A/N: Edited and rewritten so it makes sense. Haha, kinda ironic that I personally hate things that lack logic and plot holes, yet I made one myself. Oh the irony. Anyhoo, enjoy!

"Megu-nee!" Yuuki cheerfully jumped to Isabela's side, wrapping her thin arms around the woman's waist. "I've missed you, Megu-nee!"

Isabela patted the head covered in pink hair; watching with a sorrowful smile as Yuki's eyes hardened by the sight of a stranger. Carlito entered the room, observing his sister and the little girl. The sight reminded him of peaceful times in Santa Cabaza, his expression growing sour as he remembered what the Americans had done.

Curious, Yuki wandered over to him, large pink eyes observing the man. Suddenly a wide smile appeared on her face as she bowed "Pleased to meet you! I'm Yuki Takaya~!"

"The pleasure is all mine. Carlito is my name." The man kneeled and smiled at the little girl, amused and surprised by his sister's decision to take her in. He stood up; the smirk still plastered on his lips. "I should not disturb you any longer, Megu-nee."

"Megu-nee?" Yuki asked, glued to Isabela's waist "You never told me you had a husband." She continued as innocently as Isabela almost choked on air. "No, he is my brother." With those spoken words, the pink-haired girl's eyes widened with excitement, continuously shifting between Carlito and Isabela.

"You have a brother?" her attention shifted to Carlito as she let go of the woman's waist. She was ecstatic, to say the least. "Megu-nee's big brother…" Yuki tiptoed towards Carlito. "Can I call you Carlo-nii?" She almost whispered. Amused by the petite girl's request, Carlito simply nodded, patting her head. A young child's innocence always brought a smile on his lips.

"Hihi. Thank you, Carlo-nii." The pink-haired girl blushed with a shy smirk on her face. However, that smile on her face died down to confusion as Carlito was about to make his departure.

"Wait, where are you going?" Isabela narrowed her eyes.

"I need to take care of something."

"Carlo-nii! Let me come with you!" Yuki now glued herself to Carlito's waist, squeezing hard. Despite her small frame, she withheld an incredible amount of strength.

"Megu-nee. Take care of her while I'm gone." Isabela cringed by the mentioning of her new nickname by her brother. She simply nodded as Yuki refused to let go of Carlito's waist. It would appear that she had to force the little girl to let go.

"No, I wanna go with Carlo-nii! Maybe we can find Rii-san, Kurumi-chan and Miki-kun so he can go meet them! Oh, and Taromaru too!" A sudden realization hit her.

"And Mr. West! He's a photographer. I'm sure, you'll like him. Maybe you two can get married!"

"Little one." Isabela pleaded, getting up to pull apart the two. She ignored the incoming thoughts of her and Frank married. Her imagination had always been vivid. Shivers ran down her spine as the realistic images of Frank and herself in wedding gowns. Not to mention, his indirect connection to these recent outbreaks.

"Carlito is busy." She sighed. But Yuki refused to let go, squeezing harder. "Megu-nee, don't be so strict! I'm legal aged; I'm not a kid anymore." She pouted her lips.

Carlito turned his head in surprise. "Wait, how old are you?"

"18 years old, Carlo-nii~."

"What?" Isabela's jaw almost dropped to the floor, and so did Carlito. "No. it can't be. "He uttered in complete disbelief. Finally, Yuki let go, nodding her head.

"Yup!"

The siblings stared at each other before Carlito broke the silence. "You are rather small for your age."

"There's a reason why I call her 'little one'." Isabela cleared her throat. Yuki pouted her lips "Can I come with you now, Carlo-nii."

Carlito blinked as he continuously eyed the pink-haired girl. Still seeing her as a young child, he found it hard to comprehend and connect her physical age and her chronological age.

"No. Out of the question." His face hardened as he turned around, flashing his back to the little girl. "But Carlo-nii!"

"You are still very young." He simply said, departing from the room without ever glancing back. Carlito's plans were very near completion. Perhaps, when all his work was done, he would oblige to the girl's request. Someday, she would understand. And she would see the world like he did.

The food rations were currently low and it worried Yuuri, considering that they now were six mouths to feed including a dog. She grabbed a notebook from her bag and proceeded to write everything in storage down. Hopefully, the others would bring back lots of rations. By her feet, Taromaru curled up, whimpering.

"I know you miss Yuki. We all do." The brunette sighed, stroking the soft fur of the dog.

"Rii-san. How much do we need?" Miki asked as she approached her upperclassman. Her backpack was firmly strapped to her back and in her hands was the fire extinguisher. Quickly, Yuuri compiled another list and handed it to the blonde.

"A lot. We are many mouths to feed."

"What are you two girls doing?" Otis closed in on the conversation as well, causing Yuuri to shrug by his presence.

"I'm just checking how much food we have."

Otis seemed impressed, giving Yuuri approving looks as he turned to Miki. "And you are heading out?"

"Yes, sir." The blonde paused "Mr. West, Paul and Joe are heading to the nearest grocery store to pick up some few things and I will be joining them."

"Are you really ready for that?"

"Sir, if I may… you are, despite your fantastic skill, an elderly man. Where I come from, it's the norm to take care and respect our elders."

Otis shook his head, smiling. He patted the blonde's shoulder. "Now that is something you don't hear every day. But seriously, don't worry about me. I may be old but I've survived in this hellhole for a lot longer than you could imagine."

"Oh. Is that so?" Miki was surprised.

Frank walked in on the group, his camera in hand. It appeared that he had been snapping some few pictures. Behind him was Kurumi. "Don't exclude me from the action!" she pouted. She reminded Miki too much of Yuki. Frank shook his head "Can't change your mind, can I?" the photographer turned to Miki "We are going out."

Expecting a remark from Otis, she quickly looked at him for his approval. She found it rather strange for he to be doing that, considering that she had barely known the man. But somehow, being with all these people gave her a sense of security.

Like the rest of the mall, the store, Seon's Food & Stuff was eerily vacant. Blood was splattered all over the floors, the shopping carts and even some of the items. It looked like a slaughterhouse. Yet, there were no macabre bodies to be seen. With cautious steps, Frank, Paul, Miki, Kurumi and Joe entered the store.

Luckily no zombies were around, oddly it was after some afterthought. Regardless, the stench of death still lingered heavily in the air. Paul was at his most nervous, his hands shaking profusely. He crept closer to Kurumi, who was more felt more of her personal space being violated as the group ventured forward. The silence was uncanny; one could hear a pin fall to the floor.

After a while of agonizingly tense moments, Frank ensured the group that everything was safe. The plan was to grab anything useful and then get out. Eager, Paul began grabbing glass bottles, clothes and some sort of liquid. Meanwhile, Miki proceeded to stuff her bag with food, both canned and fresh. Rii-san would be most delighted when they returned. Kurumi and Frank decided to pick up medicine, including a small package that Frank was very insistent on bringing with him while Joe was meant to stand guard, in case of hostilities decided to show up.

The sound of a shopping cart approaching, quickly alarmed the group. Frantically, everyone stood perfectly still where they were. Grabbing her shovel, Kurumi slowly but steadily approached the incoming noise. Her hands tightened their grip around the shaft. However before she could proceed any further, Frank grabbed her shoulder, keeping her in place.

"What are you doing?" she mouthed, pushing Frank's hand away. Of all the times for him to be intervening, he just had to do it now. The photographer shook his head at her, urging her to stay put. Kurumi gritted her teeth as she complied with the older man's orders, cursing internally.

Everyone held their breath as nerves were on the edge.

A man, who appeared to be working in the store suddenly appeared. Miki could relax. Thank goodness, another survivor. She was about to approach him when she lay eyes on his shopping cart. And her blood ran cold. It looked like an ordinary cart, except for several blades attached to it. Miki couldn't move, her eyes were fixated in the fresh blood on the sharp edges.

"I-I…" she began only to stop as her mind began to overwork and come up with a way of approaching him. Her entire body was paralyzed when the man looked at her and proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs.

"THIS IS MY STOOOOORE!"

Completely taken aback, Miki could only reply with a "What?" before she could react, the man grabbed a shotgun and opened fire on her. It took mere seconds for the blonde to realize what was about to unfold and her her instincts kicked in. However, before she could sprint away, she was pushed to the side.

"I DON'T TOLERATE VANDALISM IN MY STOOOOOREE!" he screamed!

What happened? Miki frantically pushed the person on top of her away.

"Are you all right?" A gruff voice asked.

"Huh? Yes, thank you." She opened her eyes, looking directly at a lanky man laying next to her. He bled profusely from a gunshot wound and Miki's eyes grew wide in horror.

"Ugh... that's good to hear." Joe lay flat on the ground, the blood pouring endlessly out of his body.

Quickly, Kurumi jumped to his side, looking over the damage. She cursed under her breath, pressing on the wound. The bleeding would not stop and it became eerily clear that Joe would not survive. A dark shadow crept over Kurumi's face as she thought of what to tell Miki.

"Kurumi-senpai. He saved my life..." Miki exclaimed, jumping on her feet when the store owner opened his lips again. Before Kurumi could even think to answer, she was interrupted by the owner again.

"I will not warn you again. No one gets away with vandalism IN MY STOOORE!"

This was getting way out of hand. Frank jumped to the girls' side. He watched in horror as life itself seemed to leave the man's eyes. In his lifetime, he had been witness to a lot of death and destruction and yet, right now, as he saw this man dying a painful death, he felt anguish creeping up at him. Miki looked at him with pleading eyes, silently begging for the inevitable to not happen.

"Sir!" he began, shaking off the dread. "We just wanted to get some supplies." Behind one of the isles, Paul was shaking uncontrollably, despite making a Molotov cocktail.

"That is just what all the other assholes said when they came to vandalize my store!" The store owner's eyes glared with such an intense fury as he crept closer to the group.

"Wait!" Frank reached for his pockets, praying that he found something. Anything. "We got money. We are here to buy stuff, okay? Look." he showed the few coins in his palm.

Now let's all calm down and-"

"What about that pussy hiding over there?" the store owner snarled, pointing his shotgun at Paul, who froze up.

"He-he's just shy, that's all!" Kurumi assured. But it was too late. Paul, as the nervous wreck he was, could no longer contain himself. He shook with anxiousness, letting put a cry of fear as he threw the cocktail towards the owner. His eyes widening as he shrieked. "I-I'm not a pussy!"

"Paul, you motherfu-" Miki snapped as the bomb explodes and everything was engulfed in flames.