[b]Shannon - Haywood/Civilian Apartments - Shan/Ryder/James/David/Valentina/Polyester[/b]

The buzzing inside the apartment building felt way too loud. The building wasn't the biggest they had, so Haywood's civilians were forced to pack together, crowding both the hallways and the scant few apartments. No one could keep quiet and the sounds of distant gunshots kept everyone on edge. "What's going on?" some asked. "It's finally over, isn't it?" Shannon had no answers for them. No one had any answers.

She was huddled in one of the apartments with James close at her side. She had been wallowing in the fact that she was largely useless to Daniel, her arm still in a sling and forced to hide away with the other civilians. Slowly, she began to realize that it was important for her to be here. What state would James be in if she was out on the front lines? The boy was quiet for now, but he had practically had a death grip around Shannon's arm. There was also Polyester to consider, the quiet guy who for now looked about nervous enough to throw up. It was a similar look plastered on the faces of everyone around Shannon. For most of them, Haywood had been a place of constant strife and hardship. None of them could find the courage to look at this situation in a hopeful light.

Then the inevitable happened. "They're in! They're in!" Shouting could be heard outside, sending everyone in the apartment into a frenzy. Shannon swore under her breath and held James close to her as everyone began streaming into the hallway. As the door opened, the shouting increased in volume and Shannon could see civilians shoving past each other in order to get away. In the chaos, faint moaning could be heard.

"Guys, stay close to me," she said, following the other civilians outside. When she reached the threshold, a man ran into her, almost knocking her to the ground. He didn't even bother to offer an apology as he stumbled back on to his feet and continued running. Though Shannon couldn't see what has happening at that end of the hallway, the screaming gave her a good idea. She looked behind her to make sure Polyester was following, but found him still back inside the apartment, his eyes set firmly on the ground. "Poly! Come on!" she called. Though he didn't look up, he quickly fell in behind James and her.

Shannon cautiously stepped forward and fell in with the stream of runners. As they were on the first floor, the two ends of the hallway both went to exits out of the apartment building. To Shannon's right was a line of apartments and to her left was a line of windows. As she neared the second exit, she saw walkers banging against the glass. "Turn around!" someone suddenly screamed. "They're here too!" Despite these words, the civilians continued rushing toward the exit like a rapid river. It wasn't until walkers burst through the doors and fell into the crowd that the stream began to slow. Everyone began to pull back and head for the stairwell, pushing Shannon and James along for the ride.

A sudden breaking of glass was heard and walkers began to poke through the windows. Some grabbed fleeing civilians while others fell into the hallway. In an attempt reorient herself, Shannon shoved against the wall of the hallway and pulled James close to her. She called out for Polyester, but she barely heard her own voice over the uproar. It only took a few precious seconds for her to spot him, but by then it was already too late. Poly had been grabbed by one of the walkers in the window and was bitten in the neck soon after. He screamed out in anguish, but all Shannon could do was follow the others up the stairwell.

She passed others who had hurt themselves heading up the stairs. One woman had been trampled in the chaos. James let out a yelp at the sight, but Shannon was quick to push on to the second floor. There, she saw some people move to hide in the apartments, but most of the crowd was heading further upward to the final floor of the building. She moved to follow them, but paused when she saw a little girl at the foot of the stairs. It was the little girl with the eye patch who had pulled a gun on Shannon and Daniel days before. She and the others with immediate medical conditions had been brought to the third floor, but Valentina must have run off from them. Of course, now the girl just looked shell-shocked and lost amongst the chaos. "James, take her hand," Shannon commanded. Thankfully, the little girl took James' hand without complaint and the trio headed further up the stairs.

On the third floor, the remaining survivors had crowded at the back of the hallway. Presumably some had decided to hide in the remaining apartments. Shannon spotted David Johnson in the hallway, the doctor who had fixed up her arm when she first arrived in Haywood. He was speaking with the raider woman in the wheelchair and two others Shannon was unfamiliar with. The girl of the pair caught Shannon's attention in particular, as she was wearing a strange backpack with what appeared to be an oxygen tube connecting it to her nostrils. David turned around and let out a sigh of relief upon spotting Valentina. "There you are," he said, looking down at Valentina. He then looked to James and said, "You two go hide with the others." James nodded silently and led Valentina away.

With the moaning still echoing from down the stairs, Shannon reached out and grabbed David by the shoulder. "We need to barricade the stairs," she said, unable to hide the quiver in her voice.

The doctor nodded. "I thought so too. You go join the others and I'll get all the able bodied people we have working on that."

"I'm able bodied," Shannon said, even though David was looking directly at her sling. He shook his head.

"No time to argue."

As David went around to asking people to move furniture out of the apartments and to pile it on the stairs, Shannon began to head downstairs. Someone had to tell the people on the second floor to move up to the third floor. However, fresh screams stopped the girl in her tracks and she realized the walkers had already made it to the second floor. "Crap!" she exclaimed, practically jumping back up to the third floor. "There's no time! Hurry, everyone!"