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Liz woke up from a sharp pain. She took a deep breath and readjusted herself. She was warmer now that her body heat was reflected back by David's leather jacket.

A voice on the radio broke through the music on her MP3 player-
"This is Nearby's Rock Station, giving an update on the Smalltown situation. Given that Smalltown's station has been temporarily shutdown, we wish to inform all listeners that the National Guard has been delayed but are doing everything in their power to arrive as quickly as they can. To all concerned citizens, please do not assist Smalltown for safety reasons until the situation is under control. Volunteers are needed instead in surrounding towns to help those evacuating the city. No word has been said yet on the cause of the commotion, but people are asked to remain calm and indoors.

Next up on our top 100 countdown..."

She sighed and scrambled through her bag for the picture of Natas in her wallet. A smiled crossed her face as the pain momentarily drifted away. Setting it next to her on the pillow, she felt around till she found her gray raccoon plush that he had given her. With it by her side, warm under the jacket, she mumbled to David "....'guards not coming..." before drifting off to sleep again.

After copy-and-pasting directions of how to make a Foxhole radio into a word document, David suddenly realized he hadn't checked his email in awhile, and he should probably send out a couple 'i'm okay' messages. He went to Facebook, first, and changed his status to "is alright and loves you all. Please don't call him in case the power goes out and he has to use his phone."

Getting into his email account next, he was reminded by a recent message that Marty should be getting into work at any moment now. s**t! I better call him in case he's running late.

He stood up and left the room as he dialed Marty's cell phone number.

"Hey, Marty, you leave for work yet?"

"Yeah, I'm in the City, but things are a bit odd. I'm out a bit of transportation, so I'm gonna have to wait for a truck. What's up?"

"Damn, I was hoping you left late so I could spare you the trouble. I know what you mean about things being odd, though I'd call it something worse than that. I'm at Liz's place at the moment... maybe you should get over here."

"Yeah, but my luck only lasts a while. How it seems, though, I think I'm safe to head on over. Work has been....cancelled. I was gonna pick up something to eat with some drunk I found, though. Don't even know his name."

David blinked. "...what? Er, nevermind. Just, get over here, we'll cook up some food. I doubt anything's open anyway."

"Well, I could do that, but I'm going to have to walk. No chance you'd be able to stop by and pick me up? As much as I like walking around in cities as they destroy themselves..." He paused. "You don't know what's going on around here, do you?"

Thinking he was asking for specifics, David answered, "No, I don't, and nor does anyone else. All I know is that people are going insane and attacking people. Liz and I got attacked after I picked her up from the hospital. If she wasn't hurt, I'd go out and get you, but I think she almost went into shock already - I don't want to leave her alone ********. I'm on my way. What's the fastest way there?" The phone was lowered as he turned to talk to Scotty, next to him.

"Hey, man, you got a weapon? Things seem pretty bad, apparently this isn't just a few people, everyone's going nuts. A few of my friends have been attacked already, we're headed over to meet up with them."

Marty talked into the phone again. "You want me to give you a call when I'm closer, or want me to hang out on the phone?"

Give me a call if you need it." David said, wondering about if or when the power might go out. "You'll want to avoid the Avenue, it's backed up and probably still full of people. Take the street the Pizzaria is on, it's probably not as busy this time of day."

"That's.....another five or ten minutes walking, are things really that bad? I mean, I got in here alright, whatever happened, it's mostly calmed down, isn't it?

"It's starting to effect other cities, whatever is going on. I'd rather you not take the chance. Besides, you can grab us some food on the way here, unless the pizza place has already been broken into." People should be looting soon, David thought, and then it'll get even worse.

"Alright, well, if it's that bad, I'm going to get going. I suppose I'll see you in about 25 minutes, then."

"Yeah. Just, try and get something to protect yourself with, alright?" He started to whisper, in case Liz had woken up. "I think... err... just don't be surprised if you have to hurt someone. I really mean it when I say, 'they're insane'"

"I'll keep my eyes out. Later, man."

"Later."

Scotty stared around while waiting. He always felt uncomfortable when around someone talking on the phone.
"Weapon. Uh. This bottle and a box knife." He didn't think he was heard.
He waited again. "Yeah. that's fine. My name's Scotty." Again, he didn't feel like he had been heard.
He looked around for a weapon to use, trying to find something heavy like told. Anything he saw that was heavy was much too large to carry. He sighed and followed anyway.

He was too busy thinking about his roommate to catch all but the last sentence.
"Huh? Oh, no. I don't normally drink. Can't stand the taste."

* Note: I didn't pick anything heavy up because my character lacks any bruiser skills

David sighed as he closed the phone, leaning against the wall in the hallway outside of Liz's room. His mind began to churn.

He paused.

How do I know I won't go mad?

He took a couple steps into the bedroom and looked down at Liz. There's no way the small, sleeping form could survive, if he were to suddenly go nuts. He swallowed, reflexively, and looked at his hands. They were shaking. Quickly turning to the door, he examined the locking mechanism. He shut the door softly, to see how it latched.

Good, I can pick it with a credit card. I'll lock the door, and then pick it every five minutes to check on her. If I go crazy, I won't have the mental faculties to get into her room.

He double-checked to see if he had his wallet, did a couple practice picks without fully closing the door, and then checked on her one last time.

Locking himself out of her room, he turned to walk back to the front door. If he... 'turned' then he wouldn't be able to let Marty in, so he unlocked it.

Continuing his fit of paranoia, David then rigged a small noise alarm, stacking a couple pantry items and a metal pot in front of the door, in case someone tried to sneak in on him.

Better safe than sorry, better safe than sorry... precious cargo...

He breathed deeply and deliberately, fighting to ensure that his old anxiety problems wouldn't return.

Stay calm... everything is going to be okay.

"Can't say I am, honestly. Probably won't be doing it again for another three years." He hesitated. "Mainly trying to numb the physical and emotional pain of what my roommate did to me."
He thought for a second. "I think whatever is happening around here happened to her."
He then shrugged at the last remark from Marty. "I can't say that much from today is normal, actually."

He sighed a moment. "Well... I somehow ended up making her late this morning. The wine I drank earlier was actually for use in cooking a make up meal. Then..."
He took a deep breath. "I returned with the wine and she was walking around naked. That may be normal for some people. But not for her. Besides, we are, or were, just friends. Then... she wouldn't respond to speak to me. I thought she was starting to seduce me. Instead, she ended up ripping my earring out of my ear. She didn't even act concerned about it. She didn't say a word to me at all."
He shook his head. "It was like she was a completely different person. I'm now worried about her. And a bit afraid at the same time."

He shook his head. "She doesn't do that stuff. She's told me several times she's a virgin and waiting until marriage." He stopped a moment. "Besides, she ripped my earring out while nibbling on my ear. And if there had been another guy, I would've seen him on the way to bandage my ear."