Frank grabbed the rifle out of my hand and gave over his handgun. I looked at him with puzzlement, not understanding how he came to be standing in front of me right now. He put out his hand and helped me up.
"Denny, did everyone get into the base? Emily and the kids, are they okay?"
"Yeah Frank, they're all okay and all at the base. How the hell did you get here, what happened in the apartment?"
"It's a long story, there's no time right now. I have to get to Emily. The troops are on their way, you have to get out of here, I'll cover for you and say I was shooting at some infected in the woods. I have to be with Em and the kids Denny. Just run."
"Thanks Frank, really. Please be careful with the soldiers, play it safe. I'm going to take the northern route through the woods, up through the Rouge Vally. If the opportunity presents itself, you know where I'll be headed. "With that, I shook hands with Frank and took off into the woods. After a few minutes I could hear the troops yelling at Frank to get on the ground. Thankfully, I didn't hear any gunfire. I ran as fast as I could through the woods, my breath burning my lungs, but the urge to get further away, closer to home, overwhelmed the urge to stop. I ran for another hour straight, getting into a trance like state that carried me through, thoughts of Diane and Jordan occupying my mind. As I ran through the dense woods, I felt like a wild animal, leaping over fallen branches and crossing streams. It was freeing in a bizarre sort of way. Once I finally did stop, I looked around and took note of the fact that I had not seen any animals in the hour since I started running. Not one. I considered various explanations as I walked, until a glimpse of a house across a field pulled my attention back to the real world. The house was on a large piece of land that seemed to be an old farm. The farmhouse was well kept, large and beautiful with a full wraparound porch. There were no sounds in the area, nor any movement that I could detect. The sun was getting low in the sky and I knew I didn't have long before darkness fell, so I made my way across the field and approached the house. This particular house had good-sized basement windows, so I leaned over to one and tried to open it. It was locked from the inside, so I took out a Swiss Army knife that I was given back at the Bramford and started to peel away the caulking around the window. After a solid 15 minutes work, I pried the window out of its frame and lowered myself into the house. I pulled the window back into place and made a mental note to come back down later and board it up. The basement was finished, done up like a home theatre with leather couches and a LCD TV that was far bigger than it needed to be, but cool nonetheless. There were family pictures on the walls, a nice looking guy with a very pretty wife and three kids. I looked around and found the staircase to the main floor, and went up them as quietly as I could. Once at the top, I opened the door a crack and peered inside, examining a small hallway area, and part of the kitchen. Both seemed clear of any occupation. I opened the door further and stepped into the hall, my handgun at the ready. I sidestepped into the room, then through the dining room and into the living room. Everything seemed lived in yet undisturbed. I moved through to the main entrance and the den, but still nothing. I began my climb up the large staircase, to the second floor. I checked a hallway bathroom, a couple of children's rooms, and a large closet, before approaching the main double doors of the master bedroom. I turned the knob but it seemed to be locked from the inside. I leaned into the door with my shoulder, hoping the pressure from my weight might pop the door open. As I did so, I felt a slight but hard pressure on the top of the back of my head accompanied by a low growl. Then a voice.
"Do not under any circumstances move. Let go of the gun and let it fall to the floor."
I didn't have much of a choice, so I dropped the gun, but I couldn't figure out why the poking in my head was so high up; the person behind me must have been seven feet tall.
