Again with the delays, I think at this point it may just be safe to assume there will be delays between each chapter. i've had a lot of bad luck in my personal life recently which has been distracting and also i was introduced to Hellgate London (awesome game). On top of all this I've actually found this chapter quite difficult to write since not much is actually happening, I'm guessing it'll probably show.

Anyway, thank you to those who left reviews, especially you Virulentous, your review brightened my day and just to address the point you made about the setting and timesets at the beginning, I will probably be cutting them out once i reach the point the game starts at.

I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as I can, until then I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Fairfield, Connecticut, USA

8 days after first infection

7am

"You really should get some rest kid."

"No, I need to be sure she's going to be alright first."

"You're not doing yourself any favours, when was the last time you slept?" The voices sounded distant and it took Cass a few moments to focus on them to identify them. One of them was most definitely Zoey and the other, she was unfamiliar with so she guessed that it must belong to one of the strangers that Zoey had brought back with her.

"Give me five minutes alone with her and I'm sure I could wake her up," another unfamiliar voice snickered. This must have been the other stranger.

"You can stay away from her," Zoey's snappy reply came.

"Just ignore him," the first stranger sighed, "Francis can be an ass at times." Cass tried to move, to sit up and open her eyes, but her entire body felt like stone.

~Am I dead but still trapped in my body or something?~ she wondered to herself. This could not be the case unless the dead could still feel pain. The more her mind seemed to become focused, the more she realised that she was in pain, her head mostly but some muscles also ached. Finally she managed to stir, groaning from the pain it resulted in. The conversation she had been listening to abruptly stopped and approaching footsteps replaced it.

"Cass?" It was Zoey.

"Zoey?" Cass replied, managing to slowly open her eyes, the world around her nothing more than a blur at first. She blinked a few times to clear her vision and eventually, Zoey's worried and tired face swam into view.

"How are you feeling?" Zoey asked her.

"Sore," Cass answered, "What happened?"

"The infected managed to knock you down to the ground so you couldn't defend yourself," Zoey explained, "Don't worry though, you don't seem to have been bitten, they were more throwing punches and kicks."

"So I'm not infected?" Cass questioned cautiously, fearing the answer that may possibly come.

"Not that we're aware of," Zoey smiled, "We were more worried about the possibility that you wouldn't wake up."

"How long have I been out exactly?" Cass blinked in slightly confused curiosity.

"At least sixteen hours," Zoey replied, "I'm just relieved you're alright."

"I told you exhaustion was likely to be keeping her out," the elder of the strangers nodded, "She just needed a good rest so her body could focus on recovery." Cass looked over at him.

"Oh of course, I completely forgot," Zoey exclaimed sheepishly, "This is Bill and that guy over there is Francis, they helped me rescue you."

"Much appreciated," Cass nodded, slowly sitting up as she was still in a great deal of pain, "I take it we're going to have to go out there again soon?"

"Soon as Zoey gets some rest," Bill nodded, "She's been refusing to sleep out of worry for you." Cass looked at Zoey, who turned away, possibly to hide her face.

"We've known each other since we were kids," she quickly responded, "So of course I was going to be worried about her. Now you mention it though, I am beginning to realise how exhausted I am so I will get some rest." Without hesitation, she stood up, grabbed some blankets and headed to the far corner of the room where she promptly got comfortable and hid herself under the blanket. Cass watched her with a faint smile on her face, she thought it was adorable when Zoey did things like this.

"See this is why I can never understand chicks," Francis grumbled, "One minute they're grumpy and the next they're all nice and shy like that."

"She's not usually grumpy," Cass pointed out, "You must have just said something to annoy her...also referring to us as chicks probably doesn't help."

"Well what else do I refer to you as?" he queried.

"Well either by our names or if you mean females as a whole then girls or women," Cass replied, rolling her eyes before a thought occurred to her, "Oh, has anyone heard of any plans for evacuation? I heard from my brother that the military was sorting something like that out."

"You can't rely on the army to do anything," Francis scoffed, "They're as useless as the cops...I hate cops."

"Not all cops are useless," Cass growled, "And I'd watch what you say about cops around Zoey, her dad was one."

"Just great," he grumbled.

"We'd heard about some sort of safe havens being set up," Bill cut in, getting back to Cass' question, "Safe houses or something they were called, sounds like the type of thing that would become evacuation centres, especially with how many are spread over the city."

"Yeah, we were at one of those before," Cass sighed, "But it fell to the infected, luckily most of us managed to make it out unharmed."

"Underestimating the enemy," Bill muttered bitterly, "It's a bad mistake to make in any war and this ain't like other wars."

"Because they act more like mindless zombies than thinking humans?" Cass questioned with interest.

"I guess," Bill mused, "I was meaning more because the bastards just don't stop coming, doesn't matter how much you injure them or how many of their ranks you kill, if they're physically able to keep coming at you they will do." The room fell silent for a few moments.

"I hate vampires," Francis stated, breaking the silence.

"They're more zombies than vampires," Cass chuckled.

"Whatever," he retorted. Bill shook his head.

"Well if we're to be moving out once Zoey's rested then I suggest we all get some rest too, make sure we're as alert as possible," he said, "It's no good having people who are half asleep."

"Yeah, maybe I'll be in less pain after another rest too," Cass yawned, slowly lying back again.

"I hate being tired," Francis mumbled, settling down in another corner of the room.

"Does he hate everything?" Cass asked.

"It would seem so," Bill sighed, "You get used to it though, rest well kid."

"You too," Cass replied, closing her eyes, "And thanks again for your help."