fandomhigh | Library, Saturday, August 7

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Library, Saturday, August 7

Henry never went back to his apartment Saturday night; the couch in his office was a perfectly decent place to sleep.

And, when he looked out the window and saw some of the things across the landscape, he was pretty sure he'd made the right choice. There were pterodactyls out there.

After making what he suspected would be the first of many pots of coffee, Henry set up the research tables with the books that seemed like they'd been most useful the day before, then settled down with some of the back library files about old invasions open in front of him. He wasn't sure if it'd teach him anything new, but it was something to do.

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He's reading about the zombie invasion, and his face has gone white.

"What have you found to read?" Anakin asked, getting a look at the man's complexion.

Of course, sympathy coming from a guy who was more than a little grimy might not be the most comforting thing ever.

"Zombies," Henry said. "People here turned into zombies a few years ago."

He glanced over, trying for a quick, nervous smile that mostly just showed how uncomfortable he was. "Every time I think I understand this place, I find out something new to screw with me again. How are you doing?"

"And that was the second zombie invasion," Anakin added helpfully. "The first one was when I was still a student."

He shrugged. "It's about par for my Augusts," he finally admitted.

"For me it's Christmases," Henry said sympathetically. "I'm sorry. I want to believe we'll get through this, it's just hard to be optimistic."

He knew he wasn't supposed to die for another few years, but he wasn't sure how much that meant in a place like this. There were worse things than dying.

"It's gotten a lot worse out there," was Anakin's equally optimistic contribution. "I thought I was pretty up to date on monsters, but I don't recognize much out there other than the giant cockroaches which are now running in packs."

"I saw a pterodactyl when I looked out the window this morning," Henry answered. "And I don't suppose the way to kill those cockroaches is with really, really, really big cans of Raid."

"I haven't tried," Anakin said with a little smile. "But hitting them with something heavy slows them down."

"Use a really big shoe...." Henry mused, and shook his head. "I'm not used to fighting anything except people, and it's been a while since I fought any of them. I'm glad to be talking to a veteran."

"Oh, this happens every few months," Anakin said. "But it's generally not taking chunks of the island with it."

And if it sounded like he was taking it personally, he really, really was.

"Or people," Henry said, biting a thumbnail. "I'm down at least two aides, if the radio list was right."

His reasons for taking it personal were a bit less than Anakin's, yes.

"My daughter disappeared during her birthday dinner with me," Anakin said. "My grandson sometime earlier in the afternoon."

"I don't know," Henry said. "I'm sorry. I have a daughter, and if she was in this I'd be insane. You can't reach them, right?"

Anakin shook his head. "Straight to voicemail. I can get in touch with my wife and other daughter, though, which is the only thing keeping me even the slightest bit coherent. They live in Washington."

"That's something," Henry said. "Clare's home in Chicago. I called yesterday but I didn't really explain this. She's been through too much already, and we're at a rough patch."

And also words had failed Henry.

He rubbed at the back of his neck. "I hope all of your people get home safe."

"I hope there's something left here for them to come back to," Anakin said. "It's not like we can leave."

"Not willingly, anyhow," Henry said. "You think that could happen? Whole island just gets gobbled up by this -- whatever it is?"

"I've been doing circuits over the last few days. There's less island to cover," Anakin said, "and more things that don't belong here along with us."

Henry looked grim. He knew when he was supposed to die, and he held that date in his mind as a totem for a moment.

It just didn't seem terribly relevant. Even if he himself had another few years to go, the island and the people on it couldn't just be waved away.

"That's why we're doing what we're doing here," he said, finally. "I guess."

Anakin nodded. "They'll figure it out," he said. "I married one of the Fandom researchers. Rory'd kick my ass if I don't go home."

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Library, Saturday, August 7

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