Matt POV

"What exactly do you mean they're moving around unprovoked", Will asked fiercely.
I remained silent and listened to the exchange.

Valarie looked at Lucian who was eyeing a passed out and restrained Elizabeth. It must look like we were torturing her and I would have clarified the situation had the conversation not reached such a critical point. Logan's gaze fixed on Will,"They move from area to area without any noise attracting them - you've all come this far so I assume you know they're blind and have excellent hearing", he said in a mellow tone. He really is laid back.

"Anyway", Lucian continued, "they in a spot for about three days - sometimes four - before running off to a different place. I'm always behind them. You guys just got lucky, this place was infested with them. They ran off right before you arrived - which is when I showed up looking for my own crib."

I looked at Will and he had a distant look in his eyes - a transparent film covering the blue irises. "They're looking for new hosts. The fungus is dying and it's desperately trying to survive. It's mutating - evolving", Will said with a tinge of excitement.

I like it when he gets all smart. But what he was saying was terrifying. I'd the Cannibals are evolving - well the fungus - then it increases the likelihood that they'll get us. Living life on the run was incredibly stressful that's why Will was making sure I hadn't gone batshit. But I wasn't going to lie, I almost did.

"It's bad", Valarie snapped. She was right though, it is very bad - we've lost our hope of finding a permanent base. A place to call home and that was soul shattering. Knowing you have no place to go to that was yours. That was safe. Now were forced to keep moving around with Cannibals possibly on our tail.

"Lucian", Will said, "do they enter buildings when they arrive at a new location? In the beginning they used to but only because of the lights, since the electricity stopped they've stayed out on the streets - that's why I'm asking."

"Only the ground floor", Lucian paused, "I think." Everyone's heart's stopped. Lucian wasn't sure of the information and he was our only source.

"What do you mean you think?!" Valarie snapped.

Lucian was indifferent to Valarie's intimidating aura, and I knew that irked her. She liked being in control.
Lucian smiled a cheerful smile, "I was on a nearby roof so I couldn't see."

The room grew silent as everyone - besides Elizabeth - contemplated their options. Lucian said that the Cannibals had already left the area, that meant we had three days before we would have to move. I pushed my tired brain to it's limit trying to predict what Will was thinking. There wasn't much we could do other than stay behind the Cannibals - that was elimentary.

"Well we can't go anywhere", Valarie pointed her head at Elizabeth, "with her like this."

"That's also true", Will said - still in his calculating daze.

"We could kill her", Valarie suggested.

That's when I jumped in, "No we won't", I stated firmly.

Will turned to me, "We don't know if she'll get better. We can't move around with her shrieking the whole night and she requires constant nursing - you do realise that right?"

My temper rose at the rhetorical question. An excruciating sea of anger flooded me, "This isn't numbers and calculations, Will. She's a human - so are we - and we should act like it. Humans have emotions and I wish you'd turn yours back on!"

He didn't skip a beat, "Why? So you can leave again?"

My mouth snapped shut as yet another needle was stabbed into my hair by his hands. I regret leaving him on that roof everyday since I've seen what he became. Cold and unresponsive.

"We aren't killing her", I whispered, "without killing me." Petty reasoning, I know, but I would rather die at this point. This wasn't living. This was surviving a harsh world. Just barely surviving.

"Jesus you guys are intense", Lucian said bluntly, "but I agree with what's-his-name. You aren't killing her. It's just not right."

"I agree too", Gloria piped in.

Logan kept quiet as everyone expected him to speak but he remained silent.

"Then we split up", Will said.

"What?" Valarie asked.

"We need more information, we need to observe what they're doing to find a pattern. Once we've found that we can predict their movements and act accordingly", he said blandly. But they're was something there when his eyes met mine. I could've sworn on my, probably, rash-ridden mother that I saw a glint of longing in those eyes.

"So who goes?" Logan finally spoke.

"Oh good, you were listening", Will sassed.

I withheld a snicker at the apologetic look on Logan's face.

"You", Valarie looked at Will, "Matt and Lucian. I'd love to go but I have to stay, so you three have a job - don't screw if up", she said icily. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at her tone. She couldn't go seeing as Gloria had to stay here - separating them was out of the question.

Will walked over to the blue door as then turned to Lucian and I with wide, expecting eyes, "Let's go. What are you waiting for?"

Lucian simply strolled over to Will as I fumbled to grab my bat and a bottle of water. We left the others and Valarie locked the door behind us - the key which we found in one of the abandoned desks. Walking into the night we could faintly spot the pile of dead Cannibals outside the building yet their corpses remained frightening.

We ran across the street silently and entered the building across from our temporary home. We walked the stairs to the roof and started hoping over to the next building. It reminded me solemnly about Mellissa and her fear of heights.

And so we drifted silently off into the night, on search of our danger instead of running from it.