Nicholas found himself staring into the distance as he walked, barely listening to Mattie speak. He often did this when a story was being drawn out more than it needed to be, or when he could already guess what the person was going to say next. Mattie seemed to a be a fairly awkward person - overenthusiastic and...odd in her language. He kind of thought that she would play the awkward geek role perfectly in a modern sitcom.

"Uh-huh," he hummed, as a vague signal that he was still "listening" to her. "Yeah, these...these things are pretty smart. I watched them kill my dad. They didn't even have the desire to, like, eat him or anything." He turned and looked at her, walking backward. "They're not like what you see in the movies. They don't feed. They just...kill."

He shrugged. "So far, nobody in my group has gotten hurt," he said, once again failing to mention his mother's illness. "I think I already told you, it's just me and my sister and, uh, my mom right now."

As they approached the metal building, Nicholas gestured at the door. "It's not even locked, but none of them have tried to get in yet. It's like they're pushed away from this place. I dunno what it is." He looked around cautiously, "And it doesn't seem like any of them are around here, right now, at least."

He knocked on the door as a warning for his sister, "Alisa, it's me. I brought someone."

To be completely honest, leaving his little sister alone with his infected mother wasn't the best idea Nicholas had ever thought up. He thought giving the ten-year-old girl a rifle would be enough protection for her, even though she'd never used a firearm in her life. Still, it was a shock when he opened the doors only to be charged at by Alisa, who was now a member of the living dead, along with their mother.

"Oh, shit!" he gasped, instinctively lifting his leg and kicking her back as far as he could. "Oh God, oops. Alisa, I'm sorry. Oh my God," he put his hands to his face and pulled the doors shut again, but Alisa opened them right back up.

While he managed to duck past her and into the warehouse, now he had his mother to worry about. He looked back at Mattie and saw Alisa heading for her as well, and of course, his rifle was not conveniently placed where he could just grab it and kill. No, it was all the way across the room.