Beth had read the look on Jace's face easily, reminding her of a feeling she had long since overcome. She had seen the chink in his armor and it gave her a sense of compassion for him that she wouldn't have thought possible otherwise. It was blatantly obvious that he didn't want to be around company and he couldn't get away fast enough. They watched him run away across the golf course, several dead making an attempt at pursuit, and she wondered quietly to herself if he had any intention of returning. Still they had given him a list of things to get, trying their best to be supportive, despite him shifting his weight nervously as they talked.

"Can you see that?" Carl spoke interrupting Beth's thoughts and begun pointed to the right of where Jace had just disappeared. "It looks like a pony."

"There are lots of them around here." Beth replied, unsure as to why Carl was looking concerned.

"This one looks undead." Carl spoke somberly, his seriousness was unsettling.

"We have seen dead animals before." Beth reasoned hoping it was nothing but knowing with Carl it was probably something. "I've seen dead dogs, cats, birds all doing their thing, they never seemed to bother us before, why would zombie ponies?"

"Can you see it?" Carl asked again and Beth looked harder. The tree line was dark and wherever he was looking and pointing was just a camouflaged mess.

"It just moved." Beth spotted the shifting shape against the backdrop. "Yeah it does kind of look dead."

"It's dark like that thing that attacked us the other night." Carl's words made her blood run cold. "That's not the worst part... The trees behind it."

Beth shifted her eyes to the tree line quickly searching for something out of place.

"I can't see it, it's too dark." She mumbled.

"Exactly!" Carl stated. " They are supposed to be green."

Carl's words hit the bottom of her stomach like a stone in a pond and the ripples spread outwards to her skin raising goose bumps.

Beth couldn't barricade the doors fast enough, helping Carl to block any point of entry with tables from the dining room. Even when they finished she couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was happening. Carl it seemed had no trouble accepting what was going on, it almost seemed as though he had an unshakable inner peace that she wished he could share. Not that either of them knew what was going on and Beth keep telling herself that it might be nothing, but always the unknown was to be feared, especially in recent times. Once they were sure that the hotel was secure from the outside world, they started the tedious process of checking the rooms.

The day slipped away and hunger set in, but so far none of the guest rooms had contained anything of interest. The minibars were all conspicuously empty and it seemed odd that a place of this size would not have at least some stocked. Still no food was still better then finding something unpleasant and if they had guest, there would be plenty of space.

It wasn't until the last room on the row that anything out of the ordinary happened. As soon as Beth opened the door she knew it was wrong, the smell that assaulted her nose, caused an involuntary wrinkle and she froze staring into the space. A unmade bed showed signs of being slept in and an ashtray on the bedside, held the offensive odor causing ciggies. Someone had stayed here and recently.

"Carl?" Beth called down the hall to the large man. "I need you here."

He didn't bother replying, choosing instead to make his way over with long silent strides.

"Hello?" He called cautiously into the room after taking a short look. "Is anyone there? We don't want any trouble...okay?"

"That's good." A voice behind them replied. "Because I wouldn't want to have to clean up the mess."

Beth turned to face the person only to recoil at the sight of him. Ordinarily he would have been a normal kind of guy, albeit the dreadlocks did put her off slightly and the baggy jeans made him look delinquent. But it was the glock style pistol that he held, which made her shrink away. She felt Carl tense in front of her and she knew that he had seen it too.

"I don't like pointing these things at people." The lad turned the gun on cue, keeping it pointed down. "But I will if you give me cause...okay?"