Lizzie was thankful that Dawson was still unconscious; she couldn't imagine staring into those eyes and seeing anything but the friend she knew and loved. Even Max had done his best to resist meeting the glare of those empty red chasms as he'd hauled her into the hospital, but they were impossible to ignore. Not only did they extract any form on humanity from the wearer, they also made Max feel just as cold and hollow. They made him feel like he'd never known her. That he'd meant nothing to her. That he was worthless to her. Of course, he realised none of it was true, but the lack of any glimmer of recognition on a face he knew so well was haunting.

"What the bloody hell are you playing at, mate?" one of the survivors wheezed, glaring down at Max and his new companion.

Max chose not to respond, instead clambering to his feet and dusting himself down.

"You risked that lot getting in here for a damn clicker?" the man added.

Max cracked his neck and gritted his teeth, using every fibre of self-control to restrain himself from knocking the guy out. He wasn't to know. After all, to a person who had no previous run-in with Dawson, it did look as if Max had waded into a clicker hoard and risked the fall of Novus to bring a living corpse into the sanctuary.

"I have my reasons," Max replied coldly, before checking on the progress of those barricading the door.

Luckily the entrance acted as a bottleneck for the rampaging clicker army, giving them only around two metres of space to push up against the door. Even a horde of this size wouldn't bite and claw their way through concrete.

"I want this front door sealed with anything and everything you can find. Then push back, lock the next set of doors, and barricade them too. Get the survivors in the canteen to move up to the top floors, then follow them up and seal every door and stairwell on your way. We need to put as many doors and blockades between us and them as possible," Max ordered, nodding towards the clickers smashing their battered faces against the glass door.

A couple of people broke off from the main group to fetch the canteen dwellers, while the others sprinted around the entrance hall to scavenge anything else that could strengthen the front entrance. A few of the bigger blokes were even slowly shifting the main hospital desk to wedge in front of the door.

One woman lingered for a moment, "And, what shall we do with her?"

Max glanced down at the motionless Dawson, "Put her in one of the containment cells down in the lab, I'll be down soon."

"What now?" Lizzie asked.

"Up," Max replied, before turning back to his survivors. "And don't forget to round up all the canteen food, the ammo, and the fuel to bring up with us. God knows how long we'll have to ride this out."

Max led the way up the staircase, making turn after turn to reach the summit of the hospital, with Lizzie on his left shoulder. The silence pained him.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to put you first," Max finally sighed with a heavy heart. "That's not what a good father is supposed to do."

"Then why can't you do it?" Lizzie probed.

Max stopped for a second and looked his daughter in the eyes, "Because if I put you first at the moment, we all die."

"And what if you die before you get the chance to put me first?" Lizzie asked.

Max continued to climb the stairs again, he had no answer for her.

"I know, I know," Lizzie continued, already regretting her comment. "It's who you are. You're a fighter. You're trying to save the lives of everyone here, including me. I'm proud of you."

Those last words warmed Max to his very soul, the love escaping out between the cracks in his wide smile.

"Isn't the dad meant to tell the daughter he's proud of her?" he snickered.

"Well, that goes without saying," Lizzie grinned. "I'm amazing. I can't see why you wouldn't be proud."

The two finally rounded the corner of the balcony floor and rushed to where a large crowd of people were huddled around the windows. Max pushed his way through the mass, desperately looking for one of those he had left in charge. After eventually barging a path through to the balcony doors, he crouched down on his haunches and shuffled over towards JJ who was still outside.

"What are you still doing out here?" Max barked.

JJ went to reply but was winded by the onrushing arms of Lizzie. He hugged her back tightly before speaking over her shoulder to Max, "We managed to pick a few of 'em off, put a load of heavy fire into those top windows. Saw a couple of them make a run for it out the back, I reckon they've retreated for now."

"The damage is done though," Max cursed, both nodding towards the few lifeless bodies out on the balcony and thinking about the horde smashing their way though the front doors as they spoke.

JJ caught his glance, "We lost two of our guys before we even knew the bastards were there."

"Same with us downstairs. Val and T are both down, even Rodney took a bullet," Max relayed.

"W-"

"He's fine, don't worry. It was just a scrape."

"Jesus," JJ uttered. He wasn't a soldier, he was a god damn teenage boy, and here Max was having to list off the dead as if JJ was one of his generals. In some ways, that was even more screwed up than the clickers themselves.

"What now?" JJ asked.

Max though for a second, "Pack up your stuff, I want everything moved up to the top floor. Guns, explosives and fuel to the roof."

"Going down swinging," JJ smiled nervously.

"We're getting out of this," Max corrected. "We're all getting out of this."

JJ nodded.

Max climbed back through into the hospital and rounded up the stragglers still lingering, waiting for instructions.

"I want you all to grab everything you can and take it to the top floor. You five by the door, head down until you meet my team at the bottom of the hospital and help them with the food and weapons. You guys by the back wall, go down with them and make sure the kids and the elderly make it up to the top okay. Go!"

That was all they needed. Strong leadership, clear instructions, and a tone of voice that somehow convinced them they were winning the fight. That's all people ever needed, a glimmer of hope and confidence. That would ripple around Novus like a rock in a pond.

"North West building!"

A shout disrupted Max's chain of thoughts, sparking commotion back out on the balcony.

"I have a shot!"

"What is that?"

"Is that a flag?"

"Don't shoot!"

"DON'T SHOOT!"

Max flew out onto the balcony just in time to see JJ yanking one man's gun away from its target. He raised his binoculars to his eyes and looked towards the north west building, as the first guard had warned. Sure enough, Max could see a scruffy figure across on the rooftop, and he appeared to be waving a piece of white cloth tied to a stick. As Max focused in on the face of the surrendering stranger, he understood why JJ was so adamant on preventing any gunfire.

What was a hospital without a Doctor?