Max was convinced that he had been passing in and out of consciousness for the past thirty minutes, but he kept his head down between his hands to mask the fact from Herbert. The last thing he needed was for the physician to formulate yet more arguments for him to take a break or call it a day. Max fully intended to sit there and give blood until he saw Saunders' eyes flicker open once more. Part of this was down to the fact that he still owed the Doctor more than a few favours for his selfless acts back at the castle. However, if Max was being honest with himself, it was more about the pit in his stomach that told him all hope of a future with Lizzie was lost without the knowledge lodged within the unconscious mind beside him.

He could see Lizzie and JJ across the other side of the room, pressed up against the glass as if they could somehow still communicate with Dawson, or perhaps crazed clicker formerly known as Dawson was more applicable. Max wished that he could be there with them, he wishes that he could do more for his old friend, but his place was with Saunders. The only way to indirectly save Dawson now was to get the doctor back on his feet and the cure into production. That only left the small matter of a clicker horde determined to break down the hospital doors and tear them limb from limb, cure or no cure.

Just as Max pondered their next move, like a message sent from above, the elevator cable began to shake. A vast array of paranoid and worrisome questions flitted across Max's brain like a meteor shower against a clear night sky. Had they already broken it? Had the barricades not held? Were they about to be rained on by yet more clicker bodies? Were they the only ones left?

That last thought remained within his head like a bad smell that was impossible to shake. As Max looked around the room at his band of survivors, it seemed impossible to think that they could represent Novus' final stand. However, as Max's prayers turned to the likes of Rodney, George, and Gigi, a familiar face appeared at the bottom of the elevator shaft.

"Max?! Max?" Rodney puffed as he ducked beneath the opening.

"In here," Max called, aware of the fact that he was quite literally tethered to Saunders for the near future.

As Rodney darted into the treatment room, the others gathered in the doorway behind, unwilling to miss whatever the new arrival had to say.

"We held them off for as long as we could, but they're in," Rodney revealed with a deadpan expression, void of any guilt. He knew that he had carried out his job with efficiency. It had simply been only a matter of time before their defence gave way to the clickers.

"Why are you down here then?" Max asked, cocking his head to the side. "Surely they need you up there to man the defence?"

"That's the problem..." Rodney gulped. "They didn't go up, Max."

"What do you mean?"

Rodney sighed, "I mean... the clickers are on their way here. They're coming down for you... for us."

"Shit," Max exclaimed. "Shit, shit, SHIT!"

"GiGi is running the assault from above, leading a team down the stairwells to catch up with them. Hopefully, they can take a few down from behind or maybe even lure them back up... but-"

"But what?"

"I don't know," Rodney grimaced. "It's almost as if they know. Like they know what's going on down here."

The very idea of that silenced the room. While the undead had always reigned superior in terms of numbers, the survivors could take solace in the fact that they could consistently outthink their opponents. If the clickers were learning to think and plan for themselves on this scale, what hope did they have left?

"How are we looking here, Herb?" Max finally asked.

Herbert nodded, "I'd say we're about there. His vitals are improving by the minute, he's all sewn up and he has more than enough blood in his system."

Max took that as his cue to unhook himself from the transfusion and stumble towards his feet, desperately clutching at the walls to stabilise his trembling legs as he dragged himself across the room.

"You, any sign of them?" he called out towards the one remaining Novus guard.

"Haven't heard a peep yet," the guard informed. "But this door is barricaded good and proper now. It would take a fair bit to knock it down."

No sooner had the words left his lips than a bony yellow hand exploded from an exposed panel of the door behind him, sinking a single dirty nail into the corner of his mouth like a sinister fishhook. The undead hand yanked the guard with such immense force that his head cracked against a protruding chair leg, killing him instantly. Within just three seconds, the survivors' final barricade had transformed from Fort Knox to a garden shed.

Max was frozen in shock for the next few seconds before his jelly legs instinctively dragged him towards the danger. He threw himself against the table at the base of the barricade, pinned his back up against it and pushed with all of his remaining energy, albeit a withering amount. Within the blink of an eye, JJ and Lizzie were sat by his side in solidarity.

"How long before you can wake our friend up," Max yelled back at Herbert, feeling the clickers testing the strength of the blockade behind him for the first time.

The creaking hinges served as a soundtrack of torment as the door was already beginning to wilt under the pressure of the horde.

"He's out of the woods but I won't be able to get him up and moving for a while," Herbert replied begrudgingly, wishing he had better news.

Max swore under his breath, "Then we'll have to shift him on our own."

"And how the hell are we going to do that?" JJ panted as the soles of his shoes squeaked against the shiny floor, desperately searching for some purchase to push back against the clickers.

"Same way we came down."

Max made a quick substitution motion with his fingers, urging Rodney to take his place against the table before hauling himself to his feet. Now running on adrenaline, he stumbled over to the elevator shaft and looked up into the darkness, finally re-emerging with the end of the rope.

"Coast looks clear up there," he announced. "Herb, get Saunders unhooked from all that shit and ready to go in two minutes. Rodney, you're climbing up the shaft first and calling down when you're in position. Then we send up Lizzie with the doctor-"

"Why me?!" Lizzie interjected.

"Because you're the lightest," Max continued – a fair point that silenced his daughter.

He continued, "Then we send up Lizzie with the doctor to make sure he doesn't fall to his death before we even save him. Then you can pull Herb up, then JJ, then me. Sound good?"

He didn't wait for an answer, instead tumbling through the treatment room door to assist Herbert with Saunders' preparation. Luckily for them, the treatment table came with wheels, so getting him to the shaft entrance itself would be a piece of cake.

"Sorry, Herbert," Max said. "We have to get the Doc here safe and sound before any of us take priority."

Herbert smiled, "I'm old, not stupid. Just tell me what you need."

"Him... in front of that elevator, 60 seconds," Max instructed.

"Done."

Confident that Saunders was in capable hands, Max steadied himself and toppled out into the main laboratory once more, like a drunken man on a mission. He flopped down onto the floor, his legs thanking him for a welcome break, and re-took his place against the barricade. Since his last stint as a human barrier, a few extra clicker hands had emerged through the splintered doors.

"Time to climb, Rodders," he wheezed.

Needing no further instructions, Rodney bounded over to the elevator shaft with his long, gangly legs and vanished into the darkness, using the wires to haul himself up bit by bit. One minute later, his familiar panicked tones revealed that he had swiftly made it to the summit.

It was now Lizzie's turn to vacate her point on the far left of the barricade as she met Herbert beside the lift. Between the two of them, they managed to carefully loop the rope around Saunders' midriff, ensuring to tighten it enough to secure him in position, but not so restricting that it would do damage. Once Lizzie had positioned herself with one firm hand on the rope above and another on Saunders' waistband, she called up to Rodney to begin the ascent. Just as she too disappeared out of view, Lizzie afforded one last glance back at Max and JJ, mouthing 'I love you' as she went.

Despite her small stature, Max and JJ sorely missed Lizzie's plucky strength at the end of the barricade. The door was beginning to give way and the best intentions of the two men would do little in keeping their undead enemies at bay.

"Herb... pen... paper," Max growled between clenched breaths.

"A pen and paper? Why?"

"Just... do... it."

Herbert scurried back into the treatment room and filtered through a series of metal draws before returning with a clipboard, attached with both paper and a biro. Just as he dropped them at Max's feet, Lizzie gave the all-clear for the old man to loop himself into the makeshift harness in preparation for his own getaway.

"Good luck," he nodded as he ducked under the shaft entrance, unsure of what else to say in such a scenario.

Max and JJ could feel the clicker bodies piling against the door en masse behind them, their bodies physically inching along the floor as the door edged open.

"Want to... make a run for it... climb together?" JJ suggested, his hamstrings burning in pain from the assault.

"Then what?"

JJ glanced across at Max, "What do you mean?"

"No explosives... barely any ammo... then what?" Max gasped.

JJ hadn't spared a thought beyond the mad dash to flee up the elevator shaft, but Max had a point. What would happen once they made it to the top? The clickers would likely only follow them back up the stairwell and there was only so long they could hold them at bay for, especially once their weapons ran dry. It was all or nothing. Either every clicker had to die, or no human could live.

"I'm guessing... you have a plan?" JJ hypothesised.

"Half a plan," Max winked, jotting something down on the piece of paper Herbert had delivered. "On three, run like hell and start climbing."

"What about you?" JJ asked.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!"