[center][color=98FB98][h3][u] F R A N C E S C O  S A P I E N T I[/u]
[sup]The Bronx - Fordham University | Sector Br6[/sup][/h3][/color][/center]

[color=90bbbb]The hastily constructed barricade was faltering quickly. With each crash of feral bodies against the door, the bed shook dangerously, the legs of the table screeching across the floor. The strength of the unnaturally grown ivy was being tested to its limits. The woody vines squeaked under the pressure, some of the leaves falling off in the process. One by one they started to unravel of the wall, making a snapping sound. With each snap his chances of staying alive were getting slimmer. Francesco didn't want to think what would happen if they got through the door. They would eat him alive and he would feel all of it. They could tear off his limbs like plucking the petals of a flower. Claws ripping through his skin like a knife through butter. Maybe it would be better to throw himself out of the window, that would be quicker and hopefully less painful.

His poorly improvised suicide plan was thwarted by an act of unexpected heroism on the other side of the door. Francesco didn't know what was going on, a flash of bright red light shone through the small window at the top of the door. It was quickly followed by the screeches of ferals, howling in pain, like they were being attacked themselves. From what he'd seen these beasts worked together, so why would they suddenly turn on each other? If that was what was going on anyway. If that wasn't the case and the ferals were being attacked by something else, what could be strong enough to take them on? He got up from the floor, returning to his full height after being reduced to a lump of misery and despair. The frenzied sounds of crazed ferals clawing at the door were gone. In their place the nauseating smell of burned flesh. It filled his nostrils which in turn caused the sides of his mouth to draw down in disgust. He tried not to breathe through his nose too much, which left the other option of breathing through his mouth. He didn't even want to know what he was breathing in if he did that for too long. So he braved the smell and cautiously made his way to the door. 

He wanted to know how he was saved, or better yet if he was safe. Who knows what could have caused this to happen. The red light made him think of a flare gun, but flare guns weren't strong enough to cause the disturbing smell of burned flesh. Not as bad as he was smelling anyway. Moving carefully, eyes fixated on the door he pushed past the hospital bed and whatever else had remained of his barricade. Francesco was two steps away from the entrance when he froze in his tracks, hearing a knock and soon thereafter a male voice. 

[color=crimson]"Umm... hello? Anyone alive in there? I, uh... I need help. And from the looks of things, so do you."[/color] 

[color=crimson]"...Look, if there's 'alive inside,' ya gotta tell me now, dude. We gotta move, and fast, before more of those fuckers show up."[/color]

Francesco nearly burst into tears of relief, perhaps a slight exaggeration, but he had never been as happy to hear a stranger's voice in his life. His felt his heart skip a beat, hope came flooding back in waves, at just a few simple words. The thought of someone else having survived whatever was going made him feel a lot less desperate and alone. He needed help and so did the guy on the other side of the door. It was enough for him to spring back into action, a person in need had always been a good motivator for Francesco. 
He gathered up his stuff when a sudden and wholly unimportant thought crossed his mind. They would probably be going outside and in his rush to escape the dorms he hadn’t had the sense to bring a jacket. He did bring his schoolbag, since it had his laptop and some other personal items in there, which he wouldn’t trust his roommates not to snatch. All he had on were a pair of slim fit jeans, grey all stars and a chunky wool sweater which although warm left his neck completely exposed. It had a boat neck neckline which he normally loved but now despised for two reasons. One it did nothing to hide the thorny scabs on his neck and two it would be pretty cold. 

Yeah…..only he could worry about his outfit during an apocalypse. Normal had their priorities sorted but no he was thinking about the neckline of his sweater. Speaking of which he grabbed the pillowcase which held the medical kits he made. It was time to get a move on, he slung his school bag over his shoulder and took a last glance in the mirror. He looked like crap, his messy bun was looking beyond messy and the green skin didn’t help much either. Then again nobody would really care what he looked like, everyone was trying to stay alive, so was he. 

He pushed against the door and with little effort it swung open, the ivy hanging limb where it was still attached to the door. Nothing could have prepared him for what he ran into on the other side. It was a scene straight out of a horror movie. Half burned bodies of what had previously been humans were scattered around the hallway. They were unrecognizable in their blackened state and even though these might have been people he once knew, he couldn’t tell them apart, their wounds were too severe. As far as he could bear to look there were around six or seven of them. His hand came up to his mouth involuntarily, shocked at what he was seeing. 

He was so caught up in the display of gore that he hadn’t seen the guy who was probably responsible for this standing next to the door, next to him. Francesco tried to keep his face composed and refrained from making eye contact right away. It was hard not to look at the crystal-like growths, or his hands which seemed to be completely covered in them, fingers, and all. Francesco wasn’t grossed out, not like he was when he’d seen his own mutations for the first time. All that he could think of was that the mutations of this guy must hurt, a lot. 

[color=98FB98]“I’m….I…”[/color] He croaked, his voice wasn’t cooperating at all. His throat was still dry and he simply didn’t know what to say, he was still shocked about all this. Obviously, he was alive so that question was answered without any words. He took a deep breath, he was too rattled to even act normal, it was ridiculous. 

[color=98FB98]“Thank you…..I thought I was a goner for sure”[/color] He was used to looking up at people but this guy was about his height just a little taller. It was easier to make eye contact, though his eyes were admittedly kind of scary. The whites had gone black and his iris was vivid red, just like the crystals. He smiled a bit nervously and noticed the scratches on his cheek. They were deep and he had no idea how this guy wasn’t flinching in pain right now.

[color=98FB98]“That looks pretty bad.”[/color] Francesco said, touching his own left cheek so the guy knew what he was referring to. He glanced over his shoulder still a bit on edge, despite being relatively safe for now. More could always be coming. He’d seen groups of ferals outside of the building and there were probably many more still inside. If they wanted to stand a chance, the best option would be to sneak out of the building and hole up elsewhere, somewhere less crowded. 
  
[i]Where the hell could they go that would be safe?[/i] At least safer than the University. He didn’t know much about these ferals. All he’d seen was how they reacted to sound, they didn’t have great eyesight either. If they were quiet and avoided areas were large groups of them were stalking they would be okay……well kind of. He was far from okay, but he could deal with his own drama later. 

[color=98FB98]“We can take one of the emergency exits, then we’ll be at the back of the University”[/color] 

The emergency exits were at the bottom of the emergency stairway, usually no one was allowed in there, unless it was an emergency exercise. He was betting on them being empty so they could sneak out unseen.[/color]