Dying Light - Tennessee Gays Edition 1

Daniel opens his notebook beside the Science building’s service entrance. Charlie stands with him, while Thomas remains remotely stationed in the maintenance courtyard with the truck ready.

Daniel traces the map with one finger, reviewing the nearest exit, the fallback lane, and two retreat points marked along the service road.

The notebook page leaves space beneath the procedures for names, mistakes, and corrections. Beyond the door, the building offers only dim glass, stale air, and unanswered darkness.

Charlie studies the Science Building’s service entrance, checking the lock, threshold, door swing, and sightlines through the narrow glass panels. He then works along the exterior wall, examining each visible window for cracks, movement, or signs of forced entry.

The windows reveal dim laboratories, overturned chairs, and hanging blinds. No infected moves inside, but several interior doors stand open, creating deep blind corners beyond the daylight.

Charlie completes the exterior study and identifies the service entrance as the cleanest entry, with the fallback lane still open behind them. The building is quiet, but its open doors and numerous blind corners support his expectation of infected inside.

Charlie readies the reinforced hammer and tests the service door. The lock gives under careful pressure, and the door opens with only a muted scrape.

He cracks it wide enough for his flashlight beam, sweeping across the reception corridor, overturned stools, open laboratory doors, and deep pockets of shadow. Nothing moves.

Charlie angles the flashlight toward the floor and walls, checking for blood, disturbed dust, or hazards near the threshold. The corridor is clear enough to enter.

He motions Daniel inside behind him, keeping the doorway open to the daylight. Daniel steps across the threshold and turns back toward the service road.

Charlie advances methodically, checking each laboratory door before opening it, sweeping corners, vents, cabinets, and overturned workstations. Daniel keeps the entrance and retreat route covered.

The first rooms are empty, though dust hides scattered glass and loose wiring. Charlie secures the hazards aside, then clears two more laboratories without disturbing any infected.

In an electronics lab, he finds sealed battery packs, rechargeable cells, switches, relays, copper wire, solder, circuit boards, and compact tool kits. The supplies fit neatly into their packs.

Charlie completes the room-by-room sweep and marks every cleared doorway on Daniel’s map. The Science building is quiet and documented, with useful components secured for stronger UV coverage and refuge defenses.

Charlie gathers the component packs, leaves the cleared laboratory doors marked, and leads Daniel toward the stairwell. The service entrance remains visible behind them.

Charlie tests each stair before shifting his weight, then guides Daniel upward. His boot catches a loose metal strip on the third step, sending a sharp clatter through the stairwell.

The noise costs them stealth, but no infected answers it. Charlie reaches the next level and holds the landing, where closed offices and dark laboratory windows line both sides.

Charlie positions the recovered packs against the wall, keeps the stairwell clear, and raises his flashlight toward the nearest doorway. The upper-floor sweep begins.

Charlie angles the flashlight toward the nearest office. Before he touches the handle, a sharp impact sounds below, followed by glass breaking near the service entrance.

Daniel freezes on the landing, one hand hovering near his blade. From the stairwell comes a wet scrape, then a strained, muffled breathing sound.

The breathing stops. A shadow briefly crosses the lower stairwell wall, too quick to match a Biter, then disappears beneath the landing.

Daniel shifts to keep the stairs and upper corridor in view. The marked retreat route remains open, but the building is no longer quiet, and an unseen infected is moving between floors.

Charlie advances along the second-floor wall, flashlight low. He checks the office threshold, corners, cabinets, vents, and overturned workstations before opening the laboratory door.

The lab is clear. Benches hold sealed rechargeable cells, a portable battery tester, copper wire, and a labeled maintenance key for the eastern service corridor.

Charlie signals Daniel forward, catches his arm, and pulls him through the doorway. He closes the lab door without locking it, preserving their retreat while putting solid walls between them and the stairwell.

Inside the cleared lab, Daniel steadies his breathing and covers the entrance. The new key and battery tester expand their options, while the unseen infected remains somewhere below.

Daniel drops behind the sturdy desk, keeping the cleared lab entrance and the stairwell angle in view. He settles his blade across his knees and waits for Charlie’s signal.

Charlie readies the reinforced hammer, then eases the laboratory door open by inches. The gap frames the landing and the upper stairs without exposing more of the room.

A wet scrape rises from below. The unseen infected reaches the top stair, pauses beneath the landing, and breathes heavily while Charlie watches through the narrow opening.

Daniel tightens his grip and stays low behind the desk. Charlie keeps the hammer ready and the door cracked, preserving the retreat route while the shadow below shifts toward the landing.

Charlie holds the door gap and watches the shadow climb. A gaunt figure flashes beneath the landing, moving too quickly for a Biter, then vanishes behind the stairwell wall.

Charlie leans a fraction farther for another look. The infected suddenly lunges up the final steps, its shoulder striking the door and driving it inward with a violent crack.

The door slams against the lab wall. Charlie retreats behind the desk with Daniel as long fingers hook through the opening, revealing gray, blood-smeared skin but no clear mutation.

The infected jerks back into the corridor before Charlie can get a full view. Its rapid footfalls retreat toward the eastern service hall, leaving the open doorway exposed and the stairwell no longer safe to use.

Charlie and Daniel stay crouched behind the desk, catching their breath while the damaged door hangs open. Dust drifts through the flashlight beam, and the lab falls quiet again.

Charlie watches the doorway without shifting his feet. After several tense seconds, a gray hand grips the far doorframe, followed by the infected’s gaunt face and hunched shoulders.

The Viral leans into the eastern corridor, scanning the lab with twitching eyes. It does not enter, but its head turns toward the stairwell as distant movement sounds below.

Charlie grins, surges from behind the desk, and charges with the reinforced hammer raised. The Viral snaps toward him, abandoning its cover as he closes the distance.

The Viral lunges. Charlie twists aside and drives the hammer into its shoulder, forcing it off balance, but its claws scrape across his upper arm and tear his shirt.

Daniel follows through the opening, striking the Viral from behind with the modified blade. Charlie brings the hammer down again, crushing its skull against the corridor floor.

The Viral lies motionless, and the eastern corridor is secured. Charlie’s upper arm bears a shallow claw cut, while the hammer’s impact echoes through the building and spends their remaining stealth.

That infected dies.

Charlie presses a sterile pad to the shallow claw cut, cleans away the blood, and wraps his upper arm with gauze from the medical pouch. The treatment costs one dressing.

Charlie smiles at Daniel, keeping the reassurance steady despite the torn shirt and sting of antiseptic. The Viral remains motionless on the corridor floor.

Daniel tightens the gauze without disturbing the cut, then wipes the blade clean. The hammer impact has carried through the building, and their remaining stealth is gone.

The decision settles the question: they will retreat from the Science Building with the recovered batteries, electronics, key, and medical supplies. The dead Viral remains motionless in the eastern corridor.

A sharp crackle interrupts the radio. One battery bar disappears from Thomas’s handset, leaving the channel weaker but still usable as Charlie and Daniel gather the packed equipment.

Charlie nods and follows Daniel down the marked stairs, carrying the hammer low while he watches over their rear flank. The component packs shift softly against Daniel’s back.

Daniel descends without rushing. Charlie pauses at each landing long enough to check the corridor, laboratory doors, and shadowed corners behind them, then continues after Daniel.

A faint scrape sounds somewhere above, but nothing appears on the stairs. Charlie keeps his body turned toward the upper floor until Daniel reaches the ground level.

Charlie checks the stairwell one final time, confirms no infected follows, and backs toward the open service door. Daniel exits with the equipment, and their retreat from the building is complete.

Charlie follows Daniel through the service doorway, keeping the hammer low and his injured arm protected. He scans the fence line, windows, and service road before allowing the retreat to continue.

They move along the marked path without splitting up. Charlie checks each parked car and blind corner, then signals Daniel across the open stretch toward the maintenance courtyard.

Charlie reaches the utility truck with Daniel and supervises the component packs as they are loaded. The batteries, tester, key, and medical supplies arrive intact.

Thomas locks the equipment into the cargo area while Daniel closes the doors. The Science Building remains behind them, now marked as containing a Viral and a possible additional threat.