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that dad."
    "No!" his mother said again. "I don't want any argument. You and your father are staying here!"
    "Sharon!" Frank's voice was stern. "If we are going to survive we are going to have to contribute to the effort!" She remained silent. "Matt and Zack had the decency to ask us to come with them. Without them, that bastard Benny and his gang buddies would’ve killed us, or we would have been swarmed by those creatures in the house. But they helped us to escape. We have to contribute our part. We owe them that much at least. If you insist that I stay here with you then I will. But David is a man now. He can take care of himself. I taught him good. He will go with them. They will need his help. Do you understand?" he looked at her long and hard.
    "Yes." she said softly.
    "Good." he replied. Then he reached out and embraced his wife tightly. She clung to him, heavy sob's wracking her body. He looked up at Matt and Zack as if to ask what am I supposed to do?
    David walked up to them, lever action 30.30 in his hands. His eyes were wide, his blond hair a disheveled mess, but there was a nervous smile fronting false bravado etched into his face.
    "Are you ready?" Matt asked.
    "Yeah." he nodded quickly. He rocked from foot to foot with tension. "I'll be all right."
    "We know you will." Zack smiled, clasping him reassuringly on the shoulder. "Piece of cake." Zack looked to Matt. Matt had seen that look a thousand times. It said back my play.
    "Listen to Zack," Matt said. "He knows what he's talking about." He smiled widely at the kid. David's face softened, and his smile became more genuine.
"David." His mother called him from the cot. He went to her.
"You be careful baby! Do you understand? You be damn careful!"
"Don't worry Mom." he said, embarrassed. She hugged him tight.
    Frank walked up to Matt and Zack. "You take care of my boy up there." He said quietly. His voice was firm, yet his eyes betrayed the emotion's seething within him.
    "You got it partner." Matt said, sticking his hand out. Frank took it in both hands, gripping it firmly. Zack put his hand over the top. "You just keep the home fires burning for us." The tension melted away with his remark. David walked over to his father and Frank gripped him by both shoulders. "You watch yourself out there. You hear me son? That isn’t elk or moose out there."
    "Don't worry dad. You taught me good. I can handle myself." Father and son looked deep into one another for several long seconds.
    "I know you can."
    Frank accompanied them up the ladder to the sealed and locked pressure door. Sharon had at least agreed that someone needed to stay near that door to unlock it when they came back. He sealed the large black door behind them, spinning the wheel tight, and throwing the locking lever into place.
    Zack took the lead up the stairway, his flashlight probing the darkness above. Emptiness. Before long they found themselves in the same storage room they had come through to go down into the shelter. The engulfing darkness seemed even more menacing with the utter silence.
"Quiet as a tomb." Zack said softly.
"Bad joke." Matt said sourly. "Real bad joke."
"You guys would make terrible hunters." David said. "You make to much noise."
    Zack turned off the flashlight, and he peered out into the hall. To the left was the east wing. At the end of its long length were two sets of swinging double doors and a single zombie stumbled about. The light pouring in from outside was dim and hazy, seeming to add to the shadows instead of dispel them. Dusk was approaching. Zack peered to the right, which was west. Twenty feet away the corridor made a T-junction with the main hallway, which was the way they had first entered the school. It too was cast with the same hazy light from the main doors just to the north. A trio of zombies stumbled about through the intersection. Luckily only one was facing their direction, and Zack quickly pulled his head back into the storage room before he could be