Ugh, I'm finally back!

So, for the last couple weeks, I've been trying to pay my car off and work on a research project for college. I had to go all hands on deck to deal with those.

My project is primarily sampling microbes growing on the shells of turtles. I'm trying to see what they have growing on them, so we can determine whether they are spreading fungal spores or soil bacteria between areas. This is good because we can justify more environmental protections for the turtles as that's an essential task for the local ecosystem. They would be part of a larger web that goes beyond turtles doing turtle things.

So your boi might be getting published by next year!

I also named one of the turtles, Turtle Mcturtleface.

In the meantime, I also got into Genshin Impact. Fairly fun game that I enjoy a lot.


Yang moved about the house, gathering some items needed for the journey today. She threw some supplies in a bag to keep the girls going for several days if they were stuck on the road. Enough food for herself and the pair she was bringing with her. All for the sake of changing a tire.

The Blonde never considered how dangerous changing a tire could get nowadays before the outbreak. She had to resort to planning for a week where she couldn't get back to the house because of the Infected. That was just a short drive from here down the road. Velvet had to cross half the province to get back home.

I wonder if she wants to stay here. Maybe we can try getting her there and scope Vale out at the same time later?

"Hey, Velvet," Yang said as she approached the faunus. "How'd you sleep?"

Velvet yawned and rubbed her eyes drowsily. The girl looked pretty rough from Yang's perspective. It was going to be one of those mornings for her. The type where you wanted to curl up in a blanket and fall back asleep. Yang felt the same way.

"Not well," she confessed with a yawn. "I kept waking up..."

Oh?

"The Infected," Yang inquired, sitting across from her.

"Yes," Velvet replied, nodding sheepishly. "I kept feeling like one was going to come through the door. I just couldn't sleep for very long without looking around."

I see...

With how Velvet was on the road, she might have had to keep checking for them when she was sleeping in her car. Quick naps followed by poking her head out for her surroundings was a hard habit to break. Yang knew how it was since she had to do the same in Vale. The Blonde was only now getting back to normal. This despite her waking up several times a night just this past day.

And people waking up screaming from nightmares pretty much every night...

"Yeah, it can get kind of scary," Yang expressed, grabbing a small foodstuff and sliding it across the table. "But here, have something to eat before we head out."

Velvet eyed the small cup of peaches with hunger before backing away from it. "N-No, I couldn't," she stuttered, waving her hands off. "I don't want to take your food... You've already helped me so much."

"I'm not taking a no for an answer," Yang replied, sliding it further towards Velvet. "When's the last time you ate?"

Her stomach audibly growled as a pregnant pause filled the air. It made Yang's point that much more compelling. Especially since nobody had anything to eat last night. Everyone going hungry to conserve the food for another day as best as they could.

"I-I haven't eaten for a couple days," Velvet confessed. Both of her rabbit ears drooping down as she breathed a sigh. "I didn't have any on me when I left my dorm room..."

Jeez, it's almost been a week. How's she still going?

Yang had to skip a few meals due to an operation once. She felt like crap that morning without food for an entire day. Yang had gone without anything for maybe half a day at this point. Velvet had been without anything for five times that amount. And this girl barely had any fat on her.

"Come on, Velvet," Yang pressed, speaking softly to try convincing her. "You need to eat something. We don't have that much left ourselves, but you're running on fumes here..."

It was all fruit snacks, and pudding pops right now. The cup of peaches was among those rations, and it certainly wasn't much. But for her, it was some desperately needed calories. Yang only wished she could prepare a king's feast for the girl.

"O-Okay," Velvet gave in, reaching for the peaches and prying open the film. She immediately began drinking the fruit, syrup and all without any use of a spoon. The vigour in which she did so surprised Yang. The girl was hungry.

Good... Time to check on the others.

Standing, Yang marched to the kitchen, leaving Velvet with her delicious cup of fruit. Here, Nora, Ren, Ruby, and Dante were gathered around the island with their own 'meals.' Nora enjoyed a mixed fruit cocktail, and the others ate the various yoghurts or granola the Arcs had in stock.

"Okay, Nora, Ruby, you're with me," Yang announced as she walked in, knife-handing to both of the girls. "We're gonna change a tire, and I need you two to back me up."

Ren mentioned wanting Nora to get out of the house and get some experience, so this was the time to do so. Changing a tire in the middle of the woods was the shallow end of the pool. Yang wouldn't dare to throw her in the pool to learn how to swim in this case. Baby steps were what this day and age called for.

Yang needed Ruby to check out Velvet's car. If she was going past Vale, the girl could not risk suddenly breaking down. So, the best person to look under the hood was Ruby.

"What about us," Dante asked, glancing between all of the girls. "You want me and Ren to come with you?"

Wants to protect the girls. I like the thought.

"Nah, not right now," Yang denied, shaking her head. "If we run into anything, we'll come back, but we gotta board up the house. So, you two wanna get started on that?"

Aside from Velvet, this was priority numero uno. The Arcs were not in any state to do much aside from care for their baby sister, so it was up to the other boys. Yang didn't want everyone to leave, and something happen while they were gone either. Dante and Ren were now pulling double duty until she got back.

"Okay, be safe," Ren insisted, looking to both Nora and Yang. "We'll do what we can here."

All right...

Nora and Ruby finished their food and followed Yang out of the kitchen. In the garage, the Blonde needed to find the last few pieces of gear they needed. Ruby already began rummaging through the tool chests for some tire plugs, but Nora stood around looking lost.

"Ruby, look around and see what you can find," Yang directed, turning back to the other member of the trio. "Nora, you don't have a weapon, do you?"

"No, Ren was the one fighting," Nora replied.

Yeah, leave it to the martial artist.

With Ren being a practitioner of Kung Fu, the guy knew his stuff when it came to bludgeons. Yang herself was a boxer and did a little MMA on the side. Nora, however, was a powerlifter. Someone with lots of strength and lacking in refined technique.

"Okay, let's find something that fits your size," Yang continued, leaving Ruby to search the rest of the garage.

The Arc garage was built in an 'L' shape. The two openings where the carport was led to another section that wrapped around the house. Here, most of the tools were stashed neatly along the walls. There was a lot of them. Generations of Arc families had put together quite the collection.

There was plenty to choose from between the mint condition engine crane that was older than Yang and all the power tools. If the group needed to fix a car, Ruby had everything she needed to do her thing. Yang was honestly kind of jealous at how much there was here. Her dad hadn't been able to get this much together for Ruby despite all the money she made from fixing people's cars.

"What speaks to you, Nora," Yang said, gesturing to the neatly organised tools.

Maybe a crowbar or something might work for her? Light enough to be like a mace and easy to swing.

Nora didn't answer initially, going to look through the tools herself. She inspected some mallets and hammers, feeling them in her hands, but set them back in their drawers after. A hunting knife caught her eye, but she instead handed it off to Yang. Finally, the girl turned to a sledgehammer with a six-pound head.

"What about this," Nora said, grabbing the heavy hammer and cradling it in her hands.

"Can you swing it around," Yang asked with a raised eyebrow.

Is it too heavy for her to use?

Nora demonstrated her superior strength, swinging the hammer with ease. The damn thing didn't seem to weigh anything in her hands. In fact, she only put a little power into the swing, showing remarkable restraint in how she used the hammer.

The weapon was perfect for her.

Yang found herself kind of impressed since she couldn't really swing a head around like that. She doubted the guys were able to do the same either. Nora was just built different and right for the job.

"Hey, it works," Yang chirped with a smile. "Now, we just need to find something for Ruby..."

"I got it," Dante said from the other room.

The pair came over and found the boy handing Ruby a Glock. The hefty pistol seemed enormous in the girl's hands, but she appeared to use it quite easily.

"You know how to use one of these, right," Dante asked, going to show Ruby how to operate the pistol.

Before Dante could show her, Ruby pulled back the slide and examined the chamber for a round. She switched the safeties on and off, ensuring they worked adequately. Finally, the girl pulled the magazine and disassembled the handgun by taking the slide off and exposing the internal mechanism of the gun.

"Good enough..."

"My dad and uncle showed me how to use them," Ruby explained, putting the pistol back together with a practised hand. "I used to go shooting with them all the time."

"Same, my old man and I hunted quail a few times here and there," Dante replied, rubbing the back of his head with a smile. "But think you know guns a bit better than I do..."

A bit?

Ruby was obsessive about mechanics. Anything from machines to guns was her thing. Yang had watched the girl take apart a rifle and put it back together with a blindfold on. She used to tear into the guts of a toaster back when they were little just to see what it looked like on the inside.

Now only if she put that same energy into finding some friends. Unfortunately, such was the fate of smart people. Finding people you could hang out with was difficult. Yang wouldn't know since she never had that problem.

"Maybe everyone should learn how to use them," Nora suggested, stepping into the conversation. "Can you teach us, Ruby?"

Good idea...

"Oh, yeah," Ruby chirped at the thought, perking up just hearing about the opportunity. "When we come back tonight? Or should we board up the house first?"

"We'll see; let's just take things one step at a time," Yang insisted, pushing off a definite choice when they had other things to worry about.

Everyone agreed, each going to accomplish their objectives for today. Nora ran back inside to grab Velvet. Dante and Ren began preparing the tools for sealing the house. That left Yang and Ruby to throw everything in the truck.

"Should we get some gas while we're out," Ruby asked, gesturing to a pile of gas cans. "I think we can use Mrs Arc's credit card to buy it..."

Ehhh... Using a dead woman's credit card. I don't like it.

Yang didn't feel right doing that. Same with looting the vehicles on the highway. But that kind of thing was a necessity of their current situation. Yang had to get that in her head. Ethics be damned now; they needed the gas.

No more credit card payments... Look on the bright side.

"Yeah, let's do it," Yang agreed reluctantly. "Hopefully, they left some behind for us to grab..."

Ruby tossed the six or seven five-gallon cans in the back. Most were empty from them using the gas up prior, but there was enough in them to top off the tanks. Luckily, the truck didn't guzzle fuel like a fat kid eating cake, so they had that working for them. One run would keep the cars going for a few weeks before they had to hit another station to fuel up.

Soon after, Velvet and Nora came out to join the girls. Velvet had donned her bright yellow rain jacket, and Nora grabbed a leather one for herself. Ruby and Yang wore heavier coats as well for protection from bites. None of them knew how effective it would be, but some armour was better than none.

Let's get out of here...

...

Leaving the Arc homestead, the girls travelled a few miles down the road by this point. The ride mainly had been silent with little in the way of conversation. Yang chalked it up to nerves from her companions going back out in the world once again. Everyone was hypervigilant for anything that might have tried to run out into the road. It couldn't be helped.

Yang felt her own nerves set alight being in the driver's seat. She kept trying to tell herself not to pressure herself but was too nervous to calm down.

"Do you guys think everything will go back to normal after the outbreak ends," Nora asked out of the blue, breaking the quiet. "Maybe the army might be able to get rid of the Infected, and we can try to move on?"

Not sure...

Vale hadn't seen this scale of widespread destruction since the Great War about eighty years ago. At that time, Atlas and Mistral had landed all of their soldiers on Valean beaches, with thousands more on the way there every day. Both nations were marching their forces across Sanus and were met with the slowly retreating lines of Vacuoun and Valean troops every step of the way.

It was a war of ideologies fuelled by the egos of the attacking nation's regimes. The fighting only stopped when a coup managed to topple the prior Mantlese leadership and was replaced by the current Atlesian faction. Then Mistral flopped when the support for the war collapsed without Atlas' help. The remaining Mistrali soldiers were slaughtered by Vale and Vacuo without any regard for an armistice.

Unfortunately, the doctrine of total war completely decimated the three primary kingdoms. Dr Oobleck mentioned that nearly a third of Vale's total population was killed. Mistral and Atlas lost so many men; only a handful of soldiers remained for each nation and about as many male citizens. The famines and subsequent chaos whittled down the populations even further from there.

None of the kingdoms had managed to recover since then, remaining at about half of their original populations. Vale had such a dearth of men because most of them went off to fight that polygamy was common practice now. Large families like the Arcs were not challenging to find and were encouraged if willing.

With how far this plague had spread, Yang was sure it hit pretty much everywhere on the globe. Nowhere remained untouched in the last few days of this fast-spreading disease. Frankly, it was ridiculous. How were they supposed to come back from all of this? Yang guessed the deaths would surpass the Great War and make it seem like a joke eventually.

"Umm, maybe," Ruby replied hesitantly. "We don't know how many people were turned, so it could be a while..." She paused for a moment. "The Infection could burn itself out if there's no one left to infect. But that doesn't help if the Infected stay around too."

Yeah, if this was the flu, everyone could just stay inside for a few days, so it could run out of steam. Too bad this one tries to hunt you down if you make any noise...

"The army also needs time to get its shit together," Yang added, calling back to something Ren mentioned. "But, I'm not really confident after what we saw at the base a few days ago..."

The image of the army base was still fresh in Yang's head. Hopefully, they had a secondary staging area where they could work things out. With some time, the army would adapt to adopt new doctrines for fighting off the Infected. Yang kept that idea in the back of her mind if most of the soldiers could escape.

"I understand," Velvet agreed from the back seat. "My father told me things are bad in Atlas too. Everything's in chaos..."

Really?

"When'dya hear that," Yang asked in reply. "All we've been told is that the place had some Infected."

Kinda expected them to get it under control by now.

"I've been keeping in touch with him over a satellite phone," Velvet explained, flashing the device to the girls. "I haven't been able to call my mom, but he told me to go to our farm and wait there. Have you been able to talk to your families?"

The girls all shook their heads, bearing a slight disappointment at that fact. It wasn't for lack of trying either. Yang could only guess that her father's phone got broken or the signal was down for him too.

"I'm sorry," Velvet expressed, tucking the phone away. "I hope you're able to get back together soon..."

"It's fine," Yang replied with a smile. "Just kinda stressful not knowing anything. All we've been doing is waiting around and trying to deal with Jaune's little sister."

She doesn't even know the half of it...

Yang envied Nora and Ren at this point. The two only needed each other and nothing else. The Blonde and her sister had other people they needed to rely on. Breaking off that side of your family wasn't anything like ripping off a bandaid. It stung no matter what and for days afterwards.

The conversation died there. The four drove along and eventually came across Velvet's car on the side of the road. Yang parked a distance away just to be safe and create some space between them and the vehicle. They had no idea what could be out here, and she didn't want to risk someone hiding out in the woods, waiting for some poor fool to try the car.

"Okay, Ruby, check under the hood," Yang commanded, grabbing some tools out from the bed of the truck. "Nora, Velvet, keep an eye out while I fix the tire."

Within seconds, Yang slid a jack under the car and began cranking the lever, lifting the vehicle. Her practised hands followed all the steps her father drilled into her skull when it came to this procedure. The old man made sure his daughters wouldn't be stuck on the side of the road because of some tire. Luckily, that practice came in handy as she loosened all of the bolts and dropped the tire onto the gravel road.

"Do you hear anything, Velvet," Nora asked from behind.

There was no reply for several seconds as the girl listened in. Her faunus anatomy allowing her to hear sounds beyond the range of what humans could. If anything was stomping around out there, she could hear it before seeing it. Yang only hoped it was an animal and not an Infected. They knew those were out here as well as the former.

"I can hear something walking around," Velvet said in a whisper. "It's limping and dragging a leg..."

Shit...

Yang worked faster to repair the tire. Finding the leak caused by a stray nail, she tore the metal out and jammed the plug inside. Following up with a blowtorch, she melted the patch enough to where it sealed the hole.

"Ruby, how's the engine," Yang asked with urgency, grabbing an air compressor.

"Everything's good," Ruby replied, shutting the hood as quietly as she could.

The younger girl then immediately dropped down to assist with filling the tire. Turning the compressor on, the machine growled loudly as it began funnelling air into the tire. Such noise could have been heard from hundred's of feet away by anyone in the area. They had to act fast before whatever was out there could get on top of them.

From behind, Yang heard Velvet gasp as the foliage rustled. Yang turned to see an Infected emerge from the trees. The old man looked upon the girls and snarled as he clambered his way towards them. The sight caused Velvet to back away out of fear, nearly taking off to escape the Infected.

Goddammit!

"Ruby, finish this; I got him," Yang ordered as she reached for her prybar.

The Blonde stood, dashing in the direction of the Infected man. His mangled leg slowed him down, appearing to be from an older injury left untreated from his younger years. The man's age factored into his diminished movement as well, looking to be eighty-plus years old. These were the only reasons for him not sprinting out of the bush to get a bite in.

Just need to crack him upside the head...

However, just as Yang drew back her prybar, she watched Nora enter her field of view from the side. The Ginger had beat her to the punch, using Yang as the distraction to attack first. She swung upwards from her right, catching the Infected on the side of his skull. The hammer striking just behind his left ear atop his neck.

The sound that came from her attack was that of a vicious crunch as bone shattered. Blood erupted from the site of contact as the rusty hammer tore flesh with ease. The force of this blow threw the Infected to the ground, stopping his approach immediately. His lungs belching a hearty gasp as he crashed to the gravel road.

With a shout, Nora raised the hammer once again and dropped it on his head. The six-pound head crushed the skull with ease, caving it in and exposing grey matter. Nora did not stop quite yet, shouting again and wrenching the head from the shattered skull. She raised it and smashed the hammer back into the Infected's braincase, spraying blood all over the place with this fourth strike.

"Whoa-Whoa-Whoa-Whoa, Nora, you got him," Yang called out, stepping in before she could do more. The girl managed to stop the girl from swinging by grabbing the hammer from her hands.

Nora was covered in blood from her duel. Droplets coated her face and arms due to her smashing the poor guy's skull like a watermelon. Velvet was heaving chunks into a nearby bush, and Ruby looked at the corpse with visible disgust. Nora was also beginning to look green around the gills as her brain fog dissipated.

"I-I think I'm gonna be sick," Nora groaned out as she looked at the body. She then immediately vomited behind the car, out of view from everyone else.

Yang was grossed out but impressed she had taken the initiative. Both girls had that same instinctual urge to smash some skulls in when confronted with a threat. Their inner cave-woman still remained alive and well.

Glad she knew what to do. Looks like she learned something from Ren back in the city... Now we just need to practice.

It would comfort Ren to know she could take care of herself when it came to fighting. All Yang needed to do was work with Ruby to get her the basics.

"I've never seen one so close before," Velvet weakly expressed, spitting on the ground as she returned from the trees. "Do they all act like this?"

"Worse," Yang answered with a shrug. "Try getting a few that can actually chase you around and see how it is."

Most people would probably be better off running. The last few times the group encountered Infected were all individuals roaming about. Those fights were hard enough. Yang couldn't think of a way anybody could handle more than one or two at a time. She didn't even know if Velvet knew how to fight either.

But seeing this guy out here meant that there were more. Just like the highway and surrounding towns, there may have been packs of Infected running around in the country. Their presence merely explained by them chasing the refugees out of Vale.

"I think I'm just going to stay in the car..." Velvet looked back to her now repaired vehicle. "But thank you guys for helping me."

"No problem, Velvet," Yang replied, patting her on the shoulder. "If you run into trouble, come back here, and we'll help you out."

Velvet nodded to Yang and got back into her car. She started it up and squawked her tires as she fled the scene. Yang watched as she disappeared around the corner and out of her field of view. The Blonde only felt apprehension by her departure, unsure how she would handle getting back home.

I hope she makes it...

Yang turned back to her companions. Ruby had grabbed the tools and started heading back to the truck. Having finally gotten over being sick, Nora dragged the body off the road and rolled him into the ditch. It was all back to normal or the new normal for now.

Is there anything else we can do? What about the food? Maybe there's someplace we can check out for a bite to eat?

"Hey, Nora, how about we go out for some supplies?"

...

The trio looked upon the gas station with interest, checking for any sign of Infected. From Yang's perspective, it appeared deserted. She didn't know if that was a good sign or not. The prospect of someone or an Infected hiding out inside was not an ideal one. Yang preferred to be able to see or hear them.

"I doesn't look like it was looted," Ruby pointed out, gesturing to the lack of broken windows or debris. "But it's so close to the highway..."

Yeah, good point.

This gas station was a few miles down the road from the highway. It serviced a small country town of primarily farms or manufacturing. The whole area didn't seem too damaged by the chaos, and Yang didn't see any Infected out here either. Maybe they had scraped by due to their isolation or lack of knowledge about this town.

It didn't really matter. This was the place to grab some food. The girls decided to check out a low key spot to loot rather than go back to the grocery store where Yang was attacked. These places usually carried the bare necessities of canned goods, jerky, beer, and some sanitary products.

While that certainly wasn't ideal either, it was a boost to their dwindling supplies. The lights even looked to be on, too, keeping the refrigerated goods fresh for the moment. That was despite them being gross gas station food. It was better than nothing.

"Yeah, but I don't see anything," Yang said, looking through the binoculars. "What about you, Nora?"

"There's a truck parked in the back," she replied, pointing at the large vehicle. "But I can't see anything either..."

Great... Looks like we're going in blind.

"All right, you two break; I enter," Yang announced, tossing the binoculars into their truck.

"Should we see if it's locked first," Ruby spoke up, reminding Yang about that.

Yeah, we can try that...

The trio stood from behind the truck and tiptoed over to the front of the gas station. As per Ruby's recommendation, she pulled on the double door but found it wouldn't budge. Yang only looked to her little sister with an 'I told you so' expression. However, it meant they were going in the hard way. The loud way.

"What about the alarm," Nora asked as she prepared to break the front window. "What if it goes off?"

Egh...

"It might have a silent alarm," Ruby whispered, gesturing to the visible alarm box on the wall. "Let's just get ready for it to go off, though..."

That was the last thing they needed. It would be like ringing the dinner bell for a bunch of hungry kids at a pizza party. They might have the opportunity to snag whatever they could and book it before anyone showed up, however.

Nora didn't think about it too much, pulling back her hammer and shattering the window with a single blow. The tempered safety glass crumbled and scattered across the ground in a surprisingly quiet sound. Yang expected it to create this cacophony of loud clattering noises that would wake the dead. She only counted her blessings when the alarm didn't immediately go off.

Maybe nobody turned it on?

Yang leapt over the broken entrance and planted her feet on the glass. The lack of friction nearly caused her to slip, but she planted her feet just fine. Nora immediately followed Yang inside, sliding across the tile floor due to the glass. Both girls then promptly departed from the window as the sound of crunching glass was too loud.

The place seems empty.

Like that grocery store, this place looked nearly untouched. Some items were knocked over towards the back, but other than that, it was spotless. However, Yang didn't drop her guard for an instant. She learned what happened the last time the group looted someplace.

From the sales counter, she could see only two doors that led out from the main area. Both were adjacent to the toppled over items and to each other. One was a bathroom, and the other was what appeared to be the stock room. Just like the gas station Yang and Ruby slept in a few days back.

Yang pointed to the rooms, gesturing for Nora to be aware of them. The Ginger nodded back, creeping around the other side of the shelves and clearing that side of the store. Yang inched her way to those doors, preparing for something to leap out at her without warning.

Coming to the bathroom, Yang gently pushed it ajar to find some blood on the floor. Someone had attempted to dress a wound here. Bloody gauze and an old first aid kit were also scattered about, clueing her in further. Luckily, nobody was hiding out here.

I don't see a blood trail...

Turning to the other door, Yang pressed her ear against it. She could hear crying or someone mumbling to themselves in a frantic tone. It was all incoherent babbling to her. However, she heard a growl from deeper inside, causing Yang to step away from the door.

Shit, there's more in there!

By now, Nora had come over after checking out the rest of the store. Yang grabbed the door handle and braced her foot against the frame, pulling on the push door with all of her strength. The entire girl's body weight was keeping the hatch shut in case someone decided they wanted out. Nora immediately understood what was going on and ran back to Ruby.

"Ruby, grab the rope from the truck."

Thank you, Nora! We're on the same wavelength here!

Nora quickly came back with the rope, tying the best knot she could around the door handle. As soon as she was done, the girl tied another around the bathroom door handle, pulling the rope tight as she did so. This effectively kept anything from pulling that door open unless they could snap the cord through brute strength alone.

As Nora gave Yang the signal, she let go of the door, breathing a sigh of relief. They were safe for the moment.

Thank god!

Yang weakly walked over to another aisle, grabbing a candy bar off the shelf and tore the wrapper off. Biting into the chocolate-nougat bar, Yang tossed her head back in near ecstasy. Never before had it tasted so good. All she and Nora could do were let out beaming smiles as they stumbled onto a jackpot.

[Velvet]

Velvet glanced at her GPS, gauging where she would turn next. The small device had plotted her route back home, but from what Yang had told her, it would be a rough drive. She hoped her hatchback would handle it, or Velvet would be turning around to head back to Yang. Staying there was tempting, but she needed to make sure her brother got home safe too.

He's at Blacklight, so it should only be a couple hours drive back...

Looking down at her phone, there was still no signal either. She only had her satellite phone to rely on, but that was contingent on anyone being able to call her. Velvet's father hadn't heard anything from her brother either, so it concerned her greatly since he also had the same type of device on hand.

Maybe he lost it and is hiding out at home?

Turning onto the highway, Velvet was met with the rows of vehicles lining the arteries of the province. She'd seen some pretty bad congestion in Mountain Glenn, but this was so much worse. Thousands of cars were all jam-packed into one place. Velvet couldn't even imagine how to get out of here when the refugees were trapped.

Slowly but surely, she worked her way through the road. An hour later, she came out on the other side of the worst traffic and onto some clear streets. Seeing an Infected wandering around out here made for a tense drive. Velvet didn't want to know how many were stuck in cars or huddled in the buildings adjacent to the highway.

I should bring Chiffon back to the Arc's... I can call Dad and let him know where we are later.

They had safety in numbers there. Yang knew what she was doing, and so did some of the other boys too. However, their experience only meant they knew more than what little Velvet did about dealing with the Infected. She'd have a better shot there than on her own.

Glancing over to her GPS once again, Velvet wasn't aware of the figure walking alongside the road. As her eyes turned back to the highway, she slammed on her brakes, surprised by the person suddenly appearing in her field of view. The tires screeched to a halt, and the vehicle fishtailed for nearly ten feet before coming to a stop.

The person in the road was a girl. She waved frantically, attempting to get some attention from Velvet.

She was a little taller than Velvet, also a brunette with a shorter cut than the faunus. Her chocolate brown hair turned to a more caramel colour further down the locks. She wore a frilly brown shirt torn in multiple places with black pants ripped along her right leg. The girl only dragged along a rolling suitcase as her only belongings aside from the clothes on her back.

Velvet could see she was in rough shape, with bruises on her cheeks and what looked like an improvised bandage on her arm. Frankly, if anyone appeared desperate, this girl fit the bill. Probably worse off than Velvet was yesterday when Yang found her.

I need to help her...

Velvet rolled down her passenger window as the girl ran over to her side. As she reached the window, the girl ducked in to face Velvet.

"W-What are you doing out here," Velvet asked in a nervous tone of voice. "Didn't you see the Infected? It's not safe!"

The news of the Infected wandering the road sent a chill down the girl's spine. She didn't know they were out here too.

"Fuck, really," she gasped, shakily breathing as she looked around her surroundings. "L-Listen, I'm in it really bad right now! Can I get a lift?! Just anywhere but here?!"

"Y-Yes, get in," Velvet nearly shouted, unlocking the door for the girl.

The girl threw her luggage in the back of the car and ducked inside. Slamming the car door shut, Velvet put the vehicle in gear and sped down the road. In her rearview mirror, more Infected began emerging on the highway behind them.

"What's your name," Velvet asked, focusing on the road as much as she could. "I'm Velvet Scarlatina."

"Coco Adel," she replied.

Adel?

"Like the Adel Fashion Boutique," Velvet asked more specifically.

They were a pretty big clothing design and retail company. Velvet had to do a couple photoshoots in college to promote some of their designers. But she never expected to meet the heiress to that fortune.

"Yeah, in the flesh," Coco replied sincerely. "Thanks for taking me with you! I've been trying to get the fuck out of Vale since this shit started!"

Velvet's eyes wandered to the cut on her arm. It was bleeding through the bandage by this point. Nothing too dangerous, but it needed to be changed eventually before it got infected. Blood poisoning right now was something they couldn't treat without intervention from doctors.

"Is that cut bad," Velvet pointed out, jumping tangents. "Do you need stitches?"

I think Dad has a medical kit at the house?

"Huh," Coco uttered, glancing at the bandage on her arm. "Nah, I just cut myself trying to get away from some of those Infected. Ruined some good shirts for bandages..."

At least she used them...

"What happened?"

"When the outbreak started, everyone was trying to get out of here," Coco explained, taking off her bandage and exposing the gash. "My parents have an island off the coast, so I was trying to get on our private jet. Then the airport got swarmed, and I had to run." Coco layered another bandage onto the cut, binding it loosely to allow it to drain. "Cut myself when I fell against a car..."

She got lucky...

If the number of Infected Yang saw were any indication, airports, hospitals, and other gathering areas had it the worst. Slicing your arms open was the least of your problems in that scenario.

"At least you made it out," Velvet expressed with a nervous laugh. "But do you know what you want to do now? I'm going back home."

"Unless you got a helicopter or boat, I'm stuck out here," Coco replied with an irritated tone. "You just wanna stick together and watch each other's backs? I've got no more options..."

[Ren]

Ren held up a board as Dante positioned some nails. The boy gave one a few good wacks, burying it into the side of the house. He followed it up with two more above and below that first one. When the board was secure, the faunus handed the hammer off to his companion, who finished the other side.

That's the last one here...

The boys descended the ladder, looking upon their work with pride. The last few hours were spent boarding the exterior of the house up, and it was solid. Every single window had a slit to peer out from, but other than that, nobody could see into the house.

The plan was to put some heavy wool sheets over the interior and board the other side. It would build some redundancy into the fortifications, but Ren would rather be safe than sorry. With how many stories of Mistral's hurricanes he'd heard of, this was probably better than anything they could manage in hurricane season.

"So, should we work on the inside," Dante asked, looking out onto the road. The boy appeared ancy with the girls being gone for so long. "The girls should be back pretty soon, so I wanna get as much as done as possible."

Yeah...

Ren was more worried about what the girls were up to right now. He would have liked to go with them but forced himself to trust in their abilities. This job was essential to keeping everyone safe, so he had to focus on that. The girls could handle themselves as long as they were careful.

Following Dante inside the house, Ren dragged their tools in with them. Along the windows were all the boards and most of the blankets necessary for the project. Later they would have to experiment with barring the doors. However, that was something for Ruby to tinker with.

"We should nail the blankets up first," Ren insisted, grabbing the wool sheet and holding it up against the window.

"Yeah, let me staple it," Dante grabbed the small staple gun and put two staples into the window frame. "That should hold it."

Dante reached for the hammer, and Ren grabbed one of the boards. Holding it up for the faunus, the boy lined up a nail and gently tapped it in. After getting started, he drew back the mallet and gave it a few whacks to bury it completely.

However, just as Dante went to set up the second nail, his ears turned to face a noise. Both boys faced the direction the sound came from, but the faunus heard something Ren didn't. Whatever it was, it caused Dante's expression to sink and fill with dread.

It's upstairs...

Just as he realised it, the sounds of footsteps came from the second floor. They were running from something and then stopped. Then came the cacophony of someone charging against a door. They threw all of their weight against it three times before it ceased.

Ren didn't think, only running upstairs with Dante following behind him with the hammer in hand. Reaching the height of the stairs, Ren found Violette and Marron in the hallway. The girls were holding each other, crying furiously as they attempted to shield themselves from the source of their distress.

Jaune was holding onto the doorknob, keeping whatever was in there contained. Ren knew that Rouge had finally turned as the boy's locked eyes. Jaune's face told him everything. He couldn't confront his baby sister, not after his mother. Shutting Rouge away was the only thing he was capable of doing.

"Jaune, it's time," Ren softly spoke, telling Jaune what would have to happen. He placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from the door and gestured for him to go down the hallway.

With the Arcs away, Ren turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. He was greeted with the sight of Rouge. Her back was turned to him, clearly trying to find a way out or wandering aimlessly without a stimulus. Her body spasmed, and she growled or moaned in an animalistic fashion.

I'm sorry...

Rouge finally turned and noticed Ren as he shut the door behind him. The girl let out a ravenous scream and charged at the boy. Her mouth spraying saliva as she bellowed. Whatever humanity was left in her eyes had gone away.

Ren reacted with a practised response to this attack, sweeping her legs and knocking Rouge to the floor. Her younger body was not able to counter his strength. The blow dazed the girl, but she immediately tried to get back up and continue the fight.

There wouldn't be any more of that as Ren pinned Rouge to the floor, grasping both of her arms with his legs and clenching his arm around her neck. This chokehold effectively immobilised her, and within seconds, he cut off her air supply. Applying more pressure, Ren crushed Rouge's trachea.

He continued to hold Rouge like this, cinching her jugular closed enough that her brain would no longer receive any blood. Rouge stopped struggling by this point, going limp, but Ren did not release her. He knew that she might have been able to regain consciousness if he didn't make sure.

When he finally loosened his grip, Ren checked for a pulse. There was nothing. No heartbeat or any sign of breathing. All that remained was the pale girl at his feet. Her bloodshot eyes stared at the ceiling, still bearing that rabid expression. Ren waved his hand over those eyes, shutting them, so her family didn't have to look upon them.

As the door opened once more, Ren took Rouge in his arms and carried her bridal style. He was met with the distraught looks of Jaune, Vi, and Marron as their remaining little sister was dead. The boy didn't notice that he was starting to cry by this point. The moisture building on his cheeks didn't even come to mind.

"I'm sorry..."


Ren said 'fuck dem kids.'


Jaune: 3 Infected, 1 Mom

Yang: 2 People, 3 Infected

Ren: 2 Infected, 1 Child

Nora: 1 Infected