"Nice shot, Legolas." Eve snorted in humor as they slowly approached the decaying bodies.

Jane shot a look of surprise at the vampire. "You know 'The Lord of the Rings'? Our profile indicated that you weren't very interested in most modern media..."

"I read the books-" Eve shrugged, trying to look casual- which was completely ruined by the smug grin on her face. "-when they came out in the fifties. I even gave the movies a shot; they were pretty good, I guess... Especially the guy that played Aragorn."

"Talk about sexy. Mmm...." She muttered softly, licking her lips.

"Viggo Mortensen." Oliver supplied even as he side eyed Eve- he really hadn't expected her to actually read a book... and the fact that she was somehow attracted to both him and Viggo Mortensen was kinda... flattering. "Yeah, him as Aragorn was awesome, and even I can admit that the guy is handsome."

Seeing the surprised looks from the women, he just shrugged. "What? I'm secure enough in my sexuality to admit when a man is good looking... Besides, the internet is full of memes and stories about how awesome he was on the movie set..."

"Fair enough. I probably would have made a Hawkeye reference- I loved the Avengers movies." Jane shrugged. "But, right now, we need to skip the random chatter and focus."

"Having to abandon these arrows could be a problem." She sighed, eyeing the quiver on the Devil's back- or, more specifically, counting how many arrows he had left. "At this rate, it won't be long until you run out."

Oliver let out a small chuckle and shook his head. "Never fear; I have options- and ideas."

As he spoke, the body that the zombies had previously been 'snacking' on stirred, it's arms twitching and legs jerking...

Until Eve's spear pierced through its eye and into its brain.

"Well, that at least lends some credibility to the classic, viral zombies theory." Jane nodded before shifting her attention to the blood and fluids now coating the spearhead. "We'll have to be careful about that; Our weapons ending up coated in blood and brains increases the risk level."

"Ah, but I have an idea for that!" Oliver said, posing dramatically with a single finger pointed towards the sky. "And, I assure you, it is quite brilliant- well, assuming it works, of course..."

"Yeah yeah..." Eve huffed. "Stop hamming it up and just say whatever it is!"

"Oh, how you wound me, Madam..." Oliver sighed dramatically, shaking his head. "Very well, I shall enlighten you..."

"You see, our intention is to clear this pocket of threats- while hopefully finding a few things worth keeping..." Gesturing to the nearby corpses, then the buildings and cars around them, he continued his explanation. "And, as we can see, this is all very Earth like- and at least somewhat close to modern Earth, based on the skyscraper and vehicles."

Seeing he had their attention- even if Eve was already starting to look impatient- he waved at the nearby buildings- two of them in particular: a small cafe and a convenience store. "Since we need to clear all the buildings, I suggest we start here."

"Ok..." Jane said slowly, looking back and forth between the cafe- which was apparently called 'The Bitter Bean'- and the convenience store... which was simply named 'Wright's Grocery'. Unable to see the connection between the two and whatever mysterious 'idea' the Devil had, she narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, we do need to clear them... But why these two in particular?"

"I'm glad you asked, Agent Doe." Oliver grinned under his mask. "And the answer is simple: bleach and hydrogen peroxide."

"Bleach... and hydrogen peroxide." Jane muttered, head tilting to the side as she considered why those particular chemicals. After a second, she arched an eyebrow at him. "You're hoping we can use them to disinfect the arrows?"

"And your weapons, yes."

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"Oh, great idea! I'm sure no one here thought of that!" Eve said, her voice thick with sarcasm. "I mean, really, if it was that easy to stop a zombie virus, would this place be so fucked?"

"Actually, that could work." Jane reluctantly sided with the Devil. "Both bleach and hydrogen peroxide are useful for sterilizing things. I mean, think about the flu; the virus is easily killed by any number of easily obtained chemicals, yet the majority of people still catch it every year..."

"Well, the flu is also airborne." Oliver supplied, his gaze shifting to the partially eaten corpse at his feet. "This zombie virus- if it is a virus- clearly isn't airborne."

"You're right." Jane nodded, quickly catching on to what he meant. "If it was airborne, this person likely wouldn't have survived so long... Unless the virus lies dormant until the person dies."

"If that is the case, then there's nothing we can do about it right now... Other than look for clues and answers." Oliver agreed with a sigh. "But, for now, finding some form of disinfectant is still the best idea. After that, we should definitely prioritize searching for any information about what happened."

"Maybe check some hospitals? They probably have the most important medical information about what happened." Eve supplied, earning another surprised look from Jane. Glaring up at the taller woman, she spoke through gritted teeth. "What? Your 'profile' should have told you that I'm a holocaust survivor, right?"

"Well, the fucking Nazis kept detailed records of their experiments!"

Jane blanched, both at the statement and the barely restrained fury- and the deep well of pain she saw in the vampires eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know... the information we have on you doesn't include anything like that..."

"Did... did someone you know-"

"That subject-" Eve growled. "-is not up for discussion."

Stepping between the two, Oliver held up his hands. "Let's all just take a step back, ok? Eve, Agent Doe clearly didn't mean to bring up... something like that... If anything, as someone who believes very strongly in justice and protecting people, I imagine she is rather sympathetic- and most definitely abhors those sorts of horrors and abuses."

"Yeah, she's one of those goody-goodies, always trying to save people..." Eve huffed, turning away from the group- but not before Oliver saw the unshed tears in her eyes... He didn't even know vampires could cry. "Whatever. Let's just go find the bleach or whatever..."

Jane looked on in surprise at the interaction, the brief moment of vulnerability from the vampire was... enlightening...

Though it still didn't excuse the atrocities Eve had committed, it at least helped to explain some of why she was the way she was...

Of course, the whole conversation made it clear the Devil had more influence with Eve than she had initial guessed...

"There is another question of concern." Oakheart said from the side, having mostly stayed out of the conversation as he studied the four bodies. "The one that was being... eaten..." He said slowly, a tinge of disgust in his tone. "Unlike the others, it shows no decay... And it only just now rose as an undead... So, that begs the question: When, exactly, did this person die? That question is only magnified by your previous mention of time flowing faster in here."

"Shit, that is a good point." Oliver muttered, mind already racing as he turned to study the corpse once more. "If time is flowing ten times faster in here... Well, it's hard to really judge anything, since we have no clue how these pockets get here or how long that process takes. Is it instant, or does the fragment of reality have to travel for some time... Actually, I'm not sure I want to- or even possibly can- contemplate something at that level..."

"Yeah, other than that being a good question, I'm really not following anything you're saying." Jane said as she stepped up next to him. "How would the pocket arrive here instantly? And why does it matter if it took time to travel here?"

"Ok, this is... complicated... And again, I must reiterate that I am not an expert..." Oliver sighed, shaking his head. "So, time is only vaguely understood. For all we know, it took this pocket a million years to get here- relative to us, that is. Or it took a second. Or... Actually, none of that matters." He shook his head, quickly discarding all the errant thoughts and science fiction theories flying through it. "Ok, what matters is... How much time has passed in here."

"It is possible that this reality was destroy just minutes before we entered... And it's also possible that it has been longer: days, weeks, months... Hell, possibly years..."

"But... based off the lack of decay, this guy hasn't been dead very long." Jane nodded along thoughtfully. Leaning down slightly, her nose wrinkled slightly as she sniffed, and she shook her head quickly. "This body hasn't even started to smell..."

Using her ax, she carefully rolled the body over, brushing aside the tattered remains of its shirt before studying its back.

"And there is only a little discoloration from blood pooling..."

"Best guess, this guy hasn't been dead long; definitely less than a day, possibly only a couple hours... Assuming there aren't some biological differences that I have no clue about..."

"And if this poor fellow has been dead for less than a day..." Oakheart chimed in again, his eyes scanning the nearby buildings. "Then doesn't that mean it is possible that others still live?"

"It would be one hell of a coincidence if we found the very last person to die in this city just minutes after we showed up..." Eve said as she, too, began to carefully examine the city around them.

"So... not only do we have to keep an eye out for zombies, but also for survivors." Oliver sighed; he could only imagine the horrors that such survivors had been living with in a zombie city- if there were any survivors left. "If there are survivors, we need to be careful of them."

"Desperate people tend to be unpredictable... and dangerous."

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