Burning Up

Things Are Happening

Peyton limped out of the stairwell and properly entered the second floor. Beside him, Terri was filming with one hand and awkwardly holding the revolver with the other. The hall ahead of them was lined with classrooms.

"I'll check the rooms on the left, you check the right."

Terri nodded. "...Wait, what if I find one of those bioweapon-things when I look inside?"

"Shoot at it," he told her. "Or slam the door right in its ugly mug. If neither of those work out for you, holler. I'll hear you."

Well. That didn't exactly inspire feelings of safety, but Peyton and the others had managed to keep her alive thus far. And she was armed now. Firing a gun couldn't have been too difficult. Maybe she'd get some good footage out of this...

Out by the front of the school, a black vehicle pulled into the parking lot.

Rain wasn't sure if she'd ever experienced a more uncomfortable car ride before, but she sincerely doubted it. Alice engaged in some light conversation with the guys while she kept quiet, unwilling to contribute unless directly addressed, which only happened once because they quickly got the hint that she was uninterested in talking. Alice explained it away by lying and saying she was a quiet person.

L.J. put the car in park right beside the sidewalk. Rain was the first to get out. Second was Nicholai, who staggered the moment his feet were on the ground. Alice caught him by the back of his tactical vest before he could keel over completely. It was evident he wasn't doing too hot when she and Rain first climbed into the back with him, and he was only getting worse. He was white as a sheet and covered in a cold sweat. Alice kept her grip as she got out after him, righting him with a single tug.

"God, I feel like shit..."

"I've got him." Carlos came over and took him from her. "Hold on just a little while longer, Nicholai. As soon as Dr. Ashford has us on our way out of here, we'll be able to get help for you."

"How're we going about this?" L.J. removed two Desert Eagles with gold finishes from the waistband of his jeans.

Rain left no room for argument or other suggestions when she said, "We're breaking off into groups." It would be her with Alice, and the two soldiers with L.J. She really didn't want to stick by them any longer than she already had. Thankfully, the others seemed content with that. Considering how the last one went, Rain really wasn't trying to get into another argument.

Following a bit more discussion about who was going where, the five split off in two different directions. As the others grew further and further away, Rain removed her hand from her forearm.

If they were unwittingly growing close to finding Angela or running into anyone else, she would be able to smell it. Living humans had a distinctly different scent than recently infected or undead ones. Plus, after the time they had spent together, she was familiar enough with the more personal notes that clung to everyone they worked with during their journey to identify them. Cigarettes, colognes, perfumes, marijuana, the spread of infection... those things stuck out to her, even from relatively far away.

The virus in her system wasn't causing all negatives at least, right?

Rain pulled her bandana down to make things as clear as they could be. She let her teeth dig into her bottom lip again as she tried to hone in on the scents she wanted to find and/or look out for, rather than any of the gore smeared across surfaces they passed here and there.