As one the group made their way across the room to a doorway presumably leading further into the building. Robert pressed his ear up to the door and listened. Seemingly satisfied he leaned back and reached for the knob. He held up his free hand and began counting down from three with his fingers.“Just open the door already,” Gabriel snapped.Everyone in the group cringed at the unexpected sound. Robert turned and glared at Gabriel . “What?” the young man asked, innocently. “What do you think is waiting on the other side of the door, a crack commando squad? It’ll be zombies if anything. Counting down in silence isn’t gonna keep them from hearing us. They’re dead. They don’t hear anything.”Robert sighed but didn’t argue. As if consenting defeat, he simply opened the door and stepped back, letting flashlights shine their way past him into the corridor beyond. It was empty as far as they could see.“All right,” Robert said, waving them on. “We’ll go in our groups. Stay sharp.”Rico, Lu
Jay caught up to Gabriel and followed his gaze around the corner. “The far door?” he asked after a moment, and Gabriel nodded his agreement. The door furthest from them was cracked open just slightly, almost even imperceptibly, but it was definitely open. All the other doors were closed.The two companions quickly stepped over to the door, and then pressed their backs to the wall on either side. They exchanged glances briefly, and then Gabriel reached out and pushed the door open. They quickly raised their flashlights into the room, flicking the beans about in the attempt to uncover something, anything, at all. Beyond the fact that this was another laboratory of some sort, however, there was nothing at all inside. Jay raised his gun in front of him, ready to fire, and stepped into the room, Gabriel hot on his heels.They moved cautiously, letting their flashlights dart about, covering as much ground as possible. Like the lab they’d been in a few minutes earlier, this one looked li
He was just in time to see a door click shut down the hallway. He lowered his arms again and let out a sigh of annoyance.“I said, what are you doing here?”Devin spun around back in the direction he had come from; back in the direction of the voice, weapon aimed and ready. No one was there, or at least no one aside from the group he had come with. For a long moment everybody froze, and then as if some signal had been sent they all realized where the voice had come from. Robert had left his radio on, and it was broadcasting. He unclipped the radio from his belt and raised it up for everyone to hear.“Take it easy, take it easy,” came the sound of Gabriel ’s voice. “It’s okay, we don’t mean any harm to you.”“Good Jay,” Robert said, realizing, correctly, that Jay was holding down the transmit button on his radio so everyone else could hear what was going on.“Boy, you break into a military base and you’re telling me to take it easy? Why did you come here? What do you know? Who sent you
The man’s face grew very serious, and his eyes met Gabriel ’s. He sat in silence for a long moment, choosing his next words with great care. “Would it make a difference to you if I told you this wasn’t a safe place to stay?”“Why is this not a safe place to stay?”“I can’t tell you that.”The man’s gaze did not waver. His eyes, cold and dark, proved unyielding and uncompromising. “We’ve been up and down these dark corridors for a good hour now, and we haven’t found any sign of any life, death, or even undeath aside from you. Is there something there we aren’t seeing?”“I can’t tell you that.”Gabriel sighed and stood up straight. “Well then, I can’t bGabriel even Gabriel you. I have something like thirty tired, hungry people I have to look out for, and they just need some food to eat and a place to sleep. The food we have, the place you have. Maybe you’re right, maybe we don’t want to stay here, but we can discuss that in a civilized manner tomorrow, after a good night’s rest. What d
“Maybe this is one of those places conspiracy theorists are always talking about: a safe bunker where politicians are supposed to go to wait out the end of the world.”“I thought those were supposed to be buried under miles and miles of rock.”“How the Hell would I know?”“And I can’t envision a politician being able to accept a mattress like this,” Jay added, lying back on his cot. “And another thing: what’s this ‘pathology lab’ nonsense? There’s something I don’t trust about Paul’s explanation.” His voice trailed off, but Gabriel did not respond. “What do you think?” he prompted, but Gabriel was silent. “Gabriel ?” Jay sat up just as a snore ripped through the air, grinding like a poorly oiled chainsaw. “Great,” he muttered, and fell back down onto the bed.When Gabriel woke he wasn’t sure at first that any time had passed at all. The room looked subtly different, but he was not familiar enough with it already to place what miniscule details had changed. The remaining bunks were
“Christ, what kind of people do you think we are?” He looked around the room, glancing from face to face. Each person’s face unquestionably betrayed exhaustion and weariness, but they also smiled warmly as conversations carried on, and the occasional peal of laughter ripped through the room. The air was alive with the buzz of humanity. “Are you really saying you don’t think anyone in here is capable of caring for other people, of working to help other people, without being forced to do so? Is that all we are, just survival instincts on legs?”“When things are going well, like they are now, sure, we’re all happy to help out and do our part, but when times get rough, when food and water are scarce and we’re struggling just to find a safe place to sleep at night, rule number one in each and every single person’s book becomes the survival of the self.”Jay shrugged his shoulders and shook his head sadly. “I don’t like it any more than you do. But I’ve already seen it. You’re fresh to this
“And I will not let that happen to me. I’m alive, and I’m staying alive. My family and friends… they would have wanted me to stay alive. Your families and your friends would have wanted you to stay alive. I don’t care if we repopulate the world or just slowly die off to the last man, but I will put a bullet in my own head before I let those things win. So help or don’t help, I don’t care. Just don’t you ever say there’s no point.”With that she fell silent, and suddenly seemed to become aware of what she had just done. It was as if someone else had temporarily taken control of her body, and now that she had it back she was extremely ashamed of the things it had done in her place. “I mean, that is…” she stammered, but seemed unable to complete the thought.Robert reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re right.” He gave her a reassuring hug. Jake looked away and did her best to not feel like a third wheel.“Well then,” Robert said, “let’s take a look at that li
The next day went much the same as the previous one had, but without any big fights in the dining hall. The garden really began to develop over the course of the day, and a finalized list was developed detailing exactly what supplies were available. The work continued much the same as the next few days passed, and slowly tensions in the group began to ease as one by one they grew comfortable with the fact that, for once, an attack might actually not have been coming.Yet as most of the group became more relaxed, Robert could feel a concern growing like a cancer inside his stomach. He knew more intimately than the rest the actual state of their supplies, and knew that before long they were going to have to go into a town and gather more for themselves. He discussed with Paul about the location of the nearest town, and fortunately he was able to provide a map Robert could study to help prepare them for the trip. He figured they could last a few weeks without a supply run, maybe even ove