Chapter 7

Saben held his hands over his face defensively. He closed his eyes and looked away. His crowbar had skid away when he was tackled.

Koralie stopped herself. "You guys aren't zombies?" she asked.

"NO!" Crimson yelled incredulously. She ran over to Koralie and kicked the knife out of her hand. "Get off him." she growled. She didn't even realize her helmet was still on.

Saben looked up with Crimson with a grateful smile of relief. He looked back at Koralie nervously.

Koralie nodded softly and got off Saben. "I'm sorry boys."

Crimson ignored the comment and stuck a hand out to Saben.

Saben took her hand and stood up. He smiled nervously.

Koralie looked at the ground. "I thought you were a zombie."

Crimson rolled her eyes behind the helmet before taking it off.

Koralie's eyes widened. "You're a girl!?!"

He nodded. "Yeah. She's a girl." he said. "And it's fine. There are plenty of people who have mistaken me for a zombie." he added.

Crimson shook out her hair softly and set the helmet on a nearby table. "Anyway. What happened here?"

Koralie looked down. "Someone went crazy and opened the door to the zombies. We were all asleep for the first attack and I just had enough time to hide in this closet."

"Ah..." he said quietly. He looked around awkwardly.

Crimson looked at Saben. "Well. I can see you didn't find a mop or anything." she commented.

He looked inside the closet where she was hiding, trying to look it over.

Crimson looked at Koralie. "That closet could've fit a few more people." she told her. "Did you only think of yourself?"

Koralie blinked and looked down. "N-no." she lied.

Saben pulled out blankets and boxes of empty food. He shuffled through more and more until he reached the back and pulled out a mop. It already had crusty blood stains on it.

Crimson rolled her eyes. "Sure." She looked at the mop Saben was holding. "This refuge was very unprepared."

"They probably thought they were unpenetrable." he said, finding a small water bottle.

"Probably. Now look where that got them." Crimson stated.

He began to pick out the dried blood, that now peeled off like scabs.
"How long do you think they lasted before...?"

Crimson shrugged. She looked at Koralie.

"I was only here for a few months." she stated.

He sighed. "So this was fairly recent." he assumed, pouring the water into a bucket and dropping the mop inside.

"I guess we came a little late." Crimson told him. "Did these people even put up a fight?" she remarked softly.

Saben started to wipe the floors, listening intently. The blood and grime started to wash away to reveal a clean white tile floor.

Koralie shrugged. "I was in the closet before anyone saw."

Crimson glared. "Fucking pussy."

"Did you not think to bring some other people with you?" he asked, ringing out the mop and watching the blood drip into the bucket.

Koralie shrugged once more. "My only thought was to survive."

"But this is an Apocalypse..." he replied, once again wiping the floors. "We need as many people as we can get."