The young woman's fork stopped in mid-air, eyes widening as she caught sight of Merryn striding toward her with a blade in her hand. As Merryn opened her mouth to say something a pistol halted the conversation.

Merryn looked down the gun barrel from a few metres away, sheathed the bayonet, keeping her movements slow and careful, and raised both hands.

"I mean you no harm."

"I've heard that before," she muttered, her eyes not leaving Merryn's. "What do you want?"

"I want to get you out of here, to a safe place."

"Here's safe. For me at least. For you, not so safe."

"What do you mean?"

As she held the gun steady in her right hand, her left pulled back the sleeve behind it. A double set of angry-looking tooth marks marred the otherwise smooth skin of her right arm and Merryn gasped in horror, one hand flying to her mouth to choke off the noise.

"I'm one of them now," she said. "No longer human."

"But you were spotted by one of my colleagues when he was on patrol. A zombie bite usually means you've not got long before you turn."

"The drone last week?"

Merryn nodded.

"I wondered who that belonged to. No one comes in here, too many walkers. I was chased in here by a pack of men who wanted to have some fun with me. I ran faster than they did." The young woman sat down again and placed the pistol on the table. "A few escaped, but the ones who didn't..." She shrugged. "Their screams didn't last long once they'd run into the walkers outside. I made it up a ladder onto the roof and dropped in through a skylight. Got bitten, grabbed the guy's gun, and shot him. Then I passed out for a while and high-tailed it in here when I woke up. The rest of the walkers appear to be outside and I've been eating my way through the stores in the kitchen over there."

She waved a hand at the double doors at the rear of the dining hall. "Help yourself if you want something to eat."

A short time later, the two of them sat in companionable silence, weapons on the table, but food taking priority over conversation as a growing pile of wrappers and plates appeared in front of them. Merryn sat back and belched and her dinner companion chuckled.

"What's your name?" asked Merryn.

"Hope."

"I'm Merryn. I work for what's left of the army as a scout. My captain wants me to bring you back to our base up near Exeter."

"Why?"

"Two reasons: you got bitten but you have survived, and we can provide you with a safe place to live."

"They want to make me into a lab rat?"

"I won't let them do that, but they'd want to talk to you and take some blood samples."

Hope shuddered. "I hate needles, which is a bit sad really given what I was doing at university." She pointed to the emblem on her hoodie.

Merryn smiled. "Medical student eh? But I'm with you on the needle thing, I can't say I'm that fond of them myself. They will want to check you over, but there are beds there, as well as food, hot showers, medical staff, and a fence to keep out the deadheads."

"Okay, sounds good. But how do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't. I guess you have to weigh up your options, but I promise you I won't make you come with me if you don't want to."

Hope sat back in her seat, her eyes distant as she stared out of the long line of windows. The shambling form of a long-dead corporal staggered past the cafeteria in a rotting uniform and she watched him progress slowly on a shattered ankle, the bleached bones sticking out of the side of his left leg.

"Hope, I..."

"Wait," hissed Hope. "Look."

She pointed at the walker. It had stopped moving and, as they watched, it cocked its head as if listening for something.

As it toppled backward with the flights of a crossbow bolt sticking out of its forehead, Hope grabbed her pistol and bolted for the doors to the stairs, Merryn right behind her, pausing only long enough to grab her weapons.

They ran up a few flights of stairs, then paused in the stairwell and cautiously looked out of an open window into the compound of the military base. A group of five men were making steady progress through the walkers, using crossbows and blunt hand weapons to take them down with as little noise as possible.

"That's the group who were chasing me," said Hope, her voice dull with despair. "They must have been watching the place too."

"They're using silent weapons to reduce the risk of being caught by the deadheads."

"So we're kinda screwed then," noted Hope.

"Hell no." Merryn turned and grinned at her. "The game's just started, Hope. Trust me, I've been in far worse situations than this. But the only way to win is by making sure we make the rules. They're definitely the ones who came after you?"

"Yes."

"Which one's the leader?"

"The bearded guy at the front."

Merryn unslung her rifle, chambered a bullet, took aim, and shot him in the leg.

As the other men scattered, seeking cover, the leader screamed in agony and fell to the ground. A moan went up from the zombies in the compound and they closed in on the injured man. Merryn picked off two more of the men as they ran for cover, the walkers making short work of them.

The sound of breaking glass came from the area of the Cafeteria and Hope glanced down the stairs. "Time to move, the walkers are on the hunt for you too now."

"Roof," ordered Merryn, and the two of them made their way back to the dead officer's room where Merryn had first entered the building.

Once inside the office with the open skylight, they barricaded the door with a filing cabinet and moved the desk to the centre of the room. Merryn boosted Hope up through the hatch, passed up her kit, then hauled herself up as zombies started pushing at the office door below, their moans echoing through the hallways. Merryn rolled onto the gravel of the roof and closed the hatch.

"Where to now Hope?" she gasped.

The younger woman had picked up Merryn's scabbarded sword from the roof but instead of handing it to Merryn, she pointed to the far end of the roof where two men had staggered onto the gravel. "That may depend a little on them."

Merryn knelt, chambered a round, and shot one of the men, the force of the bullet sending him staggering off the roof to impact the concrete below.

She aimed again but got a click instead of a bang.

"Dammit," she swore, and dropped her rifle. "This is where it gets interesting."

A steely rasp broke the silence, the scabbard hit the gravel, and Hope set off at a dead run, Merryn's liberated sword held high. The remaining man froze for a second, then raised his crossbow. She screamed at him, a blood-curdling cry of pure anger and rage, and, startled, he rushed his shot, the bolt pinging off the low wall surrounding the rooftop. Frantic, he wound back the arms of the crossbow for another shot, but before he could complete the mechanism she was on him, the sword flashing through his neck. Hope hacked at the body, sobbing in rage and terror until gentle hands restrained her and she turned into Merryn's hug.

"C'mon Hope, we'd better get moving, we've still gotta get out of this zombie-infested hole."

"I'm sorry Merryn, I saw red." Hope handed back the sword, and Merryn strapped the scabbard back to her waist, cleaning the blade on the dead man's clothing. She shouldered her rifle, picked up the man's crossbow and some bolts, and handed them to Hope.

"Don't worry, we all lose control occasionally. You're a brave lady."

"My dad always said I was a lion in teenager's clothing," she smiled. "Okay, let's get out of here. I fancy being a lab rat in clean clothing for a bit."

The two of them made their way to the metal fire escape the two men had used to get to the roof. The way below was clear of walkers.

"Quiet now," whispered Merryn, her sword held tight in her right hand.

The courtyard through which the men had entered was a mess of twitching zombies, some down and lying in pools of gore, others staggering around mindlessly on damaged limbs.

"Watch your step," warned Merryn, then staggered a few steps as she trod on a dismembered hand. "Oops." She flashed a grin at Hope, then groaned in pain as teeth slammed into her calf muscle. Reaction kicked in and she slashed her sword through the neck of the prone zombie that had bitten her. "Oh damn."

Hope was wide-eyed, her hands clasped to her mouth.

"Hope," whispered Merryn and fell to her knees on the concrete. "Hope."

Arms encircled Merryn as Hope knelt beside her, and she looked into the dirty face of the young woman she'd saved.

"Don't let me become one of them. Use my pistol, then get out of here and head straight across the river to the concrete pier. There's a canoe tied up at the side of the dock. Look for a bearded man called Brian and some teenagers. They're going to be sailing towards Exeter and an old army barracks. Ask for Captain Summers at the army camp. Promise me."

Hope nodded mutely. One of the walkers nearby had stopped and was sniffing the air.

Merryn reached out a hand and touched Hope's face. "I'm glad we met." Then darkness took her and she slumped to the ground.