After a short good-bye, Matt disconnected the call. The admiral's dedication to the mission was inspiring. It gave Matt hope that Uncle Sam wasn't trying to sweep this problem under the rug. When this was all over, Matt might still have a career left.

That question had been running through his mind for a while now. He knew where all the bodies were buried, after all. That could either work out to be a very good thing for him career-wise, or a very bad thing. Which it would ultimately prove to be was still up for grabs.

This early in the autumn, the night air wasn't all that cold. The campus was hopping with life in the main areas as Xavier and Sarah drove through in her patrol car. They made a quick stop at the security office to let the campus cops know they planned to conduct a search on the premises. They had a little trouble with a supervisor until Xavier placed a call and had the rent-a-cop set straight.

"Lot of people around here," Xavier commented as they rolled slowly around the loop road that ringed the perimeter of the main areas of the big campus. There was a network of smaller roads passing through the center of the grounds surrounded by wooded areas beyond the loop road.

"It's well-lit, too. Even at night. Chances are the zombies won't want to get caught in the lights near the center of campus."

"They'll be in the woods."

"Yeah, but where? Nearly the whole campus has pockets of dense trees."

"Well, they need someplace to hide during the day. Are there any dorms or empty buildings near one of the larger thickets of trees?"

Sarah thought for a moment. "Over near the train station." She swung the car around. "It's a spur of the Long Island Railroad that doesn't get much activity compared to the rest of the system."

The tracks were dark. Only the small station was lit by a few lonely light posts when they arrived. Sarah parked her patrol car near the edge of the big commuter lot. There were a number of cars still parked, waiting for their owners. The school offered night classes for those who worked during the day and Sarah knew more than a few students would be either walking to their cars or catching a late train in a few hours' time as the night classes ended.

The tracks themselves were kept free of debris. Only scrubby weeds grew here and there-those that had escaped the conscientious LIRR trimming crews this time. The trees were well back from the tracks, but dense.

"Over there." Xavier spoke in low tones. "If I were a zombie, I'd go for a spot like that."

She saw what he meant. The gloom was intense. And to top it all off, a light layer of fog was beginning to form low to the ground. Fog wasn't too unusual in certain areas of Long Island, especially at this time of year, but it still creeped Sarah out.

"Will that fog get any thicker?" Xavier asked.

"Not likely. Fog isn't too prevalent out here. Just in certain spots and under certain weather conditions. Of course, I could be wrong."

"Great." He shot her a look filled with concern despite his sarcastic tone. "Just stay close."

He surprised her by grabbing her hand. Startled, she sought his gaze and found him struggling for words. The emotion on his face floored her. He was genuinely worried for her, and not in a casual way. The man looked like he was in agony. She squeezed his hand.

"It'll be all right." She knew darn well she was walking into a potential lion's den, but she had no other choice. "We're armed to the teeth and immune. What could go wrong?"

They had restocked their ammo and added extra clips in addition to what they'd already been carrying. It was bulky but worth it, considering how many darts it took to end those infected with this particular strain of the contagion.

"Everything could go wrong, Sarah." Vulnerability showed on his face for a stark moment. "I don't want to lose you, mon ange mon ange. You're clear on the use of the headset?"

He tapped the side of her face where a small microphone now rested. Sam had outfitted her with one of the unit's miniature radios for short-range communication. She and Xavier could talk to each other as long as they stayed within about a half mile.

"Clear, Captain." She tried to cheer him with a smile, but it wasn't working. Xavier was as serious as she'd ever seen him. She tried a different tack. "You know there's no other way. Our first priority has to be protecting the kids on this campus from the contagion. If Sellars or his people make a grab for me, I'll fight like hell, but for now I have no other choice but to go in there and get the creatures before they have a chance to ravage this campus. You know I'm right."

"I know, dammit." He looked pained. "If there were any other way..."

"You know there's not." She squeezed his hand once more. "It'll be okay. No matter what happens."

"Dieu." He pulled her in for a quick hug, tight, almost bone crushing, and heartfelt. "Promise me you'll be careful, Sarah." He let her go but didn't go far. He pulled her in for a quick hug, tight, almost bone crushing, and heartfelt. "Promise me you'll be careful, Sarah." He let her go but didn't go far.

"I promise."

Xavier seemed to pull it together right in front of her eyes. His spine straightened, though there was still an echo of softness in his gaze as he looked at her. The commander was back, but he was tempered with the lover she'd come to know over the past hours. Nothing would ever make him seem a stranger to her again.

"All right. Let's do this. Back-to-back, if we get cornered. Otherwise, stay in my line of sight at all times. I'll do the same. We need to stay together in there, no matter what they throw at us. We can't help each other if we get separated."

"Roger that, Captain." She sent him a soft smile that said she understood his worry and shared it. He nodded and off they went, side by side, into almost certain danger.

"Could this get any creepier? The fog, the trees and brambles, the lonely train tracks off to one side, rising on an embankment as the ground dipped. Damn," Xavier mused aloud as they made their way into the unknown.

Sarah's soft chuckle at his side warmed him. Her presence also scared the shit out of him. She was the target, and he was escorting her right into the maw of a ravenous beast intent on capturing her and taking her away. He had to be insane to allow this, but she was right. They had no alternative.

To his knowledge, there were only four people on Earth at the moment who were proven immune to the contagion. Xavier, Sarah and the two operatives working back at Fort Bragg. He knew one of them. A SEAL he'd worked with once before named Simon. He didn't know who the other was. Whoever he was, he'd been brought in after Xavier and his team had been sent to Long Island.

There just wasn't anyone else they could safely send against these things. Sellars had devised the perfect setup for a trap, and they all knew it. He'd be a fool to pass up an opportunity like this. Sellars might appear to be apeshit crazy, but he'd already proven he wasn't a fool.

One good thing in this craptastic situation was that Sellars wanted Sarah alive. Even if he did manage to get past Xavier and take her, he wouldn't harm her. He needed her alive so he could figure out what had happened in her body when exposed to the contagion to produce her results.

Sellars needed to know why Sarah was immune. For whatever reason, Sellars didn't seem to realize, or didn't care, that Xavier was also immune. The rogue scientist's target was Sarah, not Xavier. From the video, Sellars seemed to assume her so-called "military escort" was some nameless, faceless soldier who was just along for the ride.

Xavier would be only too happy to show Sellars how very wrong he was. No doubt the scientist expected him to fight, and to fall. Sellars had no idea Xavier wouldn't go down that easily. That was the only ace in the hole Xavier and Sarah had going for them at the moment.

"I have movement to my left," Sarah said softly. "About ten yards in."

Xavier immediately went to high alert. "I see it. Let's keep the railroad tracks to our left or our backs. I don't think they'll cross the open area where the tracks are to come in behind us." The tracks were a good five feet above where they stood. A small hill covered with grass rose from the edge of the trees and the tracks rode its ridge.

About fifty yards into the trees, they had to halt. "They're in front of us now and to our right," Sarah breathed into the foggy silence.

The zombies were arranged like an offensive line. It looked like the most gruesome football team of all time. Even worse, each guy was bigger than the next-bloody, ragged and disturbing as hell. This was not going to be fun.

"As soon as you see a clear target, start shooting. We don't have time to waste." Xavier raised his weapon, waiting for the distant signs of movement to take form in the fog. Damn the weather. These were not ideal circumstances for this kind of mission, but they had to play the hand they were dealt. "You take the ones in front, I've got the right flank."

They positioned themselves, their backs at a ninety-degree angle to each other, ready for action. It came sooner than expected as the zombies did something Xavier had never seen another of their kind do. They rushed forward, like an offensive line, faster than he would have credited.

They were male. Young and big. College students, no doubt. Poor kids. Scratch that. They were a fearsome line of undead muscle making a killer play for him and Sarah.

"Retreat!" he urged, already moving backward, firing as he went. Sarah was right beside him, getting off a few shots as well, but there were too many of them.

"I think the whole freaking football team was infected."

Sarah's voice came to him, low, urgent and filled with both resolve and fear. It was the fear that nearly killed him, but they had to muscle through.

"Oh, God," she breathed.

Xavier followed Sarah's gaze to the line of zombies that were moving faster than any he'd ever seen. They weren't running, exactly. It was more like a fast shuffle. Still, it was intimidating when paired with the size and quantity of the creatures closing in on them.

Then he saw her. A young woman. Maybe eighteen or nineteen years old. She wasn't a zombie yet, but she was in the clutches of one. She was beating at his chest and screaming a name. Tony. Maybe the zombie holding her had once been someone the girl knew.

"We've got to help her." Sarah kept firing, just as he did.

He'd hit each one of the creatures once. There were at least eight of them in his sights. He popped an empty ammo clip and reloaded on the fly, sending another round of darts home. He noticed Sarah doing the same, though she was a little slower on the reload than he was. That was to be expected. She wasn't used to this weapon and hadn't practiced with it as much as he'd have liked.

"I've got eight targets with two darts in each. How about you?"

"Seven. I'm working on the second rounds now."

"Let's get four in each and then we can do something about the girl."

"They're moving too fast. I don't think we'll make it." She kept firing, even as doubt entered her voice.

"We'll make it. We can retreat up the embankment to the railroad tracks if we have to."

"For the record, I don't like this."

Her grim humor hit him head-on and he realized something important. He was falling in love with Sarah Petit. The gutsy woman at his side was the perfect partner for him in any situation, including the most unlikely comrade-in-arms he'd ever considered. She was beautiful, smart, funny and courageous, not to mention the way they lit each other on fire in bed. She could very well be the one.

Hell of a time to realize it. Xavier shook his head and kept firing.

"I don't like it, either, but it's what we've got." He wanted to say something profound but there wasn't any time. The enemy was closing in and already they were inching their way up the embankment.

The tracks above curved to the west, toward Manhattan, and there was a grassy field beyond. No lights. It wouldn't stop the zombies. The whole area was dark and foggy, just the way they liked it.

A quick glance at Sarah told him she was reloading, working on putting her third round in each target. He'd just finished his third round and was on to the fourth. He'd be able to help her finish off her targets as soon as he'd completed his. Then they'd see about the girl. She was being dragged along with the zombie she kept calling Tony, but it didn't look like the creature that had once been a man cared about the girl beating at his chest. He was intent on Sarah and Xavier, working with his nightmare team to box them in against the embankment, forcing them to climb it.

Xavier didn't understand the tactic, but then he'd never really understood what motivated any of the creatures he'd faced. This new variety was even more perplexing. The girl's wailing was grating on his nerves, but he and Sarah had to focus on their jobs. Rescuing the girl would have to come later.

Four darts in each target, Xavier turned to help Sarah with her group. They worked well together, in synch without having to say a word.

"Now what?" Sarah asked when every one of the zombies had been darted four times. Even the one that still held the screaming girl. Shooting that one had taken some tricky aiming, but it had been done all the same.

"Now we wait for them to crumble." Xavier took hold of Sarah's elbow as they walked backward up the steep incline toward the railroad tracks. They kept their eyes on the zombies who had slowed now that they were closing in on their quarry.

"They're taking an awfully long time to dissolve."

An eternity, Xavier thought privately. As soon as this was over, Xavier was going to put a call in to Commander Sykes and see if he could get the science team to pep up the toxic darts. These weren't cutting it, especially when faced with large numbers of these new-and-improved zombies. Xavier thought privately. As soon as this was over, Xavier was going to put a call in to Commander Sykes and see if he could get the science team to pep up the toxic darts. These weren't cutting it, especially when faced with large numbers of these new-and-improved zombies.

Sarah was behind him, a little farther up the hill, when the first of the creatures started to wobble, then crumple into nothing. One by one, they all went down.

"About time," Sarah muttered. She was a few paces away, closer to the tracks, and as the creatures fell her face lit with triumph.

"I'll get the girl. Stay close." Xavier moved forward, confident Sarah would follow right behind.

As the zombie holding her disintegrated, the girl was freed. Xavier ran to her, rolling her onto her back, away from the gooey mess that had been the man she'd called Tony.

She was badly scratched, and her shoulder was a bleeding mess of teeth marks and missing flesh. Chances were good she was already dead.

"What's your name, sweetheart?"

She was sobbing as her life slipped away. The least he could do was find out who she was before she succumbed, so that her family could be notified.

"Donna. Donna Sullivan. Tony Bosco was my boyfriend." She cried harder. "What happened to him?" She was hysterical now, losing energy with every sob.

She was fading fast, but Xavier couldn't be absolutely sure whether it was just unconsciousness or contagion-induced death coming to call. He'd bet on the latter, but he'd give her a chance to prove him wrong before he darted her. Leaving her on the ground, he did a quick survey to find Sarah. She should have been right next to him.

"Sarah?" A knot of dread formed in the pit of his stomach. He started up the embankment toward where he'd seen her last.

And there she was, struggling in the clutches of three big men. One had her caught in a bear hug from behind, trapping her arms, while the others each had one of her legs. They were zombies, but they didn't seem to want to bite her.

Then Xavier caught sight of a shadowy figure, a man standing about ten yards behind them. He stood next to a white cargo van, and suddenly his intent became clear to Xavier. The zombies were doing Sellars's dirty work for him. They'd captured Sarah and were shuffling back to their master with her in their clutches.

Not for long, Xavier vowed. Taking aim, he fired on the run, hitting the two who had hold of her legs. But neither one flinched. He fired again. He had to be careful not to hit Sarah. Panic was driving him. He had to get to her in time. But they were too far apart, and the creatures were moving faster than ever before.

He kept firing. He'd shot the two at her feet with four darts each. The one behind her had one sticking out of his neck and one in his arm, but he was holding Sarah in a way that prevented Xavier from taking any other shots. It wasn't intentional but it was damned effective. He couldn't chance hitting her with the deadly toxin. He paused to aim-this time it would be a shot to the head.

Xavier pulled the trigger, grotesquely pleased when the dart sank into its ruined face and lodged in the back of its throat. That was three.

Sarah saw him and screamed. "Xavier!"

He looked up to see a train bearing down on him as he neared the tracks. Sarah and her attackers were on the other side. The train rounded the curve that had hidden it from view until that very moment, and its bright headlights pinned him in place, slicing through the fog. There was no time to get across. Even as he started forward, he felt the whoosh whoosh of compressed air against his whole body as the train tore through the night. of compressed air against his whole body as the train tore through the night.

"Xavier!" he heard her scream again as the train roared past.

He dug his phone out of his pants pocket and hit one of his speed dial buttons. Nobody could hear him above the roar, but they'd know for damn sure that something was up. They'd be put on alert.

He leapt from side to side, waiting for an opening, but the train was too damn long. Car after car sped past. He tried to see through the breaks in the cars, but everything was a blur. He could just make out the large white rectangle of the cargo van. He couldn't see much else. And then the blurry white rectangle was gone.

Xavier spat out every curse he could think of, knowing he had failed. His chances of rescuing Sarah diminished with each train car that passed. How the fuck long were these things, anyway? He'd already counted nine cars, and more rounded the bend with each shouted curse from his lips.

Finally, all twelve cars had passed and the tracks were once again clear. Xavier didn't wait for the dust to settle. He ran across the tracks, only to step in a pile of goo. At least one of the bastards that had taken her had already disintegrated. He didn't pause to look for the other one. More than likely, the two that had grabbed her feet were now gone. That left the third one-the one he'd managed to shoot only three times. He could still be around, or he could've gone with Sellars and Sarah in the van.

Xavier punched the speed dial on his phone one more time.

"Go," came the immediate reply. It was Sam.

"They got Sarah. She's in a white cargo van leaving campus from a grassy field about a hundred yards north of the train station. Scramble."

"On it, sir."

Sam would send the chopper and any other resources he had ready and waiting. Although the B Team had been scheduled for downtime tonight, Xavier knew Sam well enough to know he'd be ready for anything. Hell, he'd probably been waiting by the phone ready to play cavalry. Xavier would take all the help he could get at this point.

They'd taken out the zombies. Now they needed to get Sarah back. He'd move heaven and earth to make it happen.