Corey moved through the eerily quiet bookcases of the library, pistol raised and heart thumping as his soft padded footsteps sounded deafening in the silent realm of the library interior. A small rattle came from his backpack and he winced, his best guess as to the origin would be his Swiss army knife on that can of spaghetti he had, not that it mattered much. Deciding that he’d clear the area far faster without his pack, he cut a beeline for the reception desk with his eyes wearily scanning the area. He set his pack down behind the desk, with a muffled thud and immediately spun and rechecked the area, seeing if his movement into the centre had drawn any attention. The distinct lack of anything greeted him, not any signs of other life but there was still two floors to check which after then Corey promised himself he’d sate his growling stomach with that ever so tempting can of spaghetti. Personal deal-making, once a point of luxury back before … well back before whatever had happened, but now it was a matter of survival and almost sadly, interaction. It’d been a few days since he’d even spoken to someone and right now that period of silence weighed on him like heavy blanket; suffocating and crushing. He almost felt like praying there’d be someone else in the library, he’d taken even the most annoying person he’d ever met, one Luke Maccerney now. His once annoying mannerisms and squawk-like voice would be welcome over the crushing silence and desolate isolation that now occupied him. He feared that bone-rending noise of the things that were once human more than anything he’d ever experienced in his life. He snapped out of his melancholic trance, reminding himself he was still in a building that he had no idea about yet here he was, reminiscing about people he’d hated but still missed. He wearily waved his gun around in an almost desperate motion of despair as he attempted to clear his thoughts and sharpen his focus, turning instead to the matter ahead of the floor above. Luckily the light shone through the large windows, leaving the library rather well illuminated by the sparkling daytime but night would bring another story. He decided to search for the best cubbyhole to find tonight, somewhere safe, warm and cosy then try and have one good night’s sleep. Given the expansive nature of this structure he figured once he bunkered down he’d be pretty safe. Hopefully the hindrance it was proving to him now would also prove a hindrance to the mindless hunks of flesh that now roamed the streets, it’d taken him a few minutes of careful thinking to try and plan out his path through the library. He ended up deciding against his initial plan of clearing the building first, his stomach was beginning to growl a little and a touch of dizziness was beginning to set in. He settled down behind the desk, grabbing his can of spaghetti and cracked the lid, almost passing out from delight as the delightful scent of food wafted into his nostrils. It’d been a while since he’d last ate and now it was catching up with him. Despite its canned nature, the meal was relatively nice and proved to him what a great choice it’d been buying them those few months ago when he’d planned for a lazy meal. He’d just finished the first quarter of the can when he heard a slight creak which seemed to resonate from upstairs and his heart jumped into his mouth. His first thought that screamed into his head was that there was someone; or something upstairs. He carefully placed the lid of the can back over the top, doing his best to reseal it and set it on the reception desk along with the fork he’d used to eat. He grabbed his pistol and poked his head out from behind the desk as he tried to catch a glimpse of the next level but the glance revealed naught but bookshelves. He nervously chewed his lips as he contemplated calling out; it’d surely been the sound of a door swinging and he’d yet to see one of those things open a door but library’s generally had push doors. Deciding that calling out would simply invite danger onto himself, he quickly looked around for any potential weapon at the desk but there wasn’t much besides phones, stationery and a large stapler, none of which would prove overly potent as a weapon. He felt like swearing at his misfortune but that kind of action wouldn’t do much to aid his cause. He climbed back behind the desk, clutching his pistol desperately with an almost unbreakable grip and he rocked back and forth a little, attempting to muster the courage to ascend the stairs. His mind whirred at an incredible rate as he tried to determine an alternative but he eventually decided that not knowing what was up there was far worse than going to find out, after all what if it was one of those things and it came for him in his sleep? He stealthily crawled out from behind the desk and began to ascend the stairs, each step heavily and reluctant, bringing with it an extra load of nerves and worry. His hands were almost shaking by the time he reached the top; beads of sweat were forming and rolling off his brow not from exertion but from shear emotional stress. A few quick, jagged wipes with his wrist did a reasonable job of clearing his brow before he set off from the top of the stairs and he immediately spun right to see the door to some toilets. He headed towards them, deciding to start with the right and try to clear this huge structures in some kind of logical fashion. He made it halfway across to the doors when he felt something hard crack against the back of his head and a subsequent flare of pain flashed across his head. The red-hot pain, sharp and stabbing felt like it was going to burst his eyes out from the back as he stumbled and felt to one knee as all manner of lights broke out in his vision. He feebly tried to rise again and turn to face the direction he’d been hit from but once he rose from his knee he simply crashed to the ground where naught but an overwhelming darkness was there to greet him. --- Summary: As Corey tries to clear the library, he leaves his supplies down the near the reception desk but is knocked out by an unknown assailant on the second floor.