After entering the room, Danny discovered a fat man cowering at a corner. The fear and apprehension he felt were clear in his eyes as he looked at Danny’s unexpected entrance.

For Danny, it was both surprising and unsurprising that he found someone still alive in the building, as contradictory it may sound.

In one hand, it was easy to imagine how this man had managed to hold on for so long.

There were a lot of supplies scattered around the place one could make use of to persevere. Those very same supplies were the reason why Hank had been interested in the place and why he sent Danny there after all.

In fact, there was more than enough inside the room he had found the survivor in to last the cowering man for quite some time, meaning that he did not even need to go outside in order to keep his hunger and thirst under control.

All the haggard man had to do to endure was to hunker down and wait as he got all the bare essentials in there, and apparently, that was exactly what he did.

Looking at it like this, it was not surprising that someone had managed to survive until Danny got there.

On the other hand, it was unexpected that the frightened man managed to stay hidden for so long while so many zombies patrolled the corridors just outside his room.

Before Danny got there and finally dealt with them, the man must have lived with the constant presence of the creatures passing just outside the door. Always just a single step away from his resting and hiding spot.

Danny had no doubt that the flimsy door that represented the survivor’s last line of defense that separated himself from the monstrosities would not be able to hold off the undead creatures for long if they knew that he was inside.

The door was far from enough to secure the man’s safety.

Danny had already seen and passed by many busted doors both in this floor and in the one above during his exploration. Given enough time and motivation, the zombies were entirely capable of breaking down the doors and entering the closed off rooms.

If they truly knew that there was a living and breathing tasty morsel in there, there would be no stopping them from getting inside. It was easy to guess what fate awaited the poor man in that case.

‘It must have weighted heavily on his mind.’ Danny thought while looking at the shivering man who still had not registered that his visitor was not one of the unthinking creatures that took over the survivor’s camp.

He could only imagine how nerve-wrecking living under those conditions must have been for the man. To stay in there for days and days without end, knowing that he was just a single mistake away from his own excruciating demise had to be maddening. Knowing that only single loud cough or sneeze separated himself from terrible, terrible ending must have been beyond stressful.

Danny could not even begin to fathom how the man coped with the anxiety of living like this for so many days. Living on the edge between life and death, not knowing when his luck would run out. Any minute could be his last.

‘Did he even manage to sleep under those circumstances? It must have been incredibly hard…’ Danny thought while looking at the dirty fat man, which was still trembling at the corner, afraid to utter a sound.

The man was so scared that he barely even moved from his spot. He kept trembling with one hand covering his mouth, hoping against all odds that the intruder would not notice his presence. The fact that Danny was not one of the monstrosities responsible for destroying his former sanctuary going completely over his head.

Danny put his bloodied hammer away. Following that, he slowly and carefully walked over to the survivor before crouching a couple of steps away from the man and raising his hands in front of him in the most non-threatening manner he could think of, trying to show he meant the unfortunate man no harm.

He wanted to avoid agitating the survivor.

Right now, the man was just like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, too stunned to move or think properly. Any drastic movements could set him off and cause him to do something they would both regret.

A cornered animal was a dangerous animal and Danny wanted to keep things quiet.

After all, they were still in dangerous territory and there were enemies close by even if he had dealt with pretty much every zombie on this floor. The larger share of the horde was still roaming downstairs, a constant threat that hung over both their heads.

“Hey there, are you all right? I am Danny. What’s your name?” Danny spoke slowly and softly as he neared the tense survivor, just as if he was talking to a young child. By doing that, he hoped to pacify the stranger and show that there was no need to be afraid of him. That he just wanted to talk.

His tactic seemed to work, as a few seconds later, realization dawned on the survivor’s eyes and he broke out of his terrified trance, noticing for the first time that Danny was someone just like him. A survivor.

“H-hi… nice to m-meet you. I am Luke. I am okay, thanks.” The man responded mostly on reflex, still coming to terms that he was facing a normal human being. He was having a hard time forming the proper words after living for so long in complete silence and with no one to talk to.

“Nice to meet you Luke. How long have you been here for?”

“He-here? You mean at the factory?”

“Well, yes. And hidden in this room as well.”

“I-I am not sure… it has been so long since I got stuck here. I stopped counting the days after a while. Is… Is it safe outside? Don’t you need to close the door?” The man said, while nervously sneaking peeks at the opened door through which Danny had entered the room.

It was easy to guess what was going on inside his head.

The survivor feared that the undead could rush inside the room through the unobstructed passage at any moment. Clearly, the dread he felt for the undying creatures had its roots deeply entrenched in his mind. His crippling fear of the undead would not be going away anytime soon.

“It’s not safe outside yet, but we are fine for now. I promise you that no zombies will come here if we keep quiet. If we keep talking like this then we are fine.” Danny assured him with a calm and confident voice.

After being told they were safe for the moment, the man visibly started to relax. He nodded repeatedly while muttering, “that’s good…” over and over again.

Tears accumulated in his eyes as relief over not having to worry for the first time in days about zombies hounding him begun to set in.

It was the first time in as long as he could remember that he did not have to worry about staying completely silent or think about the terrible consequences in case he failed to do so. That he did not need to worry about the prowling creatures just outside his small sanctuary’s door.

His whole body relaxed as the realization that he was truly safe for the first time in a long time sunk in. He painfully discovered that his perpetual tense state had come at a cost of aches and cramps all over his body, but the man did not care. He felt liberated.

“Are we truly… truly safe?” He asked with hesitation, too afraid to hope.

“For now, we are. Yes.” Danny reassured him once more.

Upon hearing that, Luke leaned his head against the wall while slumping his shoulders. Then, he looked up and sighed softly before closing his eyes for a moment.

They were not out of the woods just yet, but for someone who had spent the last days worrying if his heart was beating too loudly, or if his breathing was making too much noise, this was already heaven by comparison.

A few moments later, Luke reopened his eyes and looked back at Danny. He gave him a tentative smile before speaking up, only now coming to realize that he did not know anything about this ‘savior’ of his.

“Sorry about that… this whole ordeal had been very… draining I guess. I think it will take a while until I am back on my feet.”

“Don’t worry about it. Though we don’t have all the time in the world, we are not so desperate that we can’t afford to spare a few moments.” Danny said while showing an understanding smile.

“I cannot thank you enough for rescuing me. I owe you… big time.”

“You are welcome.”

“I don’t mean to pry but… who exactly are you? Did the government finally sent help?” Luke asked. His voice betraying a tiny bit of hope for a reaction from the worldly powers. Sadly, he was bound to be disappointed.

Danny shook his head before answering. “I am not. Sorry about that.”

“Sigh… I thought so. I guess it was too much to expect them to get off their asses. What the hell are they doing? It has been weeks already ever since this shitshow started. Pardon my language.”

“I don’t mind it. If there was ever a time for cursing, it is definitely now.”

“I guess it fucking is.” Luke commented while chuckling in good humor.

To be fair, it was not the government’s fault that they had not come to the aid to their citizens. Though Luke was completely in the dark about it, Danny knew from Tutu that the land had been completely reshuffled.

If one was not lucky enough to live near a military camp or something similar when the change happened, then hoping for a rescue was just a pipe dream.

Disconnected from the chains of command, with no way to reestablish contact or reorganize themselves, while at the same time being thrown off to god knows where in this big wide world, any armed forces remaining would barely be able to look after themselves, much less offer support to the many in need.

Danny thought it would not be surprising if the scattered armed forces of the myriad countries soon turned to banditry. After all, training and cohesion only took you so far when you suddenly found yourself cut from supplies and hierarchy is gone. When hunger starts to set in, discipline gave way to the most base of necessities. Human history thought us as much.