"Stay back and let me work," I said, moving toward the advancing infected. "And whatever you do, don't touch anything electrical."
The sparks behind the metal grill cast dancing shadows across the loading dock, turning the confrontation into something out of a nightmare. But I'd fought in worse conditions, and these infected were no different from the hundreds I'd put down over the past weeks.
I clenched the steel spike firmly in my right hand and drew the hand axe with my left. I walked toward the infected with measured steps, calculating distances and angles of attack, when I noticed Elena moving up beside me with her crowbar ready.
"Elena..." I started, concern creeping into my voice.
"Don't underestimate me," she said firmly, her voice carrying a confidence I hadn't heard from her before. "I can fight as well as anyone here."
