A strong stench of metal and rotten meat entered Cardin's nostrils, causing his head to turn away by instinct. The smell filled the room like air fills empty space. Ruby had never smelled anything so horrible, not even moldy cheese can compare. Velvet covered her nose, thanking the Faunus gods above for not giving her heightened smell, yet eyeing with pity a green colored Jaune who quickly covered his mouth in resistance towards his weak stomach. She would tell him to breath, but it would likely heighten his situation. Yet through teary eyes and rancid air in their lungs, they understood how such a powerful, horrible stench came to be.

Merciless and ungraceful, a complete antithesis of the Huntsman psyche. They expected destruction outside the doors, but apparently, they couldn't comprehend the human blood. There was too much of it, so much so that a toddler could deduce someone is dead. But they didn't know, they never handled the dead. It's almost funny, considering they're being trained to hunt and kill. Yet Grimm was the only enemy in their curriculum. It felt so unreal to see so much blood, human blood. The unconscious realization of never seeing a dead body tortured the four students with questions, possible answers, and contradictions to both. They had to see for themselves.

"A-Alright" spoke Cardin, still taking in the scene, "L-Ladies first."

Velvet and Ruby paled at the absurd act of chivalry.

"N-No way!" Ruby yelled, hiding behind Velvet, "You first!"

"No way in HELL am I going out there!" he stares at Velvet, "Make the bunny go first!"

"W-w-what?!" Velvet said, frightened.

"Guys!" Jaune yelled, preventing another verbal brawl, "I'll…I'll go out first."

They all stared at him, especially Ruby.

"J-Jaune?!" she exclaimed. Such bravery was not expected from him, knowing how meek his best friend can be at times. He may have his moments, but Pyrrha would have his back for most of them. Unconsciously, she saw him in a different light. Yet upon closer inspection, she could see the sweat forming from the side of his scruffy hair, likely representing the battle going on in his head. He was just as terrified as she was, perhaps worse.

"Jaune, you don't-"

"Perfect!" Cardin said, interrupting Ruby's objection.

He briskly made his way to the blonde huntsman in training, "Out you go!"

Placing his arm around his back, he began pushing him to the door.

"Cardin!" Ruby yelled.

"What?! He volunteered."

"But we don't know what's out there!"

"That's his problem!"

"Well what's YOUR problem?!"

"You really want to do this again?!"

"G-Guys!" Velvet tried to speak, "W-Were making a lot of noise."

Through the heat of battle, the young student in red and the large brute student seemed to have forgotten the reason for the scene outside the door, and the likelihood of how close they can still be. They all stood silent as a result of their mistake, intent on hearing the hallways for anything less of a pin dropping to the ground. But miraculously, there was nothing but the ere sound of silence. And in this silence, Jaune took his first fearful step forward towards the door.

"J-Jau-"

Ruby's mouth was covered by Cardin.

"Shut up," he whispered.

They all watched Jaune slowly walk towards the entrance, feeling the tense air under this unusual circumstance. His time in Beacon Academy has further improved his tactical mind, a skill he often takes for granted, but the blood he stared at gave this skill no form of application whatsoever. His mind went a million miles a minute, trying to comprehend what might have caused such an event to occur outside their safe room. Perhaps members of the White Fang infiltrated the school? No, that can't be right, they haven't been heard of since this flu was discovered. Maybe the civilians are rebelling? No way, that didn't make any sense, CEDA would detain and possibly arrest them for public endangerment. Now that he thought about it, besides the group that attacked and destroyed the escort bots outside, there wasn't even a whisper of anyone else in the other dorms. Surely someone would have also checked things out by now as well, they couldn't be the only ones on this floor that are bunkered inside a dorm room. Humans and Faunus are naturally curious creatures, so why is he the one checking the hallways? One thing was for certain though, Jaune Arc didn't know what to expect.

It was unnerving how quiet it was, especially from the door across from them. Weren't there people inside there as well? Everything happened so fast that he never bothered to pay attention to anyone else taking refuge on this floor. He couldn't stop thinking about it, they couldn't be the only ones on this floor, could they? The thought scared him. He was closing in to the open doorway, the silence allowed him to feel his pounding heart. He could better smell the metal the closer he got to the viscous blood. Why did he agree to do this, he wondered, what the hell is wrong with him? What came over him before? He was never this authoritative, and everyone behind him never truly took him seriously outside of battle. It just came out of the spur of the moment, not even he knew where it came from. They were just Huntsman in training, children for god's sake, what is going on?

And there he was, right at the edge of the doorway, his breathing grew jagged. God damn it, just peak, he thought, that's all your doing, PEAK! The sweat on his forehead grew more vicious. How many dead bodies are there? This can't be real; this is nothing like the movies he saw as a kid. Forcing his natural instincts to subside, he leaned forward to the right. He forced his forehead to move past the doorframe and closed his eyes. He allowed the doorframe to pass his nose, and then his mouth. Even by his neck, he didn't want to open his eyes. His breathing was vicious, and his sweat fiercely flowed. And with all his might, he opened his eyes.

And saw a hallway, dirtied by the broken frames of three escort bots and the prints of feet and hands that trampled the bots down with sloppy precision and determination

The air left his lungs like a river dam losing its integrity. That wasn't so bad, maybe he was overreacting.

He re-entered the room.

"I…I think we're…good?"

He stared at everyone huddled up against the furthest part of the wall, Ruby and Velvet grasping each other and Cardin grasping the wall for support.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Cardin screamed, "What was that?! You took your fucking sweet time, I thought I was going to fucking die!"

Jaune recoiled back, noticing the relieved face of Ruby and an unreadable one from Velvet.

Cardin stood up straight and made his way to the door.

"You're a real asshole Jaune," he said.

He reached the doorframe far quicker that Jaune did, roughly bumping his shoulder.

He looked out to the right.

"Yeah, it's fine. Monty fucking Oum, such a wimp!"

Ruby and Velvet helped each other up, making their way to Jaune.

"Ruby, Velvet," Jaune said, "I'm…I hope I didn't scare you-ACK"

A swift kick to his shin was met, curtesy of Velvet.

"V-Velvet?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Y-YOU SCARED…I THOUGHT Y-YOU…WHY DID…UGH!"

In a pool of relief and frustration, she went to sit on Cardin's bed and covered her face, while Jaune writhed on the floor, clutching his shin.

Ruby, completely astonished by Velvet's action, focused her attention on her blonde friend and rushed to his aid.

"Jaune?"

"…Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"…No."

His aura went to work.

"Well," Ruby stood up, "At least we know it's safe, right?"

Velvet uncovered her face, which was as red as a tomato.

"I'm…I'm sorry…I-"

"I-It's fine, Velvet," Jaune said, standing up after his aura did decent work with the pain, "You alright?"

"Y-Yeah…and…sorry," Velvet said, horribly embarrassed.

"It's fine, really," he shifted to Ruby, "How about you Ruby?"

"Yep," she said, "I'm…hunky-dory I guess."

She gave a half-assed thumbs up.

"...Okay? Cardin, are you…?"

Cardin was still looking out the door.

"Cardin?"

He was looking at the left side. From the side of his face, Jaune could see a waterfall of sweat dripping off his chin. It seemed that he couldn't make a sound through his shaking lower jaw, deciding whether to keep it closed or slack.

"Cardin…?"

Jaune moved once again towards the door, the stiff posture of the harsh and aggressive huntsman was mostly out of character. Velvet got off the bed and moved alongside Jaune, her curiosity overpowering her embarrassment. Cardin wasn't reacting to their advancement towards him, and Velvet began to see his pale face and dilated eyes. Ruby moved alongside Velvet and Jaune, keeping her arms close to her chest from the anxiety rushing back to her. She could hear the heavy breathing and the mumbling sounds that he couldn't form to words. She was scared, once again. They walked towards their reluctant teammate, and the close contact did not initiate a reaction from him. Jaune looked at Velvet, and then at Ruby. And once again, Jaune forced his head out the doorway for another peak. Leaving his eyes open, he slowly pushed his head out.

And the transition was harshly brutal.

Five defyingly stiff, pale bodies lied on the soft, drenched carpets of the hallway. Two in the back had no arms, which upon closer inspection, could be found a distance away from their hosts. Gaping holes infected their carcasses, huge enough that no aura or medical attention could possibly overcome, like shoving a mug through a piece of paper. And with these vicious mutilations, the huge amount of blood that soaked into the carpet was of no surprise. It's fascinating how much blood the human body can hold, perhaps you can fill a bathtub with one body's worth. But the smell, the putrid smell of metal, rot and oil.

Looking down, almost excruciatingly impossible to miss, was the last downed body from the Atlas escort bots, armed with an Atlas grade pistol and a absurdly large amount of ammunition. Far too much ammo for one escort bot to carry, let alone need. It was so much; you could take down a small army with this amount. Why did they need so much? Were they going to war? Is that what this is? Is Atlas going to war with Vale? No, no way, no one can stoop that low and harm innocent civilians and students…would they?

No, it can't be, this flu is far too infectious for such an idea to act. This…Green Flu. Is the flu the reason for this, this horrifying tragedy? Are they killing infected people? This can't be real, it felt like everything was normal moments ago. He remembered being in class just a day ago.

He had just received a "D" on Professor Oobleck's midterm exam. Like usual Pyrrha scolded him, saying that she would have be more than happy to help study with him. Jaune, embarrassed by the sudden realization of such an option, apologized and promised to ask for her help next time. Her face eased up and Nora slammed her hand painfully on his back, teasing him by calling him a dummy and an airhead, despite the large "F" on her exam paper along with an incredulous look from Ren. It was a normal day for team JNPR. Then an announcement ordered everyone to gather to the atrium. The announcement was abrupt and sudden, but there was no sense of urgency to them. They thought nothing of it, this happens all the time. So they walk down the long hallways, Pyrrha talking with Jaune about training and Nora complaining to Ren about the confliction between the announcement and her desire for pancakes. It was all normal, nothing out of the ordinary.

But the dead bodies are still there.

This is crazy! This can't be real! This is a nightmare! What the hell happened!? They were all killed?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

"hah."

A delicate breath and a hand squeezing the doorframe snapped Jaune out of his head. Ruby, who must have been staring for as long as him, stood frozen.

"Ruby!"

He dragged her away from the door and grasped her shoulders.

"Ruby look at me."

"hah….hah."

Her eyes were shrunken, and her breath was shallow.

"Ruby breath, breath!"

Her legs began to give way, collapsing into Jaune's arms.

"Ruby!" Jaune caught her before she can slide off him, "Velvet! Cardin!"

They didn't respond, still statues under their lack of comprehension.

"VELVET! CARDIN!"

Jaune shifted his weight on Ruby and grabbed the nearest object he can find and hurling it at them.

The object struck Cardin's head.

"AIGH"

Grasping his head, he accidentally pushed Velvet against the wall, snapping herself out as well.

"SOMEBODY!" Jaune yelled, seeing the semi-processed eyes of Velvet finally acknowledged.

"Wh-wha…wha…" Velvet collapsed against the wall, tears streaming from her eyes and her hands covering her mouth.

Ruby remained frozen in Jaune's arms.

"RUBY!?" Jaune yelled, shaking her body.

"RUBY, COME ON!"

He shook Ruby, trying to snap her out of whatever horrible things were being processed into her head.

But nothing was reaching Ruby. No external forces are able to enter her head, and nothing Jaune was doing can possibly snap her out. This was too much for her, nothing like the fairy tales that were told to her as a child. Far too much than she can ever comprehend. Her head went into overdrive, trying to comprehend was she saw. But despite the best of her, she cannot break out of this. Her head began to hurt, and she was feeling faint. Her only company were the muffled voices from outside and her beating head. She couldn't believe it, why? Why? Wh-?

SLAP

She inhaled a strong and heavy breath, coming back into reality.

"CARDIN! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

"THE FUCK DOES IT LOOK LIKE JAUNE?! I'M SNAPPING HER OUT OF THIS…THIS….AW FUCK!"

Cardin snapped.

"HOW THE…WHAT THE…HOLY…FUUUUUUUUCK!"

Velvet scrunched up and cried like she never had before.

"hah…HAH…..HAAH"

"Ruby!" Jaune covered her mouth before she can scream.

But the scream came anyway, and as the tears flew down her eyes, she could bare to open them. This was a living nightmare, shown by her horrid, muffled screams into Jaune's hand. She clutched his sleeve as her tears grew stronger.

Jaune quickly embraced his close friend, but the screams did not stop. In her entire life, she couldn't have possibly imagined how she could have handled this. This was a nightmare. This was a something that was completely outside her realm of understanding. Her ugly cries began to dry into Jaune's jacket, and the tears began to lessen. It was as if her body isn't allowing her to suffer more. Yet the sight could not be unseen, and Ruby didn't know what to do with the left-over anguish that washed over her.

She released herself from Jaune's chest, eyes shaking, occupied by horror and confusion. She looked at him, his bright blue eyes filled with just as much fear as her. She looked at Velvet's scrunched up form, holding herself tighter and tighter.

And then she saw her right Faunus ear twitch.

Velvet, with a wet face of tears, quickly turned towards the door.

"G-G-G-G-Guys!"

They all turned their attention to her.

"T-T-THEY'RE COMING!"

They all turned white.

"AW FUCK!" Cardin rushed to the door, "FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!"

Slamming the door shut, he rushed to the edge of his bed.

"SOMEONE FUCKING HELP ME!"

Grasping the frame, he began to pull the bed towards the door.

Jaune rushed to his aid.

"How close are they?" Jaune asked.

"T-t-they're reaching the corner!"

The screams of tortured souls began to increase in volume once again.

"Shit, aw SHIT!"

Cardin and Jaune rushed to the former's roommate's bed.

"G-Guy's!"

"I KNOW YOU FUCKING ANIMAL, SHUT UP!"

They moved the bed at record breaking speeds to the door.

The footsteps from earlier can be heard, and the horrid screams and cries reverberated across the hall outside.

"GET IT ON THE BED!"

Jaune lifted himself onto the bed and leaned against the closed door to pulled the other bed-

*CRASH*

FREEEAAAAH

AAAAAEEEEG

A hand broke a hole through the door and latched to his waist

Adrenaline. Pure, horrifying adrenaline rushed through his veins.

"FUCK!" Cardin rushed backwards away from Jaune.

Jaune struggled against the door as more hands grasped and clawed on his skin.

With all the adrenaline in the world, he pried himself off the door and collapsed off the bed and onto the floor.

REAAAAAAARG

AAAAAEEEEGH

He dragged himself away from the door.

HEEEAAAAAAAH

FRAAAEEEGH

The damage grew more, revealing the horrible visages of the ravenous culprits

AAAARRREEEEAA

AAAAAAAAAAEEH

Their faces were such a horrible pale that one would think they're dead.

Their dark eyes, filled with blood, glowed with feral delight.

Their breath, sickening and rancid to the taste.

Their arms, bloody and broken as they paint the bed sheets with their fingers.

And their feral cries, those horrible screams.

They were animals.

And as the door slowly gives way, everyone found the wall to be their only solace.

*CRASH*

Until glass was smashed behind them, with Cardin quickly climbing through without a moment's notice.

"The window!" Jaune screamed, trying to scramble everyone to its direction.

The door could no longer take the abuse, as a wave of horror entered the room.

"JUMP!"

With a forceful shove, Jaune, Ruby, Velvet, and Cardin, jumped through the window.

Time slowed down for the blonde leader. Jaune saw the open fields and courtyards in front of him. The fresh air pushed against his face. It was so fresh and light, with the sunset giving it an orange-purple glow. And as time slowly sped up, he could feel the crushing force of gravity, brutal and uncaring.

His eyes widened as he got closer to the ground.

"JAUNE!"

He looked up and saw a hand, beckoning him to grab on to.

He happily obliged.

And gravity shortly lost its power.

"J-Jaune!"

He snapped out of whatever his head ruminated. The hand he had grabbed belonged to his beloved friend Ruby Rose, who was grasping Velvet Scarlatina's hand, whom was grasping Cardin Winchester's ankle.

"R-Ruby!"

"Y-You're…Really…heavy."

"HEAVY?!" Cardin cried with rage, "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU-"

*CRASH*

And the rest of the window glass broke free, releasing the stream of people eager to drop out. One by one, gravity quickly takes more and more victims in such a ludicrous display of mindlessness. As they all fall to their death, they try in vain to grasp what they can towards the hanging students, only to grasp the little air they can retain, before screaming into the void down below. It was too absurd, what are they doing? They're killing themselves! Are they crazy?!

GRAAAAGH

The weight on Cardin grew heavier as someone latched onto Jaune's ankles; a pale faced, bloody female beacon student.

"Ack-SHIT!"

Cardin's grip began to slowly slip, as Jaune's breathing grew shorter and faster.

FRAAAAAAAEG

She tried to climb on Jaune, swiping at his shirt with every attempt at Jaune to shake it off.

"J-JAUNE!" Ruby cried, trying to hold on to her best friend.

The rabid student grabbed Jaune's shoulder and raised its hand to claw at him.

RAAAAAAAAA-AIGH

But before she could attack, she was accidentally grabbed by one last falling man, dragging her off Jaune. And the student, with every ounce of her being, screamed a horrid cry as she and the man fell into the grassy pits below.

The hanging students, once again, were left to themselves with little time to ruminate.

"Hah….hah," Jaune wheezed, looking up at the equally exhausted Ruby, desperately trying to cling on to Velvet's hand, "Oh…okay…I'll climb first…and everyone else follows suit."

"HURRY UP…YOU ASSHOLES…SO FUCKING HEAVY!" Cardin screamed.

With a resounding heave, Jaune lifted himself up to grasp Ruby's small shoulder. The weight of Jaune caused her to wince, she couldn't hold on for long, he had to hurry. He would have to drastically shift his weight in order to grab Velvet's foot. So, in a quick fashion, and a resounding yelp from Ruby, he quickly forced his weight up, successfully grasping Velvet's foot.

"Ru…Ruby," Jaune called through lack of breath, "When I…When I get to…Cardin…Start climbing."

Ruby grunted in response.

Placing his foot on Ruby's shoulder, he quickly pulled himself up to Velvet's.

"Velvet?" Jaune called.

"I know…I know…you're…so heavy," she said through her breaths.

He continued to climb over her, using every ounce of his strength to reach Cardin's ankles.

"WILL YOU…ASSHOLES…HURRY UP!" Cardin yelled through gritting teeth.

Jaune places his feet on Velvet's shoulders and, shifting his weight once again, launched himself onto Cardin's torso. Wrapping his legs around his, he shimmied himself to his shoulders. And with a pronounced heave, he pulled himself over him, through the window, and collapsed onto the ground to breath the same stagnant air he was now glad to be with.

"Jau-…Jaune!"

Remembering his own order, he lifted himself back up to assist Ruby, then came Velvet, and with the combined efforts, Cardin.

They all rested on the ground, breathing in exhaustion inside a room that looked as if a stampede broke through.

"Jaune…What…The FUCK…WAS THAT?!" Cardin said, still exhausted from holding such tremendous weight.

"I'm…so sorry guys," said Jaune, catching his breath, "I…I wasn't thinking and I-"

"Jaune," Ruby interrupted, "It's fine…but…"

She collapsed on her back, her hands covering her face.

"That was…what was that?"

Velvet was looking out the window, in total shock of what she had witness with the other students.

"T-they…" Velvet tried to speak, "They all…but why…they killed themselves."

"We know that, damn it," Cardin replied, causing her to flinch, "Blondie would have killed us had I not latched to the edge of the window."

Jaune faltered, knowing that what he did was completely out of his mind.

"Monty fucking Oum," Cardin started pacing the room, "What the hell even was that, are they crazy?"

"They looked sick," Jaune said, "Did any of you see their faces?"

"Y-yeah…they don't look so good," Ruby replied, finally catching her breath.

"Yeah…They…They almost a-acted like G-Grimm," Velvet chipped in.

"Grimm?" Cardin said, "Are you stupid? Nothing can be like Grimm."

He thought about it for a bit.

"But holy shit, they looked like Zombies or something."

"That's just as dumb Cardin," Ruby said.

"Yeah well it's better than your arm strength you red freak."

"Guys!" Jaune interrupted, "I really think we should leave."

"Yeah no kidding, I'm not sticking around here to see if more show up," Cardin said, making his way out the door.

"Where are you going?"

"What do you think?! I'm getting the guns from those cheap Atlas bots."

Ruby shot up.

"What?!" she rushed to him, "W-What are you going to do with those?!"

Cardin looked at her like she grew a second head.

"What am I…What?! What do you think I'm going to do with those?!"

"Are you going to kill them?!" Ruby asked, her face growing blue with terror.

"Well I'm sure as hell not going be their friend," said Cardin, going towards the exit.

"But…But that's murder!"

"Cardin wait," Jaune said, "I-I meant for the guns to be for self-defense, that's it!"

"Well, what do think this is?!"

"B-But Cardin," Velvet chipped in, "You're-!"

"What is wrong with you people?! Did you not see what happened just FIVE SECONDS AGO?! ARE YOU ALL-"

He was interrupted by a shove, which brought him to the wall.

"NO!" Ruby screamed, "I WON'T LET YOU!"

Jaune and Velvet were stunned by what Ruby did.

"Wait, guys!"

"You dumb BITCH!"

He shoved Ruby out of the room, causing her to hit the other door hard and fall to the ground with a thud.

"Cardin!" Jaune and Velvet yelled.

"WHAT?! WHAT'S WRONG NOW YOU ASSHOLES?!"

"You JERK!" Ruby yelled from the hall.

Cardin stopped himself from continuing with Jaune and Velvet and focused on Ruby.

"You would kill them?! KILL THEM?! WHAT KIND OF HUNTSMAN ARE YOU?!" she berated, "You're…you're nothing but a dumb…good for nothing…ASSHOLE!"

She stood up.

"I have no idea how you got accepted to this academy, but-"

BLEEEEAAAAH

A man suddenly tackled Ruby to the ground.

"SHIT!"

Jaune and Velvet rushed to Ruby's aid, who was being beaten by the man.

"GET OFF OF HER!"

They both pulled and shoved the man against the wall.

He looked just as sick as the others.

Without a second to react, it charged once again.

"WAIT A MINUTE!"

They held the man back, but he still tried to claw and pound his way through.

"S-STOP! WE CAN HELP-"

*BANG*

The man collapsed onto the ground, with a bullet hole lodged into his leg, causing the others to stagger back to see Cardin with a smoking gun.

"C-CARDIN!" Jaune yelled, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"I JUST SHOT HIS LEG! HE'S NOT GONNA-"

REEEEAAAAAAAH

The man got back up and went for Cardin.

"WHAT THE!?"

He started moving back and shooting endlessly at the man.

His chest, his other leg, and his chest again.

But it kept moving.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Cardin tripped over a dead body on the ground as he tried to shoot.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

*SPLAT*

And suddenly, the man's chest exploded.

But he still stood strong.

*SPLAT*

But one last bullet through the chest caused him to cease moving.

For the short while the man stood still, everyone stared at the marvel of said standing, yet mutilated man. Upon closer inspection, he was most likely a citizen of Vale. He wore a now dirtied white button-down shirt, basic blue jeans, and dirty white sneakers. Just like the others, his skin was horribly pale. His hands bloodied and his eyes glowed with feral intentions. He wasn't a student, a professor, or a staff member, he was just a mere man. And yet, he still stood, clumsily clutching his injuries as if he had not noticed them before. As if they didn't affect him, until now. And then, as quickly as he noticed the injuries, he collapses to the ground.

For what felt like decades, he focused on the body that was shot down. And for a moment, Cardin forgot that he wasn't the one that shot the last two bullets. And upon looking back up, he saw Velvet holding another gun, with the barrel still smoking from the latest bullet she fired. He saw her horrified face that had processed what she has done. Slowly lowering the weapon, she gathered herself to the body. Was he dead? It was such an odd thing to ask when considering the large number of holes that seeped out blood. They both stared at the dead man, no longer seeing him as just a mere man. It was like shooting down a Beowolf, a bloody monster.

"W-what?" Cardin weakly asked, "W-w-what…what the hell…?"

It didn't feel human. For some reason, what they killed didn't feel human. It was like a Grimm, an animal in human skin. It was anything but human. The shot to the leg should have brought it down, let alone shots to the chest. Surely it was in pain, but whether it was or wasn't, it surely didn't care. In fact, it wasn't hindered at all. What the hell was that?

Meanwhile Jaune was helping out Ruby, who looked far more injured than he thought.

"You're going to be alright Ruby, your aura will fix you up," Jaune said, perplexed by the injuries that were suffered by the downed huntsman in training.

Her aura began to work on her black eye, bruised nose, and bloody cheek. Her stomach was sore, and she appears to have a hard time breathing. They weren't severe, but such injuries in such a short timespan was still shocking. Especially from what they thought was a civilian. The man that attacked her shouldn't have been able to bypass her aura, he's only a civilian! Did he have aura? No, he couldn't have, it would have protected him from the gunfire. But it doesn't make sense, this is impossible! She shouldn't have been this hurt, only another huntsman could have done something like this, especially one with aura. Unless…no, that's not possible. This can't be because of the flu. There is no flu on record that could do something like this, at least none that Jaune can recall. This is something entirely different.

"Damn," Cardin commented, now next to Jaune, "That…thing…did he do that?"

"T-t-that's crazy," Velvet meekly said, "Are you…okay Ruby?"

"Y-yeah," replied Ruby, perplexed by her own injuries.

"Don't you have aura?" Cardin asked.

"I-I do, but…I don't…what was that?"

They all stared at Jaune, almost like they wanted an answer from him. He could only response with a nervous face. Why were they all staring at him? He doesn't know anything. But one thing was for sure, they can't stay here.

"We…we have to get out of here," said Jaune.

He helped Ruby up and made his way to the downed escort bots.

"Ruby," he threw the pistol to her, which she expertly caught.

"Jaune?"

"W-W-What's happening Jaune?"

"What the fuck are we doing Jaune?"

They all went to him now, harassing him for answers that he did not have. Don't they know who they're asking this to?

"Jaune?" Ruby delicately asked, trembling with horror, "W-w-what are we going to do?"

"We…" Jaune stopped, composing himself by taking a deep breath, "We continue with our plan."

He bent down to grab the last pistol.

"They said we had to head to Vytal, so that's what we're going to do."

He unloaded the magazine, a habit he caught from Ruby.

"Everyone, reload," he stared at the dead man, "I don't know what happened to that man, but he's not human anymore."

Velvet and Cardin, without missing a beat, reloaded to a full magazine.

Ruby opted to stare at the body for a little longer. No longer human? That made no sense! It's horrifying to think about. Her friends, her sister, she prayed they were alright. But would she be alright. Could she kill someone like that man. Although he didn't seem human, he sure looked like one.

"Ruby."

Ruby snapped her head to Jaune. His unnatural bravado came back again, but Ruby didn't notice this time. She just listened.

"We're going to find your team, and Yang, I promise."

She stared at him, mesmerized by his leader-like charisma.

But she didn't know how scared Jaune really was. He was just as uncertain about everything just like everyone else. But he had to put on an act. A false sense of bravery. If it meant everyone would stay sane, then he had no choice. He didn't even know why they, including Cardin, were suddenly looking up to him of all people. He was not raised or had prior training to be a huntsman. Heck, Cardin still knows about his false transcripts, why was he listening to him. He doesn't know, but he had to do this. There's no going back now.

"J-Jaune?" Velvet meekly called, "What…what do you think this is."

Jaune stared at her for a while, figuring out a response as fast as possible.

"I'm…I'm not sure," he turned around, facing the path laid out for them to take.

"But I know one thing is for certain."

They grouped up with Jaune, weapons at the ready.

"This is definitely not a flu."