There was only one choice left.He knew it was his best chance, no matter how ridiculous it seemed.He turned around and moved toward the gate of the pool.There was no lock on the iron gate; instead, a small flip catch prevented the gate from being blown open by the wind.He flipped it, rushed through, opened the gate, and then, just for fun, closed it behind him.The first of his attackers reached the gate just a few moments later and slammed it with a loud thud.It attempted to grab him through the bars after letting out what sounded like an angry grunt.He was astonished as he observed from just outside its range.He should have realized that the creatures couldn't open doors.They seemed to be driven solely by instinct, and their only motivation was their desire to eat his flesh.More of them spilled out of the hallway, and he didn't want to wait to see which combination of their combined weight and the likely shoddy fence would prevail.

Jake smiled triumphantly as he turned and headed for the pool's side exit at the back of the main offices.FeJakeng was quite pleased with himself when he opened the gate and stepped outside.The once-human monsters continued their pointless assault on the entrance gate behind him.

When he turned around the building's side, another of the creatures was already there and waiting for him.He was knocked to the ground when it landed on him.He cried out of surprise and grunted in pain despite himself as the force of the impact with the cement forced air out of his lungs.Even though he knew he had to work even harder to avoid unwanted teeth, he struggled just to breathe.He was losing the fight quickly, and he was very aware of it.

He froze in place as the thunder roared through the air.The thing that was on top of him stopped moving as soon as the sound stopped.It took his brain a few seconds to catch up, but once it did, he screamed and pushed the corpse away from him before sitting down.A single girl stood surefooted, feet apart, with a gun raised and pointed in his direction, and she was only a few dozen feet away when he looked around for the sound source.

She appeared to be around his age or slightly older, indicating that she was in her early to middle twenties.It was more of a feJakeng Jake had that she was somehow a few years older than him than there was to indicate her age.Perhaps it was the hard, cold look in her deep brown eyes, which appeared to indicate that she had significantly more experience than someone his age should have.

She had dark brown hair that was not quite brown.It had a deep color, but it still had hints of glowing golden flashes that flowed down to her round shoulders like water from a waterfall. Some of it gathered in small pools, but the majority of it stopped completely.She wore tight dark grey jean pants that showed off her figure quite nicely and black ankle-high boots.The ensemble was completed by a dark blue top with a white undershirt peeking through the angular v-neck.From the short sleeves, her slender, well-tanned arms extended outward, forming a sort of triangle in front of her body, wrapping around the handle of a small, black pistol.

Straight at him was the pistol's aim.

Jake gave a sheepish grin and mockedly extended his hands in the air.He made a joke about it, "Don't shoot," but she kept her straight, serious expression.He dropped his hands as the silence persisted, and his smile quickly vanished.He felt as though she was going to shoot him as an uneasy feJakeng settled over him.

"Did you get bitten?"Her voice was firm and steady as she demanded.As she spoke, her eyes and weapon remained completely fixed on him, and her body barely moved.

“What?”Blinking, he inquired.

She said it slower and with a lot of emphasis on each word, "Were... you... bitten."The query is not difficult.

“I- no.”He stood up and mumbled something.I didn't get bit.Only one of them tried to chew through my shoe.

"How came you to be here?"She carried on, her voice remaining cold and unwelcoming.

“Here?”His eyes widened in confusion as he repeated.He said, "Returning to the pool area."Through there,” was his brief response.

As she said, "No, I mean-" "Francis!" she abruptly lowered the gun, her anger growing in the back of her throat.Her sentence was ended when a voice called out.

As they turned toward the call, they were both taken aback when a figure burst out of a nearby hallway.Another young woman with skin that was dark, almost ebony, probably around the same age as the first.She wore a simple outfit:navy blue skinny jeans and a white shirt that's a little baggy with a strange, unrelated black design flashing across it.A series of dreadlocks held back from her face by a bright green headband made up most of her short hair.Apart from this newcomer's earrings and septum piercing, neither of them were wearing any jewelry, which Jake noticed with a hint of curiosity.

"We must leave!"The newcomer's words came to a halt just short of the first girl, who appeared to be Francis.The gate has been forced open.They are starting to crowd the place.

"Now who did what?"Jake demanded, now completely perplexed.This had begun as a strange day, and it appeared to be getting stranger by the minute.

Who in the world are you?The new girl demanded, appearing for the first time to be paying attention to him.

Skylar, "I just found him.The person who was on the ground was attacking him.He claims to have not been bitten.Francis responded with dismissiveness.

The new girl replied, immediately turning back in the direction she had come from, "Fine, then he can come with us."

"What, wait?"Jake responded, somewhat surprised by the sudden speed at which everything was moving.I want to stay where I am."

Francis said, turning to follow her friend, "Fine by me."Stay here and eat yourself.She then sped off, heading for the nearby hallway.

Unsure of what was going on or what he should be doing, Jake sighed, but a feJakeng deep within his stomach told him he wanted to follow this girl wherever she went.He therefore followed her without first giving it much thought.

Before arriving at a portion of the parking lot devoid of the creatures, they hurried past the first building, down the slight turns in the path through the complex's center, and down the hallway of a second building.There were a few SUVs waiting, and they were quickly filled with people and supplies.Francis ran up to one of the people loading supplies. He was a middle-aged man with arm muscles the size of Jake's head. As he was tossing bags into the back of the vehicle, his arms bulged and strained ominously.

Marshall, "Where were you at this time?"She asked, appearing to have lost some of her earlier impatience in her tone.Jake thought, at least, that it possessed an understanding, almost eager quality.Despite his inward scowl at this, he remained silent.

Richard, a large man with strength in his upper body, replied, "Devin said there’s a military installation just a couple dozen miles west of town."He claims that was his original destination.There ought to be ample supplies and defenses there."

“Devin?”Francis gave a brief response.

He stopped loading and explained, "The new guy."This morning, he arrived.a great deal to say."

She responded, "I guess so."Also a good thing.We can't continue to call him "new guy."We now have a new one of those.She made a slight turn and lightly patted Jake on the shoulder, who had been standing next to her throughout the entire conversation.I discovered him stumbling around like a lost puppy.

The man grunted, "great," and returned to work carrying the remaining bags, "just what we need:more ineffective survivors."

“Survivors?”Jake's somewhat shrill voice echoed.What is your intent?What exactly took place here?

The entire world seemed to stop.Jake knew without looking that everyone's work had stopped and that everyone's eyes had turned to him.He tried to ignore it and keep his gaze fixed on the big man as heat danced across the tips of his ears, which were undoubtedly turning a deep red.

"Are you lying?"After what appeared to be an interminable pause, Richard asked.

"This is out of the question!"A voice from the side said.They turned to see an older man, probably in his sixties, hurrying toward one of the loaded SUVs' driver's door.We must begin, and I mean immediately!

The large man standing in front of Jake agreed, "He's right."He finished throwing the last bag in.Once we are safe, we will have plenty of time to talk.You and Lucas can enter Lucas's vehicle.There ought to be a few open seats there."After making a motion to the car that was further away, he stopped and turned his attention to Francis.He quickly turned his sheepish gaze away.Sorry, mine is full.