Alice reached a nearby settlement and found it surrounded by many T-Virus infected birds. At first, she was reluctant to help, but something told her that she should.

Suddenly, Alice's head snapped to the left.

There, she saw someone familiar about to be killed by a massive amount of flames.

Unable to stomach it, Alice performed an action that she promised Zeel never to do. It was an instinctual action, and Alice knew it was already too late to regret it, so she didn't stop mid-way.

Alice unleashed the full might of her powers to shield two people who were about to be burned into smithereens.

With a wave of her hand, Alice amplified and dispersed the flames over the next half a mile. The flames covered the skies, creating a scene that looked like hell on Earth.

The infected birds circling in the air were being reduced to ash. The entire scene fascinated and scared all the inhabitants of the settlement.

Alice had to keep her focus on the task at hand since even minor deviations in thought could lead to everyone burning together with the birds.

This was also the reason why Zeel banned her from using more than 50% of her power at any given time.

After Alice had burnt enough birds, the other infected birds decided to search somewhere else for their meals.

Alice felt slightly dizzy on her feet, she was about to collapse on the ground but instead was caught by Carlos.

"Oh shit!" Alice thought as she could feel Zeel close.

She quickly pushed Carlos away, barely standing but with Zeel's eyesight, he could see what had occurred.

Alice could feel Zeel's gaze trained on her body, but she didn't flinch even a bit. She knew Zeel was the jealous type so showing guilt would be admitting she did something wrong, which she didn't.

Luckily, Zeel was in his rational state of mind. For a bride instant, Zeel could feel a new emotion bubbling below the surface that quickly receded into the depths of his mind.

Zeel speeded over to Alice and placed her in a bridal carry.

"We need a room she is gonna be out for a while," Zeel whispered, not wanting to disturb the sleeping Alice.

Alice seeing she was finally in Zeel's arms, decided she no longer had to support her waning consciousness and fainted.

"Long time no see Zeel," Carlos said patting Zeel's back, genuinely happy to meet Zeel and Alice since the world went to shit.

"Well, talk later, need a room now," Zeel replied a bit reluctant to greet the handsome Carlos.

Once again, a new emotion threatened to resurface but Zeel quickly suppressed it.

Zeel was currently leaning on a roughly made bedding in the back of a bus loaned to him by Carlos.

Alice, who was asleep on his lap, began to stir awake little by little until she regained consciousness.

"ugh, how long have I been out?" Alice asked knowing Zeel was there.

Even in her unconscious state, Alice would always be able to tell where Zeel was.

"Couple of hours, you have attracted unwanted attention. The satellite was above us; we have to move out," Zeel replied in his usual apathetic manner.

"Using your powers on such a large scale put a target on our backs once again. I am barely managing to obscure this camp so those observing us can't determine our exact coordinates," Zeel complained.

"Well guess we have to take the fight to them a little earlier. We need to use these people as bait to draw them out," Alice said albeit a bit reluctantly.

However, Alice knew that she had already disobeyed Zeel so she needed to make certain compromises to make up for her earlier transgression.

"Yeah, they are dead either way. At least, now we can guarantee some survive instead of none," Zeel said as he stopped cloaking the entire camp.

His nanites were under intense strain keeping the entire location cloaked from satellite signals.

Overusing the nanites was an extremely stupid action, especially since he had been unable to upgrade it within the past two years.

"I missed you, honey!" Alice said as she attempted to act sweety.

Alice's action succeeded in grabbing Zeel's attention from the task at hand.

"Missed you too! Come here!" Zeel said as he pulled Alice up from his leg and into his arms.

Silence descended on the bus for a short time.

Soon moans and noises could be heard all through the camp, signifying the union of Alice and Zeel.

Unlike the previous sessions of lovemaking, this one projected a much gentler atmosphere due to many people outside the bus.

The caravans had been keeping a steady speed throughout the night, on their way to nowhere in particular.

After all, where was there to go at the end of the world?

Zeel and Alice stirred awake, still slightly groggy from the previous night's lovemaking session.

"Get dressed, we need to plan," Zeel said as he tossed Alice's clothing to her.

Their naked bodies were still entwined with Zeel still deep within Alice's confines.

Wet popping sounds could be heard as they disconnected.

Alice grumbled and began to get dressed, careful to avoid stretching her tired legs too much.

Exiting the bus, the duo was given incredulous looks from everyone in the caravan as if condemning them for their shameless actions the previous night.

Zeel and Alice didn't particularly mind since they were already used to just being around each other and nobody else.

"So how long are you guys staying?" asked Claire with both Carlos and LJ looking at them with confusion.

Claire had cornered them not long after they exited the bus. Claire was doing damage management for the younger children who also heard the noise and began getting 'adult' ideas.

"Not long I guess, but you guys need us for now," Zeel replied before he turned his eyes to LJ.

Zeel slowly removed a vial from his pocket and handed it to LJ.

"As for you LJ, still a selfish bastard I see, scared to die," Zeel said smiling wryly.

Zeel made sure to open his hand for everyone to see the glistening smaller version of the antivirus serum.

LJ took the anti-virus quickly after receiving the vial.

Claire and Carlos were both surprised.

"You were infected?" they asked.

"Yeah, kind of a little bit," LJ replied meekly.

"You motherfucker …" Claire said as she was about to start ranting off but was stopped by Alice.

"We need a plan since saving you might have attracted more trouble than you can afford right now," Alice said.

Claire and everyone else was startled but quickly calmed down.

After which the group started a serious conversation that would determine whether or not they survive the week.

Every matter was discussed, Zeel and Alice acted as advisors since they were the most aware of situations around the world.

In the end, it was decided that they had to make their way to Las Vegas to refill gas and other resources.

The group would then make their way to Alaska, it was much colder, and the infection was not likely to have progressed that far.