Exclusion Zone 15

 COLD SHOWERS, FADED FLOWERS Rain. Rain. Incessant fucking rain. During their long march from Fort Redstone , Cho had had time to think about a lot of things. Like the rain. It had started as a weak, but insistent, drizzle, and he hadn’t bothered (or had the time) to put on his rainproof parka. A bit later, the skies had opened up, and by that point, he was too wet and miserable to even bother with the fucking parka anymore. Rookie mistake. So many rookie mistakes. The captain was somewhere – no idea where – and whatever Dima was wearing seemed to be more waterproof than what he had. Not to mention how much better it blended into the brush compared to his OCP . Maybe he’d changed into rain gear when he wasn’t looking, or maybe the ”viper hood” he was wearing provided enough protection. Don’t know, don’t care. I miss Cali. That was another thing he’d thought about. Thought about way too much, in fact. Sitting on the porch with a beer, enjoyi...

DESCENDING SAT 03.04.202X BANG Sayori found herself waking up with a start. Someone – or something - had made that noise, bringing to mind the first, panicked evening of the outbreak, bloody hand-prints on doors, Katie’s first aid kit clattering to the floor… And so, she sprang out of bed, not fully cognizant but very much in fight-or-flight mode, and if it hadn’t been for the workout yesterday leaving her almost comically – and very, very painfully – stiff, she probably would have made it further towards the baseball bat in the corner than two meagre steps. As it was, all she managed was an embarrassingly graceless face-plant with a loud thunk , luckily landing mostly on the soft round rug covering the floor, next to the bookshelf and record player. She’d managed to shield herself with her protesting arms just in time, turn her head a little, but thanks to that she was now tasting fresh blood from the barely-healed wound in her mouth. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry – or if ...