The trip back to the library was uneventful and Nathan wasn't about to complain. When he got to the bookstore he opened the door and stepped inside before turning around to smile at his guests. He didn't trust them; in truth, they terrified him, but there was no point in letting them know that. He'd smile and chat amiably, but at the first sign of something he didn't like, he would vanish like the wind with all his gear. So long as he could manage, Nathan would never kill anyone, though. Not after killing all those zombies in the past year and saying, â€œit was for humanity.â€ So, in a friendly voice and with a wave of his hand, he said, â€œWelcome to my Fortress of Solitude. Do come--â€ And then the girl shoved past him into the room, very rudely. â€œ--What?â€ There wasn't so much as a pause between the words. â€œDid you see...â€ and he trailed off. The boy was scrambling to lock and bar the door and that was all the confirmation Nathan needed.<br/><br/>â€œYou got something to barricade the door?â€ the boy asked, in a non-too-pleasant voice.<br/><br/>â€œWe're in a bookstore. Will oversized bookshelves loaded with heavy books work?â€ Nathan's reply dripped with sarcasm.<span style="font-style: italic">What happened to being nice?</span>But it couldn't be helped. Moods are contagious. He shook his head anyways, to fix his temper, and in a more serious tone he added, â€œDon't worry about it. Let's just get upstairs.â€ The main door swung outward onto the street, so a single bookcase would be easy to tip over, and enough of them to make a difference would take too much time. The one against the wall in front of the stairs would have to be pulled back, and that would provide plenty of time for a real barricade on the second floor while the horde tried to figure it out.<br/><br/>The room they were in was almost the entire first floor and completely clear. Nathan had pushed everything to the walls, blocking the windows and making it near impossible to hide, so he didn't bother looking around too cautiously as he jogged across the room to the shelf that his the stairs. It was still ajar and he shuffled the other two inside before pulling it closed by a couple handles screwed to the back. That made it almost pitch black, of course, so Nate flipped on the light at the end of his shotgun. There was also a steel bar leaning against the wall; Nathan jammed that through the handles on the bookshelf and into a hole punched in the wall. With time, the bar would bend and the screws pull loose, but even if the infected knew that this was the way up, it would take them at least an hour to pull it open. â€œThat should keep us safe for a while.â€ He said, smiling at them again. â€œNow come on, we can make a  good barricade with a few of the bookcases upstairs<br/><br/>He shuffled them forward again, up the stairs now, trying not to worry about what they thought of his bossiness. It was just that this was his home and his defenses; he knew the best way to defend this building. They would just have to put up with it for a while. At least until the barricade was put together. That should make the building all but impregnable.<br/><br/>The room at the top of the stairs was just like the first, except the only bookcase out of place was the one covering the next set of stairs, a little way down the same wall as the first. A weird design for a building, but it suited his purposes perfectly. â€œCome on,â€ He said, jogging to one side of a bookcase, â€œhelp me get this one over to th--â€  and then he was on his back. His first thought was that they had betrayed him already, but they wouldn't be screaming and gurgling like a lunatic. â€œShit shit shit!â€ was all Nathan said in return; he was far too busy swinging and kicking wildly at a shape he couldn't see in the dark room. His flashlight was still on, but he'd set it down on the shelf he was moving and the reflected light wasn't doing him any good. Something hard and round struck Nate across the face, making his vision go from nearly black to completely blind for a few seconds, then it rubbed against his neck and he could hear teeth gnashing at his ear. Was it wearing a riot helmet?<span style="font-style: italic">Thank God for that.</span>But that hardly made the thing harmless. It only took it a couple seconds before it seemed to figure out it couldn't bite him through it's mask and pulled back, but didn't let go. The death grip it had on the poor college student's right shoulder dug deep into his skin, and when the monster pulled its arm back, it took Nate's sleeve with it, leaving five deep gashes in his skin. But Nathan hardly took notice, he was fighting for his life.