Steinway Plaza was lit only by the street lamps that lined either side. It was located only a few streets east of Riker's Island Bridge. The place felt like a void, empty of normal houses or any obvious safe spots. A lone man ran down the street, beads of sweat rolling down his frustrated brow. He wore coveralls, splotched with blue paint and a red sweat jacket. He looked behind him toward the main street to see a few ferals turning a corner into full view of the street lamp. His heart jumped and he groaned as he forced himself to run forward. One of the ghouls heard him and moaned loudly. Its blank eyes jumped rapidly around before it heard his steps pounding against the pavement. It lurched forward into a sprint in his direction.

	Long, sleek, black arms whipped out from around a fence and pulled the man in. A hand was put over his mouth to muffle his cries as he was pulled back toward a building. The two tucked into a corner. The captor whispered into is ear gently. [color=#c5b358]"Sshh..."[/color] The other man looked down at the blackened arms that held him and he started shaking uncontrollably. [color=#c5b358]"Hold still, be quiet."[/color] The captor commanded. The group of ferals searched around the fence, sniffing around and looking manically for prey. The man with the arms whispered one more time. [color=#c5b358]"Stay here."[/color] He let go of the poor runner and grabbed something along the floor. It clanked subtly in his claws. The runner looked wide-eyed at him, knowing no other way to answer aside from sitting there in a panic. The captor wound his right arm back and threw the bottle across the street. It crashed and shattered against a storage crate. Hyper ferals rubber-banded across the street, clawing and bashing at the large storage crate to find a way in.

	A black arm pulled the man up and started hastily dragging him to the back door of the building. The two slipped inside and went up a flight of stairs where they could watch the ferals from above.

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	Both of them stayed there in awkward silence for what seemed like hours. Gunfire permeated that period in regular intervals throughout the city. Finally the ghouls found some other noise to chase.  The man in coveralls piped up, clearly still disturbed. "What the hell are you?" Ambient light from outside lit the room and much of the building enough to see.

	The [i]savior[/i] sighed and shrugged. [color=#c5b358]"Well what about me? Screwed is what I think."[/color] He chuckled but it was clear he wasn't really amused with the confronting thought. [color=#c5b358]"I'm Alan."[/color] He extended an arm to shake hands. The other man kept gawking at his arms like they were about to jump off Alan's torso to grab him. With how little sense everything else made it happened to be a [i]reasonable[/i] assumption. Alan pulled his hand back. [color=#c5b358]"Oh. Sorry. New to the whole... thing, whatever this is."[/color] He flexed it in the air and looked at every side. Grooved black armor coated his arm and ended in claws. [color=#c5b358]"Happened when everything went to hell. I don't know how I didn't turn into one of those things out there but I'm thankful I'm not. What's your name?"[/color]

	The other man relented. "It's Chad. Right now I'm tired and filled up with this crap." He sat in a nearby office chair with a huff. "I just want to get my family and leave this godforsaken city." Chad stared at his clothes in disgust, wiping absently at the dried paint on his coveralls. "Hell, I didn't even have time to get home and change. These demons have been hounding me since yesterday. Seemed like my whole crew was tearing each other apart. Tools, claws, teeth. It was madness.." He trailed off.

	Alan gave Chad a sour look, sudden realization hitting him. [color=#c5b358]"Chad. Did you just say that was yesterday? Can't be, sun isn't up yet."[/color] He looked outside, looking at the dismal sky for any sign of dawn. It was a story out of scripture, the sky simply held its black like a broken light bulb with no one to fix it.

	Chad gave him a solemn nod and answered. "Afraid the sun isn't coming today. Maybe God is punishing us my friend. Maybe the rapture happened and all that's left is the mad and wicked. Who the hell knows!"

	Alan pulled his phone from his pocket, careful not to make a new fashion statement out of his jeans with his claws. It read eighty-one percent battery life, ten eighteen AM. A good battery but a disturbing time. He checked his messages and found nothing new despite having already tried to contact his brothers and girlfriend, Liz. Alan's heart sank a little. He put the phone away. [color=#c5b358]"I've holed up in this piano shop ever since I ran from the paper factory just off of 20th."[/color] Alan explained. [color=#c5b358]"A factory covered in windows might seem like a bad idea but we're off the beaten path here. Hidden in plain sight if you will. Riker's Island Bridge right next to us draws most of the attention. No one else was crazy enough to hole here.[/color] Alan grinned at Chad. [color=#c5b358]"Not by choice anyways."[/color] He had made up his mind, he was going to help the man. [color=#c5b358]"Get some rest pal. I'll keep an eye out. After that we find your family and get you out of the populated zones."[/color]

	Chad looked up at him, a hopeful glint in his eyes. "That's the best damn thing I've heard in a while. Thanks. I mean it, Alan. Thank you." He hunkered down against the wall and did his best to sleep. Alan kept staring out the window. Gunfire peppered through the silence throughout the city. When that gunfire disappeared things would certainly get scarier. There weren't enough bullets to put all these things down.