"Definitely not advisable," Tom agreed, his nerves sneaking into his voice now and making him sound both flippant and friendly when he was being neither, but he couldn't help that. Tom hated surprises, and being out after nightfall had already been uncomfortable enough before running into this darkly accented snag in his plan. Still, he wasn't totally sure what to make of the guy, so Tom slid into an unconsciously defensive stance and stood his ground, ready to run if the other moved. "But too late now. You'd better run too, there's no way a bunch of 'em didn't hear that. They'll probably be here soon." Referring to the dead, of course, but there were others Tom knew were dangerous as well. He'd run into a few of them already, and sincerely hoped that this wasn't another encounter like that.
Because this guy didn't look like he was exactly keen on running, at least away from Tom, and the snarls in the growing distance told him that he didn't have much time. Tom himself was extremely aware of the two heavy bags he carried, packed to bursting and cumbersome, which would make a fast sprint almost impossible. He knew the other guy was eyeing them too, and knew what that probably meant. "You, uh. Heading somewhere around here?" Maybe if he was someone from the library Tom hadn't yet had the chance to meet, this whole silent standoff would amount to nothing but a laugh, but all Tom's alarm bells were ringing on high that this wasn't a friend. Still, drawing his gun on another living person was something Tom wasn't yet ready to do.
When he took a careful step to the left, closer to the mouth of the nearest alleyway, Tom saw the other man watch the movement and respond to it just as quickly, coming his way, and in a split-second decision that he might later regret, Tom threw the heavier bag of supplies at Alejo as hard as he could, hoping for a direct hit to the face before he took off running with the other bag over his shoulder. It was just his luck that when he reached the alleyway a shuffler lurched out in front of him, reaching for him with a groan. Tom let out a hoarse shout as he dodged to the side, giving the zombie a hard shove while he scrambled for his baseball bat, and for a moment, Tom complete forgot about the pursuer that was likely still hot on his heels.