CHAPTER 7

When Veronica and Aidan returned to the building, people were agitated. They walked up the stairs to the floor where they'd left Rachel and as soon as the door was open, a lot of noise surrounded them. Outside, you couldn't hear a living soul, but inside it was chaos. People were fighting and crying, they seemed lost. - You are idiots! We are going to die! - A woman with a baby in her arms started yelling at a couple.

- What are we going to do now?! Without her, we are lost! – A man spoke as loudly as he could. Children were crying, the elderly were fighting. It was amazing, actually, that with all that noise, the monsters hadn't attacked yet.

Veronica could see through the crowd, Rachel climbed onto a table. There was a slight difficulty, when Rachel's arm failed for a moment. "Maybe she's weak, she doesn't look healthy. As if she hadn't eaten properly in a long time, way longer than this whole crisis."

– Stop! Quiet! Now! – And like that, the room was silent. - I know you're worried, but believe you me. I wouldn't do that if I didn't know we could get out alive. If all goes well, we'll be able to obtain a more peaceful normality. But if not, don't worry, Jonathan is in charge of taking care of things. If I'm not back within twelve hours, he'll secure your transport out of this city. And I guarantee, we'll get a cure or we'll kill a good part of the infected, facilitating your passage. Either way, I will do my best to help you. You have my honest word. – Everyone started whispering and there was a little fuss, Rachel got down from the table and walked towards them. – Did you get it?

She was thin. Veronica hadn't noticed it before, with everything that had happened. She was also pretty, looking sleepless and pale, but definitely pretty. – Everything is ready. And the weapons? – Veronica spoke showing the flashlights inside the backpack.

- Come with me. – Rachel led them to an empty room with some weapons on a table. – It's not even close to ideal, but if we're very careful we'll make it enough.

Aidan took his machete wrapped in a cloth and began charging the flashlights from the store. Meanwhile, Veronica and Rachel filled their pockets and backpacks with ammo for their weapons. – Take it. These are the most powerful. I don't know if this plan will work, but maybe we'll buy a few seconds.

Rachel tested it on the wall and it looked strong enough to confuse someone. The flashlight light glowed white showing all the cracks and dirt, and scaring off some cockroaches that weren't visible before. – Right now, a few seconds could be the difference between alive or dead.

When they were ready, the three drank some water, when Jonathan walked through the door. – Are you sure you don't want me to go with you? – From his expression, Veronica could see the concern and love he had for Rachel. For him, letting Rachel go alone hurt like he was failing her.

Rachel approached him and placed her hands on his shoulders trying to get him to focus on her. – Yes, Jon. I need you to take care of them for me, for us. I know you're the best person for the job and if something happens to me it comforts me to know they have you. Keep them alive, please. – He held the sides of Rachel's face and pulled her to him, hugging her.

- Stay alive. We'll be here when you get back. – They walked away. There was something there, maybe it's just platonic. Who knows?

- No... Remember: twelve hours and you start making your way out of town. Take them away and be safe. I know you can do it. – The two hugged again.

Aidan coughed to clear his throat as the embrace lasted nearly a minute. – We have to go, it's already night.

- Right, let's go. – Rachel picked up her things and left the room with both of them following her. Jonathan fell back and she could feel his gaze on her back. Now it was all or nothing.

The three left the building and it was dark. They started making their way to the PCASD in the quietest of steps. It was alright until they actually reached the square in front of the building. Veronica had to stop and let out a heavy air of surprise. There were dozens and dozens of corpses scattered everywhere. She could see some monsters among them moving, stumbling and getting up again. "I knew it would be full, but man…I can't even see what it will be anymore when and if it recovers. The number of people killed and families torn apart will be enough to start a civil war." She wanted to save people, but maybe there wasn't a city to be saved anymore. Veronica could feel Aidan take her hand in a comforting way and his smile soothed her sad heart. None of them could utter a word, or it would attract the attention of monsters still alive.

Veronica took the lead and they began to walk carefully through the bodies. One followed in the footsteps of the other. As they reached the building, Veronica could see in the distance that the door was broken, the glass with blood splattered all over the wall. It was amazing, because this building had unbelievable security, so they must have used extreme force to break in. Which made it even more dangerous.

The plan was working, none of the monsters had seen them yet. This is because they were going through so many corpses that no one could get close. And those who eventually turned to them didn't identify them because there was no light. It also increased the difficulty because they depended on moonlight to see their way.

Veronica could feel everyone's closeness at that moment and needed to control her nervousness because she was certain the monsters could feel the change in body heat. Luckily it was a cold night so her skin was icy cold. As the broken window approached, there was a metallic noise behind her. She turned her head quickly, along with all the monsters and saw that Rachel had tripped over something. Everything started to move quickly, the monsters went towards Rachel. Veronica ran as best she could, attracting some unwanted attention as Aidan pulled Rachel through the crowd.

Several monsters tried to approach them, but the dead bodies allowed them a certain advantage. They were swerving and anyone who came into dangerous proximity got shot in the head. When they finally reached the building, Veronica was the first to jump through the broken window, taking the greatest care so she would not cut herself on the glass. Aidan was the second and finally came Rachel. The monsters wanted to follow them, but their mental ranges at the moment wouldn't allow them to jump through the hole.

Once inside they backed away from the entrance while keeping an eye out. And there were some, but it was so dark inside they could only hear slow footsteps. In a hurry, they grabbed the flashlights and pointed them down the path. – Are you all right?

Aidan leaned against a column for air and replied: - As well as possible. - She even managed to smile. Rachel, however, remained silent and even in the dim light he could see her examining her leg. - What is it? Did you get hurt?

The girl didn't answer, just bent down as she ripped a sash from her blouse and made a tourniquet around the wound that bled a fair amount. – Let me take a look. – Aidan said, kneeling down to check, but Rachel got up quickly.

- It's okay, it's just a scratch. We need to get out of here, we're too exposed. Where's that map you talked about? – Veronica found the girl strange, but if Rachel could walk then it was fine.

Aidan turned the flashlight toward where he remembered the entry's workbench had been and started on his way. – The table must be here. There were always several maps of the place on it, although I suspect that this place has some secrets that wouldn't be on the map. – Veronica went after him, but kept turning to check on Rachel. Aidan bent down and picked up three old maps that remained there. When he got up, a shrill roar reverberated through the room and the hairs on his neck rose up. In complete euphoria, the three searched for the source of the noise, until they fell on a monster running towards them.

Veronica grabbed Rachel and Aidan by the arms and started to pull them along. The problem was, once they reached the hallway that accessed the rest of the company, several monsters in torn suits and red-stained aprons bolted towards them. Veronica had shot one of them and needed to reload the weapon. Of course, she was prepared for such an occasion, but one hand was busy pulling Rachel who was having trouble moving at the moment.

When they turned the corner into a new hallway, one of the rooms appeared to be open. She ran and closed the door behind them. Using her body to keep it closed against the force of some monsters that tried to push her. Aidan and Rachel went to her to help her, but there were two infected in the room. So Rachel killed them quickly. After a few good seconds of despair, everything stopped and calmed down again. – We need a plan! Fast!

- We can wait until they leave and then continue along the way…- Aidan suggested while trying to recompose himself.

- Let's lock the door for now, let's look at the maps. – It was then that Veronica looked around. They had entered the employees' pantry, which fortunately had two exits: the one where they entered and the other where employees were disinfected in emergency situations. She walked to one of the tables and grabbed a chair to block the door. "This is perhaps the biggest cliché I've ever seen." she thought, but you never know, right?

Rachel was pondering how she got into this situation with these people. "No time for this." They needed to continue.

– Well, here are the maps. – Aidan said, handing each one a map. Veronica took it, but bent down to be level with Rachel's leg to find out what had happened. When the girl realized it was too late:

- It wasn't scratched! You got bitten! - Aidan's head snapped around and in a protective instinct he pulled Veronica away from Rachel. – Hey, calm down… Why didn't you say anything? And why didn't you turn?!

Rachel was scared, but she had to tell. She rolled down her shoulder sleeve and showed an old bite already healing. – Because it wasn't the first time. I am immune. - Those three words took a while to be absorbed. – I was near the building when the virus started from inside. Something had happened and many people had run away. I remember one specific man bruised and full of blood who clung to me. He was already infected and when he went down he ended up biting me. - She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge unplugged from the pantry and bent down. – I waited, but nothing came. Nothing but unbearable pain. That's when I realized I was immune. – Rachel started to wet the wound.

Aidan bent down and began to work on her leg. – Let me do it. – Rachel allowed knowing that if anyone was going to do a good job there and not let her die, it would probably be him. Because she might be immune to the virus, but no one is immune to blood loss. - You know why?

- No, but two other people who were there in the building were also bitten and nothing happened to them. – Veronica was trying to understand that girl. She was strange, full of mysteries and question marks.

- Who are you? Honestly... I say. Where are you from? Because so far, you seem to have and be all the answers to this mystery. – Aidan had already finished her dressing and her leg was no longer bleeding.

Rachel was uncomfortable with the questions and not very keen to tell her life story. - I don't know what you're really looking for, I am who I am. Only that. Now, let's go. We have to get this over with. - Veronica was not satisfied. She picked up the map they took and saw several rooms marked in black without the name of what it was.

- I think it will be a little harder than that. There are several laboratories in this building and several unnamed rooms. Floors and floors that may be covered with monsters and no idea where exactly we should go. - Veronica was feeling a headache.

Aidan approached her, put his arm around her shoulders and tried to calm her down. But we're in this together and nothing bad will happen as long as we're with each other. - Rachel makes an incredulous expression and starts to analyze the paper.

- What is the section of the building that takes care of viruses, vaccines and things like that? - Rachel asks to put the flashlight to the map and try to see anything that gives her the answer.

Aidan then remembers that his mother had given him a map of the building a while back to show him how it worked when he mentioned the possibility of becoming a virologist or something. - I think it's on the floor... Look for the immune center or something like that.

- On here! - Veronica exclaims as she points to one of the corners of the small drawing indicating the seventh floor. - If we get to the emergency stairs we just need to cross the hallway and get there. - This one sentence made her feel as if her plan was simple and uncomplicated. Maybe there is a universe that allows this to happen as planned, but life is a set of variables.

- Which emergency stairway? - Rachel asks while analyzing her map. - There's more than one.

- The left one. If we go the other way, we would need to take a walk through several corridors to get to the lab. - As soon as the three analyzed the map and remembered where it was exactly, they grabbed their things and got up. - All ready?

Veronica opened the door and looked around to see if there were any monsters in the way. It seemed clear. The three began to walk slowly and Aidan crossed his front to guide them. They remained completely silent, except for the faint sound of their footsteps.

They walked through the wreckage and briefly, as she surveyed the surroundings, Veronica could see the emergency stairway door in the distance. It was a good few meters away and there was a lot of wreckage in between. It would be necessary to go around many bodies.

Aidan's flashlight started to fail, so he asked softly - Does anyone have a handy extra flashlight? - After saying that, the flashlight gave a last flash and went out for good.

- I do. – Rachel replied as she stopped and turned back allowing him access to her backpack. Veronica passed in front of her and continued to be careful to analyze the perimeter. There was something odd, she could hear footsteps nearby, but they reverberated down making impossible to track.

Suddenly she heard a loud noise, followed by: - ​​Damn! - Aidan had dropped the broken flashlight and it echoed around the room. In a matter of seconds, everything started to shake, banging and roaring were heard from all sides. The three began to run to where he remembered they were supposed to go.

Aidan was panicking, he didn't have time to switch flashlights so it depended on the light Veronica was making. He didn't even dare take the machete he had in his pocket, it was quite possible that he ended up cutting one of the other girls by accident.

- This way! – Rachel shouted approaching the emergency stairs. But Veronica didn't hear her with all the roaring. A sea of monsters appeared and she could feel her skin being torn by scratches. Believing they were after her, she passed the stairway door and ran upstairs until the noise was far away.

Aidan saw one of the lights and ran after it. She was a girl and looked like Rachel. "Where's Ronnie?!" He started to wonder in a panic. Turned to check behind when a monster jumped out and grabbed his arm.

Rachel shot him and managed to get him free. - Run! – She yelled trying to move him faster and finish off the infected at the same time. As she succeeded, she pulled Aidan through the emergency stairway door and closed the door.

- No! Ronnie is out there! We cannot leave her behind! - Aidan tried to pull the door open, but Rachel pushed him against her. – We can't abandon her! We have to go back!

- Aidan! Stop! She didn't come after us, she must have gone the other way. Calm down! There's a sea of ​​infected between us and her. You would die before you even got close.

Aidan stopped and started walking desperately from one side to the other thinking of something he could do. "The cell phone!" The battery was almost gone, so he didn't have time to waste. He dialed her number and just waited.

Called, called, called. Veronica was leaning against the wall of the emergency stairs. Somewhere between the ground floor and the second floor. She wasn't sure how much she'd run in desperation. She felt something tremble in her back and knew it was her cell phone. "Aidan…" Grabbed the phone, but her hands were shaking and they were sweaty with fear. So pressing the button was a difficult task. She wiped her hand on her clothes and finally got it. As soon as she answered, Aidan's desperate and relieved voice rang down the stairs. – Ronnie?!

- I'm here, Aidan. I'm fine. – She said feeling her throat itch with dryness. Aidan took a deep breath trying to shake off the faint feeling that had taken hold of his body and Rachel smiled in relief.

- Where are you? I was so worried when I didn't see you behind us.

- I ended up going the wrong way... There was a monster behind me and I just ran. I'm on the emergency stairway on the other side of the building. - She said happy to have at least managed to get there.

- But you're well? Did you get bitten?

- Yes, I am, don't worry. Just a few scratches.

- I don't think we'll be able to go to you on this floor... But I'll meet you on the first floor, what do you think?

- It's too dangerous, we're on the seventh floor. "Aidan didn't like that plan at all. He preferred to face every monster in the world just to be with Ronnie. Something inside him told him that the more time they spent apart, the more chance there was for something incredibly bad to happen. And he didn't believe he was prepared to face it alone. Without wanting to belittle Rachel, she was probably a great girl and one that would be crucial for him to stay alive.

- I don't know Ronnie, we're already on the stairs, we can easily find you there.

Rachel took the phone from him. - Alright Veronica, see you there. But keep the phone on vibrate in case of an emergency. – And she ended the call, trying to ignore the hateful face Aidan gave her. – Come on, we have to go fast. The sooner we get there, the sooner it's over. – Aidan was angry, worried and stressed. But right then, she was right.

Veronica turned off all cell phone functions except calls to try to save as much energy as possible, and tucked it into her pants pocket for easier access. She was still leaning against the wall of the stairs and everything was pretty dark at the moment, but she could hear light footsteps approaching. She began to climb the steps two at a time.

The sound of footsteps kept approaching her and Veronica began to think she was imagining them. That the panic of going through all of this had finally come to her mind, but she wasn't going to have the luxury of being wrong. When she rounded the corner of the fourth-floor door, she slipped in the blood of a dead monster and fell. Used her hands already sore from having broken her fall to build momentum and get up.

As she had fallen, so did her flashlight. She reached down to pick it up and a hand grab her arm. Before she could scream and try to shoot what had held her, another hand covered her mouth and she stopped. - Be quiet. We don't want unwanted attention. - She remembered the personal protection moves her father had taught her a while ago and managed to free herself from the man who was holding her. She took the gun and aimed at his head.

- Who are you?! – Veronica felt that she was talking to nothing, the only light she had came from the lantern on the floor.

- Relax, my name is… - The man swallowed. – It's Harold Smithens. I'm a scientist, I work in this building.