Rolen took a step back in response to Nathan's Approach, his eyes flicking over to the dead woman on the floor for a brief moment before his deep blue eyes met Nathan's dark brown ones once more.

He swallowed hard, but the lump in his throat stayed lodged there like a stone. He gave a slow but shaky nod. The young engineer took a deep breath trying to forcefully calm himself down.
Despite Rolen trying to pull himself together, the moment he took a step away from the wall, his feet hit something hard. His eyes glanced down, it were shoes, the shoes of the brunette. They were still sitting neatly where she’d left them, like they were waiting for her to come back.

She wasn’t coming back.

Nathan stepped over the corpse in the room, he knew he had to start the search, yet he couldn’t help but glance over at Rolen, the kid was in his early twenties, probably fresh out of school too. The thought of him ending up cold and detached like some of the poeple he met in the military gave him a tight uncomfortable feeling in his chest. If only he could tell him that everything will be fine.

After a long moment of silence Rolen was surprisingly the first to break the quiet tension that had lingered.

“i didn't even know their names..” Rolen whispered to no one, breath catching on every word. His eyes burned. “and now they're gone..”

Nathan didn’t answer right away. Instead, he knelt down beside the blonde’s twisted corpse, checking her legs, her eyes, the veins running through her neck. And finally her arms, his jaw clenched tightly as his eyes met the bite wound.
Black veins eroded from the infection, that's why she clung to her arm so much.

“She was infected from the start,” he muttered. “They both were as good as dead the second she lied about that bite.”

He stood again, his eyes meeting Rolen’s. “now at least we know how the infection spreads.” Nathen stated and rose from his crouched position once more.

The words hit harder than Rolen expected. Not because they were wrong—but because of how easily Nathan said them.

"Thats it?" Rolens voice was quiet. “People die, and we just… move on?” 

Nathan’s brow furrowed slightly, and he stepped closer. “we cant aford the luxury of getting emotional right now, our top priority is to stay alive and find a safe place.”

Rolen blinked. The air between them shifted slightly, like the temperature dropped a few degrees. He took a half-step back, Nathan's words resonating within him. Of course he was right, but it wasn't something thenyoung engineer was ready to let go of.

Before Rolen could say anything else, Nathan stepped past him and locked the door—this time with the chain. He dragged an old shelf from the wall and jammed it beneath the doorknob.

“We’re not letting that happen again,” he said. “after we searched the place we will leave through the back entrance”

Rolen nodded slowly, trying not to look at the blood trailing across the floor. “There’s another apartment complex down the block. Damon, my boyfriend is still in ours. I need to get to him—he might still be alive.”

Nathan turned around sharply,The first thing that registered—Rolen had a boyfriend. Nathan filed it away without judgment, but it caught him off guard all the same

“That’s suicide.”

“I have to try.”

Nathan didn’t respond at first. He moved toward the window and peeked through the slats of a broken blind, watching the street below.

Zombies stumbled past in sluggish clusters, dragging limbs, some even dragged things around that they were still holding when they died. But a few—just a few—moved with something.. not nearly as mindless as the others, it looked like they had purpose in their dead eyes, Nathan quickly shook off that thought, they're infected, no matter how they looked like, they were a threat. His mind went back to the conversation, Nathan didn’t want Rolen to go out there to find his lover, the guy is probably dead and walking by now. But he couldn’t force the kid to stay either.

Rolen stepped beside Nathan and looked too, but the silence between them felt heavier now.

“He’s important to you,” Nathan said after a moment.

Rolen nodded. “Yeah. He’s my boyfriend.”

Nathan turned slowly, his body casting a long shadow across the room. “yes, so you've said..”

The way he said it made Rolen's heart skip. Not threatening—just cold..

“You don’t know if he’s even still alive,” Nathan continued, voice lowering. “You’d risk everything for someone who might already be one of them.”

Rolen crossed his arms over his chest, shooting a small glare towards Nathan. “What are you trying to say?”

Nathan stepped forward. His dark eyes meeting Rolen's deep blue ones, a tight feeling gripped him, it wasn't fear that's all Nathan knew. “I’m saying I’m not going to let you die for a ghost. I already saved your life once. I won’t let you throw it away.”

Rolen’s fingers instinctively brushed against the silver dragon choker on his neck. “It’s not your call.”

Nathan’s gaze dropped for just a second—to the choker, then back up to Rolen’s eyes.

He moved suddenly.

Not fast—but with purpose. His hand reached out and brushed a strand of Rolen’s white hair from his face. His fingers lingered too long. The action caught Rolen off guard, made him flinch even yet he didn't stop Nathan either.

“you really think hes still alive dont you?” he asked softly. “Fine. But I’m coming with you.”

Rolen opened his mouth—but Nathan was already checking every single cupboard taking out canned food, bottles of water and other essentials like the old med kit that was on the counter.

“this breakroom has enough to keep us alive a few more days, but we need a bag to take it all with us.” Nathan said over his shoulder. “go search through the closet over there, see if you can find one." Nathan said gesturing to the closet with his head.

Rolen hesitated.

There was something new in Nathan now. Not the calm, tactical demeanor from before—but something rawer. Wilder. He hadn’t even blinked after killing the blonde. And the way he acted now—it wasn’t just survival anymore. The changes were subtle but he noticed.

Nontheless, the Goth engineer shuffled over to the closet, opening the doors and rummaging through it. It was full of rain jackets, winter jackets, umbrellas and even a few shopping bags.

The shopping bags could carry a lot but it was too large and it made too much noise, it would be more a pain than a help to use that. After tossing the shopping bags out he rummaged through the jackets some more, eventually he felt something thick and leathery brush against this fingers.

Rolen's fingers closed around the thick strap of an old leather bag buried behind the jackets.

The texture was worn—soft in a way that felt too familiar. The moment his hand wrapped around it, something shifted.

The break room disappeared.

The wooden floorboards of the break room turned into the cold, rainy pavement outside, winds howling and heavy rain clouded his vison making it almost impossible to see. Rolen held his arms up, shielding himself from the rain that soaked his clothes, the black fabric sticking to his skin like ink on pavement.

Panic gripped the young engineers heart as he looked everywhere, growling and moaning of infected almost inaudible through the wind that screamed in his ears.

Then came the Thunder.

Flash, boom

A hand gripped his shoulder.

He yelped, twisting around.

It was Nathan, his eyes once a deep chocolate brown now bright red and his skin as pale as the snow dunes during winter times, his other hand slowly reached up, cupping Rolen's cheek in a loving matter, earning a confused look from the Goth.

Rolen didn’t move. The rain streamed down his face like tears, the storm swallowing every sound.

He wanted to speak—but a low moan echoed from behind.

Something was coming.

The next moment, Nathan moved—inhumanly fast.

He launched himself toward the infected, slamming into it with brutal force. In the downpour, all Rolen saw were shadows—the silhouette in the darkness of the two fighting,  one mindless and primal, the other full of purpose and drive.

Thunder cracked.

Rolen stepped closer, water sloshing beneath his feet. He looked down—

Blood.
Bright red, curling through the rainwater.

Another flash of lighting, his eyes shifting back towards the scene.

Nathan stood alone, chest rising and falling.

In his hands, he held a severed head.

Rolen looked up at the head Nathan clutched like a trophy, his knees giving out from beneath him, tears forming in his eyes, the rain washing them away almost instantly. With shaky hands, he clutched the hem of his shirt and let out a loud wail.

The rain washed over him, but it couldn't hide the breaking of his heart.

The head Nathan was holding. It was Damon’s.

Rolen gasped as reality slammed back in. The rain was gone. The blood—gone. Nathan's hands gripped his shoulders, his voice sharp but human.

"Hey! Kid—wake up! Snap out of it!"

Rolen blinked rapidly, trying to find his bearings. His face was wet with tears, not rain. The cold floor beneath him was real.

Whatever was waiting for them outside, Rolen had no doubt Nathan would keep him safe—even if it meant becoming a monster in the process.