Circling the remains of the community center, I see a caved in barricade on the opposite end of the building, I hesitate to make a sound, not wanting the ghouls inside to know of my presence. After a couple of minutes, the cold coast wind cutting through my coat and effectively chilling me to the bone, Brock sneaks around the corner. Waving him down we wait for the third to join us. Brock listens to my plan, as he scans the building behind us for any signs of activity. "Well, we have one entrance so far. If that room is clear, we may have one of us stay there to make sure it stays clear. But if it gets too dangerous, I say we call the search off and count it as a loss. It may seem harsh, but there's no point of having anyone else die." As I finish my sentence, the third of our group comes sprinting from the corner behind me. "Hey! I found a way onto the roof! There's a ladder back this way." Taking a second to take this new information in I ask Brock if he had been in this community center before. Slightly confused he answers. "Yeah, Ive been in here a few times. Why do you ask?" Pointing to the roof, I answer. "We can use the roof as a main entrance, the broken barricade here as an exit, If we find anyone here whose wounded, they might not be able to use the ladder." He nods in agreement as he heads back to side of the building where the ladder is. "Well, lets get going. I want to be back before dark."
The snow on the roof is untouched, I don't know whether that is a good sign or not. Heading towards the stairwell leading inside I can hear muffled voices faintly coming from behind the door. I ready my handgun as I open the door, scanning the narrow hallway for shadows. "Hello?" I call out into the poorly lit hallway, no answer, living or dead. Puzzled I head to the T at the end, "Hey, Is anyone left in here?" Nothing still. My stomach tightens, the smell of decay intensifies the farther we get from our entrance. Not a good sign... "Ill take the left, you take the right." Brock steps ahead of me as he veers towards the right, something in his voice had seemed odd, but I ignore it as I take the left side. Most of the doors were locked, save a janitors closet and a classroom on the end of the hall. Stepping inside, handgun first, I see what seems to be a room converted into a community bedroom. Clearing the room, I take a moment to relax. Being out of the biting cold wind was a relief, feeling had begun to return to my face as I sat down and looked at some of the stuff left behind. Mostly stuffed animals and blankets, a few cell phones and an mp3 player. Hoping there was still some juice left in it as I picked up and put it in my pocket. I don't care whats in it as long as I can listen to some freaking music. Its been a long time since I had heard anything other than gunshots and moans. Some heavy metal would be a change. Hell, I would even listen to rap, I'm not going to be picky.Standing back up I head towards the door. Maybe Brock had found someone, maybe we could get back to the warehouse soon.
Stepping out as silent as a ghost, I check the last three rooms on the end of the hall. All locked, heading back to the T, I see no sign of Brock or the other man in our group. Why cant I remember his name? Heading down the right side of the hallway, I see an opened door. Peering in, I see Brock staring at a wall. As I come to his side, I ask him what he had found. No answer. "Hey, are you alright? You are starting to scare me man, say something." Still nothing, all he can do is point to a picture on the wall. I reach out and take the frame off the wall, taking a look at the picture. It was a group photo, and in that photo was Brock along with a few other adults. He was holding.... "...your daughter." I wasn't even aware that I had said it out loud. He doesn't cry, but his voice is close to breaking. "I couldn't find her or my wife. I kept hoping the more people I found, eventually I would find them." I put my hand on his shoulder, "We'll keep looking. but for now, lets take the picture and look for who we came to find." Pulling the photo out of the frame, I put it in his pocket. Heading back out into the hall I call out, "Hey, we don't have time to admire the wall all day." I laugh at the end to ease the tension. About halfway down the hall the wall cuts off, railing continuing the rest of the way towards the stairs. Looking down I nearly let out a cry of shock, hundreds of the dead listlessly bumping into each other. This is going to get ugly if they spot us....
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