When we went past a corner, I thought we got lost, and those vectors would be on us. We followed the signs along the walls and the ones hanging by the ceiling that pointed back to the foyer and then to the cathedral. We turned a corner, then another, until the corridors melded into one, and I couldn't tell the difference.

I looked over my hand. The young vector did a number on me, had cut deep into my palm, wishing none of the major nerves and arteries were too damaged. I didn't want to lose a hand if it became a problem. It still hurt like hell, but it scared me that it would get infected without proper treatment.

Soon, the corridors opened up, and we found ourselves on the third floor of the foyer. We looked down over the railings and found the bottom floor devoid of vectors. We rushed toward the stairs.

"I guess the noise in the stairwell drew everyone away, else we would've caught them all in here," said Logan.

A slight smile crept on my lips, happy that we didn't encounter more of those things.

We reached the bottom of the stairs and turned right, passing by the CATHEDRAL sign hanging at the top of the archway. We're so close. It still pained me that we had to leave a lot of food behind back in the cafeteria. Though, there was no use thinking about it now. We went deeper and deeper through the hallway, and then I began to hear Yousef and Luke shouting, along with other familiar voices.

Luke and Yousef banged against the heavy doors of the cathedral, screaming to be let in. Standing beside them was Margot and Felipe, who seemed to be in hysterics as they huddled at the corner with Margot wrapped around Felipe's arms. On the other hand, Miguel was beyond the fence, face red with fury as he continued to pummel his fist on the heavy doors. He heard us approached, aimed the rifle slung around his shoulders toward us.

"Stay back!" Miguel shouted.

I raised my hands, shouted back, "Hey now! We're not them! It's us!"

Yousef turned around and gaped, "Holy shit! I didn't think you guys would make it!"

"Sorry to be disappointing, but here we are now," I said as I walked toward the door. "Now, can someone please open that fucking door so that we can get out of this building?"

"They won't let us in!" Yousef screeched.

"Who? Bobby?"

Yousef nodded. "We've been here for two minutes, telling him we're not infected, but he won't listen"—Then he lowered his tone—"I think he got Joe's gun. Joe won't even answer us."

I clenched my fist until my knuckles turned white, and all I saw was the door—and only the door—and all the pain and nagging thought that invaded and overwhelmed my senses slipped away for a split second as I marched to the door and rapped on it as hard as I could.

"Bobby! You better open this door, or I swear to God, I would string you up and hoist you out of that fucking bell tower, you hear me? We're not infected!"

"Fuck no! You don't scare me! The hell am I opening this door for? Ya'll infected! I swear it! Nothing can survive that many!"

Suddenly, I felt Logan's hand on my chest as he pulled me back. He gave me a stern look, pushing me back to stand next to Felipe and Margot. Logan tried a softer approach, but the results remained the same. However, Bobby was a bit sensible this time around.

"Let me look," Margot said as she took my injured hand.

"It's nothing," I said.

"You're hurt."

"I can see that."

Margot rolled her eyes. "Bad. Very bad." She began miming a needle and weaving it into my palm, and I blanched.

"Stitches? Great."

She nodded and frowned. I didn't like the look of that. "I can make it better. Not as good but will help you."

I gritted my teeth. "Okay. Do it."

Margot rummaged through her bags and pulled out a clean roll of bandage. I pried my eyes away from my hand as Margot tried fixing it, landing on Logan still trying to convince Bobby to open the door.

"Don't even think about opening that damn thing!" Another voice from behind the door. I instantly recognized who it was.

Natalie.

"Nat? Is that you?" Logan asked. I could read the multiple expressions crossing his face; a multitude of anger, confusion, betrayal, and hope. "Nat? Nat. Answer me."

No answer.

Suddenly, a loud thud was followed by muddled voices behind the door that was too far for us to make out clearly. Bobby and Natalie's voices, along with two others, but I was too far away to hear them.

Yousef approached the door and banged his fist against it. "What the hell is going on in there?"

"They're not answering, man. They're leaving us out here to die!" Luke exclaimed.

Luke was right. They were probably dragging more things to block the entry in case it got ugly out here in the hallway. After all, the vectors were coming. This wasn't how I imagined I'd go out, trapped between safety and the vectors so close to breathing down our necks. As Margot fixed my hand, all I could think about was my Mom and Dad, so far away from my reach. I couldn't help it, but I began tearing up; my chest felt a little heavy.

The door's latch clicked, resounding like the ping of a clock tower, so loud against my ear that my heart flung out of my chest in surprise. Margot's grip on my wrist tightened as everyone around me froze.

Henry's head peeked out of the doorway.

"Come! Come!" His little voice squealed, and then he yelped as someone yanked Henry back within the gap.

Then, a pair of hands grasped the edge and pulled the door closed, but Yousef and Logan reacted quickly, grabbing the door before it can completely close, and pried it open from the hands that grabbed it. Still holding onto the door, Bobby crashed and landed face-first onto the floor.

Miguel lunged forward and grabbed Bobby by the scruff of his jacket, pulled him up to his feet. A look of sheer horror was indisputable on Bobby's face as he stared upon Miguel's snarl. Miguel pushed him back hard into the cathedral, and Bobby took a painful tumble and landed on his ass.

I jumped back on my feet and grabbed Margot and Felipe, and we ran for the door. Logan followed, and Luke and Yousef closed the door behind us.

"You can't just come in! What if one of you is infected?" Bobby cried out. He saw my hand, and his eyes widened. "See? He's infected! Look! Look!" He pointed at me as he looked around the room for anyone who would agree with him.

I closed the gap between the two of us, and with my other good hand clenched to a fist, swung a punch square to his jaw. As soon as my fist came into contact, I knew I busted it up real good, could feel my skin tearing from the blow. Bobby staggered back, blood coming down from his nose.

"You Bruke myr fruckring nrose!" Bobby yelped, clutching his nose.

"You'll fucking live," I said.

Miguel an approving grin. "Mean hook, man."

"Just got lucky," I said, unclenching my fist. My joints creaked and popped. It'll definitely bruise for a little while, and it's going to fucking hurt.

Joe laid sprawled unconscious on the ground next to Daniel, sitting close to his side, a hand gently cupped on his father's small cut on his forehead. Not too far from them, Aria tried to wiggle out of Natalie's grip as the other woman struggled to get her on a headlock, but she managed to free herself, whirled around, and slapped her best friend. Shocked, Natalie tried to retaliate, but Aria caught her wrist and swatted it aside. She slapped Natalie again.

"Hey! Hey! That's enough!" Logan bellowed.

"They tried to bar the door with that!" Aria said, pointing at the pew.

"That bitch slapped me!" Natalie screamed.

"Yeah, and I should've done that a long time ago!" Aria spat. "What you said about Carson..."

"Oh, give it up, you little slut. Carson is dead, and I bet he won't take a chance on your scrawny ass anyway—"

"I said that's enough!" Logan shouted over them.

"Whatever," Natalie said and walked away, cupping her reddened cheeks.

"What she said about Carson. It's not right." Aria kept repeating, crying.

I caught Logan's eye. It flicked back to Natalie's retreating form, then back to me, and then he lowered them in shame, dreading the conversation he'll have to have with her. I turned back toward the others.

"Margot, check on Joe. Make sure he's alright."

Margot walked over to Joe. Felipe took Daniel's hand, led him to the closest pew, and sat next to him, wiping some of Daniel's tears. Yousef gave Henry a fist bump, earning a proud smile from the boy. Luke sat against the wall, panting.

I stared at the door.

No time to rest.

"We have to block the door," I said. "And let's not stay in the nave for safety. We have to move to the cloister and the chapter house, and we'll sleep there for the night."

It took them a second for my orders to process, and once it did, they scrambled to their feet.

With those things mere feet away, it was going to be a long, long night.