In the basement hall-
Darnell and
LaTanya followed
Declan through the door and into the stairwell.
In the north stairwell, basement-
As
Declan,
Darnell, and
LaTanya entered, they could see a flame approaching from above, casting light on the darkened stairway,
Emilio reached the base of the stairs and saw the two lovebirds and a sopping wet
Declan. "Hey,
Emilio," said
Declan. "I had an argument with the swimming pool. What's going on upstairs?"
In the north hall, ground floor-
"Come along,
Alvin," said
Sharon, leading him,
Megan, and
Murray into the stairwell after checking the rooms along the hall to make sure they were empty.
Jerry went with
Tariq,
Ali,
Lori, and
Kyle back to the lobby.
In the lobby-
"Just make sure y'all save some room for my Gumbo Surprise," said
Amelia, following
Keith into the east hall.
Jerry,
Tariq, and the others arrived from the north hall. The door to the security office was still open as
Sharon had left it.
"I'm sorry,
Kyle," said
Lori. "I'll come back and look in on you later, okay?"
Kyle just lowered his head and went along with
Jerry.
"It'll take too long to break down the barricade," said
Ali. "We should go out through one of the fire exits in the stairwells, either the east or the west. Then we can walk around to the front of the building and get my bike."
In the east hall, ground floor-
Keith walked through the smashed-down double doors into the cafeteria, a few dozen steps ahead of the cook on his quest for food.
In the cafeteria-
Keith entered the trashed cafeteria and began to make his way to the kitchen.
In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Coach Moore helped
Roy to his feet and up the stairs after
Donald.
Dr. Bernard Smith,
Michelle,
Becky, and
Julianne followed.
Sharon,
Megan,
Alvin, and
Murray entered from the hall.
In the science lab-
"The aliens reanimated the dead through some kind of electrical process," said
Stephanie to
Michiko. "I theorized that this morning, and the EMP's success seems to confirm it. We can learn more from the autopsy, but we can't exactly duplicate the conditions that caused it to animate. For one thing, we don't have their advanced technology. For another, the EMP device would prevent it from reviving. It's also probably not a good idea to try to do that anyway. As for what we should do now, that's something we'll all need to discuss. The city's in sorry shape, and without electricity it will be worse at night. There are doubtless a lot of survivors out there, and some of them may be hurt. I don't know how long the food supply will last or how long the water will stay clean."
"The working theory we have about the reanimation is that a virus was deposited on the earth by meteor showers over the last several years," said
Dr. Hausmann as she started to examine the body. "This virus got into the water and the soil and worked its way up the food chain. By this point it would be in every living thing. By itself, it does nothing and causes no harm. But there was a trigger that activated it this morning. The virus will still do nothing in us as long as we live. It reanimated those who died, but now that we've sent the signal that should no longer occur. The dead will stay dead."
"Well, I'm really looking forward to this dinner," said
Liz. "Until you two showed up, I was afraid we were going to be the main course."
"You should go see my friend
Teresa," said
Diana. "She's a whiz at fashion. She designs all the costumes we use in our school plays, and there's a whole wardrobe full of them backstage in the auditorium. I'm sure some of them will fit you. There are some real fancy dresses down there."
"That sounds like a great idea," said
Erica. "Come on ladies, let's go!" She took
Liz and
Stephanie by the hands and led the way out into the hall. "You girls want to come along?" she called back to
Diana and
Michiko.
"I'd better get back to the special projects lab and see how everyone else is holding up," said
Adam, following them.
"I'll go with," said
Lucy, tagging along.
In the northeast hall, upper floor-
"You know, I really should be helping with the autopsy..." said
Stephanie.
"You can help with the next one," said
Liz. "You've more than done your part."
"She's right," said
Erica. "I bet you'd look fabulous in an evening gown. Of course, you'd look great in anything."
"That's true," said
Adam as he walked with
Lucy.
Stephanie blushed again. "Really,
Erica, you and
Liz are far more beautiful than I'll ever be."
In the science classroom-
Rachel struck
Doug solidly in the temple, and he folded like a poker player with a lousy hand. He lay unconscious on the floor.
"Nicely done,
Rachel!" said
Kate.
"Yeah, thanks," said
Chuck, exhaling with relief. "That twerp was gonna kill me!"
"You might not be so grateful soon. You're still under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you by the court. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Chuck went over to
Emily and offered her
Tiny's leash and his weapons and ammo. "Here take
Tiny and my stuff back to the shop. You know what to do."
"Not the revolver," said
Kate. "That's evidence." She slipped on a latex glove and took the .357 Magnum, and
Emily took
Tiny, the shotgun, his knife, and the ammo. She slung the shotgun on her back and gripped the leash. "Hands behind your back."
Chuck complied, and
Kate cuffed him. Then she frisked him, collected
Doug's gun, and frisked him too, finding and taking some additional magazines. "Okay, let's go downstairs."
Emily led
Tiny out the door.
Principal Adler tried to lift
Doug, but
he was too heavy. "
Miguel, can you please help me with him?"
Miguel nodded, and the two of them were able to carry him out.
In the north hall, upper floor-
Emily pulled
Tiny with her into the stairwell, while
Kate marched
Chuck after her, followed by
Principal Adler and
Miguel carrying
Doug.
In the special projects lab-
Lisa poked her head out the door into the hall. "Where's
Doug?" she asked, worried.
"He's being taken downstairs,"
Kate told her as she headed for the stairs. "I'm afraid he got angry and pulled a gun on
Mr. Lubachek.
Rachel stopped him. He'll be okay, but he's in some trouble."
"I'm going to have a special assembly in this lab in about ten or fifteen minutes," said
Principal Adler. "Everyone who isn't leaving and doesn't have something important to do should be there. We need to discuss what we're all going to do."
In the north stairwell, upper floor-
Emily,
Tiny,
Kate, and
Chuck, entered from the hall followed by the principal and
Miguel carrying
Doug as the group of people from below came up.
Donald could see that
Emily had his axe.
On the roof-
Dr. Saunders continued to monitor the device.