The constant drip, drip, drip of the water hitting the concrete echoed off the narrow walls of the hallway as Austin and Arryn walked to what they hoped would be an exit to this underground maze. The light of Arryn's flashlight did little to illuminate their pathway, and Austin was dying for a breath of fresh air. If he spent much longer down in the damp, musty atmosphere he was sure his lungs would start growing mold.

"I visited this place once for a school trip. The underground portion I mean," Arryn said beside Austin, her voice multiplying in the air around them. "Unfortunately, it was years ago and the lights were actually on."

"You sure went on a lot of school trips," Austin remarked.

Arryn paused at an intersection, flicking the flashlight down each hallway before choosing one. "That's what happens when you behave. You should try it sometime."

Austin scoffed and placed his hand over his heart. "You wound me."

"I'm not the one who got detention for intentionally starting a fire in chemistry," she said in an accusing tone.

"Intentionally? That was purely accidental."

She stopped and turned the flashlight on his face, blinding him momentarily. "We were making ice cream, Austin. How do you start a fire when all we had were bags full of rock salt, vanilla, and milk?"

"A good magician never reveals his secrets." He smirked. "Say, if I'm a good boy the rest of the trip can we go to Disney world after?"

"Sure, I bet zombie Mickey Mouse would love some visitors."

Arryn rolled her eyes and started walking again.

"I never knew zoos had this whole underground area to it," Austin said, admiring the never-ending pipelines running along the stone walls.

"Not many do," she replied. "I had to write a report on the zoo after the trip. They built it this way to reduce space. Since the zoo is in the middle of the city, they wanted to have the most space for exhibits while still having plenty of room for storage, employee areas, and such. So, instead of expanding outward, they set up a tunneling system underground."

He cleared his throat and muttered, "nerd."

"Well, someone just lost their ticket to Disney World. Looks like Mickey will have to find human flavored swiss cheese somewhere else."

"That was a compliment, honest."

He could feel her rolling her eyes at him.

Finally, they rounded a corner to see a stairwell off in the distance. Good. He was beginning to feel like a rat trapped in an endless maze. Once they were free from here, they only had a short distance left until they reached the hospital. Then, they could save Claire, Trinity, and Dr. Martin, returning to the small house the two of them had stayed this past month. Maybe if her friends were back with her, Arryn's walls would come down enough for him to slip inside and stay. He often got close, but she always noticed what he was trying to do and kicked him out before he could get in.

A loud thump interrupted his thoughts. Arryn dropped the flashlight in surprise, and it clattered to ground. The bulb flickered in and out, making the hallway look like a scene from a horror movie. He half expected a ghostly figure to appear after every flash of light, moving closer and closer until they were in its grasp. But nothing was there. Just his overreactive imagination and his obsession with movies and games.

"What was that noise?" Arryn asked exasperated. She bent down and picked up the flashlight up off the ground.

"Not sure. The pipes settling, maybe?" Austin suggested. "Regardless, I don't wanna stick around to find out wh­––"

The thump repeated, louder this time. Arryn shone the strobing light in the direction the noise came from. There was a wooden door with a gold employees only sign sitting about eye level in the center of it.

Thump.

The door rattled. Bits of wood splintered, falling to the floor.

"Is this the only way?" He asked as the flashlight flickered again.

"I think so."

"Shit." He let out a deep breath. "Tread carefully. We don't know what we are dealing with. For all we know it could be a zoo animal trapped in there. The last thing we need to do is make a lot of noise and place a target on our backs."

Carefully, they made their way forward in the wavering light. The repetitive thump kept him on edge. He had his knife ready to strike at any given second.

Only a few more steps. They could do it.

And of course, the light had to die right in front of the door.

"Work you stupid thing," Arryn whispered. He heard her hand smacking against the object.

Thump.

A splintering crack cut through the dead air. A low snarl followed in its wake.

Seriously? The zombie couldn't attack them in the light. That'd be too easy, wouldn't it?

  "Arryn?" he hissed.

"I'm here," she whispered a few feet in front of him.

The Rabid growled between them, offering its own response.

"Run," he instructed.

"Austin, n––"

He raised the knife up in the air and let out a loud yell. "Come and get me you ugly bastard!"

He smelled the Rabid before he felt the impact. A strong force slammed into his stomach and knocked the wind out of him. His back hit the ground hard. He found himself gasping for air as a strong force pinned him to the ground. The knife clattered to the ground beside him, landing just beyond his fingertips. He pushed against the creature, trying to shove it off of him. It was too strong.

He felt the swish of air before he felt the creatures claws rake across his chest. A cry of pain flew past his lips. Warmth spread against his chest.

Well, that didn't go as he'd planned. He thought he'd have the upper hand. Here he was about to be torn to shreds underneath a zoo, leaving Arryn all alone in the world like he promised her she wouldn't be. He never even got to kiss her. To tell her how he really felt.

He guessed that last part was his own fault. He didn't want to rush her into something, especially after everything she'd lost. Plus, he wasn't sure she felt the same way. But lately, he could tell something was going on between them.

Too late now.

Light flashed above him. In the brief moment of light, he saw a few things. The first was the black, flaky exoskeleton of the humanoid Rabid sitting on top of him. It wore a zookeeper top with cargo shorts. Compared to the other Rabids he'd seen, this one's clothing looked relatively clean besides the bloodied tear in its shirt. Maybe the person had survived as long as they could in the seclusion of the break room before the virus caught up with them. The second thing he saw was the crimson staining his shirt. If he survived this––which he didn't feel all that confident about––he needed to disinfect the wound as quickly as he could. While scratches alone couldn't turn you, the last thing he needed was to die from a nasty infection. Unless of course the Rabid had saliva on its fingertips. Or if any other bodily fluids from the creature mixed with his blood. Then he was screwed for sure. The last thing he saw was a dark figure standing behind the source of the light.

The light glinted off a metal object and before he knew it the Rabid had the tip of a blade sticking out of its skull. It went still, falling off of him.

"Austin! Austin are you okay?" It was Arryn's voice that called his name.

She knelt down beside him, her hands on him within seconds.

He opened his mouth to respond to her, but he only gasped for air. His chest was on fire and his back ached.

"You're so stupid," she whispered. Her hand rested against his cheek.

"And you suck at running," he gasped.

"You need to stop doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Getting hurt. First, you damaged your pretty face the other day, and today you run headfirst into danger, getting yourself all scratched up. I mean look at your chest. You look like a cat used you as a scratching post."

"You think my face is pretty?"

Arryn sighed and shook her head. He smiled, letting out a chuckle through the pain.

"That's what you choose to focus on?"

"Yup. But you know I'm more than just a pretty face, right?" He winked.

"I swear," she muttered under her breath, "you are the biggest idiot I've ever seen."

And with that, she helped him up off the ground and led him into the employees only room to look for a first aid kit.