Her eyes widen a little at that nod of his - it's far too fast, far too sudden, and she casts a paranoid glance at the group of hungries to see if they've noticed. Fortunately, it doesn't seem they have. With their heads slightly bowed, it's possible that they just can't see what's happening this far down the street, anyway, but this is not a time to be taking chances.
"Slow," she reminds him, demonstrating with a sluggish nod of her own. The gesture takes a full five seconds to complete. "They respond to movement, sound, and smell."
As if on cue, a faint breeze rolls down the avenue, stirring Melanie's modest growth of hair as it passes by en route from the grey wall to the hungries. It occurs to her, with a little jolt of panic, that Daniel isn't wearing e-blocker. He can't be - why would he? - and it's as if that realization works some sort of horrible magic, because suddenly Melanie can smell him. And the hungries are downwind.
For a moment, she can almost imagine that his too-human scent is an actual cloud, visible to the naked eye as it's borne by the wind down the street. She can almost see it hit the hungries. As one, they turn to face the pair, heads swiveling in their general direction, casting blindly from side to side before locking onto their target.
Hungries only have two settings. When they come, it's at a dead sprint.
"Run!" Melanie shouts, diving for the door they just came through and wrenching it open. It looks different, rusted and dirtied to match everything else, but the building appears to be the same aside from two decades of wear. Once Daniel's inside, she slams the door shut, not bothering to try for a lock. Hungries aren't that sophisticated. But you don't need to be sophisticated to beat down a door through sheer mindless determination.
Melanie grabs Daniel's hand and tugs him back the way they came. "Hurry!" A moment later, the lot echoes with the thuds of multiple bodies slamming against the door.
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"Slow," she reminds him, demonstrating with a sluggish nod of her own. The gesture takes a full five seconds to complete. "They respond to movement, sound, and smell."
As if on cue, a faint breeze rolls down the avenue, stirring Melanie's modest growth of hair as it passes by en route from the grey wall to the hungries. It occurs to her, with a little jolt of panic, that Daniel isn't wearing e-blocker. He can't be - why would he? - and it's as if that realization works some sort of horrible magic, because suddenly Melanie can smell him. And the hungries are downwind.
For a moment, she can almost imagine that his too-human scent is an actual cloud, visible to the naked eye as it's borne by the wind down the street. She can almost see it hit the hungries. As one, they turn to face the pair, heads swiveling in their general direction, casting blindly from side to side before locking onto their target.
Hungries only have two settings. When they come, it's at a dead sprint.
"Run!" Melanie shouts, diving for the door they just came through and wrenching it open. It looks different, rusted and dirtied to match everything else, but the building appears to be the same aside from two decades of wear. Once Daniel's inside, she slams the door shut, not bothering to try for a lock. Hungries aren't that sophisticated. But you don't need to be sophisticated to beat down a door through sheer mindless determination.
Melanie grabs Daniel's hand and tugs him back the way they came. "Hurry!" A moment later, the lot echoes with the thuds of multiple bodies slamming against the door.