Jean walked alone through the empty city. His knife was at the ready and his pistol in its holster. Supplies were running low so he had decided to take a detour through the city. Now, with the broken buildings surrounding him and shadows in every alley, he was seriously regretting his sounds of zombies trapped in the stores filled his ears and he couldn't help but flinch every time he heard a particularly loud bang against the boarded up doors and windows.

This world was rotten and frankly, one Jean didn't want to be in anymore. However what he wanted more than an escape was salvation he had dreamed about since the day this all started. Something to remove the torture from his everyday life these days. Jean wasn't stupid, he knew there wasn't someone who was going to wipe out all the zombies, but he just wanted something to make his life a bit easier. Maybe a military bunker, better weapons, a car even, or possibly someone-

Jean was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of splintering wood. He turned towards the source of the noise and saw the boards on the nearby store cracking under the force of the dozens of zombies trying to escape.

There was definitely too many for him to fight off so his only options were to either run or hide. Jean glanced around for hiding spots and his eyes landed on a delivery truck with a broken latch. He ran to it and slipped his knife into the sheath to open the door slightly. It was empty save a few cartons of milk that were most definitely spoiled by now.

As quietly as possible, Jean climbed into the truck and closed the door behind him. Through the walls of the truck he heard the boards give and the shuffling of the zombies pouring from the store. He sat stalk still, barely even breathing as he listened to them wander around outside. A stroke of luck was what brought the sound of a pigeon cooing in the street. The zombies were attracted to the living animal and as the bird took off and flew away most of them followed it.

Slowly and quietly, Jean lifted the door and looked around. He didn't see any immediate danger so he carefully drew his hunting knife and stepped out of the truck. He decided to get out of the city as fast as possible and find supplies another time. He began to jog lightly in an attempt to get out faster and watched all the windows without boards for movement. As he was looking for zombies he wasn't quite paying attention to the road and made one horrible mistake. His foot collided with an empty tin can and it rolled noisily down the street.

Jean froze like a statue and his face paled. He heard rustling from a store nearby and a zombie holding a dead squirrel in one hand stumbled through the doorway. They locked eyes and Jean felt rooted to the spot and his heart pounded in his chest. He tried to move but his limbs felt stiff as the boards covering the shop windows. The zombie lunged at him and Jean brought up his arms to keep the zombie a safe distance from his neck and face.

The impact knocked him on his ass and he began fighting zombie to keep it from biting him. He couldn't move the hand holding his knife or the zombie would get at him, and it wasn't exactly light so Jean couldn't push it off. Jean fought against the hungry monster but couldn't get it off of him no matter how hard he tried. His arms began to get tired and he knew he wasn't going to be able to keep this up for much longer.

An angel. That's what saved him. An angel in the form of a beautiful freckled boy with a bow and arrow. The arrow went into the zombies head killing it instantly. The angel ran over and helped Jean push the zombie off of him, he helped Jean to his feet, he introduced himself as Marco.

"What's your name?" Marco asked as he pulled his arrow from the zombies skull.

"I'm Jean," Jean said. Marco extended his hand to shake Jean's. Jean shook it and half smiled at Marco. "Thanks for saving me."

"It was no problem, really. Gotta help fellow humans right. In fact I was just thinking how much I'd like some company,'' Marco smiled as he wiped the blood from his arrow.

"I could join you if you want. I'd love some company these days," Jean offered. Marco's smile brightened and he walked back over to Jean's side. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Jean and Marco carefully made their way out of the city together. They walked along country roads and ransacked rural houses for supplies. Their methods kept them alive and fairly healthy through the summer. They slept in abandoned houses or sometimes cars. Trees if the other options weren't available.