"Do you really think this is safe?" Jess asked out loud. Michael could tell this was not a comfortable situation for her, "I mean, can't we just walk the rest of the way, exercise won't kill us..." Jess turned around and walked backwards to see behind them. Jess kept looking around, then something rasping violently could be heard through the halls, like wind coming and going through small holes. Jess looked into a nearby room and noticed limbs, at first not moving, but then slowly shifting, "But they might" she whispered.
Suddenly panic hit Toby as he ran into Jess, making her stumble and knock some rubble to the ground. The infected we alerted immediately, the subdued state now fully gone and their heads propped upwards to locate the sounds origins. "Fuck" Michael hissed as he heard the shuffling through the dim light. Michael fumbled for a moment as Toby suddenly slammed into his body and the shouts of Jess echoed heavily through the prison "Go run! RUN!" Michael got to his feet in a few seconds and remembered the torch he had built into his headpiece. He switched it on and for the first time the reality of what the prison looked like hit him.
Blood splattered the walls, dry and black in colour. Limbs and bodies were strewn and built up in corners of the prison, almost deliberate in appearance... "what the hell?" Michael said recoiling at the sight, but his thoughts were soon cut off when Jess yelled again "I'll hold them off as long as I can, you two run for the car!" Jess fired a few times stopping a few zombies in their tracks. Michael's light provided some relief in the darkness as it showed him exactly where he was treading, but the trade off was the horror sight he saw across the floors and walls.
Michael moved forward down the hall, watching as Toby ran forward off into the darkness, "TOBY STOP!" Michael yelled, "You'll get lost!" BANG! BANG! BANG! Michael stopped running as he turned back to look down the hallway as Jess was slowly stepping backwards, but managing to keep the zombies at bay. Suddenly an ear splitting ringing filled the air as the prison's lockdown alarm began to wail. "What the hell!?" Michael cursed to himself over the din as he clasped his hands over his ears.
The noise was deafening, and Michael knew it would be attracting more zombies at any moment, and that was something Jess wasn't going to be able to handle alone. He looked down towards her, she was still holding them off, but the noise was definitely distracting. Michael looked down the other end of the hallway to see Toby standing there shouting something to him... Suddenly Toby fell to the ground without any sign of what happened to him. "Shit" Michael hissed as he bolted forwards without thinking. Michael was a few feet from Toby when suddenly a barred door slid shut cutting the hallway off and separating Toby and Michael. "Toby! TOBY! Are you ok?" Michael tried to yell over the alarms ringing. Michael clasped his hands around the door trying to slide it back open but it was no use... This was a prison after all and when a prison locks down... it stays locked down.
Michael jumped back though after he reasoned he wasn't getting to Toby through that door. "Hold on Toby!" he yelled, "I'll get you-" Michael was stunned when suddenly two figures stepped into Michael's light's way... Two men stepped out of the dark shadows, dressed in ripped jeans, and t shirts, covered in thick black dried blood, wielding a hand gun, rope and plank of wood. They weren't zombies thank god but it didn't more than a few seconds to realise they weren't here to help. "Leave him alone!" Michael yelled above the noise, but it was useless. "Fuck" Michael yelled as he watched the two men ignore his presence and effortlessly tie up and drag off Toby.
Michael yelled pathetically after the two captors of Toby but when he realised it was no good turned on his heel, withdrew his handgun from it's holster and pelted down towards Jess who by now had seemed to have made it halfway back down the hall. As Michael neared Jess he pulled his handgun up and pulled the trigger once, twice, three times, taking down two of the infected that were dangerously close to Jess. Michael grabbed her shoulder and pulled her around so she faced him as he mouthed "We have to run, Toby is gone!"
Michael turned around, looking for a way out of their situation and grimaced when he looked down the end of the hallway Jess and backed from... His light shone bright enough to see a whole horde of at least twenty infected shuffling - thankfully - not running, towards them. "Shit shit shit" Michael hissed. He turned around again and saw that he and Jess were in fact, standing at a T-Intersection. "Come on! This way!" Michael yelled as he pulled Jess down the hallway and Managed to get them both through another sliding gate just before it closed.
The two burst through the the sliding door and Michael tripped and rolled across the ground, slamming against a wall as the door closed, the alarm stopped ringing and the small horde behind them was left trapped. Breathing heavily, Michael looked to Jess wide eyed and confused, "What the fuck just happened?"
Meanwhile...
“There is no electricity or windows, and this place is pitch black at night.” James said firmly. Sierra shrugged nonchalantly, quietly reasoning with herself that things could be much worse. She followed James quietly, listening to him as he spoke, but couldn't help but smirk coyly as spoke with slight irritation as he showed her around; “This is the cities college. Particularly the Art building.” He pointed to the clay room and said shortly, “This is the clay room.” He walked into the door way of the studio room and said even shorter and more irritated sounding, “Studio room…”
Sierra actually laughed as he showed her his safe haven and for the first time realised she must be sounding rather distant and... Well, like a bitch. James pointed to a mattress, and said “there’s where I sleep…” He paused for a moment. Even though she had been rude to him, her behavior had not shadowed his own innate generosity. So he said rather reluctantly “Your welcome to it.” Pointing to the next door ahead he said, “That’s the sculpture room… my only rule here is don’t touch my things without asking…” Sierra poked her head into the sculpture room, but the dimming light over the city was making it hard to define anything past silhouettes. "You seem talented" she said turning around, that was as good as an apology she reasoned internally if she had sounded brash earlier. He looked rather annoyed at this point with how she acted and said “If your staying I need to trust you… Who was that you spoke too?”
Sierra was honestly a little taken aback at his brazen questioning all of a sudden and for the first time saw a glimpse of why James had stayed alive for so long. "Hmmm" she said with hyperbole as she made a show of contemplation on whether or not she should tell James. She decided it would be ok. "They are my bosses..." Sierra said mysteriously, smirking while she spoke, "I work for the UN.. I'm a special agent, specifically, rescue..." Before James could ask why she hadn't phoned in to have him and herself rescued Sierra continued "UN official rescue and recovery."
Sierra leaned back against a nearby wall, "I'm waiting for an Officer who has been tasked with coming to the city... he's been held up." Sierra shrugged, "Apparently I am to wait in the city for a little while longer than anticipated." She looked sideways to James, "I'll help you out as much as I can..." She pushed off the wall, "But don't expect a-" Suddenly Sierra was cut off by the sound of another voice, "Hello?! Anybody here? I was walking by, and think I could be of use, a little, sort of. I am a doctor, or could be, kind of...I have beef jerky!"
Sierra looked to James, a look of stern concern coming across it suddenly, Sierra was kicking into special agent mode - be wary of everyone and trust nothing.