The virus jerked to life And he screamed for Alice, baring those long fangs as he crawled forward. He wouldn’t make it. He saw her eyes look back at his and he felt like something just died in him. Deep in those eyes she told him to go; he didn’t want to. But he obeyed.

Everything was in slow motion. His jaw opened slowly and he went to bellow again but she was gone. Zeus’ worried expression melted away and then furrowed into unbridled rage.

A woman in a tattered business suit wobbled out of the hallway towards Lisa, her chipped fingernails wanted to dig into living skin. To yank the life from her and maker her bleed.

Time resumed.

Alex elbowed the walker, catching the woman's shoulder in his other hand. He silently reared back and buried his face into the corpse's neck, fangs latched into the grey skin, his vivid blue eyes staring at up Lisa predatorily as he bit deeper, blood dripping down the woman's shoulder, soaking the business suit. His lips pulled back, sharp canines buried deep into the flesh. Alex jerked back; gripping the walker's head with his hands and breaking it's neck. His lips were stained with blood and he stopped to press a heel into her head.

Alex softly grunted and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the floor. He sourly stalked away, wiping his face. His hand darted to hers as he dragged her down the hall quickly.

Lisa probably saw the mass of spikes rear out of his back and twist around, he couldn’t control his rage.

Yanking her along with a heavy heart he kicked a door hard enough a few times to no avail. Alex was too weak at this point in time.

Hearing a gargled cry from down the hall, Alex saw an opened door and figured it couldn’t hurt to try. With his current anger he would probably kill anything still in there. The virus flung open the door and snarled lowly, looking around and stalking predatorily around the area for anything unpleasant and rotting that wanted at them.

Flinging open closet doors hard enough to break them, which he did with one, he found nothing and dragged the bewildered Lisa in, slammed the door behind them, locked them in and slid down the door with his hands in his face.

Alice closed her eyes and opened them slowly and looked over at Alex and whimpers, tears of pure terror streaming down her face, mingling with the rain drops... "Don't let them kill me, please..."
I promised. I let you go. I let them take you away from Lisa and I.
I fucked up.
I’m so sorry.

Alex dug his fingers into his hair, inflicting pain on himself. Blood dripped down his temples.

Alice felt so numb, it hurt. She was huddled behind a bread cart and the only way she knew what it was because of the tell-tale sign of molding bread and her eyes finally beginning to adjust to the utter darkness. When she first ran in, she didn't know what she was thinking. She guessed it was the simple instinct of fight or flight, and, well, she was always really good at doing the whole flight thing. Perhaps it was the "honorable" thing to do, to lead the infected away when she knew both Alex and Lisa didn't seem too in shape to fight a mob that took an interest in her flesh. Or maybe it was just her selfish vanity and not have the two people she had grown to care about so much watch her turn into a horrible monster that they would eventually have to put down.
An ache squeezed her temples to the point she was sure her head was going to explode like a grape in a microwave. The sounds of the infected were everywhere but it was difficult to place exactly where in the blackness. Right now she was in what seemed like the security office, as screens of all sorts covered the wall in front of her.
Slowly, she felt herself, trying to reconnect with her nerves to gain feeling back but stopped in fear of what she'd find. Would there be a bite? Was she already turning? Was the fact it was getting really hard to concentrate a symptom others felt right before they became walkers? It felt like she had been there for days trapped behind that bread cart, consumed with fear to even breathe.

Clearly this fucking room is getting to me and I'm slowly going mad..

Her inner darkness only came out for a moment to play and then went silently back in her corner, satisfied with at least saying something. Maybe a part of her was just trying to calm her down, to reassure her because other than Effy, Alice was the only other person to know that she was terrified of the dark. Now she was paralyzed by fear and anger because it didn't occur to her mid-leap over the welcome desk that she was hurling herself into an abyss of never-ending darkness. The seconds ticked by slowly and the smell of the mold became stronger, almost to the point of making Alice gag. Taking a moment she sucked in a deep breath, a jabbing pain burning through her stomach as she barely stifled a yelp.

A faint buzzing sound began to fill the room as Alice flicked her eyes around, as if trying to spot a fly in this darkness. In the corner of her eye she noticed a white computer screen flicker to life as she turned and looked. Squeezing her eyes almost shut, Alice held a hand protectively as if blocking out the sun. She could hear her pupils screaming obscenities at her for looking at it this long. Like a moth to flame Alice pushed back the bread cart and crawled to the desk looking up as each computer screen followed suit, flickering back on to life and showing all the different camera shots. She could feel the breath escape her as she saw Alex and Lisa duck into a room, followed later by a group of infected stumbling down the hall. Reaching down Alice gripped her last shank and stroked it. She wanted Lisa and her comforting orange strands. She wanted Alex and his irresistible scent and gruff, deep voice.

Hiding behind that bread cart felt like ages but the screen reminded her that it really had only been moments. The screens cast light into the closet of a room as Alice finally realized she had given away her hiding spot and stood open, in full view of the bright screens. From the lighting Alice couldn't see anything in the room with her. She crawled away from the desk and to the door way. It was obvious it had taken some damage and was smeared with blood, hand prints and some chunks of hair. Taking a deep swallow Alice looked back at the screen and noticed something she hadn't before. There were infected moving more smoothly then she had ever seen. They're motions were jerky but still fluid enough that forced her to stare harder at the screens, coming closer until her face was only inches away.

Those weren't infected. Those were uninfected.
In the hotel.
Two different men had guns.
GunsInventory:!

"Fuck." Alice muttered aloud. Alex and Lisa had a lot more to worry about than Alice and this possible infected status.

Looking down at her hands which were covered blood she noticed a couple bent in odd directions, broken no doubt. Scrambling to pull together all the courage she could muster she slowly ran a hand down each of her arms. A few cuts, sure to be infected she thought.

I bet you wish Alex could give you a big load of his.. anti-virus.

Alice almost spoke aloud to tell her inner darkness to go to hell but she didn't. She kept feeling herself. Her arms, her legs, her stomach and thighs. She was covered in bruises, she knew that but she couldn't feel any bites, at least not the parts her dislocated shoulder allowed her to reach. The muscles in Alice's eyes strained against the dim light to check and recheck herself. She wasn't sure how long it would take for infection to reach her brain or if she was even infected at all.

You could get Alex to bite you. You know, taste your blood for the infection and shit..

I'll give you infection.. Alice grumbled and pulled herself together. Taking one last look at the computer screen she couldn't help but notice a man in a reverend attire taking out an infected. The poor man look terrified as Alice turned away from the screen. Hands gripped around the makeshift handle of her shank as she slipped out of the room.

At first she had to walk slow out of caution for the walkers, but soon after walking into a wall, her shoulder and her mental capacity for dealing with pain told her to take it slow or we're going to leave you on the floor blacked out. So slow and steady it was. Every noise made Alice grip her shitty knife tighter which only pissed her hand off but made her brain feel better for having some semblance of control. Light from a room up ahead halted Alice. From this far she could make out the rough shape of the welcome desk and the bloody trail that must of have been from her or the walkers, it was hard to determine which was which. She took a step forward and there was a moan somewhere from behind her in the darkness. Frozen only momentarily Alice bounded forward with as much effort as she could, which really only resulted into a pathetic hobble. Knees and legs screaming in agony Alice crawled on top of the counter but found herself breathless from both effort and pain. Already seeing black dots she could make out two figures starting out of the darkness towards her.

Come on Alice, you can do this! One more push! Give it one more push!

But Alice had no more push and laid there, helplessly in pain and struggling to move. Shots rang out, those men with the guns.. They must be here. Alice looked over to see a black hood and Alex's ocean blue eyes. But those eyes faded in and out and settled on a dark sapphire blue which shone with determination under golden swept hair. The two walkers fell almost soundlessly as the ringing in Alice's ears didn't stop.

"Alex?" Alice croaked before everything started going fuzzy then faded to black.

Lisa was stunned at his reaction, he burst outwards from within the closet, completely oblivious to the hold she had on it's handle.

Hurriedly, she fumbled with her final remaining bullet, and loaded it into her handgun. There was only one remaining in the weapon as well.

Well then, it's down to this, is it?

She shook the feeling that the last one would be for herself, and slammed the barrel shut. Her duster jacket brushed across the lush carpeted floors of the Hotel Delgata's halls as she followed the destructive man. She didn't need to use her weapon yet, she would save it, hold out as long as possible.

As one made its way past the raging Alex, she grabbed it square by the shoulders and tossed it bodily into the door beside her as she kept walking, she heard the door swing open and closed as the corpse fell into the next room. A glance behind her to be sure it was down was enough for her to carry on.

We're coming for you Alice, don't die yet.

Not yet.

She wouldn't let the tears cloud her vision. She blinked, allowing them to stream freely down her cheeks, ugly and horrible, they streaked through the dirt that had accumulated there, and she stared through them, unwavering even through the bent, soaked eyelashes.

Her teeth were clenched, her gaze fiery, and she marched on with a new-found strength as her mission to find Alice awakened a new force within her.

The blood of many flowed through the air and she followed it willingly.

Lisa came to a full stop as suddenly she was beside Alex. On the floor, a stiff, seemingly lifeless Alice.

Oh Alice, ple--

Just as she felt her knees buckling to kneel beside her fallen ally, she saw the man. He was standing. He was living. She saw the gun he held and raised her own. As she did, her coat whipped across the floor, kicking up new dust from the carpet. She pointed it towards his chest as she tried to see from the corner of her eye if Alice's body had any bullet holes in it. If it did... she would murder the son-of-a-bitch without hesitation or a damned thought to waste of resources.

The breaths pulling out of the virus’ mouth were heavy and that of a dragon, riddled with deep, guttural growls of relentless anger. His eyes narrowed viciously at the last name and Zeus tilted his head to the side predatorily with respect for the surrender.

“Fine. But you make one false move until we get there…” He loosened up some but, still, white fangs were bared. He made eye contact with Lisa and cocked a brow in uneasiness as if saying ‘don’t ease up.’

Like a mother cat, Alexander swooped down and lifted his fallen comrade off the ground. Then he scooted away from Ivann suspiciously, carefully curling his hands around Alice’s form. He took a second and looked down at her and it hurt him a lot more than it should have. Emotionally he thought he broke a rib when he looked down at her. She was almost as pale as him and that fucking made him go weak mentally.

Mercer craned his neck and roughly started stalking back to the abandoned room where he had dragged Lisa and had a breakdown in the closet. For some time we backpedaled, keeping an eye on the group and his surroundings.

Blacklight was paranoid and in panic mode; still making low growls as he played pathfinder back to the room. He acutely heard a noise and clicked his heels as he turned into the doorway, almost crumpling onto the floor with Alice.

“Be useful, recheck the area for infected, stat.” He watched Lisa and softened for a second.

“Lisa. It’s going to be okay.”

He looked down and cradled Alice even more. Alex brought her wrist to his lips and sat still, feeling.
Alex subtly licked the blood off the back of her hand, painfully cleaning her. Brooding over her.

“Lisa, please find me a wash rag or something. I can’t take this filth.”

No, you come back to me, Alice Caulder. I save you this time.

The storm drain was quiet, so quiet that everything felt distorted. Alice reached down and picked up a small, smooth faced rock. For a moment she sat, clinging to this little rock and it was the safest she felt in weeks. There was no one here. Only her. She looked everywhere, in cars and buildings, churches and parking garages. There wasn't a single living or undead being here. Normally Alice liked being alone, but this was just different. This was more than just being alone, it was isolating to the point where the absence terrified her. She knew she was being silly, being afraid of nothingness. She knew that her fear was irrational, there was nothing here to be afraid of.

Closing her eyes she pictured those blue eyes she saw right before she woke up from her dream. She didn't remember anything else but those eyes. At first they were this shocking blue, like a jolting bolt of electricity straight from the depths of a hellish storm. Like even if you so much as made contact with them for only a second your soul would be pierced like an arrow through an apple. But in the dream the blue changed, as if melting into something darker, something far deeper that threatened no return.

Frustrated from racking her brain Alice shook her head and threw the rock into the darkness of the storm drain. Turning, Alice hopped down from the empty drain and walked back up to the road. She recognized this city but couldn't quite remember what it was called. All the road signs were green and empty of names. At first she didn't know where she was heading but she began to walk like she did. She took the turnpike that would take her out of the city. All of the cluttered buildings began to give way to something more clear with each step. A glance upwards and Alice was staring at an amazing, cloudless blue sky. A familiar blue, like those eyes. The blazing sun didn't warm her cold skin and she shivered. It was cold here, like a blizzard with no snow. Before she knew what she was doing she was raising her hands in the air, as if reaching for the rays of light and warmth. Falling short, she never reached the heat she so desperately wanted. Giving a look back at the city she noticed that it seemed darker, more cold than before. Alice was growing tired of being cold. Or maybe it was the cold that was making her tired?

She walked farther down the road until it branched off into highway and forest. Forest. Alice remembered a feeling. Serenity. Yes, serenity. It was the closest she could come to describing how she felt being among nature. The way the leaves and birds were always singing their songs and doing their dances. Alice liked to pretend they sang and danced for her.

That's stupid Alice, why would woodland creatures sing for you? Who are you? Snow White? Get a hold of yourself, Caulder.

For a moment Alice forgot about her inner darkness, the only other person really trapped here with her in this cold, quiet prison. Before Alice answered herself a rustle came from several the tree branches ahead of her that made her freeze where she was. Why were those trees moving? But they weren't just moving, they were being ripped apart and melting and growing at same time. Like some warped acid dream from the depths of the rabbit hole. The trees silenced and Alex stepped forward. A small bubble of air came out of the back of Alice's throat, more like a hiccup than a gasp. Alex stopped short of Alice of about ten feet and just stood there, hood drawn over his head and looking at the ground. His weight was shifted on one leg and his hands were inside his jacket pockets. His smooth, exposed chest of pale skin practically glowed in the sunlight, like he was radiating sunshine.

"Alice.." It was a whisper that she could feel crawling across her skin. He looked up slowly as Alice took in his eyes that shone a bright crimson. She took a step back and raised a hand to her mouth. There was something much different about Alex, something so dark it threatened to grab Alice and rip her apart.

Run, Alice.

Her inner darkness was panicking. Run. But she didn't want to, even if she did her feet were rooted in the spot. She wasn't going anywhere. For now she just stared into his eyes as her brain flickered a memory. This isn't the first time Alice had seen Alex like this, but remembering was like trying to find some long-lost dream.

"Yeah, Alice. Run." A voice said darkly with a trace of a smile behind it. Alice almost assumed it was Alex who until Lisa stepped out from behind him. "You can never trust a girl like that, Alex. One who runs from everything. Cowards run. She's always running, Alex." Lisa's twisted smile turned into a dark scowl. Her face was painted up, like a clown or doll, black rimming her eyes and bright red lipstick puckering her lips that were bent down in disapproval. The more Alice stared the more angry Lisa seemed to become.

"How.. are you here?" Alice whispered which turned up Lisa's frown to a sinister grin.

"I don't think she wants us here, Alex." Lisa said turning to him and wrapping an arm around his neck. She turned and held Alice's eyes then left a trail of bright red kisses from Alex's cheek to neck. A knot formed in Alice's stomach, making her boil. This was wrong, that red matched too perfectly with the blood colored look of Alex's eyes. He looked down at her adoringly and back up at Alice, smiling too. His lips broke open and his teeth gleamed in the light, their razor points screaming for flesh.

"Always running.." He said, as if feeling out each syllable.

Alice closed her eyes in hopes that this wasn't real. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. She reopened them and Alex was directly in front of her, giving off heat like a radiator. He flicked out a claw and ran it up her arm, sending chills up her spine. A sick, evil laugh floated in the air as Alex morphed into Lisa. The claw she wielded dug painfully into Alice's lower arm causing her to wince.

"I told you to run." Lisa started to say but it changed into Alex's voice. "RUN!" He screamed and suddenly Lisa vanished and Alex was once again hovering above her. His eyes went wide, a dark, blazing fury to lick her. A fury Alice had never seen or felt before. His veins bulged and ran black, webbing under his perfect, translucent skin. She could feel the heat coming off of him like a furnace, burning her cheeks. She closed her eyes again, she didn't want to run though, this heat felt so nice. She felt so cold..

"Filth.." Amongst the flames she could hear the word being whispered again and again. Filth. Alice stood, absorbing as much heat as she could, knowing full well she was engulfed in flames that were melting her, flames that was cooking her insides. She could feel her body being shredded piece by piece but she dared not move lest the heat go away. The pain was so bad, it was everywhere and everything that could possibly hurt did, but at least the heat was nice. She didn't want to open her eyes, she didn't want Alex and Lisa to leave, even though they hated her and wanted to consume her. But she was so damn cold.

Lisa was shocked at the sight before her, Alex, strong, guardian Alex, was behaving so erratically. He was yelling for someone to do something, but nobody knew shit about medical procedures.

Look at me, a damned desk cop, before the outbreak I was incapable of even being sent out into the field, they didn't trust me with any sort of responsibility or weapons, no interaction with anyone but for a filing cabinet. I don't know what I'm doing.

She bent over Alice's body, putting her ear to the woman's face, her red hair cascading down to mix with her friend's. She needed to hear her breath for herself. Until she heard that, she wouldn't be able to get past thinking she was dead. She just looked dead. Like sleeping beauty wrapped in vines.

[/i] Pshaw, and what are you about to be prince fucking charming? Christoff, stop thinking of fables, get a grip.[/i]

She held her breath, listening hard. Alice wasn't taking in breaths.

Lisa's heart raced.

She's not breathing!

But then, a struggle, and a breath. She was breathing very shallow, very slowly. But at least she was alive.

Thank you Jesus.

Lisa turned to the men.

"What do we do?"

There would be no way to get proper medical help, and they were far from safety.

"We need to get her somewhere safe, and wait for her to come out of this. We can't carry on if she can't walk. Someone could stay with her while the others clear the hotel of the surviving creatures. She won't need to fight anymore when she wakes."

Of course, by someone, she meant herself or Alex. She couldn't shake her distrust of this new guy. What was his name, even? Who cares. She wasn't leaving him with an unconscious Alice.

Alex had never narrowed his eyes so much in his long life.

Don’t… touch… my...
Mercer couldn’t help it, but he flung his head back in a raspy snarl so hard his hood came off and they could see the dry blood from earlier when his ears bled. The snarl was unconscious, and he cut off Ivann’s last word.

The virus hauled himself up and stalked around the abandoned place, his nerves so shot his hands shook when he reached the bathroom and found a washcloth and tried to run the water. It took a second before he realized the water was running because he saw his reflection in the mirror and how large his irises were. He looked like a reptile. Zeus looked away from the big crimson eyes and returned to the bewildered duo and the sleeping beauty.

Alex became tenser as they went and seemed to be losing the friendliness he showed them earlier. He seemed far too uptight and frustrated at the simplest things. Then again, when was the virus ever relaxed? It had learned from it's first coding to struggle and climb.

Zeus spent almost 3/4 of his life fighting and killing. He didn't know how to relax. Even in the calm with best friend Cecilia he was always leaving her to go do something stupid.

Alex needed a real, uninterrupted vacation. Not an outbreak, not a hostage situation, not breaking down a drug factory. He wanted to learn how to relax or for someone to put him at ease. Alex didn't have the time to breathe or talk to someone with full honesty. No one asked how he felt so he didn't tell them, he kept it bottled up. He was a ball of stress. Mercer needed someone to pull him down and embrace him, to do simple-stupid things like pet his hair or stroke his face or even just gently laying hands on him. Things like that made him stop thinking because he didn't know how to react to intimacy or touch. His first instinct was to pull away. That's why when Alice hugged him at Maggie’s he went stiff, he literally shut down. He couldn't understand what this touch was; she didn't hit him, or jab him with a needle, she didn't shoot him. She put her arms around him and patted his back. When they forced him into the tub and held him he reacted violently because he was scared.


Alex could have started anywhere but he reached out for Alice’s arm and nearly choked.

Intimacy wasn't something he understood, gave, or got often. But when he reached out to others he was under the impression that it was wrong. Dirty beings shouldn't touch others. In his eyes he was what the South Asians called an Untouchable. It caused him great stress to communicate intimately.

He swallowed and exhaled through his fangs so sharply it came out at a hiss. Alex was cleaning the blood off her creamy white skin and this felt all sorts bad.

Don’t touch the humans, don’t touch the humans, they don’t like it when you touch them, you don’t like to be touched, so no, they don’t like it either, don’t touch the humans.

But he was still moving the cloth up her arm and pulling off the red lines, making her pure again. Alex rolled his eyes in embarrassment when he noticed the other two staring at him because he was shaky and flustered over this. His cheeks were touched with pink as he still had his teeth gritted and his lips pulled back. His fingertips grazed her neck and Alex went blank for a second and his jaw came loose and he went from deep dangerous scowl to pure confusion and loss. For a moment his fiery red eyes faltered and he slowly pulled a clean corner of the cloth over her cheek, dragging it over her full lips, gently over her eyes and lashes.

Alex sat back on his haunches and just stared in some lucid pain.

“Fine.” He breathed out slowly, making a move to lift her light body up again and hold her like a child asleep on a parent’s shoulder.

Something inside the sentient virus either broke or attempted to mend itself. He didn't feel the same.