saladlove | TWS: Infection Tales

So, this is something. It is a side story for my long running RP, TWS. It's about 11k words. It's mainly written for lore building/confirming, with a side of telling a story.

Here's a chart that spoils the entire thing, i'd suggest looking at it after you finish.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1c9X7VyJeNN28_Vdf8jPmOyj2xR2lz7Fd77aR4uFmttA/edit#gid=146693027

Paige walks into a large building, dressed business casual and carrying just her purse. She waves to the receptionist, Aria, and walks onto the elevator, clicking floor 4. The door is about to close when she hears someone calling to hold it. Paige holds the door open and sees her co-worker Sarah run up, entering the elevator with her. After Sarah thanks her, the two chat casually until the elevator opens, and they walk onto the floor they work on.

Paige and Sarah work for a newspaper company, however, Paige hates her job. She knows that newspapers are a dying form of media and wishes that the company would turn to an online form of spreading news. She has brought it up to her boss, Michael, several times, however each time Michael has declined the idea, saying it would be impossible to transfer to online media without firing and replacing almost every worker in the building.

Paige takes her seat at her desk, across from her best friend Christina, and next to her co-worker Amelia. As Amelia is the photographer for the newspaper, she spent most of her day out, roving for pictures, and only coming into the building to process them near the end of the day. Today however, Amelia was actually there, drinking starbucks and appearing to be slacking off. Christina calls Paige over to her desk and Christina shows Paige the art she’s been working on for the newspaper. Michael claimed that their newspaper should have something unique, and therefore hired Christina to draw original comics that only their newspaper would have.

Christina’s comic series followed a buff woman and her younger, overly-aggressive sister. The current strip seemed to be what happened when the younger sister stayed up watching zombie films, and over reacted when the older tapped her on the shoulder, wearing a zombie mask.

Paige and Christina joke about the comic for a bit before Paige takes her seat at her desk again, and began typing away the story for the next day’s paper. There wasn’t too many things going on in the local area unfortunately, so Paige wrote an article about the distinct spike in violence on the east coast of the country, and how it may spread to California.

After a few hours of working, there is screaming and sirens heard from outside. Paige and the rest of the workers on the floor run to the nearest windows and see an all out mob rampaging through the city. Police cars are everywhere and bullets are flying rampant. Paige notices a woman sink her teeth into the back of a police officer’s neck.

Panic spreads throughout the office quickly and Michael steps up as the leader, saying that everyone should stay where they are and wait for the situation to die down. However, Sarah is freaking out, and is extremely worried about her family. Sarah runs to the elevator and begins going down before anyone can stop her.

Paige and Christina decide to go after her and try to talk her out of leaving the building, so they rush down the stairs. Michael is very upset, and screams at them to stay while they run down the stairs.

Paige and Christina make it to the first floor and immediately stop at the sight they see. Aria is standing on the concessions desk, holding up her rolling-chair and swinging it back and forth at people who seem to be trying to attack her. The elevator door opens and Sarah completely ignores the situation at hand, trying to make a break for the door. Sarah pushes open the glass, and a woman grabs her by her hair, pulling her to the ground, gnawing into her shoulder.

Sarah screams in pain, and many of the people near Aria turn to go after Sarah instead. Paige stands in complete shock as she sees people beginning to feast on Sarah’s body. Christina however reacts, smashing open the nearby glass that has a fire-extinguisher inside. She takes it and slams it into the back of the head of one of the people near Aria. The only other person near Aria turns just into time to be sprayed in the face by the fire extinguisher, knocking it back slightly and causing it to be disoriented.

Christina yells at Aria to follow her upstairs, and Aria jumps off the desk, running for the staircase. As Christina and Aria are about to go back upstairs, Christina stops and turns to Paige who is still frozen in fear. Christina yells at her, saying they have to go. Paige doesn't want to leave Sarah, but Christina tells her it’s too late and pulls her up the stairs.

Once they get back up to the fourth floor they tell everyone what they saw, and even more panic begins to spread. Michael questions how they’re all going to escape if the first floor is overran by what appear to be cannibals. Everyone screams about ideas, until Amelia raises her voice, and tells everyone to shut up. Amelia suggests they all go to the roof, as it’s currently the safest place. Then wait for the police to either handle the situation, or for it to be cleared enough for them to be able to take the fire escape.

More arguing occurs over this idea, however most agree and decide to follow Amelia up to the roof. The few people who disagreed reluctantly follow, not wanting to be separated from the group. Once they get to the roof, Amelia walks out to the side of the roof and gasps. Paige walks up curiously and see all of the roads to the entire city backed up with cars, people running rampant, and many on the ground, being devoured.

---

After being on the roof for several hours, the situation below has only gotten worse. The only things moving seem to be the cannibals, which the co-workers on the roof have aptly taken to calling zombies. “It makes them seem less human” suggested Christina, when the group was talking about what exactly those things were.

Night time strikes and paranoia once again falls upon the group. Many of them fearing that they’ll never be safe, and that they might even starve on this roof. Michael once again tries to take charge, and after giving a not-so inspiring speech, Christina steps up instead- much to Michael’s annoyance. Christina manages to get everyone to calm down, and then asks if anyone has any plans. Immediately the crowd begins to freak out again, as they all thought Christina had a plan.

Amelia steps up and says she might have another idea. All the buildings are relatively close she explains, and she says that if they could get one of the really big ladders from down in the building, then they can use it as a bridge to get from rooftop to rooftop until they get to safety. Her plan immediately gets shot down by basically everyone. Michael bashes her for coming up with such a stupid idea and she blows up on him, saying that she at least had an idea, and that Michael has been completely useless this entire time. Michael screams that if she keeps talking like that he’ll fire her, causing Amelia to laugh. She points out that they’re basically all jobless now, and says she quits. Amelia walks to the other side of the roof to get away from Michael and everyone else.

Paige walks over to Amelia to possibly help comfort her, though in reality it’s just to distract herself from the death below her. Paige tries talking to Amelia however Amelia is too angry to talk, and ends up yelling at Paige as well. Paige is about to walk back to the rest of the group when she notices something. Someone is waving around what appears to be a shirt tied to a long pipe through an open window of a nearby building. Paige yells for the rest of the group to come over and they all notice it.

Christina says they have to get over to the other building, as the other survivors might have supplies or ideas that could be useful. Michael questions how and Christina suggests the ladder idea again, as the building isn’t that far. Once again the co-workers all turn down the idea. Aria points out that the people in the other building have left the window, and have gotten on top of the roof of their building as well.

Michael suddenly has an idea, and asks Christina for her phone. He types something in it quickly, and then chucks the phone over to the building. Christina freaks out slightly, as Michael has literally just thrown her phone like a baseball. The people on the other building seem to catch it by some miracle and moments later Michael’s cellphone begins buzzing. Michael answers it, and turns it on speaker.

“Hello?” A male voice is heard from the phone “can y’all hear me?” Everyone yells back a response, and Michael tells them to shut up, saying he’ll do the talking. The voice on the other end of the phone explains his name is Darryl, and that he’s extremely relieved to see other people alive. Some arguing is heard from Darryl’s side of the line and then a new male voice is heard. He says his name is Devos, and that he has an idea on how they can all get to safety. Devos goes on to explain how there’s the sewage system underneath the town, and that a manhole is located directly in the alleyway next to their building. However, they don’t have any safe way of getting to the bottom and to the manhole, as the bottom of their building is infested with the undead. Devos says that if both groups could somehow come together that they could be able to force their way through them with sheer numbers/power, upon hearing this, many of the co-workers begin to complain and object to the idea. Aria brings up how she doesn’t want to end up like Sarah, and many agree. Devos sighs angrily and goes on to explain that he’s been observing their patterns, and that he knows that if they were all together he could explain to them how to get to safety. The group is still hesitant, however with no better ideas they are slightly more convinced.

Devos says that all they need now, is a plan on how to get together. Amelia screams about the ladder idea and receives glares from everyone around her. Devos then says, that maybe that idea isn’t too bad. There is plenty of long wooden planks scattered around the top of Devos’ building, and their buildings are relatively leveled as well. Devos’ voice gets quieter, as if he took the phone away from his face, and he is heard calling to the other people on his building, telling them to get the planks and start figuring out a way to tie them together.

Paige says she doesn’t like the plan, but Christina shrugs, suggesting that it’s still the best, and only plan, they really have. Many of the other co-workers are against the idea as well. Soon enough, the moon has risen quite a bit into the sky, and the only light they receive is from the streetlamps below them, which still seem to work for now. A long wooden bridge has been made and lowered, connecting the two buildings. It isn’t wide, and the craftsmanship is shoddy, no one wants to be the first one to attempt walking on it.

Amelia suggests Michael walk on it, as he is the boss, however Michael says that she should since it was practically her idea. Arguing begins once more and eventually Christina sighs and volunteers. Nervously, she places one foot on the planks, then the other in front of that one. She takes a step forward and feels like she wants to cry, looking down at all the walking dead people below her, in addition to how high she is, the only ground beneath her feet is planks of wood. She swallows her fear and tries to appear more confident than she actually is as she slowly makes her way across, making sure to never lose her balance. Eventually she finally gets across and falls onto her knees as she steps onto the other building, releasing a breath she didn’t know she was holding. A man with bright blue hair helps her to her feet and introduces himself as Nolan. Christina waves her arms to her co-workers, and Amelia begins to walk the boards next. Amelia, Aria, and Paige get across one at a top, joining up with Christina. Michael decides to walk next. As Michael is about ¾ of the way across, he hears a slight crack in the wood and takes a deep breath, pausing. He takes another step and all of a sudden he hears screams from the building with his employees. The zombies that they had barricaded off had somehow gotten onto the roof, and were now attacking. Michael begins to walk as fast as he can without losing his balance, and jumps to the other side, joining up with Christina.

They look over in horror as they see zombies rip apart their co-workers. The man who acted as the business’ social media expert tries running across the boards for safety, however he missteps, and falls. A loud crack is heard followed by his scream. Michael looks down just in time to see him being shredded by the dozens of zombies below.

---

“What the fuck do you mean, you don’t have an actual plan?” Michael screamed as Devos informed the group he had absolutely no idea how they were going to get off of the building. Devos admitted that the sewers is still the best idea, however he did lie about having an idea on getting past the zombies. He said it was for everyone’s own good, or else they wouldn’t have crossed, and would have most likely been their co-worker’s dinner by now.

While everyone continues to argue about the situation at hand, Amelia notices Nolan sitting on the ledge on the other side of the building. She walks over to him and sits next to him, allowing her legs to hang over the ledge. Nolan has a pile of small pebbles next to him, Amelia noticed similar pebbles were scattered all over the rooftop. Without a word, Nolan pats the ground next to the pebbles, and then picks one up, chucking it below him, hitting one of the zombies. It didn’t do much other than seem to confuse it, and draw it’s attention upward, but to Amelia it was still somewhat amusing. Amelia picked up a handful and started tossing them downwards one at a time as well.

Michael looked over to them and stormed over, aggressively asking why the hell they were over here alone, when they could be helping with ideas. Nolan sighed and stood up, holding out his hand to help Amelia stand up as well. Nolan passed Michael, purposely shoving his shoulder into the other man’s before continuing to walk, right over to the fire escape exit. A series of stairs that led down to a ladder, hanging right above the alley where the sewer system’s entrance was.

Michael points out that they already knew that was here, and it isn’t going to be helpful at all when there’s approximately a fuckton of zombies below them. Nolan asks if anyone had one of those phones with the unbreakable cases. Paige points out that she remembers Michael having one, and all heads turn to Michael. He is immediately against the idea, as he paid good money for his phone, however Devos manages to convince him it’s for the good of the group. Michael hands his phone to Nolan, mumbling angry things all the while. Nolan checks the time, then turns the flashlight of the phone on, in addition to the volume going on max. He sets an alarm for 2 minutes from now, and then drops the phone off the building, nearby, but away from the zombies. Michael shrieks and all the undead look up at them.

The group can tell when the phone goes off due to an extremely quiet ringing sound, and they can see some of the zombies move toward its general direction, however for the most part it’s generally ineffective. Michael whispers with anger at Nolan, however Nolan does not seem to care at all. Eventually, Amelia is fed up and decides to just start walking down the stairs to the alley. Christina asks what she’s doing and Amelia says she’ll figure something out. Christina sighs, and yells at her to come back up. If they’re going to enter the sewer, they’re going to need weapons to fend off the zombies with.

Darryl, who has been holding a rabbit in his arms this whole time, reminds everyone that zombies haven’t actually gotten into the building they’re standing on top of yet, as they blocked off the staircase leading up to the second floor. Everyone decides that the best course of action is to look around the building for weapons.

Aria asks Darryl where he got the rabbit from, and he informs her it was kind of like an office pet that he took care of everyday. He said the rabbit’s name was Cuddles.

After about half an hour, everyone has makeshift weapons found from various offices and janitorial closets, almost none are traditional weapons, however they’ve decided it’s the best they can do. Slowly they start heading down the fire escape with their makeshift weapons, Devos taking the lead, as he had found the most useful weapon in the building- a fire axe kept in the janitorial closet. It had been left there after a halloween prank done by Darryl. Once Devos got immediately above the ladder, he took a deep breath. There were about 20 of the undead below him, and due to the ladder being the only way down, he’d be the only one really capable of fighting them. Devos took a few steps down the ladder, and making sure he had a firm grip on the ladder with one hand, bended as much as he could without falling off, and took a swing at the creatures below him. He hit one in the side of the head, knocking her away from the ladder, but not killing her, or even seeming to disorient her. She just walked right back up and began trying to get Devos again.

Devos muttered with anger, as this plan also wasn’t going to work. A small squeaking sound from above him gave him a new idea however. Devos looked up at Darryl and yelled at him to drop Cuddles the rabbit below them. Darryl gasps and refuses to drop Cuddles. Before he can react, Michael snatches the rabbit from Darryl’s grasp and drops it down to Devos. Devos takes his axe, and chops off one of Cuddles’ ears. Cuddles freaks out and squeaks aggressively as it bleeds from it’s head, trying desperately to escape Devos’ clutches. Devos then gives him a light toss and Cuddles hits the ground, tripping a bit before attempting to run away. The bleeding ear and Cuddles’ screams are enough to draw a large amount of the zombies away, leaving only 6. Darryl is attempting not to cry, and Devos continues to slash at the zombies below him, trying to kill or knock them out before others return.

Eventually he gets them all, and hesitantly he jumps down, landing on one’s head, making a loud cracking sound. He hurries over to the manhole and tries to lift it up, but can’t. Christina follows him down and Christina takes the 2 meter sticks she taped together and jams it into the side of the manhole, trying to use it as a lever that helps knock it open. The meter sticks surprisingly unhinges it from the ground, however they almost break. Devos gets a grip on the manhole cover and Nolan helps him lift it from the ground, revealing a disgusting sewer beneath them. Devos whispers for someone to go, and Christina takes a deep breath before jumping down, making a quiet “splash” as she lands in the filthy water below her. She looks around and gives a thumbs up, signalling it’s safe. The others jump down quickly, Devos being last.

They begin walking in a direction suggested by Devos, and just as they round a corner, Devos is greeted with a fist to the face. He stumbles backwards before being grabbed by his collar and dragged forward. A man turns him around, holding a knife to his neck.

---
Devos is being held with a knife to his neck. He attempts to struggle to get away but his captor only puts more pressure onto his neck, drawing a slight line of blood. Darryl screams, asking for the man to stop, when he does this, the man pauses. He pulls his arm away from Devos’ neck and steps back, allowing Devos to get away from him.

The man apologizes, saying he thought they were those monsters that have been roaming through his sewers. Upon hearing this Darryl is terrified, as he thought the sewers were safe from the undead. The man introduces himself as Vix’erin, saying he is a nomad.

Devos rubs his neck and introduces himself, then the rest of the group as well. He explains how the world above them is completely overran with the zombies, so they came down to the sewers in order to escape. Vix’erin knows the sewers well and offers to lead the way. Michael is hesitant about the idea however the entire group follows.

As Vix’erin leads the way he begins to tell stories about his travels, claiming to have been a famous bear wrestler, claiming that he was once held captive by Indians and tortured, claiming that he had to kill his own brother to survive the ambiguous war. Michael is fed up with all these tales that are certainly lies, when he's about to yell at Vix’erin, Nolan beats him to the punch. Nolan tells Vix’erin that they should stay quiet as sound attracts the beasts. Devos agrees and Vix’erin quiets himself. Nolan nods to Michael.

Right as they round a corner they run into a zombie, sickly flesh seeming to already start to rot. Vix’erin reacts immediately and shoves the beast back, knocking it off balance and onto the floor. He runs up and stabs it at the base of it’s head, leaving it immobile.

The group is shaken by the encounter, Paige standing a little closer to Christina now, and Amelia closer to Nolan. Amelia whispers to Nolan, confessing that she's pretty certain Vix’erin isn't a nomad, rather just a crazy homeless man who lives in the sewers. Vix’erin stops in his tracks and turns around quickly, glaring at her. Nolan takes a step forward defensively.

Before anything can transpire, another zombie rounds the corner behind Vix’erin. Darryl screams a shout of warning, giving Vix’erin just enough time to react, turning around and slashing at the monster’s chest. It stumbles back a few steps, however it seems mostly unfazed by the new gash through its torso. The zombie runs forward and grabs onto Vix’erin’s arm, he stabs it in its heart and nothing happens. The cannibalistic beast is about to sink its jaw into Vix’erin’s arm, but Vix’erin throws it to the side before it has a chance. The zombie stumbles backwards and falls right onto Darryl, knocking them both to the ground.

Darryl shrieks and tries to push the monster off of him, however the zombie sinks its teeth into his shoulder, taking a large bite, revealing blood. Darryl shouts an ear-piercing scream of pain. Devos takes his axe and slams it into the back of the zombie’s head, killing it, and being splashed with its blood.

Darryl is breathing heavily, pushing this monster off of him, trying to recover. Amelia asks to see the wound and Darryl shows his shoulder. A large bite mark is visible, blood still running from it. Vix’erin decides it's bad, however he won't die from blood loss from it. Paige wants to stay where they are until they can come up with a safer plan, as that's the second time someone had almost died from being in the sewers. Devos disagrees and says they need to keep moving. Darryl wants to stay for just a few more moments to at least try to get his balance back. Devos begrudgingly agrees and they decide to stay where they are for a few minutes.

Amelia walks up and crouches next to the zombie that had bit Darryl and subsequently been smashed in the back of the head with an axe. She says it's terrifying, so terrifying she wish she had her camera with her so she could document the creature.

After a few minutes Darryl is feeling no better than he was earlier, worse actually. His skin is quickly losing color and he is struggling to stay awake. Aria is frightened for him and the group tries to figure out what they should do about it. Devos says that Michael and Nolan could carry him as they keep moving forward, staying in one position was a mistake. Michael picks up Darryl’s arms and Nolan takes his legs, the group starts moving through the sewers as quickly as they can. They encounter a few more zombies, each one startling them just as much as the last, however they manage to kill each one; either by Devos’ axe or Vix’erin’s knife.

The group agrees that the only way to truly kill them is a blow to the brain, and attacking anywhere else will be utterly useless. As they travel through the sewers, Darryl has completely passed out and they pick up their pace.

Vix’erin mentions that there should be an exit coming up soon, one that should open up to right outside of the immediate city. Once there, they can come up with a new plan, a plan that hopefully involves finding somewhere safe. Just as they approach the entrance, Darryl opens his eyes, and as he does, Michael drops him.

Darryl bangs his head against the concrete and begins moving sporadically. Amelia swears at Michael, asking why he’d drop Darryl. Michael yells back, that it isn’t Darryl. Nolan looks down and sees Darryl’s eyes are void of color, he quickly drops the creature’s legs and moves back. The group hesitates, unsure what to do. The zombie who was formerly Darryl moves forward in an attempt to grab Amelia. Michael runs up and punches the zombie in its skull, shoving it out of Amelia’s path. Vix’erin reacts next, stabbing the base of its skull with his knife, killing it.

---

The group walks up to the exit of the sewers, a wide semicircle with bars. Almost everyone is still shaken by the events of earlier, Darryl’s death lingers within their minds. After he had been killed, everyone knew the dangers of being bit. The group saw that Devos was the most affected by the loss. The normally calculated mind now gone quiet.

Before they left the sewers, they decided to take a small break. Try to gain physical and emotional energy before going back to the outside world.

Amelia wanted to spend this time talking with Nolan, however he was with Devos, apparently mourning the loss of their co-worker. Amelia sighed and sat down on the cleanest area possible, Michael soon joining her. They sat in silence for a while until Amelia built up the courage to break it.

“Why'd you save me?” Amelia asked dryly, thinking of Michael attacking the zombie Darryl just earlier.

“What, you expect me to just let my star photographer die like that?” Michael responded sternly, and Amelia cracked a smile.

“Yeah, yeah I did. Especially after all those times you threatened to fire me. Kinda makes you seem like an emotionless hardass” Amelia replied back, smiling. Michael thought over her words a bit.

“I may be a hardass, but that doesn't mean I don't have a heart”

“Yeah, you have a heart. It's just a heart with anger management issues and a need to constantly feel in control” at this, Michael’s cold exterior broke, and he cracked a smile.

“You sound just like my ex-wife right now” Michael laughed softly. The first time Amelia had ever heard the other man’s laugh. It was almost angelic, contagious even. Amelia started laughing as well. The two lost control of their emotions and began laughing louder and louder, until eventually they both stopped. An air of comfortable silence.

“We’re gonna die” Amelia finally broke the silence, a soft smile on her face still.

“No… you're not gonna die” Michael replied back, the smile on his lips starting to fade. “You're too stubborn to die”

“Hm. I suppose I am” the two sat silently for a few more moments before Devos finally spoke up, Nolan standing next to him. Devos suggested that after they get out of the sewers, Vix’erin go out first and scout the immediate area to see if it's safe. Amelia noticed there a was a tone of pain in Devos’ voice, but she didn't mention it.

Vix’erin agreed to being the scout, making sure to note how he used to be the best scout that the US Army had ever seen, winning several scouting awards, which rewarded him for how good of a scout he was. Truly, Vix’erin mentioned, he was the best scout possible for this task. Michael rolled his eyes.

Vix’erin takes Devos’ axe, and after several very loud swings against a rusted metal bar blocking off the sewer exit, it broke off, giving just enough room for people to exit one at a time.

Vix’erin crawled out first, knife in hand. He looked around and after seeing what he saw, looked back down at the others. Then he ran. Vix’erin bolted in the opposite direction, and just as Michael was about to scream at him, they began to hear the moans and cries of the undead above them. They began to crowd the entrance to the sewer, the nearest beginning to navigate its way through the open rusted bars. Scraping their skin against the rust, they didn't care and just kept moving towards the group with intention of killing and devouring.

Michael swore viciously. Devos said they needed to turn around and run back before any of the zombies got in. As the group began retreating, Paige did not. Paige stood frozen by the bars, fear stricken. Eyes locked onto the undead creatures nearing her. Aria screamed for her to turn and run but she simply stood there. As the first of the undead finally made its way through the bars and towards Paige, it was swiftly greeted by a meter stick to the side of it’s head.

The beast stumbles back and redirects its attention to it’s attacker, Christina. The zombie roars out a scream half way between a shriek and a gurgling sound. Christina shoves Paige back and tells her to run, and as she does Paige finally breaks out of her trance and runs back to the rest of the group. The zombie lunges towards Christina, and grabs onto her. She takes its shoulder’s and uses all her strength to merely hold it back, the monster’s teeth snapping at her face. Nolan runs forward and, with the screwdriver he had obtained from his workplace’s supply closet, stabbed the monster in the back of the neck. Blood being spat out onto Christina’s face.

More zombies begin making their way into the sewer, and the group begin to retreat quickly. Amelia leads the way as they run through the sewers, and just as luck would have it, Amelia leads the group right into a dead in. They try to turn around and run back, but are greeted by the creatures they were trying to escape. With no choice but to fight, Devos runs forward. A slashing motion with his axe decapitates one of the zombies, a limp body falling to the ground instantly. Nolan moves forward and grabs one by its shoulder, shoving it to the ground before stabbing it in the head with his screwdriver. Michael tries to help the best he can by shoving them back whenever they get too close, trying his best to keep his limbs away from their teeth. After minutes of fighting, Devos slashes the last one standing in the back of its head, killing it.

The group looks around at each other, exchanging glances of awe and fear. Paige is holding onto Aria’s arm tightly, eyes closed just as tight. Eventually, they move back to the exit of the sewers.

---

The group pull themselves out of the sewer’s exit, grateful to be outside. Night time was still upon them, the moon and stars being obscured due to the light from their nearby city. The sewers had accomplished their goal of getting them directly outside the city boundaries, however they felt no safer.

They began walking, making sure to stay quiet as to avoid drawing attention. Devos takes the lead, holding his axe firmly in his grips. Behind him stood Christina, followed by Paige and Aria, Nolan and Amelia, and Michael took the rear. The group kept eyes out in every direction as they hiked away from the city, every direction but up.

Out of nowhere a figure leaps down from a nearby tree and lands adjacent to the group, causing Paige to scream, before she quickly covers her mouth. The entire group takes a defensive stance, turning towards the figure. It was none other than Vix’erin.

It takes both Nolan and Amelia holding Michael back to prevent him from punching Vix’erin right in the face. Amelia only holding him back because she feared Vix’erin would stab him.

Vix’erin explained that when he ran, he wasn't abandoning them, rather he was being a hero! By running away he was actually trying to draw the zombies away, and he claims that he did! He must have distracted, 100, no, 200! Surely he saved all of their lives with his brave actions. He was most definitely a hero, and should be praised.

This time it was Christina who stepped forward, and Vix’erin not expecting a girl such as herself to act so violent, was not expecting it when Christina punched him right in the face. Michael applauded loudly before receiving glares reminding him to stay silent.

Vix’erin, deeply offended from this assault, threatens to take his services elsewhere and leave them all alone. Michael asks them to please do so. As the group begins to walk away, Vix’erin follows them anyways.

The path they walk now is a dirt road leading them away from the city, tall trees on both sides of them. Their path is on a hill, preventing them from seeing what's past the top; it’s narrow, just big enough for a car to be able to drive on. Their group is tightly packed, all except Vix’erin who walks about a dozen or so feet behind the rest.

As the group walks, Aria quietly asks the group what their goal actually is. Should they be looking for other people, or should they be trying to raid grocery stores? Maybe they should try to find some authorities, surely there must be some kind of safe zone for them to get to. Paige is nervous that the undead will hear Aria and begs her to be silent, pleading that they can figure it out later, once they're somewhere safer.

Devos halts the group and alerts Paige that they may not have the chance of a later. Reaching the top of the hill, the group can now see a massive horde of the undead, all swarmed together, barricading the path ahead. Devos calculated that they must have been in the triple digits, no way to kill them all with what they have.

Devos tells them all they're heading back, there's no way they can deal with what's ahead. Amelia reminds him that behind them is just the city, a place filled with even more death. They're surrounded. Nolan speaks up, saying that they should stop thinking with what they know, and start thinking with what they don't. He goes on to say that you're never limited to the paths life gives you, and that there's always a way around.

Amelia understands him and begins walking into the thick woods to their left, content with going around the swarm ahead. Michael warns her it may be just as dangerous as their other options, but she keeps moving ahead anyways, as there's no way to know unless you check for yourself. The group follows her in.

With Amelia confidently striding through the dark woods, other members of the group are inspired. If she can be hopeful, so can they. Christina even allows herself to smile. A sudden noise to their right breaks her sense of hope. Several zombies trying to push their way through the trees and branches, nature acting as a wall between the dead and the living.

The group breaks out into a sprint in order to get away as quickly as they can. Amelia is shoving branches out of her way in an attempt to make a path, a branch to the side obscured by the darkness of night manages to connect with her face, leaving a deep gash in the side of her cheek. She keeps running forward and so does the rest of the group.

As they build up scratches from branches on their bodies, and they create more noise by running on every fallen leaf, they still persist. Amelia rounds a tree, and as she does, runs straight into a zombie. The undead woman in front of her sinks it’s teeth into Amelia’s neck. Amelia grits her teeth and grunts, trying to push it away while staying quiet. Teeth practically stapled into her neck, as Amelia shoves the creature away, it yanks a large part of her neck back with it, blood spewing out.

Michael screams and pushes his way forward, running straight up to the zombie and greeting it’s face with his fist. The zombie falls back and he jumps onto it, punching it again, and again, and again, and again. Each swing disfigures the zombie’s face, and each swing puts further blood on Michael’s knuckles. Even after it is long dead, Michael keeps punching. He's eventually pulled off of it by Nolan and Christina.

Paige is hugging Aria tightly, tears streaming from her face. Aria is on the verge of tears as well, horror struck. A silence fills the air, until Paige remembers.

“We- we have to d- destroy her brain…”

All eyes turn to Amelia’s lifeless corpse, blood splattered on her pale skin. Michael asks for the knife, saying he’ll do it. Vix’erin hands it over and Michael walks over to her corpse, taking a knee and holding the knife above Amelia’s head. His hands shake and tears begin to form in his eyes; his employees have never seen him cry before, almost no one has.

After a few seconds, Michael still can't bring himself to force the knife into her head.

Christina walks up and places a hand on his bigger ones. They lock eyes, and she nods, a silent message between them which speaks thousands of words. Together they push the blade into Amelia’s head, pulling it out slowly and leaving a slash of red.

Nolan pats Michael’s shoulder sympathetically. Before they can even mourn their loss, the undead have caught up, and dozens of zombies are right behind them.

---

The group have to move on. They leave Amelia’s body behind them, as they run through the woods. Vix’erin takes the lead now, knife clutched in hand, the knife that now has the blood of Amelia.

The majority of the zombie's get slowed down by the trees and branches which they can't clear as easy as the living, the ones that do get in range of the group meet either the fate of an axe to the head or a knife through the back of their skull. They run for what seems like an eternity, Aria breathing heavily as she runs.

Finally, the sun begins to rise.

The light of the sun fills Christina with a new determination, she looks to her side and with the new found light, can see glimpses of the dirt road they started on through the trees. She suggests they head that way, as it appears clear of zombie's, and once on the road they will have a better vision. Devos nods and they begin moving towards the road.

As Aria steps through the tree line and onto the dirt road she inhales deeply, a breath of fresh air. Although she breathes the same air now, she feels so much better out in the open. She pulls Paige into a hug and the two begin to cry once more. Devos decides they can take a break for now. Devos, Nolan and Vix’erin act as guards, forming a triangle around the rest of the group, keeping their eyes out for the dead.

In the middle stood Michael, cold stare, glaring directly at the sunrise. Christina takes it amongst herself to check up on him.

“Hey, I- I know it's difficult now, but Amelia wouldn’t-” Christina is cut off when Michael turns his head to look at her, eyes filled with rage.

“I’m fine” he replies sternly.

“No, Michael you're not fine” Christina goes to place a hand on his shoulder, he moves back to avoid the touch.

“What's done is done, and I said I'm fine. She's dead, that's what happens, there's no point in feeling emotional. Let's just get the fuck out of here” Michael begins to walk away from Christina and towards Devos. She sighs.

“I know you don't believe that…” a whisper under her breath, only for her ears to hear.

Paige and Aria completely ignored the conversation, in favor of having their own wordless one. After Paige felt she was finally all out of tears to cry, she looked up and met eyes with Aria. A lone tear running down the face of the receptionist. Paige wiped it off of her cheek, and despite all the pain and sadness, Aria couldn't help but spare a small smile.

Devos called everyone back together and said they would be moving again if everyone was alright. Christina looked towards Michael, however she was once again greeted with a cold stare. Devos nodded, as if affirming everyone was alright to walk, and the group began to move forward, down their dirt path.

They walked in silence, partly to avoid drawing the attention of the dead, largely because they felt they had nothing to say. They kept moving forward, the road ahead oddly calm. Hardly anything seemed to be happening, the world apparently as dead as the creatures who now inhabited it.

As Devos was walking, all he was thinking of was how it could have happened. He just wakes up one day, goes to work, and the next thing he knows he's helping Darryl push filing cabinets down a staircase in order to stop rotting cannibals from getting into his work place. How did this happen?

He’d have to think of the answer later. As they walked, a home comes into the view of Paige. She tells everyone to look ahead and they all get the same thought. Safety and Sleep.

A sudden energy fills Paige and she runs toward the house, everyone else falling into step behind her. She runs up the steps to the door and begins banging on it. No one answers. Paige bangs her fists on the door harder, begging for an answer, once again, nothing. Devos pushes her to the side and tries the doorknob, locked. A pause, and then he lifts up his axe. Two swings to the doorknob is all it takes to break it off. Devos kicks in the door and rushes everyone else in.

Paige runs in first, and screams. In front of everyone is a large man with a bright red beard and tank top on. He's holding a shotgun, pointing it directly at Paige’s head. His eyes are red, as if he had been crying.

“Time to die you unholy scum!” With no hesitation, the man pulls the trigger and a bullet flies right into Paige’s head, the close range impact causing it to explode into dozens of pieces.

The group hesitates, scarred by what just happened. Vix’erin is the first to react. He jumps forward, knife in hand. The bearded man tries to shoot again, but before he has a chance to pull the trigger Vix’erin has slammed the hilt of his blade into the gun, sending it flying and disarming him.

The man jumps forward, tackling Vix’erin and wrestling him for the knife. Devos gets his sense back and yells at them both to stop, saying they're human and not the walking dead outside. The bearded man and Vix’erin keep wrestling, until Vix’erin is finally pinned, the knife knocked out of his hand. The larger man puts his forearm on Vix’erin neck and begins applying pressure in an attempt to choke him out.

Devos is about to intervene, but before he can. A stab. The bearded man coughs up blood onto Vix’erin’s face, then falls lifeless on top of him. Vix’erin shoves him off and begins inhaling deeply.

Aria pulls the knife out of the back of the bearded man’s head, dropping it. Her entire body is shaking, and she falls to her knees, tears running down her face. Christina runs forward and begins comforting her, hugging her tightly.

Christina looks at the headless body of her former best friend, Paige. Her heart aches but she doesn't cry, she holds it back. Internally, she thinks herself a hypocrite for hiding her emotions, but she needs to stay strong, for Aria.

---

Aria’s sprawled on the floor, crying. Christina is hunched over her, trying her best to offer the emotional support she doesn't even have for herself. Vix’erin is in the corner of the room, cleaning his blade with a rag from the kitchen- the blood was beginning to get a bit annoying. Devos is trying to reassess the situation, and Nolan has begun digging a hole in front of the house with a shovel he found; a grave for Paige. Michael is sitting on the porch, having a staring contest with the sun. The shotgun that was used to kill Paige is laying on his lap, he has claimed it as a weapon for himself.

Devos decides that they need to scavenge the home, bury Paige, maybe get some sleep, and then move. While scavenging the house, Vix’erin finds the bedroom and decides it to be a great place to sleep. He is the only person able to find rest, the others too shaken by the events of the past 24 hours. Christina upgrades her weapon from the meter sticks to a kitchen knife. She offers one to Aria as well, which Aria mournfully accepts. After Paige is buried and a makeshift cross is made for her grave, Nolan decides the shovel will be his weapon.

When everything is done, and Vix’erin is woken up, the six walk outside, a mood of sadness and discontentment evident among them all. They keep walking.

It has reached noon now, and finally something else comes into sight. A light rumbling growing louder, accompanied by the sight of a vehicle growing closer as it speeds towards them. A bright red jeep, Devos notes, and it's not showing any sign of stopping. He yells a shout to get out of the way, and the six of them jump to the side as the jeep continues to blast past them.

Christina asks what that was about, and Devos doesn't know. He thinks that there must be some kind of town or city ahead, and that it's probably not safe if those people were driving so fast away from it that they didn't even care about the health of others. Aria says if it's a town, they need to be moving away from it as it can't be safe, but Nolan disagrees. He mentions how they're all running low on fumes, and how he can't be the only one starving. They need to get food and they need to soon. Devos agrees, and Aria’s stomach growling at the idea of food concedes the point.

Devos says they shouldn't all go towards the town, and that it'd be unsafe to have a group going. They'd need only two people to run in, two people can stay silent and grab food quickly, then head back. They also need to be able to kill. The idea of splitting up sits uneasy with Christina, but the rest of the group’s content with it, so she doesn't object.

Devos says he’ll go, since he has killed the most zombies so far, and no one objects. He asks if anyone wants to volunteer to go with him, and everyone but Aria step forward. Devos quickly denies Christina, saying that Aria needs her to stay back. Devos also rejects Vix’erin coming with. Vix’erin begins to protest, saying he is the most experienced when it comes to staying stealthy- he used to be a secret ops sniper after all! Devos rolls his eyes and tells Vix’erin that he doesn't trust him not to run away, like he did at the sewers.

Finally, Devos tells Nolan he wants him to stay behind. Nolan is confused as to why, as he has shown to be silent, quick on his feet, and caring. Devos says that's exactly why he wants him to stay behind. The group needs someone to step up as a leader and look after everyone while the others are gone, and Devos trusts Nolan is able to do this. Nolan nods, promising he’ll look after them.

Michael slings his shotgun over his shoulder and tells Devos they should get moving. They have some food to find and some zombies to fuck up. Devos nods, and the two make their departure, going towards where they believe the city to be.

Christina wonders why Devos let Michael go with him. After all, Michael seems only a few steps away from losing his mind. She trusts his judgement though, and she trusts that Michael won't do anything too irrational. She refocuses her thoughts to Aria, the only one unwilling to go get food for the group. Christina didn't blame her, Aria was just a receptionist after all. Then again, Christina was just a comic designer… what made her more willing to fight?

Nolan called everyone together and told them it'd be smart to set up a perimeter just off the road, that way they can stay close to where Devos expects them to be, and still have a good vantage point of oncoming undead or people.

Vix’erin suggests that they all get some rest, they could all use it after all. Nolan agrees, but says someone needs to stay guard while the others try to sleep. Vix’erin volunteers and Nolan denies him, just like Devos did. Nolan does not trust Vix’erin to put the lives of Aria and Christina before his own. Nolan declares he will stay guard as the others try to sleep.

Vix’erin moodily lays on the grass by the road, before quickly falling to sleep, as if he slept on the side of the road everyday of his life. Christina and Aria aren't so lucky, and neither are able to find rest, despite how tired they are. Aria merely lays on her side with her eyes shut, but not sleeping. Christina lays on her back, staring up at the sky. Thoughts of Paige come to her mind, and she fights back the tears that have been threatening her since Sarah died.

Sarah…

She died less than two days ago, yet, it feels like she’s been gone for such a long time. The nonstop walking and fighting had not only exhausted Christina’s body, but it must have also exhausted her mind. She couldn't think straight, and every time she remembered something or someone it felt like she was remembering wrong. She sighed, deciding it'd be best to stop remembering at all.

---

After ages of lying with eyes closed, Aria feels like she is finally about to faze off into sleep.

And then Nolan yelled for them all to get up, grab their weapons, and get ready to fight and run.

Despite being the only one to actually sleep, Vix’erin was the first one up, gripping the handle of his blade tightly. Christina is up next, pulling Aria to her feet. They both grab their kitchen knives and stand defensively.

Around them are a half dozen zombies, moving closer to them. Nolan strikes first, swinging his shovel into the side of one’s head, not killing it, but knocking it to the ground. Vix’erin is next, leaping forward and stabbing one in the eye, ripping his blade out afterwards. As one approaches Aria, Aria swings her knife, arm shaking. She slashes it’s shoulder, but it’s not enough. The zombie grabs onto her shoulders and she screams. Before the zombie can do anything more to her, it’s dead. Christina’s kitchen knife jammed into the back of it’s head.

Nolan slams his shovel into the head of the zombie he had knocked over, then as two more approached him, he swung it at their knees, knocking them both to the ground. Vix’erin ran in and stabbed one of the fallen ones in the head, Nolan finishing off the other. The final creature walks towards Aria and Christina, and Christina raises her knife to stab it, but Aria yells at her not to.

Christina looks at Aria, and sees something she'd never seen in the other woman. Aria has a face of determination. Christina lowers her knife and steps back, the zombie walking closer. Aria raises her knife and screams a warcry, running towards the beast and slamming her knife into it’s head. Pulling the knife out then stabbing it again, just to make sure. It fell over dead and Aria breathes heavily, putting her knife away.

Nolan tells them all good job, and that he's sorry, but they're going to have to walk again. The noise they created is just going to draw more, so they should relocate onto the other side of the road, and closer to the town. Everyone agrees and they walk once more.

Aria feels like collapsing, her legs weak and stomach empty, but she keeps moving. The image of Paige being shot through the head stained into her mind, a picture that she saw every time she closed her eyes, no matter how much she hated it. Then of course, the guilt came in. She had murdered another human being. Sure, the man had killed Paige, and he likely would have killed Vix’erin as well if she had not killed him first, but still, it felt so… wrong. Taking the life of another human being. How could she do that? That man likely had a family, friends, a job, maybe even husband or wife… and now all those people close to him will have that void in their life, and it was all Aria’s fault.

Vix’erin was caught in his own thoughts as well. Thinking about the events of the past few days, how he had almost died to the bearded man, and how now everyone had lost all trust in him, because he had ran away… What was this feeling he was experiencing? It was something so painful, something like nothing else he had ever felt before, could he be experiencing… guilt? Nonsense, Vix’erin had never felt bad for another person in his entire life, why should he start now? Sure he’s never had too many people in his life to feel bad about but… Damnit! He was an awful person and he knew it. No matter how many clever and cunning lies he told to the others, lies that they all definitely believed, there was one person he could never lie to… himself.

As they arrive to an area that Nolan deems fit, they hear a familiar rumbling. Looking towards the road, they see a couple cars racing down the street, gunshots firing from one car towards another. Nolan yells for everyone to back away and duck, which everyone does. The two cars fly past them, seemingly unaware of their presence entirely. The group is slightly shaken but it is by no means the worse thing they've encountered recently.

About an hour passes without much else happening, until they begin to hear several moaning sounds, in unison, shrill, dry voices that they've all come to recognize. There are so many, and they begin growing louder and louder. Everyone is up and prepared to fight, but they're not prepared for what they see.

In front of them, the largest horde they have seen yet, even more than were initially in their city. Nolan swears under his breath and calls out that they must have been attracted by the loud vehicles and gunshots from earlier. Christina says there's no way they’ll be able to take them all and that they should just run- Nolan agrees. As they begin running away however, one member of their group doesn't go with them. She picks up her knife and runs straight for the mass of undead, a shrill scream leaving her throat and tears beginning to run down her cheeks. Aria runs in and stabs the closest to her, quickly pulling the knife out of its head and swinging at another.

She's yelling at them to come at her, she swings again. Christina is about to run forward and try to get her out of there, but Vix’erin yells at her to stop, and he runs in instead.

Aria has done a good job at not getting killed yet, however she's quickly becoming surrounded. She keeps swinging, keeps fighting, knowing that she's going to die. But she doesn't die. As the undead fully surround her, Vix’erin runs in and stabs the nearest to her. He pushes her to the ground and begins slashing at the speed of lightning. Most of his cuts don't land killing blows, but he's not trying to kill them, he's trying to get their attention. As they move onto him and begin grabbing him and attacking him, he rushes away, yanking Aria by her wrist. With every fiber of strength in his being he pushes out of the horde, and pulls Aria out with him. The undead follow them and Aria is sobbing as she's dragged away, kicking and protesting to be let go.

As they get back to Nolan and Christina, Vix’erin tells them to grab Aria and run. Christina protests, knowing that Vix’erin’s trying to give up his life for them. He responds not with words, but by showing her his shoulder, a large bite mark on it. Fresh blood.

Christina nods, understanding that he's already dead. She grabs Aria by one of her arms, Nolan taking the other, dragging her away. Aria is kicking and screaming as tears run down her face. Vix’erin sighs.

“Finally time for my dance with the devil…” Vix’erin speaks to himself. He lets out a monstrous roar, and bursts forward, stabbing the closest zombie. Even as they bite him and rip him apart, he attacks, knowing this is his last stand. Finally when his last bit of life fails him, he's dragged into the swarm of undead and rotting flesh.

---

“What the- what on earth- why?” Nolan fought every urge he had to scream. The trio of himself, Christina and Aria had finally gotten away, and were now in an open field of dead grass, a long ways away from the town.

“Why…” Aria repeated to herself, looking at the dead ground around her. She stayed silent.

“Aria, I need you to tell me what's wrong!” Nolan was angrier than he'd ever been in his life. “I just want to protect you but I can't do that when you're trying to get yourself killed!”

“Then stop trying to protect me!” Aria shot back out of nowhere. The sadness and vacantness in her eyes now replaced with seething rage. “I was supposed to die back there, but you wouldn't let me! And now Vix’erin’s dead and it's all my fault! I don't deserve to be alive!”

“What are you talking about, Aria-” Christina tried joining the conversation but Aria cut her off.

“No! Shut up! I don't deserve to be alive! I don't want to be alive! Paige, Vix’erin, and- and the man that I murdered! All their blood is on my hands and I can't take it!” Aria grabbed the knife she had been keeping strapped to her boot, and brought it up quickly. Before she could do anything with it, Nolan had knocked it out of her hands.

“Aria! You are not killing yourself!”

“Yes I am!” Aria reached for the knife again, but Nolan slammed the head of his shovel on to the blade, keeping it trapped on the ground.

“No you're not! I get it, you're upset, and you damn well should be! You've lost people in sudden ways over the past 48 hours, it hurts, but stop being so selfish! We’ve all lost people! Amelia and Darryl have not left my mind since they died, and you know what? They won't ever. The reason that I'm alive isn't because I dread their deaths! It's because I honor them. If I just gave up and killed myself, that would be the greatest disrespect to everyone who died trying to survive this shit. So, if you want to kill yourself and just put to waste everything that the deceased wanted, then be my guest. But know this, all that blood on your hands won't go away because of a slit wrist. The only way to clean them is to keep on moving”

Nolan and Aria’s eyes were locked. Christina was in awe of Nolan’s speech, but was equally anticipating Aria’s response. After what felt like years, but in reality was just a moment, Aria fell to her knees. No tears ran from her eyes, rather she had an expression of pain. She opened her mouth and with her dried throat croaked out her reply.

“You're right”

Nolan slowly nodded his head, and then helped her back up. He bent down slowly and picked up her knife.

“I hope you realize that I'm going to be keeping this for now, for obvious reasons” Nolan put the knife away, and Aria nodded acceptance. “We should… probably get moving”

The trio marched on.

---

As yet another night dawned upon them, the hunger pains and paranoia made it impossible for any of them to sleep. Christina silently reflected, wondering if this was her life now. Running through hordes of zombies and killing them with a kitchen knife. It's almost like something she would make a comic about. Of course, her comics would end with the main character waking up and realizing it was all a dream. That seemed unlikely.

Suddenly, bright lights fill her vision. She jumps to her feet, grabbing her knife with one hand, and trying to adjust her eyes to the sudden light with the other. She could tell that the light came from a car, bright headlights turning on them. She heard Nolan call out, asking who was there, and then a familiar voice.

“It's us, Devos and Michael. Get in the car quick!” the voice of Michael. Christina never thought she'd be so happy to hear the voice of her control freak boss.

She ran up to the vehicle and wondered where they got it. She quickly answered her own question, realizing they probably stole it. Well- surely no one else owned it anymore, so it certainly wasn't stealing. The car was a dark blue, four door, and sat five people comfortably. Michael got her into the backseat, followed by Aria and Nolan. Michael closed the door and took the passenger seat in the front, sitting next to Devos who was in the driver's seat.

Devos began driving away quickly.

“Vix’erin didn't make it, or did the bastard run away?” Michael asks, taking a bite out of a chocolate bar.

“Where is the food Michael” Christina demands, her stomach grumbling and her eyes filled with want.

“All in the back, we got a helluva load. You can pick around after we’re safe, but for now you can take some of these” Michael opened the glove compartment, and several dozens of candy bars fell out. He passed a few back and all three began eating them hastily.

“Why’d you grab so many candy bars?” Christina asks in between bites, “we could have used the room they take up for actual food”

“That's exactly what I said” Devos chimes in, taking a hard right.

“Fuck you,” Michael spoke as he bit into another candy bar “chocolate is the only good thing left in this shit hole of a world, so I was taking as much as I could”

Christina thought about how Michael was acting. Maybe it was just the candy bars, or maybe something else, but he seemed a lot less depressed. Whether he just managed to hide his emotions or actually got better…

“Why are we going so fast” Nolan piped up. “Are we being chased?”

Devos stayed silent, then mumbled something incoherent before saying “technically… yeah, but we should have gotten away by now”

“What did you do?” Nolan asked critically. The idea of people chasing or attacking other people felt wrong to Christina, but if she had to do it to survive, she could.

“It wasn't even my fault” Michael began, “they were all like ‘hey give us all your food or else’, and I told them to fuck off. When they didn't fuck off, I shot one of them in the knee. Shit was a mess”

If this was three days ago, Christina would be shocked by what was just said. But it was today, and the news that Michael had shot someone was numb to her.

As they were driving, they began to slow down, until all of a sudden they came to a complete stop. Devos swore and hit the steering wheel. “All out of gas”

“What kind of bull shit plot device” Michael grumbled.

“Let's just all get out of the car and start walking” Christina suggested, Devos shook his head.

“No, we have too much food to carry in the back and we can't just leave it here. We’ll have to set up base here for now”

“What about those people that were chasing you?” Nolan questioned. Devos sighed angrily, milling over it.

“There was only two of them, and there are five of us… they wouldn't go about fighting us all”

“Are you sure about that?” Christina was not willing to let someone die over some food.

“Certain” Devos wasn't certain. This was the same circumstance as when he first met Michael, Aria and Christina. They didn't want to cross the buildings, so he lied about a plan of action. The lie wasn't bad, in fact it spurred them on and arguably saved their lives. This lie is to save lives as well.

The five got out of the car and looked around for any sign of pursuers. Nolan went and gathered up large heaps of dead grass and tried his best to camouflage the car with it. The five chose to stay silent in favor of their own thoughts.

Aria was ashamed. How could she have ever thought about killing herself? Paige wouldn't have wanted her to do that… No, Aria had to keep fighting. Not for herself, but for those she had lost.

Christina felt something growing in her. Ever since this horrible nightmare had begun, she found something that wasn't there before- strength. She wanted to be the stone others could rely on, and by doing that she would have to be a hypocrite, and keep her own emotions to herself.

Devos hurt, he had never experienced so much pain. How could he have let this happen, how could the world he was so perfectly in control of just spin into chaos? Revaluation had to be done, and it hurt, watching his friends die and feeling both the physical and emotional pain. A feeling he would never be able to shake off.

Michael didn't know how to feel, so many years of a cold heart, suddenly to let emotion flow out of it again… it was exhilarating. He wanted to feel every emotion in the world. Sadness for Amelia’s death, anger at the shit world around him, joy from the overwhelming freedom he felt. He could do anything. Michael could take on the entire world, and he was planning to.

Nolan wished none of this had happened, but it did happen, and it was still happening right now. There was no room for selfishness or pity, he had to be the protector. Silent observation wouldn't help him any longer.

The five of them regrouped, standing at the trunk of the car. They heard a slow buildup of a rumbling engine, and then the car pulled into view. Out stepped two people, a man and a woman. Michael immediately raised his shotgun in a signal of “don't fuck with us”.

It was difficult to see anything more than the outlines of the duo in front of them, but that's all they needed to be able to see. Both the man and woman reached behind their back and in a swift motion pulled out handguns. Devos yelled for everyone to dive. Four of them jumped to the ground immediately, crawling to the side of the car.

Christina was laying in the dead grass, it was tall enough to cover her entirely. She pulled out her knife and listened intently. Several gunshots, but none near her. Screams, familiar and of voices she didn't recognize. She stayed low. She wanted so badly to be able to help, but with just a kitchen knife, there was little she could do.

A call of “I'm invincible you fucks!” from Michael. “Shoot me all you want, I'm never going down!” Michael let out a long scream of rage, and when he finally stopped, the only sound in Christina’s ears were the sounds of his heavy breathing, and then a *thump* as his body hit the floor.

Christina jumped to her feet and ran back to the trunk of the car where Michael had made his final stand. She sat him up, and to her surprise, he was still breathing. His body was riddled with bullet holes, Christina saw at least three, it was a miracle he hadn't died already- and even more so that he had managed to fight back and take down both of their attackers.

Michael breathed heavily, wheezing. Christina thought he was trying to say something, but all that came out was incoherent noises. Michael gripped onto Christina’s hand, and with his last bit of energy, squeezed it tightly. She saw the light leave his eyes.

For the first time, Christina allowed a tear to roll down her eyes. “Damn it…” she whispered to herself. Raising her knife, she stabbed Michael’s corpse through the skull, refusing to let such a strong man be cursed to walk the earth.

Behind her stood Devos and Nolan. Nolan held the body of Aria in his arms- a bullet hole right in her neck, and the gash wound of a knife on the top of her head. Christina stood up, and turned to them. Silence, until she held out her empty hand.

“Shovel”

Nolan lowered the body of Aria and handed the shovel over to Christina, who immediately began digging two holes in the ground.

---

The sun reflected off of Christina’s sunglasses. Her hands gripped to a pistol which she held in front of her. Devos and Michael stand to her right, each of them holding guns in their hands as well, and bags slung over their backs. In front of them was a large wall, with a man dressed in a military uniform standing atop it and looking down at them.

The man speaks into a walkie talkie, and after a moment, the wall begins to move, revealing an opening for them. Devos nods to the other two, and the trio walk in together, lowering their guns.