Chapter 31

31: Meanwhile, at Wolf Cub Elementary, Rend was formulating a plan.  Richard Finestra, whose wife, Laura, was the principal at the school, was the one who had suggested to Rend that the Defectors could safely stay in the cafeteria.  He was given the task of overseeing the survivor's welfare while Rend was busy thinking of how to infiltrate the Untaken at the hotel.
  "One of the obvious first things we'll have to do is send out small parties to get us some food," said Richard.  "The supply closet has a lot of the toiletries we'll need.  The freezer has some old ice cream sandwiches left over from the school year.  They should still be good, but we need nutrition."  Richard noticed Rend's shudder at the mention of the freezer.  "What's wrong, my master?"
  "My son, I was once imprisoned in ice.  On my planet, that is how they treat criminals.  Could you believe they would do that to me?  I couldn't move.  I could only see what was immediately around me.  Me, treated like a common criminal.  I tell you, no one will ever keep me down again."
  Richard, too, shuddered at the thought of being frozen alive.  "If I have anything to do about it, no one will ever harm you again, master."
  "I trust your loyalty, son.  Now, go and make sure we get all the supplies we will need."
  Richard figured out a list of things they would require for a prolonged stay at the school.  He then prioritized the list and sent out three groups of four people each to various locations to procure the supplies.  In each group he made sure there was someone who could pick locks, two people who looked strong enough to defend against the Revenant and someone who was small enough to get into tight places.  Many of the things they needed could be pilfered from the houses in the surrounding neighborhood, but many of the houses would have to be broken into so they needed someone who could climb into a window if need be.  This would be a very dangerous operation if the Revenant were encountered in large numbers.
  By Rend's estimations, there were over nine hundred of the original Revenant, but that number grow limitlessly once the Scathing infected more of the living.  Fortunately, Rend had finally come up with a plan.

Chapter 25

25: As soon as the Defectors who had fallen prey to the Scathing started to get up, Rend knew he had to get himself and the rest of the living Defectors safely away from these revenant Defectors who he knew were no longer under his control.  Each of the Nocent "chips" contained the spirit of a dead Nocent, but their minds hadn't survived the transition from Defector to Revenant.  Only their hatred for everything not Nocent was still alive within them as their driving force.  They lived only to make more of themselves: rotting, undead, mindless, hate-filled, infectious, walking killing machines.  The Revenant were an unpredictable and unstable element that Rend had no influence over.  He needed to protect the Defectors from them.  "My children, we must flee this place.  The Revenant will be a danger to us as well as to the Untaken."  At that point, some of the Defectors fled on foot in fear and Rend let them go.  He had no idea what to do at this time.
  "Master, I am a bus driver.  I know where I can have access to at least five buses.  If I can use someone's car, I can get a group together who know how to drive a bus and we can evacuate.  How many of us are left?" said a husky, middle-aged woman who had curly brown hair and a blue, flannel shirt.
  "There are maybe a hundred of us, my daughter.  Go and carry our your plan.  Be careful.  We don't know how many of these Revenant are out there.  I don't know how the Scathing transmits here on Earth.  Does anyone know where we would be able to go to be safe from the Revenant?"
  "There's an elementary school a few miles from here.  We can hold up in the cafeteria.  There would be running water, bathrooms, electricity, cooking facilities and plenty of space to sleep," said a man who had weather-worn features, rough hands and an intelligent glint in his eyes which silently spoke of years of skilled labor.
  "That will be perfect, my son.  Get a head count and we will see if five buses will be enough to get us all."  Not more than two hours later, the entire group of 103 Defectors and Rend were barricaded securely inside the Wolf Cub Elementary school cafeteria.  Rend had to regroup and come up with a plan to infiltrate the Untaken camp.