Chapter 1: The Stranger
Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin
Summary: Then he really saw her. A deathly pale girl dressed inappropriately for a raid and—the biggest shock of all—she had no weapons. [Modern AU, Zombie Apocalypse]
The sun shone down harshly on the abandoned, deathly still landscape. In another life, she might have made a mental note to buy sun screen. Currently, that was the least of her worries. One of the few perks of living during a zombie apocalypse. Petra thought, admiring her reflection in the mirror. You can have all the fashionable clothes for free. She twirled the blue dress for her audience.
"What do you think? Not too long, not too short, it's perfect, right?" It stopped three inches above her knees and she loved twirling it. The shoulder-less dress left her feeling slightly embarrassed so she'd donned on a pretty white cardigan with a lace back. "The only thing left is shoes and today's outfit theme 'Periwinkle Angel' will be complete."
She walked a few blocks down the street filled with abandoned cars, trash, and the occasional dead body. Petra smiled and opened the door, ushering her followers in, "After you." She led them to her section and planted her hands on her hips. "I was thinking of wearing white, to match the cardigan because I already have a blue ribbon in my hair. Do you guys agree?" She took their grunts as confirmation. "Thought so," she nodded. "Oh! How about these flat sandals! I like the straps."
"I think I passed today's theme with flying colors." Petra turned and immediately ran into a chest. She stepped back, regarding the milked-eyed corpse in the blazer, "Now, now Toby, I've told you before, you are not my type so your flirting isn't going to work. Besides, what will Nel think?" She gestured to the undead girl in a lavender sweater. "I thought you and Joe were still fighting over her." Joe, once a straight-laced college student in the blue blazer, groaned.
Petra checked the time on her watch. "Thank you, Joe! I almost forgot I have to pick up treats. There's plenty of time but we can't leave the babies alone for too long." She wandered out the store to the neighboring one. She already knew which scent she wanted and picked up the bottle of Gardenia perfume. "It's not too much is it?" Toby, Nel, and Joe groaned. "Good, I don't want to overload the babies' sense of smell."
On her way back, she stopped and snatched up an old magazine from the ground. "Maybe I should get matching jewelry?" Joe groaned and stumbled forward. She bit her lip. "I do have plenty of time to hit that shop across town." They used to have quite the reputation before the apocalypse. "I can even get something for the babies!" She spotted the black bicycle and got on. "Sorry guys, this way will be faster. Don't go anywhere!"
Levi observed the broken buildings in the street warily. It looked empty. But he knew better than to let his guard down. It took only a few minutes for a horde to descend down and tear everyone and everything in its path. The raiding parties checked the buildings, block by block, scavenging for anything of use.
Down the street, one of their lookouts waved his arms. Time to go. He pulled out the radio, eyes locked on the young man running back to the cars. "Move fast, company's coming." The staggering figures appeared just as Eren reached the vehicles. He removed the safety of his gun. Levi held up a hand. "Don't. The noise will attract more."
"But there are dozens of them!"
"There's plenty of time for our guys to finish their search and load up. We'll leave before they reach us. No one will be hurt and we won't unnecessarily waste bullets."
Their comrades began pouring out and loading their findings. "Where's Mikasa' team?" Eren paced restlessly.
"We can't stay much longer," Erd's hands gripped the rifle. "If we pull out at the last moment, they'll chase us back to the bridge and, eventually, more will come out from the city. Our blockade won't hold for long if the entire undead population shows up."
"We're not abandoning them!" Eren snapped.
Levi slapped him upside the head. "No one said that. Erd is just pointing out the facts. And he's right." He turned to his second-in-command, "Lead them back. I'll distract the horde while Eren guides the others."
The members of the raiding party rolled out. Levi and Eren waited eagerly for their comrades. They didn't have to wait long. "Finally!" Eren ran to help Jean carry a dazed Connie. "Is he okay?"
"He might have a concussion but otherwise he's fine," Sasha answered. "Oh man," she froze, eyes wide in horror at the large mass of undead inching towards them.
"Stop wasting time and get your asses in the truck," Levi barked, climbing on his bike. Mikasa and Armin sat in front while Eren, Sasha, and Jean put Connie in the back. "Go now! I'll lead them around a block, ditch them, and then come back and make sure nothing follows us to the bridge."
They looked like they wanted to argue. But they knew he'd have better chances of survival on his own. "I'll move quicker without any deadweight dragging me and it's easy for one person to hide and wait out the mob."
As soon as the green truck had disappeared around the corner, Levi started his bike and led the horde in the opposite direction. He hadn't expected another horde to come and block one of his routes. Levi mentally sighed. He was being pushed deeper into the town, farther away from the bridge. As soon as there weren't any undead in sight, he pulled to a gas station. His bike was almost out of gas and he had no idea where he was.
Petra hummed cheerfully, holding a pair of earnings in each hand. She couldn't make up her mind and wished Joe was around. He had a very good sense of fashion. Probably has something to do with his former life as a model. She ended up ditching the earrings and going with a beautiful diamond bracelet.
I should come here more often. She admired the jewelry through the glass case. A loud bang almost made her heart start beating in pure shock. A gunshot! She didn't know there were people around. The idea of a living, breathing, talking human made her freeze in both excitement and terror. She had retired herself to the idea of a lonesome existence unless she actively searched in lesser populated areas where any possible surviving humans may have banded together.
It could have been a piece of pipe or something metal falling and imitating a gunshot. But she'd already had the idea of a conscious, interactive human set in her mind and she felt deep yearning. Petra didn't wait another second and took off towards the general area where she thought the gunshot originated.
A few more bangs sounded through the air. A few minutes of anxious running and depressing thoughts of this unknown person falling victim to the Zs found Petra running past an ally. She stopped and ran back. Halfway across the alley was a metal fence. On the other side of the fence was a man. I have to get him out of there! She wondered why he didn't just jump the fence.
"Hey!"
Levi honestly thought he was hearing things until he felt fingers on his back. He jerked forward. Turning around, eyes wide, he saw—it was the first thing his mind registered—a surprisingly clean and cute girl. His heart filled with hope for a second. Surely she belonged to a group hiding somewhere in the town.
Then he really saw her. A deathly pale girl dressed inappropriately for a raid and—the biggest shock of all—she had no weapons. She could certainly not have any hidden under her clothes. She couldn't be traveling under protection from the lack of radio or flare gun or any other indication she was with a group.
Petra saw the hope fade out from his eyes as he stared at her. "You're hurt!" She saw him leaning heavily on his right leg. The pants on his left leg were torn and bloody. The massive horde was gaining ground on him quickly. Petra figured he had less than 15 seconds before they were on him.
Head snapping to the side, she ran to the large dumpster and pushed it against the fence and jumped on top. "C'mon, I'll help you!"
Levi ditched his rifle and held up his arm. He readied himself to struggle with every fiber of his being to pull himself up. I have to be careful! Too much and I could bring her down. Levi's heart squeezed with dread. Until Petra pulled him up like he was a rag doll. Wrapping her free arm around his waist, she pulled him over just as the hands reached for his feet.
"That was close," Levi exhaled loudly.
He was too distracted to see Petra staring at him in wide-eyed awe. As half of the fence began to bend against the push of the countless bodies, she snapped out of her thoughts. I have to get him out of here! She didn't want to risk him finding out about her and killing her if he thought she was dangerous.
She helped him down in silence and led him back to her home. His body tensed against her when a few stragglers began following them. "It's okay," she said quietly. "Most of this side of the town is Z free." He nodded. "I'm Petra, what's your name?"
"Levi," his eyes kept scanning their surroundings for signs of danger. Petra, for her part, was too absorbed in his very presence to think properly. She decided she really liked his voice and his warmth too. "Are we close?" He turned his head back to check how close their followers were. To his confusion, it seemed like they'd lost interest. He'd never known the undead to give up the chase until they had their prey. Or if they found easier prey. He figured they must have spotted a small animal closer to them and went after it instead.
"Yes, we're almost there," Petra nodded. She relaxed as they reached the quiet residential area with wide open roads and large houses.
She led him up to a big house at the end of the street, surrounded by a brick wall and a black iron gate. Petra could almost feel Levi's fear and incredulity as they walked past an undead woman who stumbled barely half a foot from them. She calmly opened the gate and locked it behind them.
She's tough, he thought. The idea of coming so close in quarters with one of them without weapons freaked even him out. "Why don't you kill her?" As far as he could tell, the area was empty. Why let one stumble around? "She could attract attention from a group passing by which could attract more and more until there are too many." To him, it seemed obvious.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "She wasn't exactly bothering me so I just let her be."
Levi didn't understand why she didn't just kill the undead woman and get rid of her body, keeping her place zombie free. But considering she'd saved his life, he'd keep his opinions to himself. His confusion grew as they entered the exquisite and empty house. "Can you take off your shoes please?"
"Sure," he took the left one of with her help. It was such a rare sight to see such a clean house. The clean freak side of him couldn't help but sigh in happiness. "Where are the others?"
Petra helped him to the couch and propped his leg on the table. "I live alone." She walked down the hallway to a closet full of medical supplies and picked up the necessary items. She cut the pants with a pair of scissors and disinfected the bloody area. "How did this happen?"
Levi was silent, observing her. He knew sometimes the living were more dangerous than the undead. So far he hadn't felt any negative vibes or a feeling he was in a trap. And she let him keep his handgun and machete. "I was separated from the other members of our raiding party. Actually, I stayed behind and led a horde away from our camp and got chased by another one. I stopped at an empty gas station and ended up being ambushed, spent a good half hour being chased."
He retracted his bandaged leg carefully, making himself comfortable on the couch while Petra cleaned up. "I ducked inside an old house. My foot got stuck in a loose floor board. It wasn't too bad except there were of more those things in the house, so I had to jump out of the window and landed badly on my already hurt leg."
"I'm guessing you got chased into that alley and that's when you started firing your gun." She settled herself on the other end of the long couch, legs crossed, arms around the pillow in her lap. "And the sound attracted more to your location."
"And it brought you."
"Yeah," she nodded. "I was at a jewelry store," she traced the bracelet on her left wrist.
"A jewelry store?" He stared at her incredulously. "What does your group think of that? Looking for diamond bracelets instead of food or water or gas," he frowned. Come to think of it, why hasn't she told anyone about me?
"What group?" Petra tilted her head to the side. "I told you, it's just me."
"Wait a minute," he sat straighter, "are you telling me you are the only living human here? I thought you meant you're the only person living in this house." He figured more of her people were minding their own business in the other large houses on the street.
"No, I am the only one around," she said carefully. Then she perked up, "And my babies!" Levi's eyes widened. "Not human babies," Petra corrected quickly. "They're puppies." She smiled sheepishly. "They're the only living things here—besides you now." She hoped he didn't catch her accidental miss about not classifying herself as living. "They were born a few weeks ago."
"So you've been living here all alone?"
"I am...not as inclined to social needs as most humans." Petra leaned back, "Besides, I had my dogs."
Levi couldn't bring himself to wrap his head around it. He couldn't imagine how awful it must have been for her. He held back a shiver. If it weren't for those dogs, she'd probably be insane by now. His group had rescued a man eight months into the apocalypse. He had been locked up in his house, all by himself with plenty of food and water but no company. He'd been more animal than man when they'd approached him. Nothing warped the human mind like loneliness.
"I bet you're hungry," Petra stood up, wanting to change the subject. "I'll make you some dinner."
Levi stared at the pizza before him like it was a trick. He thought when she said make dinner she meant open a can of something and dump it in a bowl for him. When he smelt it, he was convinced it was his mind playing tricks on him. "Aren't you going to eat?" Petra probed curiously. "You don't hate veggie pizza do you? Most of the meat I have is for the dogs. I really should have asked if—"
"It's fine," Levi bit into a slice, trying not to shove the entire thing in his mouth. "Beggars can't be choosers."
Petra tried not to stare. It was rude and would make his uncomfortable. But seeing a person eating food was utterly fascinating to her. She had no such need. She missed eating, the sweet taste of chocolate especially. Food was completely bland to her now. "So, where do you live?" She asked when he finished.
He took a deep breath. Petra suddenly realized she wasn't breathing and immediately began to do so. It was a foreign thing to her. She didn't need to breathe and had eventually stopped unconsciously. I have to remember to keep breathing. Levi will be suspicious if I'm not.
He observed her before answering, trying to find any clue she had an ulterior motive or if it was simple curiosity. She was completely still, not blinking. If she weren't breathing, I'd think she was a statue. It had been a while since he'd eaten until he was full. Especially something that was actually good, real food instead of canned crap. He'd almost forgotten what it was like.
"A small island on the other side of town," he found himself answering.
"Will you go back?" She knew the answer already. "Wait, duh, of course you will. You can stay as long as you want. At the very least, until your injury heals."
Levi didn't take long to decide. He was injured. It was a leg injury so his movement was impaired. He had no vehicle and limited ammo. "The smart thing to do is wait till I'm healed," he nodded. He'd take the time to plan carefully.
"Okay then," Petra stood, beaming, "I'll go and get you some clothes while you rest."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? Maybe you should wait until the horde moves on."
"But you need clothes," she insisted. "Yours are torn and dirty and bloody. You can't put them back on again after showering. It's not very hy—"
"Shower?" Levi stared intently. "You have running water? Hot water?"
"Yeah, all the houses on this street have solar panels, it's why I made myself at home here. I can get electricity for 8 hours a day. I experimented with a house next door and if you have too many electronics running, it can overload the machines so be careful not to do that while I'm gone."
"Got it," he nodded eagerly.
"I'll be back in a minute." She went into the kitchen and rummaged through the shelves. "I got some plastic wrap to put on your bandage to keep it from getting wet." She wrapped it around his leg. Wrapping an arm around his waist, she helped him up the stairs.
Levi stared ahead, mentally cringing. He could only imagine how awful he must smell to her. He'd been somewhat cleaner compared to the people around him, especially in terms of the apocalypse. For the first time in a long time, he felt self-conscious about his unclean state being so close in contact with a woman who had access to daily showers.
"I don't have any hygienic products for men," Petra said apologetically, retracting her arm. "You're going to smell very fruity."
"I'll take it," he eyed the tub and soap eagerly.
"Take your time then," she backed away. "I won't be gone too long."
As soon as the door closed shut, he ditched his clothes and jumped into the best shower of his life.
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