They reached the safety of the houses.  Dallen opened up the basement to one and they went inside.  There was a small wooden window that peeked over the overgrown grass outside, which was the only source of light in the room.

"I saw the herd coming from the quarry a mile back or so," Dallen told them.  "I think all those people went out there to form a plan.  They all drove there, some of them must have been infected and no one knew it yet.  They've been following the gunfire up to this area.  Probably be here shortly."

"Then why are we staying here?" Ethan asked.  "Shouldn't we...get the hell out of here!?"

"You'll get tired eventually, these things don't," he replied.  "They'll keep coming until they find you.  Best thing to do is wait it out, let them pass.  They'll move on down the line to the next poor soul.  Maybe release the horses, let them chase after them."

"We have others!" Ethan said.  "If we just let them pass by, they'll just move on to them.  We have to warn them!"

-----------------------------

Johnny trotted alongside Reena as they moved on down the trails.  He was relatively quiet, wondering if the girl with him would be able to handle what she had just done.  It wasn't an easy thing to kill a man.  He remembered the first time he gunned down a rival gangster in a shootout.  At the time it was kill or be killed and the guy deserved it, but he still couldn't shake the kid's face from his mind.  

"I wasn't exactly unemployed," he eventually told her.  "I was a drug dealer.  A nobody.  The day this happened, yesterday, I was being raided by police.  I only escaped because of what's going on now, found James, and here I am."

He looked off to the side, unable to look the girl in the face when he told her.  Something caught his eyes as he did, though, and he pointed off into the direction.

"Those are your horses!" he said, pointing to the two James and Ethan were on.  They were tied up outside a few houses.

He made his way over and dismounted, pulling out his glock as a precaution.  The basement door suddenly flung open and Ethan was there.

"Saw you coming," Ethan said.  "We, uh, went to the smoke in the sky and found this guy Dallen.  He saved our lives."

"What are you doing in there?" Johnny wondered.

Dallen made his appearance known by coming out.  He looked beyond Johnny and Reena and saw a group of birds flying off in the sky.  

"They're here," Dallen said.