"Last names starting with A through K, form a line here." The soldier shouted from his platform, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Last names starting with L-to-Z, form a line along the opposite wall."

"Which way are you going?" Luffy asked, adjusting the straps of his backpack.

"R." Zoro murmured, nodding toward the farther queue. "You?"

"Same as you." Luffy replied, taking his time to head over to the growing queue.

"There's a lot of people here." Zoro realized, following along with the snaking line.

"Enough to fill a stadium." Luffy commented, rubbing his stomach hungrily.

"Make sure you are separated by name- A through K and L through Z- please!" the soldier on the platform shouted.

"Please have your identification ready. It is not necessary but helpful," a man in a FEMA windbreaker explained, walking up and down the line of waiting people. "We will not be checking immigration status. I repeat, we will not be checking for immigration status…"

"This sucks," Luffy sighed, fidgeting impatiently.

"Got your ID?" Zoro asked, fishing his out from his wallet.

"Nope," Luffy answered, looking up at the stark artificial lights.

"It was a shitty fake anyway," Zoro teased.

"Yeah." Luffy sighed, closing his eyes. "I'm hungry."

"That's why we're in line." Zoro said, trying to stay patient. "We aren't touching that dehydrated shit until the fresh stuff is gone. It's just smart. That stuff doesn't expire for like three years…"

"Is it you?!" a man shrieked, running up and throwing his arms around the woman in front of Luffy. "Oh, thank God!"

Luffy smiled as the woman embraced the man. He looked at Zoro out of the corner of his eye, "You got someone looking for you?"

Zoro's amused smile faltered, he cleared his throat and shook his head, "Nah." He shook it off quickly, quietly congratulating the couple in front of them before turning back to Luffy, "What about you?"

Luffy snickered, an ornery look flashing across his face, "Only a secret government agency that wants to clone me…" Luffy pulled his hoodie up and over his head. "I need to keep a low profile."

"Oh, yeah? Which government agency? The Underground Zookeepers?" Zoro teased.

"It's pretty hush hush, I'm sure you've never even heard of it…" Luffy replied with a laugh.

"I'm a bartender." Zoro maintained. "I could break into the Pentagon with all the secrets I've heard over the years. So try me…"

"It's uh," Luffy paused, sticking his tongue against his cheek, "pretty top secret. You'd probably be in danger if I told you, it's so secret…"

"More danger than I'm in currently?" Zoro scoffed, arching a brow.

"That old granny does have a bad cough," Luffy taunted, pointing to a weathered woman huddled against the wall. "Pretty suspicious-sounding wet cough, if you ask me."

"You know what I mean," Zoro groaned, shuffling forward as the line finally began to move. "The horde of fucking cannibals outside."

"My family's out there somewhere." Luffy said suddenly, staring up at the bright stadium lights. "But they won't be looking for me."

"Ah," Zoro said softly, gently, "You don't know that. They're probably looking for you right now."

"I'm pretty sure." Luffy muttered. "It's okay though."

"Identification?" a woman in a FEMA windbreaker barked, shoving her clipboard in Zoro's direction. Zoro took the clipboard as he awkwardly handed over his ID. He grabbed the attached pen; scribbling in messy, distinctly male handwriting. "Roronoa, Zoro, age 21," the woman called down the line of aid workers. "Size?"

"Oh, uh," Zoro stammered, "Extra-large."

"Next!" the worker shouted, shoving Zoro down the line. "Identification?"

"I don't have any." Luffy answered, taking the clipboard. He wrote quickly before shoving the clipboard back at her.

"Roronoa, Luffy, age 19," the woman called. "Size?"

"Medium, probably." Luffy answered.

"Small!" the woman shouted before moving onto the next person in line.

"You're a Roronoa now?" Zoro whispered, collecting the XL size sweats they were providing.

"I don't have time to explain my name," Luffy admitted, taking clothes from the first station. "Everyone always thinks it's a joke."

"What is it?" Zoro asked, grabbing a blanket.

"Monkey."

"No way?! Really?!"

"See," Luffy groaned, throwing a blanket on top of his clothes.

"I'm sorry, it's just," Zoro swallowed a chuckle. "And what sort of name is Monkey?"

"A stupid one." Luffy sighed.

"Yeah, but how did you get it?"

"Well, I'm not a monkey." Luffy snapped.

"No, I mean, like, I'm Japanese." Zoro explained. "And you're…?"

"You're Japanese?" Luffy asked, curious. "Cool… Do you think if you turned into one of those people, you'd eat people with chopsticks?"

"Never mind." Zoro surrendered, grabbing the thin, cheap duffel handed to him.

"Do you know how to build robots?" Luffy questioned.

"What? No…" Zoro shook his head in disbelief.

"Do you think sleeping with "Air-con" on will make you sick?" Luffy continued excitedly.

"What the fuck?" Zoro furrowed his brows.

"Do idiots catch a cold?"

"Alright," Zoro snapped. "That's enough questions from you."

"Sorry," Luffy said with a snicker, rather unapologetically.

"Men on the left, women on the right," a man wearing a mask instructed. "Men on the left, women on the right… Men on the left, women on the right."

"What about children?" a woman asked, panicked.

"Children 11 and under may stay with their mothers. Men on the left, women on the right," the man answered.

"Wonder why?" Zoro said.

But he only had to wonder a moment longer. The next moment they were ushered with the other men behind a large, white medical curtain. "Please remove your clothing, including underwear. Shower with the soap provided. Soiled clothes should be placed in the receptacle. Please change into the clothes provided."

"Fuuuck…" Zoro groaned. "This fucking sucks."

"But I like this." Luffy murmured, pulling at his hoodie. "It's comfy."

"Guess they're worried it has crazy people germs on it." Zoro replied, stripping off his heavily stained button up shirt. "Personally, I'm glad to get into something a little more comfortable."

"By that logic they should be taking our packs too." Luffy whispered, undressing as slowly as possible.

"Ah, don't say that too loud." Zoro groaned with realization. "That's a good point."

"They don't know what's causing it. They're just guessing." Luffy breathed out, hiding his half-naked body behind one of the soiled cloth receptacles. "I bet there are set ups like this everywhere by now, and each one is doing things a little different… See what works…"

"So we're guinea pigs, huh?" Zoro laughed, shaking his head. "Wouldn't doubt it."

Luffy slinked into the same shower as Zoro, soaping himself up randomly. "What are you doing? Do you have to be in here?" Zoro grunted in discomfort as he tried to adjust under the nozzle. "There's not enough space. Get your own shower!"

"Shhhhh…" Luffy hissed before snickering. "Be quiet… Or they'll hear us…"

"What are you doing?" Zoro asked firmly, rinsing the soap from his face.

But before Zoro could get a good look at Luffy, he was already out of the shower. He didn't bother to dry himself before pulling on his plain, grey sweatpants. He pulled the sweatshirt over his head, droplets falling from his soaking hair and absorbing into the collar.

"Little weirdo." Zoro accused, shutting off the shower.

"Yeah, yeah," Luffy sighed, tapping his head to get water out of his ears. "Did you read the forms we just signed?"

"What? Why?" Zoro asked, following Luffy with his eyes.

"I don't think we'll be staying long." Luffy admitted, slinging his pack over his shoulders.

"Why not? We couldn't get any safer. The army's here!" Zoro pointed out.

"I'm hungry." Luffy announced loudly. "When do we get to eat?"

"Almost there." One of the masked men said. "Two steps away…"

"Great," Luffy said with a smile. He waited for Zoro to finish before following the other men to the next station.

"And what do we do here?" Zoro asked, eyeing the rows of examination tables.

"Physical," one of the men in line answered. "And over there are flu and tetanus shots."

"They're doing physicals?" Zoro shook his head. "Why?"

"Probably because the fucking world is falling apart…?" the man in front grunted. "Probably be a draft or something soon."

Zoro and Luffy exchanged a look. "Hey," Luffy breathed out, "are those vaccines optional?"

"Huh?" the man looked at Luffy uncertainly. "It's a good idea, kid. Can't be too careful right now."

"Yeah," Luffy said with a nod. "Agreed."

"Wow." Zoro said with a chuckle. "You're a damn conspiracy theorist, aren't you?" Luffy didn't laugh and Zoro suddenly sobered up, "Wait. What do you know?"

Luffy pressed his finger to his lips in gesture before nodding at Zoro, indicating for him to follow. Luffy weaved between the others, pausing just long enough to seem like he was naturally progressing through the line. He leaned against a tray, swiping some band-aids. "Here," Luffy murmured, passing two to Zoro. "Cover your boo-boos."

"I don't know if you're putting me on or if I should just smack you upside your head," Zoro admitted, rolling up his sleeve. He placed both band-aids on the inside of his elbow, where the others had theirs.

"Let's eat," Luffy chimed merrily, nearly skipping past the aid-workers directing the men. The men and women were directed back into a single line. As families were reunited again, it made Zoro feel a tinge of something… something uncomfortable.

"Wow." Zoro complained, staring at the tray of food in front of him. "Hope you're not hungry."

"I'm starving." Luffy groaned, shoving a pickle spear into his mouth.

"This is the saddest hamburger I've seen in my life." Zoro declared, poking at the heavily processed meat with a frown.

"It tastes 'kay," Luffy said, chewing loudly. "Jus' eat it." Luffy swallowed down a large bite. "Or don't n' then I'll eat it."

"Hold on," Zoro said, taking a sudden bite of his hamburger. "I never said I wasn't gonna eat it."

There was a large group of people, standing around a young man's cot. Bits and pieces of their conversation started making its way over to Luffy and Zoro, "You didn't see any of the killings in person? Consider yourself lucky then…"

"Imagine," Zoro said, wiping his hands on his pants. "Only seeing that shit on TV."

"Guess you were just unlucky." Luffy sighed, tossing himself onto his cot. It squeaked loudly in protest, scuffing across the floor noisily. "Being at ground zero and all."

"I should be dead." Zoro sighed, leaning back against Luffy's cot. "Hell, everyone I know probably is."

"You shouldn't be dead." Luffy corrected, almost sharply. "We're a team."

"Alright then," Zoro amended grudgingly, "I would be dead, if we weren't a team."

"Why you gotta say it like that?" Luffy asked, laughing.

"Why you gotta be so damn bossy?" Zoro shot back, leaning back until he could see Luffy.

"'Cause I'm the boss." Luffy said with a shrug.

"The hell you are…" Zoro bristled, brows furrowing.

"Yeah I am." Luffy insisted, smirking wide. "I'm totally the boss."

"Nuh uh!" Zoro exclaimed, smacking at Luffy playfully. "Hell no!"

There was a rapid secession of gunfire. It seemed to shake the entire stadium. The air was still for a moment before people began to scream. The screams died down quickly and then there was total silence. The dull murmur of the thousands of people conversing had ceased.

"What was that?" Luffy asked, sitting up on his cot, his leg pressed against Zoro's shoulder.

"Looks like someone was shot," the loudmouth a row over announced. "Yeah, I can see it. Those soldiers shot someone…"

"Want to go take a look?" Zoro offered, looking up at Luffy expectantly.

"Nope," Luffy refused, lying back down. "Those screams were from the family."

"The kid must've been bit," the loudmouth spat. "What sort of fucking idiot would bring someone who got bit in here?"

Zoro tensed. He had seen the bite on Luffy's arm. And he had his theories. Whatever insanity passed from person to person must not have been able to transfer through the thick material of the hoodie. It had been five days since Luffy was bit and he showed no signs of 'changing'. But until the wound healed completely, Luffy was wary of every checkpoint they'd passed.

"Mother's love, man," the man said.

And then there was another round of semi-automatic firing. Luffy and Zoro were both on their feet before the screams started. Luffy grabbed his pack, slinging it on his back. "Too bad they took those bats," Luffy grunted.

"Yep. Too fucking bad." Zoro agreed, slinging his own pack over his shoulders.

"I just can't relax," Luffy said, walking casually down the row of cots. "Too many people."

"I feel ya," Zoro agreed, following after.

"Hey," Luffy said, suddenly kneeling beside a cot. He smiled at the children happily before turning to speak to their mother. "You should start walking," Luffy instructed in a low whisper, "Calmly pack up what you can carry and walk toward an exit."

"What?" the woman began.

Luffy spoke over her, his eyes focused and stern, "Walk calmly and move toward an exit."

"Luff," Zoro scolded, grabbing Luffy's thin arm. "Don't scare her…"

Luffy nodded at Zoro in acknowledgement, "Sorry, lady, just some friendly advice."

Luffy wasn't even a cot away before the woman started packing up her things. Zoro cleared his throat, "Hey, come on, what're you thinking?"

"I'm thinking it's probably really hard to run away with three little kids." Luffy said, turning to look at Zoro. "Us single, able-bodied men have a distinct advantage, don't we?"

"Hey," Zoro called out, grabbing Luffy as he turned to walk away, "What do you know?"

"My instincts are telling me to run." Luffy said finally. "So I'm going to run."

"I trust you," Zoro decided, releasing his hold on Luffy. "But that doesn't mean I'm done talking about this."

There was another round of fire and then another. People everywhere began to scream.

Luffy smiled, "Can we run now?"

"Yeah," Zoro agreed, shoving Luffy ahead. "We can."

But it was nearly impossible to get anywhere now that everyone was scared. The cots were pushed around, loudly scrapping across the floor. Zoro barely kept a woman from being trampled. "There's too many people," Luffy repeated, shaking his head.

"Everyone settle down!" a soldier shouted over the loud speaker. "We have this under control." The soldier waved his arms in anger. "Return to your cot. Stop screaming!"

But the gunfire that followed his announcement wasn't very convincing. "Fuck this!" the loudmouth spat. "I'm getting outta here…"

"And go where?" another man retorted.

But if the loudmouth had offered any solution, Luffy and Zoro hadn't heard it. The entire stadium was a minute from erupting into chaos. On the side across from Luffy, in the reception area, a group of people began to shake violently.

"I don't think they're going to wait in line like everyone else, do you?" Luffy grunted.

"There's only a chain-link divider between us," Zoro realized.

"Move!" Luffy shouted, gesturing everyone back. He shoved people pointedly, bouncing around in agitation. "It isn't safe here anymore! Leave!"

"You heard 'im," Zoro roared, "Move your asses or die!"

Luffy started funneling the evacuees into the tunnel offshoot the stadium floor. A soldier ran up, barking in Luffy's face, "What the fuck do you think you're doing, asshole?"

"There's no way that fence is gonna hold-" Luffy began to explain, his voice strained.

But the soldier wasn't interested, instead he hit Luffy in the face with the butt of his gun, he let Luffy crumple to the floor before beginning to shout, "STOP! STAY HERE! YOU ARE SAFE!"

Zoro looked from Luffy to the soldier and something snapped. He rushed over, his fist raised to strike. The soldier swung his gun, pointing the barrel of his rifle at Zoro. Luffy was on his feet in an instant, his hands raised peaceably. He stood between Zoro and the soldier, shaking his head slowly.

Blood dripped from his nose, thinning out over his lips and falling off his chin. He spread his fingers wide, an apologetic smile twisting up the corners of his mouth, "Don't shoot."

"Maybe ya'll should take a damn seat!" the soldier barked.

Luffy nodded wordlessly, smearing the blood across his face with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. He shoved Zoro along, moving him away from where the soldier was standing. "Shoulda let me hit him," Zoro spat angrily, turning away in aggravation.

"He was going to shoot you," Luffy breathed out, pushing Zoro further along, "Calm down."

"I am calm." Zoro shouted, the veins in his neck pulsing.

"I see that." Luffy breathed, stopping suddenly. He smirked crookedly, a mischievous glimmer in his eye.

"Your face is a mess."

Luffy's smile only widened. He reached up, wiping his face with the hem of his sleeve.

"Quit it."

"Quit what?" Luffy asked with a snicker.

"Making that stupid face." Zoro clarified, folding his arms over his chest.

Luffy pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek, "It's just my face, Zor-o…"

The next several rounds of gunfire were barely audible over the evacuees' screams. The crowd swelled up, seemingly bursting at the seams. And in no time at all, even the soldiers were screaming for people to run.

"This way," Luffy instructed, tearing away from the main flow of traffic.

"Everyone else is going that way," Zoro panted, switching directions.

"I know," Luffy replied, "that's the point."

When they turned, dozens of people ended up following. The group of evacuees and fleeing soldiers broke off into sections. People ran in every direction. And even more people ran off the stadium floor and up the stairs into the stands. Families with young children and the elderly, disabled were left behind, doing their best not to be trampled to death by the stampeding crowd.

"This fucking sucks," Luffy growled, skidding to a stop.

"What?" Zoro asked, looking around in confusion.

"They're just leaving them." Luffy realized, gesturing around at the people left behind.

"Yeah," Zoro replied, "They're running so they don't fucking die…"

"These people can't run," Luffy pointed out, staggering as a fleeing man bumped roughly into him. "They're gonna die."

Zoro made a face, "Yeah, but we will too if we don't get out of here…" Luffy didn't say a single word. He swallowed a lump in his throat and looked long and hard at Zoro. His large eyes were moist, his lips were curved downward. Suddenly, Zoro groaned, exclaiming in frustration, "Fuck! Fine! Find something to fucking kill people with…"

"Thank you, Zoro," Luffy said, smiling wide.

"Shut up." Zoro snapped. "Hurry up and find something useful to me."

"Still got those knives?" Luffy asked.

"I thought you didn't want to use them?" Zoro retorted.

"Do you still have them?" Luffy repeated.

"Yeah, I got 'em."

"Okay, use 'em." Luffy instructed.

"What're you gonna use?" Zoro asked, trawling several of the knives from their hiding space in his backpack.

Luffy bounded away. He jumped on one of the cots, slamming down against the frame with all of his weight. He had to really put force in each leap. He twisted sharply until the metal snapped, breaking off in his hand. He held the metal pipe-like rod in his hand, waving it in the air proudly, "This."

"Fine," Zoro sighed, shaking his head.

"What?"

Zoro kept shaking his head, "Nothing."

"What?"

"No," Zoro refused to clarify, walking away, "I don't want to talk about it."

He walked into an empty row of cots and leapt on one, raising his hands to his mouth. He inhaled deeply before shouting at the top of his lungs, "IF YOU CANNOT RUN, MAKE YOUR WAY TO US!" Zoro inhaled again. "WOMEN, CHILDREN, ANYONE."

"Well said," Luffy said with a chuckle, moving the cots around to form a makeshift barrier.

"What do you mean by that?" Zoro demanded, eyeing Luffy dubiously.

"Nothingggg…" Luffy drawled, snickering to himself. "I liked it."

"Shut up." Zoro groaned, jumping down from the cot and helping Luffy form a wall of cots.

"Thank you," a woman cried out, rushing over to them with her four children in tow. "Thank you…"

"Get behind us." Zoro instructed.

But it hardly mattered that Luffy and Zoro were offering a temporarily safe place, because the entire stadium was under attack. For every five people escaping, another person was mauled. And the number of infected increased every second. Thousands and thousands of people were running and nowhere was safe.

"You stay here," Luffy instructed, "I'm going to go get him…"

Zoro followed Luffy's gaze. There was a man in a wheelchair, his family was trying to clear the way for him. Cots and bags littered the floor. There wasn't space enough for him to escape in any direction.

"Let me go," Zoro called after him, "He's probably…" but Luffy was gone before Zoro could finish the sentence.

Zoro turned around uncomfortably. He could hardly look at the three dozen people behind the cot barrier. He wasn't comfortable with his sudden role of hero. He cleared his throat, "If you're bitten do everyone a favor and come stand out here." He looked up, eyeing each and every person. "Be a man and do the right thing."

"I wasn't bit," a middle-aged man said, lowering his son to the ground. "But I can help."

"Sure," Zoro murmured, handing the man one of his knives. "Do us all a favor and don't get fucking bit."

"Your friend is really brave." Another man said, stepping forward. He nodded appreciatively as Zoro handed him a knife.

"He's a dumbass." Zoro replied, pulling more knives from his pack. He looked up in time to see Luffy narrowly miss being bit. Zoro sighed, readying himself for the incoming wave of crazed people, "Don't encourage him."

"Can you walk at all?" Luffy asked, grabbing the back of the man's wheelchair.

The man looked up, startled, "N-not really…"

"Okay," Luffy said, nodding in understanding. "Hey, ladies," Luffy called out to the man's family. "I'll lift him, you get the chair. Get over to the barrier. Go now." Luffy hoisted the man over his shoulder; he pushed the chair forward forcefully. "Let's go."

Luffy did his best to keep the man's family in front of him, but the way the infection spread, he was running out of safe options. And as soon as the gunfire ceased, Luffy knew the situation would only get worse. "Hurry…" Luffy encouraged. "Hurry up…"

"Luffy!" Zoro shouted, bouncing anxiously from one foot to the other. "Get your ass back here now!"

Luffy panted heavily, not wasting his breath on a response. He knew he wasn't going to make it. He considered his options, his mind racing. He could feel the heat of bodies behind him and the breath of the mob was enough to make his blood cold.

And then a single shot rang out. A bullet whizzed past him, striking the closest infected person straight through the brain. Blood, hair, and bone splattered backward. Luffy let out a low whistle, closing his eyes for a celebratory moment.

Another shot echoed through the stadium, and then another. And then, miraculously, Luffy and the family made it to the cot barricade. He nearly dumped the man back into his wheelchair. He hopped back over the cots, brandishing his metal rod.

"Took you long enough," Zoro muttered, staring at the people next to him until there was a space made for Luffy.

"Yeah, well," Luffy panted, trying to collect his breath, "I have a real problem with the handicap accessibility of this shelter." Luffy tightened his hold on his weapon. "One out of five stars, would not recommend."

"You're a damn hero, kid," one of the men called out.

Luffy made a face, rolling his shoulders backward until they cracked, "Fuck no." People laughed in amusement but Luffy was serious. "Heroes always win and I can't handle that responsibility…"

"Besides," Luffy said, counting down the seconds until he would be fighting for their lives, "I'd be dead if it weren't for that guy."