The two moved through the streets, avoiding the few infected wandering the street. They bypassed a flaming wreck of a Volvo that'd crashed, Garett looking at the half-devoured corpse beside its crumpled frame.

The infected weren't very sensitive, and they passed without issue. Only having to take down one infected, which they took down without alerting anymore.

It was around 3 in the afternoon, and the crisscrossing streets felt empty. By this time, cars and pedestrians would usually be passing back and forth. But besides the groaning of the infected that dotted the roads, not a person was in sight.

After yesterday, everybody knew the streets were dangerous. And with the disarray of the city and utilities down, it was impossible not to know something was wrong.

The two were close to the grocery store when Garett grabbed Levi's arm and pointed down a street. He pointed towards a large white van that sat parked at the side of the curb.

"That's the kind I can hotwire," Garett said as he began making his way towards the van.

Levi followed behind and watched as Garett used a small knife and a bobby pin to pick the door. "These older models are too easy," Garett said as he entered the van and read the gas meter that read a little below half. He looked around the back, ensuring there was no infected inside before turning towards the panel beneath the steering wheel.

He opened the small panel and fiddled with the wires of the old van. Playing with them for a moment until the engine roared to life, attracting the infected wandering nearby.

Hearing the engine, Levi jumped into the passenger seat and closed the door. In time to see the closest infected swipe its bloody hand across the passenger window as Garett pulled away.

It wasn't a great ride. It felt like it was on its last legs and the milage meter agreed. But they got to the grocery store, Rilton's community grocers, which seemed like it had better days.

With smashed windows and a ransacked interior while bodies lined the pavements. It looked like the military had already gotten to work and cleaned the infected in the area. Making the area look like a warzone with bullet shells lying astray on the road.

Bullet sized holes were visible on the walls and displays of the street, with corpses often nearby. The only infected remaining were those attacking the chainlink fences in the alleys attracted by the engine's sound.

They ignored the infected and walked over the shattered glass of the storefront. At the tills, the body of a cashier, his mouth slathered in blood, lay on the floor with a gunshot to his head amongst the trash dropped by looters.

Garett gawked at the body while Levi moved around the store, looking for anything useful. And found that even though the shelves were almost barren, there was plenty of food left in the back of the store.

Levi hollered Garett and grabbed trolleys to fill them with the boxes stored out the back. The non-perishables were their main target, though they weren't being picky. They had plenty of space in the van.

Halfway through their second run collecting items, an infected appeared in the back. It dragged itself forward, making a terrible racket as it knocked over everything in its way. It looked recently turned, and the jeans stuck around its ankles made it so that it could not stand for long.

When it did stand, and they got a good look at the infected before it fell, it was a woman who appeared in her late teens. She had a half-ripped blouse, open bra, pulled down jeans, and bruising across her body, especially her neck. It was clear that some looters weren't only here for groceries. And she met her end at their hands.

"What a sad way to go…." Garett said as he looked at the young blonde girl dragging herself towards them.

Levi pulled out his sword and stabbed the girl's head, saying, "You're right. Times like these bring out the worst in people."

Garett nodded and moved towards the girl's corpse and pulled her jeans up, getting a weird look from Levi. "Don't look at me like that. I'm giving her some dignity. She might be dead, but we can't leave her like that."

Getting a smile from Levi, who said, "Didn't take you as an honourable man." Making Garett click his tongue as he finished pulling her jeans up.

"It just rubs me up the wrong way. I'm not a saint, but this… This is wrong." Garett said, his gaze meeting Levi's.

"I know. I know." Levi responded as he turned away and resumed collecting boxes. After the incident, they continued in silence, Garett no longer in the mood to talk.

Time passed quick as they moved between the van and the store ferrying supplies into the back. They did three runs and had six trolleys worth of supplies in the back and figured this much would last them a week and then some.

The engine roared back to life as they pulled away from the store, riling up the infected stuck in the alleys. "Do you think the military will fix the situation," Garett asked Levi as he drove, looking down at the corpses lining the street.

"Who knows. But I'm not taking any chances. If they fix everything, that's great. They can come find me out in the country. If they don't, with all the people flocking to the cities, everyone's gonna wish they steered clear of Boston." Levi said, making Garett pensive.

The bodies on the streets showed the military was doing something. They were attempting to restore order. But Levi was never known for his optimism. If things could go wrong, they would go wrong. If they banked on getting saved, they would die waiting for salvation.

Levi could see the naive glow of hope in Garett's eyes. He could read his face that said, 'maybe we should wait until this all blows over.' There was nothing wrong with that. Only Levi couldn't be like that. He couldn't put his life in the hands of another with hope, his only reason.

And if that meant leaving without everyone, he'd do it. Maggie was his main concern, not whether everyone wanted to go or not.

After thinking that, Levi spotted a woman running from an infected further up the street. Her eyes looking in their direction as she ran the small group of infected in pursuit. Levi felt the van slow down, meeting Garett's unsure eyes as he heard the woman scream, "Help."

Her screams stirred the other infected on the street, which began to appear from the alleys and open houses. There must have been around six hot on her heels and another eight she had attracted from all her screaming.

Levi clicked his tongue as he saw the woman making things worse and said, "I'll handle this. You stay put." As he opened the door and jumped out, unsheathing his sword and walking forward towards the woman who was about ten meters away.

The woman was more than happy to run past Levi towards the van, leaving the infected following behind to him. But when she found the van locked, she became panicked as she screamed towards Garett, "Open the door. We need to leave." Garett shrugged at the woman as he stayed put and looked back towards Levi.

Levi ignored the woman's screaming in the background. Although he'd fought infected before, and even a large number in the police station, this was the first time he was facing so many at once on his own. And not in the tight confines of a corridor either. They weren't tough to avoid. His main concern was their numbers which could surround and overwhelm him.

As long as he avoided overextending and letting them get close to bite, fifteen infected didn't seem too hard to manage.

He moved forward, swinging his blade at the closest infected, beheading it with a single movement. Moving with the swing's momentum, Levi swerved from the lunge of the infected behind and swung again, killing another.

The infected converged into a group as they chased him, Levi doggedly avoiding their grasp. Reaping the lives of the infected one at a time, making it look effortless as he dodged their grasp with what seemed like practised ease and took them out with increasing efficiency.

His movements becoming crisper and more conditioned with each life his blade took. His movements that earlier seemed perilously close to getting caught now seemed infallible. Levi's body now always managing to position itself to not allow infected to get anywhere near. The reaching arms no longer close to even touching the edge of his shirt.

Although not someone experienced in swords, Garett could see clear enough that Levi's swordsmanship was adapting at a frightening pace. At the start, he worried seeing how close the infected were getting, but his fears soon assuaged seeing how things developed.

A shiver ran through Garett's body. It was monstrous. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought Levi had been dealing with these creatures all his life. The sheer improvement in the space of less than a minute was astonishing—the intimidating group of infected becoming helpless before Levi.

If this world remained stuck like this, Levi wouldn't just survive. He would thrive. He almost seemed born for this world. He didn't even seem all that tired, even having dealt with most of the infected.

The woman outside was also stunned by the scene and had her mouth agape, at least until a straggler wandered towards her. Catching her by surprise, causing her to release a scream as she tripped while backing away from the infected. She closed her eyes, and when she felt a body fall against her, she thought everything was over.

But when she felt nothing, she opened her eyes and looked up. And saw the pale face of the infected on top of her, a knife sticking from its head. She looked baffled before she realised what was on top of her and screamed as she pushed it away onto the floor.

She backed away from the body and looked towards it, her trembling body. It had been close. Too close. She saw Levi walk towards the body of the infected while he used his shirt to clean the blood from the katana in his hand. He yanked the knife from its head and turned and stabbed another infected that had ambled towards him.

"You're welcome." He said as he kicked the body of the infected onto the floor and put the knife back into his belt. He didn't say anything else and moved towards the van door, the sound of the door unlocking.

The woman looked up and realised they were gonna leave. "Wait." She shouted, stopping Levi, who directed his chilling gaze towards her. She swallowed hard, seeing his cold blue eyes stare towards her, and the words that she wanted to say became stuck in the back of her throat.

She tried to open her mouth, but each time she tried to speak, no words came out. Eventually, Levi turned back around and opened the passenger door, making the woman's heart sink before she heard him say. "Get in the back." causing a smile to bloom on her face as she went to thank him but stopped when he turned towards her again.

"And if you try anything, you're gonna wish they'd have caught you when I'm through with you. You understand," he said with a cold simplicity, pointing towards the group of corpses cut beyond recognition.

She nodded her head meekly at his words. She could hear her heart beating against her chest, and when she stood, she realised her whole body had broken out into a sweat. She knew when he said he'd make her regret surviving, he meant it. His eyes made her feel like she was looking straight at death itself.

She tried to shake it off, but her body wouldn't stop trembling as she opened the van's back doors and moved through the boxes stored in the back. She sat between a small gap between the boxes. She knew she should be happy she'd been saved, but her stomach lurched knowing she would be near that man. Running away from the infected didn't seem so bad compared to him.

But as she felt the van begin, she didn't dare to ask to leave. She was the one who'd all but asked to come. If she suddenly decided she wanted to go, she didn't know whether he'd choose to up and kill her.

So she sat between the boxes in silence, stifling a small sob overcoming her as she broke out in tears the boxes in the back of the van. Unsure of where she was going, led by unknown men. To safety? She didn't know. But what she did know was she didn't feel saved.