Mark and Clarissa looked between them warily.

“You’re saying we can bring back the dead,” Clarissa said disbelievingly.

“Well, bring ‘em back as zombies, at least,” Violet said agreeably. “Not sure how much anyone would want to bring their beloved family member back as a mindless zombie.

“The good news is that a corpse obviously doesn’t breathe, so all they can really do is walk around chomping on people and causing chaos. There shouldn’t be any danger of them spreading the infection.”

“Can they be killed?” Clarissa asked.

Noah dipped his head. “Oh, for sure. I watched my friend get her head chopped off last night, and that was the end of her.”

Everyone’s mouths fell open.

“She had the Wager,” he explained. “It basically destroyed her organs and she went crazy trying to heal. Long story short, her dad had to decapitate her. It was pretty terrible.”

His explanation didn’t appear to lessen anyone’s shock. “And I thought my day was insane,” Violet muttered to herself.

“At least we know the infected dead can be taken down,” Clarissa said hesitantly. She clenched her fingers around the handle of her hatchet and shut her eyes briefly. “I can’t believe I’m sitting in a room full of zombies.”

“Dormant zombies, more like,” Noah said. He eyed the hatched warily. “And we’re no danger to you. You’re just as infected as any of us.”

She sighed, releasing a puff of dust and revealing that she had only recently been infected, and shoved the hatchet back into her coat. It disappeared into the massive garment without any visible bulge.

Noah caught the sound of people once more walking down the hall outside, along with an odd repetitive squeaking.

Nobody else in the room seemed interested in the happenings outside, so he shrugged and walked back to the door to peer out curiously.

The two doctors who had treated him were laboriously pushing the large blue metal drum down the hallway. The source of the squeaking was one of its four small wheels wobbling as it moved along. All of the tubes and related apparatus, including the mask, had been balanced atop the metal cylinder in a precarious pile.

“This is, what, the tenth load?” the one of the doctors huffed.

“Eleventh.”

“Yeah. That’s not a small amount of dust. This is a thirty-gallon tank.”

They paused at a door about halfway between Noah and the far end of the hall, and waited for the light to turn green before pushing the large canister into the room and out of view. The door closed slowly behind them and the light switched off.

Noah waited patiently for them to return.

The door finally opened several minutes later and the two men reappeared with the metal tank. Noah assumed they had either disposed of its contents within the room or gotten an entirely new empty container, as they were now pushing it with ease.

Noah hoped they would say aloud how they had gotten rid of the dust, but the conversation had moved on to the menu of a cafe that was apparently upstairs. Noah completely tuned them out, his focus locked on the room they had exited. For some reason found himself desperately wishing he could see what lay within. He had the odd feeling that it was very important somehow.

He stood there, just staring down the corridor at the unlit light above the door and wondering how he could possibly overcome that obstacle, when one of the doctors came walking down the hall once again with another supposedly cured student in tow. He ignored them, but the light above the door went briefly green as the doctor passed.

Noah straightened, eyes narrowing. He wondered how he could use this to get inside. Insight employees must have all been given some kind of card chip or digital key that automatically unlocked the doors. The problem was that he had no idea what form it took or where it was stored on their body.

The doctor came back down the hall and returned to the treatment room, oblivious to Noah watching him.

I don’t need to pickpocket them, he thought to himself. It works by proximity.

He brightened as an idea came to him, a smile slowly spreading across his face as he mused over it. It was a flawless plan. It even included a backup measure.

He turned to the four students in the room. “I need all of your masks,” he announced. “Oakridge gave everyone masks, right? Do you still have yours?”

Violet frowned at him. “Yeah, why?”

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He waved aside the question. “Can I have it?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, but acquiesced, slowly pulling a lime-green face mask from her pocket and passing it over to him.

Mark’s was hanging on his face by a single ear, and he handed it to Noah with a bemused look. “Why do you need four masks?”

Noah glanced out the door anxiously. The hallway was still empty. “Does it matter?” he asked distractedly.

He shrugged. “I guess not. Will I be getting it back?”

“Sure.” Noah looked expectantly at Clarissa.

The girl grinned and pulled a handful of crisp unused masks from an inner pocket in her coat. “Here, have five.”

Noah stared at her, then chuckled. “Alright. Thanks.”

He had planned to take the mask from the unfortunate kid in the corner, but with so many extras now he wouldn’t have to bother.

He began pulling the masks one-by-one onto his head, much to the confusion of the three students watching him. He layered them into a sort of bonnet that covered the top of his head, left a gap for his eyes to see through, and placed another one over his mouth and nose.

Clarissa burst into laughter. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Hiding my identity,” he said seriously, but she only laughed harder.

Noah glowered at her. “What? Is it not effective?”

“Well, anyone who sees you is going to wonder why you’ve bandaged yourself in face masks, but I guess it hides your face well enough. But I have to ask, why bother on top?”

“I’m being thorough.”

She snorted. “Okay. If someone tries to identify you using the cameras, though, they’ll probably be able to match up your clothes, and you’ll find you’re not as anonymous as you hoped.”

Noah gave her a considering look. “Good point.”

He grabbed a shirt and pants from his bundle and pulled them on over his current outfit. The bundle was quickly diminishing, and was less a bundle now so much as a single crumpled undergarment.

“Better?” he asked.

“You just knocked all the masks off,” Mark observed.

Noah carefully fixed them back in place. “Okay. How do I look?”

“Like a really crappy medically-themed superhero,” Violet said.

“Great, thanks.”

Noah picked up his remaining article of clothing, a very wrinkled pair of underwear, and shoved it in his outer pants pocket. He went to the door and waited for the doctor to make another trip down the hallway with a student.

He didn’t have to wait long. Footsteps came briskly towards him, making him tense in anticipation. As soon as they were past his door, he quickly pushed it open, careful not to disturb the shirt doorstop, and slipped out into the hall. He hurried down the passage after the two unaware figures, knowing he had to catch up before they passed the door he wanted to enter or else lose his chance.

He automatically and unconsciously tried to categorize the student as infected or uninfected, only for his instincts to react in confusion. The girl presented a muddled mix of signs that made his senses react strangely, unsure of her status. He wasn’t planning on eating her, so he tried not to let it bother him.

He quietly fell into step behind them. He was more worried the student would notice him and raise a fuss than the doctor, who was wearing a full respiratory mask that looked to significantly impede both vision and hearing. Fortunately, both individuals remained oblivious to his presence. He drew yet closer as they approached the door, knowing his opportunity would only last a second.

Then they were right beside it, and the light flicked momentarily on. Noah leapt forward and pressed against it.

He thumped against its unyielding surface. He was too slow. The doctor was already too far ahead, and the light was dim once more.

The student must’ve noticed the slight noise of him hitting the door, because she turned curiously and jumped at the sight of him standing so close.

Noah held his hands up and tried to use his eyes to express his desire to remain unnoticed by the doctor.

The student stared at him for a second longer and slowly nodded. Noah gave her a grateful nod and backed away towards his room, feeling vaguely frustrated. He would have to try again with the next student escort.

Then the doctor glanced at the girl beside him. “What’s wrong?” He glanced briefly backwards down the hall, then did a double-take. He met eyes with the strangely garbed figure standing just behind him and he stepped away in surprise.

Noah froze guiltily, just staring back at him.

“Who are you? What are you doing?” The doctor was more curious than suspicious, although that was quickly changing.

Oh, well. Time for Plan B, Noah thought, and tore away the mask over his mouth, revealing an eager smile. “Don’t scream, please,” he told the student.

Then, rather than answering the doctor, he stepped forward into the man’s personal space and latched onto his throat.

The student, to her credit, didn’t scream. She merely stumbled away before she managed to get her feet properly under her and ran to the far end of the hallway. She couldn’t go any further, seeing as how every door was locked, but Noah didn’t pay her any mind.

This should have been Plan A, Noah thought contentedly, pulling back from the doctor’s neck with a small bit of it in his jaws. He couldn’t feel it in his mouth, but he could sense the energy it held being bestowed upon him as he swallowed. It was a pleasant sensation.

The man was trying to shout for help, but the mask he wore significantly muffled his voice, and the walls of the building didn’t help his prospects. Blood was beginning to stain the collar of his lab coat.

“Looks like your security isn’t so airtight, after all,” Noah said.

The doctor grit his teeth at the comment and finally managed to shove Noah away. He reached into one of the pockets in his coat and started probing around for something.

Noah didn’t know what he was looking for, and he didn’t care to find out. He darted once more at the doctor, causing him to flinch, and bit down on his meaty forearm. A lab coat, it turned out, served as terrible armor.

The doctor let out a pained groan. “Stop! Stop! I can get you more people- there’s a whole bunch of patients downstairs, I promise- just let me go!”

Noah nonchalantly tore off another piece of his flesh and gave him a dirty look. “I thought you said you cared about your patients.”

The guy’s eyes darted nervously back and forth. “Well, sure, but desperate times call for desperate-”

“Oh, be quiet,” Noah said, and before he could really think about what he was doing, he tore out the man’s throat.