Just another day in the Apocalypse

Dare knocked on the door. A voice spoke back. "Name and business."

Dare replied, "Tallen and party, personal."

The door opened and Tallen walked in, motioning for Keith to come with her."

Keith walked in after her, keeping close. His bulk was intimidating to the man behind the door, but that wasn't Keith's goal. He and Dare entered a back room where a man was sitting at a desk. He wasn't dressed to impress, but he didn't look bad either

Joey stood from his desk and looked carefully. He was dressed in somewhat of a lab coat, as he preferred that in his wardrobe. "Dare, it's great to finally see you again!" he exclaims. He notices the bandaging around her head. "What happened? Did they...?"

"No, Joey. A bit of a car accident. Do you have any ice?"

"Yeah, sure. Cyrus!" he calls. The man behind the door appears. "Hey, can you get a bag of ice and maybe a new set of bandages?"

"Of course, Joey." The man departs.

"So, who's your friend?" he asks, looking to Keith.

"Keith, we spoke on the phone" He extends his hand for a hand shake

"Good to meet you, Keith." He smiles and shakes Keith's hand. "Any friend of Dare is a friend of mine. I think the both of us could use it these days."

Keith nodded and left the talking to Dare, he wasn't even sure why they were there

"I brought Keith with me because I figured we could use the extra help. Besides, it could help us in restoring some name to the people that were taken by the big G."

"I'm surprised they didn't catch you, Dare. But I'd be careful around here. They've been on my trail and I know they're here in NC."

"I'd rather them take me than you, Joey. You're the only one who can--"

"I know, Dare. I know. I'm still working on it, but I can't exactly leave my house."

She sighs. "Yeah, I know."

Cyrus returns momentarily, offering everyone a seat in the den and offering to tend to Dare's wound more properly. "Come, let us all sit. There's obviously much to discuss."

Keith followed Dare to the den and sat down. He was ready to listen to had to be said. He felt that he could trust Joey, Dare already did.

Cyrus gently unwrapped the bandaging around Dare's wound and applied medication to it. She hissed in pain. Joey said, "Jesus, Dare. You really beat yourself up."

"Yeah, no kidding. Running the limit and suddenly there's a fog and a zombie in the road..."

Joey sighs. "You were never that careful at WOOTU regardless." He turns to Keith. "Well, I suppose I should explain. I'm pretty sure you know by now that we are-- or we were, agents of that organization."

Keith nodded "I know, I've . . . worked . . . with WOOTU before" Worked was a strong word for it, but it was easiest to say

"How much do you know about it?" Joey asks. He offers a cup of coffee to the group.

After Cyrus finishes with the bandaging, she takes a bit of medicine given to her by Cyrus. She lays back on the couch with an ice pack over her head.

"I haven't said much," she says, "but there's a lot to know if you're willing to hear us out."

"All I know is from Project Alpha. I'll hear what else you guys want to say" Keith nodded

Joey replies, "WOOTU was, as you know, the World Organization of the Unknown. We were the ones that studied the solanum virus. However, we were also the ones that unleashed it on the world. Apparently, one of our own began experimenting without precaution. We wanted to get rid of it, and he wanted to bring it to the people. He formed his own little group and took a sample from our containment center. He began expanding the virus until it was out on the world. Dare and I were one of the higher ranked on the team. Dare worked under our leader while I was one of the top scientists."

Dare adds, "Well, we ran into a bit of trouble ourselves after the virus got out."

"Are you sure you want to tell him about what happened?"

"Might as well. It's the whole reason I came back here, Joey."

"So, that's what all this is? A mutated virus?" Keith questioned

Joey nods. "We don't know how we discovered it. We just did. But there's more than one reason now why the government's after all of us. They're looking specifically for Dare, and they're trying to get to her through us."

"Why her?" Keith asked

Dare looks a bit away.

Joey replies, "Because Dare's the only one that's ever been infected with the virus and survived it. The government think she's a threat, that she knows too much, and that they should either use her or kill her on the spot."

Keith nodded, taking it in rather well. "How do we keep her safe?" Keith asked. "She's still alive, so she's important and we need to keep her safe" Keith sat tall

Dare replies, "I've been on the run for a while. The government still thinks I'm infected, or a carrier at least. Joey and I somehow managed to create the formula together, but we have no clue how we managed it. It was just a prototype."

Joey nods. "They're looking for me as well for the cure, thinking I have it. I've been slowly working toward creating a new formula, but it's taking time."

"In the meantime, I've been traveling across the country until things were sorted. I've been slowly trying to find new herbs, new recipes, to help Joey out. I've been keeping my head down low."

"So we keep her on the move until you two can figure it out? Alright, where to next?" Keith asked

Joey adds, "Well, here's the problem. I need to work a formula with her, but someone needs to start working a resistance group against the zombies before this gets out of hand."

Keith stood up "I can fight, and there are three others outside who might fight with us"

"Bring them in here. We've got enough room and enough time to re-explain things," Dare says as she sits up.

Keith goes back out and gets Matt, Sasha, and Marc, bringing them inside to the den

Dare motions for everyone to take a seat. "We've got a lot of things to do and we don't have long to do it." She sighs.