Illusion

The old man in the suit walks to Neil and crouches down. The man takes his time with Neil, looking him over before asking if he's hurt. Neil shakes his head no and then looks at the man. A grin spreads across his lips. Neil is now the focus of a lot of attention. Several people, from behind him, are asking him questions. It was all over in an instant. When he saw the older man stare them down, all that remained was to wonder how he'd gotten in there and what he was going to do with him now. Neil's mind went numb as he heard him walking back toward the door.

A wave of panic and fear rolled over him as his eyes wandered. They had to come to him. He had an answer for everything. People are a lot calmer, but Neil stutters with every answer. Because Neil would not be able to question any of this, he had no choice but to trust it and let it be. It was only a matter of time before the two soldiers that carried him walked in.

They entered the room. All of a sudden, Neil was just a scared boy. "Well, I guess it was my warning," he said to the men.

"Don't worry about it, kid. Let's just get the hell out of here. We don't want trouble here." They let go of him. He was quickly led away. Before he could say goodbye, the mayor touched his shoulder from behind. Neil suddenly turned his head. The mayor gave him a look to say this isn't over.

Neil walks to the infirmary and sees Jay looking down at her feet, thinking. Neil walks to her and gently pats her shoulder. She hugs him tightly, and she looks at him to see if he's hurt.

"I'm not hurt, I'm not the weak to take a punch, but thanks." She nods rapidly, and her hair is out with her wristband. Simon walks in and writes on the chalkboard,

"glad to see they weren't harsh on you." Jay avoids eye contact with Neil and Simon. Her hands shake uncontrollably, she is incredibly nervous around them. Jay is nervous around her two friends because she has never talked to them much. She has always found it difficult to talk to guys, but even more so around her friends. Jay is so nervous that she has a hard time looking at them and doesn't want to say anything.

Neil grabs Simon's chalkboard and Simon's arm, taking them outside. Neil gave Simon his chalkboard and started asking him questions.

"How do you feel about Jay?" Simon tried walking away, but Neil grabs his arm. Simon stares at him, and Neil feels a gun against his side through Simon's lab coat. Neil's face goes pale, and he starts shaking, losing his grip on Simon. Simon smirks and tries not to laugh, he writes on his chalkboard,

"Never touch me, or next time I won't hesitate," Simon goes back to Jay. She is missing, Simon hears faint footsteps down the hall but ignores them and gets back to his lab upstairs. Jay looks around and finds an odd hatch under a rug, but there's no discolouration on the floor.

"It must be new," she said moving the rug away and slowly opening the hatch, it smells like rotten flesh. She covers her nose and goes down the ladder.

She sees cages and in the middle one, a man in the centre, starved and passed out. She sees the other cages are full of zombies around him. They reach for him inch by inch, and she yells out to him. Neil runs to her and holds her, and she hides her face in his neck with her eyes closed.

The military men in the mayor's office came down and stared at Neil. Before they get hurried out, her hands and eyes glow, and the man's hands and eyes glow as he sits up. She's the only one to notice other than the man, and Jay tries to explain to Neil, but he just nods and doesn't say a thing. Simon watches and smiles, Neil stares at him after Jay walks away from him. The military men cornered her and told her,

"Never go down there again, he's dangerous and has killed the group he was hiding with, because of his rage and anger." She nods, looking at them. Simon signs the soldiers to leave, takes her hand and leads her into the infirmary, and pulls a cord into a hidden storage room. A ladder falls in front of her,

"The attic?" she mumbled. She climbs the ladder, blinding dancing lights from the window. By the window, she notices some plants, a mattress, and boxes stacked so high she can't see their tops. Books are open on a log table next to the bed, and thick blankets and soft pillows are tumbling from the bed. She softly sat on the bed as Simon placed his chalkboard on an old shelf, and the light from the window cast a warm orange and pink glow around the room. She felt better as if she might recover here, in a safe, warm and quiet place.

Neil searches for her, his breathing getting heavier with every breath. His vision starts to blur and falls to the ground. He looks around him and only sees people with their faces blurred. He hides his face, shaking and Simon hears the people laughing outside the window. Simon quickly dashes to Neil's side and looks at Jay at the window. Simon pushes the people away from Neil and Jay runs down to them. Jay slowly sits Neil up, Simon looks at them and looks away gritting his teeth. Neil smiles looking at Simon as Jay helps him inside.

Simon clenches his fist, his nails digging into his skin. Simon follows them inside and locks the doors behind them and stands at the door, staring at the people til they leave. Jay softly pets Neil's head til he calms down, Simon sits near them and has a look at client files.

"What is he doing here?" Neil says pointing at Simon. Simon rolls his eyes and continues reading.

"He just saved you so shut it."

Neil looks down and Jay goes to the attic.

"I'm sorry Simon, thank you for helping me". Simon writes on a paper,

'saving you more like it'. Neil says,

"Such an asshole." Neil knows Simon was just trying to lighten the mood, but it's not always easy to laugh at yourself. Simon goes to his room down the hall, he sets down his client files and pulls out a book from under his bed. He was so focused on the story that he didn't even hear Neil calling out to him.

"Simon, where is Jay?" Neil asked again, but Simon ignored him and continued reading. He was so absorbed in the book that he didn't even realize that Neil had been standing there for a few minutes, waiting for an answer. Neil sighed and decided to leave, knowing that Simon was too focused on his book to answer him. He knew that Simon was a passionate reader, but he had hoped that he would at least acknowledge him. Neil slowly walked through the house, looking through each room one by one. He started in the living room, taking in the cozy furniture and the photos on the walls of Simon and past clients. He then went to the bedrooms, noting the comfortable beds and the colourful decorations. He even peeked into the bathrooms, taking in the cleanliness and the fresh scent of the air.

He couldn't help but get a sense of familiarity as he moved through the house, as though he had been here before. He grinned to himself, enjoying the familiarity and comfort. Simon finds him and makes a sign. ' The mayor makes every structure resemble a simple house so that it feels like a home. Hence, you are composed and fail to notice what is obvious.' He gestures toward the gates, which are being rocked by hordes of undead. Despite the guards' best efforts, the undead just kept coming. The undead were relentless, and the guards were becoming increasingly desperate. The situation was dire, and it seemed like the gates would soon be breached.

The guards had no choice but to fight to the death, and hope that they could hold off the undead long enough for reinforcements to arrive. It was a desperate situation, and the guards knew that their lives were on the line. They had to fight with all their might, and hope that they could survive the onslaught of the undead. Simon runs up to the attic and finds Jay being held at gunpoint by Debbie. Neil walks in.

"Debbie what are you doing,"

"She can't leave she has to stay!" she yelled slowly taking her down to the basement and throwing her in the cell with the 'dangerous' man. As she throws her in Neil tackles Debbie and takes the gun but he feels something on the back of his head.