She didn't make it.

"Marisa, stop," Harley's voice brought her up short. "It's too late for that now. It's time to go with plan B."

"Plan B?" she frowned.

"Yeah," Harley peered out the window as it began to brighten with the reflected beam of headlights. "Can you turn off the lights in the store from back there?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because," the tall man sighed, "something very bad is about to happen, but at least it may give us an opportunity I can take advantage of. I'm afraid it's 'wingman' time, but I need those lights out in the store."

Plan B? Wingman? Rachel wondered to herself as she watched Marisa nod and rush for the back. What's going on with these two?

Whatever it was, Marisa didn't look terribly happy about it.

Rachel didn't have time to puzzle over it because things started to happen at a rapid fire pace.

The windows flared with light that she could just make out being the result of several police cars turning off the highway and pulling into the gas pumps. Their beams sliced through the downpour and hit the streaming windows, fragmenting into thousands of brilliant points of light. The shadows of the dead were cast in sharp relief against the running glass. Unfortunately, they were the only clear shapes she could make out through all the light and distortion. Adding to the confusion, the red and blue strobes from the cruiser's light bars caused the rain jeweled windows to pulse in a disorienting cadence.

The crack of thunder only made matters worse.

"Can you see what's going on out there?" She stood on her tiptoes and squinted at the windows from her place in the middle of the room. "What are they doing? What's happening?"

"It's hard to tell," Harley called back. He had one hand up trying to shield his eyes from the glare. "I think two have hung back at the road, and the other two have pulled into the pumps. Hold it, there might be another car or two out there that's not cop cars. Yep, there are definitely more cars out there. I didn't see them because they don't have lights on their roof."

"Harley, be careful!" Deke called from his place at the bar. "Those headlights coming through the windows are going to make you visible to the outside!"

Rachel cursed herself for not thinking of that. The fact that Harley hadn't either surprised her.

"It's okay," the tall redneck answered, but took a couple of steps back from the windows anyway. "They've all turned around and are looking at the cars. I wonder why they haven't attacked yet?"

"They're probably confused by all the lights," Rachel answered, still craning to see, "and this rain is probably making it worse." She saw Marisa return from the back and noticed the doorway to the store had gone dark. "I doubt it's going to last, so you might want to take that into account with whatever you and Marisa are up to."

"Actually, I'm counting on it." Harley continued to stare at the window.

"Believe me, this ain't my idea," Marisa muttered. "I was hoping he would forget this little plan of his."

"What are you talking ab..."

"They SEE them!" Harley called, "Here we go!"

Rachel looked back at the front window to see the silhouettes had already assumed that attack crouch they favored, with the shadows of their spread claws magnified on the wet glass behind them. Something...some movement at the gas pumps they recognized as human...must have triggered them.

Everything from this point on was inevitable.

"And there they go," Harley said as the monsters at the front window charged off into the storm. He rushed back to the window and faced to the north again. "One...two...three..."

"What are you doing?" Marisa demanded, her hands knotted around the handle of the bat in a tight grip.

"Four...fivesix..." he held up one hand to ward of interruption.

"Hey!" Holly called from her and Gerald's side of the diner, "They're all leaving from over here too!"

Rachel looked over to see cadaverous shapes running past the windows and towards the gas pumps from that side of the truck stop as well. Everything seemed to be happening at once. The dead were staging a mass attack on the gas pumps.

"Seven...eight..." Harley waited a second or two longer then turned back to the room. "Hey, Holly? How many zombies did you count in the store again?"

"Ten?" the blond recalled, trying to keep track of the action going on outside while answering the question. "That's right, isn't it?"

"Yep, that's what I recall too. Okay, eight just ran out the front door and one is cooling her heels in the freezer...so unless something has changed, that leaves one."

A gunshot cracked outside, and the shadows cast into the room split and veered as one of the cars out at the pumps must have started to move. Faint screams could be heard through the din of the storm and Rachel understood people were running and fighting for their lives out there...and some weren't going to make it.

"What are you thinking, Harley?" she yelled as she ducked under a table.

It occurred to her that bullets flying around came with dangers of their own. Especially since the only thing separating them from the monsters outside were large sheets of glass.

"I'm going to try and improve our position," he replied. "Marisa, I need you to come over here and get ready to unlock the door. Stay low."

"Tell me you aren't making a run for your truck," the waitress grouched as she scuttled over to the restaurant door. "There's too many of those things out there...even if they are distracted."

"Run for his truck? Harley, are you insane?" Rachel hissed from under her table.

More gunshots sounded from out in the storm, and shadows slid across the walls as another car pulled away from the truck stop. Any second she anticipated the sound of a window shattering, heralding their collective doom.

"I'm not going for the truck," Harley crab walked over to the door next to Marisa. "I'm thinking if there is only one of these things left in the store then now is our chance to get all of them out of the building. That would give us a second area to retreat to in case something happens to one of these windows. If nothing else, it will give us more options and also a large supply of junk food if we end up having to stay here for a while."

"Harley," Rachel warned, "I don't think this is a good idea. I know you beat one of these things once, but do you really want to square off against another one? They may be stronger than they look, and you can't be sure there isn't more than one of them over there."

She winced at the sound of another scream from outside but held his gaze.

"Doc," he replied, "the last thing I want to do is go over there...but it needs to be done. This situation ain't gonna get better by itself. And now that we know there ain't gonna be any help coming, it's up to us to get out of this alive. I have to do this."

"Are you sure?" Marisa challenged him, "Are you absolutely sure we're on our own?"

"Marisa," Harley's tone took on a quiet urgency, "those cop cars out there have radios. They know what's going on in the world, and they just acted on it. They could have chosen to park and wait between here and town until help arrived...but they didn't. And the only possible reason for that is they knew help wasn't coming. That means it's down to us."

Rachel's stomach plunged as she followed Harley's logic and could find no flaw in it. She realized that while Harley had been "lounging" up here drinking coffee, he had actually been putting all kinds of pieces together about the situation as a whole while the rest of them had been fighting different personal demons and trying to come to grips with the situation right in front of them. She began to wonder just what all he had figured out.

What the hell was going on out in the world? How widespread was this thing?

"Right now," he continued, "the zombies have all been pulled away and their attention is elsewhere. That isn't going to last, and we aren't going to get this chance again. I have to try this while it's still possible."

Marisa looked from Harley, to Rachel, and back to Harley again with a tight face. The doctor could tell the girl was struggling with what he had told her, and not liking it any better than she did. At the same time, she appeared to come to the same conclusions. Like it or not, there was no other way.

"Okay." She fished the keys out of her pants and started hunting the one to the door. "If we're going to do this then let's get it over with. I don't want to have to think about it too long."

"Hey wait," Harley objected, "I said I would go..."

"No! You wait." Marisa cut him off. "I'm your 'wingman', remember? Face it, you're our best chance of getting out of this alive and we can't risk losing you because you decided to be a hero and go do this without somebody watching your back." She pointed the key to the door at his nose. "So you think about that when you make these plans of yours. If it's too stupid for you to have me along as backup, then it's probably too stupid for you to be doing in the first place. Comprende?"

Rachel could tell the girl was scared right down to her socks, but that she didn't intend to back down on this. Whatever understanding these two had come to earlier, it looked like she meant to make him stick to it.

Harley must have seen that too.

"Okay," he gave in with an unhappy sigh, "if you insist. But let me handle things over there. This is what I do...what I need you to do is stay clear and watch my back, okay?"

The waitress nodded, her jaw set tight. Even in the dim light, Rachel could see how white her knuckles were from clutching her bat.

"Okay, then," Harley indicated the lock, "the clock is running. Let's do this thing."

"You two be careful."

Rachel almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of Deke's voice right behind her.

She turned to see him and Stacey hunched under the table behind her. The look on Deke's face, and the fact he hadn't even offered to go in with Harley, told her volumes about the shape his shoulder must be in. She knew the young man's pride must be killing him, but the hold Stacey had on his arm told her the girl had already explained to him that pride was no substitute for common sense. The fresh blood on both of their bandages made her want to go over and kick Gerald in the ass.

"We will," Harley nodded, "we should be done and back within five minutes at the longest...probably a lot less. You guys just keep your heads down till this is over."

Having said that, he moved over and crouched on the other side of the doorway while Marisa slipped the key into the lock. They all watched as she turned the key with silent care. Harley then eased the door open, did a quick peek inside, and slipped through into the darkness beyond. A second later the waitress followed.

The tips of Marisa's fingers were visible near the bottom of the door as she took care to make sure it closed in slow silence.

Then she and Harley were gone.

Another crack of thunder shook the building, making the three of them jump. For a second, Rachel thought it might be another gunshot. A quick scan of the windows revealed them all to be whole, and she realized the sounds of battle from the direction of the gas pumps had stopped. Headlights from at least one car still sparkled against the glass, telling her that some people hadn't managed to escape the onslaught.

Everybody who could had already left.

They were now alone.

"Ooookaaayyy..." Rachel breathed after a few more seconds of silence.

She turned to the young couple behind her, noting the looks of worry and guilt on both their faces.

They want to help Harley and Marisa, she realized. Those are both of their best friends who just went into a dark place with monsters, and even though they know better, they think they ought to be in there with them. They're both hurt and scared out of their minds, but they would step up in a heartbeat if asked.

Rachel realized she really wanted to keep these two as friends...if they lived through this. Some people, no matter their station in life, were just good people. She had a feeling she would like Marisa and Harley too, if she got a chance to know them better.

"They're going to be okay," she assured them. "Harley seems like a pretty capable guy, and Marisa is smart. They can handle this."

And if they don't, I'm the last uninjured adult capable of doing much other than maybe Holly. Don't make a liar out of me, you two. I've had enough unpleasant surprises tonight.

Of course, that was when the fire alarm went off.

Rising Waters - Marisa.

Marisa barely dared to breathe as she eased the door shut behind her. She squatted on the floor, directly behind Harley, trying to peek over his shoulder at the darkened room beyond. To her right, light filtered in through the tinted front windows in an angled beam that cut off sharply at waist level. It didn't illuminate much, and left the floor near the front shrouded in blackness. The shelves loomed like dim mountains to her left, cutting off almost all view of most of the store.

The air reeked of scorched coffee pot, and a smoky haze made visibility in the dim light even worse.

This is me, following a 200 lb redneck into a dark store full of killer dead people...armed only with my good looks and a baseball bat. I've been watching way too many Michelle Rodriguez movies. Next time, I'll just throw a wig on Stacey and she can play the gutsy Latina chick.

She froze as Harley reached back and tapped her on the knee.

He pointed at the nearby front entrance, and made a twisty motion with his hand that Marisa understood to be directions to lock the door. That made sense. The girl nodded, crept in silent, slow motion over to the lock and inserted the key. She noticed him shift position as she moved and realized he was doing it to keep himself between her and the rest of the room.

Normally such a move would have struck her as tedious male posturing or an overwrought gesture of chivalry, but since there were real man-eating monsters out there in the dark she decided she could be a little more generous in her evaluation of the action. Besides, it didn't feel like he was making some kind of gesture...it felt like he was simply covering her back while she did her job.

The key turned in the lock and the mechanism snapped home with an uncomfortably loud "clack."

Marisa winced at the noise, and peeked back to see if a hoard of skull-faced monsters was descending on her with gaping jaws.

Nothing.

Nothing but Harley crouched behind her, scanning the darkness.

"Got it," she whispered, then winced again as she realized the only way he couldn't have known it was if he were deaf as a post.

He didn't seem inclined to give her grief about it, instead gesturing at her and then at a spot at the end of the first row of shelves. Again, his meaning was obvious and she moved to the indicated location. Once there, she stopped and watched him for further instruction.

Harley started a complicated series of gestures that made absolutely no sense to her whatsoever. He must have seen the confusion on her face for he stopped before she could cut him off and held up a hand to signal her to wait and not move. Keeping his eyes focused somewhere down at the other end of the store, he did a careful crawl over to her and put a cupped hand to her ear.

"There is one down there behind where the cash register used to be," he whispered. "I think it's the last one in here, but I can't be totally sure."

Marisa squinted at the dark corner in question, but couldn't see anything. If it was there, it wasn't standing up or it would be silhouetted against the window. For a second she wondered what it would be doing on the floor, then remembered that was where Gladys had died. Then she didn't want to think about it.

"I'm going to sneak down there and try and surprise it," Harley continued. He put a finger to her lips as she started to object. "I need you to stay here and make sure nothing comes out of one of these aisles behind me. Understand?"

She favored him with a suspicious look but he shook his head.

"I'm not just trying to keep you out of harm's way. If something comes out of an aisle after I pass it, I need you to scream to catch its attention. Get it to come after you. Then you jump back through the door so I can try to either get it from behind or at least avoid getting caught between them."

Marisa pictured that in her head, and realized it made good sense. She nodded her assent at Harley, who wasted no time in turning back to face the far end of the store.

The man moved in a smooth crouch, staying just under the level of the light coming in the window. This had the effect of him disappearing in the darkness under the smoke filled shaft. She tried to keep track of his position and marveled at how he could move so quietly in boots.

And given the outcome of his last fight with one of these things, the girl now allowed herself the hope that maybe...just maybe...he could take this one out by surprise before it knew what was happening. She didn't know how he planned to do it but had every confidence he had a plan in mind.

Unfortunately, she never got to find out what that plan might be.

A piercing electronic shriek cut through the store without warning, causing her to squeak in surprise, and the security lights in the back corner of the store came on. While not as bright as the overhead fluorescents, they were still sufficient to fill the store with light...revealing Harley to be halfway towards a monster that had just finished tearing a large strip of skin from Gladys's body.

Oh shit! Marisa gaped up at the security lights. The fire alarm! What the hell? All the stoves are off so... so somebody just opened the fire door in the restaurant!