Soon Lake fell asleep and Briar was left alone in her thoughts. Her mind went from her parents to Riggs. She hoped he was okay and tried to track them down. It seemed like Calista was in charge of finding a safe place to rest. Briar dug through a bag and found a candy bar and started eating on it. A small noise caught her attention so she ate the remainder and pulled out her gun. Her hand was shaking as the noise grew louder.
"Please don't be an alien," she whispered to herself repeatedly.
The noise had stopped and Briar strained her eyes through the pure darkness of the building. A tall silhouetted figure was visible and came closer with a limp.
"Riggs?" Briar said loud enough. "Is that you?"
Briar turned on a flashlight they had found in the jewelry shop and shined it on the figure. It was indeed Riggs. And he looked rough.
"Riggs!" Briar said loud enough to wake the others.
Riggs put two fingers to his temple and saluted. It was as if Briar could tell he had a weary smile under his mask. He staggered closer and fell a few feet away from Briar. Calista was at his side almost immediately along with Lake as they helped him to the corner of the room.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Calista said, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks.
Riggs raised his gloved hand to her face and wiped the tears with his thumb. He used his hand to motion for a drink so Lake handed him a bottle of water. They all watched closely as he removed the bottom half of his face mask and revealed his lips.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Calista said again.
Briar teared up as she watched the young girl give Riggs a hug. He didn't even try to push her off and this made her think of Riggs in a different way. Maybe he was sensitive in a way.
"Are you hurt?" Lake asked.
Riggs shook his head and stood up to show everyone that he was okay. Even the limp he had when he walked up was gone. Calista wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.
"I'll take the next watch," Lake said. "Briar and Riggs, you two get some sleep."
"I'll take watch with you. I'm not tired," Calista said, grabbing her gun. "We should turn that light off before we attract something we don't want here."
Briar turned the light off and crawled in the sleeping bag Calista was using. Riggs sat down across from her and leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.
"Calista was really worried about you," Briar said to Riggs. "We're all glad you're okay."
Riggs nodded and settled down where he laid. Briar stared at him for a few seconds then snuggled down in her bag and drifted off to a deep sleep. It wasn't long before she was woken up by someone shaking her violently.
"Come on, Briar," Calista's voice said in a panic. "Get up! We need to go!"
Briar shot up and saw Lake and Riggs shooting at something. She didn't hear clicking or growling, so what were they shooting at?
"Hurry up and let's get moving! There's too many of them," Lake yelled over the sound of the guns.
When Briar stood up and rolled up the bag, she saw what they were shooting at. And the sight before her was disturbing. They looked like humans and… zombies? Briar stared at them in horror as they ran towards them and Riggs shot one of them and it fell at his feet. He turned to Briar and motioned for them to get moving out the back of the building. Calista was first to the back door and she and Lake tried opening it. A split second of Riggs' back being turned and one of the infected humans jumped on his back. He grunted and groaned as he tried getting it off.
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