It would seem as if I have once again found burning conviction in my characters. Let's just hope others still do.

Chapter 15: Like Blood

"Cindy?"

She turned to him, but he had no idea what kind of response he was expecting. Perhaps a screech, or bloodshot eyes? His mind of was making room for the worst, but an answer was not what he received. The Witch appeared to be uninterested in replying, instead staring intensely at him. From this angle, it was quite clear there was blood on her claws, but in a very peculiar manner. They somehow seemed shorter and more damaged, even more so than the last he had seen them.

She approached, rapidly creating tension between the two of them. Louis thought of backing off, but his faith got the better of him. If she was to go berserk right now and tear him to pieces; he only had himself to blame. However, she instead dropped towards him, resulting to Louis having to break her fall. She was still not speaking a single word, but instead elected to stop moving altogether.

Louis was not sure of how to take this, but the situation at hand had him advancing quickly. As Cindy did not appear capable of moving, he would him to do it for her. This would render him completely helpless should opposition arose; but regardless of what might have happened inside this room, there was no chance of her being left behind. At the very least she was conveniently light, expected of someone of her perceived age. Off he went, trying to escape the building as quietly as possible. It is extremely likely that those two gun shots before had drawn an entire hundred metres worth of infected towards them, and it was high time they left.

…

"What on Earth is going on?" Francis was on edge. Regardless of whatever they have gone through for the last two months, nothing could quite compare to the feeling of possibly having to be involved in a fire fight. The problem was that it seemed the firing had already started even before they showed up, and if worse came to worse the people they came to save could have been caught in the crossfire.

"I don't know, but I do know I don't like the sound of it." Zoey had little patience to wait around any longer. The situation was already heating up, and another minute lost is another minute they have yet to find their friends. This was a far bigger facility that they have previously thought, and it was delaying their efforts greatly. It was a safe enough choice to start with, but it would seem there are hardly any merits left for it. "We're running.

"

"Are you sure about this?" Despite the consideration, Francis got his gun prepared already, as he already knew the answer.

"We don't really have much of a choice in the matter." With that, the two sprinted towards the end of the hall. They were very much still trying not to draw unnecessary attention to themselves, but being battle ready was essential. They heard those shots clear as day, which mean there will soon be expected company. The only thing left to determine is whether or not they will gain some allies in fending those off, or simply more enemies.

Encountering nothing along the way, they soon found themselves inside the yard, in the middle of the facility. The infected mass can now be heard approaching from the outside, and they knew something had to be done. What caught their eyes first, however, was the two downed men across on the other side of the building. One was not moving. The other, armed, appeared to be barely able to. They were not sure of how to engage this scene, as one wrong move could create meaningless deaths, especially with the armed man's frantic state.

Nodding, they decided to slowly handle the situation, easing themselves towards the injured men. The last thing anyone wanted was to have random bullets flying. What they did not account for, however, was to be caught off guard.

"Who are you people?" The two could feel their heads being stared down by cold gun barrels, and slowly forced to turn around. Just from where they came, stood a woman seemingly in her late thirties, with an assault rifle by her side, adequately staring them down. With the way she was exerting both dominance and self-control; one would guess she play a significant part in the survival of this residence, perhaps even as their leader. "What are you doing here?"

"We do not wish to intrude, really." Francis spoke. With the first impression not going very well, he actually felt like he was going to be a better person to converse with this woman than Zoey would be. They both seemed far too ready to blow each other's head off at the slightest movement for this to be a fruitful conversation otherwise. "We just came trying to find our friends."

"Why are you heavily armed then?" It was the truth, no getting around it. This woman seemed oblivious to any reason why there would be other parties inside the premises. This suggested her being uninvolved in this whole ordeal, but that was just a guess. "I dare say this place is far from the door."

"We have a reasonable suspicion that our friends have been kidnapped." Zoey was the one to speak this time, hoping to be at least somewhat peaceful as far as this encounter is concerned. As hot-blooded as she was right now, priorities were abound. "But by the way you talk it doesn't seem you're at all aware of this."

"I have no idea what you are even talking about." She replied, hesitantly. Perhaps it was a bit of a stretch of a lie, so she had to think a bit. "I do not want this to turn into a shooting, so if you would just..."

"Jess..." As if he overheard the conversation, the downed armed man tried to speak.

"Oh my god Dave!" The woman had only now noticed the presence of the people on the other side. She seemed to be quite aware of their identities, confirming that she was indeed part of this group, but what happened here was anyone's guess. "Don't you dare move."

Carefully, she circled around the Zoey and Francis, in order to get to the door on the off-side.

"Dave, who did this to you?" Her most obvious suspicion was cast upon the two before her, but there was still time to explained. She was ready, but not foolish, as they did not seem like the type to react too violently to hostile strangers such as herself. She glanced down, only to find even more horror awaiting. "George too..."

"'ukin... Josh..." Dave's words, while cut and unfocused, was enough to give her the information she needed. She wanted to help him and tend to his wounds, but there was still the matter of those two to take care of. She was less fearing of them being hostile, but caution was still an extreme priority. Nothing stopping them from shooting her should she turn away, even if they did not appear to be the ones who shot George and Dave.

"Hang in there Dave!" She tried her best for the moment, because it was obvious he was going through shock. What needed her attention now was to make peace of the situation. "If you two could discard your weapons and help me..." This was no time for pride. "Please!"

As those two motioned to lower their weapons, so did the woman. The three, still with guns hanging off one side, rushed to the injured. The woman tended to Dave, while Francis hovered to George to check on his well-being. It was as gloom as he expected.

"This man didn't make it." He said, with a concerning look. All three look at each other with a certain degree of sadness and concern. The time for contemplation was not to be, as growls and footsteps were getting closer, in large numbers. "Damn it, they're coming."

The woman quickly double-checked on George, and came to the same conclusion. She seemed heart-broken, but still determined.

"My name is Jessica." A quick introduction was long overdue. "I need your help, can you help me get Dave out of here?"

The other two were somewhat surprised at how willing they were to help. However, they still needed to know something first.

"Dave, did you or your group take two people back today." He nodded, also indicating how he was barely able to speak any more. "Where are they held?"

His arms raised towards a section on the leftmost side of this part of the building, and that was all the information Zoey knew she was going to get. Gun once again in hand, she dashed off. Francis knew it had to be done, but it was also fairly important not to compromise this position. He and Jessica carried Dave up somewhat clumsily, as the man was fairly large.

"Do you have anywhere for us to escape to, or hide in?" He inquired. This place was relatively big and well-built, and considering the fact that this group had been holding themselves here for quite a few months must mean that there was adequate preparations for cases like this.

"We have a safe room prepared, yes."

"Good, we'll leave for it as soon as she comes back."

Jessica was certainly impatient, but all she could do for the moment was to try and stop Dave's wound. She needed Francis' help if they were to be able to move him, and he was not moving without his companion.

…

"Cindy? Louis?" Zoey had no more time for sneaking around. With the greatest threat right around the corner she needed to find those two fast. Going towards the direction that was pointed at, she only saw yet another corpse. Thankfully it was of someone unknown to her, but the mannerism of his death bothered her greatly. This was no place that the infected could have gotten in, as his body was already getting cold. However his death was of being viciously attacked, instead of bullets like the two she came across earlier. This undoubtedly placed quite a bit of fear in her, but she still needed to do something. The blood trail left behind at least gave her a decent chance at pursuing whoever left this room after this man's death, and she did. It was the only lead she had, and only half of her wanted it to be correct.

…

Louis found himself at the back door of the building, from which appeared to be breakable. However, the growling of the infected horde was no at all far off from this point, and it was perfectly reasonable to expect him to run into them the first moment he stomped his door down. The situation kept on getting worse still, as there did not seem to be an alternate path but back, and he certainly did not have the number of free limbs required to fight off even a small group, with Cindy weighing him down. The growls outside were no doubt getting closer, and he had to make an immediate decision.

Out of options, Louis knew he had to turn back. The door was already rumbling after the first few seconds, confirming that his choice was indeed correct. He was not quite sure where to go from there, though, as soon enough this would lead him back to the yard, ultimately voiding this entire run. Still, the luxury of choice was not something he had at the moment.

The way back was relatively fine, so much so that it actually gave him some time to think. He was not sure of what happened in that room, or what was happening now with those who reside here, but nothing quite worry him as much as Cindy right now. She was clearly conscious, but only her eyes wander. Her entire body seemed so powerless and frail, despite past experiences telling him that such a thing was quite impossible. What would have happened during the time he was out that would cause such a thing. Thinking back, it was safe to assume that the two of them were captured at the camp. Louis seemed quite normal as he would take it, but Cindy certainly would have set off a few red flag with her appearance. While she was given an amount of clothing to work with, her not being fully human was not hard to discern. Those claws, those eyes, those long slender limbs, all reminded too well of what a Witch was, and even more so what she could be like if she ever lost control. That time might have already come, if that holding room was of any indication.

"Louis?" He snapped to attention. He would recognise that voice anywhere.

"Zoey!" He suddenly felt light again, as they came into contact not so long after their voices were heard. The teenage girl immediately grabbed him for an brief embrace, before glancing down worryingly at the Witch in his arms.

"Is she hurt?" The tone was certainly disheartening if it was not for the fact that it was a question. This came after she determined that Louis was of capable condition, of course.

"It doesn't appear to be so, but she had not spoken a word ever since I found her." Cindy was not doing much else but slightly leaning into him, while staring blankly at Zoey. It bothered everyone involved, but they had not the time for this at the moment. "We need to go."

"Of course!"

It was not long before they make it to Francis, but the run had not been the easiest. Passing through the corpse in the holding room again, Zoey and Louis shared a concerned look. Not much needed to be said, as Zoey's initial assessment regarding the circumstances of the man's death was informally confirmed. Louis also shared the fact that the back door had to have been broken down to the infected by now, and they were essentially surrounded.

The yard was about the same as they left it, with Dave still barely holding on. Jessica had appeared to successfully stopped the bleeding, but the man was going in shock regardless. She was trying her best to keep him awake, at least until they get some medication. His gun had long since been confiscated, as one would not be wise to trust his motor skill at this moment.

"Come, we must go now!" Jessica lead them back into the building near the entrance. It was the best place to be, according to her. She had helped settle a good amount of supply and medicine in the safe room here just in case of situations like this. What she did not expect, however, was to find the room already well lit.

"Open the door!" She repeatedly bashed on it. In the back of her head, she already vaguely knew the answer to the question everyone was asking, but she did not want to make any assumptions. Unfortunately, her worries were confirmed. A familiar turned up on the other side of the door, safe and sound inside that room. "Josh! Open the door!"

"I'm sorry." He cried. His female partner, Emmy, could be observed from afar, tending to what appeared to be an adolescent boy. "I cannot."

"What nonsense are you on about Josh?" Jessica was definitely losing patient. She could somewhat guess the reason, but all of their safeties were of greater concern at the moment. "Open this door right this instant! We don't have time for this!"

"Sorry Jess, but we have to protect our son." Josh hung his head. They could only assume he was talking about the boy, but for what reason could he not let them in? "We trust you but... we can't trust the rest of them."

"What on Earth? Dave is dying here!" Only now did it truly hit her. When Dave said Josh's name, it was not an expression of concern by any stretch. "Did... did you do this to him and George?"

"I'm sorry, I had to!" Josh collapsed onto his feet, disappearing from sight. However, his horse and choked-up voice could still be heard. "George... he found out about Dan... He was forcing us to throw him out?"

"Why?" Jessica was extremely confused. There was obviously something else that she was not getting. A secret that these people have been hiding. "What about Dan? What about your son?"

"He was bitten..." Emmy answered. Her voice could barely be heard, as if still wishing for reality to not be. Her arms wrapped tightly around that boy, and suddenly the secret was out. "It happened a week ago and... he had been having these seizures ever since."

"I see..." Jessica was at wit's end. She had nothing left to say. Her worst fears have come true, knowing that her entire group has completely fallen apart in one night. She only left for a few hours to scour the area, and came back to find the place in ruins. There was someone else currently unaccounted for, but she could not even wrap her head around that yet. "I don't suppose I can change your mind."

"I'm sorry, Jess." Josh was finally up on his feet, still his face was in his hands. "For everything I have done. We will pray for you. I promise that-"

"Dan?" Emmy's voice of surprise caught everyone off guard, as all of their attention was towards her and the boy in her arms. He squirmed violently, forcing his mother to exert a lot more force to calm him. "Honey calm down, please. Dear-"

It was but a brief moment, but the boy's teeth sunk into his mother's throat. It was violent and bloody, topped with the sense of disbelief from everyone outside the room, and even those within. As Emmy collapsed onto the safe room floor, everyone took a step backward. The boy's bloodshot eyes were now on his father. Josh had his back against the wall, but he knew it was over.