Shane, now all cleaned up, was quite more civilised than before.
But the smug look he had didn't let Nora reassured.
He started to walk towards her.
'Wait, what are you doing ?! Stay away ! Stay away !'
He went behind her and a little sound went to her ears.
She didn't need to look to know what he had done.
Now, ther was another cuffs that linked her to the chair.
He bend over her and his breath tickled her ear.
"We don't want a lil' monster to go on a rampage while we sleep, right ?"
She shivered.
'I won't ! Go away now, psycho !'
Hopefully for Nora, Shane didn't linger and went to sleep too.
Leaving her on her own for two full hours.
And not even once was she sleepy.
All she had in mind was how weak she was.
She never realised it before.
Maybe because she never once was in a situation where she had no control at all.
She struggled to change her state of mind.
It wasn't really good to feel powerless before she was out of this mess.
So she started to look at the white wall before her eyes, trying to keep a peaceful and serene mood.
At first, it was still bearable.
Then she grew really annoyed with all the snoring in the room.
She wanted to think of something else to pass the time, but as her thoughts were brought to her anormality and her uncomfortable seat, she gave up.
'Let's just start counting, then... One dead Jess, two dead Jess, three dead Jess...'
After she killed Jess a few hundred times, the baby started to cry, waking his parents and the rest of the group.
They prepared themselves to leave the room and when everyone stood below the hole in the ceiling, a little question appeared.
Nora, despite being release from the chair, was still handcuffed.
Holding a baby to climb was already hard enough, but they clearly couldn't do so with her, right ?
A little spark of joy appeared in her eyes.
'Ah ! They'll release me then, how can they do otherwise ? They said they were bringing me too, after all, they need to take of those cuffs ! Come on, take it of !'
Shane saw her unconcealed happiness, and the corners of his mouth rose up.
'Let's see if she'll be really pleased after.'
~~~
At the same time, another place
~~~
An old aged man was searching through a ton of documents. The room was a mess, and the computers were all working at their full capacities.
His fingers couldn't stop shaking and his anxiousness was for everyone to see.
'Shit ! Were did I go wrong ? What happened ?!'
When the first zombie woke up, he barely had any time to run away from that hell.
But he couldn't go back to the capital.
He was a wanted criminal now.
He clenched his teeth.
All his financial support and political connections were all gone.
Even Arthur Rainfrew couldn't help him, as he was himself interrogated.
He still had one or two informators but, although they could tell him the situation in the capital, he couldn't do anything about it.
But here, in his secret lab, he could deal with the problem.
This thinking made him calm down.
His fingers stopped their shaking.
That's right. He was alive, far from those monsters. Far from those in the capital.
If he found the reason why his serum didn't work properly, he could repair it.
If he really made this miracle potion, wouldn't everyone forget this little prototype ?
As long as he proved he could save countless of lives, wouldn't his fame, finances and influence come back ?
At the end of it, he would be worldly known and respected.
He just needed time.
He'll succeed.
He still had all the materials here to make it.
And when his serum gets finalized, the ideal person would link him to those in the government, paving his way to success.
After all, Rainfrew wouldn't stay in this interrogation thing, right ?
And when he's out, wouldn't he be the best bridge for this ?
He had money and political strength, as long as he could make him support himself...
After all, he had evidence his daughter was admitted into his research.
And they didn't do it the legal way.
It wasn't good for his reputation and career.
He had the best ally for this opportunity.
So now, he had to work hard to make this serum.
He felt his anticipation and energy come back to him.
At this moment, his assistant came into the room.
It was a short middle aged woman with pale skin and neatly cut brown hair.
In those difficult times, she was the only one barely competent by his side.
The others were all dead.
He knew he could trust her as she always been inside this secret lab, and didn't have any way to communicate with the outside in the past five months.
All the technicians, all the workers here were the same.
It was a condition he imposed on those working in this place, and he never thought it would be this beneficial in the end.
They still didn't know something went wrong with the serum.
Nor that he and his team were actively on the officials blacklist.
Plus, he was really grateful she was the one who survived, amongst all the others.
From her generation, she had quite some talent, wouldn't that be a waste if he just had a foolish assistant instead ?
Without looking at her, he just kept working and said to her :
"Bring me patient two's file, and check the modifications on the third computer. Also, verify if the rodents of the third prototype shows normal reactions. Did you make the new injections to the rabbit 862 ?"
"No."
Her voice was steady, really calm.
"Then do it quickly, I don't pay you for nothing. And don't forget to bring the file back."
But instead of doing what she was ordered, she stood there.
Only her hand moved to her pocket.
Sensing something wrong, The old man frowned a bit.
He grabbed a book from his desk and threw it in her direction.
"You didn't ear what I just said, or you're waiting to get fired, useless idiot ?!"
She dodged the projectile on the right before she started to move.
"But I already have another boss."
"Uh ?"
He didn't have the time to react to her words when he felt a stingy pain in his neck.
And he fell unconscious.
The middle aged woman looked at him with a slight smile on her face.
She could endure his harsh treatment and work more than fourteen hours a day under such a tyrant, but she felt relieved to knock him off like that !
Her satisfaction didn't last though.
Thinking about her true boss, her smile turned quickly into a wince.
Even if she didn't have to bear the threats and the belittling words, she would have to make up for her recent mistakes.
She herself thought the serum was an incredible advance in the medical field and so she informed her boss of this matter.
But she could never guess the consequences.
She helplessly sighed while she gave the sign for the people who appeared behind her to take the doctor away.
She took the files on the old man's desk and all the usb keys.
Those were the most important.
She gave a final look to this place before walking away.