The Tower

          "This road's pretty clear," said Bruiser. "But when we hit Medford proper, we shouldn't talk in the streets. There's a couple of houses that are boarded up that seem safe. Do you know of anywhere we can hunker down until help arrives?"
Stephanie shook her head and said, "No. I'm sorry I'm not from here. I'm from Connecticut and when things started getting weird there, I jumped on a bus and fled south only to see it wasn't getting better at all. I got here about two days before you. It was supposed to be a layover but the next bus never came and everything fell apart."

Bruiser grit his teeth. There was nowhere to go? North or South? Is the whole of the country getting swallowed up by this? If this is true, being whisked off to a camp sounds like a slow death. At least out here you can freely move and scavenge. I imagine there, it's like being on a small island slowly flooding until the inevitable occurs.
"Are you OK?"

The question stopped his racing thoughts. "Yeah. Here's what I'm thinking. We need to get to the roof of the Hotel tower and get a good feeling of what's out there. Maybe hit a gas station and see if there's any road maps for the area. Outside of that, I did see a church near the Hotel. Solid stone walls. Might be a good place until we can figure out better." His voice got softer as they rounded the bend and the first of Medford's houses came into view. Stephanie quickened her pace to match Bruiser's and together they headed towards the hotel.
The two reached the Hotel and made their way to one of the side stairwells. Bruiser suggested they head to the top, ignoring the other floors and bypassing a lot of unnecessary danger. Stephanie nodded in agreement. He warned her that the upper floor didn't look good, but since this was the highest building in Medford, it afforded them the best vantage point. Stephanie steeled her grip on the spear and said, "Let's do it, buddy." The two survivor's began their ascent.