"Larson and Nelson. Or...you know, Nelson and Larson...?" Riley said with a sly grin. [color=steelblue] "What about...Larson and associates?" [/color] Dallen replied, he couldn't hold his laugh in. "Nelson and Larson it is," Riley said, ignoring everything Dallen had said. The two of them were both in fine freshly tailored suits, looking into the blank office space they had just purchased to start their firm. It was not only the beginning of a successful lawfirm partnership, but it was the also the beginning of a great friendship. Dallen popped open the bottle of champagne and poured them both glasses. "You think we'll make it?" Riley asked in a serious tone. He was confident in both of their abilities when it came to understanding justice and the legal system, yet nothing was ever certain. [color=steelblue] "I know we will," [/color] Dallen said and clinked glasses with him. [color=steelblue] "We're survivors." [/color] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Present Day: Day 6 Dallen stared blankly as the general smashed his best friends face into the cold floor. His brains were scattered, pieces still left remaining in the room. The room went dark again. Ethan immediately began working on his lockpick, while Dallen remained motonless, his eyes starting to tear. It felt to him as if the silence lasted forever, but then a click sound and a sigh from Ethan. "I got it unlocked," he said, the kid was clearly good at thievery. "Lets get the fuck outta here!" "No, they're watching the hallway and that's the only way out," Briggs said. "We have to wait until the timing is right, when there's less of them. We have to be quiet." "What?" Blake spoke up from his cell. "What if the timing is never right? What if they kill us all like that, one by one. Someone new tomorrow, I don't wanna go out like that! I mean, what have we got to lose?" [color=steelblue] "Blake, you got Lucy and Gwen killed," [/color] Dallen stated. [color=steelblue] "If we get out of this, I'm going to kill you." [/color] Blake immediately became silent. [color=steelblue] "Briggs is right, we wait." [/color] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 7 None of them slept well. Dallen dozed off for a moment or two, but to him it felt like he was awake the entire night. All he could think about was his daughter, and how he had failed her. Her voice rang into his head over and over again, her cries from when she was shot. His thoughts started to overlap reality for him. Dallen looked out onto the cold, dark floor and saw his daughter's dead corpse lying next to the bits and pieces of Riley's skull that still remained in the room. They were both dead, yet she still stood before him as if she were still alive. He wiped his eyes and smacked his head, and when he looked back toward her, she was gone. Was this even a reality anymore? Steven had thrown up in his cell, and that smell mixed with the flesh of Riley brought a reeking disgustful taste in his mouth. Suddenly the lights flashed back on and the military rouges came back into the room. This time there were only three of them, led by private Cole. He quickly picked Elizabeth and they took her out of sight and down the hall. Dallen gave Ethan a nod and he quickly went back to work at opening the locks. ..... Private Cole was the type of man who always wanted to do whatever he wanted, and this was finally his opportunity. Only a week in to the apocalypse and he was already planning on ruling others. His wife had left him several months ago, his sons hated him. All he knew was to take what he wanted, and forget everything else. At this moment, he wanted Elizabeth. "Watch the halls until I'm done," Cole told the men with him, he was holding an unconscious Elizabeth over his shoulder. "What about us?" one of them asked. "What about you?" Cole said, his tone quickly intimidated the others. Cole had a reputation for cruelty, even in the military. "Watch the halls until I'm done, that's a mother fucking order soldier!" "Yes, sir." Private Cole went into the next room. There were large generators making enough noise to mask the surrounding area. He set Elizabeth down on the cold flooring and started to removed his shirt. ........ With the cages open, the seven of them quickly made their ways to the exit, leading to the hall. Dallen grabbed one of Ethan's lockpick's firm into a fist, nodding his head that he was ready. Briggs gave a nod back, knowing that none of them had much else for a choice. The door swung open and Dallen rushed out, he tackled the nearest soldier and stuck the pick as far deep into the man's throat as he could manage. The dying man gurgled on his own blood as Dallen kept prying the pick deeper, while also holding his dead weight and dropping him to the floor. It was the first person Dallen had ever killed, and yet it came so naturally. It was all about survival now. Briggs picked up the man's shotgun, giving Dallen his handgun. Kenjen got the knife stored in the dead man's boot. "Why don't I get a weapon!?" Leroy Book whispered. "I'm a man of God, but I know how to shoot mother fuckers. I wasn't always a pastor, you know." Kenjen gave the pastor his tactical knife. "My man." Briggs peered down the next hall, pointing up two fingers to let them know there were two enemies. With a quick sigh, Briggs turned the corner and opened fire. A few rapid shots from the shotgun easily mowed the soldiers down. The sound was masked from the large generator noise, except private Cole heard everything. The private turned toward and away from an awaking Elizabeth, his knife holstered at his belt and his gun aimed at the door. "What the fuck was that?" Cole shouted. "We need him alive" Kenjen said, speaking softly to the others. They had the door surrounded, ready to burst in and save Elizabeth. "He can get us out of here." Private Cole fired a few shots through the door to keep them back. For the moment he forgot about Elizabeth, as his back was turned to her. Erin came peeking around the corner, her curious eyes watching the hallway stalemate. Dallen held his hand up to halt the others from entering, not sure if Elizabeth was dead or alive.