There was a shout – a human shout – among the hungry grumblings of the infected. Angel heard it, wanted to stop and turn around to see who it was, but instinct commanded her legs to keep moving, to put as much distance between herself and the zombies as possible. Maybe if she ran far and long enough she'd be able to forget what happened.
Instinct also told her to slash out with her blade when a hand took hold of her arm. Up until today, that had been her immediate reaction to every encounter. Of course, all her previous encounters had been with zombies. That's what happened when you spent weeks without human contact.
For whatever reason, she managed to stay her hand, the only threatening reaction she gave being the tightening of her grip around the hilt of her katana. She should've slashed out; defended herself. The man could be a threat, but even if he was like the guards back in the city, some human contact was better than none. And it was far better than the company of zombies.
Angel twisted her torso around so that she could look behind her. Zombies were still coming out of the alley she'd been near. It didn't matter if they were slow, they were still coming after her. She needed to get further away. When she turned back to look at the man, she noticed that the back of her shirt was damp and sticking to her. Realization dawned, drawing her brows down.
“It bit me,” she said, and her voice, although breathy from running, was oddly calm. Resolved. Accepting. “There were too many of them. They... they broke in and I... I had to get away.” Was it possible this could be a nightmare? Maybe she was asleep, curled up in her sleeping bag. “They're still coming.” Spoken like an afterthought, a detached observation that conveyed that she wasn't quite sure this was real.
Medical attention. Angel's attention snapped back into place when she heard those words. Quarantine. She shook her head, pulling out of his grasp and backing away. “No, no, no. Please, no. I don't want to be put in Quarantine. They put my dad in there and he said it was more of a nightmare than being bitten. Please, I don't want to go. I'll do anything if you don't take me there.”