The girl thrashed in her restraints, immune to the scene before her. There was no humanity left in those hollow green eyes–more like an animal now than a human being. Frothing at the mouth as she attempted to knarl through the rope binding her mouth, blood smeared across her pale cherry lips. No doubt remnants of Melissa who screamed in doorway held back by Garett.

This was a fathers realisation that his child was no more. Becoming merely a husk–her fragile appearance the only vestige of the girl who'd been before. The innocence and warmth of a child gone, like snow at the break of spring, melted away, leaving only the barren earth– all vitality withered away.

It was painful to watch. Even Levi, who was indifferent in nature, felt discomfort watching Eric empty his lungs with mournful cries. While the chair creaked under, the Rose's continued struggles as she kept throwing herself towards Eric, who looked at her with such tender sorrow.

It was such an intimate moment that Levi felt like he was intruding, but Eric's previous action told him he wasn't in the right state of mind. As uncomfortable as he felt, he stood nearby watching on in silence–letting Eric scream his grievances to the world.

As plumes of fire basked the room in an amber glow, illuminating the pink wallpaper. Eric's hoarse voice stopped as he stared towards the girl with an empty gaze. His eyes wandering towards the pistol on his waist, its sight causing him to cringe. There was indecision hidden behind the grief. An internal battle being fought, which no father would ever want to occur.

"I can do it," Levi said, an undertone of understanding in his voice. No father should do what he had to do.

"No… I'll do it–I have to do it." Eric said, his voice struggling as he scrunched his bloodied fists, his eyes cringing at his bound daughter thrashing.

He grabbed his pistol, his arm trembling as he raised the bobbing weapon to eye level with Rose's furious gaze. Sweat pouring down his face as he held his wrist, stabilising his weapon pressing it against her cold, pale forehead.

His eyes avoided his daughter as he listened to the screams of his Ex-wife held back in the other room, "Please, Eric. Don't hurt Rose, she's just ill. There'll be a cure. I'm certain, don't hurt her." making his resolve waver.

He looked away, meeting Levi's eyes with hope, almost desperation filling his eyes. But only received a sad look, making his knees buckle as he turned once more and faced his daughter. The pleas of his wife faded away, as all sound did as with difficulty he met his daughter's eyes. Searching for anything, something to give him a reason.

But he saw nothing. They were devoid of life. Those weren't the eyes of his daughter. This wasn't his daughter. His daughter smiled with such warmth, such kindness; she was curious about everything and anything. Her innocence infectious as she ran roughshod through the house, giggling at every little thing, no matter how small and inconspicuous. She could find the joy in life, and it infected around her. This wasn't his daughter.

And so he let out an agonising scream, "Agghhhh!" his cry giving him courage where he had none and a gunshot followed. Bang. The screaming of his Ex zoned him back in as she ran, breaking free from Garretts grasp towards the now still corpse of Rose. A small hole decorated the bridge between her eyes-where a small trickle of blackish-red blood oozed from the wound.

Eric had no more screams. He was all out of cries. He was all out of words. But Mellisa had enough for them both as she scooped the slumping body of their daughter from the chair. "No. Noooo. Noooooo," she pleaded, her trembling hands brushing the hair that fell over Rose's eyes. Mellisa's tears falling on Rose's face.

Eric stood watching, his eyes staring as Melisa rocked their daughter like an infant. He wanted to walk forward and comfort her, but it was him who did this. And Mellisa knew it as well as she turned her red eyes towards him, her gaze morphing into a burning glare as she screamed. "You did this."

Her tone was venomous as she spat her words at Eric, making him stumble back–getting steadied by Levi. "You killed her." she shrieked, an undisguised hostility emanating from her twisted visage.

"Get out." she continued. Looking at the unmoving figure of Eric before raising her voice and repeating, "Get out. Get out. Get out." Eric opened his mouth and attempted to speak but, she beat him to it.

"I never want to see you again. You murderer." Making Eric bite his lip, drawing blood from his venison-coloured lips. His action ignored as she turned her attention to Levi and the people standing in the doorway, shouting, "All of you. Get out."

Levi met the woman's glare with ease, making her still for a moment, before he turned and tapped Eric's shoulder, saying, "We'll wait outside."

Leaving only Eric and Melisa in the apartment. Mellisa barraging Eric with curses as he stood and took it in silence. Making the woman more furious, as she shouted, "Say something." moving towards him and stomping on his toe. Only receiving a look from his pained eyes that stared deep into hers.

Something about that look cut her inside, but she discarded the momentary feeling. And slammed her fists into the frail-looking Eric, who groaned at the blows, moving him backwards against the wall as she screamed. "Why?" the question repeated again, and again, and again. The intensity waning alongside her blows until Eric grabbed her and met her eyes.

"She wasn't our daughter. Rose was already gone," he whispered, making Mellisa's eyes bubble further as Eric surrounded her with his arms–Mellisa melting into a childlike sobbing. "Everything will be all right," he said, stroking her silky hair.

—

A few minutes passed, and the group waited in silence. What happened inside had affected them, some more than others. So they didn't mind Eric taking his time. They could do with the time to think. They'd had no time to process everything that was happening. But in the silence of the hallway, they finally had a chance to digest what was happening around them.

It was surreal. They'd all been awaiting their fates within the confines of their cells. But in the space of a few hours, they'd fought a horde of flesh-eating humans and found that the state was in a state of emergency.

And if they got bitten, they would become ill and within hours become another infected. They only had to look out the window, and they could see the sight of destruction growing in intensity. The officers in the station had already given up. They couldn't see hope. They'd seen riot officers continuing the fight. However, in the quiet streets, without the gaze of the police, things were already getting worse.

The army and the safe zones gave hope, but the grim response from the officers meant they didn't think well of the situation. The military couldn't be everywhere. This thing would fester where their gaze wasn't looking. Things might still be manageable, but whatever godforsaken disease was spreading, it was spreading like wildfire.

At least they could take comfort in the fact they had run into someone as ruthlessly competent as Levi. He may not be a saint running to save the day, but they felt the cold visage wasn't all there was to the man. No matter how dire the circumstance, they at least had a silver lining–with him, the odds of getting their families increased.

But morbid thoughts couldn't stop rising in their minds. What if when they arrived, it was already too late? What if they went through what Eric was experiencing? Could they be as strong as Eric and do what he had done–or would they break down with grief? These thoughts whirled in many heads.

The only one who looked the most unperturbed was Levi. He stood with the same perpetual stony face–his expression as indecipherable as ever. But his indifference was comforting. While they may be fearful and lost, he would remain steadfast, never swayed by the circumstances.

While they sat, they heard the first sound emanating from the apartment in a while. Bang. A single gunshot. Elise let out a gasp, and the others backed away from the door. Their hands grasped on their weapons as steps moved towards the door. And Eric opened the door unharmed.

What happened in that apartment only Eric knew, but his spiritless eyes made nobody ask. Levi tapped his shoulder before saying, "Let's go. Things'll get worse as more time passes." And without another question asked, they were already on the road again. Eric forgotten, besides the occasional glance at his forlorn figure.

The night was getting brighter as time passed. Marcus's watch reading around half eleven. The fires in the city rampaging, causing the city to look like a warzone, as they released their fiery hue into the sky.

As they moved towards more built-up areas, they greeted the sight of wandering groups of looters and rioters. As well as the panicked drivers attempting to leave the city–which often ended up accosted by the rioters.

They had on more than one occasion seen a car crash into another, one even flipping near their location. A woman careening through the windscreen, her neck snapping on impact as she scraped across the floor. Her body limp when a curb stopped her.

Whenever a car passed now, they stayed as far away as possible. Times like these were no time for safe driving.

The rioters, though were more precarious, as the night got longer, the unseemly sorts were the ones that stayed. Some got intimidated by the weapons and the imposing figures Garett and Eddie, content to cause find an easier target and continue rioting.

Others weren't so simple and had a sharper edge about them. Appearance more dangerous, co-operation more firm and deterrence less likely to work. They often saw the appearance of the old man Marcus, Elise and Eric and felt they were an easy pick. But usually, the sight of Levi's bone-chilling gaze was more than enough to make them back off, they might've been criminals, but they weren't stupid.

The issue was with the kind they were dealing with, neither the ragtag opportunists nor the hardened criminals. They were somewhere in the middle, intimidating enough to likely be criminals but inexperienced enough to underestimate Levi's force of character.

"You should join us." a young man said. He seemed to be in his twenties. His face was somewhere between that of a young child and a grown man, but his imposing frame and sharp eyes made up for that lack of maturity. His physical presence being enough to make Elise step back in fear.

"No, we're fine," said Levi, looking at the other group appraisingly. They were all young, around the same age, close to Levi's own. They numbered around fifteen and had a significant numerical advantage.

"Yeah, you heard him. Fuck off, cabrón," shouted Sergio, his hand swiping through his slick hair, giving the man a side-eye, as he opened his jacket revealing the pistol underneath.

"Oy oy, samurai, you better get your pet chihuahua to settle down. Or he's gonna end up with a hole in his head." the man smiled, unphased by Sergio, who looked ready to pull his gun.

"Calm down, Sergio." Levi said before looking at the smirk of the other man and asking, "What you wanna do here?"

His smirk widened as he spread his arms and said, "You seem like a smart guy, so I'll give it straight. Your weapons now, and you'll all walk away alive. Make the smart choice." his group laughing, as the man looked on with schadenfreude at Levi.

Levi sighed and looked back up at the man with a sharper gaze and asked. "Are you sure about this?" his gaze making the man freeze before he shook it off, more unsure, and said.

"Yeah, your weapons and you walk." the moment the words left his mouth, a sinking feeling rose in his stomach as if he'd made a grave mistake. And he barely saw Levi grab his pistol before he felt his vision falling to the floor, wondering what had happened.

It happened in an instant, and nobody had time to react. As soon as he had finished his words, the pistol was already in Levi's hand, and the man was dead. The other group stared shell shocked by the sight of their leader slumped onto the floor, blood pouring from his head. Their eyes flashed between the smoking barrel of Levi's gun and the body, incomprehension written on their faces.

"That's my first and only warning. Keep trying your luck, and you'll all join him. You have until I count till ten before we start shooting again." His words were cold, and even his group stared at him with shock.

And when they met his gaze, they all realised that they had made a severe mistake. They didn't want to kill anyone, but his eyes told them that if they didn't leave, he wouldn't mind killing every single person.

Nobody knew who the first to run was, but after the first, soon they'd all begun sprinting away. Their leader, likely their friend, cast aside alone as everyone began to scatter. By the count of ten, they had all disappeared, but Levi still shot the gun three times, making his group flinch.

The street that was in complete chaos a moment ago, barren of any rioters as everyone ran at the sound of gunshots. Besides the few ambling bodies of the infected that moved towards the sound.

After the smoke had cleared, Levi faced the gazes of his ragtag group, causing most to avert their eyes. As he said, "Let's go. We've already wasted enough time."