Chapter Seven : The Library

The computers flickered into life as they turned them on one by one. The lights were still warming up and they were having trouble finding where the network was powered from. After about half an hour and a lot of switch flicking they managed to get the internet working. Ethan settled in trying to find as much up to date information as possible. Every news site covered different aspects and many an opinion piece littered the sites. There was a lot to sort through, dead links were everywhere, lots of old or just plain fake pages had sprung up overnight and conspiracies ran rampant across the web. Ava went searching the library for admin passwords and USB storage. He heard a popping sound followed by glass being pulled out of the frame to be dropped on the carpet. After a bit she returned with a laptop which she plugged in to the power and left to charge. She hadn't spoken to him at all since he had stabbed the boy outside the library. They had gotten in by breaking a window and standing on a bin, without so much as uttering a word. He stole sideways glances at her trying to gauge what she was thinking but she gave him no clues. He felt so alone, infected, with no companions and a loathing for himself to boot. He wasn't sure what else he could have done, but more to the point he hadn't even thought about it. Without thinking he had dropped the zombie and slain it. The only reason he was thinking about it now was because of her, he snuck another glance her direction but she was busy rummaging through drawers. He went back to foraging for facts, it was taking some time but he was starting to get a handle on good sources. Anything worth a read he sent over to the printer so they would have a hard copy. Ava it seemed had found an admin password and a USB flash and was doing some of her own research. The rumblings of hunger started to affect his concentration, he looked over to Ava again, she looked away avoiding his gaze. The clock on the wall read one twenty two, they had been here in silence for almost three hours. Taking a minute to stretch his legs he looked out the window. The library ran along side the sporting grounds, the windows faced the soccer field. In the distance patrolling the fence were several people. From the way they wandered he assumed they were dead, there was defiantly a lot more about since their encounter with the holy than thou man. Over at the printer was a stack of articles piled in the out tray, picking them up he read the first of them.

ZOMBIE VIRUS REAL! Read the headline on the first one.

Scientists today confirmed they have identified parts of a virus they think may be related to the zombie outbreak. It is unlikely that this will lead to a cure but it may be useful to inoculate people not already infected says the lead author of a study Dr. Philip Munz from Carleton University, Ottawa. He compared the virus to toxoplasmosis where in it effectively hijacks the brain and control systems. The person then dies leaving the body as a host for the new organism. So far survival rates amongst people who have been exposed are extremely low. Some reports are as low as one in ten thousand, others are more optimistic and some say it could be as high as one in a hundred. Dr. Munz explained "Because the nature of the virus is dormant, it passed as a retro virus and therefore part of our DNA. The truth is we don't know how long this has been dormant or how easily it is spread. Because until recently it hasn't shown any symptoms it's entirely possible almost everyone has been exposed." That said some people seem to have developed a natural immunity to the virus. While these people may get some symptoms, their immunity may be enough to stave off any re-infection.

The article went on to talk about the danger for most survivors was not infection but surviving the inherent dangers of the new world. Ethan read it through two more times going over the words carefully, making sure he understood the implications. Ava's hand on his shoulder made him jump and turn, his heart raced and she drew back.

"I just wanted to know if you were hungry yet?" She said meekly "Sorry."

He gave a small laugh, inhaled a deep breath and smiled a large smile.

"Sure, let's go eat." He said glad that the silence was over and he knew just the place to go too.

They sat tentatively in the teachers lounge eating yogurt bars from the vending machine and drinking coffee. Ethan had finally gotten his chance to use the money from the shop till and he wasn't wasting the opportunity. The small table was littered with the entire contents of the machine, which he slid off the edge into a bag he had stolen from lost property on the way over. They still hadn't spoken much and it was although they had some kind of uneasy truce. He really wanted her opinion on the article he had been reading at the copier so he asked and waited patiently while she read it carefully.

"What do you think?" He asked when she finished reading.

"If its true, it sounds like we have already all been infected and gotten over it." She confirmed his understanding of it. He smiled again like a cancer patient who thought they were going to die before being told that it was a misdiagnosis and they just had warts.

"I found similar articles saying bites don't turn people. Also that dead people don't reanimate." She added. "There is a lot of stuff about what's going to happen next, it seems most places will be without power within two weeks. People suspect that the zombies will starve out in time but I couldn't find any good source on how long. There seems to be a good deal we don't know."

"I found a lot of stuff on zombie evolution." Ethan piped in. "Lots of people say they have seen dead people that were different. Did you find anything on that?"

"Yeah." Ava replied. "I looked into refuge centers too, places to go to meet survivors, there is a lot of them."

Ethan thought about this for a minute

"I don't want to join a group!" His statement made Ava give him a hard look as he continued. "Who knows what you are getting into, for all we know that man with the hammer was part of a group."

It didn't seem that likely that he was part of a group and Ava pointed that out strait away. But he did have a point, he had rescued her and earned her trust, even though the rescue wasn't really all that heroic and the trust wasn't really that great, now that he thought about it. Still joining a group you were relinquishing some control and he already felt he didn't have enough control over his situation. Ava agreed but suggested they take the names, numbers and places down anyway. He couldn't argue with that, they needed all the resources they could get. After a bit of discussion it was decided they would return to the library and gather as much info as they could on survival stuff. The running theme in almost everything they read was survival. It seemed that the epidemic was over already, you either turned or you didn't and now it was a battle for which group would survive. Sooner or later they would have to think about joining forces with others but for now they would be happy just to go on surviving.

"Before we go..." Ava started. "I just want to say thank you for before. And I'm sorry I acted the way i did and didn't say anything, it was a shock and I didn't mean to offend you.' Ethan nodded silently. "You did the right thing." She finished and with that they left for the library.

On the way back they both saw something that froze them in their tracks and made their hair stand on end. A large dog crossed between the buildings in front of them, as it did it turned its head away from them. The beast was most certainly dead, it was unlike any dog he had ever witnessed, it gave of an air of superiority, as though it was a tiger in a dead dog skin. As it disappeared in the opposite direction and they hurried back to the safety of the library. The sight that greeted them when they got there was not pretty and didn't make them feel any better about things. The corpse of the slain boy was part eaten, something had tore large chunks from the torso and limbs from sockets. Whatever had eaten it had dragged it shaking it ferociously as it did so, leaving a trail of dark blood and chunks of flesh behind. The rest of the time was overshadowed by a feeling of dread and they discussed staying the night to avoid having to move at all for at least the next day. Ethan pointed out that things were getting worse and the longer they left it the harder it would be. Making effective use of the time they compiled articles and saved documents as much as they could. Ava raided the book section stashing anything she could related to medicine, survival, and even some gardening books. By five o'clock they had nearly everything they needed from lists of meeting places, to local shops where they might find useful items. It was clear that neither of them wanted to return here again, the whole world was a mess but it was as if this place was haunted for them after the experience. By five o'clock they were packed and ready to leave although neither of them really wanted to set foot outside the safety of the library. Ethan looked out the window at the body again, he had been getting up to check it so much that he could tell Ava was getting annoyed about it. He couldn't help it, he wanted to see if anything else came to eat.

'Do you have to keep looking at it?' Ava finally asked him.

"Sorry." He replied 'I just want to see if that thing comes back, or of something else will come along." He attempted to explain

"I know what your doing..." She paused. "Sorry it's just that thing put me on edge. It was nothing like the other dog I have seen.".

"You've seen a zombie dog before?" Ava interrupted.

He went on to tell he the story about how he had fled his home and jumped into the yard with the dog. He had had a lot of time to study the animal and nothing it had done resembled anything like this other creature. Ava didn't talk when he finished but he thought he saw a new appreciation in her eyes. None of this was helping them make a decision as to what to do now, in reality there was only one thing too do and that was get to the car and drive out of here.

The car park wasn't a long walk but the buildings that had provided them cover on the way in, were now dangerous hiding spots for the beast. Knowing it was lurking around the school grounds made even walking stressful. As they neared closer to the car park, their fears were fulfilled. The beast was laying in the shadow of the home economics building, as they rounded the corner it sat up looking strait at them. Frozen to the spot Ethan's heart pounded so bad that he heard Ava speak but couldn't make out the words. There would be no outrunning this creature. It stood, stretching as it did so, the front legs outstretched together as it dipped it's large head and arched it's back. The thing had once been a Rottweiler but it was hard to make that out now. It's ears were gone completely, either the dead skin rotted from its head or they had been torn off in an altercation. The lips revealed more of the teeth and gums than they should, having shrunk back leaving the monster with a permanent snarl. Its body was lean and Ethan swore he could make out muscle definition. The fur had given way to a dark mottled skin and there seemed to be large gaping wounds over parts of the body. If it was injured it didn't show, as it made its way towards them. Ava spoke again and this time he caught what she said.

"Give me the fork and go!" She sounded severe, her mind made up like she had been prepared for this eventuality. Ethan hadn't prepared for this at all, he hadn't wanted to think of a scenario where only one of them would survive so he just didn't. There was no way he was leaving her to face this alone. He started forward and yelled back at her "You go!" The very idea angered him that she would expect him to leave her to this. Meanwhile the dog was moving in, it didn't stalk or hesitate to consider its own safety. Without looking back he leveled the garden fork and ran at it, he hoped that the thing might be intimidated by his boldness but to his dismay it showed no fear, running chest first into the prongs. The amount of force when it hit wrenched the fork from his hands and threw him off balance and knocking him over. The dog swung wildly attacking the fork handle as though it was part of its prey. As it thrashed the handle of the fork hit Ethan in the side of the head. For a second his vision flashed white and he could see spots dancing. Reaching out he made a grab for the handle as it flung wildly, he misjudged and it cracked him on the tip of the fingers. The pain caused him to grab his hand, the sudden movement caught the dogs eye and he made a lunge for his arms. Being on his back there was no way to defend himself and it was only luck that saw the handle caught in the bite as well. Long teeth punctured his arm but the force of the bite was stopped by the wood which was stuck further back in its jaws. Reaching around with his free arm he screamed in pain, punching at its face to no effect, except to make it shake it's head causing tears to open up in his fore arm. It was agony now, his body was on fire with pain shooting down his arm and every step the dog took that landed on him was more than he could bare, tears welled up blurring his vision and he willed it to stop. But the dog wouldn't and he realized he might be fighting his last fight. He didn't have time to dwell on it as the dog took a break only to come in for another lunge. He raised his knees to keep from being pinned again and managed to grab ahold the fork with his good hand. Kicking out at the dogs legs and connecting he wretched the fork free. He tried to work it between himself and the powerful jaws, sticking the handle against the ground he held the prongs up at the last second, into the ever snarling face. The former canine plunged face first into the curved spikes with enough force to drive them into the flesh. It was enough of a break for him to scramble onto his knees and get behind the fork. Suddenly the creature lurched forward toppling him backwards again but this time he was on his feet fast. The dog still wrestled with the fork which had become lodged in its face after the last plunge. Ethan was up and running before he even had time to think, adrenaline was high and he couldn't feel his arm, the only thought he had was to get away, as far away as he could. He ran towards the car park, his instinct told him this was the closest exit and his only thought escape. Maybe in the open street he could jump fences and put enough obstacles between him and his attacker to give him the chance he needed to lose it. The front gate of the school was just ahead of him when suddenly his leg refused to move forward and he stumbled. His hands tore as they hit the asphalt and his face opened up on the hard surface. For a micro second he was dazed but something was shaking him out of it and when he looked back at his leg the monster was tearing into his leg while trying to rip through his jeans with violent shakes. His head began to feel heavy and the will to fight left him as shock took over his body. He just wished it would be over already, he kicked feebly with his free leg but the pain was seeping through the haze and everything just hurt too much. With one final large jerk it was all over.

He lay on his back pain coursing up his leg, he just wanted to sleep now but the pain in his leg and arm was shooting up his limbs stronger now making him sob. Something blocked the sun from his face, he closed his eyes waiting for the killing bite but it never came. Instead Ava leaned over him shaking his shoulders and calling his name. He squinted, hearing her angry tone, why was she angry and couldn't she just leave him in peace? But she wouldn't and then she was forcing him to his feet, pulling his arm up. She was yelling for him to stand up, with a bit of effort and a lot of help he was up. She held him around the waist trying to get him into the car, which for some reason was right there. When he was in the front seat she lent over him and the seat reclined. She reefed his feet up onto the dash, the pain shot down his leg but he didn't have the will to move them back to the floor. He blacked out and awoke as she was wrapping his wounds tight, the pressure was painful at first but dulled to a throb once she had finished. Ethan turned his head to look at her as she got into the drivers side and reached over to turn the heater on, she was wearing just a bra.

"I'm not going to die?" He asked trying to work out where her top had gone.

"No your not!" She mistook his question for a statement and as he closed his eyes the last thing he saw was her starting to sob, tears rolling down her face and dripping off her chin.