The Novus cafeteria sat silent and empty, a bare carcass plucked clean of any meat, blood, guts, and anything else of any substance. They had torn the benches from the floors, wooden panels from the walls, even tiles from the ceiling. Anything that could be harvested and used to keep the skeleton hospital safe had been purged. What was left was Novus in its simplest and purest form, a refuge.

The deafening silence was interrupted by the high-pitch slap of a trainer against the tiled floor, followed by solitary screw, accidentally kicked along with a series of clinks. Lizzie sighed. They had stripped away the outer beauty of this place; the normality. Her mourning didn't linger; if it kept people safe then it was a sacrifice worth making. Perhaps normality didn't have a place in the world anyway, not yet.

She could read her own initial reaction across the faces of each and every person she shepherded into the room. Shock, fear, confusion. Fortifying the outer walls had left their home looking more like a prison, and Lizzie knew better than anyone what that could do to your mind.

"Come on, guys! Everyone in! Quick as you can! I know it doesn't look like much right now, but we'll have it back to its old self after this is all done, better even!"

She didn't even believe her own words, but perhaps they would provide comfort to some... the children at least. And that was exactly who made up the majority of those gathering scared in the dining hall, the Novus youth, those deemed too young to fight, and far too young to see the horrors out there. A few of the elderly residents, as well as those physically unable to fight, would watch over the kids while the rest of Novus fought for their lives.

Lizzie prayed for them. She prayed for them more than she prayed for those outside preparing to fight. At least if Novus fell, the fighters would go down swinging. If the people outside failed to defend these walls, those within would have to wait for the undead to come. They would hear every single thump and scrape until the hinges on those big white doors finally gave away, and the clickers burst into the room, chomping away at the thick expanse of fear as if it were a dense fog.

Once the last of the adults was inside, a wheelchair-bound man named Ernest, Lizzie gave him a knowing nod. No words were exchanged, she had no time for speeches, just an acknowledgement of the distinct chance this may be the end for them all.

Lizzie shut the doors softly behind her as she exited the canteen, hearing a steel bar scrape against the wood as Ernest threaded it through the handles on the other side. She gave it a hefty push or two to ensure it would hold, not that it would make much difference. Hopefully it would at least provide some peace of mind for the occupants within. It was a waiting game for them now. They would either hear their friends and family defend Novus against the undead, or they would be forced to listen to every blood-curdling scream and tear of flesh until it was their turns.

There was nothing more she could do for them now. Her role was outside, that was how she could keep them safe.

"How are we looking?" Lizzie demanded with all the presence of an army general as she exited back into the harsh night's breeze. There was death in the air tonight.

Val tensed her bottom lip, "As good as we'll ever be."

"You're still not sure about this, are you?" Lizzie prodded, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

Val sighed, "It's just a lot to give up, for-"

"For living," Lizzie interrupted, marching past the older woman. "Remember that part, Val."

As soon as Lizzie had brushed past Val's arm, she was firmly out of her mind. Val had done a mesmerising job in forming Novus, and keeping it going all this time. She had preserved a sense of humanity in a world of chaos, and that would prove to be invaluable in the future. She had somehow forged a community out of the dying embers of a world intent on tearing people apart. But Val was not a leader for war.

"You alright, kid?" Max asked as Lizzie appeared on his shoulder.

He didn't look around at her. He didn't need to. He knew she was fine, because she had to be fine. That was how the world worked now. You were either fine, or you were dead.

Lizzie didn't need to answer for the same reason, "Any word from the scouts?"

"Not yet," Max whispered, his words hanging in the air ominously. "But if JJ was right about the time it took him to reach us here, they won't be long."

"How is he?" Lizzie asked, her eyes darting around the crowd for her first, and perhaps final love.

"Seething," Max replied. "I've got him up on ammo duty, feeding the lads operating the heavy machine guns."

"Bet he loved you for that," Lizzie smirked.

"Best to keep him out the way, I thought. Poor boy has been through the ringer. His body isn't up for a fight right now. Hell, even the recoil on one of those snipers would tear him in two at the minute."

Lizzie nodded, partly because she agreed with the logic, but mostly at the thought of JJ up high and out of harms way. For now, at least. Height wouldn't be much of a luxury if the clickers were able to overrun them.

"Talking of snipers," she suddenly remembered, but Max was already handing it to her before she could even finish the first word.

"You're up front here with me, where I can keep an eye on you," he winked. "We've got two more snipers up on the roof, three in the front-facing windows on descending floors, and then one on each of the four corners of the wall."

"Machine guns?"

"One heavy-duty bastard mounted on the roof, another on the balcony half way down the building. Every other rifle we could find have been handed out, with the best weapons going to those with the most experience. Those who didn't exactly excel in training have pistols. The guards have been given what little explosives we have," Max rattled out with the speed and intensity of a Gatling-gun.

Lizzie exhaled deeply, hearing it all read out like a grocery list was surreal. The realisation of what was about to go down here hit her like a cold bullet through the heart. Looking around at the faces surrounding her, the faces she knew, people had lived with, even people she loved. Even if they made it out of here tonight, many of those faces wouldn't be there to see it.

"We're ready, kid," Max assured. "We're ready." The second one was for him.

The sudden dawning panic had engulfed her like wildfire, as she craned her neck up towards the balcony above, any night vision completely obliterated by the scorching floodlights.

"I need to see JJ. Before. I just need to see him again quickly. I'll be back in a sec-"

Lizzie's worried tones were instantly drowned out by a screeching whistle that carved through Novus like a fine, frosty, silencing blade. Like an air-raid siren, it would prove to be the sombre fan fair to their approaching enemy. The scouts had returned. More whistles rang out from the metal instruments pursed between their lips.

As they scurried through the narrowly-open gate, Lizzie could already see the future in their eyes. Wide. So wide. Whatever they had gazed upon had been unstoppable.

"They're here. They're all here!" the scout wheezed.

"How many?" Max roared.

"Enough to turn this place to rubble a hundred times over."

Lizzie glared up into the floodlights again, hoping, believing that he was staring back at her.

Then silence turned to a soft rumble.