Mad World

She followed his hand to the target momentarily as she processed his offer. Chris used the opportunity to quickly scan the security card that hung from the black lanyard around her neck. Everyone seemed to be wearing one, Chris' lay on the table with his uniform top.

“Go ahead, Sergeant,” she said coolly, as she returned her ever-scrutinizing gaze back to him. Chris noticed a hint of an accent as she spoke that he couldn't readily place.

"Well, " Chris started, "the first thing i noticed was your stance. While stances and firing techniques can vary between individuals, I've found that the basic "strong stance" is one of the easiest to learn and the most practical of all, in real world situations. Basically, you want to stand with the strong leg to the side and rear of the weak leg." Chris demonstrated each point as he explained. "You face the target, turn slightly toward your strong side, and put your strong leg out to the side and to the rear. This provides a strong, balanced stance when shooting. It also allows lateral and diagonal movement if necessary, and doesn't present a full size profile from the target to the shooter- that'll be important if somebody is shooting back."

"Next thing i noticed was your grip, it's a little loose." Chris drew his sidearm "You want to take the gun in your firing hand and apply pressure until the weapon shakes from the effort." The defined muscles of Chris' hand and forearm flexed and trembled as he squeezed the M9 handle in his right hand, keeping the sight trained on the target. "Once you've got a good twitch going, you slowly begin to release pressure, but only enough to keep it steady. Once it stops shaking, it's important that you stop releasing and maintain your current grip. this ensures maximum stability, control, and will greatly reduce recoil. At this point you bring your other hand around to add balance and stability, making sure you've settled into a good stance and then you're ready to fire."

"When firing, all you have to worry about is the aiming, breathing, and your trigger squeeze. I assume you already know how to line up the target in your sights, so i'll just skip to breathing and trigger squeeze. The process of breathing causes your torso, shoulders, well, your entire upper skeletal structure to shift, which i'm sure you already know as a biologist, Dr. Chaud. Anyway, this movement during breathing obviously interferes with aiming, so you want to make sure to shoot only at the brief pause at the end of an exhale or the end of an inhale." Chris aimed down the lane and took huge exagerrated breaths, pretending to pull the trigger at the natuaral pauses in his breathing. "Some people hold their breath, but once you get used to it you really don't have to."

"Lastly, regarding trigger squeeze, you shouldn't even really have to think about it. Just focus on the other aspects of shooting and once you feel you're doing everything right, apply slow pressure to the trigger, when the weapon fires, it should almost be a surprise to you."

Chris took a few more imaginary shots shots down the lane to demonstrate and reinforce all the tips he'd given before turning back to face her.

"Care to give it a go?"

Vivienne had listened carefully as he spoke, making mental notes and trying to place his accent. Southern, she thought. The instructions were clear and ordered. The sergeant did know what he was talking about, and he made shooting sound like a science in its own right. It was interesting to her. There was no patronizing tone in his voice like there had been earlier in the week when another man had tried to teach what he obviously considered the helpless female scientist how to shoot, using it as an excuse to invade her personal space. He had been a bad teacher. By the end, she had wanted to put a bullet in him, not the target, and leave. At the range he had been standing, she wouldn’t have missed.

"Care to give it a go?"

She nodded and took his place, putting on the earmuffs again. The background noise was suddenly silenced. Glancing down at her feet, she put her right leg back slightly and raised her right hand with the gun. It took a moment of exertion before the gun started to twitch. Her arm started to ache, and she thought wryly that she needed to get more exercise.

After lining the shot up with the target, she held her breath. Although Vivienne had been aware that breathing movements would have affected her aim, she hadn’t thought it would have been so significant. She waited for a moment and then pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit the third ring from the centre. It was trial and error. The gun hadn’t recoiled like it had before, so she adjusted her aim and fired again. This time it hit the second ring from the centre. Only a few times had she hit there, and she felt confident that this time it had been more than just luck.

Vivienne looked back and removed the earmuffs. “Merci, Sergeant.” There was a moment of silence and she tried to decide what to say. She held out a hand. He already knew her name, but it seemed appropiate to introduce herself. “Dr. Vivienne Chaud.”

After the first shot, she somehow managed to almost flawlessy incorporate all the instruction he'd given her only moments before. Chris was somewhat jealous, he thought back to how long it had taken him to become half as decent as she'd just become after a 5 minute instruction.

She looked back and removed the earmuffs. “Merci, Sergeant.” There was a moment of silence and she tried to decide what to say. She held out a hand. He already knew her name, but it seemed appropiate to introduce herself. “Dr. Vivienne Chaud.”

Chris shook her hand gently. "Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Chaud, but please, it's just Chris. You're a natural, you know that? Just about the most apt pupil i've ever come across. Guess that's why you decided to go the science route though, eh?..." Chris smiled as he released her hand. "Your accent... It's french, correct?"

“… and all that I can see, is just a yellow lemon tree.”

Abel let out a pleased sigh, which drew some suspicious glances. He returned the looks with a smile, then switched of the iPod. If he started another song, he would want to finish it. And with only a few hours before they pulled out, he needed to focus on the task at hand. That meant the shooting range.

He stopped briefly at his quarters to pick up his rifle before heading over to the shooting range. It was an unusual weapon, a Nitro Express, hand made, double barrel and all that. Used to hunt elephants, or so he had been told. Back in the days where people hunted things that weren’t human before they became prey. Although Abel still wasn’t sure who the prey was.

Still, it would do. All the benefits of a shotgun, while profiting from a range that equalled any rifle of smaller calibre. Except for sniper rifles, off course. An unusual weapon indeed. But these were trying times, and if a soldier requested the use of his own weapon, the military wouldn’t object; more bullets for the other guys.

He briefly stopped for a chat with the man at the counter before heading to his designated range. The one next to his was empty, but at the one next to that one stood two people, talking. A member of the military and a scientist, by the looks of it. Talking, good for them.

The sounds of rifles firing reminded him of the reason for his visit. Focus. Get his head out of the music, focus on the task ahead. Checking the scope, he loaded the two enormous bullets, then aimed, then softly squeezed the trigger.

The first time he had fired the rifle, he had found himself on the ground with a dislodged shoulder. The recoil was massive, even more so because of the weapons age. Yet Abel had learned to appreciate the havoc it could wreak; as the first bullet tore trough the paper target, it tore a hole the size of a man’s head. Off course, the damage was less impressive against flesh, and even less impressive against the hardened skin of the fast infected, yet even then one shot could sever and arm or blow a hole the size of his fist trough one of the creatures’ heads.

His aim was true enough, be it slightly of centre. Adjusting for the next shot, he wondered where exactly they were heading. If they would be the one actually carrying the remedy. Who would be their commander. In truth, he wondered about a lot of things.

Which didn’t do much for his aim. Again, slightly of centre. Abel sighed, then smiled. Well, he had never claimed to be a master marksman. With this rifle, he didn’t have to be. He loaded another two bullets, then hesitated. His stash was getting low as it was, and the hand sized bullets weren’t easy to come by. He reckoned he would have plenty for one journey, but still, better save then sorry.

He pulled of his earmuffs and placed it, together with his rifle, on the bench in front of him. Leaning back, he noticed the man and the woman were still talking. With a small smile on his face, he approached them.

Three stripes. A sergeant. The only difference was that he would have to salute the man, but other then that, Abel was generally respectful towards strangers. “Ahem!” He walked over to the couple, made sure he had the man’s attention, then saluted. “Abel Grey, Private First Class, sir.” He saw the man’s eyes linger on his cross ordinaria next to his rank insignia. “Oh, and Military Chaplain, sir.” Don’t speak unless spoken to. His smile widened.

After firing the last of the sniper shots Garrett took off the earmuffs and placed them on the table. Slinging his rifle over his shoulder he noticed that another person had joined the conversation of the original two. He thought what the hell and decided to walk over to join them.

"Seargeant, Chaplain, Docter, good to meet the people I'll be working with."

Within a few minutes Corinne had emptied several rounds into the target. It was a meaningless, repetitive motion but it served as a distraction for the moment. A part of her wondered if, facing with a real, living target, she would feel so clinical and detached about it, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it. For now, she would do whatever she could to keep herself sane.

As she reloaded, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a small group of people gathered at one of the booths. One of them she recognised as a scientist from the gathering; a Frenchwoman, she thought, a biologist. The other three looked to be military of some description. Corinne wasn’t close enough to tell their ranks.

As she watched them chatting, her jaw tightened somewhat. She knew the surge of annoyance and resentment was unreasonable, irrational, but she couldn’t help it. This was a firing range for God’s sakes, not a gossip-house.

Ah, screw it. Corinne turned back to her target with a roll of her eyes. Who cared what the others wanted to do? She just wanted to shoot.

Alarms blared and the general came over the speaker, "what the hell?!"

He looked at the small group then the other scientists. "Time to get serious," he drew his pistol, "Seargeant, you and me take point, Chaplain you cover the rear, everyone else stay in between and we'll bring you to your rooms."

He turned off the weapons safety, the weapon making the usual clicking sound, "let's move!"

"Seargeant, you and me take point, Chaplain you cover the rear, everyone else stay in between and we'll bring you to your rooms." He turned off the weapons safety, the weapon making the usual clicking sound, "let's move!"

Abel nodded at the man’s command, but not after throwing a glance at the man’s insignia. A master sergeant. That meant he was in charge. “Sir, yes sir.” He collected his rifle, still armed, and shouldered it. A brute, on the loose. Not good. Infected. Not good. Even though he knew the weapon was loaded, he checked it never the less. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” He threw a glance at the rest of the group and smiled.

Corinne had only fired one more shot when the alarms blared out and red lights flashed through the room. She removed the headgear and goggles as the General’s voice came over the loudspeaker

“All doctors and other medical professionals head back to your rooms immediately and lock down. We are in code red. Repeat: code red. Military personnel please be on the look out for infected individuals, including one brute, who are now free within the base. Execute on sight.”

The group she had noticed before were already preparing, pulling out guns and flipping off the safety catches. A good idea. Corinne promptly did the same. Infected and a brute – it seemed nowhere was safe any more.

She started towards the door of the firing range when she overhead one of the military personnel. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

A wry smile twisted her lips. She’d stopped believing in God a long time ago. As for fearing no evil … fear was a constant. Fear lived with them day in and day out. Fear kept them sharp, aware. Kept them alive.

For now.

"Your accent... It's french, correct?"

“Yes,” Vivienne had replied. It seemed that she had not managed to completely suppress the accent. Since she had arrived, it had caused her colleagues to look at her with distrust. He had not seemed to be to bothered by it. She had accepted the complement on her shooting with a brief nod.

Then they were joined soon by a chaplain who introduced himself to the sergeant but did not pay her much attention. Vivienne felt faintly annoyed, but kept her expression neutral. Another man came over to introduce himself.

Alarms blared and she jumped slightly. Her gaze flickered around the room.

"All doctors and other medical professionals head back to your rooms immediately and lock down. We are in code red. Repeat: code red. Military personnel please be on the look out for infected individuals, including one brute, who are now free within the base. Execute on sight."

"Mon Dieu," she muttered. What had happened now? It seemed that the execution had only been the start. Vivienne looked towards the door, holding the 9mm before her in a two-handed grip. Then she looked at the other three.

He looked at the small group then the other scientists. "Time to get serious," he drew his pistol, "Sergeant, you and me take point, Chaplain you cover the rear, everyone else stay in between and we'll bring you to your rooms."

He turned off the weapons safety, the weapon making the usual clicking sound, "let's move!"

Vivienne didn’t like being told what to do, but now was not the time to argue or refuse. Staying alive was the priority, not her pride. She kept the gun in her hand and stepped into the midst of the group, watching the door.

The sirens cried out, sending the others into a panic. Chaos grabbed a bottle of champagne and headed for the weapons supply room, taking a few sips along the way. Inside stood a walking dead and a newly infected. Slowly meandering towards him, the walking dead groaned as the newly infected just seemed to talk to itself. "So a couple have made it this far huh? A couple automated defenses would have been nice around that creature's cage..."

The walking dead lunged forward and Chaos lent backwards maching it's movenments, grinning in amusment all the while at the creatures. He grabbed it's throat and pulled it forward, allowing their momentum to carry the two down to the floor. Whilest falling, Chaos planted his feet into the undead's stomach, immediatly flipping it backwards as Chaos's back his the floor. He jumped to see the recently infected staring at him; all humanity in it's eyes was lost. "I wonder if you infected find this state enjoyable or are you agony? Though you may not even be able to comprehend those concepts anymore... how pathetic."

Chaos sat down and bottle and raced to the gun rack. His was the closest to the entrance thankfully. He could hear the creature raising towards him. "Three... two... one..." He turned just as it lunged. With a silent flash he bullet flew forward, piercing the infected's left eye and coming out the back. It fell. No more insane ramblings, no more movement, no more noise from the soulless body. With another flash, the walking dead stopped flailing about on the floor. Chaos grabbed a couple more clips and then his bottle of champagne as the left the room. Whilest whilsting he started heading for his room.

Lonny had just sat his gear down and rolled the kinks out his neck when the alerts began to sound off. The ringing of this alarm was in no way nice to Lonny's ears, in fact, they pierced viciously and dug a path to his head. He stared up at the flashing red lights that accompanied the annoying beeping.

"Oh, that's wonderful," he said.

The General came on over the P.A. system to give the doctors and soldiers their instructions. Were they serious? An actual moment of danger in this GOD-forsaken base? Business was just about to pick up. A job's a job, Lonny, and yours is crystal-clear. He picked his bag up and readied his Ruger to meet any of these infected individuals previously mentioned.

This probably meant he wouldn't be able to fight in an hour either. Damn! Frustration set in as Lonny walked towards the firing range to be around more soldiers. As he turned the corner, he saw one of the guards moving.

"How's it goin', Matthews?"

Matthews brushed past Lonny violently and walked off muttering something under his breath. A little out of the ordinary for Mathews, who was normally affable, but Lonny gave him leeway and asked his fellow employee if there was something bothering him.

"Matthews?..."

Matthews stomped off a good twenty feet before turning around and pulling his weapon. He aimed it at Lonny and pulled the trigger once almost as a warning. The second made Lonny kick in the nearest door he could find. Why was Matthews acting so strange? Nooooooo, he wasn't infected? Of course he was. Lonny gripped his Ruger tightly and stuck his arm out of the room, firing a couple shots in Matthews' direction.

"MATTHEWS, DON'T DO THIS!!!"

He brought his arm back in the door just in time to avoid a bullet with his name on it.Lonny crouched down under the window to the door. Right on cue was the glass being splattered, prompting him to hold the door slightly ajar and take another look at his now nemesis. Only when he opened the door, Matthews was right there. Split second decision, Lonny raised his Ruger and dumped on Matthews. The dead body fell into the doorway, on top of Lonny. After kicking the body off, he went back to the firing range like he originally planned.

“Yes,” Vivienne had replied.

Soon after some gentlemen approached and began introducing themselves, Chris greeted each one kindly, letting them know that there was no need to salute. His wonder at why he had become so popular all of a sudden was shortlived, he figured that, as pretty as he was, she was the real reason they'd drawn such a crowd.

Before he could greet the last man properly, the sirens went off, flashers bathed the room in a pulsating red as a deep voice filled the room over the emergency speakers.

"All doctors and other medical professionals head back to your rooms immediately and lock down. We are in code red. Repeat: code red. Military personnel please be on the look out for infected individuals, including one brute, who are now free within the base. Execute on sight."

"Time to get serious," he drew his pistol, "Seargeant, you and me take point, Chaplain you cover the rear, everyone else stay in between and we'll bring you to your rooms." Garrett said.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Chris said, "let me just grab my things."

Chris loaded his M9 and holstered it before walking over to the table and grabbing his lanyard and uniform top, he saw a woman, short with brown hair and freckles heading for the door and muttering to herself.

"Excuse me miss." He said as he approached. " A few of us soldiers have formed a small group to help escort all the non military personnel to their quarters. You should join us." He became a little uneasy, noticing her smile and demeanor for the first time. She wasn't scared or worried at all, at least not outwardly, she seemed completely calm. "Are you okay?"

"Excuse me miss."

Corinne paused, and turned to look at the speaker. She recognised him from the huddle of gossipers; tall, blond, handsome, and according to his stripes a Sergeant. He held his gun at the ready, and certainly looked capable enough. " A few of us soldiers have formed a small group to help escort all the non military personnel to their quarters. You should join us."

She tried to resist the urge to arch an eyebrow sceptically. She never had been good at being told what she ‘should’ do. Still, it was probably sensible to move in numbers and it was definitely sensible to stick with people who knew how to handle a weapon.

"Are you okay?"

Corinne glanced back up at the Sergeant and realised he was looking a little discomfited. She wondered why, until she realised she was still holding her carefully neutral expression. With the small smile brought on by the god comment she probably looked unnaturally at ease.

She paused for a moment, head leant slightly to one side, the replied, “ I live in a world where the dead come back to life. One my colleagues was shot in front of me in cold blood today. There is a brute and an unspecified number of infected on the loose.”

She looked up, straight into his eyes. “No. I’m not okay. But I do what I can.” She glanced over his shoulder at the escort for non military … all the gossipers. Irony. Perfect. “I’ll come with you.”

Lonny careful walked down the hallway, alert to any mishaps. This was right out of a movie, and it took him a minute to digest the whole thing. Now he was at the highest level of awareness he could achieve. He opened another door and on the other side of it was a group of soldiers and scientists. He pointed the gun at the group.

"I, uhh... hahaha...," Lonny started. He shook his head and laughed a little more before continuing. "I don't quite know how to say this, but uhh... we got beef or what?!"

"All doctors and other medical professionals head back to your rooms immediately and lock down. We are in code red. Repeat: code red. Military personnel please be on the look out for infected individuals, including one brute, who are now free within the base. Execute on sight."


Sade rolled her eyes and stood up glaring at her meal, “you tasted like **** anyway.”

She was glad she had her hand gun, even if her preferred weapon was in her quarters. The room filled with a wave of concerned whispers. A man stood instantly shaking, Sade frowned. Reading body language told her he had something to hide. He wore a guards colours. Dishevelled he looked about the room. She stood and he seemed unconcerned she wasn’t dressed as traditional military, no need to worry him. He rushed out of the room towards the kitchen and Sade frowned. As she tried to leave the people in the mess hall came out of their fear born spell and the room erupted into chaos. She wasn’t about to wait that man without was infected and in a state of denial

A geeky looking bunch of people ran in her direction blocking her off. Sade shoved through them knocking several of the panicked scientists over. She hardly cared if it hurt them or not. In a situation like this it was best to think of people as cattle. She’d grown up on a farm. When cows misbehaved you had to show them who was boss. She wished she had her shotgun, she could have used it like a staff.
After she’d successfully fought her way through the crowd she reached the kitchen. Slowly she opened the door, squatting low she entered, making sure her head wasn’t at the desirable spot for a quick kill.
She could here a man crying and the shrieks of a woman.

“Shut up!” the crying man shouted at the woman. The woman’s shrieks turned to whimpers.

“Please god, not this way, not this way,” the man sobbed.

That was all the conformation Sade needed, she knew now that the man had to die. She brought her Sigrams hand gun out from it’s holster. She paused listening to the frantic man her hand rested against a counter to support the way she squatted. She was just able to make out a direction from his weeping, the sound of running water almost disguising his place.

She moved round the side of the counter and something grabbed hold of her leg.
“Shit me,” she yelped in shock scrambling back. It was the woman, who had been shrieking.

“Help me please,” the woman moaned. Sade had been given away, she stared at the woman momentarily. Her ribcage had been blown to pieces. Across the room Sade could made out the forms of the rest of the kitchen staff. She couldn’t just kill her, she wasn’t infected and Sade didn’t have the first clue what the extremes of her injuries were. She raised a finger to her lips signalling silence.

The guard was already aware of her. He skulked around the kitchen rattling pots and pans. The sound of a pan on the ground and his nerves had him firing shots. Sade hated dealing with these types. It wasn’t uncommon for nerves or psychosis to show up in those infected. Sade didn’t like either. When she heard him again she sprung up and fired three shots in his direction. One made it’s mark in his stomach the other one hit him near his sternum, gods knew where the last one went. As he fell he fired back, the bullets hitting the roof. Sade ducked down covering the fallen form of the woman. Then Sade heard a reassuring clicking sound the man was out of bullets.

She stood and the man went pale, she gave a wry smile, “You should consider carrying extra clips, works for me.” she raised the Sigrams as he started to scramble to his feet, slipping about in his own blood and filth. Sade levelled the gun with his temple and pulled the trigger.

The formed group slowly began to exit the room, the seargeant took a look left while garrett looked right. Both sides were clear, they immediately went right with haste and started looking for the scientist's rooms, they came to a cross road.

"Alright doctors which way are your rooms?"

Whilsting as he made his way down the hall, he came across a group of soldiers with a couple scientists coming from a different hallway that interesected with his. "If I'm not mistaken, which I highly doubt, our rooms are that way." He pointed straight in front of himself and took another sip of the champagne. "Since that is likely where you all are headed, then lets travel together, shall we?" he asked with a grin.

After the man’s head had made a Picasso like portrait on the white kitchen wall, Sade reloaded her weapon. The woman had gone quiet, checking her for a pulse Sade cursed she was dead.

The kitchen held an eerie silence, Sade decided standing about wasn’t going to get her no where. She existed the kitchen and walked back into the mess hall it was empty. Plates and cups thrown around, tables and chairs knocked over. She navigated the mess and stopped by the door dumping her empty clip, she loaded another. This was starting to remind her of doom, she was undecided on what she felt about that. The excitement in her body disgusted her and heightened her want to investigate, to trot around like some god forsaken commando.

The halls were quiet, everyone had the good idea to vanish into hiding. Her daddy always had called her stupid…

She moved along the halls, her footfalls quiet. After a while of quietly searching she came across a group. Flanked by soldiers, an escort to safety. Sade was a loner she didn’t really like the idea of team work, then again she liked the idea of safety in numbers let some other idiot take a bullet for her.

“Hi peoples, how are we enjoying this party?” she said with a wicked grin.

They ran into a scientist that pointed them towards the sleeping quarters, and Abel gave the man a smile despite the fact the man was obviously drunk, or at least not entirely sober. It wasn’t the first time he had people grab the bottle in troubling times, and in truth, he understood why people would prefer the drunken haze over the truth.

“Hi peoples, how are we enjoying this party?” she said with a wicked grin.

She had caught him unaware, and he was already aiming at her head before lowering his rifle and offering her an apologetic smile. “Enjoying the company, if nothing else.”

The woman was about his age, pretty, dressed somewhat provokingly, and armed. A pleasant combination. Especially the fact she was armed. The lack of insignia made him believe she was a mercenary, a free loader. Her kind had seemed to have flourished these last few years. Not that he minded. Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of god.

“Enjoying the company, if nothing else.” A man said after lowering his weapon.

She didn’t appreciate that sort of thing, a person holding a gun to her head, felt kind of personal. He gave an apologetic smile and it was enough for her. Right now beggars couldn’t be choosers any way. He was alright looking, if you liked them straight down the line. No smudged black eyeliner on this one. She managed a stupid smile at the thought.

“Is that right? you taking members to your little gang here?” she asked. Her Australian accent started to make her sound like a redneck, she really didn’t mind.

“Is that right? you taking members to your little gang here?”

"More the merrier, we need to get the scientists off to their quarters an..." he heard moans coming down the halls, and then they appeared, six of them, fast ones too.

"Shit, we got Fresh Ones!" Garrett opened fire with his pistol, using his rifle would have been pointless at the low range, and most likely in the echoing halls would cause everyone to go deaf. He managed to knick one of them in the knee causing him to trip and fall and utterly drag himself, but the others were still running.

"More the merrier, we need to get the scientists off to their quarters an..." he heard moans coming down the halls, and then they appeared, six of them, fast ones too.
She had it at a guess that this man was of some importance to the group. She didn’t take well to authority but he seemed okay to Sade. She gave him a grin and looked back at the man she was talking to and smiled.

Six infected rounded the corner and Sade raised her weapon. Her first instinct was to tumble to the side and take cover.

"Shit, we got Fresh Ones!" the man shouted.

Sade raised the Sigrams and fired a bullet into an infected head. It was to easy, these guys didn’t think like real people did. She moved to the side as one of the infected lunged at her putting her foot out she toppled the infected and jumped back as it reached for her. A quick snap kick made slobber and blood fly from the infected’s mouth.

Vivienne walked with the group down the corridor, staying near the centre as she listened for any signs of trouble. She kept the 9mm in her hands.

They were soon joined by an unfamiliar Australian woman and two men. One she recognized as the man she had passed when leaving the party. The other man had white hair and she recognized him as a scientist. He seemed relaxed and in good humour about the situation. Vivienne looked at him coldly. People were dying and in serious danger, and he was swaggering around with a champagne bottle? It reeked of arrogance and complacency. Was he enjoying this?

Just as she was about to direct them towards the scientists quarters, she spotted movement down the corridor. Six of the infected came down the corridor.

"Shit, we got Fresh Ones!"

Vivienne moved her strong leg back, falling into the shooting stance that Chris had just shown her. She looked between the targets and lined up the shot. Her finger hesitated on the trigger. These were not cardboard targets. These were humans. One of them she even recognized. Her hand shook, but not from the pressure she had been told to apply. The aim wavered as she thought of the cure.

Some of the others were opening fire, mainly the military. The bullets cut into the infected. Blood sprayed the pale walls.

She swore in French and lowered the gun. No, she couldn’t do it. These were no brutes – there was still human there, and she couldn’t destroy that. Only if her life or another human being was directly in danger. She just wouldn’t pull the trigger unless she had no choice. Not again. It was not weakness, she tried to convince herself. The military personnel seemed to be able to handle it - and it was their job to kill them. They had been told to kill the infected on sight. Vivienne accepted the reasoning for doing so, but she didn’t have to like it.

She stepped towards the back of the group and put her back to the wall. She watched the fight but every few seconds she glanced down the corridor, watching for more attackers and trying to block out the sound of guns and screaming.