Josiah looked at the Doc. He knew what he needed to do. But somehow he wanted reassurance from the elderly man that there was no  other choice, than firing his gun again. He respected the wisdom of his elders.  as a boy he growing up he had a very close relationship with his father.  He shared all his ideas and dreams with him.  when he chose to join the sheriffs department his father has supported him and encouraged him even to stay with the department even after his wife passed away and he flet his world crashing.  He thought for a moment, what would his father say to him now.

 Doc gave a nod to Josiah. There  just did not seem to be  any other choice. Josiah looked back at the man still staggering towards them.  He did not understand any of what was happening.  But his survivor instincts told him their lives were dependent on his decision right now. His training told him there would be times when he would need to use blunt force to take control of  hostile situations.

"Stop".  Josiah shouted loudly. Again no halt in the intruders approach towards him. His feet dragged along the floor as he stepped closer. Drool and spit hung from his dry cracked lips, His eyes were glazed over with the same grey film  just as the couple had out in the court yard.  He swaggered  towards them on his blood caked clothes as though it was all he knew how to do.

 Josiah felt fear, anger and frustration.  Frustration  from not understanding how this all could be happening.  He wanted this  to be some ugly horrifying dream that he would some how be awaken from.  He felt his hand tighten around his pistol.  As he took  a deep breath  he fired another shot.  He chose first to aim at the leg,  Hoping this would somehow stop the man on his wild quest.  The  man fell back as the bullet drove into the dark meaty flesh of his thigh.  as the blood appeared there was no cry out  of pain.   His teeth gnashed together and with a jittery jolt he dropped to the floor.  With in seconds  he rose again, to his feet.  Clumsily as though  his body and mind worked against each other he continued on with his gait. Like a rabid animal spew fell from his open mouth. The he closer he moved.  Another shot was fired only this time it was a direct hit to the head. Skull fragments exploded as the man fell once more. This time he laid in a slump between them and Marie.

Marie trembled, crouched in her safe place. She looked to where Eve stood. She wanted desperately to run to her, but fear kept her frozen.  The pain from the back of her skull left her feeling slightly dazed and ached with every movement.  Slowly she found the courage to begin to move on to her knees and crawl out.  

 They all watched in horror and relief as the man lay motionless.  The eminent danger was over for the moment. Cody was the first to rush to Marie.  He helped her to her feet. Eve moved in and hugged her. "Marie are you all right" Eve asked as she held her.  "I think so just my head hurts -" she sobbed softly. "When I was trying to get away from him, I fell backwards. I hit something."  "What happened, why did he try to hurt me?" she  asked  confused.  She turned at looked at where he laid and softly cried into Eve as the scene replayed in her head.


Cody spoke next. "Who is this guy?" He asked Eve and Marie. Marie spoke first.  "He is a new participant to the study.  His name is Tony.  I don't know him very well.  I hooked him up to a central line yesterday and and..."she paused and began to sob again.  "Today I found him like this."  tears flowed uncontrolable now and she shook in eves arms.