Nick's voice rings out down the stairwell, and Melanie shoves herself away from the hungry she was holding at bay. It wavers, but not for long - she might not smell like anything, but the sight of her sprinting back up the stairs is enough to pique their interest. She's faster than they are, though, and they're tripping over one another in their haste.

She takes in the scene farther up the stairs with a glance. More are closing in, but Nick's holding his own. She launches herself at one of the hungries in the back, scaling its body like an angry cat and sinking her teeth into the back of its neck. Her jaw works with automatic rapidity until its spine is severed and it collapses to the floor in an ungainly heap. Turning to the next, Melanie leaps, her mouth and chin smeared with grey and glistening red.