AN:

Chapter 19: Monster

The city may have been dead, but at night it was lively. Emilia, after discovering an open window in one of the rooms upstairs, could hear the crickets and cicadas sing their songs into the dry air. They were beautiful sounds, relaxing even. All her life she'd grown used to sleeping past the sounds of distant car alarms and horns, wailing police sirens, and the occasional squealing ambulance. So these new sounds were more than welcome to her stressed mind. Although, she knew it wouldn't last and decided to listen for as long as possible.

"If things weren't so scary, I wouldn't mind living in a place like this," she said to herself.

Seconds then minutes went by with Emilia silently gazing up at the stars, wondering who else out there was witnessing them with her and what they were doing. Could there possibly be other people just like them, surviving without a safe zone? People who've barely survived, risking their lives every day just to help themselves or to help others. Was her father part of them? Was he staring up at these stars too with her, perhaps, wondering if she was too?

A creaking sound brought Emilia's attention to the doorway, where Atbash stood.

"Sorry," he apologized, despite seeing nothing to be apologetic about. "You were gone longer than we thought you'd be so I came looking for you to make sure you weren't having any trouble."

Emilia shook her head. "No, I should be sorry. I didn't mean to take so long, so I apologize for making you and the others worry."

"Right, so when you're ready, we'll all be in the bedroom." Atbash turned away to rejoin the others.

"Wait!"

Atbash stopped, not expecting Emilia to sound so panicked about wanting his attention. "Yes?" He asked, turning back to face her.

"I know you didn't need to, or maybe even want to at first, but I just want to thank you for letting my friends and I tag along and travel alongside you, Sol, and Charlotte."

"My patience runs thin nowadays. You all seem like a capable bunch so I have no objections with this cooperation, but if any of you start to lag...I won't hesitate to leave you behind."

Atbash spoke his feelings as Emilia nodded in understanding.

"Then we'll do our best to be beneficial to you. Please, do take care of us and we'll take care of you as best we can."

The seriousness in her voice was easily picked up by Atbash who smirked. He felt like he knew what kind of people they were now. They weren't selfish or greedy, but quite the opposite. He thought that maybe he could learn a thing or two from them.

"Then it's settled. Just try not to die, that'll probably upset Sol and Charlotte."

"Yeah. That would be bad since they really seem like good people." She breathed a sigh of relief, letting her eyes drift back towards the window. "Do you think things will ever go back to normal?"

"Maybe someday, but I think it's gonna take a long time till it does." Atbash hoped he wasn't lying through his teeth.

Emilia nodded, finding very little comfort in his words. "When we get to New York I hope to meet my father there. That's where he went just before the outbreak."

Atbash suddenly became nervous. Although he couldn't see her face, he could hear the sadness in her quiet voice. "Can I give you just a little bit of advice?" When she didn't say anything, he continued, "Please, don't get your hopes up. If you expect him to be there and he isn't it'll only hurt you more."

Emilia thought about this, wondering if she could just give up on that hope. There were very few things left for her to live for; one of which was the hope of finding and reconnecting with her father. Without that, she was closer to living just for herself, and she wasn't sure if that was a good enough reason to live.

"No." Emilia shook her head. "I can't do that. I'll find him. I know I will. No matter how long it takes, I'll find him."

Atbash was surprised. Against all odds, she still managed to hold onto hope. The very same kind of hope he'd given up on weeks ago. He was sure with himself that what she was doing was a mistake. He didn't want to press on though. Instead, he put on a fake smile and said, "Then I hope we'll all be there with you when that time comes." With that, he left her with her thoughts.

"Thank you," she said, but Atbash was already gone.

Emilia could hear him walk away, his footsteps echoing through the empty hallways. Then she reached out and pulled in the window, locking it.

After a moment of thought, she leaned her head against the cold glass, it's partially dirty surface still reflecting her relaxed face. She was a bit relieved, which she found surprising despite the circumstances. She may not be in the safest place in the world but knew that as long as she had her friends alongside with her all the time then they'd be alright. There was no saying for sure, but maybe things would work out just fine.

She flashed a smile to her reflection before turning away from the window and leaving the room, just barely missing the row of dim lights bounce their way through the desolate city.

"Checkmate…"

"What?!"

Sol grinned triumphantly at Quark's shock. Before both of them laid a one-sided battle of chess. Few of Quark's pieces remained while most of Sol's remained standing.

"Checkmate means I win. See? You can't move here or here or-"

"I know that! It's just you completely slaughtered my army! Absolutely no mercy!" This appraisal was odd but easily accepted by Sol, who made sure to rub it in his face.

Ram peered over Quark's shoulder and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Father, did you lose?"

"Huh, apparently so…" Even with no way to win, he still studied the board as if willing an option to appear out of thin air. Not surprisingly, no such miracle presented itself.

As if he had said something that annoyed her, Ram frowned with a sigh and swung her arm behind herself to drop three pieces of candy into Rem's awaiting hands.

Quark looked heartbroken, "Rem, you bet against me?"

To assure him, Ram explained half-heartedly, "Not really, Father. We flipped a coin. She lost." This immediately remedied his heartache.

"Don't be too upset, Quark." Charlotte said, "Sol is actually good at chess. Back in high school, he ran the chess club. He just likes to show off." In a fit of love, she smacked the back of Sol's head with the rules pamphlet.

"Ow."

"Did that actually hurt?"

"No…. Ow!" Sol pouted, rubbing his head.

"Bet that one did though."

Quark waved his hands in front of him and said, "Wait, what?! Sol, you said you only played this game a handful of times!"

"That, of course, was a very big understatement."

Subaru knew he should get some sleep, but was unable to. Truthfully, he felt they should've already been out of Nevada by now. But here they still were, just barely getting through.

The house was quiet, everyone keeping this way as they tried to fall asleep. They had split up into two groups, each getting a whole room so they weren't too split up in case bad things came.

Looking around the room, he could tell it had belonged to probably a young teenage girl. Boy band posters, light blue walls, a full-body mirror, and a bed with pink sheets and stuffed animals. It almost reminded him of Emilia's room, just more girly. Nothing like Rem or Ram's room.

Speaking of which, Subaru looked at the only person probably as wide awake as him; Ram. She rested against the wall with her sleeping sister using her lap as a pillow. Her hand was rested in her sister's, holding tight.

Ram was looking off into space, unfocused as if deep in thought. Whatever she was thinking of was saddening her. Her blank face fell to a frown while her eyes began to water. Her wishes for the future were gone, replaced with new ones. It came to no surprise she would be this distraught. She looked down at her sister, using her free hand to wipe the hair away from Rem's face.

Quietly, Ram whispered something to Rem. Subaru couldn't hear it but felt he didn't need to.

He wanted to do something, wanted to help, to make sure Ram knew she wasn't alone because after all, they were all they had. But he couldn't. Something held him back. Something he couldn't quite explain.

BANG!

Without warning, a loud sound shook the whole house. Ram and Subaru looked up along with Emilia, Rem, and Quark. Then there were the sounds of footsteps, fast and quick. The door to the room was thrown open and the three others came in.

Sol, his eyes still showing signs of sleep, asked, "You guys okay?!"

"What's happening?" Quark was then wide awake, his instincts kicking in as protector of his daughters.

Sneering, Atbash approached the window just as a small object came crashing through it. It fell to the floor, rolling along as everyone observed it. Atbash cocked his head, then his eyes went wide as he yelled, "Grenade!"

Too late. The flash grenade exploded in a blinding light, rendering them helpless as people they couldn't see rushed into the room and roughly forced them all to the ground.

"What the fuck!"

"Who is that?! Stop it!"

"Father!"

"Get your hands off me, bastard!"

"No! Wait, stop!"

"Gah!"

Their yells and questions went unanswered as the men roughly forced them onto the ground, holding down each and every one of the confused survivors.

Subaru was left confused and panicked, not only by the attack but by the fact that the attackers were human. These people had to be survivors, just like them. He wanted to say something but was cut off when he was suddenly lifted back onto his feet. At this point, the ringing in his ears finally began to subside. He looked around the room, seeing his friends in the same situation, each cuffed and with a confused expression.

Looking at the men, Subaru could tell they weren't just normal survivors. The men were armed to the teeth; automatic rifles in hand, pistols holstered, body protected with a bulletproof vest, and various types of grenades strapped to their waist.

Atbash must've been thinking the same thing as Subaru when he began to demand, "You aren't survivors. Who are you?"

"Hey, Sol?" Quark asked, looking at the men with uneasiness.

Sol answered, his voice shaky, "Y-Yeah?" Usually being confident, he found it hard to keep his cool when a bunch of mysterious men were holding him and his friends at gunpoint.

"Are these the Cultists you were telling us about?"

"No. Unless they've had a major upgrade."

"Not too far from the truth, I'm afraid!" A man walked into the room, a shadow covering his face. He looked at the survivors, regarding them with a small smile. Just his facial appearance alone brought discomfort, which one would call creepy. A once mild-mannered man, he was now a loose canon after the events of the zombie apocalypse. His clothes were clean, with a few rips here and there. And clipped to his side was a stuffed animal, a white whale with a horn on its head.

Atbash recognized the weird abomination of a toy, only knowing one person who could be connected to it. When he figured it out he couldn't believe it. He'd always had the assumption that he would've been one of the first to die to the infected. He was never a threatening man or a fighter, just a guy who knew how to make some really good drugs.

"Nicholas Manson."

"In the flesh."

Nicholas stepped forward and did a small bow, regarding Atbash with an amused look as if enjoying his shock. It almost made him laugh, seeing such raw confusion on his young face.

"Surprised to see me?"

"..."

Nicolas seemed to be relishing the moment, eagerly drinking in their looks. As if the sight was actually making him hungry, he licked his lips.

"Why suddenly so quiet? You all seemed rather lively a little while ago."

Nobody spoke, either from fear or not knowing what to say. The sounds of the night could be heard again through the broken window, except this time they went unnoticed by Emilia.

Subaru was the first to speak. He'd always, at some point in his life, wanted to be the center of attention. However, this time and place were not what he had in mind. So it took just about every ounce of courage just to say something. "We have nothing worth taking. So why are you doing this?"

"I want absolutely nothing from you all. Just your cooperation." When nobody said anything, Nicholas continued, "You see, I've been tasked with a job, a very specific one at that. I have nothing to gain or lose. But you, on the other hand, have everything to lose if you don't listen. To me, it's just another step closer to justice and closure. A means to rid myself of guilt."

Nicolas smirk at his own words and bent down towards Subaru. "My my, you look like you've seen better days. Wouldn't kill you to take a shower every once in a while you know."

Subaru was suddenly made flustered by this. He'd been entirely aware of the poor condition his hygiene had been in, but it wasn't his fault he was in the middle of a desert and the apocalypse with little to no access to water. He was sure the others were going through the same kind of issue, but none ever brought it up.

"And you," Nicolas moved away from Subartu and towards Emilia. He regarded her with a strange look, it seemed to be a pained smile, as if looking at her hurt him. Still, he kneeled next to her and grabbed her hair.

"Hey!" Quark yelled out in defiance. He shifted in his place, still being held down.

Emilia yelped when Nicolas pulled her hair up so she was looking at him. Slowly, his expression changed to just pure anger. "So ….beautiful. Just as I imagined you'd be. It makes me sick to my stomach."

"Let her go, Nick!" Atbash called for his attention, hoping to distract him from Emilia. " It's me you want isn't it?!" When Nicolas faced him, he continued, "Aren't you mad about what happened? I'm not dead, but Regulus is! I killed him, your best friend! Is that what this is about? You capture me and kill me just like you wanted from the start?"

"Capture and kill ...YOU?" Just as Abash hoped, Nicolas let go of Emilia and stood back up, standing above all of them. "Please, you're the least of my problems, Bashur.

"What do you mean, Nick?!" Atbash struggled to loosen the grip the man had on him, but it ended up just making it hurt more.

"You should already know, Bashur. In this place, in this world, people die and people kill. I….was no exception. Even before this world became this sick and twisted it was already a cruel place. It was only a matter of time before things would go bad for all of us, no? A true reminder that life is, indeed, a fragile thing."

Atbash suddenly realized. The pain in Nicolas' face, the white whale clipped to his side, the anger in his eyes. He felt like an idiot not realizing it sooner. It wasn't this man that carried around that toy everywhere he went. "Your daughter. She's dead, isn't she?"

Nicolas' face seemed to relax, his voice becoming softer. "Yes. Her death was one of many. A tragedy upon this world, by any means. The only thing that made it any more different was that it was by my own hand."

There was a moment of silence, so quiet it almost seemed like time had stood still. What Nicolas had just said pierced the air like a dagger. But through it all, Atbash still spoke, smiling.

"You killed your own daughter? You sick bastard."

Nicolas stares at his hands, imagining them wet with blood, fresh and warm, a reminder of what he had done. "It wasn't entirely my doing. I wasn't myself. I have changed, as you can probably tell. The effects of these times have altered my mind to a degree where I may never return to my old self. And in a fit of absolute rage due to this difference, I had lost consciousness of my actions. And when I returned, my beloved daughter was no more."

"That doesn't change the fact that you killed her. A young, innocent girl is now dead because of you! How can you stand there and still be alive, you monster, when there are-!"

"I AM NOT A MONSTER! I'M NOT! I-I-I….. I cannot be. After all I've done for these people, what I did to try and save my family! I cannot be a monster!"

Nicolas couldn't hold himself back from yelling. He hated himself. He had killed his own daughter, but couldn't even remember doing it. That was how much of a waste he believed he was. And I was all because of her.

"Then let us go! If you aren't a monster then prove it! Set us free and we'll just be on our way."

The armored men turned their gaze to Nicolas, perhaps to await his command. One of the men began to speak, "Sir-."

"Enough! I no longer have any patience left to listen to this! Like I had said before. I have a task I must do. And there is nothing that's going to stop me from getting justice and clearing my name." Nicolas wiped his eyes to clear them of any tears that began to form. When he felt he was okay, he approached Emilia.

Nicolas' eyes were dark as he looked down on Emilia, holding no emotion. "Get up…" There was a pause before the man on top moved away.

"What are you doing?" Quark demanded. "Don't you touch her! I'll kill you if you do!" He began to squirm and thrash, desperately attempting to break free. He'd seen many men with that kind of look Nicolas had in his face, it was a look of murder.

Emilia stood up. Just from the look being given she could tell she was going to either die or wish she was. The thought of running passed, but there were too many enemies here. She wouldn't have made it to the door before being gunned down. Petrified with fear, she looked down at Subaru who was beginning to thrash around.

"Don't you touch her! I'll kill you if you do! I swear it!"

"Don't worry…" Nicolas assured. It may have just been Emilia's imagination, but Nicolas' face seemed to twist into something demonic. "I only wanna break her a little." He suddenly grabbed her by the hair and threw a punch that connected perfectly with her cheek.

"EMILIA!"

There were cries of shock and panic when Emilia was suddenly struck with such a powerful punch to the face. But there was one who's scream exploded with such earth-shattering violence; Rem. She struggled against the man, throwing him off balance. He still seemed to have a hold of her, but when Emilia was struck again he could no longer contain her.

Rem scrambled from the floor and lunged at Nicolas. However, he had already dropped Emilia and was throwing a punch in her direction. She was able to grab his fist and twist around to his back before anything else could happen. But Nicolas immediately threw his elbow back and struck her head.

Rem stepped back, her vision spinning. Nicolas threw a hard kick into her stomach. With an anguished cry, she flew to her back. Without missing a beat, she attempted to get up, but Nicolas had already put a foot down onto her neck and pulled out a silenced pistol, aiming it at her head.

Frozen, Rem's rage subsided. Her eyes were fixated on the gun's barrel. Still, she then stared at Nicolas with resentment.

"Please, I don't wish for this to last much longer. So don't you ever try and attack me again or next time it'll be your other arm."

A sudden pain went up Rem's left side. From this feeling, she could tell she'd been shot. Her screams pierced the night sky. An ugly scream of agony coming from her mouth as one of anger came from her father.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD! LET ME GO SO I CAN KICK YOUR ASS AND TEAR-!"

"Another word from you and the next bullet I put in her goes through her skull!" He looked down at Rem, noticing her will to fight was gone now that she had a gun pointed at her. "I'm sorry, little one. I didn't want to hurt you." He turned to the man who held Rem down and ordered him to bandage her up. "You still have your children. Be happy I haven't chosen to take them away from you."

Everyone was silent again aside from the silent whimpers from Rem. It satisfied him to be in control, more so than he would've like to admit.

"You shouldn't have done that…"

Subaru materialized behind Nicolas and grabbed him from behind then threw his knee straight into the man's back. The impact brought the psycho to his knees with a painful cry. Subaru used this to kick his head and fling him onto his belly.

"You shouldn't have done that to them! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

Rage surged through Subaru. After having to watch Emilia being beaten and the sound of Rem screaming in agony he could take this no more. He'd assumed something bad, but when he saw Nicolas standing above her with a gun in his hand with blood slowly starting to puddle...he'd lost it.

Rem…

Not again. He'd gone too far, worked too hard for it to end like this again. He couldn't think of anything other than Rem at that moment, from when they first met to when he noticed she had started to fall for him. Her smile, one of the only things that could brighten his day. Her face, the only one that greeted him at the front of his house every morning. Her personality, so cliche of a girl in love, yet one of a kind. And he felt he was about to lose it all.

Rage boiled within Subaru. His vision blurred and before he knew it he was already on top of Nicolas, grabbing the back of his head and repeatedly slamming it onto the hardwood floor with every ounce of strength he had.

After a sizable puddle of blood had already spewed from Nicolas' face, Subaru removed himself. He was breathing heavily as he looked around at the men, none of them had moved an inch. He stood dumbfounded. Why had they done nothing? His attention went to the man bandaging up Rem. She seemed to be okay aside from the pain, but it was enough to ease his fear of her dying.

Subaru rushed to Rem's side, relieved to see her smile when he came up.

"Is that all you got?"

Subaru tensed up, his anger rising again. Nicolas still hadn't had enough. Slowly, said man was getting back up. All over his face and shirt was his own blood, which seemed to have came from his nose. However, it was no longer gushing blood but still seemed to be broken. This was remedied with a very painful sounding snap as he forced his nose back into place.

Apparently, Nicolas had been holding back earlier. In the time it took Subaru to blink, Nicolas had already closed the distance between them.

"Gah!" Subaru grunted loudly when Nicholas suddenly threw a punch into his gut. He was held in place by his attacker, who grabbed a handful of his hair. Again and again, Nicholas threw punch after punch onto Subaru. When he felt he had enough he finished by forcing Subaru's head down and slamming his knee into his forehead.

Painfully, Subaru tried to raise his arms but no longer had the strength to do so. It wouldn't surprise him if he had a few broken ribs. Defeated, he laid still after Nicolas placed a foot on his shoulder and pushed him onto his back.

Subaru wanted to keep fighting, but the pain in his entire body stopped him.

A wicked smile crossed Nicolas' face as he straddled Subaru. "It might not do much, but I hope she feels some pain from this." With that, he pulled a wicked blade from his hip and pressed it against Subaru's throat.

"Stop!"

The second the blade came into view, the men turned their guns away from the survivors and towards Nicolas, who froze.

"Relax yourselves. I was only having a little fun."

Nicolas spat out blood then stood up, the same relaxed smile across his face. The whole time, he'd never even broken a sweat.

Nicolas was the first to exit the house, followed closely by the survivors who were accompanied by the armed men. He waved them off, telling the men to pack up the survivors, as he approached the woman from earlier. "Were you just hanging outside this whole time? I went in there all alone like an idiot, I thought you were right behind me."

The woman sneered. "You know damn well why."

Snickering, Nicolas glanced at another group of men and women who stood nearby, guns at the ready. Their appearances weren't intimidating, but their inhumanity made up for it. Obviously, these must've been Nicolas' men, while the more disciplined men were the woman's.

"Sorry, hon. Couldn't allow you interfering. But don't worry, your men were well trained in that situation. I'll give props to them for that."

"I saw what you did to them. When she finds out she won't hesitate to have you killed."

"I dare her to. She's the true monster here, not me. She said so herself that I'm but a messenger."

The woman's threat went not only ignored but challenged. To her, Nicolas was like a brick wall, unmoving and unwilling to follow direct orders. He did what he wanted and there was nothing she could do about it. Until now...

"Mhm," the woman hummed as she pulled out a large tablet. She flipped it on, revealing the CEDA logo in place of the loading screen. "Do what you want. We'll be out of your hair first thing tomorrow. It would be a pleasure to never see you again. Hopefully."

"Ha! I could really say the same thing to you, doll. It hasn't been pleasant and I can't wait for your departure."

The woman stared at Nicolas as if he were a giant talking insect; a disgusting waste of space, while Nicolas stared at her with a smile. Although, his eyes had the same meaning. A rivalry was clear between them, both with opposite goals but with equal drives.

"If you keep staring at me like that, doll, I might just think you're falling for me."

"Not even if you were the last man on earth, you creep."

"That wouldn't be hard."

The woman cringed at the idea of Nicolas even being in a relationship. Sure at first impressions he would seem like a normal human being, but in truth, he was a horrible person. She wondered how someone even had the right mind to conceive a child with him knowing who he was.

"So when should I expect compensation for this? I don't imagine you could've done this by yourself?"

The woman ignored him, and instead tapped her tablet to bring up a map of the area. "I'm requesting a scheduled evac for tomorrow morning. I'll have my men pack their things tonight. So try and keep yours away from mine so another incident doesn't happen, got it?"

"Do what you must, just leave me out of it. And don't be a stranger when you leave. A goodbye would be nice before never seeing you again."

Nicolas left the woman to herself, who stood there with a blank stare directed at the tablet. The screen was illuminated, showing a black screen with two yellow dots close to each other, pulsing in unison near her position.

"Nothing personal, bud, just doing our job," one of the men stated as he forced Quark into one of the holding cells.

They'd been driven to the northern side of town, across the street to the police department that stood alone. Thanks to being separated from the city, the building was mostly intact. Despite the place having spots where blood stained the walls, there was no sign that zombies had been there.

Quark gripped the metal bars, staring at the body of a long-dead police officer in the opposite cell. The officer, having died from multiple stab wounds, was rotting, his front completely dark with dried blood. The sight made him sick but he managed to keep the contents of his stomach inside. He looked over at Emilia, glad that she wasn't in any serious harm.

Nicolas may not have hit Emilia that many times, but they were pretty solid and powerful. Still, she seemed to be okay, no major bruises or bleeding of any kind.

"Agh!"

"I'm sorry, Rem. I didn't mean to hurt you. Here, just lean on me."

Not realizing just how much pain Rem must've been in, Subaru helped her to sit against the cell's wall and then against his shoulder. Being so close together, yet again, made Rem smile.

"Does it still hurt, Rem?"

"O-Only when I move it. The drugs they gave me helped a lot."

"I guess that's good for now. If you want, you can lay down."

"L-Like this?! Ow!"

Seizing the opportunity as fast as she could, Rem quickly laid down on her side and used Subaru's lap as her pillow. The sudden burst of movement sent a wave of pain through her arm, originating at the bullet hole.

"Geez, you idiot, you have to be careful. You don't want the stitches to open back up." Subaru shook his head, using his hand to comfort Rem by running it through her hair, which he knew she really liked ever since she had called for him to rub her head and praise her for getting near-perfect scores on her final exams. It was a very awkward moment for him, but it made her really happy so he figured it was worth it every time.

Smiling, Rem began to wonder if getting hurt was worth it if Subaru was going to spoil her like this every time. Not that she wanted to get hurt when she felt like getting closer to him, but it was a rare treat to be given a lap pillow by the one she loved.

"What do you think they're gonna do to us?" Charlotte asked.

"Do you think they'll help us since we're all human?" Emilia added.

"No," Atbash answered. "These guys are bad news. Our best bet at survival is to try and escape. Do you not remember what they did to you? He punched you and you never even said a word! I don't know why, but a guy like him probably doesn't have a reason."

"I'm gonna kill that bastard if it's the last thing I do," Subaru declared. "I don't care what he throws at us. I'm not giving up until he's dead."

Rem clung to Subaru, holding onto his hands tightly with both of hers. "I'm scared, Subaru. What if they want to kill us," she wondered, looking up at him on the verge of tears.

Subaru didn't know what to say. What could he? They were literally in a cage and at anyone's mercy. Anyone of the guards could simply pull out a pistol and waste all of them. From what he and the others could see, there was no getting out of this one unless a miracle happened.

When Subaru remained silent, squeezing Rem's hand tighter, she shed her first tear and then pressed her face into Subaru's leg. Ram approached her sister and led her into her arms.

"Well, we can't just stay here, right?" Atbash spoke with anger. "The second they open these doors I say we kick some ass. Fight or no, we'll probably die either way."

Sol, who stood with Charlotte next to him, tried to cool Atbash down, "Just calm down, Bashur. Let's think this through rationally and maybe we can get out of–."

"Rationally? We don't have time to be rational!"

"Still, we can't do this without a plan. If we can't do this together than some of us may get hurt or worse, killed."

Atbash attempted to say something but was held back by his own self. He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths before relaxing his tense body. "Fine," he began, his voice strained, "...what's the plan?"

"It's risky, but it just might work. The only problem is if we know how to fight."

"At ease, gentleman." Without them noticing, the woman from earlier entered the room and watched them from the other side of the bars. "There won't be any need to escape. I've already called a helicopter to pick you all up. You'll all be going to your new home in New York City."

They were speechless. In their current state of mind, they could only think of the worst possible road they were headed towards, but now it was different. This woman had shown up and promised them…...freedom? It didn't seem likely. They were treated like animals, pushed around and locked up. Who the hell was she to promise them a way out?

Apparently, Atbash thought the same thing.

"What? Do you think we'll believe you? We were all held down at gunpoint, forced to watch your guy fucking shoot one of our members and beat down two others!" In an attempt to gain the upper hand, Atbash reached through the bars and tried to grab the woman, but failed. Instead, he grabbed the bars and gave the woman his most menacing look. "I don't know what sick game you're trying to play, but we're having none of it."

The woman sneered but kept cool after being yelled at. "I'm sorry for my, uh, colleague. If you can even call him that. We don't share the same views on most situations. So I'd much rather keep things civilized."

"Then who the hell are you? What do you want from us?" Quark stood, furiously demanding the woman to speak.

"My name is Ripley, I'm one of many commanding officers of the CEDA Offensive Control Units. I'm just here to save as many lives as possible. That includes yours."

"Wait, you're with CEDA?! What the fuck are you even doing then?! Attacking survivors! Making use bleed! Aren't you all the good guys?!"

The sudden note of this new information hit them all hard. This woman was from CEDA, the very organization meant to keep them safe during this time. However, this was nothing like what they had imagined. They'd been deliberately subdued and viciously attacked.

But Atbash didn't seem to care about that. Instead, he focused on what that meant about his old friend. "CEDA?! You're telling me that worthless son of a bitch Nick was a part of this the whole time?!"

This piqued Ripley's interest. She turned to Atbash and made sure to add a mental note. "You know of Nick?"

"Of course I do! I worked under that scumbag! His stuff is what my supplier gave me when I was a drug dealer! He's the fucking reason I was almost killed for wanting to leave!"

Cringing, he remembered telling Nicolas he wanted out of the business. He hadn't known it then, but it wasn't until later he realized that him leaving meant compromising Nicolas and that would bring about the risk of him being taken away back to jail and away from his daughter.

"Yes. I'm already aware of his past employment. But times have changed and there's no reason to focus on the past."

Atbash grew more agitated with the desperation in his voice ever increasing. "I still don't understand why in the fuck you're working alongside him? He's a loose cannon! The only person he fucking followed without question was Regulus."

"We've already taken to these precautions. He won't be a problem for much longer."

"What does that mean? What his fucking part in this plan?"

"That's…..classified. His role in this operation is no longer important to your rescue, so it's best to pay no attention to it."

"We can't stay here like this. These are my friends and family. We haven't done anything wrong, yet we've already been abused and nearly killed."

"Of course, but there is nothing I can do about that yet. Not until evac arrives."

"Nothing you can do about it? Didn't you say you were a commanding officer?!"

"I am, yes, but this here has nothing to do with rank, but with safety. I can't afford to let you all free just in case you…die. This way, I can keep an eye on you all."

Subaru was confused, as was everyone else, but he wondered more on the state of the city as a whole. "Die from what exactly? This city seems deserted for the most part. Not a single infected for over a mile. What happened?"

"We tried to set up a safe zone in this area for any survivors hiding in the desert after the fall of Elko, but to no avail. We cleared the city, but didn't find a single survivor. We sent out radio signals. Few showed up, but none of them made it very far."

"Why's that?"

Ripley looked away, hesitating before answering. "Contrary to what it may seem, this place is still extremely dangerous. Nicolas and his men aren't very forgiving."

Atbash snickered. "No shit."

"What he did to you was terrible. And I apologize sincerely. We recruited his help because of his numbers, but it seems that was just a fatal mistake." Ripley's eyes fell to the floor. "This isn't how things were supposed to go, but it's all we have. My men aren't strong enough to survive out here alone, not without help. So please forgive us for our weakness."

"You get us to New York like you promised and maybe I'll forgive you. But first, I want to have a few words with that creep before leaving. He owns me. Big time!"

"As you wish, but I can't promise that."

"Why the hell not?"

Ripley stayed silent, only looking at Atbash with interest. She seemed to want to say something but decided against it. Without saying a single thing, she pulled out her tablet and started walking away. Her attention stayed glued to the screen when Atbash yelled after her.

"Hey! Where are you going?! We still nee-!"

"Just get some rest, please. You'll be taken to safety tomorrow, and once that happens I'll happily answer any questions you have. Goodnight for now." Ripley left the other, leaving them more confused than when she first arrived.

"What the fuck was up with her?" Atbash scratched his head. "With how hard it was to get information out of her I almost don't trust her."

Charlotte shook her head. "I want to know why that Nicolas character attacked Emilia the way he did. He said it was to hurt somebody."

"Yeah. To hurt her. Any idea?"

Emilia shook her head, as did her friends. "I don't know who it could be. But he looked very unhappy like he really hated me for some reason."

It was quiet again for a minute until Atbash assured then that he'd figure it out. "I'll punch it outta him if I have to. But not until I'm done with my own reasons first. He has hell to pay."

"I'm pretty sure we'll all want a piece," Quark stated, cracking his knuckles.

Ram was woken up rudely, as was everyone else, by a guard moving a baton across the metal bars.

"Oi! Rise and shine, sleepyheads!"

Sneering, Ram glared at Nicolas. She lifted her head from the hard stone floor, feeling stiff from the uncomfortable sleeping position. From here she could see him clearly, the sickening smile on his face making him all the more hard to look at.

"I decided to be the good guy here. I will give you all your freedom, but on one condition."

"Forget it! We're supposed to leave this place anyway for New York," Quark barked.

"Right, but from now on what I say goes. So, stay quiet and I won't have to kill you."

Atbash stepped in front of Quark. "Where's Ripley? She's supposed to take us away from you."

"Oh, her? I assumed she made you a promise, but I didn't actually think someone like you, Bashur, would actually believe that. I'm sure you're already a veteran of being disappointed."

At that moment, the doors burst open and Ripley was shoved through. She staggered and tripped over her own feet, landing in front of the cell. She barely attempted to get up. The others observed her, noticing all the bruises and cuts on her face and arms. She had a swollen eye and a long, shallow cut tracing her left cheek with dried up blood coating her neck. Her breathing was ragged, possibly hinting that a few of her ribs were fractured or broken.

"Ripley."

Charlotte looked away at the scene, not wanting to see her suffering. Sol held his wife, feeling even more scared and disgusted than he was the night before.

"What-? Why did you do this to her?!" Emilia screamed out, attempting to stand up but hurting herself in the process since she was still recovering.

The scene was yet another tragedy. Nicolas, the supposed enemy, stood above their beaten savior. Their hopes of escaping were diminishing and the possibility of ever doing so seemed slim. But it was nothing that should've been unexpected. Nicolas was a monster after all.

Ripley gasped in pain, trying to muster all of her fading strength to get back up. Nicolas watched, disappointed with her weak attempts. When he had enough he pushed her back down with his foot, enticing a scream of pain out of her. It was a hurtful scream, one that made the others feel sorry for her. But to Nicolas' men, it seemed amusing.

"She thought I was stupid, Bashur. This nasty woman thought I was a dog, that I'd just roll over and show my belly, all the while praying for my life." Nicolas spoke softly, as if sad over this. "But what she didn't know was that I'd already had her men killed. And when I told her, it was too late. She cares for others, much like me, but we couldn't be any more different."

Nicolas snapped his fingers and then one of the men placed a gun into his open hand.

"NO!" Quark cried out and pressed himself against the bars. He wanted to reach for Nicolas and grab him, but already knew it wouldn't work.

Ripley coughed up small traces of blood. She looked at the others and said as loud as she could while feeling like her lungs were collapsing, "I'm sorry."

Nicolas slowly began to attach a silencer onto the gun, continuing to speak in a calm voice, "Don't be sorry, hon. You did all you could. If it means anything, I rather enjoyed your company. But now's the time to rest."

Subaru slowly stood up while holding onto his stomach in pain now that the damage done began to really take a toll on him. "You kill her, then I'm sure you'll be in all kinds of trouble." When Nicolas stared at him he continued, "You kill her, a commanding officer under CEDA, then it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of people were sent here to kill all of you." His gaze traveled all over the men, making them shift uncomfortably at his words.

Nicolas continued to stare at Subaru. All the while Ripley continued to struggle to breathe under him, her gasps the only sound they could hear other than the humming of the fluorescent lights. Subaru smiled, feeling he'd brought him to a standstill.

The silencer did its job and eliminated most of the sound when Nicolas aimed and fired the gun. Before any of them knew it, Ripley was dead. Then they were left with only the humming of the lights. Subaru's grin quickly vanished, as did Quark's composure.

Quark fell to his knees, his eyes trained on Ripley's body. He knew there was absolutely no way he could've saved her, but it still destroyed him knowing she was killed just in front of him.

Charlotte had yelped at the small sound of the gun and was now shaking in Sol's arms. For a moment, he pushed her off just to have her cower behind him and out of Nicolas' line of sight.

Atbash tensed up, his anger building up. "What did you do?"

Nicolas bent down and began to cover Ripley's head with a large cloth. "What I had to. I gave her a quick death. I showed her mercy."

"She was suffering, you bastard."

"I know. And the men responsible for her treatment are being severely punished. She may not have been trustworthy, but she still held a special place in my heart." Nicolas used his thumb to wipe off the few drops of Ripley's blood that had landed on his face. "But she chose her side, as did I."

"You're killing innocent people, Nick! Don't you feel anything?!"

"I do! I feel it every time! But I'm no villain here! You may see me as a psychopath or maybe even a megalomaniac, but I do what I do because it's what I know what's right!

"No one deserves to be murdered."

"That's where you're wrong."

The men stepped forward and unlocked the cell. The first one grabbed Quark who retaliated with a quick punch to the face. The man recoiled while the other shoved his partner to the side and delivered a devastating blow to Quark's jaw.

The others stepped forward to aid Quark, but stopped when the man pulled out a gun to keep them at bay. Rem began to fume, her anger building up.

After a very audible sigh, Nicolas said, "Please try not to resist. You'll only be wasting both of our time." He gestured to a third man, telling him, "Separate them into two groups. I want the boy, the girl, and my old friend, Bashur. The rest can be banished. If they ever step another foot in the city I want them killed on sight. Let it be their first and final warning."

Subaru overheard Nicolas and began to yell, "No! What?! What are you doing?!" He wanted to do something, anything to get them out. But he knew there was nothing they could do about the situation, but he felt he had to try. His thoughts were immediately dispersed when one of the men held a gun to his head and ordered him to follow.

With a gun to each of their heads, the three followed without question out of the cell. Subaru looked to his side, noticing Emilia's terrified face on the verge of tears. But what made him sick was that the man behind her with a gun to her head had an ugly smile on his face.

Before the men shut the cell, Quark begged, "Pease, take me instead! Don't kill those kids. They haven't done anything wrong."

"I'm sorry to say but you're no use to me." Nicolas waved his hand, telling Quark to stop.

Charlotte nervously stood up, using Sol for support so she didn't fall because of her shaking legs. "Don't do this, please. You said you weren't a monster and that you only wanted to do what you felt was right. Then wouldn't setting us free be the right thing to do more than whatever this is?"

Nicolas told his men to leave with the three and then turned back to the others. "You clearly don't understand, but someday you will. Until then, I'm sorry, but this is how things must be now." Looking almost sad, he turned and walked away.

"No! Please!" Quark desperately shook the bars, his eyes starting to turn red. "They're just kids! Please, I'm begging you!"

The desperation caused Nicolas to stop in his tracks. He could tell that Quark truly cared for them, all of them. It made him envious. If only he'd been that strong then maybe things would've turned out differently. His hand instinctively grasped the stuffed whale at his side to feel comfort. Thoughts of before crossed his mind, clashing with his feelings and beliefs. He struggled, but found it in himself to recollect his mind, to focus on the task at hand.

"I'm sorry… Some of my men will calmly escort you away." With that, Nicolas left them to join the others.

As if on cue, several men entered the room and began to remove the survivors from the cell. Rem seemed ready to fight. Her teeth were bared and her fists seemed ready to cave in some skulls, but Quark managed to calm her by placing his hand on her shoulder and giving a reassuring nod. She was confused at first, but figured it had to mean something. Thankfully, she didn't put up a fight.

The man nudged Subaru with his gun, ordering him onto the floor. The same was done to Atbash, who resisted more, and Emilia.

Atbash knelt down but then grabbed the guy's legs and knocked him down. He went for the gun but stopped as soon as the other men pointed theirs at him. Atbash froze in place, long enough for Nicolas to appear and assess the situation. Quickly, he kicked Atbash in the side. The red head collapsed, clutching his side and moaning in pain.

Nicolas sighed, clearly annoyed. One of the men took the opportunity to literally knock some sense into Atbash by smashing the bottom of the gun down onto his head.

"You really don't know when to give up, do you?"

Although dizzy and in pain, Atbash still had the composure to give Nicolas a sly smile. "Nope, not really."

"Although, you never struck me as a man of strength and will!" Nicolas suddenly kicked Atbash in the side again, making him fall back down. He knelt down next to Atbash and forced him to stare at his eyes by grabbing a fist full of his hair and yanking it. "You're lucky to still be alive in my presence, Bashur. Be grateful for once with what you have." He took one last look at Atbash's tired, beaten face then stood back up.

"I know your drives, your reasoning, Bashur. I know because I too am a man. I have my own dreams and my own goals, all of which I would have stopped at nothing to fulfill. And with the impending doom that is the end of our world, that desperation has only grown more severe."

Subaru chuckled. What started as a small cackle quickly grew into a full-on fit of laughter. Through this, he mocked, "Like what? Taking a shower? I mean, if I'd gone as long without washing myself like you, I'd kill for a shower too!" During this, Emilia looked at Subaru like he was a dead man.

"Huh...a comedian." Nicolas smiled, stepping in front of Subaru and taking in his laughter. In a quick motion, he grabbed him by the chin and threatened in a low voice, "Would you be so entertained if I said the only thing I'd be showering in is your blood."

"Not really, but I'd assume you wouldn't since you don't seem like that kind of guy."

"You don't know what I am. But you are right, the thought makes me sick. Instead, I'll feed your body to the dogs."

"Damn it, Nick! Leave them alone!"

Nicolas sighed. He gave Atbash a shifty look, then stood up. "So annoying. It's all about 'them' isn't it, Bashur? Whatever happened to the friend I knew? The-."

"We aren't friends. And we never were."

Nicolas nodded, accepting this fact. "No. Perhaps not, but I did know a lot about you. And boy were you difficult. I tried to tell Regulus to get rid of you from the very start. I could tell just by looking at you that you'd be trouble for us." He chuckled, remembering the conversation he'd had with his friend. "And he'd tell me that he saw potential in you. I never saw any potential in you, Bashur. I thought of you as a weak, selfish coward. And, at least to me, you were. You left your little sister all alone. When the bad struck and the world began to fall, you weren't there to protect her. Why? Because you were scared, you ran from her and let her die to those monsters."

Atbash bit his lip so hard it drew blood. He could deny his moment of panic, the moment that led to him abandoning his life as his little sister guardian. He couldn't, not anymore. He couldn't save her, and now he wasn't sure if he'd be willing to save himself after knowing that.

"No! You don't know that!" Emilia struggled to speak out loud, fear having set in long ago. "She could still be alive!"

Nicolas cackled, "How are you so sure, witch?"

Emilia stood firm and forced herself to look at Nicolas in the eyes. "She can still be alive, I know it. It makes just about as much sense as us! We have friends and family that could still be out there who think we are dead! Why is her life no different than ours? She could have gotten her own savior just like I had gotten mine." At these words, she glanced at Subaru.

Subaru joined in with new enthusiasm from Emilia's mentioning of him being her savior. "Yeah! Who are you to decide who's dead or not, weirdo?!"

"Hehehe. I find this very amusing. It's sad, yes, but amusing. And it's true what you said; I cannot decide who is already dead or not." Nicolas reaches to his hip and pulled out his gun. "However, I CAN decide for two people's." He casually aimed the gun at Subaru and brushed his finger against the trigger.

Just then, the door opposite to the own they came through opened and one of the men appeared in the doorway. "Sir, we're ready for you."

Nicolas paused with the gun still aimed at Subaru. His expression was unreadable, but in moments time he pulled the gun back towards himself with a small chuckle. "Perfect timing." He replaced the gun as he looked at the three young, fear-stricken faces staring back at him.

"It's showtime."

Sometime later, after Subaru, Emilia and Atbash had been taken from the prison cell, the other survivors were forced towards the main road. There was little to no resistance since there were several guns pointed to their backs.

Quark looked past the road, finding another group of goons walking into the city and disappear around a corner. "Where are they going?"

A couple of the men looked at each other before answering, as if to decide if they should even answer, "To make preparations for your friends."

Quark stopped walking with them. He stopped in his tracks, the barrel of the gun poking his back for a second. "Preparations? What are they preparing for them?"

The man growled and shoved Quark with his gun to get him moving again. "An execution. Now get moving."

Rem was fuming and Quark could clearly see it. In these few weeks he'd noticed a change in her, an aggressive change. So when she began to slow down her walk he tried to distract her from lashing out like she'd done in the house yesterday. If he allowed her to, she might be killed. "It's okay, Rem. We'll get through this one way or another."

"Eh?" Rem looked at her father, the anger in her eyes still residing. "But Subar-"

"Will be fine. I'm sure they'll find a way out of that one way or another."

Rem didn't believe him, but his expression was serious. He wasn't relying on hope, she could tell he had a plan.

"Here's far enough." The men stopped walking and instructed the survivors to turn around. "Here." He tossed a stuffed backpack towards Sol, who caught it.

"What the…" Sol opened the backpack. Inside it were bottles of water and food.

"Our boss instructed we give that to you for your journey. Be grateful he allowed that in addition with your lives."

Sol zipped up the backpack. He met Quark's confused eyes. Neither of them knew why this amount of generosity was being presented by someone who was planning to kill two teenagers. It hurt to do so, due to how hard it was nowadays to come across food and clean water, but he threw the pack to the floor and kicked it away.

"We don't need his charity. We just want those two kids back."

The men didn't stir. One of them ended up nudging the other and told him to follow, "Let's go. We can't help them anymore."

"Don't you leave us!" Sol cried out with irritation. "We want those three back, you hear me?!"

"It's okay, Sol." Quark grabbed Sol by the back of his shirt and pulled him back. "Things'll be alright." From his hand he produced a small bundle of keys, one of which appeared to be that for the car at the house. "I have a plan. A stupid one, but if we're lucky it just might work."

Subaru was yet again forced onto his knees alongside Emilia while both were being handcuffed from behind. Ahead of them, Nicolas took his place to look down on them. From their surroundings, they were definitely inside a garage, perhaps the back of the police station. A couple of Humvees were situated next to one another at the far end of the room whilst the remaining area sat empty. Subaru scanned for any possible escape routes and came up empty-handed. The doorway they came through was the only way out other than the closed garage door.

"Finally, we are here," Nicolas declared happily. His eyes showed no emotion, but his voice boomed with excitement. It was as if he'd been waiting for this moment for a long time, longer than he'd like to admit. He extended his arms to the two in a show of presentation and then almost immediately started hugging himself vigorously.

Subaru looked on with disgust, but the fear of death was clear on his face. From the moment they'd been captured, this feeling of helpless cowardice grew. There was little doubt in his mind they'd be able to escape with their lives, but he had to at least try. He looked at Emilia's terrified expression. He had to try.

"No! Stop!" Atbash was shoved into the room, growling at the men hiding him. Unlike Subaru and Emilia, he was forcefully held in place next to Nicolas. The men produced a set of handcuffs and put them on him, then let him go. "Nicolas, please you have to stop this! Killing them won't make anything better!"

Nicolas rubbed his chin and then spoke out loud whilst staring at Subaru and Emilia. "You know, Bashur, for the longest time I believed I was alone. After my wife died I felt I had lost it all. But I knew there was my daughter I had to take care of. I had to protect her, provide for her and secure her a happy life. But things only went from bad to worse. I almost lost custody of her, and I would've if Regulus hadn't shown up. My respect and gratitude for Regulus is immeasurable. I owe him my life AND soul! Without him I would be dead right now. And yet, his decisions have brought me here, to this breaking point." After a long sigh, he bent his neck back and stared at the ceiling with a smile on his face. "I respect him, but can't help but hate him. He gave me power and money, but at the cost of my short-lived happiness. He showed me the world, and promised me it would pay for the crimes it committed against me. I didn't want that, but he gave me no choice."

"He sounds like a pretty stand up guy," Subaru commented. "Too bad his kindness didn't kill you."

"Oh, I assure you it did. His relentless self was fueled by his greed, his want for a new life. He created me as a way to widen his net around the world and shape it to his own will. Regulus, as others did, used me to their own accord. He came to me when I was at my weakest when I was willing to do anything to save what little bit of family I had left. And because of that, I signed away my freedom. It wasn't until recently I realized this truth did I decide to create something of myself. I set my own path of redemption. So yes, perhaps I am a monster, but sometimes you have to be the bad guy to make a difference." Nicolas softly chuckled to himself to try and alleviate his own self-hatred. His hand went to the plushy white whale and gave it a soft squeeze. This went noticed by Subaru.

"That toy you have there. You sure play with it a lot. Was it your little girl's?

Nicolas stopped holding the white whale and glared at Subaru. "It shouldn't matter to you, but yes this was my daughter's. It was her favorite toy, a gift from her mother."

"What do you think they'd say if they saw you like this? Would you really want them to know you killed people just because of your feelings?"

"Heh. That doesn't matter, now does it? I've been broken for years now, I've had to make decisions no man should ever have to make in his entire lifetime. And for this, I know I am doomed. I could care less if my wife and child knew I was a monster, just as long as they understood that I did it for them, for us."

"They never asked you to, I'm sure." Subaru rolled his eyes, Nicolas' annoyance getting the better of him. "What daughter would be understanding of her father who killed innocent men and women?"

"None, but that's the cruelty of it. No one can ever understand my pain as I do. I was never given a chance, my daughter always came first so her safety was always in my greatest interests!" A loud bang echoed through the empty space, originating from the garage door. Almost immediately, it started to roll up and reveal the hot, desert landscape. A large white van reversed itself partially into the garage, presenting it's rear double doors.

"I know none of you, my daughter, or my wife would ever be able to see it, but I am no villain. It took me a while to realize that the majority of my very existence had always been near meaningless. I couldn't hold a job, save my significant other, function normally in society, or even take care of my daughter. But now, I have a purpose. I have a plan, a goal. It took a long while to figure out, but now I realize that I am no villain or victim of greater evil. I am a destined hero. From tragedy, I will grow stronger. I will use the pain brought upon myself to understand the world around me and change it for the better. This is my redemption, my ultimate purpose."

Something within the back of the van shook the entire car. It leaned to one side as something slammed itself into the internal wall. And with it came the awful sound of someone in a fit of absolute rage. There was, no doubt, a zombie inside. A couple of men approached it with catching poles at the ready with another holding a camera. They then, after a brief moment of hesitation, opened the doors and released the zombie. It immediately caught sight of Subaru and Emilia then attempted to lunge out of the van. Unable to grasp its own depth of field it fell straight onto the floor, giving more than enough time for the two men to catch the zombie around the neck with the poles and keep it in place.

Both Subaru and Emilia fell back, with no words of aggression for doing so from Nicolas or his men. They kept backing away as the men struggled to keep the zombie contained.

Subaru felt his back hit the wall. He was scared, although he knew he'd been in worse situations. All he needed to do was come up with a plan. There had to be something he could do. His thoughts went to the zombie, the only thing here that could cause total chaos when released. He didn't like it, if there was any way he could use the zombie against Nicolas, he'd take it. His thoughts were halted when two men came over to him and Emilia and shoved a thick cloth into their mouths to act as gags.

"MMMMM!" Emilia begged through the gag after a short attempt to resist, her muffled words falling onto deaf ears. Subaru muffled something, rubbing against Emilia. She took this as a sign of comfort, but couldn't find anything about it that was comforting enough to put her mind at a state of ease.

Nicolas smirked at their horrified faces, studying them with halfhearted interest. "In such a short amount of time the virus took the majority of the Earth. It took my daughter and my sanity along with her. And because of this, because of the pain caused by this absurd creation, I will willingly let it take just two more lives." One of the men restraining Atbash shoved a cloth into his mouth and covered it with his hand to prevent him from talking.

Emilia pressed her side onto Subaru just as Nicolas stepped off to the side saying, "We're done here. I'll be in my office so don't forget to properly clean up the mess." He then left, waving for the other man to bring Atbash along with him. The man from before, holding the camera, began to record while the others restraining the zombie slowly brought it closer to them. It was at this point Subaru knew it was helpless. Both him and Emilia were handcuffed and gagged, neither of them were going to get out of this, but that didn't stop them from trying.

The men restraining the zombie finally let loose the beast and allowed it to charge Subaru and Emilia head-on. Subaru jumped to his feet, training his eyes onto the zombie and readying himself. He threw his head forward just as it reached him and slammed their heads together. Subaru was thrown back by the blow, as was the zombie who tumbled over Subaru and fell near Emilia.

For a short moment, Emilia found it hard to get up onto her feet. Her muffled cries of shock and fear brought the zombie's bloodlusted attention onto her. It began to run at her, full intent on ripping her open and feasting on the delicate intestines within her living body.

"MMAH!" With a shout, Subaru threw his entire body weight towards the zombie. Luckily, he was able to collide with the monster just a moment before it reached Emilia. However, both slammed onto the wall, enticing a pained moan from Subaru, who hit the wall headfirst, and an animalistic growl from the zombie.

Mind spinning, Subaru pushed himself away from the zombie. His vision was constantly doubling, leaving him near-blind and completely vulnerable. He could barely see Emilia, but knew she was calling for him through her gag. In a futile attempt, he tried to free himself of his handcuffs. Next thing he knew, Emilia was right there with him. He could see her clearly now, the only thing he could see. He wanted to smile at her, but couldn't muster enough courage to do so in their situation. He wanted to protect her, but knew he couldn't just yet. He had to concentrate. He had to get back up. He had to fight. To protect Emilia. To keep her and everyone else safe.

"RAHH!"

The zombie let out a loud cry, grabbing Emilia and tugging at her body. She went flying off Subaru and into the zombie's waiting arms. The monster dug its nails into Emilia's skin, drawing blood and a small cry from her. Her skin crawled when she felt the zombie's breath on the back of her neck. With what little knowledge she knew of self-defense, Emilia threw her head back as hard as she could. The zombie barely reacted to the blow, but the movement still threw it off balance.

"Mmm?" Finally recovering from his ingenious plan of almost splitting his head open, Subaru tried to make sense of the situation once again. He heard a growl and the sound of something falling. His head still stung, but he was still able to get to his knees and witness Emilia break free from the zombie's clutches. Almost immediately, his senses all came back to him and he attempted to get to his feet to run to her aid. He was barely able to get to his knees when something heavy pushed him back down onto his belly. One of the men decided Subaru had interfered enough and held him down with his foot.

Anger and fear surged through Subaru once again, taking up all other emotions to aid him in his struggle. He managed to shake off the man's foot but was unable to break free when another one of the men joined in and helped hold him down. Still, he struggled and screamed, to do anything he could to either stop the zombie or get its attention back on him. However, his efforts were wasted.

Emilia tore herself from the zombie, barely managing to escape before it could grip onto her again. Still, the zombie lunged at her and held onto her ankle tight. Her balance was disrupted and she fell again, the zombie using its other hand to grab her same ankle. She attempted to kick the zombie off but it held on while taking each blow.

Subaru watched on, noticing tears streaming down Emilia's face as she desperately kicked at the zombie. It was helpless and he knew it. He still tried to move but couldn't even rival the strength of the men holding him down. Hopelessness overcame him as he tried calling out for her though his gag. All the anger and bravery he'd experienced before was now gone in the face of this execution.

All that was heard in the space were the sounds of Emilia crying and screaming through her struggle and the zombie's moans from it's mangled throat. Then when the zombie clamped it's hand onto Emilia's other ankle her screams become more desperate and ugly. Her struggles became more violent, but was too late. The monster tugged Emilia closer and dropped down onto her. Emilia's arm, her final attempt to keep the zombie from reaching her, almost immediately found its way into it's mouth and became its first taste of human flesh.

Emilia howled, feeling the pain of having her skin bitten into and meat torn from. Her tears fell harder, now not just from fear but also from the searing pain. Blood began to drip heavily from her arm and drop down onto her face, splashing her in her own blood. She threw her arm to the side with the zombie following it and tore it from the zombie's clutches. She tried to crawl away but was already too weak to do much more than a couple of inches.

With a roar, the zombie jumped onto her back and clamped its jaws onto the back of her neck and tore away what it could. Her cries, everlasting and ever-growing, were heard by all and ignored by most. No one was coming to help, and the one that would couldn't. Emilia was grabbed by the hair and had her head moved to the side. Craning it's head, the zombie found an even softer spot on her neck and pressed its teeth onto her.

There was no sound that Subaru could hear as soon as Emilia's neck was bitten into and savagely ripped open. The jagged hole in her neck released a sizable pool of blood that spread to engulf her entire corpse, leaving a scene that left his mind numb. Once again, Emilia was dead and all he could do was lie there and watch. Slowly, the pain in her eyes started to disappear as the sweet embrace of death took her away from the horrific pain and suffering. Before long, Emilia was completely still and her eyes glassy and void of any life. But still, the zombie continued to feast on her shoulder.

It wasn't until this moment did Subaru realized he'd been silently crying. He felt worthless, knowing only pity for himself. It wasn't the first time but he wondered why he had to suffer this much. Of all the people in the world to be stuck in this apocalypse where even death wasn't an escape, why was he the one to suffer? Why was he, a normal teenager, the one who had to watch his friends die over and over again? It made him hate himself, hate this world, hate these people, hate everyone who could never share his pain. It made him want to give up and start over, but he also didn't want to die.

Hatred. At this point it was all he knew. As opposed to other times, it wasn't about those close to him. No, this hatred stemmed from his own view on life. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, he now knew he'd never be happy. It was in this time and place he could never find rest. There would be happy times, of course, he knew that, but he knew that in the long run he'd only be filled with misery. His memories were now poisoned, polluted with death and misfortune from his past lives. It was then his tears stopped flowing, and through his eyelashes, he noticed the man with the camera getting as close as possible to film Emilia's corpse getting eaten. From this, he realized he didn't want to die and become another spectacle for these disgusting men to watch die. He wanted them to suffer, even more than he had. Their faces bloodied and bruised, he wanted to see them beg for their lives whilst just barely hanging onto it.

Subaru's feelings were made clear when his monstrous roar made it past the gag and echoed across the garage. Then and there, his cry attracted the attention of everyone in the room, including the zombie's.

Fresh blood dripping from its torn lips, the zombie turned away from Emilia's dead body and towards a new, fresh one. The man on top of Subaru immediately backed away slowly, letting the zombie keep its eyes trained on Subaru. Determined to live, Subaru got to his feet with little difficulty. He glanced behind him and noticed they were all lined up for him. His spectators were all waiting to watch him die too, waiting for him to get torn to pieces. A smile crossed his face.

"GGAAAAHHHHHH!" The zombie let out a loud roar at the same time it launched itself towards Subaru.

Subaru got into a stance, bracing himself for the impact. However, he bailed out at the last second by rolling to the side. The zombie wasn't able to react fast enough and kept running towards the men behind. One was instantly grabbed and bitten into and then chaos ensued. One man aimed his gun at the zombie, but Subaru knew that if he wanted to get out of this alive his only option was to keep the madness going. He managed to tackle the man before any shots were fired and knock the gun away.

With a loud grunt the man who'd been bitten pushed the zombie away. Some other goon pulled out his own silenced handgun and managed to hit a few shots on the zombie. All of them ripped through its chest but nothing more. It easily recovered from the knockback and overwhelmed the man after biting off a couple fingers.

Panicked shouts, pained screams, and frantic yelling ensued within the garage. The men from before tried to use the poles to catch the zombie but it was too much in its bloodlust to be so easily put down. There was a short struggle between them that ended with the zombie tearing away one of the poles and running at them. It didn't make it far.

Nicolas ran into the room with an almost impatient look. He surveyed the situation and immediately pulled out his gun. It was easy to make his way behind the distracted zombie, successfully break one of its knees with a single kick from the side, and put a bullet into its head while incapacitated.

Subaru at this moment was still struggling to hold down the man he'd tackled. "Get off!" Superior in strength, the man was finally able to shove Subaru off of him and hold him steady after getting up. He didn't hesitate and punched Subaru as hard as he could across the cheek then tossed him towards the middle of the room. "Little punk."

Nicolas turned towards Subaru, fiery rage practically illuminating his eyes. "You little shit! I offered you a valiant death, shameless and fair, but I guess you want to be put down like a dog!"

"H-Help." One of the bitten cried with pain when the bite started to burn. He lifted up his sleeve to inspect an already spreading infection cover his entire arm.

Nicolas groaned with annoyance, "Oh bother." His hand raised and his finger pulled the trigger. "If I had known my men would suffer from your careless actions I would've killed you long ago, boy."

A painful groan escaped Subaru's already hurting mouth. It began to hurt more when Nicolas forcefully held his chin still and shoved the barrel of the gun into his chest.

Nicolas moved his hand to grab Subaru's hair and force him to look at his pissed-off expression. He slithered closer and whispered into his ear, "For the good of mankind just die."

Suddenly they all heard the sounds of screeching, like tires on asphalt. Nicolas cocked his head as a way to show he was trying to figure out what it was. Then they heard it again, but this time louder and accompanied with a revved engine. Louder and louder it got until Nicolas realized what it was last second and threw them to the floor just as a car rammed it's way through the metal garage door, shattering a bent hole out of it.

The remaining men in the room began to open fire on the car with their silenced handguns but showed little results for it. The driver of the car immediately sped straight for them and rammed them into the wall. Whether they were dead or not didn't matter to the driver. The car came to a screeching halt near the hole it created and Quark alone came stepping out.

Something snapped within Nicolas, bringing forth a crooked smile from within. "Outright madness!" With this new feeling of untamed rage, he threw himself at Quark.

The first punch missed it's intended target and connected with the car window, cracking a large majority of the glass. Quark grabbed Nicolas and slammed a knee into his gut. Repeatedly, he punched his stomach and chest. Nicolas grunted in pain with each hit, whilst trying to find an opening to escape. The chance came when Quark stepped back to throw a wider punch and he was able to grab his front and smash his face into the broken car window, completely shattering.

Quark ended up separating the two by throwing his elbow back into Nicolas' face. Blood gushed from his nose which caused him to back up, this hesitation gave Quark the opportunity to turn around and kick him in the chest and send him straight to his back.

Partially unaware of what had already happened, Quark pointed at Subaru and yelled, "Subaru! Grab Emilia and let's get out of here!"

There was a sudden flash of white, then Quark noticed his hand felt numb. His attention was brought to the floor when he heard something fall onto it. He saw a red liquid splash onto the asphalt, then followed where the small stream of the liquid was coming from. It was here he realized it was blood, his blood. And from where his hand used to be was nothing but a bloody stump with a clean cut through it. In the split second before he fell to his knees and held his bloody stump with excruciating pain he noticed his twitching hand not too far away and the weapon in question that sliced it off. Embedded deep into the side of the car was a purple kukri knife with a wicked shape and blade, alone giving off a sinister look.

Quark screamed loudly, unable to suppress it despite his best efforts. His vision began to darken and his face paled. He wasn't sure from where he saw her, but a woman stood not too far away. Her face and figure were hidden underneath a dark cloak for just a moment before she opened it up to produce a similar blade.

"Tenshi!" Subaru cried out in a panic, his emotions getting in the way of his rationality. He broke into a sprint towards Quark, but never made it far. A purple blur crossed his path and he suddenly halted to a stop when a sharp pain hit his stomach. His shirt began to soak with blood with some leaking out from a long horizontal cut.

Shock took hold of Subaru as he suddenly realized what was happening. There was a sound to his left and he found the woman, smiling down onto him as she wiped his blood from her knife. He held his belly knowing that if he didn't something would fall out and just as he did, the pain of doing so struck him. Looking down he said only one thing through his clenched teeth, "H-Help." He wasn't asking them or anyone in general, he just knew that that was what he needed. Without it he knew that there was no way he'd be able to live to save the others, he'd die here with his guts about to burst from his body.

Quark was now on his belly, just barely conscious to the world around him. It made it easier for Nicolas to kneel next to him and grab a large chunk of his hair to lift his head.

"You have just a minute before blood lose take you under, a few more before you die. So I will ask you now; where are the others? Tell me now and maybe I'll spare their lives. If you don't, I'll make sure to kill every one of them on sight, including your daughters."

There was a long moment of ragged breathing before Quark spat out, "Go to hell."

Nicolas became visibly infuriated. A quiet growl came from him as he stepped away from him. He screamed out in frustration, directing it towards Quark's dying body. Then he produced a walkie-talkie and said into it, "Recapture the released subjects. Do not engage with violence unless they decide to put up a fight."

"Bastard…" Subaru struggled to talk out loud, his words coming across as tired. He continued to hold his belly closed, slowly finding it harder and harder to hold the more blood he lost. Still, he managed to get some words out against Nicolas to end this life with something to be proud of. "You hide behind your men, relying on them to do your dirty work. You're nothing but a coward!"

"GRAH!" Throwing his handheld at Subaru, Nicolas let out another roar. The walkie-talkie broke into a few pieces after smashing against his chest, granted with enough force to nearly knock the wind out of him. "Just shut up already! Look here!"

Nicolas quickly closed the distance between him and Subaru then grabbed his neck. His expression was only that of pure hatred and anger. With a finger he pointed out Emilia's body, telling Subaru as he did so, "You see that?! You see how she's dead; mangled and torn? That's all you! You killed her because you weren't good enough to save her. And now I'll probably have to do the same to your other friends. I didn't plan for it to ever come to this, but if it makes you feel any better, you won't be alive to see the others die." Nicolas spat in Subaru's face to make his point clear then threw him away onto his back.

The woman from before moved to stand next to Nicolas who stared at her for a second then left the garage, closing the door behind him.

It was then did the woman finally talk. It came across as smooth and silky, calming even with a sort of seductive tone added to it by her. Weirdly, it seemed to fit her perfectly with the kind of body she had. Despite all this, Subaru only found it disturbing. His expression never fell short of pain and fear.

"Hehehe. You really did put up a fight, didn't you? I'm just glad you didn't get eaten. Wouldn't want to waste such beautiful meat now that it's so hard to come by." The woman grinned even wider and grabbed Subaru's wrist from the hand that he held over his abdomen. Across his fingers he could feel his internal organs press against them, attempting to push out. Unable to do more than he already was, the woman easily moved his hand aside to let his belly spill what his hand was holding back.

Steaming organs covered in hot blood came forth, presenting themselves to a place where they shouldn't be. Gasping with delight, the woman reached gingerly then began to lift and pull one of Subaru's small intestines. Pain immediately shot throughout his entire body and he began to breathe rapidly with bulging eyes. Still, she continued to admire his internal being, almost playing with the strands of flesh that covered her hands with blood and slime.

"Such a beautiful, vibrant color. It's almost perfect." Her whispers were ignored by Subaru, who was still barely alive and wishing for death. And soon, it did take him. The last thing he remembered before going dark was when the woman leaned forward to wipe one of the many tears from his face, smearing him with his own blood. Her sweet smile embedded itself within his mind, carrying only malice with it when he finally died with a last gasp for life.

Subaru awoke to silence. Everyone was already in bed, getting comfy and ready for a good sleep. His eyes moved over to the others, remembering at what point of time he must have came back. If this was the case then he definitely didn't have much time.

The first thing he did was move his hand to his belly, just to make sure everything was normal and not cut up. Even though this body had never felt such pain he could still remember the pain and couldn't help but winch. The woman, who he'd never caught the name of, had done that to him. Because of the heat of the moment he never noticed just how fast she was, but now he was aware. He didn't want to dwell on her too much since he didn't plan on seeing her any time soon.

Instead, he only had one goal, the only goal he knew of; to stay alive. And to do that he would have to save his friends as well. Just saying they should keep moving wasn't an option. He knew that only he was aware of the danger dead ahead since the others must feel like they'd struck gold with this near zombie-free city.

Nicolas… He hoped to make that bastard suffer but wasn't sure just how lucky he'd be. With all the men and women under Nicolas' control, the best option Subaru and the others probably had was to run with their tail between their legs.

Subaru only had a matter of minutes and wasn't sure if he'd be able to think of something. But he knew, no matter how many times it took, no matter what he had to do he was going to get them out of this alive. It was then he realized that he was, yet again, fighting against time.

Picking himself up, he moved over to the nearest window and moved aside the blinds. And there, not far into the city, he could already see a couple of small lights approaching the house.

Fear filled him, but he didn't show it. He wanted to scream and shout, to make a loud fuss, but knew that would get him nowhere. He'd have to go about this alone because, as far as he knew, he was the only one capable of saving everyone in the house.

What he didn't notice however were a pair of purple eyes staring at him through the darkness then at the window, knowing of his internal struggle. Yet another difference in this very different world.

AN: Like with Subaru, death is nothing but an empty threat.

I thank those, old and new, who are reading this for sticking to this story thus far despite the wait. A lot of time has passed and a lot of things in my life have changed. This story is still constantly on my mind, I just now find it harder and harder to come up with what exactly what I want to express. Despite this, I'm very proud of this chapter. My only regret was not being able to completely focus on our main cast of characters.

The new character, Nicolas Manson was a character I'd had my ups and down with. I constantly struggled with how much of an impact I wanted him to have in this story. He originally had no history, no real motivation. He was very similar to some weird Dead Rising bosses with how simple and random he seemed for being a supposed "boss" opponent. (Don't get me wrong. I love the Dead Rising games, but you have to admit that some of the bosses just left you dumbfounded after killing them.) Thankfully, what started out as a minor psycho with a death trap turned into a much greater threat with a tie into the story as a whole. So I hope this character is enjoyable to you all since he's now a major enemy despite not being a character in the Re:Zero universe. But don't worry about that, there are still many other of our favorite characters who have yet to show up to join in for the fight for survival.

Until next time...