Under Siege I

His response leaves me in deep contemplation. "Come on, let's get everyone together."

"Sure... But..." Lawrence says before trailing off.

"But what?" I ask.

"Do you want to... Maybe change? Or wipe off all that blood?" He suggests with an awkward laugh.

"Oh... Yeah... That..." I say before heading back to my room to use a damp cloth to wipe myself down and grab a fresh change of clothes.

Once done I go to the 5th floor where everyone in our building seems to be huddled in fear. Seemingly awaiting my arrival or maybe fearing the arrival of something else.

Once in the room I noticed that Miranda and the others are there, but a certain backstabbing little shit isn't.

"Where's John?" I ask through gritted teeth which my arrival shocks several people, most noticeably of which is Miranda.

"H-how are you a-alive?! I saw it skewer you!" Miranda exclaims in shock drawing everyone's attention to me.

"Well, I guess death just doesn't agree with me... I think I might be death-intolerant. At least its not dairy." I say with a serious nod leaving everyone confused.

"What?" Miranda asks in confusion.

"I was trying to be funny…" I say rubbing the back of my neck before the world slows back down before a familiar pale blue screen enters my vision.

[Trying and failing, lol. Sup, bitch, what'd I miss? (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧] Pima messages.

'I was just starting to miss you… Now I wish you'd disappear again, speaking what was all that?' I ask them.

[What was all of what? ♪⁠～⁠(⁠´⁠ε⁠｀⁠ ⁠)] Pima replies.

'You know, the whole reward, system authority, and review thing.' I say.

[Oh, that… Yeah… Can't say, just know I got in a whole heap of trouble for using the gray area of my ability to assist you more than I was technically supposed to. So no more freebies and loopholes… ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ ] Pima says.

'Oh, I hope it's not too bad… Thanks… For that by the way… Despite your attitude, you saved my life and I appreciate it.' I say.

[Okay, okay, enough of this mushy crap! What do you expect? Huh! A 'your welcome'?! Hmph, whatever, just go and don't die you idiot! ⁄⁠(⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠-⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠)⁠⁄]

'Yeah… There's the Pima I know. I missed you too.' I internally smirk.

[…] Pima finishes while time speeds back up and the screen disappears.

"Well, it didn't work. Do you want to explain what happened?" Miranda asks after regaining her composure and the indifferent look of disinterest returns.

"Fine, I could feel the virus inside me reacting with my body, almost as if surging. And I thought it would give me the strength to go toe to toe with that thing, or at the very least buy you guys time to escape… And I was wrong, I wasn't any stronger, but I started to heal super fast and that kept me from dying long enough to use on of that things bones to jab it through the skull and kill it before heading back. Now tell me, what happened here?" I ask in return.

"I see," Miranda says pausing to run through several thoughts in her head, while everyone is listening intently, before continuing, "Building C… A nest or something seems to be there. Once we came back a swarm descended on building D tearing through the first few floors before they got a handle on it, luckily they only focused on one building at a time, which let everyone else strengthen their barricades and weather the wave."

"What were they like? Like Infected from '21 Hours Later' or Shamblers from the 'Shambling Unliving'?" I ask.

"What?" Miranda replies in confusion before Marcus answers.

"Definitely, '21 Hours Later' fast as hell, but not smart they mainly throw themselves at our barricades or the walls for a few minutes before they finished dragging the bodies from C and they had been silent so far." Marcus explains.

"Shit, how many weapons do we have? I know there was a few shotguns, pistols, and rifles from the station, but not enough for everyone, any melee weapons?" I ask hopefully.

It's then that Don speaks up, "Most of us have made do with broken table legs and kitchen knives, but luckily nothing broke through so no one's hurt."

"Hmmm… Okay…" I pause thinking for a moment, "Take the curtain rods down and try and sharpen them into tips or bind knives to the end of them. We'll have people posted at the second-floor windows and stab down at them the next time they show up. Marcus, send a message to the other buildings to do the same." I order before turning to everyone else.

"I know that things seem a little crazy right about now, but know that so long as we stick together we can get through this. Now, has anyone received training on how to handle a gun?" I ask looking around the room.

Two or three hands quietly raise up, much to my disappointment. Before looking to Don, "Get a tally of the rest of the buildings who can use a gun without shooting their or someone else's foot off, you three and Miranda! Come with me, everyone else, work on making your weapons."

"If you're having trouble, don't be afraid to ask for help from someone. The more people we have with working weapons, the better. Pomp- *Cough* I mean Lawrence here will oversee you all and help where he can." I say turning to Lawrence.

"Sure, yeah, let's get to it everyone!" He says rousing everyone up from their shock and getting them to work while I lead the few I've chosen to the roof to get in some weapon safety training to see what they know.

Once on the roof I ask after laying the bag of guns down, "So, what are your names and experience with firearms, aside from Miranda, I know how close a shave your can give with a shotgun when you're not aiming." I joke causing her to glare slightly before humphing and looking away from me.