Ozpin awoke to something tugging on his arm.

Groaning, he sat upright, and felt around him. Murmuring a 'wait a moment', he felt around using his other hand. It went to his face. Ah, his glasses were still on, by some miracle. And they were not even broken. He opened his eyes.

His glasses, though unbroken, did have several scratches across the lenses. Must be the result of smashing face first into a pillar of fire hot enough to vaporize stone. He mentally listed all his injuries. A strong smell of smoke, probably from Cinder Fall. A few burns, though rapidly healing. A bone fracture on his right leg. A massive number of bruises on his bodies. Various cuts and scrapes. And finally, a lack of coffee.

And oh yes, a biting sensation on his right arm-

Biting?

Finally fully awake, he truly looked around him for the first time and saw the carnage surrounding him. He was laying on a concrete road, in the middle of the city. Around him, several cars and buildings were on fire, producing the smoke he had smelt. Numerous corpses were laying on the ground surrounding him, several of them having large wounds or even in several pieces. Rubble, broken glass, and trash littered the streets. It looked like a war had happened here.

Looking to the right, he beheld a monster. A... man, he supposed, dressed in a black coloured business suit was busily biting down upon his arm. The man was filthy, and his skin was of an unhealthy pallor. His body was covered in sores where maggots and flies covered, and there was even necrosis surrounding several wounds. However, what concerned Ozpin the most was the giant hole in his neck where something had taken a bite out of it. the man should be a corpse. And yet, he still moved.

Still shocked from the surroundings, Ozpin shouted :" Hey." The man continued biting him. "Hey!". The man finally noticed him. But he did not answer. What he did do, is to roar and lunge for Ozpin's throat.

Fortuantely, Ozpin still had his reflexes, and punched his skull off.

Standing up and shaking the dirt from his suit, Ozpin finally gathered his wits around him. "A shambler?" He thought. "But so far into the city? But how?" He could not remember what happened after his battle with the new Fall Maiden, and as he looked around, he felt a twinge of guilt at being unable to protect these people.

"I do not know what has happened. But I'll have to look for the others. At the very least, there could still be civilians trapped in here."

Thinking that, Ozpin set off.

-

He had found no one.

Taking a long sip from his coffee cup, Ozpin pondered at the state of the city around him. And gagged. The coffee was thick and dark, quite unlike the normal ones he had in his ordinary mornings. Then again, it was outdoor coffee. The last time he had it, it was during the fall of Mount Glenn, when he had taken part in the evacuations.

Walking along the streets, he had found no living people. His scroll was damaged. Leaping to the top of the buildings was to no avail, as there were no bullheads nor flying aircraft. Walking on the ground was fruitless, too, as he had only found burnt out buildings, smashed storefronts, and more corpses. It was almost like the entire city was empty.

Sighing, Ozpin wondered if he would ever get good coffee.

That was when he heard the baby.

He sent aura to his legs and exploded forwards, his legs a blur, the concrete cracking beneath his footsteps. He rounded a corner where the scream came from, and saw a young woman curled up on the ground, with several Shamblers reaching out to devour her. The crying and wailing seemed to come from a bundle clutched in her arms.

Ozpin was tired and hungry. He had barely recovered from his injuries from his battle with Cinder Fall, and he had hardly gotten any rest these past few days. He was at one of the weakest points of his life.

Of course, that was still enough to kill them all.

The first to die was the shambler closest to the woman. First he smashed its forearms, sending them flying off. Then he swung the crook of his cane to its head, turning it into mush. He then begun to work his way through the crowd. The shamblers didn't even realize he was there before he killed them, splitting apart their bodies and turning them into smears on the ground.

In less than a second, it was over.

Behind him, a frightened and trembling voice asked :"W...W... who are you?"

Taking a sip of coffee and wincing at the taste, Ozpin thought for a moment for a way to calm this moment down.

Well, honesty was the best policy. Turning around and putting on as friendly a smile as possible, he answered: "Headmaster Ozpin, at your service."