III - In the Dark

-Day 4-

Lisa yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Well, today marks the fourth day since the infection has spread around the entire globe. Whether other cities are in surprisingly remarkable condition such as this metropolis is beyond my knowledge," said Lisa half-asleep.

"How'd you even know that?" Lucy asked.

"I knew that the infection for this apocalypse existed in the CDC labs and in laboratories around the world, but I never knew it would break out."

"Lisa, why didn't you say anything?" asked Lynn. "Matter of fact, why aren't you doing anything? Shouldn't you be helping the scientists make the cure or something?"

"Yes, however, when I proceeded to ask a group of soldiers to meet the supposed scientists, they guffawed like a bunch of numb minded idiots. I'm guessing they didn't take me seriously as a child genius."

"Well, what do you know about the infection?" Howard asked.

"Although the following information might not be much, it might prove essential nevertheless. First thing I am aware of is that the first confirmed outbreak of the infection spread first in the Hong Kong area of China, a week ago. In the three days after the first victim was infected, the infection spread everywhere else, appearing to be airborne, but not necessarily fatal. No, it is the bite of the infected that proved to be fatal. If the bite comes in contact with the skin tissues, the victim falls prey to the aggressive infection moving upwards to the brain, shutting down organ functions, though it appears that some functions remain. The infection still remains a mystery on how it keeps the body of an infected alive, even though the person itself dies. But I have a couple theories myself."

"Yeah, Bobby and I saw some of that," said Lori. "Police were shooting at people. They died, I know they died because they were literally shot in the heart. But they still arose from the dead, and attacked the police. Perhaps they were already infected?"

"Perhaps, and not to cause concern to anyone, but I am 87% sure that Lynn was infected by the same infection that caused all the undead to rise."

"Wait, I was infected by the infection? But I'm not dead yet," said Lynn, her face wrinkling with worry.

"It appears that your healthy immune system kicked in and did its job, but chances are that the infection remains in your blood and/or tissues. Which means…"

"If I die, I will become one of them. Great," said Lynn while looking down.

"Precisely, and I don't mean to be so blunt, but once you have reached cardiopulmonary death, there is no method of reviving you. You will either turn into one of the infected, or if you reach brain death, then you become a corpse on the ground. However, that doesn't mean we can't cure you while you are still alive. And hopefully the medical doctors are working on that cure overtime."

"Will the infection come back and kill me?"

"The infection is mysterious and I still have yet to collect the necessary data to make that conclusion, but it is possible that it can strike back. I highly doubt it though."

Lynn's face grew even more worried.

"Well, I think we heard enough," said Lincoln. "Let's go brush our teeth and then head downstairs and eat some breakfast."

The Louds, Santiagos, and McBrides headed downstairs. Lynn Sr. went inside the kitchen to help the cooks, and they served eggs and sausage. The families found many empty seats in the rectangular tables since it was still early in the morning. Benny came downstairs and waved at Luan before getting on the small line for breakfast. Sam also came downstairs and awkwardly waved at Luna. She went on the line and fixed her messy hair. Benny sat in a different table with his father, and often glanced at Luan. Sam grabbed her plate and sat by Luna. Lynn Sr. went to take a break and sat with the family.

"H-Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Loud. My name... my name is Samantha. You can call me Sam though. Nice– nice to meet you!"

Sam blushed slightly as she tried taking a few breaths.

"Hello, Sam. Nice to meet you too," said Rita in a very calm manner that relaxed Sam.

"You're Luna's friend right?" Lynn Sr. asked with a smile on his face, clueless about Luna's crush on her.

"Yeah. We formed a band a while ago."

Sam looked down and appeared quiet around Luna's parents. She avoided eye contact with them.

"You know, I'm in a band too. I'm a cowbell player. Maybe Luna told you before. Maybe she didn't, but anyways–"

"Dad! Is it really the time to talk about that?"

Lynn Sr. looked at Luna, who blushed a little out of embarrassment and the fact that she sat next to the girl she liked.

"Oh, sorry, honey... and Sam. I don't want to talk too much about myself. Go ahead. How'd you two meet?"

After an awkward conversation that went on for ten minutes, Sam grabbed her plate and threw whatever crumbs and leftovers she had in the trash can.

"Well, it was lovely to meet you guys," said Sam, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Talk to you later, Luna."

The whole table was silent. Luna was poking at her eggs, and then she looked up at Howard.

"You know she digs you, right?" Howard says, winking at her.

"I agree," said Rita. "Lincoln, weren't you going to go show this place to your younger sisters and Leni?"

Luna looked visibly confused and was left speechless. Lincoln slowly realized what was going on and grinned.

"Yeah, I did say that," said Lincoln. "Let's go Lucy, Lola, Lana, Lisa, and Leni. Yeah, Leni, you can carry Lily around."

Grinning, Lincoln led his sisters out of the building. Lori and Luan slowly took sips from their water cups, staring at Luna.

"Luna, I know you have a crush on Sam," said Rita.

"Wha... how?" gasped Luna.

"You kinda made it obvious, sweetie. We were never in the dark. You threw her name around when you mentioned who you liked. And I'm guessing there are no other Sams that you know of."

"I was going to tell you, b-but…" Luna struggled to get her words out.

"It's okay, sweetie. I know you probably feel uncomfortable about us knowing but there's nothing wrong with it! Love is love, and I know you got a lotta love to share. We just want you to be happy."

Luna started to tear up a little.

"Thanks, Mom," she said, hugging her and smiling.

"Yeah, I'm so glad I don't have to worry about you treating women wrong," said Lynn Sr. "Luckily, your sisters aren't going after random boys."

"You do know I was a random boy that your daughter went after, Mr. Loud?" Bobby chuckled.

"Yeah, but I had a feeling about you. A good feeling. You remind me of Lincoln, the way he cares for people. But I see it with you the way you care for Lori."

"Dad, you are aware that Luan is literally sneaking glances at a random boy over there, right?" Lori said with a grin.

"Luan!" Lynn Sr. exclaimed.

"What, no, Lori! I'm, I-I, Benny's not some random boy! He's my friend," Luan stuttered while blushing heavily.

Lori giggled and then stared at Lynn with an evil grin on her face.

"Don't even think about it, Lori!" exclaimed Lynn. "Francisco is just a friend. My best guy friend!"

"Okay, okay, girls, no worries," said Lynn Sr. "Luan, I don't care, as long as he's your friend. If he's your friend, then he's not a bad guy. And LJ, it doesn't even sound like you're attracted to this Francisco guy."

"Yeah, sure," Lynn Jr. bashfully agreed.

"Hey, Lynn," said Lori. "Didn't you write Francisco a love–"

"Shut up!"

The families laughed except Lynn, who began to blush. Each member of the group realized that the apocalypse wasn't as bad as they thought.

Lincoln and some of his sisters were at Building B, where Lincoln was talking to his friends, including Tabby, and Leni was talking to Chaz.

"So, Chaz, I always wondered. What do you think about my clothes?" Leni asked with a very happy smile on her face.

"Chaz likes. Especially the color. It matches your personality and your beauty."

"Aww, thanks, Chaz!" Leni gushed.

She opened up one arm and hugged Chaz while holding Lily in her other arm.

Lucy and Rocky sat next to each other in a table.

"This isn't exactly how I imagined us meeting again," said Lucy.

"Yeah, but it's kinda cool, right?" said Rocky. "It's like we're living in a real-life horror film."

"Ah, yes, my favorite kind of films."

"Same here! And if these films know anything, then this place isn't safe at all. Zombies will break in and start biting people. We'll have to form a group and escape."

"That means more time for the both of us," smiled Lucy.

"Exactly! Unfortunately, that means people in our group might die, don't it?"

Lucy nodded.

"I wonder who'll be the first to die," said Rocky, looking at Lincoln's group.

Rusty shook a can of orange soda while listening to his friend.

"I wasn't really supposed to be here," said Liam. "You see, the farm's pretty safe and we coulda' lived there. We got fences and lotsa' space. Plus, we can grow our own crops there. But then you see, my mee-maw's a lil' bit delusional. She thinks the zombies out there can be reasoned with. I may reckon' they're still a lil' bit alive, but that don't mean to bring these zombies into our own land. She somehow stuffed 'em in a barn, and after my pa found 'em, he told us to pack our stuff up 'cause we were goin' to the city. However, my ma stayed back at the farm to take care of my lil' sis. She's sick ya' know."

"Harsh luck," said Tabby. "I'm sure she'll be okay. Missing the ol' farm?"

"Yeah, but it ain't so bad here. You bein' here– makes this place a darn lot better."

"Aww, Liam. This place is also better with you too."

"I don't know about that," interjoined Zach. "Something ain't right about this place."

"What do you mean?" asked Lincoln.

"Look at how these soldiers observe us. In and out of the buildings."

The kids looked at the soldiers near the doors.

"Well, they do care about our safety," said Rusty. "I heard they rescued this girl like four days ago outside the city. Heard she was brought in alone 'cause her family was dead."

"Dang..." said Tabby.

"What about the lack of government presence?" questioned Zach. "Y'know, besides the military."

"I saw the mayor just earlier," said Tabby. "She's here."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's a lotta cops here too," said Lincoln.

"Well, how about the fact that they set this place up really fast?" added Zach. "How the heck did they do that so fast?"

"Now, that's flabbergastin'," said Liam.

"But true," said Lincoln. "How did they set up this place fast?"

Zach leaned in close to his friends.

"I got a theory," he whispered. "I think this whole zombie thing is manmade. They're controlling the population. These soldiers? They want to control our every move. Pretty soon, they're gonna dispose of us. Only someone who would know about an incoming outbreak would prepare for it sooner."

"Okay, now that's just crazy talk," said Rusty.

"Yeah, that's enough conspiracy theories for ya'," said Liam.

"You gotta chill on the YouTube videos, dude," said Tabby.

"Dudes, I just got this feeling. I don't really know how to explain it!"

Zach sighed and took Rusty's soda. He opened it and got a gush of soda on his face. He frowned.

"Oh, sorry, dude," said Rusty.

"You know, Zach," said Lincoln, "I think you may have a point..."

Later, Lincoln and his sisters went to Building C. They looked around the crowd of strangers when, suddenly, they heard a small girl's voice.

"Lisa!" yelled the voice.

"Darcy! It seems that you have made a safe passage to this shelter! I'm happy for you!"

"Yeah, me too!" exclaimed Darcy, hugging Lisa. "Want to talk about unicorns and giraffes? You can stay here if you want to."

"Well, my presence is not required by anyone," said Lisa. "Sure, we can talk for an hour or so."

"Yay!"

"We'll come back in an hour," said Lincoln.

Lincoln and his sisters headed back to Building A, leaving Lisa and Darcy alone to spend some quality childhood time together.

-Day 9-

All the adults in Building B, C, and D have visited General Black in his office in a small building in the center of a roundabout in the Safe-Zone. It was the parents' turn in Building A. The kids were outside in the basketball court, when they saw General Black enter the building. They knew he was giving the same speech he gave to the other buildings, but in a way, they all sounded differently. After a few minutes, they saw General Black walk out of the building and head for his station. A few parents headed to his station as well.

"What do you think? Do you think our kids are comfortable enough in our room?" Rita asked Lynn Sr.

"I think some of them are. However, we do need a baby crib for Lily. The carriage and the bed is not going to be enough all the time," Lynn Sr. responded.

"I agree," said Rita. "We should visit General Black after lunchtime. Let the kids have fun playing basketball and hanging out for now."

"What about you guys?" Lynn Sr. asked the McBrides.

"Well, I think Clyde and us are comfortable in this place," said Harold. "We'll ask Mr. Black about any job offerings we can do to contribute to this community later."

"Someone's going to have to ask Bobby and his sister if they are comfortable with the room," said Rita.

"We'll do it," said Harold. "You guys have enough kids in your hands. We'll be Bobby and Ronnie Anne's guardians for the time being until their family arrives."

"Thanks, guys!" Lynn Sr. said.

After Lynn Sr. served all the food for lunch, he took off his hair net and told Sergei he would see him later. Finished with their lunch, the kids returned to the basketball court. Rita walked outside with Lynn Sr. to Black's station. Outside the station, three soldiers looked at the parents. A soldier with the name tag 'CPL. JADE' on her chest took off her shades.

"You two from Building A?" she asked.

"Yes, si– ma'am," said Lynn Sr.

The soldier raised an eyebrow before stepping away from the station door.

"You can go inside," said Corporal Jade.

Lynn Sr. and Rita walked inside the station. Inside, there were pictures of soldiers and battlefields, and even some newspaper articles about Black receiving awards. The station was the size of a large room. General Black was sitting at a desk in the center with ammo crates to his left and a box of grenades to his right. In the corner of the station lay a katana, a German Luger pistol, and an AK-47.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs…" said General Black, looking at his clipboard.

"Loud. I'm Rita Loud and this is my husband Lynn."

"Louds. What brings you fine people here? Is there an adjustment you wish for me to provide you two?"

"Well, when you say it like that... yes," said Lynn Sr. "We wish to have a baby crib, sir. For our youngest."

"Let's see here. Lily Loud?"

"Yes, sir."

"Where might she be?"

"Our eldest daughter, Lori, is taking care of her right now."

"The oldest caring for the youngest," said Black. "Must feel so rewarding to have all these wonderful children."

"Yeah, that's how we always feel," smiled Rita.

"You should. These kids are the future, aren't they?"

"They sure are," said Lynn Sr. "So, what do you say?"

"I say we get this man and woman a baby crib. Sergeant Hoover! Bring one of the baby cribs from Warehouse H-3 and carry it to…Floor 14!"

"Thank you, Mr. Black!" Rita said smiling.

"That's General Black for you! And you're very welcome. Expect the crib in a couple hours. Come back anytime when you need more adjustments," said General Black while shaking Lynn Sr. and Rita's hand.

Lynn Sr. and Rita headed out the station and back to Building A.

"Well, that was easy!" Lynn Sr. said.

"I'll say! Now all we have to do is wait for the crib to arrive," responded Rita.

At dinnertime, the kids were showering at the public locker rooms. Two soldiers were seen carrying a crib inside Building A. Sergei handed out trays of food, while Lynn Sr. cooked it. A strange man in a puffy vest with round glasses and a comb over watched everyone in the building while nervously shaking, exploring every motion that each person made. Lincoln, Lynn, Clyde, Ronnie Anne, and Lana came out of the locker rooms and headed for their room.

"This is for you, Tim," whispered the man.

Suddenly, the strange man stood up.

"I have a message to you all! No– FOR you all! Fuck the government! Fuck the authorities! Fuck the General! You have a right to know that this place is about to be–" screamed the man until he was tackled by a soldier.

The man was knocked out by the soldier and was carried out of the building. Everyone watched in shock and confusion at what just happened. The kids quickly hid by the edge of the building, watching the soldier drag the man into General Black's station. They watched in confusion as a soldier locked the door and stood guard outside of the station. They walked back inside the building, to see that the atmosphere was tense. Everyone was talking quietly amongst themselves.

"General! We got a Code Silver!" said one of the soldiers, whose name tag stated 'LT. LEAD'.

General Black opened a door that revealed a dark and dreary basement.

"Bring him over here."

Lieutenant Lead brought down the mysterious man and took off his glasses. The general strapped him to an iron table with a leather belt across his chest and arms. The lieutenant grabbed a bucket, filled it up with water, and splashed it on the man's face. The man awakened, instantly sweating, which went unnoticed as his face was already drenched from the cold water.

"AHH! Ahh! W-What am I doing here?" asked the man, his jaws quivering.

"You're in the basement of my station," said General Black, holding a Bowie knife. "Let me ask you a question. What do you know about us? And before you answer, just to let you know, you're not getting out of here alive. If you don't give me a good answer, I will make you suffer. So it's better to just cooperate with me."

"W-What are you t-t-talking about?" stuttered the man, swallowing really hard as the general stared at him.

The man struggled to get his hands inside his pockets as the leather belt continued to press his arms against his ribs. The general grabbed the man's fingers and bent them away from his palms, causing the man to yell in agony. Black reached into the man's pocket and grabbed a light switch coated in lead and copper wires connected to his vest.

"Hoho, what the fuck do we have here?" chuckled Black.

Black opened up the vest and found explosives inside. His eyes widened as he looked at Lt. Lead.

"Check for a deadman's switch," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," said Lt. Lead.

Lt. Lead checked the man's neck, arms, wrists, and legs, but there weren't any extra wires.

"No deadman's switch, sir. It's just a suicide vest."

Black pulled away the vest from the man.

"You thought you had us this time, huh?" Black smirked. "It's creative, I gotta admit. Still. A fucking stupid idea. Now you're going to die for nothing."

Lieutenant Lead put a towel over the man's face and grabbed a bucket. He filled the bucket with water and upon hearing this, the man began to fidget even harder. Lt. Lead walked to the table and poured the bucket slowly on the man.

The man's screams were muffled. His screams were then drowned out by his gasps. He was struggling to breathe.

Lt. Lead stopped pouring the bucket when he saw something drop from the man's left pocket of his pants. The man gasped and coughed heavily as Lt. Lead picked up the small object and gave it to Black. General Black took off the towel and showed it to the man.

"What is this! Answer truthfully so you don't waste both of our time."

"That USB has all the stuff...that I-I know about you-u guys. Please let me go. I won't let anyone know we were here," said the man, wondering if his efforts were futile.

Lt. Lead put the USB on his laptop. It displayed a video of the man spilling information about the soldiers. General Black watched as he loaded a Desert Eagle.

"Who told you about us? I need to know. Now!" General Black shouted as he pointed the Desert Eagle at the man's head.

"No one! I found all the stuff about you guys myself! I swear!" the man screamed.

General Black moved the pistol to his right and shot his shoulder, shattering the bones and forcing blood out of it. The man screamed and clenched his teeth, massively sweating buckets now. Lieutenant Lead grabbed the towel and poured the bucket of water on the man slowly. The man fidgeted and screamed as he flailed his legs. Black signaled Lead to stop as the man coughed out blood.

"Alright, alright, stop! I'll tell you! Just stop! Please!" shouted the man while catching his breath. "It's Crowley! Tim Crowley! I swear for real this time! Now can you please let me g–"

The loud bang from the general's pistol echoed in the basement.

"Jesus! General Black, you should've told me you were going to unload that Deagle on his fucking brains so I could cover my ears. Christ!" said Lt. Lead as he opened the basement door and headed out.

"It's just as I thought," said Black. "Tim Crowley."

The two gunshots were loud enough for the inhabitants of Building A to hear. They wondered if General Black executed that man that they dragged out fifteen minutes before.

"Ronnie! Bobby! Come here, guys!" Howard whispered loudly.

General Black marched inside Building A with the puffy vest in his hands. He stopped then held the vest up high. The vest, strapped with explosives, frightened some of the refugees in the building.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Today would've been the last day on Earth for you people. But thanks to the remarkable skills and quick thinking of our soldiers, we were able to stop a terrorist from destroying our home! Do not worry! My bomb squad were able to disable this vest, so I could demonstrate to you that there are still sick people in this world who are not the infected! These people want to destroy everything we value and under the circumstances that we are in, we are very vulnerable to these people! But fear not! We are now watching out for these bombers! If you see anything or anyone suspicious, please let us know! Oh, and one last thing! That terrorist won't be bothering us anymore!" proudly stated General Black.

As people started to clap inside Building A, a couple soldiers outside near the gate were chasing something. Or someone. A man with long, slick hair pulled out a pistol and shot the soldier guarding the gate in the chest. The soldier fell and groaned as his vest caught the bullet. The fugitive opened the gate and ran out. The soldiers pulled out their M4A1s and shot at him. After four seconds of constant gunfire, the man came to a stop. The soldiers ran up to his body. The body lied flat on his stomach with bullet holes in his back.

"Check his face," said Lt. Lead, rubbing his ears.

Pvt. Lukeman flipped the body, revealing exit wounds in his chest. He placed his fingers on the man's neck.

"No pulse," said Lukeman.

Lt. Lead took out a picture from his pocket and then looked at the man. He smiled. Then, he grabbed the man's M9 pistol, aimed it at the man's head, and fired it.

The soldiers returned inside the gate and contacted General Black with their walkie-talkies.

"Another terrorist down. And we got a couple biters out before they got here," said the voice in the walkie-talkie.

The people started clapping even harder, but some people only got more nervous. The general left, and the people went back to their normal business.

General Black walked out the gate and smiled as he approached the body. Corporal Jade placed a cotton swab inside the victim's mouth, collecting saliva. She then removed it and placed it in a tube, closing it tightly.

"This is no doubt Tim," said Black. "I'll see you in hell, Crowley."

The general then spit at the man's body before walking away. The general felt a sense of accomplishment after killing his longtime rival, Tim.

"Feed the body to the biters or something," he ordered.

The soldiers picked the body up and dragged it away from the traffic jam outside the gate.

In Building A, the nervous refugees chattered among each other. Harold and Howard McBride sat across Bobby and Ronnie Anne.

"So, Ronnie Anne and Bobby," said Harold. "We're going to be your guardians until your parents arrive. Would you guys like anything? Anything to adjust in our room?"

"Hmph. No," replied Ronnie Anne.

"No, thank you, Mr. McBride. As long as I know Lori is safe, I got nothing to change," said Bobby.

"You remind me so much of Clyde," sighed Howard.

"Bobby, can you watch Clyde for us?" asked Harold. "Howard and I are going to look for any jobs to help out in this safe-zone. This might take a while."

"Sure thing, Mr. McBride! Hey, Clydesdale, why don't we hang out for a little?"

"Uhh, sure thing, Bobby?" Clyde said, feeling awkward about hanging out with his former nemesis.

"We'll be right back, and go to sleep early!" said Howard, waving his hand as he walked with Harold out of the building.

The night grew darker and Harold and Howard entered the station.

"Hello, Mr…?" General Black asked.

"McBride. Harold McBride. And this is my husband, Howard McBride."

"Ahh. Mr. McBrides. What can I do for you lads?" General Black asked while opening a drawer and grabbing his Bowie knife.

"W-Well, we were look–looking to contribute to this community," said Harold, sweating a bit.

"Yeah, do you h-have any... umm... any jobs or volunteer... work?" asked Howard very nervously, inching closer to Harold.

General Black took out a spherical piece of wood and started carving it. He smiled at the men, and the atmosphere became more calm. Both men sighed in relief and smiled back.

"Sure, I got something for you guys. Lt. Lead! Let's bring these men downstairs. We got to show them the offerings we make to people like these men. I'm very glad you asked. You guys are going to make my job a whole lot easier," said General Black while opening the door for the basement, carving his wooden sphere.

"I'm glad we can help out!" expressed Harold happily.

Lt. Lead turned on the lights, revealing the basement. Upon viewing the body in the iron table, Harold and Howard felt chills up their spine.

"There's only one way you can contribute here," said General Black as he tossed his wooden sphere to the side of the basement, where all kinds of tools to hurt a human being lay.

He lunged the knife upwards towards Harold's stomach, and dragged the knife towards the right side of his stomach, ripping his abdomen and letting his guts slide out of his stomach. Wheezing heavily, Harold coughed blood out of his mouth and looked at Howard, struggling to say something before collapsing to the floor as blood poured out of his stomach. A massive puddle of blood formed around his torso. Howard looked in shock and started crying.

"No! What did you guys do!" cried Howard. "My-my...AH!"

General Black swung his knife across Howard's throat. Coughing heavily, Howard grabbed his throat and struggled to breathe. His hands became very red as the blood soaked his palms. He dropped to his knees, and while holding one hand to his throat, he moved towards Harold's dead body and collapsed. His lifeless eyes were now staring at his now-dead husband's eyes.

"Maybe if two married men were able to populate this world, then I would've given you guys a job," said General Black.

Each step of his boot on the concrete floor echoed in the basement. He knelt by their bodies and drove his knife into their skulls. He then stood up, walked to the side of the room, and grabbed his wooden sphere. His boots were lightly stomping on the wooden stairs as Lt. Lead turned off the lights and followed General Black up the stairs. Black took off his uniform, and wiped his knife on it. He grabbed a moist towel from his desk as Lt. Lead closed the basement door.

"What are we supposed to tell their kid?" asked Lt. Lead. "Clyde McBride– what do we tell him?"

"I got an idea," replied Black. "Why don't you rest in the quarters? We're done for tonight. Tomorrow, you and the others are going to execute the first step of Operation Exodus."

"Roger that," said Lt. Lead as he walked away.

Black grabbed his clipboard and a red marker. He wrote 'DECEASED' under the names of Harold and Howard McBride.