Elise stood on the balcony of the condominium. The cool breeze tousled her long blonde hair as cerulean eyes scanned the complex below. It was dark and quiet. Moonlight ebbing from the sky above softly illuminating the courtyard. She was rather tall and slender, her frame thin and wiry. The fact that she had sparsely eaten anything in some time may have attributed to that. She wore loose fitted black sweat pants and thick black steel toed combat boots that concealed a well used dagger. A thin sullied white tank top hung off her left shoulder, the lower portion rippling in the wind. She took a final long haul off the crumpled cigarette dangling between her lips before pinching the filter between her fingers and glancing around. It was times like these that reminded her of the simpler days, she pitched it off the balcony and sighed.

The sound of shoes scraping on cement drew her attention to a man - well not quite a man anymore; shambling below. The irony of his hand clutching a leash, the bottom of the lead bloodied and dragging across the ground as he shuffled along. Her fingers idly grazed against the pistol at her side, absentmindedly, as she watched in silence. A questionable smile played at the corner of her lips, even though the deepening sense of fear and constant tensing pressure of her situation played endlessly on her mind. ‘Where was there even left to go?’ The smile faded and she pushed herself back from the balcony. Reaching into her pocket she felt for the small cardboard box. Tugging it out she sighed exasperatedly as she shook it and realized it was empty. No cigarettes, barely any ammo, no place to go. She slumped back against the cement wall and stared out into an abysmal sea of stars.

Drake walked up to the building, slowly. A man, twisted and dead, shuffled about 30 feet away. It was the only one around right now, which was good sign for Drake. THe 23 year old man studied the condominium that stood in front of him. His tall, 6'4", frame stood out in the light breeze. His coat, long and lined with gray fur around the collar, swayed behind him. On his hands were fingerless mechanics gloves. A pair of welding goggles hung from the man's neck as he stepped forward in black, slightly loose, jeans. On his feet were black combat boots. On his hip was a 10mm glock and two knives were strapped to his side, underneath the coat.

SNAP!!!

Turning around, Drake saw a shambling figure entered under the light of a flickering street lamp. However, it wasn't just one, it was a lot of the fuckers. The sounds of screams could be heard as a roiling mass of the dead shits came into view. Then someone escaped from their clutches. Running, the boy had already lost his arm. He wasn't going to make it. Tripping, the boy's face smashed into the ground. His fate was sealed. As his now bloodied face looked up, a silent plea for help, several of the undead fell upon his living corpse. That silent plea turned into a blood-curdling shriek.

Turning away, Drake saw, just in time, as the leash-holding zombie came at him. His reflexes fast, having been honed in the past several weeks, Drake pulled one of the knives from his side. Stepping around the charging corpse, Drake shoved the blade's tip into its eye. Ripping the knife from the now still head, Drake grimaced as a squelching sound came forth. Swallowing some bile, Drake stepped over the body. Opening the front door to the condominium, Drake latched it shut behind him. Which, looking at his situation, was a good choice.

The horde, of about 30 - 40 corpses, had finished with their impromptu feast. Upon hearing the squeek of the door, the nearest one came lumbering forth. THe rest, like the body of a great, putrid beast followed. Backing up, Drake tried to open the second door, but it was locked.

"Fuck..."

He had thought it was a good idea to come in here, but he might have been wrong. Jangling the handle again, the door refused to give way. As the first body began to beat at the door, fear gripped Drake's chest. Beating at his own door, Drake hoped that someone was there. Oh god, how he hoped that someone was there.

Her thoughts had drifted away from her, recalling before the infection. Flashes of her fathers grizzly beard as they stomped through the foliage on one of their routine hunting trips. The memory brought a gentle smile to her lips, recalling the crisp autumn air, the sound of..

Snap

Her eyes bolted open at full alert. The sound was too real to have been reminisced. It took a moment for her to register what the sound truly was, that was when she heard a scream and the wails of the dead. Her stomach knotted as she dashed to the concrete slab at the edge of the balcony and peered below just in time to set her sights on the scene below. A hoard was clustered around a squirming dark mass on the ground. She instinctively turned to look away as the sounds of the screams turned into gargled moans. It was terrifying just how quickly the dead could appear en-mass. As her sights shifted away from the violent affair she saw a second figure, tall and shrouded in darkness. She squinted to try and make out what was unfolding. It was then that she saw the glint of a blade reflecting the moonlight, could it be? Someone was alive? The figure side stepped and disappeared under the archway below her.The hoard had given up on their fallen victim and started lumbering towards the buildings entrance; their snarls echoing across the dark void below.

Panicked and exhilarated she stood frozen, listening to the slam of angry bloodied fists against glass. Her body was tense, yet shaking all over. She ran back inside and to the apartment door. She slowly reached out for the knob and hesitated. She knew it was best to not get involved. She had seen this happen before, but always at a distance. Her throat was dry, her body numb. She flicked the lock and swung open the door, being careful to cautiously and quietly close it behind her. She hadn’t checked out every room on this floor. She had been too tired and lucked out finding one without inhabitants, living or dead. She made her way to the end of the hall, the way she had originally come up, through the service stairwell. As she creaked open the door and edged her way in, the dim emergency lights flickering overhead cast eerie shadows throughout the stairwell.

She made her way down and once on the ground level could already hear the angry pounding and shrieks coming from the lobby. She braced her hands against the stairwell door and swallowed heavily, moistening her lips with her tongue. ‘You can do this…’ she hissed under her breath, as she reached and unclasped the revolver from her holster. She slowly pushed aside the door and slid out into the main level. The lobby was around the corner. The aggressive banging and wailing came into full effect now and her entire body shuddered. As she slowly edged her way out towards the lobby she stole a glance around the corner. Indeed, there was a man, beating on the inner glass doors. It was difficult to make out any features and again she hesitated. Was he infected? Was he violent?

She stepped out into the darkness of the lobby, now standing in the center, staring at the figure between the doors who now had his back to her. Unsure of how to approach the situation, she took a few paces forward as her thoughts raced and the endless warning from what seemed like ages ago played on repeat drumming in her mind. Slowly, softly, in the moonlit lobby she called out to the figure “H-hello?” As the figure spun back to look at her, she could see him frantically calling out but was unable to discern what he was saying. Shook from her fears she bolted to the door and released the latch and the doors flew inward as did the man tumbling to the floor. She was so shaken she simply stood there for a moment before the wails of the dead outside spooked her enough to thrust the doors back closed and re-engage the latch. Turning back to look towards him she took several steps away from his figure and held up her gun, leveled appropriately with his head, a stern expression set across her features.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

Drake thought frantically as his mind reeled from what had just happened. Relief washed over him as he fell through the glass doors. A figure, with blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, stood in front of him. The only thing that ruined the image was the sight of a revolver that covered her pale face. Then the shrieks resounded in Drake's head. Turning back towards the door, Drake could see as the outside glass door began to crack and bow. From their pure weight, those corpses were about to destroy the door.

"Shit..." the sound escaped his lips, its baritone reverberations travelling throughout the lobby. "There's gotta be one of those, there has to be one." Talking to himself, Drake ran over to the main desk. Behind it was the door to the security room, which had thankfully been left open. Opening the heavy steel door, Drake jumped back as a lumbering corpse fell through. Kicking the biting corpse away, Drake called out to the woman.

"Damn, didn't know that people kept them as pets. Can you take care of that one while I take care of the ones outside?" Drake didn't care if she had heard him or not. His mind, completely and utterly focused, raced through the dials, keyboards, and circuits within the room. Apparently that guard had the same idea as Drake did, as the circuitry for it had been ripped out, presumably at the same time that the guard's side had been ripped out. Taking out a pair of wire cutters, Drake set to work, quickly and efficiently he cleaned up the mess that the now zombified guard had left.

Praying, Drake connected the condominium's backup generator to the steel shutters that were on the inside of the lobby's glass walls. The metal shrieked as the low power from the generator painfully urged them to move. Then, like a tidal wave, the steel shutters slammed down. Turning around just in time, Drake could see as a zombie's face was plastered against the inside door to the Lobby. Sighing, he spoke to the woman. The guard now still at her feet, blood splattering the ground.

"To answer your question, my name is Frederick Rezin, but if you wouldn't mind, please call me Drake. As for where I came from, well, it would have been the same place as our lovely guests out their." A frown settled on Drake's face as he thought about those two poor souls that had tried to jump him only thirty minutes ago. "Some idiots tried to attack, thus alerting said horde that is waiting outside." Turning around, Drake began to clean up the guard's room, looking for anything that he could find helpful. Mostly just a flashlight, some batteries, and some 10mm ammo.

"How about you? What's your name and why are you here?" Drake's electric blue eyes burrowed themselves into the girls own cerulean eyes.

Elises stern composure crumpled as the man before her seemed to become lost in his own internal panic. It took her a moment to determine the cause for this concern, that was when she saw the thin fracture lines begin to spiderweb out on the glass door. Lowering her weapon she watched him pace for a moment before he wedged open a door and awkwardly kicked a flailing corpse in her direction. He clearly had no interest in her opinion on the matter and she had contemplated giving him grief but instead bit back the comment and shifted the revolver into her left hand, stepping down a heavily clad steel toe boot on the corpses shoulder. It writhed beneath her, dark clotted blood and intestines seeping out of the missing portion of it's side. She shivered and reached down, slipping the dagger out from her boot, arching it above her head and slamming it down into the creatures forehead. It's movements ceased and she wiggled the dagger back and forth to release it from the bone as more congealed blood began to ooze from the gash she had created in its pallid face.

Before straightening up she wiped each side of the blade on the zombies dirty guards uniform, ridding it of most of the grime. She kept the blade in her right hand but holstered the gun she'd still had held in her left hand. As she rose she caught a glimpse of a bloodstained face smearing itself against the inside glass window and her heart skipped a beat out of panic, but seconds later the shutters dropped down heavily and the lobby became encased in darkness, the ebb of the moonlight now blockaded from their view. Only the dim emergency lights flickered further back towards the hallways.

His voice startled her, as she had almost already forgotten his presence, and even more so the sound of an actual human being. Blinking a few times before her eyes became further accustomed to the darkness she looked towards him after he had finished perusing the security office and stepped back into the lobby. "Drake?" She seemed to contemplate for a moment and then actually laughed, a small smile edging on her lips. "Well Drake, it sounds like you don't play well with others." This statement was said both with teased sarcasm and actual depth. It was a concern she had most certainly, but it would take time to actually determine that. Without allowing much time in between she carried on "My name is Elise. I was searching for my sister, she lived here. She's not here though, there was a note she left. I guess I should be grateful." Her voice kept a rather stern, yet apathetic tone.

"Well Drake, it doesn't look like anyone will be using that exit anymore, come on, follow me." Without hesitation she started back off towards the service stairwell, having faith that he would follow her she didn't slow her pace until they were four flights up and back at the condo she had came from. She pushed open the door, and stepped inside, leaving it open for him to follow her. The kitchen was to the immediate left as soon as you entered, Elise had stacked some supplies there, food and bottled water she had casually lifted from some of the rooms. There was a living room in the main area as well. It was small, a bookshelf, a non-functioning tv, a worn out leather couch. At the back of the room, the balcony door was cast open as she had forgotten to close it in her haste. The drones of the dead still collecting at the front of the condominium doors below them echoing into the room. A cool breeze also seeping through the open door.

"Welcome to my temporary home number I don't even know." She grinned, her sarcasm thick this time. Even though there hadn't been much conversing she was disturbed by how much she was already enjoying having another living being in the same vicinty as herself. She stepped over to the couch and dropped down against it with a sigh. Casting her arm out in front of her she pointed to two closed doors. The first "Bathroom - Non functioning ; running water isn't working how you would want it to". Scrolling her pointed finger to the left, the second of the two doors "Bedroom. If you're tired...Be my guest."

Drake scanned the room that Elise had brought him to. She had ran off before he even got a chance to reply to her earlier statements. His voice came out smoothly as he heard the sounds of corpses crushing corpses. “Well, if what you mean by me not playing well with others is that I typically try to avoid other people as nine times out of ten they happen to be idiots, then yes, I don’t play well with others.” Flashing the shorter woman a white-toothed smile, Drake stepped through the balcony doors. The sounds from the original horde had already attracted a few more, their bodies stumbling underneath streetlights in the distance. Drake covered his nose as their rank stench drifted up to the fourth story balcony.

“While I thank you for the offer of sleep, I have three problems with that.” Looking back at Elise, Drake’s electric blue eyes peered out from unruly black hair. “First, I don’t know you from Adam. As such, I do not trust you at all.” Taking a second look at the undead horde, he continued, “Secondly, we don’t have the time to sleep.” Walking back inside, Drake quickly found an empty notebook. Opening it up and placing it on the kitchen counter, Drake beckoned Elise over. The man began to sketch out the building’s layout as he spoke.

“Your sister must have been rather well-to-do. The building has a three-story closed garage round back.” Smiling to himself, Drake continued to talk, “As for why we don’t have time, those shutters were not designed to hold back fifty undead bodies. They were designed to deter crime. As such, we have, at best, five hours before those shutters give in.” Finishing his sketching, what resulted was a rough outline of the building’s first floor. “There are three emergency staircases. One in the back, and one on either side of the lobby. We’re going to have to lock them up. However, if you’re alright with it, we should try to loot as much as possible from the first floor before doing so.” Standing up straight, the man looked down at Elise, “Our best bet would be to lock down the two connected to the lobby. Loot the first floor, storing it all in the staircase at the back of the building, and then lock down that staircase as well. Lastly, we would need to do this within three hours.”

Drake’s completely serious tone reverberated throughout the room as he stood there, giving Elise time to swallow and digest what he had said.