Wayne returned to the radio building before dark. The sun was dropping over the horizon, coloring everything in fiery shades of intense orange. In the few times before when he'd seen such a sunset, it had always made him think of the world being on fire, civilization burning to ash under the touch of the undead, but since he'd discovered a treatment for the zombies, he saw it more as the rekindled light of civilization reaching across the land to brighten all it touched.

Turning away from the sunset, he headed inside. Because of the solar panels on the sides of the building, Wayne tested the elevators and found them working. Rather than taking the long way up the stairs, he used the elevator and arrived at the radio station floor in no time.

"They still work?" Anna questioned when she noticed his method of arrival.

"Apparently; somedaywe'll have to check the wiring and see how much is connected to the solarpanels," Wayne replied. He handed overthe bags of clothes he'd retrieved. "Here, have Clayton dig through these and see what he wants. Where is he?"

"One floor down," Anna told him. "He found one of his daughters. He doesn't know where the other two children or his wife are, but finding one of them has given him hope. We revived her, but she's still a little on edge about everything that's happened."

"I'm not surprised," Wayne agreed with a grimace. "With all the horrific things people have either done or experienced during and after the outbreak, I can imagine most will require therapy of some kind. I just hope they'll be able to find peace."

"Reuniting with family seems to go a long way," Anna commented. "It gave me an idea for how we can help the revived."

"How?" Wayne asked. He pointed toward a nearby office, and he and Anna sat down on either side of the main desk dominating the room.

"We could establish a check-in station near the edge of town," Anna suggested. "After we revive people, they put their names and the names of family and friends in a list. Once we know what city this is, we should be able to determine our location in the country and direct people so they can find their way home. If we revive someone in a different city, they can travel on their own, check with the name station upon entering a new town and find out if anyone they knew is around or has passed through on their way somewhere else."

"I like it," Wayne praised. "It's good."

"We'll need to take precautions," Anna warned. "Stalkers and psychos will most likely be among those we revive as we don't have any way of filtering out the bad ones, so we don't want to give out information to just anyone."

"That's why you wanted family and friends on the list," Wayne assumed. "Only those on the list will be permitted access to the information."

"Right," Anna confirmed.

"What you just said about the character of those we revive made me think of something," Wayne told her. "As we bring back more and more people, we're going to need a way to maintain law and order."

"What about the city?" Anna suggested. "Could they help us?"

"I don't know," Wayne admitted. "We're going to have to deal with them at some point, and I would like it to be on a neighborly basis rather than an aggressive one, but if they still see us as the enemy..."

"Yeah," Anna agreed as she saw the possible conclusion. "How can we find out one way or the other?"

"I'm going to go say hello to the city," Wayne said.

"If they see us as the enemy, they'll kill you!" Anna protested.

"Then you'll know if you can trust them," Wayne replied.

"This is a stupid plan," Anna complained, shaking her head.

"I'm open to suggestions if you've got something better," Wayne offered.

Anna remained silent.

"Exactly," Wayne said. "The problem is that trust is built with time and experience, but in our case, and for the people in the city, any breach of that trust could lead to mass deaths and possible extinction of the entire group, theirs or ours. The only way for there to be any kind of cooperation between our two peoples is for one side to take a risk and hope it was worth taking."

"You'll need them to risk you're not laying a trap for them," Anna pointed out.

"Thin ice between us," Wayne observed. "We'll both have to take a step forward and tread carefully, but I think it's the only way to establish a form of long term relations with the city other than open warfare."

"When do you intend to try this?" Anna questioned.

"I'll probably wait until morning," Wayne told her. "I don't think any of them would want to meet with a former zombie in the dark."

"I wouldn't think so," Anna agreed, smiling slightly.

"Also, if they don't want to play nice, I'd like to be able to see it coming," Wayne added.

"If things do go badly," Anna questioned hesitantly, "what do you want me to do?"

"We don't know the full extent of our regeneration," Wayne answered. "It's possible I might be able to be revived again even if they shoot me in the head. I just hope we don't have to test that theory."

"Me too," Anna concurred.

"Regardless of what happens to me, I need you to continue the work," Wayne insisted. "We have a chance to save humanity, and without me, you're the only one left who knows the process."

"I'll get it done," she promised.

Wayne stood from his chair, taking hold of Anna's hands and pulling her out of her seat. He released her wrists only to wrap his arms around her. She hugged him with an intensity matched by his own as neither of them knew if this would be the last time they'd be together.