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..

[i]Snap[/i]

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. [i]‘You can do this…’[/i] 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?"