[hr][h1][color=DimGray]Sam Clarke[/color][/h1]

[@Mr Allen J] 
[@He Who Walks Behind] 
[hr]

Sam followed Agent Gallus into the alley, Nightingale right behind him. His gun was on full auto now, and he sprayed blindly into the crowd of dead, aiming for the heads. He didn't worry about hitting civilians; if they were in that crowd, they were good as dead anyways. Unfortunately, bullets don't last forever, and as Sam loaded his last clip (he only brought two of regular bullets as he didn't expect an armed terrorist attack), he began to panic. As he had seen before, Serum 17 did nothing to the dead, and the bullets themselves were a temporary solution to a permanent problem. A zombie lunged forward and dove towards his knees. Sam drove the stock of his rifle into the creature's skull and then stomped on its head until it stopped moving. Panting, he fired his last three-round burst into an advancing zombie's head. The creature fell to the ground and then got back up, the left side of its skull no longer present. He pulled the trigger of the rifle, and a clicking sound let him know that he was out of luck. "Well fuck." Sam muttered. He let the rifle drop, its strap causing it to hang limply from his right shoulder, and drew his handgun. He began firing into the crowd of dead once more. 

"I can't do this much longer!" he yelled at no one in particular "I'm running out of bullets!" He was fully visible now, as there was no point in hiding when he was firing a gun as fast as he could. Just as things seemed most hopeless, the fog cleared and the zombies fell to the ground, collapsing into piles of ash. Sam remained motionless for a moment, his gun still raised in case this was a trick. When nothing happened after a few seconds, he holstered the gun, and let out a sigh of relief. He leaned back against the wall with his hands pressed to his forehead, just panting. 

"KINGFISHER CORMORANT, this is ALBATROSS. Do you copy, over?" a voice spoke from Sam's earpiece. Sam sighed and held the button on the side of the piece. 

"I'm here, ALBATROSS," he replied " I managed to survive the zombie apocalypse in one piece. What's the situation?" 

"Camera feeds show that the Fiends retreated in the fog. We are unable to get any sort of reading on them. Unfortunately, we'll have to let them go for now. CONDOR's unit is attempting to track them down." 

"Roger ALBATROSS. What do I do for now then?" Sam asked. On the other end, he could hear someone whispering in ALBATROSS' ear. 

"I was just given word that the NEST Director wishes to speak to you personally, CORMORANT," ALBATROSS said "One moment." The line was filled with static for a few seconds, and then another voice came on. 

"KINGFISHER CORMORANT, this is Director Caryl. Do you copy?" The woman's voice said. 

"Roger, Director. I copy," Sam replied "How can I help you?" 

"In the course of the attack, Agent Gallus acquired an extremely important package. Considering that we just experienced the biggest single gang attack on a civilian area in NEST history, we need to make sure that this package is delivered safely. You and your trainee are to escort Agent Gallus to NEST Headquarters. The number one priority is to protect that package, even if Agent Gallus herself is killed. It is imperative that the package arrive at NEST Headquarters intact. Got it?" 

"Roger that, Director," Sam said "We'll make sure it gets there." The comms clicked off. Sam turned to Gallus. 

"Welp Agent Gallus, looks like Director Caryl just made me your bodyguard from the time being. We need to get whatever package that you have back to base pronto." As he began to walk towards the end of the alley, he nudged Anastasia with his elbow. 

"Thanks for the assist, Nightingale," he said "Once all this shit is over, I'll have to buy you a beer." 

[hr][h1][color=forestgreen]Eva Chilver[/color][/h1][hr] 

Eva had never been more terrified in her life. As the fog enveloped the fair, she felt some powerful and unnatural force fill the air around her. She nearly squirmed as she felt the force move through the air. She looked out from under the picnic table to see a dead man limping towards her, dragging his broken leg behind him. She had to cover her hands with her mouth to keep herself from screaming. Two more converged near her, and soon the table was surrounded. She was terrified, and Orion snuggled against her side for comfort. The grass grew tall to protect her, but the creatures seemed still able to detect her. They reached the picnic table and began to shake it from side to side, unsure as to how to reach the girl underneath. One zombie even had the bright idea of biting the table, and some of its teeth stuck in. Eva closed her eyes and pictured a fresh summer day, a warm breeze blowing past her face, carrying with it the smell of fresh-cut grass. She reached out to the grass around her, and gripped a few of the tall blades tightly, pleading for assistance. After a few moments, the smell of grass shrouded her scent. The zombies stood perplexed, wondering how their meal had been replaced by grass, and then wandered off to terrorize someone else. Eva breathed a sigh of relief and let go of the grass; the smell still remained. 

She laid this way for the entirety of the zombie attack, hiding in the grass with the smell protecting her. Orion growled at a few stray undead, but none came close enough to be a threat. Soon the fog faded and the dead collapsed into dust. The disappearance of the force told Eva that it might be safe to come out now. She heard at least two dozen sirens in the distance, and police were scrambling all over, looking for something that was no longer there. As she crawled out from under the bench, the smell of grass faded and the tall bladed flopped over, crushed under their own weight now that they no longer needed to protect the Earth Mother. She began to wander around, Orion at her feet, looking for somewhere to go.