Andrea was frustrated with his father, on top of all the stress of what was going on. He was almost itching for classes again - final exams and papers would have kept his mind off of everything. Give him something to do other than sit at home and worry about his mother and Gabby and Lucas. And get him away from his dad a little more, too.

But since his dad had expressly forbidden evening walks even before the city had gone under lockdown, the obvious thing to do right now was to take a walk at sundown. Just to spite his father. The exercise would help clear the boy's mind, anyway. He considered briefly borrowing Pebbles, the neighbors' dog, to have a companion with keener senses, but when he passed the house next door on the way to the park, the white bichon had been pressed up against the glass front door, barking and panting fog onto the window.

And the last thing the sophomore needed right now was someone else yapping at him.

So, with a frown, Andrea shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and stalked off to the park alone. According to the news, there had been fewer monster attacks the last day or so, probably because there were fewer people to attack with the crazy zombie plague or whatever it was. People in comas. He had seen his mother and siblings in the hospital, though, and they were just asleep, deeply, not turning into zombies or bleeding out or anything that seemed dangerous. And Andrea himself had not caught it. Pundits on TV argued during prime-time whether or not it was contagious, but the high schooler had his doubts--

"Damn it, think about something else," he muttered to himself as he hopped the low iron fence that marked the edge of the local park, and wandered out onto the grass there. The best thing that came to mind for not thinking was his dance routine for "The Firebird"; even though it had been a few weeks without practice since the performance recitals were over, it was still close to the forefront of his muscle memory.

So, since there were not many other people out walking this time of day for any number of reasons, Andrea started dancing in the middle of the park. And tried to let it clear his mind. Be Prince Ivan again, just forget about all the insanity for a little while....

Or till curfew. Whatever.