The mutant appeared behind Jeffrey from out of nowhere and sank its teeth into his neck. Jeffrey uttered a strangled yelp, eyes wide with shock, as the mutant pulled him down to the concrete floor and began to rip off pieces of his flesh. Surprise and fear pounded through me, pulling an enraged roar from my chest. The mutant looked up at the sound, mouth dripping with blood, just as I drove my hatchet into the side of his skull. It fell back beside Jeffrey, screeching and hissing. I pulled out my handgun and emptied rounds into its head until it was silent, my mouth twisted in disgust, then dropped to my knees beside Jeffrey.<br/><br/>Blood was quickly pooling around him, gushing from his mutilated neck. His breathing rattled and gurgled. His eyes stared dully above him, then slowly focused and settled on mine. He was dying, and there was nothing I could do to save him - he was losing too much blood, and even if he wasnâ€™t he was certainly infected by the virus - and he knew it. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly. He blinked slowly once, twice, then he was dead.<br/><br/>It all happened in a matter seconds.<br/><br/>I let out a slow moan of despair, absolutely stunned at the horrifying suddenness of Jeffreyâ€™s death. It had just been the two of us on a routine food raid of an abandoned wholesale store, supposedly easy, safe even. But it was pretty damn clear that what was<span style="font-style: italic">supposed</span>to be was worth shit.<br/><br/>I felt something warm and wet land on my arm, and realized with a jolt I was crying. I leapt to my feet and furiously wiped tears from my face. I was going to wind up dead myself if I sat weeping on the ground like a inutile child.<br/><br/>I yanked my hatchet from the head of the dead mutant and wiped its viscous black blood on the remnants of its tattered clothing, then slipped the weapon into my belt. I picked up my gun where I had - stupidly - dropped it on the ground, then walked through the entire store to make goddamn sure that there were no other monsters waiting. Jeffrey and I<span style="font-style: italic">had</span>swept the building, but obviously not well enough; I found the mutantâ€™s nest in the corner of the back room, concealed behind tall stacks of empty pallets. My stomach clenched as I imagined its black eyes watching us from between the gaps in the wood as we had cursorily searched for it.<br/><br/>Other than the nest the building seemed without mutant activity, but after what had happened that presumption was of little comfort; I needed to get back to the base as soon as possible. I jogged back to where both bodies were lying. I didnâ€™t give a damn about the mutant, but I couldnâ€™t leave Jeffrey. The Hummer was nearly full of food - we had come back for the last load when he was attacked - but I was going to have to find space to get him back to the base.<br/><br/>It took more time then I would have liked, but I eventually got Jeffreyâ€™s body outside the wholesale store and into the back seat of the Hummer. I drove back to the warehouse that was currently our band of survivors' impermanent base - part of a tiny piece of miraculously preserved city. I screeched to a stop outside, and dug the heel of my hand into my forehead, then got out and banged against the door, repeating my name, until it was opened by Matilda.<br/><br/>â€œHowâ€™d it go-â€ she started, but I cut her off.<br/><br/>â€œYou have to find Adrien,â€ I choked out. â€œJeffrey... Jeffreyâ€™s dead.â€