one...now!"

When Nick said "now," the four of them shot the Witch all at once. She flailed for a few horrifying seconds, then fell limp. The survivors stayed completely still for a few moments to make sure she was dead.

"Somebody wanna check her pulse?" Nick asked.

Rochelle punched him in the arm but then gave him a smile. "That's one down," she said.

"Did anyone hear if the other crew got their Witch?" Coach asked.

"No, but we better hope they did," Rochelle said.

Zoey led Bill, Francis, and Louis up a few flights of stairs.

"I hope this Witch didn't also go missing," Louis said.

"Me, too," Zoey said. "What time do you have?"

"11:28," Louis said. "How far away is this hallway?"

"Not far. We'll make it," Zoey said.

When they reached the hallway, they could see the Witch wandering aimlessly. The four survivors took aim, while Louis kept a close eye on his watch. "Thirty seconds," he whispered.

Nobody even dared to breathe as the clock counted down. Their stomachs were fluttering, but they remained resolute.

"Five...four...three...two...one…"

Francis fired at one, but the other three had not fired yet. The Witch stumbled, but then shrieked loudly. The other three survivors began shooting, but even with the barrage of bullets, the Witch charged towards them. Finally, when she was close, Francis aimed a shotgun shell at her head. That shot made her collapse to the floor and stop moving.

The four of them took a deep breath, ears still perked in case that missing Witch came to investigate. When it was clear nothing else was coming for them, Bill smacked Francis in the arm.

"You shot too soon!" he said in a harsh whisper. "You're lucky you hit her, or one of us might be dead by now."

"I thought we were going at one," Francis said.

"Clearly, we were not," Zoey said, "but everyone needs to be quiet. We still have a Witch wandering around here."

"Let's head back towards the lobby," Bill said. "Hopefully the other four have the same idea, and then we can regroup."

The four of them crept slowly back towards the stairs. They took the time to look inside the rooms they had passed, though they knew that if the third Witch had been that close, it would have come running earlier.

"We should try to check out Studio C again," Louis suggested as they went back down the stairs. "Even if that other Witch left, we might find some clues about where she went.

"Good idea," Bill said. Once they went back down to the first floor, Louis led the way back to the studio.

When they entered, they split off and started looking for some clues about where the Witch could have gone. Unfortunately, they were not able to turn up anything promising. When it became clear that the search for clues was a deadend, they regrouped at the entrance.

"How the hell are we gonna find this Witch?" Francis asked.

"I don't know," Bill said, "but panicking isn't gonna solve anything."

"Everyone quiet, I hear footsteps," Louis said.

The four survivors lifted their guns and swept their flashlights around. Finally, Bill pointed his flashlight towards the entrance and saw movement. For a moment, he almost thought about firing, but then he realized who he was seeing.

"False alarm, it's the other survivors," he said in a whisper.

"Wait," Nick said, "are you saying you almost shot us? Thanks a lot."

"Shut your pie hole, son!" Bill said. "We still haven't found the other Witch."

All eight survivors moved to the center of the studio.

"I say we hole up here for now," Coach said. "There's only one way into this room, so we should be able to fend off anything that comes in here."

"That's fine and all," Francis said, "but I'm not gonna feel good about this until we kill that damn Witch."

"I've got it," Zoey said.

"Got what?" Ellis asked.

"If we can't find this damn Witch, we need to lure her to us."

"As in…?" Ellis asked.

"As in we make a shit ton of noise so she has to come back here," Coach finished.

"That's insane," Nick said.

"Actually, I think this is the best option we've got," Bill said. "We wait for this damn Witch to find us, we're dead. At least this way we fight her on our terms."

"Okay, fine," Nick said, "but how are we gonna make enough noise to lure her here? This building's huge."

They looked around the studio and noticed in the corner a vinyl record player. They were also able to find a stack of records.

"We can play a record on full blast," Ellis said. "That'll get her attention for sure." Ellis started sifting through the pile.

"The fuck are you doing?" Nick asked. "Just grab one at random and let's go."

"Nah, Nick, we need to pick the best soundtrack for the job." Ellis said.

"For Christ's sake," Nick replied. "Fine, but hurry it up."

"There we go!" Ellis said. He put the record on the player and started the machine, being sure to crank the volume at full blast.

"Freebird," Coach said, the first to recognize the record Ellis chose. "Excellent choice."

The music blared loudly for a minute or two, but the Witch did not come to investigate.

"You don't think she, like...left the building, do you?" Ellis asked.

"I don't think so," Bill said. "Give it some time."

Finally, after another minute, they heard a wailing noise. Ellis, Francis, and Louis had their cocktails ready to throw.

"We should only need one of these to burn her," Francis said. "Let me be the one to go first."

"Why?" Ellis asked.

"Something to do with that dream I was having earl...actually, never mind, not important."

"I hear her getting closer," Rochelle said. "Francis, get ready."

Finally, they saw the Witch hurdling for the door. Francis threw his cocktail, and as the fire erupted the Witch began shrieking in pain.

"Shoot! Shoot!" Bill yelled. The survivors peppered the Witch with bullets. She was flailing all around the room, the burning sensation disorienting her. She stumbled backwards and landed dead on top of the record player. The needle was thrown off of the vinyl disc, and the music stopped. After a moment, the record player and the vinyls next to them caught fire.

"Shit!" Ellis yelled. "Someone put that shit out!"

"Hold on," Zoey said. She looked through the room to try to find a fire extinguisher. Finally, she spotted one in the opposite corner. She grabbed it, hustled to the fire, and shot the extinguisher until the fire was out completely. Everyone stood still for a moment to make sure nothing else was coming towards them, but then they finally allowed themselves a moment of rest.

"Damn!" Ellis said. "I was gonna save some of these records as souvenirs."

"Priorities, son," Bill said. "We're lucky to be alive. Let's head back to the entrance and try to get a little more shut-eye before the morning."

The eight survivors, now worn out after their ordeal, dragged themselves back to the lobby. There were, thankfully, no signs of any more Witches in the vicinity.

"I'll take the next watch," Bill said. "The rest of you get some shuteye."

The other seven survivors had no objection to this. They lay down on the ground again, hoping to get at least a few more hours of rest. Bill sat near the entrance, let out a low sigh, and silently cursed himself for running out of cigarettes.