3--The Retreat

Story by Tristan Hawthorne on SoFurry

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This story contains Death, Zombies, Injury,, and the first chapter of the series with no bunnysex. Oh Noes! Characters (C) themselves. Leona's weapons (C) Themselves.

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The Retreat.

Tris and Rowan were handing out the microwave dinners when they heard it. A slow cracking sound.

Markie scanned the area, "Spread out." She put down her food, "Try and find which window cracked so we can re-enforce it." They all stood and walked about the empty space, looking at the glass that separated them from danger. Rainbow walked into one of the few gaps between couches near the corner, where there was less glass.

There was a sudden shattering sound. Everyone turned to see Rainbow's boots disappear into the hoard of undead, temporarily distracted by their find, "RAINBOW!!!" Kat cried out and spun her knife until it flew off it's string, into the ceiling.

Tris looked around, "Fall back. Before they notice us, fall back."

They heard another loud crash. It came from the cupboard. Bill cursed, "Shitfuck. There goes that plan."

Rowan looked around "There has to be a way out..."

Robert looked over at the entrance from the front of the building, "There aren't any zombies over there..."

"They're attracted to light, sound, and smell. The cupboard has two of three." Bill said methodically.

"Love, you think they're coordinated enough to climb stairs?" Tris started towards the door in question.

"Not nearly as fast as we do, if at all." Bill matched Tris' pace. "More likely they'd crawl up."

"Good. Cuz we're gonna make another visit to the J." Tris climbed through the small service window into the office.

Markie looked around, "Where's Kat?"

"DIE YOU SONS OF BITCHES!" Kat was holding a can of hairspray in one paw and a lighter in the other. She started up both. There was a bright flame and it flew onto several of the zombies, before spreading to Kat's arm. She screamed, dropping the lighter (Which extinguished itself) and the spraycan (Which stopped spraying.) The burning zombies collapsed after flailing about a bit, but more came through the gap and grabbed Kat as she tried desperately to extinguish her arm. "NOOOOOOO!!!" She cried, before it devolved into screams of anguish, and finally gurgles.

Tris winced. It all happened so fast, none of them could get to her in time and now there were zombies coming in from the Cupboard. "C'mon." He slipped into the behind desk area and looked around for anything of use. He grabbed an old guitar strap from the Lost & Found and used it to make a harness for his crossbow to hang on his back, transverse to his sidebag. He grabbed a large Mag-Lite from the desk and shoved it into his bag. He turned saw the rack of pool cues. "Anyone who wants to upgrade the reach of their melee weapon, there's pool cues a-plenty." He said clearly and calmly. He pulled one from the rack, throwing his bloodied and battered umbrella into the lost & found bin.

Rowan came through after Bill, "I'll take one." Tris tossed one to her and moved around the desk to the lobby.

Markie and Robert brought up the rear, Robert closing the fire shutter on the small window slowly and quietly. "You sure we can even get into the J, Tris?" He had left his club behind accidentally. He took a pool cue for himself, before coming out into the lobby proper, "I seem to remember the door being an automatic one that is shut off at night."

"We get in through the kitchen." Rowan said calmly, hefting her cue. "That's a normal door and I'm pretty sure Markie has a lockpick."

"Damned right I do." Markie smirked, resting the slightly dented and quite bloody side of her baseball bat on her shoulder. "Leona makes sure I carry hers for her. She never has room with all the weapons on her person..." Markie trailed off, remembering the lioness was still missing.

"And you'll be able to return them to her when we find her." Tris said simply, looking out at the stairwell, where he could detect no motion, not even out in the parking lot beyond illuminated by yellow florescent lights. "But first we got to move. Let's go." Tris headed to the door, flanked by Bill and Rowan. He opened the double doors slowly, as to not make any noise, and propped them open carefully, before closing them nearly silently once everyone had passed through. Rowan counted their group and nodded, before heading to the stairwell. They all stopped at a sudden white noise that seemed to surround them. Tris turned toward the parking lot. The sky had began to unleash all it's moisture onto the earth. "Quickly, The rain will mask the sound of our movements." Tris said hurriedly, as the wind began to whip around.

Rowan ran up the stairs quickly, reaching the first landing quickly. Without looking back she bounded up the next stair to the mezzanine level. By the time she reached the next landing, the others were barely halfway between the first landing and the mezzanine. Upon reaching the second floor, Rowan felt the offspray of the pounding rain blowing into the stairwell. She kept moving. She saw what had happened to Rainbow and Kat. She needed to get as far away from the zombies as possible.

As the others reached the Mezzanine they heard a cry from above. "Rowan!"

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Rowan opened her eyes to see one of those stupid "USE GUARDRAILS, SLIPPERY WHEN WET." Signs in front of her. She was half way down the second to second to last flight of stairs before the J level, laying on her side, pain all over the left side of her body.

"Rowan!" She heard from far away, She slowly looked down the stairs. Tris appeared, Robert and Bill soon after. "Are you okay?"

She felt, for the first time, the rain pounding down on her. "I think so. It fucking hurts, but I think I-" She tried to move her left foot, "AAAH!"

Markie arrived on the second floor, "Fuck, what did you do, Rowan?"

She pushed her self up to a sitting position, "I think..." She winced and felt the blood from the new cut on her forehead, "I think I broke my leg. Among other things..." She looked over at Tris, "Don't you dare say 'I told you so'."

"Who, Moi?" Tris feigned innocence, climbing up the stairs and picking up the injured wolf gingerly, "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Liar." Rowan glowered at him, grabbing her pool cue from the ground as she was lifted. Bill came up the stairs, looking at the leg, as if examining it.

"Well your bone didn't come out of your body. That's a good sign." The nerdy bunny said, adjusting his glasses as they got hit by raindrops.

"That's really comforting, Bill." Rowan said, quite irritably due to the pain she was in. "Now, Markie, you know how to pick locks, right?"

Markie rolled her eyes, climbing the steps slowly and carefully, "Duh." She reached the level under the J last, "You think Leona would let me carry them if I couldn't use'm?"

"Good, cuz we need to get in." Robert said, leading the way to the back, Tris carrying Rowan close behind. They walked by the row of bike racks and up the last set of stairs to the service entrance to the J.

Upon kneeling in front of the door, Markie pulled a small pack from her pocket and unrolled it, before looking carefully at the lock. She looked down and picked out a certain small key and inserted it into the keyhole. She took out as small mallet and began to tap on the key. Robert fidgeted while Tris leaned against the handrail, having set Rowan down against the adjacent pillar for now. She was tending to her less serious wounds as Bill paced back and forth. There was a soft click, "Viola." Markie grinned and put away her kit, before standing and turning the knob. The door opened for a moment, then pulled shut.

"What the fuck." Bill said, glaring at the door.

Tris stalked to the door and knocked on it with his balled fist. The door resounded softer than anyone expected. "Anyone in there?"

"What?" A timid female voice said from the other side.

Robert walked over, "Teresa?"

"Robert?" The door opened and a mouse with wavy auburn hair peeked out behind big rhinestone-winged glasses. The door opened all the way revealing her slender body wrapped up in a zip-up hoodie and fitted jeans. "Hi Tris. If I knew it was you I woulda letcha in."

"Really now?" Tris smirked, "Teresa, Bill." He said, turning towards Bill, who had come up beside him, "Bill, Teresa." He said turning back, "Teresa, Markie." He turned the other way to where Markie stood next to the door, "Markie, Teresa. All introduced? Good." Tris picked up Rowan, who flicked him irritably, and headed through the door before anyone else could react.

Teresa blinked and watched Tris go by, "What happened to Rowan?" She asked Robert.

"Snapped her leg slipping on the stairs." Bill said casually as he passed by.

Robert shrugged as Markie passed by, flicking Robert on the nose, before entering himself. Teresa sighed and closed the door, relocking it.

Tris maneuvered through the kitchen, out into the cafeteria, and out of the luckily open main gate into the eating area. He gently placed Rowan on one of the tables against a wall and propped her up against it. He removed his crossbow and messenger bag, before removing his bathrobe and balling it up, setting it behind Rowan's back for support. He leaned his pool cue against the wall. "Is there anything we can use for splints?" Tris asked as the others followed him in.

"I can hack a table into splints." Bill said, hefting his fire axe.

"I'll keep that in mind, love." Tris said, in a tone that let Bill know that was a last resort option. Bill huffed and set his axe down on a nearby table.

"There should be some long wooden spoons or something back in the Kitchen." Teresa offered.

Tris turned to her for a moment, "Could you go see if there are?" He turned back to Rowan and looked at her leg, then leaned in close to it. Using his hands he held his huge floppy ears up and out away from his head. He cringed as he was assaulted with every sound at once. He closed his eyes, slowly letting his mental filters fall into place.

"What is he doing?" Robert watched as Tris and Markie shushed him. After a few moments he snapped his jaw loudly near Rowan's leg. She watched the bizarre spectacle calmly. Tris snapped his jaw twice more, before letting his ears drop and standing upright.

Teresa re-entered with nothing. She shrugged helplessly. Tris looked over, "Teresa, you're the nursing major. Know anything about setting a bone?"

Teresa blinked and set down the vase quickly. She closed her eyes, nodded, then opened them again, "I should if it's not a compound or spiral fracture."

"It's not." Tris said certainly.

Robert was agast, "How can you know that?"

"My roommate at sixth-grade camp was a bat." Tris smirked, "He taught me how to echo-locate."

"So the thing with the biting air was..." Bill said slowly.

"I need a sound that I know the exact origin of to do it properly." Tris explained.

Bill looked at his feet for a moment, before looking up with a grin, "That is so cool!" He tackle-hugged Tris, who managed to barely alter the momentum enough to keep from falling onto Rowan's broken leg.

Teresa stepped up to next to Rowan. "Tell me when it hurts sweetie."

"Sweetie?" Markie raised an eyebrow as Teresa slowly rubbed along Rowan's leg.

"She calls everyone that." Robert said offhand. Rowan swore loudly.

"You coulda just said it hurt, Ro." Teresa smiled warmly and felt along the edges of the bruised area, Rowan clenching her teeth and digging her claws into the bottom of the table as she grasped the edges. Bill had become preoccupied with Tris' bare chest and was slowly rubbing his face against it. Tris blushed at this and simply held his boyfriend close, glad of the relative quiet of the J, The only sounds being the pounding rain against the windows and Rowan's winces. Teresa stepped back and cracked her knuckles, "Okay. This is going to hurt a lot."

Rowan's eyes widened and she grasped her pool cue tight, "You're supposed to say things that are reassuring!" Her other paw moved to one of the two daggers on her belt, seeming to take comfort from the touch of her weapons. Teresa placed both paws on Rowan's leg and pressed hard. Rowan cried out as a sickening pop was heard. "Holy fucking cross-dressing son of Barbossa by Davy Jones!"

"Ew?" Bill turned away from Tris' chest to look at the pained she-wolf.

"Alright." Teresa said simply, "I need splints now." She turned to the others.

"What can we use?" Robert fiddled with his pool cue.

Rowan glared at the ferret. "You're holding a long piece of wood."

Robert looked left, then right, "So're you."

"I just broke my leg, I need more reach!" Rowan snapped.

"Ro we're safe now," Teresa said sweetly, "You don't need a weapon."

"Robert?" Tris said simply. "Lemme see your cue."

Rowan looked between Tris and Teresa, "I need a weapon." She grasped Teresa's arm. "You didn't see what happened to Kat and Rainbow."

"No." Robert clung to his cue protectively, "My stick."

Rowan glowered at the ferret, "Give me that bloody exaggeration of your phallic region before I bite said region in two!"

Robert's eyes widened as he got the full meaning of that statement, before tossing it to Tris. "Now he has it!"

Tris blinked, "What?!?"

Bill looked at the cue, "That's far too long." He grinned and reached for his axe. He looked up at Tris, who rolled his eyes, smirking. Bill grinned and took the cue from Tris as he snagged the axe off the table he had so wanted to chop into tiny bits.

"Wait, what happened to Kat and Rainbow?" Teresa said nervously.

"They were taken." Tris said in the best euphemism he could think of for what had happened. The silence following was shattered by Bill cutting the pool cue with his axe. He cut it again, making thirds.

Setting down the axe, he picked up the pieces and looked at the blood that had smeared onto either end. "I'll go wash these off, K?" Teresa nodded to Bill and he moved into the kitchen. The sound of running faucets and rain against the window filled the space between the five situated around the room, watched from above...

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"Take no chances." Bill got some water boiling fairly quickly on one of the burners and dunked the bloodied ends into it. "Die evil zombie virus." He said simply and held them there, careful not to burn his paw. After a few minutes he flipped them over and boiled the other side clean. He turned off the burner and poured the ruddy water into the trash can, "Can't have zombie fishes..." There was a loud thud and some shouting. He grasped the pieces and ran out of the kitchen ready for action. Upon arriving he saw Leona standing in the middle of the room, clinging to Tris' waist. Bill growled and shoved the makeshift splints into Teresa's arms. He contemplated getting his axe, but decided to forgo it for the poke of doom. "Excuse me, you seem to be latched onto my boyfriend."

Tris was somewhere between irritated at Leona and happy to see her at the same time. The upside was she wasn't dead. The downside was that she might end up dead if she didn't detach soon... "Does anyone have the jaws of life handy?"

She turned her head towards Bill, "Your boyfriend, My brother. Which has precedence, huh?" She then continued to cling. Tris attempted to walk, holding his pants up with a finger since the lioness's weight was dragging at them.

He made his way to Markie and began to pry Leona off slower than he would have liked, "I believe this is yours..." Markie sighed and helped peel her girlfriend off of the shirtless hare who was barely keeping his pants on. As soon as he was free however, he felt an impact. He looked down and Bill had taken the position Leona had been in, chuuring softly. He blushed at this and looked around. Markie was smirking, Leona was pouting, but clinging to Markie nonetheless, Teresa was ripping fabric, Rowan was giggling, and Robert was covering his eyes. He looked down at Bill again, who was grinning like an idiot.

Leona was first to speak, "Oh, so it's alright when he does it? I feel unloved..."

"Er... love?" Tris said, blushing deeper.

"Hmmm?" Bill said, intoxicated by Tris' bellyfur, or possibly the area below it.

Tris looked around the room again, "They're all looking at us..."

Bill grinned dazedly, "Let'm watch."

Tris' eyes widened as Bill readjusted his hold to grasp Tris' rump through his pants and began nuzzling his crotch. He cleared his throat, "So, Leona, what sort of weaponry do you have on you?"

Leona was loath to look away from the display and didn't respond except to move away from Markie to get at a better viewing angle. Markie, however knew the business Tris was desperately trying to get back to, and pulled Leona's shirt off over her head. Underneath was an elaborate harness that was covered in a makeshift arsenal of weapons. "Oh my god." Robert said, looking at all the shiny pain-causing implements.

Leona pouted turning to Markie (Revealing a Ninja-tsu along her spine), "You could have let me keep the shirt on. I would have answered once they were done..."

Bill slipped out of his reverence enough to turn to see what all the commotion was about. His eyes widened behind his round glasses. "Finally. Actual weaponry!" He stood immediately but Tris kept him from pouncing Leona with an arm.

Rowan smirked at the display, "Leona, you are gonna share the wealth on that right?"

"Some of it." She began to pull weapons out of slots and holsters, laying them on one of the round tables. "And I better get them back. Mine..." She stepped away, revealing a Glock, two Desert Eagles, Two Dirks, some spiked gloves, and the Ninja-tsu.

Bill grasped the Glock and shoved it into his belt, "Finally..." Leona blinked at how fast he had moved to get there and looked back at Tris, who shrugged, "You need a gun for killing Zombies."

"Tris, could you snag me one of those shiny guns? I need range now more than ever." Rowan set aside the pool cue.

Tris moved over to the table and picked up both Desert Eagles and carried them to Rowan. "Here, take both." Teresa clicked her tongue at the idea of weapons in general and began to use the strips of fabric to affix the three sections of pool cue to Rowan's leg. Tris turned to see Robert with the Ninja-tsu. "Robert, this isn't the cutlery store that happens to sell decorative swords. That thing is real."

Leona spoke up with a smirk. "All my weapons are pointy, shiny and blooded on cute, cuddly forest animals and hobos."

Teresa looked over, before looking back to Rowan, "She's..." She looked back down at her work, then back at Rowan, "She's joking right?"

"You can't be too sure." Rowan said cryptically.

Robert grinned, "Really?"

"Okay, not really all of them," Leona said tilting her head to one side and pouting out her lower lip a bit, "But a good number..."

Robert grinned, "Cool!" He drew the blade carefully and looked at it, as if trying to see if there were bloodstains. Leona just glared at him as if his interest was a malicious attack at her post-slaughter cleanup skills. He spun it experimentally then re-sheathed it. He then fiddled with his belt, attempting to make it stay on his waist.

Tris smirked at this, then took the spiked gloves and tossed them to Teresa, who had just stood, having finished setting Rowan's leg. "Gods-forbid you have to use those, but if they get too close, sock them hard in the temple with one of those. Should make them go down." Rowan groaned, feeling her leg gingerly.

Leona spoke up with a grin. "Or backhand them. More force, and the spikes dig in better."

Tris thought for a moment on the physics of that, "Yeah, that's better." Leona nodded smugly.

Meanwhile, Markie took the dirks and felt their weight. She took off the sidebag filled with safety scissors and used the strap to affix the sheathes to her.

"Now that you're armed, can I get my shirt back?" Leona held out a paw to Markie.

"You usually don't care." Rowan said in a matter-of-fact manner.

Leona turned to the wolf, "Concealed weapons aren't half as fun if they're not concealed."

"Can't fight with that logic." Bill said. Markie begrudgingly gave her girlfriend her shirt. Bill looked Tris up and down, "You didn't get anything?"

"I'm fine with what I have, and anyway," Tris said simply, with a bit of a wry smile, "Leona only took off what she could bear to remove from her possession, even temporarily."

Leona nodded almost violently. "Everything else is worth more then any of your lives."

"That's..." Markie said slowly. "Reassuring..."

Leona smiled, "I love you and all, but I love my weapons more when there are zombies on the loose."

Rowan smirked, "I know the feeling."

"Say, Leona," Tris' brow furrowed "Do you have any spare magazines on you?"

"Looking for reading material, Tris?" Teresa smirked.

"I think he meant magazines of the ammunition type." Leona said pointedly to the mouse. "And no, I don't. Strangely, for once I wasn't expecting zombies. All my extra weapons and ammo and stuff are in my bag."

Bill's ears drooped. "Well, Balls."

Leona glared. "Well, fine, I'm sorry I was not prepared for an army of zombies."

"It's alright." Markie said calmly. "We just need to go back and get her bags--"

"Are you crazy?" Bill looked at Markie incredulously. "We just got set up in a good fortress!"

Leona rolled her eyes. "Then those who haven't gotten enough chances for zombie killing, like myself, can go get them, and leave the rest of you here."

"I'm going too." Tris retrieved his sidebag and crossbow from where he had left them and put them on, leaving the bathrobe be since he noticed that Teresa shredded it to tie the splints to Rowan's leg.

Rowan pulled her keycard out, "Here. ****" (Number deleted)

"Wait, What?" Bill said, spinning to look at Tris as he took the card, "Love, it's safe here!"

"Yeah, but for how long?" Tris came up close to Bill. "We need more ammo if we're gonna hold this place." Bill still looked distraught.

"Anyone else up for Zombie slaughter then?" Leona asked the assembled furs.

"All for it, Lock and Load." Robert grinned like an idiot.

"Robert, you have a sword." Rowan glowered at him

"And it's not a Gunblade." Leona smirked.

Robert blinked, "I knew that..."

"Markie?" Leona looked to her girlfriend, "You coming? It was your Idea, after all."

"But why do you have to go?" Bill said to Tris softly, "Robert can help Leona carry stuff..."

"I think I'll pass." Markie smirked. "I need to help Rowan protect these two." She received more than one glare.

"Because," Tris said, softly hugging the smaller rabbit, "I'm the only one who has any chance of controlling the AI in that building."

"Ooh, an AI? What did I miss?" Leona said, her interest piqued.

Rowan spoke up, "For some reason, the Gazebo Corporation has put a secret lab in the basement of Tan Oak, which is monitored by AI calling itself White Rabbit, which manifests as a holographic image of a young rabbit boy. It also only responds to Tristan and Bill, calling Bill 'Tristan's Mate'."

Bill nodded, "He was sufficiently creepy."

"Nice." Leona grinned. "Fun times, then?"

"Indeed" Markie nodded simply.

"So you know why I have to go, right?" Tris said softly.

"I understand, but I don't have to like it." Bill held Tris tight.

"Gods, get a room, guys." Rowan rolled her eyes.

"Wouldn't matter," Tris stuck his tongue out at her. "You'd spy on us anyway."

"Be safe, okay?" Bill softly released Tris. "I love you."

"I love you too." Tris leaned in and kissed Bill tenderly. He pulled away and turned to Robert and Leona, "You guys ready?"

Robert fiddled with the scabbard, "I think so."

"I've been ready the whole time you two have been having a scene out of some bad fanfic." Leona rolled her eyes. Tris gave her the two finger salute and headed toward the back of the J. Robert nearly skipped behind him at the prospect of more violence. Leona smiled over at Bill, "Don't worry. I'll make sure those two don't get into trouble."

"By all means, let Robert get into trouble, just keep Tris safe." Bill said, trying to hide his worry.

"No, no. I leave no dead bodies." She moved to turn, but then looked back to Bill, "Except those of my enemy, of course. Without those, the entire exercise would be useless." She grinned disarmingly and followed the two males out the back. Bill sighed and sat next to Rowan, across from Teresa. Rowan reached out and put a paw on his shoulder, giving an assuring rub.

Leona reached the bottom of the stairs where the other two were waiting. "This is standard zombie fare, right? Aim for the head and all that?"

"From what we can tell. We haven't exactly had time to experiment." Tris shrugged.

"I have." Robert grinned.

Tris just looked at Robert, "Sometimes I worry about Ferretkind, Robert."

Leona rolled her eyes, "Boys, stop teasing each other until we're actually in battle. It looks better in the movie that way."

"The film-makers'll just change it so that the same argument occur during a fight, so who cares?" Robert grinned.

"Robert, you assume that even if we survive this that anyone would believe us, or even let us tell the story?" Tris sighed and started toward the bridge.

Leona followed, still grinning, "We've got enough writers amongst us someone can write the screenplay. It'll all work out."

Tris reached the edge of the commons and looked out at the bridge. It was empty. He looked down. "Holy shit." He whispered. There was a sea of undead milling and flowing at the bottom of the canyon. He stepped back from the edge and leaned against one of the pillars dividing the windows of the outside of the housing office. Leona arrived, soon followed by Robert.

Leona looked over the edge, staring at the zombies for a moment, finally saying with a frown, "Why couldn't I have brought grenades or something? I do close combat, this sucks." She turned back to the two males, Robert still having not seen the peril.

"Have any in your bags?" Tris smiled wryly at the lioness' reaction to peril.

"Umm... No, I don't think so. I don't usually go up against armies." She thought for a moment before smirking. "I know how to make a Molotov Cocktail, though."

"But do you have any liquor on you?" Tris sighed, "'Cuz I sure as Hel don't."

"No... Markie would have, but I don't." Leona shrugged.

Tris shrugged, "We'll just have to go back and get some then."

"Uh, guys? I think we got their attention..." Robert was pointing in the direction they had come from. More zombies coming from the Cypress dorm on the same side of the canyon as the J. The walkway that they stood on connected directly to the walkway of the second level of Cypress.

"Fight our way back or fight our way forward? Two choices, guys." Leona flicked her wrists, unsnapping the wrist snaps and letting two of her throwing daggers fall into her hands.

"No way we're fighting back and leading them right to our hiding spot," Tris said, readying his crossbow. "Going into the valley is suicide." He reached into his bag, "The bridge is the shortest and easiest way, 'specially since there's no Zombies that way, last time we checked."

Leona looked over Tris' shoulder and her eyes widened. "There's a problem with that last statement, Tris."

Tris looked. What appeared to have once been frogs were stalking back and forth on the other end of the bridge. They had been mutated however and had webbed spines along their backs and the backs of their arms. Their mouths wrapped halfway around their head. One of them yawned, revealing a maw that could swallow someone whole, which seemed to be their purpose, especially from the five feet of tongue that whipped out from inside that abyss, searching for prey. "That's just not right..."

"What the fuck are those?" Robert whispered, wide-eyed.

"So back to the two choices?" Leona looked over at Tris, then back toward the approaching zombies.

Tris looked out at Cypress. The Cypress dormitories were a staircase shaped building going up the side of the valley. The bottom 'step' of the building came around in a curve to end at the shortest point across the street on the valley floor. Directly across from it was the fire access road leading directly to Tan Oak. No Zombies were over there, most of them on Cypress heading toward them and the rest on the level below milling against the broken windows of the common's lower level. "We can go around. Follow me."