Danny and Jen hustle through the woods, the predawn darkness shrouding their presence. Once again, Jen leads the way, following her usual path back to the town. The siblings march with purpose, rapidly eating up the distance between them and their destination.

"I don't like this." Jen mutters, "Entering the town so soon after almost getting caught the other night. We should be lying low, maybe spend some time looking for a new hiding spot."

"Clay said it himself, Jen." Danny replies, "If he wanted to bring us in, he could have done it pretty much at his leisure. We've remained free thanks to him."

"And you trust the Sheriff?" Jen demands incredulously, "The very same man who hunts down runaways for Xir?"

"He did kill one of his own deputies for our sake." Danny points out, "And helped us to flee the scene. I think that counts for something, don't you?"

"Clay is also setting both of us for murder, Danny." Jen replies flatly, "He's obviously only helping us because there's an agenda behind it."

"Like everyone else in the virus wastes." Danny shrugs, "Seriously Jen, you're making a way too big a deal about this. From what I've seen, Clay is no better or worse than most of the scavengers I've met on the way here. Heck, compare him to the upstanding citizens of the former US of A when the shit really hit the fan and I doubt you could tell the difference."

"And you're being way, way too cavalier about this." Jen runs a hand through her hair in frustration, "Clay is different from those people in one important way."

"He's not trying to rob me of everything I own or demanding a small fortune in return for medical supplies?" Danny answers tongue in cheek.

"No, Danny." Jen sighs, "Clay is different because we can't tell what his angle is. One look at a rabid scavenger or a black marketeer and you know what that guy's all about. Do you have any idea why Clay wants to help us?"

"He said something about opposing Xir's plans for the town?" Danny muses, "It was all very vague."

"Precisely. We don't know Clay's angle, so we have no idea what his ultimate aim is." Jen nods, "We do know one thing though."

"Which is?" Danny responds as the pair fall into a crouch, steadily edging closer to the main drag.

"That Clay is only looking out for himself." Jen grimly explains, "If Clay was sincere in helping us, he would not have framed us for the deputy's murder."

"That's fine Jen." Danny reassures, "We need allies right now. I don't really care whether or not they're paragons of virtue."

"Well, I hope you're right about this." Jen huffs unhappily, "Just watch yourself around Clay, that's all I'm saying."

"Look, Jen. I know you really dislike Clay since he works for Xir," Danny says, "but don't you think you're being a bit unfair to him? I don't see you making the same complaints about Archie."

"Archie's different. For one, he doesn't work for Xir." Jen scoffs, "And I've stayed alive all this while thanks to him."

"But do you know why he's helping you?" Danny insists.

"Uh." Jen hesitates for a moment before picking up the thread, "I think Archie took pity on me after he realized I was being lured to the death house?"

"Meaning you don't really know." Danny smugly concludes.

"He's been feeding me on the sly, Danny." Jen reprimands, "Archie never wanted to get too heavily involved with either of us for obvious reasons."

"Just like Clay?" Danny laughs.

"Point." Jen acknowledges reluctantly, "But you've seen Archie for yourself. He can barely muster the strength to hurt a fly. He's not a threat to either of us."

"Right. Right." Danny affirms, not wanting to get into a quarrel with his sister, "But it doesn't change the issue at hand Jen. We can't win this fight against Xir by our lonesome. We need to trust others."

"Is that why you want to return to the death house?" Jen raises a critical eyebrow, "After hearing what Clay said about it?"

"We need leads most of all." Danny insists, "The only thing we have to work with is some pulp history of this town that may or may not be true. And we know Xir left something behind in the death house."

"We could consult again with Archie." Jen objects, "And reconstruct the ritual to stop Xir with his help."

"I doubt that would work." Danny shakes his head, "Archie himself admitted it. He's trapped here with us. His money burning tricks aren't enough to stop Xir."

"Yeah. I get it. But I sure as hell don't like it." Jen's frown deepens, "Alright, we're going to need to cross an open road before getting to the next patch of cover. So stay frosty."

"Ice cold, Jenzora." Danny grins, "I've got a maxed stealth stat."

"Just make sure not to botch your roll." Jen smirks, taking a moment to confirm there's no one about to see the duo. At this early hour, the town is completely deserted, as quiet as a graveyard. The siblings share a brief nod with each other and dart across the empty street, before ducking behind another line of buildings. Jen begins to pick up the pace, speeding up to a brisk jog.

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"Not a lot of cover between here and the death house." she pants, "So we need to move as quickly as possible while there's no one around. You cool with that?"

"I can handle it." Danny grunts from exertion as he takes up the rear, "You don't need to hold back on my account."

"Good." Jen confirms before she abruptly takes off like a lightning bolt, sprinting straight down the backstreet.

Danny's feet pound the pavement frantically, barely managing to keep up. The scenery blurs past the pair as they race through the main drag towards the death house. Danny's breath comes out in ragged gasps from the strain. Living in the virus wastes had kept him in fair physical condition, but keeping up with Jen was taking a lot out of him. For a brief moment Danny considers asking Jen to slow down, but pride and the overwhelming danger of their situation seals his lips.

"Just a little more." Jen encourages, "You doing alright there?"

"Golden." Danny pants, "Just golden."

The duo break out of the backstreet into the road linking the death house to the town's border. Jen does a turn and begins making her way up the slope leading to the house, but she is suddenly pulled back by the arm.

"Danny?" she blurts out in alarm, "What the hell?"

"Listen." Danny whispers as he points in the direction of the barricade, "You hear that?"

Jen strains her ears. The noise is faint, but she catches it on the edge of the wind. Its a familiar sound, a sound that both siblings had hoped they would never hear ever again.

"Coofing." Jen murmurs in dawning horror.

"Its heading this way. We need to hide." Danny urges, but Jen stands stock still in place reeling from the shock.

"The virus is here Danny!" Jen hisses in near panic, "Its here!"

"Move! Move!" Danny demands as he pulls Jen off the road and shoves her behind a nearby tree. As Jen sinks to the ground clutching her head, Danny presses himself against the tree trunk, his eyes peaking out to scan the road as the dreaded sound of coofing draws steadily closer. But what Danny sees takes him completely by surprise.

Two slaves of Xir, dressed in their trademark robes and plague masks are running in blind fear up the road towards the death house. Behind them are a pair of unmasked cultists, rushing forward with predatory intent. The unmasked cultists cough and wheeze as they lope forward, releasing blood flecked saliva that dribbles down their chins. An almost primal fear grips Danny at this scene.

Infected.

Infected hunting their prey.

One of the infected lunges forward and tackles his target with the aplomb of a pro football player. As the slave of Xir struggles vainly on the ground, the infected tears off his victim's plague mask in triumph. The slave blubbers in terror and begs for mercy, but the infected regards his victim with almost deranged glee, an insane ear to ear grin spreading across that bloodstained face. The infected takes a deep breath of fresh Maine air and -

"Don't watch Jen." Danny whispers and gently overs his sister's eyes with a free hand.

There's a low gargling noise and Danny instinctively shuts his own eyes. He already knows by heart what's happening right now. Spit and phlegm are one of the virus's best vectors of transmission. By the time the gargling noise is over, the slave is clutching his wet, soiled face and sobbing in despair, while being dragged away by the collar back towards the direction of the barricade. At the same time, the second infected had managed to catch up with the remaining slave and grabs at the plague mask, wrenching it off in a single motion.

"Holy shit." Danny murmurs as he takes in the scene, "I know her."

It was back at the church, when Danny had been cornered by Xir and its cultists. He had confronted a young woman who had become one of Xir's eunuchs just before Jen had rescued him from being castrated. Danny instinctively reaches for the Sheriff's gun and -

"What do you think you're doing?" Jen hisses in alarm, having finally managed to get over her fright, "The gunshot will attract the entire town!"

Danny purses his lips unhappily as the struggle between the infected and the young woman continues. But the young woman suddenly draws a knife from the folds of her robe and slashes furiously at the infected, drawing blood and forcing her enemy to back off. The infected snarls in fury and in a stomach churning display, digs his own fingers into the wound before flicking them out, sending droplets of blood flying through the air. The young woman hurriedly shields her face and bolts down the road, straight toward the death house. The infected watches her leave, growling like an enraged wolf, before hobbling off to join his comrade back at the barricade.

"Coast's clear." Danny whispers, "But we might have company in the death house ..."