It didn't take long for Marco to join them, quickly doing introductions as they walked to what was once an office building. It was the only building with a large enough conference room as Harringdale wasn't that big of a town back before the apocalypse, to begin with, hence why they used the school's gymnasium as a hospital.

The conference room was clean and looked nothing like what Kirsten expected. The table was polished and intact, the chairs had no tears, and the carpet only held a few stains. One window was gone, a board covering the hole left behind, but other than that, it was exactly what you would expect from what used to be a business center. Compared to some other settlements she'd seen, Harringdale was a glimpse of what life once was.

Kirsten was the first to sit down, followed by Marco on the opposite side.

"I'm surprised," she said as she set her mask on the table. Her guards stayed near the door. "You really are thriving here."

"It took some work, but we made it through," Marco said.

"How do you do it? Is there a trading agreement between you and other settlements?"

"Well, location definitely has something to do with it." Eric stood behind a chair near the head of the table, farthest away from the guards without his back to them. While Kirsten knew his name, he wasn't sure if she knew of his predicament. "First is the dam which still provides electricity and the water treatment plant. Harringdale was actually still well populated when Marco and myself began fortifying it, so many of its workers were still around. And farming land wasn't so far off, either, along with a beef farm."

"So you are very self-sufficient here," Kirsten said in wonder. "That just proves you're more than just a virologist, Dr. Sagan."

Eric snorted. "I won't take credit for all that. There's a whole team of engineers, historians, farmers, and others behind that. All I did was keep them safe." He motioned to Marco. "Marco was the actual organizer while I focused on defenses."

"I see." Kirsten wrote that down in a notebook she had in her pocket. "And these defenses are? Besides the physical barriers, of course. You must have an intricate detection system like we have at Project R.O.A.D. to sense if someone is infected or not. Perhaps a bit more primitive, I suppose, since I didn't see anything in that first chamber. Is it connected to the outer gate, then?"

"I'm...not sure what you mean?" Eric's head whirled with the new information, and he wished Lana, their resident engineer, was there to translate. Unfortunately, she was away building a gate at one of their farms along with Isaac, another doctor.

Kirsten's eyes furrowed in confusion. "You do have a detection system, do you? Because no one inspected us before we entered." Her eyes widened. "Oh no! Did no one tell you we haven't been inspected yet? I'm so sorry! I assumed there was a system when you let us in! I should've asked first—"

Just as she began putting her mask back on, Eric held out his hand to stop her.

"No! No, you're fine. We have," a brief pause, "other measures in place. You're clean."

She didn't lower her mask. "Are you sure? I'd feel terrible if we just brought in the virus."

Eric glanced at Marco before glancing at the guards. It was one thing telling commonfolk with handguns about his predicament, but it was a completely different playing field when at least five men were carrying M4s thirty feet away from him. And Eric would prefer not to test the theory if he could bleed out or not, but he probably didn't have a choice at this moment. He doubted anyone would take his word if he said it was because he was a zombie expert.

One of the guards glanced back at him when his pause went on a bit too long. He doubted the guards would open fire with Kirsten in the room, but that didn't guarantee Marco's safety.

"How much do you know about me, if I may ask, Kirsten," Eric began carefully.

She paused. "Is there something I should know?"

"Well, yes, and it would explain a lot about our security measures if you knew."

"I know that you're a virologist who worked with the virus, and we, as in Project R.O.A.D., heard that you were still alive and were here in Tennessee." She gave him a once over. "This has something to do with you still wearing a mask, doesn't it."

"Indeed it does."

The guards had since shifted their attention from outside the door to in the conference room, realizing the biggest danger to their charge was closer than they would like him to be.

"I don't know how to say this," Eric began, "but I'm infected. I've been infected since the initial outbreak—no surprise there—after being exposed to it when someone tampered with the samples. Most likely to give to a rival lab. But I gave myself what was starting to become the vaccine, hence my conscious state now. I'm still infected though, and it does affect me when I smell blood, but we've already set some precautions such as the mask acting like a muzzle in case I lose control."

"I see," Kirsten said, slowly nodding her head and lowering her mask. "So...that means you still have urges like the others out there?"

"As I said, only around blood. This also means I can sense who's infected or not since infected and not infected are different—never mind. Either way, I know for sure none of you are infected at this moment. And you're not injured."

"Good to know."

There was a long pause before Marco spoke up.

"You said there was something you wanted to present?" he began, shifting in his seat. "You've mentioned this 'project road' several times now. What is it trying to achieve?"

"Oh! Yes, sorry, I got sidetracked." She stood and made her way to the head of the room. "I know this isn't a proper presentation, but I feel more comfortable when I stand. Is that alright?"

Eric shrugged and swept his hand to the side. "By all means, don't let me stop you."

Me, texting my friend: What gun is scary looking and you see the military use like the ones in the photos those ones what are they
(Lol I'm very coherent)
Friend: Probably an M4 or M16. Why?
Me: Writing!
Friend: Cool. M4 is better for urban landscapes btw
Me: Excellent. I am pleased

Every writer needs friends who know more about certain subjects than you XD. Don't forget to leave a vote and comment!

Word count: 1134