The first Infected would fall in a well-placed bullet to the knee, the figure allowing a scream of pain and anger as he tumbled to the floor and rolled. Only to be trampled bitterly by the oncoming Infected as Havok backed away from the scene more, giving Kira a substantial amount of space to escape the horde. Firing once, twice, and continuing to pull the trigger, the Infected would fall in groups of two. One would be struck by a bullet, tumbling to the ground and smashing into the legs of another as Havok sent a single bullet into the new opponent.

"The hero act is overdone, Sunshine." He heard Kira argue, the words stinging Havok as he battled his way to provide her a possible existence. He gritted his teeth angrily as he barked his coordinating orders, stopping only once to shoot an Infected squarely in the chest and smash his foot into his knees. The figure dropping to the floor in a bloodied pulp.
"God dammit! Will you just listen? Jesus, it's like you want to get mauled!" He yelled bitterly, his eyes contorting to fixate on her in anger. The numbers were scaring him, he could easily sense it. He felt the adrenaline shoot through him and leave his body emptied and barren while he was forced to continue the fight against the infected, an opponent who neither slowed nor rested.

"You get the hell out of here now!" He screamed, a large group of eight charging him in a human wave. Havok waiting to engage with them as he watched Kira successfully retreat, unhindered in her movement by any infected. With the main group focused solely on Havok and the sort of hell he'd been causing, he could easily provide her with a safe haven to retreat from. But what he was unprepared for, was how quickly the amount of infected would spike as Kira left the situation. Several moving to attack him in mere seconds after he was left for himself.

"I don't have a little girl to watch after, anymore. You're all mine." He smiled doggedly. His handgun snapping forward and shooting the first Infected square in the skull, the body dropping as Havok began his return assault. Swinging the handgun once more, he would fixate the barrel to the throat of an Infected male; a clack as the metal smashed into the flesh of the man as Havok discharged a round. A single bullet blasting its way through the soft flesh and bone, shattering the nervous system of the man and sending a thick spatter of coagulated blood across the floor.


The others would come too fast to intercept with a bullet. Grimacing as he realized his predicament, Havok would drop the handgun and prepare for close-combat. Moving quickly, training kicked in for the Mercenary. Sending a quick kick forward and into the leg of an Infected, resulting in a deep howl of pain, as Havok chopped the assailant in the neck. Snapping cartilage and bone alike as he pushed the husk of wounded flesh aside and smacked an oncoming opponent with a swift punch to the jaw.
"Never thought one could fight as good as you guys, huh?" He retorted as the Infected stumbled from the sudden blow, Havok would have to divert his attention from the victory as two more moved to attack him.


Acting quickly, Havok would seize the initiative, sending a quick jab into the first Infected while smashing past him and bulldozing the other with his mass. The hulking mass of armor and flesh was a metaphorical "wrecking-ball" compared to the scantily clad opponents that were attacking him. An angry yell escaping the figure as it bounced off Havok.

The attack would be futile, as successful as it had been. Caught off guard, Havok would tumble to the ground with one. An bullying yell as it rolled atop the Mercenary, and dug it's claws against Havok's face-mask. His own hands would wrap around the wrists of the gripping figure. Feeling the things digits dig against the matte-plastic of the face-mask, Havok would cringe as he began to feel the structural power of the mask give way. A deep crackle filling Havok's ears as the digits of the Infected broke through the plastic and wire, and smeared onto Havok's face.

It had been years since Havok had ever breathed a true breath, and not something refurbished through filters. The air was stench filled, Havok had little time to gag and care about the environment though as he sent his boot into the Infected. Sending a punch upward as he broke the wrist of the thing and rolled it sideways and off of him.







Havok strolled down the hallway casually, handgun gripped in one hand while the other rubbed across his cheeks. Walking through the doorway, he nodded toward Kira. One would see Havok's blood-smeared plate carrier, the man was practically drenched in blood. A deep ribbon of it struck up the Mercenary's arm, his gloved hands were literally soaked in the viscous fluid. A soft "plat" greeted Havok every time he walked. His boots were thick with the stuff.
"Come on Firecracker, we're done here." He said solemnly. Brushing a hand across his face to remove any substances that resided upon him.

The young redhead had been staring at her feet, her boots and torn-up jeans spattered in dark blood from the creatures she'd killed, her eyes fervently staring as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. She was trying not to listen to the sounds coming from inside the bowling alley, trying not to think about how close her stupid plan had gotten her to being torn to pieces, and trying not to picture Havok being pulled into multiple parts by the swarm of Infected that was no doubt converging on him as she stood here idly. It was taking a large amount of willpower to keep from rushing back inside and saving his ass, but an equally large amount to keep from running back to the apartment. She was sure he was going to be dead now. However, in the off chance that he wasn't, she certainly didn't want him coming outside to find that she'd run off.

She heard the door opening. Immediately her first thought shot back to the Infected horde, an she envisioned them finishing the remains of Havok's corpse, then working their way down the hall, pushing open the poorly-closed door to get at the scent of the last human nearby. In a panic, she immediately backed up a few steps, pulling the SPAS back up and taking aim.

But the shot was never fired. Instead, she lowered her weapon, her eyes wide with shock as a very filthy, bloodsoaked Havok made his way out of the bowling alley, looking filthy but none the worse for wear. She frowned, raising her eyebrows appraisingly, unable to think of what to say. She was shocked. How could be be alive? He shouldn't be alive. However, before she had time to think of this too much, he was already moving them along.

She followed along silently, glancing up at him, wondering. Something was different. Oh, that's right.. was his mask gone? She frowned a bit. He must have lost it during the fight. Oh well. “To the store now, then.” She said, and her voice sounded alien to her. It was shaking and fervent, nothing like her normal composure. This irritated her. She cleared her throat, hoping to make the difference less noticable, and spoke again. “I hope you know the way. I'm lost around here.”

Havok hadn't felt the calm breeze across his face in ages. Running a hand along his face, he could feel the soft stubble of facial hair that had grown to occupy a large portion of his face. In Havok's autonomy, he had never stopped to shave, to look at himself in a mirror. To look at himself like a human. His face would give a look of disregard, carelessness for the entirety of the world. Stepping into the light, his eyes would cringe slowly as he held his hands at his side. Handgun gripped tightly through clenched fingers as Kira aimed her shotgun. She seemed scared, frightened. Perhaps she was thinking he wouldn't make it out of that, that cluster-fuck of a gunfight. Havok was thinking she'd be the first to die back in there. If he was struggling with that plan, god knows how racking it must've been for her.


Havok turned to her as she aimed the shotgun at her, she had discharged nearly every single shot, but Havok hadn't really been keeping track of how much she was shooting.
"It's alright Firecracker. We're all safe now." He said, resting a hand on the barrel of the weapon as he looked toward her contently. She was still on her toes, ready to blast anything away that could possibly harm her. Havok had been in a situation like this before. The shell-shocked companion with a firearm.
"I dropped as many as I could." He offered, Kira lowering the weapon as Havok placed his P-99 into it's holster.
“To the store now, then.” She squeaked, speaking awkwardly as Havok nodded down to her. He watched as Kira noticed his missing face-mask. He hadn't let anyone see him without the mask in years. No one probably lived long enough to see his true appearance to be frank.
"It broke. Some Infected got his hands on me." He offered.


Her face looked bewildered at his existence, Havok was expecting to find her gone when he arrived. She didn't look like that much of a combatant, but Havok would have to hand it, she could handle herself.
"Gimme' my fuckin' shotgun back." He struck a hand back to her as she lowered the weapon. His eyes were cool and angered, he was in the mood to brutally kill any Infected he saw.
“I hope you know the way. I'm lost around here.” She said, Havok nodded at her and pointed haphazardly down the street. Illuminated by several small circles given from street lights that moved down the street.
"We'll back track. You got the time?" He asked, beginning to walk down the street.

She was frowning a little bit, lips pursed slightly, as she listened to his explanation, eyes searching his face for a moment before heading back to the street. She pulled out her good old M9 again, and the nice, familiar weapon calmed her down slightly. However, it was warily that she handed the SPAS back to Havok. She knew now, that weapon was definitely the better of the two to be using.

She couldn't help but think that he looked extremely strange without the mask on, which was probably very backwards. Now that he looked relatively human again, now he looked strange. She smiled a bit and regarded the state of his clothing with a frown. “That's gonna attract them like flies. Get different clothes there if you can... shit, that's nasty.” The last bit was quieter, more of a bemused comment to herself than anything else. She felt calmer now, back on track. They weren't heading off to ambush a zombiefest. They were going to a store to get supplies. Very easy. And they'd gotten out without any limbs missing. It was around then that she came to the realization of what they'd done, and couldn't help but burst into a full-fledged laughing fit, realizing that she'd just helped stomp down a horde of about sixty of the fuckers, with the worst of her wounds being a scratch on her cheek.

As the laughter calmed down, she sighed a bit, getting her breath, and idly swept at the gash on her face. Still warm, still blood, but it was nearly stopped now. It hadn't been deep. She examined the sticky liquid on her fingers for a moment before wiping them on her already filthy pants. She'd get a first-aid kit there. “What all do we need to grab, Sunshine?” She asked, her tone conversational, and her mood considerably lifted by her random epiphany.

“That's gonna attract them like flies. Get different clothes there if you can... shit, that's nasty.” He heard Kira, her voice was slowly returning to it's usual tone of experience and ego. Good thing she wasn't one of those kind of people that would sit in a shell for hours after they saw something traumatizing.
"We're at the top of the food chain, Firecracker." He offered before taking the SPAS, swinging the sling above him and looping it across his upper torso while he pumped the weapon once. Ejecting the unspent round and moving a hand to fetch a handfull of shells.


He could sense Kira's astonishment at Havok's face without the mask. His skin was tanned, as it naturally was. Havok always thought people pondered about the man behind the mask, and the armor, and the weapons. A small child had once told him he thought he had tusks underneath his mask. Havok had left the little boy to die only seconds later as the infected converged on the refugee camp. He hadn't felt his chin in a long time, it was stubby, covered in small pricks of facial hair that he had never taken the opportunity to remove before he reached the Americas. He had to look ragged, without the mask, he had to look like someone who had just spent years in the forest or some uncivilized area. Havok himself was amazed at his appearance, he had glanced at himself in a mirror in the hallway of the bowling alley, he looked like a mess. That mottled hair hidden by the bandanna; his cold, inhuman eyes, his mouth was constantly held in a shape of a grimace.

"We're on the top of the food chain, Firecracker. We're the ones that call the shots." He repeated lightly, his voice softening quietly to be within ear shot of her as he thought about his statement. Ever since he'd begin combat with the Infected, he'd always pondered his total control of the situation. Sure he could easily massacre twenty of them, drop them in a hail of gunfire, but when you have so many close calls like the one before, you begin to question how in-control of your life you are. At least, when opposing them.

Suddenly Kira was laughing. Serious, childish laughter. Turning toward her, he was halfway between the side-walk and the intersection that would lead them to the small store, and finally back to the apartment.
"You're ... laughing?" He tilted his head sideways as he watched Kira chirp and chuckle with happiness and amusement.
"Hey, if nearly getting torn to fucking shreds makes you laugh, you gotta' tell me this shit so I know when to make you listen." He said, a soft chuckle escaping him as well as he waved a finger at her. Soon, he was joining her in the laughter with small giggles and chuckles. Obviously, she was handling the success of their "operation" rather well. Havok hadn' truly "laughed" in months, years. He wasn't supposed to laugh, though, he was supposed to keep himself alive, and kill the Infected.


“What all do we need to grab, Sunshine?” Kira managed, beginning to calm from her laughing fit as Havok stopped himself also. Pointing down toward the intersection, Havok estimated their supplies with a crocked brow.
"I'd assume we'd need some more ammo, some five-five-sixes for me. We'll need shit to eat too, I want some damn Hershey's." He grunted, it had been long since Havok had felt chocolate melting in his mouth.
"We'll ... we'll just see what we can stuff when we get there."

As Kira glanced ahead, blue eyes focusing on the store with satisfaction, she gave a small shrug of the shoulders in response to his remark. The laughter had been unexpected on her part, as well. Moments of joy seemed few and far between nowadays. They'd been successful; that was something to celebrate. She couldn't help but wonder, if this place didn't have clothing (she doubted it wouldn't, the store was big enough for it), what Dom and Miguel would think of Havok's state. She had blood on her, sure, but nothing like that extent. It looked like he'd walked into a pool of it or something; the effect was not only unpleasant smelling, it was also dangerous when she thought of it. If Havok had been dealing with any open cuts when that blood got on him... her smile died away quickly at the thought, her face whitening slightly. Things could have gone worse in there, much, much worse.

With the store now in sight, she pulled ahead slightly, once again sure of where they were going; as she walked, she kept her M9 firmly in hand and also pulled out her knife, gripping it in her opposite hand as a backup measure. She supposed, if they ran into anything here, she'd have to go back to old-fashioned decapitation. Not that it bothered her, but it was going to be disappointing after being able to simply blow a hole in her opponent's heads not long ago. She narrowed her eyes slightly, glancing over at Havok, quite envious and hoping it wouldn't show. Perhaps they'd sell firearms here. She could look and see if there was anything better.

Within minutes she'd reached the store, and was surprised when the automatic door slid open as she drew close. She'd thought for sure that they'd have to break through into it; power in most areas of the city was completely gone. This place probably had a backup of some sort, that was the only explanation. However, this didn't serve to help her mood; an automatic door wouldn't stop an Infected the way regular doors would. This meant she couldn't relax yet. Damn generator. She stood inside the store and waited for Havok to catch up a bit, then she moved on further into the store. It was one of those super-store type of things, which is exactly why she picked here to come. There was a bit of everything around, so she knew they'd be able to find that they needed. The sight she met was encouraging; unlike in the bowling alley, she wasn't immediately hit with the nauseating smell of decaying flesh and festering wounds, and although there was blood on the floor, it was minimum.

She ignored the sight and allowed herself to lower her weapon a bit, then cut through a checkout lane and headed immediately for the area that would have food, grabbing a bag from behind the counter as she did so. She began grabbing whatever she fgured would make for something easy to eat, and wouldn't require cooking, along with some water. There was four of them, three being grown men. So... lots of food... probably. With a frown, she grabbed a few more things and stuffed them in, and continued on, heading to the area where they'd keep weapons. She had to cut through the electronics area; there, she paused, and glanced around for anything useful. Cellphones, useless. MP3 players, useless. Games, uesless. Her eyes strayed to a battery-operated radio. She frowned a bit. No one was making broadcasts anymore, but it was worth a shot. She grabbed the little radio along with extra batteries and continued.

The store greeted Havok with an open door, following closely behind Kira. He trudged his way through and looked down the aisles of useless supplies that had either rotted away, or were completely useless by today's standards. Giving a low whistle, he watched Kira move along the aisles and begin plucking supplies and merchandise from the shelves.
"You're shop-lifting, I may just have to shoot you!" He joked, hefting his Masada over his shoulder while he moved to grab a cart. Shifting his weight, he placed his feet on the small supporters and let out a childish laugh as the cart moved along a linear course, Havok stopping the cart by hopping off it and stamping his feet on the ground.


Turning the cart, he sent a scarce glance down the aisle, squinting to see down the way as he began to maneuver the cart.
"Y'know Firecracker, one of them could be hiding in here." He said; jokingly, once again, but he still considered the event of this place being occupied by maybe one or two infected. That had happened to him before, in a small gas station. One came out from behind the counter and bit another Mercenary as they scavenged for supplies. Havok had to kill two people that day.
"Oh, come on come on come on come on ... " He repeated as he moved down the aisle. Until he found his objective; a small can of body spray. Havok quickly plucked the container from the shelves and pried the plastic from it; depressing the small can, Havok made a loop around himself as he watched a mist of fragrant aerosol trace around him. His nostrils flared slightly with the sudden introduction of the scent. Havok smiled to himself as he threw the can into the shopping cart, and swooped a group of the same cans into the shopping cart. Causing a small racket as he did.


Moving down the aisle way, he sifted his way through numerous products and merchandise created by companies that no longer existed; products and merchandise created by people that were no longer sitting at home and living with heir family, but were running around at all ends of the night chasing those who they were once akin to.
"What else does I need." He said timidly, his voice child-like. He was a kid in a candy shop, except armored, bristling with weapons, and pursued by zombies.


He had found it, and when he did, he was happy. Letting go of the shopping cart, he raised his hands in the air and clenched his wrists as he gasped.
"Fuck yes! The world is dead, yet the alcohol still lives!" He yelled, Kira would obviously be able to hear his voice from across the expanse of the store. With arms raised, Havok could feel tears welling in his eyes slightly. He was so happy he had found a substantial amount of liquor, he was crying.
"Oh jesus this is what I've been surviving for!" He whimpered; crouching over the cart and bending himself as he held his head in his arms. Before him sat a cabinet bristling with all assortments of high-end liquor, alcohol, and spirits. All of which Havok would have to pay none to alleviate.
"Oh -- you really do exist, you bastard." He smiled, speaking more lightly now as he plucked a rather appealing bottle from it's respective rack and chuckled to himself.
"Thank you -- lord. God thank you." He offered, closing his eyes, smiling, and placing his hands together as he leaned his head upwards to thank an unseen object.



He had gone to town with the booze, filling the shopping cart with numerous amounts of spirits, schnapps, vodka, tonics, anything his gloved hands could get themselves wrapped around would find themselves in his shopping cart.
"Sweet jesus. Unopened too." He gasped, examining an attractive bottle of vodka before placing it neatly against another bottle in the shopping cart.
"I love this city now."

Kira passed one more aisle, holding her full bag down at her side, looking around for any sorts of weapons. She found the area, but was sadly disappointed, a little frown pursing her lips. Nothing. The display cases were broken open, or left hanging open, and nearly all of the weaponry was gone. There was some ammunition left lying around, but that was it. She knelt down and began sifting through what she could find. She didn't know what Havok needed, so she'd leave that to him. She heard him shout something about alcohol around that time, and she grinned, hoping he grabbed a lot. She hadn't been able to get ahold of anything to drink in ages.

She stood up, pocketing some rounds for her M9, about to shout to Havok that she thought she had everything she wanted here, but another voice coming from a few aisles up caught her attention. At first, her mind went right to what Havok had said about an Infected hiding around the store, and she drew her weapon, leaving her bag lying silently on the ground. However, as she began to quietly move closer, listening hard, she noticed that the voice didn't sound at all like an Infected. It was a low, quiet mumbling, odd sounding, but definately human. Of course, that didn't mean much. Crazies were no more fun to deal with than the Infected were.

She got to the aisle and stepped around quickly, her weapon levelled ahead of her, and she paused there. Sure enough, there was a person, a small boy. His clothes, a little white and red striped t-shirt and a pair of shorts, were horribly torn and filthy, blonde hair left in a plastered mess, dried blood marring his features and his body. His face was ghastly pale, almost grey, and he was quietly muttering things to himself, his eyes wide and afraid. He didn't even seem to notice that anyone was there; he was sitting on the ground, clutching his skinny legs to his body and staring at the aisle ahead of him, trembling.

Remembering this sight, Kira felt her heart skip a bit, and she cautiously stepped forward, hesitating for a moment before laying her hand on the boy's forehead. His skin was scorching; the boy flinched slightly as she touched him, but gave no other sign that he noticed her even then. This close, she was able to notice a large wound on the shoulder furthest from her. It was torn open, and covered in a large amount of dried blood, in two different shades. One was clotted and dark, like a humans, but the other was darker, too thick. The wound let off a horrible stench, and the area around it seemed almost rotted. Her mouth went dry, and she stepped back a bit, calling out loudly to her companion. "Sunshine! ...get your ass over here, come look at this!"

Havok was happy, happy as he had ever been before this whole apocalypse thing.
"Oh hell yes." He chimed, wrenching his hands around another bottle. Whistling to himself happily as he pushed the bottle on top of another. Havok's shopping cart turned contraband wagon was bristling with gracious amounts of alcohol; he hadn't had anything good to drink in months, years. The Mercenary was excited though, going so long without any alcohol could be nerve racking on a man who was a distinguished drinker years before the events that he was fighting against right now.

"I loved this shit ... " He grunted happily as he trailed the way down the aisle, looking attentively for any more pieces of liquor he could stuff into the shopping cart. He began thinking, though, once they did decide to leave, Kira would more than likely oppose having him stroll down the street back to the apartment with a shopping cart full of alcohol. He couldn't truly put a guess on her age either, the woman looked young for her abilities. Havok still questioned how a woman like her could survive when hundreds of thousands of brilliant soldiers and tacticians like Havok vanished into the ranks of the infected in minutes. He made a guess, she was twenty at the oldest; seventeen at the youngest. There's no way she could have survived if she was any younger, Havok had killed children infected younger than she appeared.


"Dues ex machina." He repeated to himself, smiling happily as he reached the end of the aisle, and was beginning to turn down a new aisle; one which appeared to be populated by canned goods, when he finally stuck his head into the air. Kira had been silent, even after he gasped like a child at the liquor that he had found. She was silent when he spoke of the Infected residing within the store itself. His mind began to race as he realized he was the only one that had spoken.
"Firecracker ... Firecracker!" He questioned, his eyes shifting to look about his surroundings as a hand tightly gripped the holster of the P-99.

"Sunshine! ...get your ass over here, come look at this!" He heard Kira call, his mind quickly calmed as he let out a sigh of relief. What Kira was requesting though, seemed odd.
"What -- what is it?" He said as he left the shopping cart and began to follow the voice intensively. Rounding a corner, he zoned in on the area where he thought Kira was.
"Where the hell are y -- " The sentence was half completed as he rounded the aisle, and Kira came into view. With her, was a small figure.
" What -- " He whispered, his eyes straining to distinguish the child. Kira was standing back from him, and he seemed to be in a near vegetative state. Then Havok saw the wound.

"Back up -- Get away from it." He demanded, pulling his handgun from it's holster and quickly aiming it at the young boy as his finger slipped onto the trigger.
"He's Infected." Havok said, arching his shoulder and burying his head into his arm as he sighted down the handgun. Havok stood roughly six meters from the small child, and Kira, who was on the opposite side of the child.
"Did you touch him?" He asked, both eyes and weapon still leveled for the child.

She scowled a little bit as he spoke, moving around the child so she was standing next to him, not wanting to ne anywhere near his line of fire. "No shit he's infected, Sunshine. Why the hell else would I call you?" She didn't say anything about the fact that the man had a gun lowered at the boy, who looked like he couldn't be any older than six or seven. A child. But, still infected. She knew that. She wasn't going to try and stop him.

"I didn't touch him." She said quietly, eyeing the wound on his arm warily. The flesh around it was mottled and blackened, and the stench was disgusting. He'd been infected for several hours now, at least. The infection took a total of twelve hours to set in completely; she couldn't be sure how long he'd been gone for, though. If she remembered right, the unresponsive state came after the fever, but before the aggression. He still had a little while. But he'd be much harder to kill in not too long. She thought back to Julia, just two days ago. It seemed like years though. She'd become dangerous long before the infection had completely set in. Child or not, she didn't want to think about having to deal with him later, in such a closed in space.

"Just get it over with," The young woman said quietly before turning and leaving the aisle, going back to where the floor was littered with ammunition to pick up the bag she'd set down again. It was strange; not long ago, she'd been laughing after slaughtering a large group of these things. She hadn't been bothered. Somehow though, the thought of killing that one, though he was no different than the others, made her feel a bit sick. It was difficult to view him as a monster yet.

Havok kept his weapon lowered as Kira responded. He hadn't killed anyone like this in a long time, his eyes began to close, his vision become a tunnel, his blood was pumping. Havok had killed innocent children before, many; he had killed innocents in an attempt to save himself. He had killed anyone that was required to further his existence in this world.

"I didn't touch him." He heard Kira lightly, her voice was small, insignificant in his own head. He could hear his heart beating within his mind, within his own body. It sounded like a fast approaching drum. He nodded at Kira only once, his mouth suddenly becoming dry before he looked back down at the small child. He seemed so defenseless, so innocent. That's what the virus stole from people; their innocent, their humanity, what made them humans. Havok had always understood this, when he killed an Infected, he understood he wasn't killing a human, just an outer shell of whatever was left of them when the bacteria finally picked it's way through the brain.


"Just get it over with," Kira mumbled before leaving the aisle. Havok and the small child sat alone, his eyes fixating on the small boy before his finger began to depress the trigger. What stopped Havok, though, was a quick twitch in the child's shoulder. Havok was stopped before firing, looking at the child and lowering his weapon slightly. He looked to be in the final stages of infection, his shoulder began twitching rapidly. He had seen it before, he'd watch how the bacteria destroys it's host before finally taking the reigns of the host.
"Yeah." He muttered quietly, she was gone long before he ever spoke.


Havok was caught in astonishment as the child spoke. It seemed like an inhuman voice, like the voice of an infected, yet he heard it clearly. The child's eyes were sunk inward, wide and bulging as he watched the child's mouth move perfectly to format specific words which Havok could understand within his own mind.
"You will be one of us, soon." He heard, his eyes widened as he felt the words sink into his mind. In an instant he depressed the trigger, sending a single bullet square into the child's forehead; the figure belting backwards as a bullet pushed it's way through brain matter and flesh. Punching out the back of his head and perforating to strike into the shelves.


The useless corpse slumped backward as Havok fired several more times. For once, fear had overcome him, since that first day he fought the infected, he was afraid of them. He watched as the child's body bucked and rocked from the rounds smashing into flesh and bone, spattering thick blood along the floor as Havok discharged round after round into him. By the time he stopped, his breathing was labored, sweat was dripping from his skin, and he was on an empty mag.

As she stooped down to pick up her items again, she heard the first shot go off, and flinched unconciously, gripping her bag and standing again, making her way back to the front of the store. She had no desire to see what was taking place there. Then she heard another shot go off, followed by another, and another. She paused, frowning slightly as she listened, wondering if perhaps the boy was trying to put up a fight. Why else would Havok need that many rounds? She stopped and went back, holding her handgun ready, just in case Havok happened to run out, and it turned out this kid was worse off than she'd thought. However, as she turned the corner into the aisle, she saw just the opposite; Havok seemed to be emptying rounds into a corpse.

She opened her mouth to protest, but when she got close, she caught the expression on his face and stopped, holding back. He didn't seem to be well at all; had he not done this before? Why the hell did he seem so bothered? She waited until he stopped shooting, then held back for a moment or so more, watching silently as he tried to catch his breath. The look on his face was something she didn't recognize; it looked close to how she felt standing outside of the bowling alley. He definately hadn't reacted to killing all of the others like this. She wondered what was different about this kill, but decided to ignore it. It wasn't any of her business.

She walked up to her companion and gave a light tap on his shoulder, then motioned towards the entrance of the store. "Come on. The others will be wanting this shit. Grab whatever you needed... there's a bunch of ammunition on the floor just an aisle or so down." With that, she turned and headed back to the entrance of the store, figuring she ought to leave him to sort out whatever he was dealing with.

When she got back to the checkout counters, she paused and waited, glancing around. She saw the back displays, where they kept the cartons of cigarettes, safely out of the reach of underage teenagers. Pursing her lips slightly, she walked over and grabbed some for herself, sticking one package into her pocket and several more into her bag. God knew when she'd be able to get ahold of some more. Wait.. did she have a lighter? After a moment of deliberation, she remembered that she'd gotten one off of one of her old travelling companions weeks ago. She'd never used it yet. Perfect. That done, she walked to the doors to wait.

He flicked the weapon with one hand toward Kira as she rounded the aisle momentarily, upon recognizing her, he lowered it. His chest was heaving, something that would be possibly unseen beneath his armor and clothing. Havok dropped a heavy sigh, his shoulders sagging as his eyes closed. His handgun falling to his side.
"Something -- it -- " He offered, obviously seeing Kira's response to Havok suddenly eviscerating the small child when only one shot would be required to end his pained existence. She hadn't heard, hadn't seen what the child did though. It seemed like he was the only one.

"He -- sp -- " He muttered once, feeling his mind begin to churn around the thought that an Infected had spoken to him. That an Infected was capable of communicating. The boy hadn't turned, he hadn't attacked Havok, he spoke to him; and Havok killed him thereafter.
"He -- " Havok was dumbfounded, Kira was oblivious though. She moved and tapped Havok on the shoulder lightly.
"Come on. The others will be wanting this shit. Grab whatever you needed... there's a bunch of ammunition on the floor just an aisle or so down." She responded, her voice seemed awkward, human. Not like the child's. Which was still filling his head with their words.

"I -- heard one talk ... " Though he said this, Kira was already gone when he turned. No one would hear this, except himself, and the body. Shaking himself free, he sheathed his P-99 in it's holster and made his way down the aisles toward his cart. Moving past the darkened store turned death-bed for a child as he moved toward his shopping cart. The alcohol greeted him with less than half the excitement he had when he first came across it. Wrapping his hands around the cart, he began to push and pull the cart and navigate it toward the entrance of the store.


Kira was waiting for him. The soft noise the shopping cart created as the armored man pushed it lightly through the doors would greet her as Havok left his four hundred and thirty sixth kill somewhere in an unnamed store.
"Pretty ... " He said, his face emotionless as he watched the colors that the rising sun threw across the landscape. The disheveled city was glowing faintly in miraculous colors and purples, shades of yellows, and deep, amber stripes.

The sun had arisen, and with it, came the hope of a new day. Havok regarded his new-found comrade, her back was turned to him, so he could manage a soft smile to her without looking too much of a sissy.
"You've -- you've done good, Firecracker." He offered, before pushing the cart brimming with alcohol and supplies forward and beginning the trek back to the apartment.

As Kira waited, a much different sight than the ones she'd been dealing with all night met her eyes; the first of the sun's rays peeking through the wells of the buildings, pushing through shattered glass and metal, casting bright reflections across the landscape and giving the city a tremendously different look. During the night, it seemed dead, forboding. For nearly a week now, the sky had been overcast. Even during the daytime, the place seemed desolate and hopeless. Now, the sun was finally beginning to shine again. She sighed a bit, suddenly feeling weary, but content. Perhaps this was an omen.

Gradually, she heard the sound of the wheels of the cart coming up the aisle behind her. She didn't turn, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable if he was still distraught; men seemed to dislike allowing people to see them in a bad way like that. So it was with surprise that she heard him speak, not knowing that he'd come so close to the doors already, and she couldn't help but chuckle a bit at what he said. "Careful, Sunshine. Looks like you're starting to go soft on me." She responded, but her voice was cheerful. She remembered hours ago, standing in the stairwell on the apartment, staring down the barrel of a shotgun as she aimed her own weapon at this strange man with the mask. She wouldn't have figured herself to be going shopping with him the next day.

She turned to glance as he walked past her, pushing along a cart. She wasn't sure what he'd needed an entire cart for, and when she saw, she grinned and laughed. "That much? How much do you drink exactly?" She shook her head a bit, a little smirk on her lips as she dropped her own bag on top of the cart; no point in carrying it if she didn't have to. She followed him out the door, grabbing her pack of cigarettes out of her pocket and opening it, pulling one out and beginning to search her pockets for her lighter. It took her a while, and they were heading down the sidewalk by the time she managed to light the cancer stick and bring it to her lips, inhaling her first lungful in she wasn't sure how long. She smiled a bit and sighed; she'd missed that. Unhealthy, sure. But she enjoyed it just the same.

"So." She said quietly, feeling quite relaxed now. The apartment wasn't far from here. She highly doubted that they'd face any more trouble before they got there. "What's your name? And don't tell me Ayatollah. That's a load of shit." She certainly hoped that the others hadn't believed that crap. The way he'd said it, as if he had to think about it for a moment, the way his eyes had skirted off to the side. It was quite obviously a lie, at least to her. She just hadn't given a damn enough to ask.

He was calm, the sun greeting him gave him a sense of purpose once again. It struck him at the core. "There's always light after the dark" a friend once told him. He had told him that seconds before sacrificing himself to stave off a wave of Infected somewhere outside Lesotho. He returned two days later to find that he had killed a large majority of them, but was bitten. Upon his turning, Havok was forced close in to the man that was once his friend. With hesitant effort, he allowed the man to beat Havok in anger. It was his own way of forgiving himself for letting his friend die.

He snapped the mans neck shortly after, but only after he turned the tides of the fight. Smashing the souls skull in with a discarded wrench. He could see clearly see the thanks in his friends eyes. Havok had come to a conclusion shortly after that what the bacteria did, hadn't at all completely killed the individual. Of course, what he could have observed could have been an anomaly, a hiccup in how the bacteria effected individuals, but he was willing to believe that a small shred of humanity remained within those shells of people.

"That much? How much do you drink exactly?" Kira questioned, he could hear and see her hesitation. He had to admit, and he did with a small chuckle, that he was loaded with booze.
"Yeah -- " He trailed, looking down at it with a crooked smile. He drank a lot, even before the end, he had been drinking. He had never called himself an alcoholic, but he enjoyed his drink as much as the next person. If not more.
"I -- uh -- I've missed some of my AA meetings." He said jokingly, sending a glance at Kira before pushing the cart.
"You're legal, right? To drink?" He questioned, his answer of her age would finally be answered.
"'Cause it'd suck if I'd have to share this with all the other guys." He cackled, turning toward Kira before beginning to walk along.

"So." He heard Kira, a certain amount of curiosity in her voice as Havok sent a look over his shoulder to her.
"What's your name? And don't tell me Ayatollah. That's a load of shit." She snapped, that distinct lip of hers emerging again. Havok bit his lip at the question, smiling though, for her persistence. Turning back, he leaned his arms against the cart. Looking down at her with a smile.
"The Radio-Name is Ayatollah." He went on, flicking his hand around his neck and scratching. Not many understood the inner workings of the Military-Force during the final months of "Operation Kronus" as it had been called. By protocol, he wasn't allowed to be speaking to her about this. But the world was over.

"I'm -- I'm Benjamin." He quietly offered, his hand falling back to rest along the cart.
"Benjamin Havok." He hadn't heard his own name in a while, it would constantly flash in his head. Who he was, what he was fighting for, but he had never spoken his name.
"Private Military ... y'know, Mercenaries?" He quietly went on. Stopping abruptly as he pointed at Kira.
"Your turn, Firecracker." He smiled.

The young woman exhaled a degree of smoke, hating the taste it left in her mouth even after it was gone. She didn't mind the smell of cigarettes, but the taste... it was nothing sort of disgusting. Furthermore, it wasn't really like it helped her calm down by this point, either. It had at the beginning, but after a while, it hadn't really seemed to do anything to her anymore. That was the nature of things like this, though. Your body gradually needed more and more to feel the effects until that particular substance didn't work anymore. She'd hit that point with cigarettes a while ago. By now it was just a bad habit.

She smirked and shook her head as he asked her age. "I'm eighteen. Legal enough when there's no damn law anymore, I think." Not that she'd bothered paying attention before all of this shit had happened. Hell, she knew fourteen years olds who had been drinking before her. She hardly thought that deviating the rule by a few years was that big of a deal, especially when most of the police force was turned into a horde of flesh-mongering zombies. Besides... this guy didn't seem to her like he'd raise a big fuss about it, anyways. Even if he did, she'd just take some. It didn't bother her.

She listened as he spoke about it being a radio name, and about the military. She'd pictured him as being some sort of infantry fighter, so this news surprised her a bit, and her lips pursed slightly. Then she thought about his name, and couldn't stop the grin from coming across her face. Benjamin... it sounded like such a nice, polite, well-mannered kind of name. Somehow, it didn't seem to suit him after what she'd seen tonight. She chuckled a bit and half-smiled. "Benjamin, huh? How about Benny? Benjy? What do ya' think of them?" She said, trying not to laugh a bit. His last name seemed to suit better. "Havok. That works." She inhaled another lungful from her cigarette and breathed it out again after holding it in her lungs for a shot second, flicking some ashes onto the sidewalk. "Kira Walker." She responded. "No fancy aliases."

"Kira Walker." She responded. "No fancy aliases."As she spoke, Havok frowned quietly, moving his hand to quickly pluck the cigarette from Kira's mouth. It would give way to his hand easily; gloved fingers moving to pull the small stick from between the woman's lips.
"That shits bad for you." He mentioned, moving it up to his mouth to take a small drag. It calmed his nerves as well, and if she was as anything as bad as he was, it was nothing more than a cheap habit that Havok had developed early.

Dispelling the breath of smoke through his nostrils, he looked back at her before tossing the cigarette to the ground and stamping on it with a boot.
"All that tobacco ... stuff fucks your lungs up. Uncle died of an asthma attack from it." He said.
"And the law ain't dead. There's just not much of it left ... " He pointed, the red-head never looked like the kind of person to follow directions.
"But you can have a sip after busting into a bowling alley and shooting eight of them. You earned it." He smiled, shaking his hand as if to wipe away a regulation, a rule, from the books. Though the law was literally non-existent, Havok would make many strides to maintain it within himself. Looting was only done when it was necessary; supplies, goods, ammunition, drinking was done only when it was safe. Hell, he was kicking himself for letting a parking meter go over it's limit once.


"My Field Instructor called me Havok." He responded, only moments after she had decided that that would be his name. With a laugh, Havok spoke.
"He was killed somewhere in Paris ... Dunno' how many got to him before he killed himself though." He offered, the short story being more of a means to spook her, or toy with her.
"Come on, Kira. Firecracker. Let's move." He grunted and began to push the cart down the street, beginning to move down the street autonomously. Alcohol-stocked shopping cart close in hand.
"Most of this shit is mine, though. You only get one ... Some soft stuff." He snarled jokingly, Havok had always been greedy with his constant hoarding of alcohol and liquors.
"Nothing too much for you. I don't want you getting my SPAS fucked up while your drunk." He chuckled, wiping a hand over his face while he spoke.

Kira raised her eyebrows, her expression shocked and annoyed as Havok plucked the cigarette from her mouth, and it quickly shifted to irritation, her lips pressing into a tight line as he hypocritically took a drag himself before grinding it out on the pavement. She frowned and immediately pulled out a fresh one, lighting it and taking a long, deliberate drag, eyes flashing at him defiantly. As she exhaled the toxin-filled smoke, she shrugged. "Yeah, and running around in a bowling alley filled with flesh-mongering zombies is probably bad for you, too. So screw you."

As they walked, the apartment came into view ahead, not far at all now, and she smiled a bit. She thought back to Miguel and Dom, sleeping blissfully, completely unaware of the events of that night. She couldn't help but wonder if they'd even believe the story; it seemed quite insane. No one but a half-crazy person would even think of barging in on a horde of zombies. However... she chuckled to herself a little bit. Miguel already seemed to think she was insane. What had he said... loco. That was it. Apparently, he already thought she was insane, so maybe he'd believe her anyways.

Besides... her eyes flickered over to her companion, taking in the near-dried blood that caked him. With Havok coming in like that, she couldn't help but think it would be stranger for someone to believe that nothing had happened by comparison. He looked like he'd walked into a slaughterhouse and taken part. And even without the nasty appearance, there was the stench. There was no mistaking that. Wait... the smell. It seemed different. She frowned a bit and sniffed the air. Sure enough, there was a different smell. The stench of the infected and blood was still there, very strong, however there was another one mixed in. It took her a moment to identify the scent, and when she did, she couldn't help but laugh a bit. She hadn't smelt that in ages. "You sprayed yourself? That's nasty.. it didn't work too well. Now you just smell like a stinky guy who tried to cover it up." She chuckled a bit, thinking of what a silly sentiment it was. A shower would have been smarter.

As he spoke about the alcohol though, her smile faded a bit, to be replaced by a frown and raised eyebrows. He was really silly if he thought that he could keep her from drinking as much as she liked. "Just one, eh? Again... screw you. I'm not gonna touch your precious SPAS, so I can get as smashed as I want." She responded to him, taking another short drag off of her cigarette.

By that point they'd reached the apartment, and Kira headed inside, holding the door so that Havok and his cart could get in easier. She let the door swing shut, and eyed the load of alcohol warily. "Hm.. I don't think you're gonna be able to get up the stairs with that." She turned instead and headed to the elevator, not sure whether or not it was even going to work. She pressed the button, and nothing happened. She frowned and tried again, and this time it lit up, and the elevator began moving down. She smiled a bit and glanced back, motioning the doors. "I won't fit in there with all that. I'll meet you up there." With that, she turned and headed towards the stairs, getting out of his way so he could get in.

"Yeah, and running around in a bowling alley filled with flesh-mongering zombies is probably bad for you, too. So screw you." Kira snapped, bitterness hinting as the duo neared the apartment. Havok remembered the events that had began his companionship with the others. He remembered busting into the front door, wide open and consuming. He remembered the Infected following him in groups, those deadly groups of two or four pursuing their prey like hawks on mice. The view of the apartment, rotten and decaying, gave Havok a chill as Kira walked forward and into the first floor.
"Sounds bad enough, but we made it though." He managed, a smile escaping him as Kira moved ahead of the slow pace that he made with the shopping cart.

"You sprayed yourself?" He heard Kira, she would have to turn her heard a bit; obviously catching the scent as she moved ahead of him. Havok stopped in place, and laughed childishly; taking a deep whiff of himself. Though he could hardly smell it, it was the fact she noticed.
"Yeah -- I found some of this in the store -- "
"That's nasty.. it didn't work too well. Now you just smell like a stinky guy who tried to cover it up." He heard a soft chuckle escape from Kira. The comment made Havok tense a bit.


"Oh come on, the fuck was I supposed to do?" He chimed, Kira was already far ahead of him, and he was speaking to himself and the shopping cart. His eyes following the young woman as she vanished into the first floor. He had stopped momentarily with the cart, looking over the surrounded area; which was now flooded with morning light from the on-moving sun. He took notice of the surroundings, possible cover in the event they would have to retreat. As he contemplated, he suddenly remembered the two other members of the group. Who Kira had called "Miguel", he seemed like a sane enough person. No one Havok couldn't handle though; he was prepared to obliterate all three of them in the event he would have too.

Thought with the sudden introduction of other human beings that wouldn't attempt to ring his neck and consume his flesh in an anger driven frenzy, he was apprehensive to always shooting first and asking questions later. Moving into the lobby of the small apartment, he looked upward and saw Kira. She was standing at the elevator doors, and was waiting at what appeared to be the door of the apartment.
"Hm.. I don't think you're gonna be able to get up the stairs with that." Havok tilted his head momentarily, questioning her logic in activating an elevator in a city that was nearly destroyed, abandoned.
"That's alright ... I can drink down here. Block up the door." He joked, waving to her as he watched Kira move to the elevator.
"That's stupid -- why the hell would the elevator be working?" He commented, only stopping as he watched the lights blink and wink to life, the doors opening slowly.
"I'll be damned." He muttered, maneuvering the cart into the small cabin; being sure to avoid a long deceased body. He would be forced to stand directly next to the thing as it lay crumpled on the ground though.
"Oh dear ... This should be fun." He spoke, smiling to himself as he poked a button that would bring him to the proper level.


The elevator ride was slightly awkward. He hadn't ridden in an elevator with a dead body for a while now; a good two or three years. Standing idly, he clasped his hands in front of him. It was unusual to see such an armored, hulking figure standing still momentarily; it was even more unusual to see both the armored individual and a dead body in an elevator.
"So ... " He went on, his gaze slowly fading down to look at the dead body. It sat slumped against the wall of the elevator; it looked as if it had been motionless for months.
"How about them damn Jets?" He smiled, obviously expecting no response from the thing.

Kira watched until the elevator door had closed and the numbers along the top began to light up in sequence, and then began making her way up the stairs, satisfied that the elevator wasn't going to just crap out halfway there. The apartment was a few flights up, and she couldn't help but envy Havok, being able to just ride up with his cart of alcohol and not have to put any effort into it. She had to admit, it was quite the miracle that the elevator had functioned just now. It sparked up a small little hope in her; perhaps if the power was working, however sporatically, maybe then the showers might be working. However, she didn't allow herself to entertain that thought for too long. It was a bit too much to hope for.

It took her about eleven minutes, taking the steps two at a time, to get to their floor, ignoring the fallen corpses and bloodstains decorating the hallway. The walls were white and bare, or at least, they probably had been when the apartment had first been built. Now, they were filthy, covered in the grime and blood of the numerous attacks and deaths that had taken place here. It was crumbling in places, bits of debris scattered on the floor. Her boots made an unpleasant squelching sound every time she stepped, and she suspected that the nasty chunk of...something she'd just accidentally stepped in was probably a piece of a person, long decayed.

When she reached the floor that housed their apartment, she slowed her pace and glanced over at the elevator. The door wasn't open; the cart was sitting outside. So, he'd made it up already. That didn't surprise her. The elevator moved a bit faster than a young woman on the stairs. She sighed, took a deep breath, and gripped her M9 warily. She didn't think there'd be any Infected running around... but just in case... She turned the handle and swung the door inwards, cringing at the now-familiar creak.

Nothing was different, except now there were a bunch of alcohol bottles on the table. Miguel and Dom were still there; she couldn't see Havok, but she knew he was here. She closed the door behind her, slipping her handgun back into her waistband before casting her eyes around the removed contents of the cart; her bag was lying on the ground. She crouched down next to it, opening it quickly and sifting through the food and water until she found what she was looking for: a little radio, and a set of batteries.

Pursing her lips a tiny bit, the girl got up and hurried out of the main living room, down the little hallway and into the first bedroom she'd found when she arrived here, past the bathroom and other bedroom on either side. Once there, she sat down against the wall and unpackaged the radio, with a bit of help from her knife, and popped open the battery compartment. She slipped in the batteries and hurriedly turned it on, beginning to adjust through the stations, getting nothing but static. No surprise... no surprise... then, she caught something, after a minute or two. A snippet of a sentance. Her heart stopped for a moment, her eyes wide, and she hurriedly began sifting through again, trying to find the station that she'd lost. Who the hell was broadcasting at this of all times?