Anya echoed his gameplan fears. "We're on the right track," Dean said, though even he wasn't so sure they'd win this battle right now. "We just gotta figure out how to take out this Samhain guy."
"Dean, we can't just take out a god," Sam frowned from the backseat. He knew his brother could be a blind optimist at times, but this was getting ridiculous. "This isn't exactly a normal hunt."
"Yeah, got that message loud and clear last night when we were being chased by zombies, Sammy," Dean snapped back, finding himself easily agitated right now. He didn't like when the odds were against them like this. He looked up into the rearview, trying to catch Buffy's eye, but her gaze was focused out the window. "I'm not sure how big of a place it is, but we'll give Giles a heads up."
Sam placed a reassuring hand on Buffy's knee, giving it a squeeze. He wanted to believe that they would figure this out, but the thought of Bobby picking up and heading out of town did nothing to quiet his fears. "The world hasn't ended yet," he said to her with a small shrug of his shoulders.
"Maybe we should look at the bigger picture here," said Anya, though it felt rather strange to say that when talking about a God. "Somebody brought Samhain back. They had a purpose, a reason. I'm not sure what that reason is right now, other then destruction and lots of mayhem and zombies running around snacking on people but if we look at that, maybe we have a chance of beating this."
She sounded hopeful, Buffy noted, turning to face the others again. She placed her hand on top of Sam's, grateful. "We defeated Glory," she told them after a beat, "And she was as Hell-God-ish as they come."
Anya shook her head, "For one, that took you dying, which I'm sure all of us are very against - probably Sam more than others, but still, against. For two? I don't suppose Samhain has a weaker sibling lying around that Giles can choke the hell out of. Besides, it's not like--"
"What'd you just say?" Buffy's gaze darted right to Anya's. Ben had died because of Glory, because Buffy had kicked her ass trying to get to Dawn, right up on that tower where the world had threatened to end.
"That I don't want you to die? You annoy the hell out of me sometimes with your holier than thou attitude but--"
"Not that," Buffy frowned, "What you just said about--Dean!"
One second. One second it had taken for him to take his eyes off the road, Anya noted, still unaware of what had Buffy's panties in a twist and--Girl. In front of the car.
He slammed on the brakes just as Buffy screamed but it was too late. Anya brought her hands up, yelping as they connected with the dash, the girl's body falling beneath the wheels.
Dean got distracted by the bickering going on beside him, throwing a glance in Anya's direction, and when his gaze traveled back to the road it was already too late.
Dean!
He slammed on the brakes, tires squealing against the pavement. The first thump of wheels over body didn't register, but the second as the back wheels of the car rolled over what he knew was a girl echoed in his ears.
The car skidded to an uneasy stop, and everything was silent other than everyone's ragged breathing. He could feel his pulse pounding. "Every--everyone okay?" he asked, still dazed by what had just happened.
"Yeah, I think," Sam muttered as he turned around in the backseat to peer out the back window of the Impala. He could see the body lying in the middle of the hot pavement, limbs twisted at angles no person's body should bend.
"Someone please tell me that was just a deer," he said, avoiding looking into his side mirror.
"That was no deer," Anya whispered, since Sam and Buffy were doing a stellar job of sitting with their mouths open. Not moving. Barely even breathing, actually, which did her no good at all because she had to break it to Dean that he'd just mown down a human. Who was lying out there all awkward angles and--
"She-- She came out of nowhere," she murmured, trying to make it better somehow, his iron grip on the steering wheel only getting tighter judging by the way his knuckles had gone white. "Dean? Are you okay?"
It was Dean who popped the door to the Impala first, not answering. The others followed quickly, Buffy bringing up the right side of Dean, Anya and Sam the left. She winced as they got closer to the body, the very unmoving, unbreathing body - the girls limbs twisted at odd angles to the rest of her body.
"She came out of nowhere," said Buffy, echoing Anya's earlier sentiment as the color drained out of Dean's face. "I'm gonna call 911, okay?" They had to do something. It wasn't like they could leave her here all battered and bloody and--Well, not all that bloody, actually. Buffy frowned, a nervous feeling prickling along the back of her neck, across her skin.
He didn't answer, couldn't answer, as he opened the car door, instinctively grabbing for his gun as he stepped out, the others following suit behind him. He listened as both girls tried to reassure him that she had come out of nowhere, but that did nothing for his guilt when he finally laid eyes on the fallen girl.
He swallowed hard, knowing there was no way in hell this girl had survived impact. He took a few more steps forward, away from the others, as Buffy mentioned calling 911. He knelt down, reaching a hand down to feel for a pulse--
You guys hear anything?
Just then, the body twitched violently, broken limbs twisting back into place to raise its battered body from the ground. Dean stumbled back from the body, nearly loosing his balance, "Shit!" he yelled, turning the gun on what they had thought had been a hit and run victim.
One shot to the head and the girl fell to the pavement again.
"Don't think we need to call 911," Sam frowned, looking around them to see where the hell this thing could have come from. They were still a good twenty miles from any sort of reststop.
"Fucking ZOMBIES," Dean growled, pointing his gun angrily at the body and really wanting to put a second bullet in the corpse for making him nearly have a heart attack.
She should have known. Something should have kicked in, right when she'd realized that there was nothing here. No birds, no animals, nothing... Just a walking-dead girl (only in the literal sense) on the road out here, only she hadn't exactly given them much time to process before she'd dropped her ass under the wheels of the Impala.
The sound of Dean's gunshot echoed in the distance and the small group gathered again around the body, less shocked than earlier now.
"I wasn't just being nice earlier," said Anya with a small frown, "She really did come out of nowhere. It was like, one minute nothing, next minute..."
Next minute bam, actually. The girl -- the Zombie -- falling right under Dean's wheels and still managing to get up.
Buffy shuddered, looking around them cautiously again. She didn't want to say it but it sure looked like they were heading into another zombie town and their only option here might be to just drive right on through.
"We should probably check the next place. Head to that diner you suggested?" She glanced at Dean, "I don't think we should go in empty handed though. Armed, dangerous and concealed could be the way to go..."
Dean could still feel his pulse pounding as he stared down at the now unmoving body. He rubbed a hand down his face, the realization of the situation setting in. They were probably headed right back into another zombie-filled town.
Apocalype widespread. Those had been Bobby's words, and he really starting to see why he chose that description.
He nodded at Buffy's mention of hitting the next place and checking it out, easily sharing the leader role when they weren't looking to aggravate each other. "We'll stop in, see if we can scare folk out of town." He added with a frown, "If there are any folk left."
Sam shared the look with his brother, knowing they were both alredy thinking the worst. Hell, if Bobby was running, then this wasn't good. Bobby was like their Dad had been; he faced anything and everything. So when Bobby was taking off....
"And what exactly do we tell people that doesn't make us look crazy?"
Anya glanced between both of them, "How about 'the Apocalypse is coming, please leave now or you'll die horribly?'" Though even she knew that humans, as a general rule, tended to be a little stubborn. And stupid.
"I don't understand why there isn't something out there already. With something as big as this..." They should have been running already but they didn't think of that. They all had faith which was clearly ridiculous because faith didn't stop a zombie apocalypse in its tracks.
"We could always take that," she nodded to the corpse of the girl, "Wouldn't they have to believe us if they saw that?"
Buffy blinked, "Take it how? What do you want us to do, shove her in the trunk?"
Anya looked at Buffy, "Do you have a better idea?"
Dean grimaced at the idea of this decomposing body sitting in his trunk, and he hated that he really couldn't see a way around this. "Dammit," he complained, "that smell is never gonna come out, you know."
"It's the best idea we've got, Dean," Sam tried to rationalize with his brother, seeing the distress on Dean's face at the idea of tainting his car with a zombie body. "They'll have to believe us when they see her. Then maybe they'll leave and get to somewhere safe."
Though he was really starting to wonder if anywhere was safe.
"How is this--" He motioned at the dead body with his gun-- "not in the news already? Walking dead seems like it should probably air before the puppy adoption segments on the local news."
He'd turn on the newsradio once they got back into the car because if hunters knew, the general public had to know something as well. And maybe it wasn't the right story, but there had to be a story out there nonetheless.
"We could tie her to the back by her feet and drag her along," said Anya helpfully, "I saw it on TV once. A couple got married and apparently it's customary to--"
Buffy shook her head, "I'm suddenly very glad you're never organizing my wedding. Ever."
She was honestly with Dean on this - how could it not be in the news? Something this widespread and zombies too, it wasn't like there was any way of rationalizing this - not even gangs on PCP would cover it.
"Are we shoving her in the back?" Buffy gestured down to the body - the same body which, thankfully, hadn't moved since Dean had pumped a bullet right in its brain. "I'm guessing you don't want the dead girl to ride shotgun..."
Dean groaned as he glared at the body that he knew was gonna have to go in his trunk. Of all the disgusting things....
He muttered under his breath about friggin' zombies as he walked over to the passenger sie of the car, pulling open the door and rummaging through the glovebox. He pulled out two pairs of latex gloves, tossing one of the pair at Sam.
Sam made a disgusted face as he caught the gloves. He had been kinda hoping to avoid zombie corpse duty. He opened his mouth to protest, but Dean cut him off at the pass.
"Don't even think about bailing," he ordered as he snapped on the gloves. He opened the trunk and fished around for a rolled up tarp to wrap the body in. He was determined to keep corpse-trunk contact to a minimum. He smirked at Buffy and Anya as he motioned for Sam to help him get the body wrapped into the tarp. "You know, girls, this is a modern age and all. Women should have the opportunity to roll dead bodies as well."
Of all the things that Buffy knew Dean would hate? Carting a zombie to the nearest town to prove they weren't crazy ranked right up there. She bit her lip to keep from smiling as he strode to the trunk of his car, flicking an amused glance at Sam.
Until she realized that Sam was expected to help him haul the body up and--Eww.
You know, girls, this is a modern age and all. Women should have the opportunity to roll dead bodies as well.
"I'm the killing of the dead bodies kind," said Buffy, holding up her hands, "I leave the rolling to the men-folk."
"I'll help," said Anya, glancing at Dean and Sam as they both looked at her, "as long as you don't expect me to eat or touch anything again ever. And that includes you." She looked pointedly at Dean. "Can't we just tie it to the back?"
Dean grimaced as he and Sam got to work wrapping the body in the tarp, limbs still bending in ways that no limb ever should. He ignored the sounds of bone grinding on bone, resisting the urge to hum Metallica to block out the sounds. But luckily Sam started to speak, which gave him something else to focus on.
"Dragging down the highway really isn't an option if we want a recognizable body," Sam said, echoing Buffy's earlier sentiments, with a disgusted face as he and Dean hefted up the body. He looked over at Dean before they crammed the body into the trunk. "Dude, this is seriously one of the most disgusting things we've ever done."
"No argument here," Dean frowned, snapping off his gloves and tossing them towards the side of the road. He slammed down the hood of the trunk before turning back to the others. "Let's get this show on the road, huh?" And he really wanted to see if there was anything worthy of their attention on the news channels on the radio.
"Who needs recognizable with a hole the size of a Sobekian bloodstone in her head?" Asked Anya, folding her arms across her chest. Plus, the rotting flesh and the--
Okay, maybe they had a point.
Let's get this show on the road, huh?
All for that plan, Buffy went to get in the car, her nose wrinkling as she noticed the smell. She'd been around dead bodies plural for most of her adult life. Riding with one of them in the back of a car? Different matter altogether - not one she'd bring up in front of Dean, though. He was already way with the issues on that to begin with.
"What're we gonna do, just hit the first rest-stop we get to?" She asked once the others were in and Dean had started fiddling with the buttons on his radio. And what were they supposed to do when they got there, just roll the girl out? Geez. It stunned her that after countless apocalypses they hadn't found a better way to convince people they were gonna die.
Dean nodded absently as he finally found alocal news station. "The next stop is about fifteen miles out. We'll be there in no time."
Sam frowned a bit, trying to figure out this could really go down without them looking like crazy people. Crazy murdering people. "So we just tell them they need to get the hell out of town cause there's a zombie apocalypse and we have proof?" He paused, his frown deepening. "Cause that sounds insane to me and I just helped load a zombie into the trunk."
"I'm open to any suggestions here," Dean grumbled in annoyance, turning up the radio a little as an emergency broadcast system tone rang through the radio speakers.
"...Local authorities advise residents to stay indoors if possible, to minimize contact with possible infected individuals. The pathogen, believed to be a virus, has yet to be identified by the CDC, but they advise that the virus is possibly transmitted via blood, saliva, and bodily fluids. The government assures that the pathogen is well-contained and the quarantine, though not necessary, is just a precaution, and things should return to normal in the next few days..."
Dean snorted at the radio. "Return to normal, my ass."
"That's it? That's their emergency broadcast?" Buffy sat back in her seat, shaking her head in disgust. "And where's the well-contained part? Three towns that we know of and that's well contained?"
"They're trying not to panic people," Anya frowned, "It's all very patronizing. Minimize contact with possible infected individuals'," she echoed, "because the first thing you're likely to do when you see a slobbering, snarling dead person walking towards you is make contact with it."
She thought about that for a moment, "Whoever wrote that? Is kind of an idiot."
"Agreed," Buffy nodded, watching Dean flick to the next radio station where the same broadcast was ringing out. "Maybe we don't need the body after all." Unless people wanted actual proof that zombies existed and this wasn't just some huge joke. "That solves our 'let's think of what to tell them' issue."
"Dean, we can't just take out a god," Sam frowned from the backseat. He knew his brother could be a blind optimist at times, but this was getting ridiculous. "This isn't exactly a normal hunt."
"Yeah, got that message loud and clear last night when we were being chased by zombies, Sammy," Dean snapped back, finding himself easily agitated right now. He didn't like when the odds were against them like this. He looked up into the rearview, trying to catch Buffy's eye, but her gaze was focused out the window. "I'm not sure how big of a place it is, but we'll give Giles a heads up."
Sam placed a reassuring hand on Buffy's knee, giving it a squeeze. He wanted to believe that they would figure this out, but the thought of Bobby picking up and heading out of town did nothing to quiet his fears. "The world hasn't ended yet," he said to her with a small shrug of his shoulders.
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She sounded hopeful, Buffy noted, turning to face the others again. She placed her hand on top of Sam's, grateful. "We defeated Glory," she told them after a beat, "And she was as Hell-God-ish as they come."
Anya shook her head, "For one, that took you dying, which I'm sure all of us are very against - probably Sam more than others, but still, against. For two? I don't suppose Samhain has a weaker sibling lying around that Giles can choke the hell out of. Besides, it's not like--"
"What'd you just say?" Buffy's gaze darted right to Anya's. Ben had died because of Glory, because Buffy had kicked her ass trying to get to Dawn, right up on that tower where the world had threatened to end.
"That I don't want you to die? You annoy the hell out of me sometimes with your holier than thou attitude but--"
"Not that," Buffy frowned, "What you just said about--Dean!"
One second. One second it had taken for him to take his eyes off the road, Anya noted, still unaware of what had Buffy's panties in a twist and--Girl. In front of the car.
He slammed on the brakes just as Buffy screamed but it was too late. Anya brought her hands up, yelping as they connected with the dash, the girl's body falling beneath the wheels.
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Dean!
He slammed on the brakes, tires squealing against the pavement. The first thump of wheels over body didn't register, but the second as the back wheels of the car rolled over what he knew was a girl echoed in his ears.
The car skidded to an uneasy stop, and everything was silent other than everyone's ragged breathing. He could feel his pulse pounding. "Every--everyone okay?" he asked, still dazed by what had just happened.
"Yeah, I think," Sam muttered as he turned around in the backseat to peer out the back window of the Impala. He could see the body lying in the middle of the hot pavement, limbs twisted at angles no person's body should bend.
"Someone please tell me that was just a deer," he said, avoiding looking into his side mirror.
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"She-- She came out of nowhere," she murmured, trying to make it better somehow, his iron grip on the steering wheel only getting tighter judging by the way his knuckles had gone white. "Dean? Are you okay?"
It was Dean who popped the door to the Impala first, not answering. The others followed quickly, Buffy bringing up the right side of Dean, Anya and Sam the left. She winced as they got closer to the body, the very unmoving, unbreathing body - the girls limbs twisted at odd angles to the rest of her body.
"She came out of nowhere," said Buffy, echoing Anya's earlier sentiment as the color drained out of Dean's face. "I'm gonna call 911, okay?" They had to do something. It wasn't like they could leave her here all battered and bloody and--Well, not all that bloody, actually. Buffy frowned, a nervous feeling prickling along the back of her neck, across her skin.
It's Omega Man quiet... "You guys hear anything?"
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He didn't answer, couldn't answer, as he opened the car door, instinctively grabbing for his gun as he stepped out, the others following suit behind him. He listened as both girls tried to reassure him that she had come out of nowhere, but that did nothing for his guilt when he finally laid eyes on the fallen girl.
He swallowed hard, knowing there was no way in hell this girl had survived impact. He took a few more steps forward, away from the others, as Buffy mentioned calling 911. He knelt down, reaching a hand down to feel for a pulse--
You guys hear anything?
Just then, the body twitched violently, broken limbs twisting back into place to raise its battered body from the ground. Dean stumbled back from the body, nearly loosing his balance, "Shit!" he yelled, turning the gun on what they had thought had been a hit and run victim.
One shot to the head and the girl fell to the pavement again.
"Don't think we need to call 911," Sam frowned, looking around them to see where the hell this thing could have come from. They were still a good twenty miles from any sort of reststop.
"Fucking ZOMBIES," Dean growled, pointing his gun angrily at the body and really wanting to put a second bullet in the corpse for making him nearly have a heart attack.
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The sound of Dean's gunshot echoed in the distance and the small group gathered again around the body, less shocked than earlier now.
"I wasn't just being nice earlier," said Anya with a small frown, "She really did come out of nowhere. It was like, one minute nothing, next minute..."
Next minute bam, actually. The girl -- the Zombie -- falling right under Dean's wheels and still managing to get up.
Buffy shuddered, looking around them cautiously again. She didn't want to say it but it sure looked like they were heading into another zombie town and their only option here might be to just drive right on through.
"We should probably check the next place. Head to that diner you suggested?" She glanced at Dean, "I don't think we should go in empty handed though. Armed, dangerous and concealed could be the way to go..."
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Apocalype widespread. Those had been Bobby's words, and he really starting to see why he chose that description.
He nodded at Buffy's mention of hitting the next place and checking it out, easily sharing the leader role when they weren't looking to aggravate each other. "We'll stop in, see if we can scare folk out of town." He added with a frown, "If there are any folk left."
Sam shared the look with his brother, knowing they were both alredy thinking the worst. Hell, if Bobby was running, then this wasn't good. Bobby was like their Dad had been; he faced anything and everything. So when Bobby was taking off....
"And what exactly do we tell people that doesn't make us look crazy?"
Dean's frown deepened. "Good point."
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"I don't understand why there isn't something out there already. With something as big as this..." They should have been running already but they didn't think of that. They all had faith which was clearly ridiculous because faith didn't stop a zombie apocalypse in its tracks.
"We could always take that," she nodded to the corpse of the girl, "Wouldn't they have to believe us if they saw that?"
Buffy blinked, "Take it how? What do you want us to do, shove her in the trunk?"
Anya looked at Buffy, "Do you have a better idea?"
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"It's the best idea we've got, Dean," Sam tried to rationalize with his brother, seeing the distress on Dean's face at the idea of tainting his car with a zombie body. "They'll have to believe us when they see her. Then maybe they'll leave and get to somewhere safe."
Though he was really starting to wonder if anywhere was safe.
"How is this--" He motioned at the dead body with his gun-- "not in the news already? Walking dead seems like it should probably air before the puppy adoption segments on the local news."
He'd turn on the newsradio once they got back into the car because if hunters knew, the general public had to know something as well. And maybe it wasn't the right story, but there had to be a story out there nonetheless.
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Buffy shook her head, "I'm suddenly very glad you're never organizing my wedding. Ever."
She was honestly with Dean on this - how could it not be in the news? Something this widespread and zombies too, it wasn't like there was any way of rationalizing this - not even gangs on PCP would cover it.
"Are we shoving her in the back?" Buffy gestured down to the body - the same body which, thankfully, hadn't moved since Dean had pumped a bullet right in its brain. "I'm guessing you don't want the dead girl to ride shotgun..."
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He muttered under his breath about friggin' zombies as he walked over to the passenger sie of the car, pulling open the door and rummaging through the glovebox. He pulled out two pairs of latex gloves, tossing one of the pair at Sam.
Sam made a disgusted face as he caught the gloves. He had been kinda hoping to avoid zombie corpse duty. He opened his mouth to protest, but Dean cut him off at the pass.
"Don't even think about bailing," he ordered as he snapped on the gloves. He opened the trunk and fished around for a rolled up tarp to wrap the body in. He was determined to keep corpse-trunk contact to a minimum. He smirked at Buffy and Anya as he motioned for Sam to help him get the body wrapped into the tarp. "You know, girls, this is a modern age and all. Women should have the opportunity to roll dead bodies as well."
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Until she realized that Sam was expected to help him haul the body up and--Eww.
You know, girls, this is a modern age and all. Women should have the opportunity to roll dead bodies as well.
"I'm the killing of the dead bodies kind," said Buffy, holding up her hands, "I leave the rolling to the men-folk."
"I'll help," said Anya, glancing at Dean and Sam as they both looked at her, "as long as you don't expect me to eat or touch anything again ever. And that includes you." She looked pointedly at Dean. "Can't we just tie it to the back?"
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"Dragging down the highway really isn't an option if we want a recognizable body," Sam said, echoing Buffy's earlier sentiments, with a disgusted face as he and Dean hefted up the body. He looked over at Dean before they crammed the body into the trunk. "Dude, this is seriously one of the most disgusting things we've ever done."
"No argument here," Dean frowned, snapping off his gloves and tossing them towards the side of the road. He slammed down the hood of the trunk before turning back to the others. "Let's get this show on the road, huh?" And he really wanted to see if there was anything worthy of their attention on the news channels on the radio.
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Okay, maybe they had a point.
Let's get this show on the road, huh?
All for that plan, Buffy went to get in the car, her nose wrinkling as she noticed the smell. She'd been around dead bodies plural for most of her adult life. Riding with one of them in the back of a car? Different matter altogether - not one she'd bring up in front of Dean, though. He was already way with the issues on that to begin with.
"What're we gonna do, just hit the first rest-stop we get to?" She asked once the others were in and Dean had started fiddling with the buttons on his radio. And what were they supposed to do when they got there, just roll the girl out? Geez. It stunned her that after countless apocalypses they hadn't found a better way to convince people they were gonna die.
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Sam frowned a bit, trying to figure out this could really go down without them looking like crazy people. Crazy murdering people. "So we just tell them they need to get the hell out of town cause there's a zombie apocalypse and we have proof?" He paused, his frown deepening. "Cause that sounds insane to me and I just helped load a zombie into the trunk."
"I'm open to any suggestions here," Dean grumbled in annoyance, turning up the radio a little as an emergency broadcast system tone rang through the radio speakers.
"...Local authorities advise residents to stay indoors if possible, to minimize contact with possible infected individuals. The pathogen, believed to be a virus, has yet to be identified by the CDC, but they advise that the virus is possibly transmitted via blood, saliva, and bodily fluids. The government assures that the pathogen is well-contained and the quarantine, though not necessary, is just a precaution, and things should return to normal in the next few days..."
Dean snorted at the radio. "Return to normal, my ass."
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"They're trying not to panic people," Anya frowned, "It's all very patronizing. Minimize contact with possible infected individuals'," she echoed, "because the first thing you're likely to do when you see a slobbering, snarling dead person walking towards you is make contact with it."
She thought about that for a moment, "Whoever wrote that? Is kind of an idiot."
"Agreed," Buffy nodded, watching Dean flick to the next radio station where the same broadcast was ringing out. "Maybe we don't need the body after all." Unless people wanted actual proof that zombies existed and this wasn't just some huge joke. "That solves our 'let's think of what to tell them' issue."
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