Momentarily safe, the adrenaline rush left him as quickly as it had kicked in. His hands began shaking and his breaths came short and ragged. He was vaguely aware of the group speaking, but all noise faded into the background. Things began to blur and his eyes glazed over as his mind drifted. 

[i]"Oy, what's-yer-name, our pal here needs help up these stairs. I don't think she'll make it on her own. Besides, we need to go up to get somewhere safer, which is anywhere but here. If there's an alternate route out of the school somewhere else, I say we head in that general direction, but we ain't goin' anywhere until she gets help."[/i]

His eyes focused and he snapped back to reality. He'd almost had a panic attack. Those had come regularly since getting back from Afghanistan. The odd thing was, though, that for whatever reason, being under pressure or in a stressful situation seemed to alleviate the stress. Dismissing the thought, he spoke to the woman. 

"Yeah... uh... It's Alex." All assertiveness gone from his voice. He'd heard a small voice pipe up with the idea of searching for supplies. It'd be a fruitless search. The only place with supplies of any use would be the med bay, not schoolkid's desks or lockers. He looked to the elderly woman, who seemed to have somewhat regained her vigor. It was obvious it was all a facade though. She was running on fumes. 

Distant footsteps echoed down the shadowy corridor, accompanied by a quiet symphony of quiet groans. The others hadn't seemed to have heard yet.  Alex had been about to mention it when a stranger came hurtling towards them, a look of blind panic painted on his face. The stranger barreled into them, seemingly too flustered to say anything. 

If Alex didn't do something, they were all dead. But he found himself unable to think. The usual anxiety and fear had cast a suffocating fog over his mind and he couldn't seem to formulate any sort of plan. Luckily, (As unlikely as it may seem!) The old lady had taken the lead. There was life in her yet! Checking he had one in the chamber of his glock, he followed behind her, wondering just what it was she had in mind. Wether she had a plan, or was simply guiding them deeper and deeper into the school, trapping them and sealing their doom.