Despite having slowed to more of a jog than a sprint, Helena groaned to note that the stage-two hungry one continued following her. Apparently he thought she had some other food source in mind aside from whoever was fighting back the hordes three blocks over. She knew that she had very little chance of getting anything done until he was out of the way, so leaving aside her hunger as best she could, what was left of her sanity worked to formulate a plan.<br/><br/>A quick survey of the surroundings revealed a tall apartment complex with an open front door. Perfect. Helena grabbed her radio and lifted it to her ear, pretending to listen.<br/><br/>"...Westing Terrace?" she pretended to call into the radio, "the basement, huh? Okay, I'm on my way."<br/><br/>Following another quick peek to make sure that the stage-two continued stalking, Helena turned sharply and darted into the building. She made her way through the lobby quickly, locating a large door that led to the stairwell. As she passed through, the stage-two hot on her heels, she couldn't help but notice that most of the upward-leading stairs had been destroyed somehow.<span style="font-style: italic">Odd...but there's no time to worry about that right now.</span><br/><br/>At the bottom of the staircase was yet another doorway leading into the nearly pitch-black basement storage area. Thankfully, being a raccoon-anthro, night vision was a strength of Helena's, and it wasn't long before she started to make out the basement's contents. There was a workman's bench a short distance into the room, on which a number of tools were scattered. Grimacing at the thought of what she was about to do, Helena grabbed a large mallet and a screwdriver and stalked back to the door of the room just a moment before the other zombie burst through it. With barely a sound, she leaped forward and brained her "rival" in the back of the head with the mallet. He tumbled to the ground and began struggling as she sat onto his chest and placed the tip of the screwdriver against his forehead.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry..." she choked out, before swinging the mallet down, driving the screwdriver into her victim's skull. A quick couple of spasms followed before he fell still, leaving Helena's heavy breathing as the only sound in the room.<br/><br/>As she made her way up the stairs again, Helena was shaking. Everything she had just done...just because she couldn't stand the thought of sharing a meal...she was starting to become genuinely afraid of herself. Now that she wasn't rushing, however, her nose picked up a scent as she returned to the lobby. She stopped and looked back at the destroyed stairs.<br/><br/>"Someone's here..."<br/><br/>The researcher quietly returned to the front door of the building to close and lock it. She didn't want any more interference this time.<br/><br/>"Hello?!" she shouted upon returning to the staircase. "Is...is anybody up th-th-there?! I need...I need some help......."