325

You order them both inside to the lobby and take the building keys off Murdock. You shove Murdock inside and lock the glass doors. You pick up the assault rifles and revolvers.

You stand on the corner of the street in the desolate city in the late night. Litter blows by, and the air is thick with moisture. You hear movement of large vehicles and low-flying helicopters in the distance. Few people are on the street, and those you see are running into houses or stores with few remaining on the warm city streets. Little light emanates from houses or businesses as if everything in the city has shut down. For such a busy city, where are all of the people? Has the virus killed off so many so fast?

You walk several blocks and stop as a sound builds around you. The rumble of large vehicles fills the area, shaking the ground, and a speaker fills the void of silence:

"Stay inside your houses and lock your doors. Keep your lights off. If you are outside, get to shelter. If you encounter an infected, run and get to safety. Do not engage the infected. Avoid being scratched or bitten at all costs. If someone is bitten, isolate them and restrain them immediately."

Gunfire erupts, and you duck for cover behind a parked car. The windows explode, coating your back in shards of glass, and the alarm blares out until another round of bullets rips through the car. You check yourself for bullet holes but find none. The alarm lets out a last fading sound and goes silent. At the intersection of the corner only forty feet away is a procession of military vehicles: tanks, troop transports, and jeeps with heavy machine guns mounted on top. The parade of vehicles passes for a full minute, followed by a trail of zombies, who you guess are attracted to the noise. Soldiers cut down the undead stalkers. You wonder if this is a strategy of the National Guard: round up the dead and destroy as many as possible, in some twisted version of the Pied Piper of Hamelin fairy tale.

Before crossing the street, you wait for the military vehicles to leave your sight and take all zombies with them. The corner red light silently holds off traffic, but no cars are moving on the road. Little light shines in the area, save a solitary window from an office building next to where you stand.