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Donna ran the length of the university co close behind They quickly worked their way through a labyrinth of dark, featureless corridors, hoping that they would be able to remember the way back to the others After several h &039;This&039;ll do,&039; she said breathlessly, slowing down to walking pace and resting her hands on her hips &039;Where are we going to do it?&039; asked Clare Donna looked around There was an exit door to her right Through slass panels she could see a narrow concrete pathhich led to a detached storage building

&039;Perfect,&039; she whispered as she carefully forced open the door and stepped out into the night The pathway between thewas little over twentyand, to Donna&039;s relief, was also cos and by sturdy security fences

For once she was happy to risk being out in the open Apart fro motionless to the side of the path she couldn&039;t see any bodies The evening was rapidly drawing in and the light was disappearing quickly Once she was satisfied that there were no signs ofand forced her way inside Her eyes quickly becaloo &039;Sheets,&039; Clare hissed, pointing towards a metal rack on the far side of the rooan to ainst the wall furthest from the door Donna added a stack of papers and wooden furniture to the h,&039; she said quietly as she looked curiously into a second room Obviously so and narroalls of the room were loaded with bottles, tubs and cartons of bleach, disinfectant and countless other chemicals used by cleaners and janitors Clare instinctively backed up towards the main door as Donna reappeared and crouched down and struck a ht to a pile of once ian to sain a little further into the pile The orange glow ate quickly into the tinder-dry paper and cloth and in less than a ht and whispy-grey srew in size rapidly Donna stepped back and stood still for a few seconds until she was sure that the blaze was properly established

She watched with satisfaction as the fire quickly ate through the linen and wood and then began to lick at nearby curtains and against the wall The building would be co to work?&039; Clare asked &039;Should do,&039; Donna replied as she led the younger girl out of the building and down the path back towards the main university complex

As they walked she could hear the crackle and spit of the fire behind her and could see the reflection of tall, dancing flames in nearby s &039;All ant is a distraction,&039; she continued &039;Just enough to get the attention of the bulk of the crowd and get the in this direction As soon as they&039;re away froet out of here

&039;They stood and watched for aback to the others

Less than a quarter of an hour later the entire university complex was rocked by a sudden and unexpected explosion Survivors dashed to the nearestto see what had happened &039;Bloody hell,&039; Nathan Holmes spat, &039;what did you two set fire to?&039;

Clare shrugged her shoulders, almost embarrassed Donna peered out into the darkness as a second, s the frah The blaze they&039;d started in the storage building had been unchecked and it had only been aflaer the distraction, theaway &039;Why don&039;t you just shut up, Nathan?&039; she snapped &039;How can you criticise us? What were you doing while ere out? Fuck all as usual What have you ever done to help round here?&039; &039;Why should I help? What&039;s the point?&039; Donna sighed and turned to face hiry eyes &039;The point is,&039; she began, her voice treet out of here with soet out of here before this whole place co down and&039; &039;But why? Why are you bothering?&039;

&039;We&039;ve talked about this a hundred ti?&039; Holain, his voice hoarse and cracked with emotion &039;Because I&039;m not prepared to sit here and wait for&039; she couldn&039;t bring herself to finish the sentence &039;Wait for what?&039; &039;Wait for the end Wait for so to&039; &039;What you&039;re doing,&039; Hol around and risking your lives like a bunch of fucking idiots Whatever you do, none of it&039;s going to make any difference Get yourself out of thishole It&039;ll go on and on and on until&039;

&039;Just shut up,&039; Donna interrupted &039;There are frightened people listening to you You&039;re not helping the situation&039; &039;You&039;re creating the fucking situation! And I know there are frightened people in here because I&039;m one of them&039; Holmes&039; final comment stunned and silenced Donna and stopped her in her tracks For the first time she could remember Nathan Holmes - the difficult, obnoxious, offensive and weak littleand resent candid and honest For the first tie to drop and his true feelings be seen Perhaps the realisation that the status quo had been challenged and that, no matter what he decided to do next, his situation was inevitably about to change had brought about this sudden and unexpected change of heart Whatever the reason, Donna felt sick to her stomach because he had made her think For aWas there really any point in doing any of this?

Outside in the back of the truck Baxter, Cooper and the others had heard the explosion too Croft cautiously peered through one of the small, dark s in the side of the prison van &039;Christ,&039; he e asked, immediately concerned &039;Fire,&039; he replied &039;Look, over on the far side of the university So&039;s on fire&039; &039;Where?&039; de his neck to look out through another

&039;What&039;s going on?&039; said Heath, i the worst For awhat had happened and fearing the worst Croft was the first to try and make sense of the situation &039;They&039;ve started it on purpose, haven&039;t they?&039; he said quietly, turning back around to face the others &039;They must have I think that fire is close to the medical school It&039;s certainly nowhere near the part of the building we&039;ve been using They must have started it deliberately&039; &039;But why?&039; The doctor sighed &039;Isn&039;t it obvious?&039; It clearly wasn&039;t &039;Jesus, look at the bodies,&039; Baxter said excitedly as he moved to look out of a third

&039;They&039;re &039;

&039;Of course they are,&039; Croft continued &039;They&039;re distracting theet back inside&039; The chain reaction that Donna had been counting on was slowly spreading through the rotting crohich still surrounded the perimeter of the football pitch As the corpses nearest to the fire and explosion had been drawn closer to the distraction, their reactions had h water and their clumsy movements had attracted the attention of others Slowly and aardly the entire diseased ht light at the far end of the university coo,&039; Cooper hissed

&039;We should give it a while,&039; Heath mumbled nervously &039;There are still hundreds of theo outside noe&039;ll be&039; &039;Tio,&039; the soldier repeated &039;They&039;re e if we&039;re h them from behind By the time they realise we&039;re there we&039;ll already have passed the to do about the van?&039; Croft asked, re that he had parked it across the entrance to the pitch &039;Soested &039;Two should stay, just in case,&039; added Cooper &039;I&039;ll do it,&039; volunteered Are &039;I&039;ll only slow you down I&039; today than I have for years&039; &039;I&039;ll stay here,&039; Paul Castleoutside with the van and the trucks seeht unprotected &039;We&039;ll e said, &039;and then block the exit again as soon as you&039;re through, okay?&039; By the ti Cooper was already out of the truck and on his way over towards the van Croft handed Are the keys and followed the other man into the darkness

&039;Back to the door we used this afternoon, okay?&039; Cooper rerouped near to the ree climbed into the van and looked down at Croft, Cooper, Baxter and Heath Baxter nodded for hi a sudden splutter of noise and fuback towards the football pitch Realising as happening he slammed the van into reverse and skidded back a few ap had been opened the four survivors ran forward into the darkness

Arain Still soish and clumsy, but noith undeniable control and intent, the corpses stuht was low and the comparative speed of the four survivors was such that the creatures were not aware of them until they were close A half-naked cadaver lashed out at Croft and knocked him off balance momentarily as he pushed his way back towards the university Bernard Heath, running with his shoulder dropped, charged body after body out of the way as he let his round et and uneven, a co left a layer of surface water almost everywhere Cooper slipped and fell and, by the tiain, six bodies ithin a h the He was the last one to reach the sheltered area where the waste bins were stored and where the door they&039;d used earlier was Croft was already there and had it open He ushered the other men inside quickly &039;Get in,&039; he hissed Cooper pushed past and listened with relief as the door slammed shut behind him