Charlie's eyes fluttered open. Had he fallen asleep? How long had he been out? His head pounded. It was a really horrible feeling to be dying. But, he stood up and looked at his arm. The spot where he had been bitten was swollen, surrounded by pink inflamed skin, and red, blood seeping from it. He groaned, bending over to pick up his bag and rummage through it and pull out some painkillers. He didn't have anything to swallow them with, so he forced three down his throat dry. It might have been an overdose, but Charlie was too confused to notice. He grabbed his Exact-O-Knife, which was covered in blood, and his flashlight. Now if he could just remember which way the exit was...
Charlie looked to his left and to his right. Which way down the tunnel was it? He remembered walking with a guy, the name had slipped his mind, but which way was which? Charlie stumbled down the right, walking like a drunk and confused man. His mind was hazy, but he thought this was the right way.
"Charlie..." someone spoke from the distance. Charlie's head snapped up to see an old man standing in front of him. The man had white hair and a beard that surrounded his face like a lion's mane.
"Who are you?" Charlie asked, the old man who had given him his rabbit's foot was not ringing a bell in his disoriented mind.
"Charlie, listen to me, you're confused and hurt," he said, sounding calm. Charlie looked down at himself, his white haz-mat suit covered in blood, some his and some of it belonging to the Loonies. Charlie looked up, panicked. The man reached out and tried to grab him by the shoulder, but Charlie pulled away.
"You don't wanna touch me... Something bad happened..." he said, unable to quite remember all the events of what had occurred in the catacombs.
"It's okay," he reassured Charlie. "I know the way out. Just follow me." The man quickly turned and began walking deeper into the tunnel. Charlie obediently followed, passing by familiar signs, like the skeleton with skin still attached in parts. Charlie didn't recognize any of these until he ran into the end of the tunnel, with a ladder attached to the wall that led into a hole in the roof. Charlie turned to thank the old man, but he was gone. Charlie shook his head, ignoring it, and climbed up the ladder his head poking through the broken floorboards that he had moved only a few hours earlier. Sunlight hit him, causing him to shield his face with his hands. He pulled himself out, heaving his bag up with him. He stood up, dusted himself off, and blinked. The house wasn't ringing a bell. So, Charlie stepped outside to be greeted by a giant view of The Dome in the distance, which was being flooded by people who were crawling on top of it and lining up around the sides. Acting like this was totally normal, Charlie began walking towards the huge crowd. But, if he touched someone unknowingly, who was to know what would happen.