That concludes it, Ryan thought, "He is a raving madman."

Ryan straightened up and returned to the television table with a resigned sigh.Additionally, there was a pitiful first aid kit on the table that contained a thermometer, a packet of ibuprofen, a free trial tube of topical antibiotic, a cold pack, an elastic wrap, and some small adhesive bandages that were not suitable for more than the tiniest of cuts and scrapes.If Ryan had been merely an observer of the absurd situation rather than a participant, it might have been almost laughable.Even though this was a medical research lab with some of the most cutting-edge medical and scientific equipment in the known universe, all he had to use to try to help Daniel was this pathetic first aid kit.

Ryan turned to look out the lab room's observation window after grabbing the thermometer.An emergency light flickered in a hallway leading to the next room, briefly illuminating what appeared to be an empty room.He might be able to access one of the other labs and utilize actual equipment if he went out there with Daniel along.They were just waiting for everything that was out there, someplace.

He knew he couldn't risk it after turning to look at his superior.Even if the other man was in a condition that allowed him to be moved, there were still dangers out there in the night, just waiting for him to leave the room where he was relatively safe.No, he was well aware that it was far too risky to attempt.

Instead, all he could do was sit back and watch his friend pass away.However, surely one of them is superior to the other?

Ryan walked over to Daniel and shaken his head demoralizedly in an effort to forget these thoughts.After turning on the thermometer and waiting for it to sound an acknowledgement, he stuck it in the mouth of the other man.

With an expression that was hard to read, Daniel's eyes rolled up and slightly opened as he looked at Ryan.They appeared to be completely dark, deep, and empty.The sight was terrible and haunting.Daniel sank to the floor, slamming his head into the metal cabinet next to him and releasing the thermometer ineffectively from his mouth after the two men exchanged glances for a while.After a loud crash to the ground, all that followed was silence.

Ryan tried desperately to breathe again as he stood there motionless for what seemed like an eternity.Knowing full well what he was going to feel, he reached up and numbly felt the other man's neck.

Nothing.

He tried to stifle his tears by dropping his hand to his side.He brought himself to his feet and returned to the television after taking a deep breath.He managed to stumble across the room and back onto the stool he had been sitting on just a few minutes earlier, but which now seemed like it had been years.Despite the fact that he had never been a big drinker or smoker, he suddenly craved a cold beer and a fresh cigarette more than anything else.It just seemed like the best thing for him to be doing in some way.

He only caught brief snippets of the news that kept coming at him."Be warned that the danger is..." and "I repeat, do not attempt to leave-" are examples of the national guard's attempts to leave.He just couldn't bring himself to pay attention in some way.He was aware of the news:all gloomy, sad, and shocking.He murmured to himself, "What good is the news anyway, if you basically already know what it's going to say?"It was always nothing but heartache, misery, and decay;the narrative of the world and the human race over the past ten thousand years or whatever it is.

He reached over and turned the television off without even realizing he was doing it.He didn't know what to do now, but he felt like he needed to do something other than sit there in the dark and watch nothing but nothing.His mind's darkness was supernova-ed by a slew of ideas that suddenly came to life and vanished.It appeared that none of them were worth more than a millisecond's worth of amusement.It was almost as if he had shut down his brain, aware that it would never be of any use to him or anyone else.

He spun around when he heard a loud clattering behind him, just in time to be struck by a large, dark figure and thrown from his seat to the cold, hard ground.He cursed himself for not having known this was going to happen as the air left his lungs.As he tried to get closer, Daniel made strange gurgling noises from above.However, Ryan was firmly encircling the other man's neck and was refusing to let go.

The animal that was once Daniel Shue shook violently.It moved in a strange way, opening and closing its mouth like it was trying to chew through the air and rolling its eyes around in its head like it was looking at nothing and everything at once.

Ryan instinctively recognized that this was the end.

Jake was beginning to worry that something terrible had happened.

It wasn't just that there was no internet.It wasn't even the fact that he had been without internet for almost two weeks; no matter how many times he tried to call the cable company, all he got was a busy signal.That alone was cause for concern, but the power had also gone out, and he was unable to contact the utility company.He was sure, or at least he believed that he was sure, that they couldn't have cut off his power or internet because he didn't pay.Because he had just paid when everything started, he shouldn't be in trouble for at least a few weeks. After that, it probably should have taken another week or two before they turned off the power.He would obviously be unable to pay either bill with the internet turned off in this manner.Not that they deserved to be paid if they were going to treat a devoted customer this way.Well, mostly trustworthy.Basically, loyal.

He was distracted by the rumbling of his StoLucash, which reminded him that he was almost out of food.He didn't want to risk opening the fridge or freezer with the power off because there were still a few frozen dinners and possibly some sandwich meat, cheese, and the remnants of a few condiment bottles in there.His former roommate had left him some boxes of Ramen noodles, but he had never been nearly hungry enough to eat them.He couldn't microwave them, which made it even more impossible.Along with a bag of tortillas that he had purchased at the beginning of the summer but had somehow never gotten around to eating, there were boxes of frighteningly old crackers and cereal that he didn't even remember getting in the cupboard.He had a fleeting thought that maybe he would stop being such a slob and actually throw some of this stuff away, but it was only a fleeting thought.

Overall, this meant that he probably would have to go to the store if the power didn't come back on in a few minutes. He closed his eyes tightly because he didn't want to think about it.

He might be able to just get some fast food.He only needed to be able to eat one or two meals before he could return to eating his frozen dinners, the old sandwich meat, and – if worse came to worse – the Ramen. The problem with the electricity would probably resolve itself at some point that night.That could loosen up the need to go to the store for basically a couple more days, perhaps more, contingent upon how well he could stoLucash the Ramen.

He began to move around the room with the plan in place, feeling the excitement quickly rise in him.He could probably get that huge box of breakfast tacos from Nacho's Tacos.They were already wrapped in aluminum foil when he got them, so maybe he wouldn't even need to keep them in the fridge overnight to have one for breakfast and the other for dinner.They probably wouldn't keep very well, but at least they would probably be edible.He reassured himself that everything could work out, and he eagerly began changing into outdoor attire.This meant wearing pants that didn't have cartoon turtles fighting in karate on them and a t-shirt that wasn't from the 90s and didn't say something embarrassing like "If I slept penguins would peck my eyes out" on it.

Since he hadn't washed in over two weeks, the majority of his clothes were filthy, making the task difficult.Still, he was able to find the band Urinal Projections a decent pair of dark brown pants with a tiny hole in the back and a shirt that was only slightly overworn.Tough, if anyone disagreed with what his shirt said.It was simply the band's name.It had no real significance.