The old woman led Wil, Qadira, and Matsuda up the stairs and to a room that had either once been or was in the process of becoming some kind of upscale pool-hall. Plaster dust, plastic tarps, tool boxes, cans of paint, and exposed wiring were the most obvious signs of renovation. The tarps had been thrown over several pool tables that had been shoved into a far corner along with dining tables, chairs, and stools. A long oak bar with a broken mirror behind it dominated the back wall, and it was flanked by two tall cabinets that were bare save for a few bottles of liquor. A metal door to the side of the bar had a dark “EXIT” sign above it, and a sign that designated it as the fire escape.

The room itself was a long, empty space only broken up by square columns of concrete that had been half painted a dusky maroon. It was dark but for the light coming from a few candles set inside soda cans that had been cut in half. The windows all had industrial-style metal shutters over them and blocked any light from outside getting in. Each shutter had a long chain that glinted in the candle light and turned them into interlocking links of gold that seemed to glow in the consuming darkness of the hall.

The other people from the foot of the stairs followed them all into the expansive room and fanned out. The red-haired man with the paunch went straight to the bar and stayed there, though he didn’t seem interested in the liquor. The dark-haired woman and the teenager followed him. The teenager only glanced at them, but the man and the woman kept their gazes locked on Wil and Matsuda. The young man with the beard and the woman with the fish tattoo moved away from them as well, never taking their eyes off them.

Not on us, Wil thought, on our guns.

“Thank you,” Wil said to the old woman and then to the rest of the room. Even though he kept his voice low, it echoed in the empty space of the hall and bounced back to him in a ghostly reverberation. “I don’t know what we would’ve done if you hadn’t let us in.”

“Probably died,” Red Hair said from behind the bar.

“Same as you, Gregg,” the old woman replied. “That’s why I called you and your family in, same as Jenn and Steve, same as these folks.”

The old woman nodded at the young couple standing nearby.

“We didn’t have guns,” Gregg said and stayed behind the bar.

“Yes, because some people with guns are the real concern right now,” the old woman said and shook her head. She extended her hand to Wil. “I’m Laura Weathers. The ginger behind the bar is Gregg, with his wife Kelly and their son Tyson. Steve and Jenn are the hipsters over there.”

“Hey,” Steve said and raised a hand. Jenn only smiled. Kelly pulled her son close to her, an action that most teens would have resisted, but Tyson accepted with limp indifference.

“I’m Wil, and this is Qadira, and Mr. Matsuda,” Wil said. Qadira gave a little wave and Matsuda shook Laura’s hand and smiled at everyone else.

“Pleased to meet some others, given the circumstances,” Matsuda said. “And to reassure you, we have no interest in using our guns on people. Just whatever is running amok outside, and only if we have to.”

“What are you all doing in here?” Qadira asked.

“Not dying,” Jenn said.

“Waiting for help,” Gregg said.

“Keeping or heads down until we can figure out something better,” Laura added.

“Mm,” Matsuda said.

“Why the heck were you folks on the street? If you were trying to get killed you might as well just use your guns. Faster and less painful than the things out there will give you,” Laura said.

“We’re looking for somebody,” Wil said. “My girlfriend. She’s just a few blocks up from here, on 9th Avenue.”

“Might as well be on the moon,” Gregg said.

“He’s a bit blunt but he’s not wrong. Where you coming from?” Laura asked.

“Oak Rest,” Wil said. Laura raised her eyebrows and she scoffed.

“You’re kidding,” she said.

“Wil and I came from Oak Rest, Ms. Qadira joined us from just over the Willamette,” Matsuda said.

“It’s true. They showed up with some ranger lady,” Qadira said.

“How the hell did you get so far?” Steve asked. He looked as though Wil had just told him he could fly or turn straw into gold.

“What was it like out there? We’ve been talking about getting out of the city since it happened,” Jenn whispered.

“Is the military out there?” Kelly asked. “Why haven’t they come yet?”

Wil and Matsuda explained their experiences at Oak Rest and coming into the city. When Wil mentioned the dream they had all shared in the gas station, he and Matsuda both got a lot of funny looks from everybody, including Qadira.

“You all had the same dream?” Qadira asked.

“Yes? Did you all…not?” Wil asked.

“Nope,” Laura said.

“Never in my life. Sounds kinda made up,” Gregg added.

“I can assure you it wasn’t,” Matsuda said. “Regardless, it’s not safe out in the woods, and I’d be shocked if the military shows up.”

“Why? It’s their job!” Kelly said, her voice rising a bit with panic. Her son touched her shoulder and she took a breath as she squeezed his hand.

“Because I’d be surprised if there is a military anymore,” Matsuda said. “And even if there is, it’s likely so fragmented that any real organization is going to be next to impossible.”

“Heard some jets yesterday. Guns and explosions. Didn’t dare look outside, though,” Laura said.

“We saw them,” Steve said. “When everything was really bad. There was a squadron of five or six, I don’t know. They flew in, fired their missiles at something I couldn’t see. Some kinda flying things came at them out of the sky and then something else shot them down. It lasted maybe five minutes, tops.”

“Same thing happened to news helicopters and anything else in the air. I saw a passenger jet from the airport get cut in half, people falling out of both ends, the engines blowing up and…god,” Jenn said and shuddered as she held herself. Steve put an arm around her and she leaned into him as she stared into the distance.

“It’s quieted down a lot since it all started,” Laura said. “Not exactly peaceful, but compared to yesterday, it’s practically serene.”

Wil thought of everything they had seen since they got into the city: the horde of black and green-eyed zombies, the water-tower arachnids, the ruined homes, the bodies in the streets, the giant leathery bird on the bridge, the insectile brood-mother that they had barely escaped.

Thinking of that as anything approaching “serene,” made his stomach burn and twist.

“What happened here?” Wil asked. Gregg snorted and let out a bark of a laugh.

“What didn’t happen?” he asked.

“The whole city went to hell in about thirty minutes,” Laura said. “And then it got even worse.”