DEFIANCE

The rays of sunlight that showered the group of survivors came down like a blessing, right out of heaven itself. William squinted his eyes and covered his face with his hands, not used to the brightness after spending so many hours underground. They were in some kind of underpass beneath a major street, with thin beams of light illuminating the area from both entrances. It was getting late, and thus, it wasn't particularly bright anymore; but almost everyone had to physically protect their eyes.

Not a single shambler was in sight. The nearby streets connecting to the underpass were deserted. The whistling of a slight breeze was the only perceivable sound, along with the frantic panting of the survivors. So much quietness and stillness, it almost felt safe.

"We can't stop here…! We need to keep moving!" said Marcus.

William turned around to stare at him. He was probably right. The shamblers were still on the chase, and they would sooner or later catch up to them. How many doors had they closed on their way out? He didn't bother counting them. But how many of them were still standing? Probably very few.

He noticed how Marcus was holding onto his briefcase. Had he been running around with it the whole time? It seemed like even during an extreme emergency, the briefcase was important enough to be worth the extra weight.

"W-Won't we be safe here…? They are slow out in the open, right!?" asked Claire. She looked desperate to find a moment to catch her breath.

"No, not these… These turned just a while ago, they won't settle down even in the light!" Marcus stepped out into the open, leaving the cover of the underpass, and took a look around. "Let's see… Right, there should be a safe place nearby, that penthouse… We should be able to find refuge there…"

"Wait…!" Claire flared up at William, interrupting Marcus' rambling. "What happened to Nora and Lilian…!? Oh god, do you think they…?"

Desmond, right. The sudden outbreak had taken him aback so much he had actually forgotten about Desmond entirely.

"Hey." William grabbed Marcus' attention. "One of your men, Desmond, mentioned something about retreating to the concourse…"

"Who…? The concourse, you say…? Hmm…" he grabbed his chin, thinking. "There's a safe room inside the concourse as well… We've been establishing secure areas in the vicinity, for situations like this. If they made it there…" he turned to face the group of survivors, numbering in less than ten people. "Can you guys make it to the penthouse? Old man Elliot's apartment, on top the bookstore? It's not too far from here."

"And why the fuck should we listen to you anymore!?" one man angrily barked at him, while hugging a scared-looking woman. "Look where it got us!"

"Yeah, you'll just get us all killed at this rate!" said someone else.

"You don't have to." Marcus' response was met with looks of frustration and unease. "Would you do better on your own? If you think so, you're free to do as you please. I'm just suggesting we should try and stay as a group. But at the end of the day, the choice is yours."

"Bah…! Whatever…"

The survivors looked at each other for a couple of long, uncomfortable seconds.

"…At least they won't eat us tonight if we stay at the penthouse, right…?"

"I guess so…"

"Do we have anywhere else to stay…?"

"Okay…"

With sluggish reluctance, the group slowly agreed, one person at a time. Nobody was too eager to do anything, and it was no wonder why. After the abrupt loss of the subway shelter, the moral of the remaining survivors was abysmal. Several of them looked down or hid their faces, in a futile attempt to hide their tears. Droopy arms and shoulders, lost gazes, incoherent mumbling… Within that brief moment of respite, as the sudden realization took its toll, the consequences were made clear. Loss, loss and more loss.

William averted his eyes somewhere else, clenching his fists. That was a familiar kind of pain.

'How does it feel, Marcus…?'

As if alerted by his thoughts, Marcus turned around to face him and Claire. The other survivors had finally started to move, drifting towards their temporary refuge.

"I'll go check the station's concourse. Are you okay with coming along?" he asked.

"I find it surprising, that you're willing to go yourself." William was confused about his intentions.

"Let's get moving first, I'll tell you along the way." banging noises and growls, coming from the subway access tunnel, were quickly becoming more noticeable. "They're coming."

He rushed to the sidewalk, and proceeded to shove the briefcase inside a nearby bush, hiding it from view.

"Let's go."

…

William kept his attention on Marcus the whole time, who was leading the trio towards the subway building. He had admirable stamina, showing almost no signs of fatigue even after running for a considerable distance. No sweating, no heavy breathing, nothing. For someone who supposedly spent most of his time in an office, he sure was healthy and fit.

"What happened in the shelter wasn't an accident." he said, briefly looking back.

"What do you mean…!?"

"Certain people disappeared shortly before the outbreak started. I couldn't stay long enough to investigate any further, but Mr. Julien and his people were nowhere to be seen… And neither was the infected girl."

"Julien…!" Claire's voice was full of disdain and resentment. William could feel her anger swelling up behind him.

"You think they were behind it…?" asked William.

"I think so, yes… They were eager to leave as soon as the girl showed up, no matter how much I tried to reason with them. Thinking about it in retrospective, I believe they never intended to cooperate with us in the first place. I should have kept them all under surveillance, like I did with you two…" as he talked, he went from jogging to fast walking. "They didn't get out using the same exit we did. They might have taken a different tunnel, or… they might have used the front door instead."

"I see… There's a chance Lilian might be there. That's all you're after, isn't it?"

"I have my reasons to believe she'll be safer under our custody for the time being."

Marcus provided no further details. William let out a disappointed puff, and chose to stop making questions. He had some things he wanted to settle with that man, but he'd deal with him after they found Nora and Lilian… and after having a word or two with Desmond, should they find him.

******

Claire listened to Marcus' words with a great sensation of unrest. Lilian would be safer under their custody? Yeah, of course he'd say such a thing. Of course he had his reasons to believe something like that. She had been wanting to bring the subject up since a while ago. But, should she?

It was almost guaranteed to be a bad idea. It might create further arguments, delays, infighting… The most important priority was to make sure Nora and Lilian were safe.

She kept walking, and said nothing.

******

In general, she didn't dislike people. But, those? Oh, she hated those. The guys that surrounded her were ugly. They smelled nasty. They gave her bad vibes. Their murmurs were full of hatred, and she hated them just as much. Still, she tolerated it, to an extent.

But they had just stepped over the line. A line they shouldn't have crossed.

She stared at the bad guy laying on the railing in front of her. He was holding something dangerous. She wasn't certain of how it worked, but she knew it was dangerous. Bad, noisy stuff came out of the pointy side, and bad things happened to whoever ended up in front of it.

And he was pointing big sis with it. Something bad was about to happen to her. That was something she wasn't willing to allow.

"Don't." she whispered. It was merely that, a whisper, yet heads started turning in her direction, as everyone had heard it nice and clear.

She wasn't too sure why, but her voice came out with a weird tone. It sounded like a warning. That wasn't specifically her intention, but something pulled at her subconscious, inciting her to keep those bad guys away from Norie at all costs.

"Hey, hey…" the ugly man took a tiny step back from the railing, slightly lowering the hand with the dangerous thingy. "When did this brat grow a pair?"

She kept staring him in the eye. He really was the ugliest of them all.

"Don't beat around the bush, Mr. Logan. I'd assume you'd want to take care of this issue yourself, but if you hesitate, someone else will do it instead. We can't keep wasting time here." another man talked behind her, one wearing a strange magician suit. She hated magicians too. They fool you all the time. She didn't like it one bit.

"Alright, if you say so…" the ugly man focused his attention downstairs again, holding the dangerous thing with both hands.

'Oh, no.'

Something was going to happen. Something bad. She had to stop him.

In a surge of compulsive emotions that suddenly hijacked her brain, she charged forward, before anyone could react.

******

Nora couldn't keep her eyes off him. Her body had stopped responding to her; her limbs trembling out of control, her teeth almost chattering, her heartbeat hammering within her chest. But her awareness had gone oblivious to all that, she only had eyes for the barrel of the gun aiming directly at her.

Was that it? Was it time? She knew she had to run, hide somewhere, get out of the way. Anything but staying still. Under different circumstances, death might have been considered a gift. It would've been a welcome relief, as long as Lilian was safe and in good hands. In better, more capable hands than her own.

But she was not. She was probably somewhere up there, with those scoundrels. Actually, she was definitely up there, no doubt about it. Right there. Behind Logan. Jumping at him. Growling at him like an angry dog.

'Huh…? W-What…?'

Her mind didn't process what was going on, until the ensuing commotion made it sink in.

"Hey! What the hell…!!? Shit, get her off me!!"

"What the fuck are you doing!?"

"Somebody restrain her!!"

"She's trying to fucking bite me…!! Shit, she's strong!!"

"Hold on, I'll grab her— Aaaaaaarrrgh!!!!"

*Bang!!*

The sound reverberated throughout the entire concourse, and a human body crashed against the glass railing of the upper level, shattering it and falling headfirst against the floor below. It bled profusely from an obvious gunshot wound on his head, and from a nasty laceration on his left arm.

"Gentlemen, we don't have time for this! Grab her arms, and put a rag on her mouth!" Julien's voice sounded frustrated and exasperated.

"Lilian!!" Nora reacted, screaming. "Nooooo!! Don't hurt her!!! Stop!!!"

"Also, kill those two. I don't care who does it, just get it done already!" he ordered.

Before Nora could attempt to recklessly charge upstairs, someone grabbed her right arm and pulled at her. She soon found herself landing roughly on the floor, behind a nearby low wall. Some more deafening gunshots, and several bullets flew by, missing them by an inch. A couple hit the very edge of the wall above their heads, spraying them with ceramic splinters and cement dust.

"Let go!!! I need to save Lilian!!!" Nora kept struggling, trying to break free of Desmond's grip, with tears in her eyes.

"D-Don't be stupid!! They'll kill you…!! You w-won't make it…!!"

Nora peeked her head over the ledge for a split second.

*Bang!!*

A sharp spike of pain made her flinch back down.

"Kyaaah…!!"

She brought her left hand to her face. It was moderately warm, and it stung to the touch. She could smell blood. The bullet had scraped her left cheek. Even if it was only a superficial wound, it was enough to shake her to the core.

On the upper level, Lilian was still fighting with her captors.

"I've got her arm…!! Fuck, I can't—!! How is she this strong…!!?"

"Hold her still!! I'll shove this in her mouth!!"

'Please, God… If you're listening, please, please… Don't let them hurt her anymore…!'

Nora hunkered down and gritted her teeth. She couldn't do much about the tears overflowing from her eyes. All she could manage to do was stop herself from crying out loud.

"Alright, she's secured!"

*Bang!!*

Another gunshot. But it didn't land anywhere nearby. In response, Nora heard a pained groan coming from the upper level. Had Lilian managed to bite someone else? The first one had been eliminated without hesitation, so it wouldn't come as a surprise if it happened again.

"Shit!! Someone else is shooting at us!!"

"Take cover!!!"

'Eh…?'

Despite the burning warning on her left cheek, Nora took another peek. Something was going on. The men on the upper floor had retreated from the glass railings, and were hiding behind pillars, benches and other obstacles. They were barely visible, but she could perceive signs of movement in the area. Lilian was nowhere to be seen.

On the bottom floor, she spotted several figures, on the opposite side of the concourse hall. Taking cover behind the big supporting pillars, well hidden in the shadows. One of them was aiming a gun at the upper level.

The other two, although difficult to discern within the darkness, felt familiar.

******

Marcus had pulled a gun from under his clothes without warning. Had he been carrying the weapon the whole time? He could have used it to his advantage in a number of situations so far, William thought it was strange that he didn't. What was truly impressive, however, was his accuracy. Steady hands, flawless posture, and a clean shot. William wasn't an expert, but he was pretty sure it wasn't a lucky hit. That man was no amateur.

"Ah…! There…!" Claire pointed towards the other side of the building.

On all fours, behind a small wall. The person itself was nondescript from that distance, with the exception of the hair. That red hair would stick out like a sore thumb anywhere.

'Nora…!'

Some kind of bulk was crouching besides her, most likely another person. He couldn't make out who they were, although deep down, he knew it already.

Claire looked a bit too eager to go meet Nora. Her gaze bounced back and forth between their location and the upper floor of the building, as if looking for a chance to leave her cover.

"Claire, don't…" whispered William. "Not yet. It's dangerous…!"

Marcus hadn't averted his eyes from the enemy yet. It was ironic to call them "enemies" though. One hour ago, he was supposedly willing to do whatever it took to help his people, and now he had no qualms with shooting them to death? Of course, they were presumed traitors who had ruined the entire shelter, but the attitude shift was still dramatic, to say the least.

A deep silence had taken over the hall. Nobody was moving, nobody was shooting anymore. Whispering and other weird noises could be heard coming from up above, but that was it.

William's eyes scoured the area, until they spotted a dead body on the floor, right in front of the stairs leading underground, out in the open. It looked like it had fallen from above. One of its hands still held a handgun.

'Only Marcus has a weapon… If only I could get there, we could balance the scales a bit…'

That Julien and his men were up there, probably with Lilian… All the players and pieces were in the board. They just needed to make the right moves.

"Hey… Marcus…" he said.

"Yes…?"

"Can you cover me?"