"Can we take a break?" Lavi complains. "We've been walking for hours."
"No. We must return as soon as possible." Buzz replies.
"We'd walk faster if we had a short break." Lavi counters.
"No." Buzz powers ahead with barely a glance at Lavi.
"Plan 'get a break' has failed." Lavi whispers to Lenalee and Allen behind him.
"Great name." Allen mutters, giving Lavi a small smile.
"Hey, how much further to go?" Lavi speaks up, looking back over at Buzz.
"Another hour or so." Buzz answers.
"Ugh." Lavi moans, slumping over.
"C'mon. It's not that much further." Lenalee coaxes. "We can rest when we get there."
"I guess. Okay." Lavi recovers, standing up straight and speeding his pace.
"Try and keep up kids!" Lavi calls back as he moves behind Buzz.
"You'll just tire yourself out, Lavi!" Lenalee calls back.
Lavi waves back, eyes still facing forward.
"Let's speed up, Allen. We don't want to be left behind." Lenalee winks at Allen as the two increase their speed to join Lavi.
Kanda was in a bad mood. His sword had been confiscated and he has two armed guns against his back.
Along the horizon, a large town appeared, surrounded by a high fence. There's a high rise in the centre, covered in glass windows and open balconies.
Probably a hotel.
The group heads for a large gate, manned by four more armed guards, who raise their weapons once they're in range.
"It's Buzz. We found some survivors." Buzz calls to them as they approach.
"Buzz. You were sent to back up Doug." A masked man steps forward. His face covered by a tragic-looking mask, dyed grey and red.
"Doug didn't make it." Buzz explains.
"That's unfortunate. I'll radio it in." The man turns around and pulls out a walkie talkie which he starts muttering into.
After a second, the gates swing open, revealing a few men dressed in a white almost-uniform.
"Welcome back everyone!" The leading man in white opens his arms. "And welcome survivors!"
"Komui?" Lenalee speaks up, pushing past Buzz.
"Eh? Lenalee?" Komui's eyes widen and he takes in a shaky breath.
"Big brother!" Lenalee smiles widely as he runs up to Komui to embrace him.
"Lenalee!" Komui's eyes start tearing up as he opens his arms to his younger sister.
"Komui." Kanda steps forward.
"Eh? Kanda? You're here too?" Komui looks over Lenalee's shoulder. "That's good." Komui smiles as he lets go of Lenalee to better see Kanda.
"Komui, you know these people?" Buzz asks him, stepping in front of Kanda.
"Oh, yes, this is my dear sister Lenalee and Kanda. We were in a group together before we were separated." Komui sends his sister a fond smile before continuing. "We should talk inside."
"Fine." Buzz agrees and heads inside, with the others in tow.
Komui led the four into the skyscraper in the town centre. There were people with large firearms patrolling the streets and standing guard outside the building.
As they past, Lavi notes the serene calmness of the town. Even with so many people patrolling around, there was a sense of security Lavi had never felt before. All the building they pass have been fortified, with boards across windows and any missing walls or roofs patched up sturdily.
The streets were mostly empty, with people preferring the sidewalks. There were a few vehicles on the road sides, which Lavi assumed were used for patrols.
Lavi was surprised at the amount of people here. Every street is filled with people bustling about. Likely because it was midday, it seemed almost everyone was outside; chatting and walking.
"Is it always this crowded?" Lavi asks Komui, once he'd taken a break from talking to Lenalee.
"Ah, yes. We have many people here, with almost every house occupied." Komui gestures to the houses along the street.
"Still, I'm impressed." Lavi continues.
"This town is part of a much larger organisation." Komui explains. "Our is the largest settlement but we have strong connections to many across the country."
"That's a lot of people." Lavi comments.
"It is. Just here we have over two thousand residents." Komui boasts, puffing out his chest a little.
"And you're in charge?" Lavi asks.
"We run a committee to watch over the town, but I'm in charge of that so…" Komui gives Lavi a big grin. "I suppose I am in charge."
"I see." Lavi awkwardly returns the grin before going back to looking around.
"We're almost there." Komui informs just as they turn the next corner.
In front of them is the large sky scraper they'd seen from the entrance with the lower windows boarded up and the higher ones still intact. There are small balconies along the highest levels, dozens of floors above them.
"Wow." Lenalee breaths, staring wide eyed at the structure.
"It's great isn't it?" Komui says. "This town used to live of the building by using it as a five star hotel. It contains hotel rooms, offices, conference rooms, spas, shops and restaurants." he explains.
"And you use this as your headquarters." Lavi says.
"Yup." Komui agrees. "We've set up out official guards and committee members in the rooms here as well as using many for storage and management." Komui explains. "Come in, I'll show you around."
The inside was far more luxurious than the outside, with large red and black curtains, glossy tiled floors and golden embellishments on every piece of furniture.
"Classy." Lavi whistles loudly at the bright interior.
"We've tried to keep it as it was." Komui explains. "Though, there are a few…" Komui glances over to his left, where a large amount of wall has been destroyed, covered only by a sheet of wood.
As the group moves through, Allen spots bloodstains across the floor alongside deep cracks and worrying bullet holes.
"Any idea what happened?" Lavi asks Komui.
"No, when we found it, this place was empty." Komui answers. "No undead, no nothing."
"Oh." Lavi nods and continues his silent analysis of the building.
"Brother?" Lenalee starts curiously, moving to walk by Komui.
"Yes, my dear Lenalee?" Komui replies excitedly, taking her hand.
"Where are we going?" She asks, giving Komui a pleasant smile.
"To my office!" Komui answers proudly. "It's just one floor up."
"What do you need an office for?" Allen wonders aloud.
Komui turns to smile at the younger boy. "We have to keep records of all our supplies and how many people are here and a few other things."
"That sounds like a lot of work." Allen remarks.
Komui deflates slightly, gripping his sister's hand tighter.
"Brother?" Lenalee peers down at him worriedly.
"Too…much…work…" Komui groans.
"Are you okay?" Lavi asks Komui, tapping him on the shoulder.
Komui sniffles before dramatically throwing himself at Lenalee. "I can't take it-"
"It's…uh, it's okay big brother." Lenalee awkwardly comforts Komui, patting him on the head.
Beside Allen, Lavi is stifling a laugh and Allen himself can't help but grin.
"Let's just go." Kanda growls at the older man, who's leaning heavily on his younger sister.
"Alright." Komui slowly let's go of Lenalee before shuffling forward.
"I think we need to avoid that topic from now on, Al." Lavi advises quietly.
"Yeah, okay." Allen agrees, eyes fixed on the recovering man.
Komui's office is relatively large, taking up most of the floor and full of desks and cubicles arranged around the space. Also in the room is a few hundred stacks of paper, all covered in scribbled down numbers and names, as far as Lavi could tell. There are about a dozen other people milling around the space, rummaging through the piles of papers.
"Komui!" A woman in a long white coat heads over to them, waving a few papers in Komui's face. "I found the canned food reports for last week."
"Great!" Komui grabs the papers, flicking through them. "Where'd you find them?" Komui wonders.
"Uh, in one of the piles on your desk." The woman replies, looking at Komui curiously. "Even through you said you'd checked."
"Ah, yes." Komui let's out a laugh, waving the papers around. "I must've overlooked them." He gives the woman a smile as she sighs loudly.
"I'll get back to work." The woman walks away, back into the maze of desks and papers.
"Over here." Komui takes a seat on a large chair behind a large, dark wood desk. In front of the desk are a few couches and seats.
Lavi takes a seat on the largest couch, leaving room for Allen and Lenalee. Kanda grunts and remains standing.
"So, I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves." Komui looks over at Lavi and Allen. "I'm Komui Lee and I'm in charge of this fine settlement." Komui looks over at Lavi expectantly.
"Lavi." Lavi says, taking the hint. "Lavi Bookman." Lavi gives Komui a friendly smile.
"And…" Komui looks over at Allen, who introduces himself. "My name's Allen Walker."
"Wonderful!" Komui exclaims happily. "So, how'd you all meet?"
"We were in a settlement together, big brother." Lenalee explains. "Lavi, Kanda and I were, anyway."
"What happened?" Komui asks, concerned.
"What always happens." Kanda answers bitterly. "What else?"
"I'm sorry." Komui apologises before looking over at Allen. "You said you weren't with them?"
"We met Allen a few days ago." Lenalee answers. "The, uh, same thing happened to him."
"Oh." Komui answers awkwardly. "Sorry." Komui apologises again, this time to Allen.
"Oh, It's okay." Allen says, giving Komui a weak smile. "It just happens, I guess."
"Anyway, uh…" Lenalee looks over at Allen questionably. "There's something else."
"Huh?" Lavi says, momentarily confused. He looks over to Allen, who's sitting to his right and clutching his left arm. "Oh, right."
"What is it?" Komui asks, standing.
"Since you're in charge of some many people, I thought you might've seen something like it before." Lenalee hurriedly explains.
"Seen what?" Komui prompts.
"Al?" Lavi looks down at the younger teen, who hasn't moved. "You okay?"
"Huh?" Allen looks up at Lavi, shaken out of his thoughts.
"Wanna go show Komui?" Lavi gives him an encouraging smile.
"Uh, it's okay if you don't want to, I mean-" Lenalee says quickly, not meaning to push Allen.
"Oh, uh, it's okay." Allen mutters, standing up and going over to Komui, who's moved in front of his desk.
Allen glances back at Lavi, who flashes him a thumbs up. Allen smiles back before looking up at Komui.
"You can show me anything, alright?" Komui encourages.
"It's okay Allen." Lenalee stands next to her brother.
"Mmhmm." Allen nods before moving to remove his left glove.
Komui stares as Allen's wounds come into view. As Allen removes his hoodie and rolls up his sleeve, Komui is frozen.
"Big brother?" Lenalee's voice brings him back to reality
"Oh, yes." Komui shakes his head before looking back at Allen's arm. "I'm sorry, I don't quite understand." Komui takes a deep breath. "What happened?"
"What does it look like?" Kanda asks, annoyed.
"You were bitten." Komui answers.
"Three times." Allen finishes. "A few days ago."
"Hmm…" Komui looks at Allen thoughtfully. "I don't think I've ever seen something like this before, but…" Komui looks at everyone. "There have been some weird things happening recently."
"You're telling us." Kanda scoffs.
Komui sighs before continuing. "In the last week or so, we've been encountering more hoards, larger hoards. Even stranger is the fact that were unable to separate them. No matter how much noise we made or how many people we had, they refused to disband."
"There was something similar that we saw, wasn't there?" Lenalee muses,looking over at Lavi. " back at wells borough, I mean."
"Oh yeah." Lavi agrees. "When we left, there was this huge hoard, even with us in two groups,MIT didn't seem to split up."
"I though Road might've done something."'Allen confesses as he covers up his arm again.
"Yeah, me too..."
"Road?" Komui asks, clearly lost.
"She was a girl we met that hung around the undead," Lenalee explains. "She told them what to do and they'd do it."
"But that's impossible!" Komui responds, distressed. "A human controlling them..."
"We saw it, she got them to move strategically and refrain from attacking us." Lenalee continues.
"Hmmm." Komui tries to absorb the information as Lavi keeps speaking.
"That hoard was weird with Allen too."
"Oh yeah." Allen agrees. " they just kinda stopped when I got there."
"They didn't attack you?" Komui asks.
"Nope."
Was there anything else?"
"A little later, we tried again with that other one, on the road." Allen answers.
"The one we nearly ran over." Lavi confirms.
"You mean the one you didn't kill?" Lands bites back at Lavi.
"Hey! That's before we found out about the chest thing"
"Chest thing?" Komui echoes.
"We fought an undead that didn't die, even with is brains blown off." Lavi explains. "We had to end up getting it through the chest before it died."
"Do you know why?"
"We think it was this." Lavi removes the black orb he'd taken from the corpse. "This was in its chest."
"Can I see?" Komui asks.
Lavi hands the ball to Komui, who examines it curiously.
"In the chest, you say?" Komui rolls the ball across the palm of his hand. "I don't think we've encountered anything quite like this…"
"When we first saw those hoards, they dies normally, right?" Lenalee asks.
"Yeah." Lavi answers. "I guess only more recent ones have it."
"It's possible." Komui agrees. "We'll have to do some more tests, we don't have enough information to have a definite answer."
"Komui?" A man comes over, dressed in a long, cream coat.
"Yes?" Komui turns to look at them.
"Here are the field reports from this morning's mission to the forest." The man hands Komui a few sheets of paper.
"Thanks." Komui barely glances at the sheets before throwing them haphazardly onto his desk.
"Where did you even get all this paper from?" Lavi asks, staring at the piles around Komui's desk.
"There's a paper machine in the basement." Komui proudly explains. "It uses up old sheets and turns them into new ones" Komui passes a sheet to Lavi. "See?"
Upon closer inspection, the paper is littered with darker and lighter patches, with faint text over some areas.
"We're currently working on building another." Komui continues. "We're also hoping to produce toiletries and tissue paper soon."
"So you're pretty high-tech?" Lavi concludes.
"We try to be." Komui boasts, puffing his chest out.
"Anyway…" Komui turns back to his desk and begins rummaging through the stacks of paper. "Let's see…"
"Komui?" A concerned woman calls over to the man. "Are you looking for this?" She heads over and grabs a sheet of paper that had fallen of Komui's desk before handing it to him.
"Oh, yes! Thanks." Komui grabs the paper. The woman shakes her head slightly before walking away.
"You really should organise this, big brother." Lenalee advises, cautiously approaching the desk.
"I don't have time!" Komui insists.
"You could do it now." Lenalee points out.
"But Lenalee! I need this time to spend with my wonderful younger sister!"
"Big brother…" Lenalee sighs as Komui attempts to regain his composure.
"What's that?" Allen asks, pointing to the sheet of paper in Komui's hand.
"Oh, yes!" Komui looks down at the paper. "I'm just checking…."
"Checking what?" Lenalee asks.
"Aright!" Komui happily exclaims. "There's a building free right by here."
"A building?" Lavi asks, confused.
"You'll need somewhere to stay, right?" Komui answers with a smile. "Of course, my dear Lenalee can stay with me in this building, but you three can have this one." Komui enthusiastically shows Lavi the paper he was holding, revealing a map of the town. Komui points to a small building marked with a large 0.
"This one's empty so you can move right in!"
By the time they'd reached their new 'home', someone'd already dumped all their stuff inside.
"Helpful." Allen mutters, kicked away their tent from the doorway so they could get inside.
"It's pretty roomy." Lavi notes, looking around.
The building they'd been given was an old convenience store. Komui had in insisted that the upstairs had been a living space for the previous owners. The store itself has large glass windows across the front, partially covered by wooden boards.
Inside, all the shelves have been stripped of merchandise, leaving the white, metal stands against the walls. The counter had been partially deconstructed for wood, leaving a rusted metal frame by the door.
"It smells in here." Allen complains, inspecting the shelves.
"It's not that bad." Lavi assures Allen as he tries to open the windows.
"They're locked." Allen says, noticing a small padlock.
"There's probably some windows upstairs." Lavi guesses, looking for the stairs.
Kanda glares at the room and immediately heads for a small door behind the dismantled counter.
He tries to handle and the door creaks open.
"Hey, you found it!" Lavi exclaims excitedly, sticking his head past Kanda and through the door.
The stairs beyond are old and rickety, with signs of mould and old bloodstains along them and the walls.
"Ew." Allen scrunches up his nose after getting a good look.
"C'mon." Lavi heads up the stairs which loudly creak under his feet.
"Ugh." Allen heads after him, trying not to touch the dirty walls.
The stairs lead to a narrow hallway, decorated in dusty photos and a hideous, striped wallpaper.
At the end of the hallway is a large bedroom, complete with a small balcony looking out into the street. The room itself had two large beds and a couple round mirrors along the walls. A vase of wilted flowers sits by the door, which is next to a large, wooden writing desk.
"I bet this opens." Lavi says, heading over to the large sliding doors. With a little effort, the doors slide open and Lavi steps out onto the balcony.
"Cool!" Lavi looks down into the street, where people are bustling about and chatting loudly.
"Let me see!" Allen pushes past Lavi to look around as the balcony creaks beneath them.
"I don't think this is very safe." Allen notes, noticing the noise.
"Nah, it's fine." Lavi assure him. "But, maybe we should go back inside."
"Yeah, okay."
The rest of the rooms are much smaller. One is a smaller bedroom and the other is a bathroom, complete with a suspicious bloodstained shower head.
"Let's not stay in here." Allen decides, shutting the door.
"Hey, look at this!" Lavi calls from the smaller bedroom.
"What?" Allen heads through the corridor to look at Lavi through the doorway.
Lavi's siting on the floor by the bed, with a large box sticking out of the bottom. The box is open and one of Lavi's hands is currently rummaging through it.
"I found some cool stuff." Lavi looks up at Allen. "Like this!"
Lavi pulls a plastic eyepatch out and holds it up. The eyepatch is decorated with a large, cartoon skull and cross bones.
"I'm so keeping this." Lavi slips the eyepatch over his already covered right eye.
"You look stupid." Allen remarks, turning away from him.
"Hey! That's mean!" Lavi cries out, scrambling off the floor. "Maybe Yuu will appreciate it." Lavi heads to the stares, pouting.
"What are you doing?" Kanda, who'd just come up the stairs, glares at Lavi.
"Oh, Yuu! I was just going to talk to you!" Lavi says happily.
"Don't call me that." Kanda growls. "What the hell is on your face?"
"You don't like it?" Lavi pouts again.
"You're an idiot." Kanda decides and turns to head back down the stairs.
"Hey!" Lavi heads after him, almost tripping and falling down the stairs. "Wait!"
The settlement was far larger than Lenalee had first guessed. It'd been over an hour and she's barely moved more than a few blocks from the tower.
Lenalee looks curiously at young children running through the streets, older people walking down the sidewalks and the hundreds of happy, healthy people around her. On her current street, people were trading jewellery, clothes and other things under tents and on blankets.
As lunchtime approached, everyone seemed to gravitate to a large building along the widest road.
"Lenalee!" Komui runs excitedly towards her.
"Big brother!" Lenalee smiles at her brother as he stops and catches his breath. "Where's everyone going?"
"It's lunchtime." Komui answers. "All the meals are fairly rationed three times a day." Komui proudly explains.
"That's great!" Lenalee replies happily.
"Let's go eat." Komui smiles widely and heads towards the building. "I sent someone to go tell Kanda and the others."
"Allen! Help!" Lavi cries loudly as he attempts to run from Kanda.
"This is your own fault, Lavi." Allen points out, not moving from his seat on the stairs.
"Get back here!" Kanda brandishes his sword as the two weave through the empty shelves.
"Yuu, don't do this!" Lavi calls, enraging Kanda further.
"You stupid rabbit-"
"Um. Excuse me?"
Allen turns to see a concerned man in their doorway, dressed in a familiar cream coloured coat. The man's blond hair is swept back, with a dark strip of brown through the middle. His beard is neatly trimmed and his square glasses have a few visible scratches across them.
"Hey." Allen gets up and heads over to him.
"Are they okay?" The man asks, pointing at Lavi and Kanda.
"They're fine." Allen gives the man a reassuring grin. "Was there something you needed?"
"Oh yes." The man says. "Komui said to bring you to lunch."
"Lunch?" Allen asks.
"Everyone here eats together, so we can ration to food fairly." The man explains.
"Oh, thanks." Allen says. "Just give us a minute."
Lavi, who'd just fallen through one of the shelves, emerges, covered in rust and a few scrapes.
"I'm starving." he declares, getting up.
Kanda, simply sheaths his sword and heads to the door, seemingly calmed by Lavi's injuries.
"Let's get going then." Allen declares, stepping out into the street.
"Wait, who's this?" Lavi asks, looking curiously at the man.
"Oh, I'm Jake Russell, nice to meet you." Jake extends his hand to Lavi.
"Nice to meetcha!" Lavi enthusiastically shakes Jake's hand.
"Let's get going!" Allen demands impatiently.
"Okay, okay." Lavi agrees before turning to Jake. "Lead the way!"
"The canteen is much larger than just the one building, we have benches and tables in the park nearby being used as well." Jake explains as the four head down the street. "We use warehouses at the edge of town to hold all the food, that's why the canteen is kind of out of the way." Jake gestures to a bunch of warehouses just visible past the canteen.
"How many people are here anyway?" Lavi wonders.
"Last I checked it was around twelve hundred." Jake answers thoughtfully.
"When did you last check?"
"Last week sometime."
The group reach the large, glass doors where they can see people moving about with plates and bowls of food.
"Come on in." Jake pushes the door open and lets the three boys go inside.
"There they are!" Lenalee stands from her seat at the picnic table to wave at the door. Lavi immediately spots her and waves back, nudging Allen.
Lenalee waves them over, all holding small bowls.
"How're you settling in?" Komui asks, once everyone sits down.
"Kanda broke the shelves." Allen replies, staring on his bowl of vegetable soup.
"How? What happened?" Lenalee asks, concerned.
"It was Lavi's fault." Allen quickly explains.
"Lavi…" Lenalee looks over at him.
"Hehe…" Lavi laughs sheepishly.
"Were all your things there?" Komui asks.
"I dunno." Lavi admits. "We didn't really check."
"Well, if anything is missing, let me know." Komui says. "We can probably replace anything…"
"Are we allowed to keep all our food and stuff?" Lavi wonders.
"Oh, yes!." Komui answers. "Everyone is allowed their own share of supplies for personal use. You also get to keep some of your spoils from expeditions too, though most goes into the settlement."
"Expeditions?" Allen asks, finally putting down his now empty bowl.
"Everyone who's able goes on expeditions to find supplies or does work here in the settlement." Komui explains. "Everyone chips in so we can get everyone food and basic supplies."
"Do we get to go on expeditions too?" Allen asks hopefully.
"Everyone from age fifteen to fifty are available to be chosen."
"Chosen?" Lenalee asks.
"We can't have everyone go out, so we try to even out the outside jobs amongst the whole population."
"What if you're not fifteen to fifty?"Allen prompts, slightly deflated.
"I suppose it depends…" Komui answers, seemingly oblivious. "We do have a few over fifty that still go out, but I don't think there's anyone younger than fifteen."
"Big brother…" Lenalee says, nudging him.
"Huh?"
Lenalee leans over and whispers in his ear.
"Oh!" Komui looks back at Allen. "I see."
"So…?" Allen asks expectantly.
"I suppose it wouldn't be a problem, as long as you're stick with the group…" Komui grins at Allen.
"Nice!" Lavi claps Allen on the back hard.
"Ow." Allen grunts before turing to hit Lavi back.
"We only let five groups go out at any one time, so if you're that enthusiastic…" Komui trails off thoughtfully.
"How big are the groups?" Lavi asks.
"Five to six people max." Komui answers. "We try not to have too many people out of the settlement, though…"
"What?" Lenalee asks as Komui stares off thoughtfully.
"You'd be surprised how little people want to go outside."
"What do you mean?" Lavi asks.
"Most people here don't even carry weapons." Komui continues.
"So they're just ignoring the threat?" Lavi concludes.
"Yes, and that's no good for supply runs." Komui continues sadly. "People are getting too dependant on our gardens and most don't want to go out anymore."
"That's…sad." Lenalee says, looking around at all the people. "I guess it's fair though, it's not the best out there."
"Still…" Lavi trails off with a scowl.
"Well, you service is appreciated." Komui smiles at them. "It'll be good to have some willing participants for a change."
After lunch, Komui leads everyone back to the main building, where they file into his office.
"We just need to add you into the job rosters..." Komui starts rummaging through his desk. "Any preferences?"
"Not really." Lavi shrugs.
"We'd be happy to help with anything." Lenalee continues, nudging Kanda. "Right?"
"...Whatever." Kanda grumbles.
"Well, let's see…" Komui pulls out some notes, barely glancing at them. "Yes, this looks okay." He looks over to the assembled group. "You can leave now, if you'd like. You're jobs'll be announced in the morning with everyone else's."
"You're very organised." Lavi notes. "I'm almost impressed."
"We've been here a while." Komui smiles.
"Thanks, Big Brother." Lenalee says gratefully, smiling at Komui.
"If you need anything else, come see me anytime!" Komui smiles back enthusiastically, turning his back on his messy desk.
"Don't forget all your work." A man standing by Komui reminds him.
"Oh, yes."
The four leave the room and head for the exit.
"So, where exactly are you staying, Lenalee?" Allen asks.
"Oh, I'm a few floors higher, next to Big Brother."
"It's probably better than our place." Allen mutters.
"It's not so great." Lenalee admits. "It's small and kind of dirty."
"Well, we'll show you our place and you can decided which one is worse." Allen decides, pulling Lenalee out the door.
"Well, here it is." Allen announces as the four enter the ex-convenience store.
"There's so much room!" Lenalee exclaims walking into the space.
"Yeah, I guess." Lavi says, stepping in after her.
"What happened here?" Lenalee asks, looking down at the broken shelves.
"It was Yuu." Lavi points as Kanda.
"What? That was your fault, stupid rabbit." Kanda growls. "And don't call me that!"
"That's how it happened." Allen explains.
"Oh." Lenalee watches the two.
"Here, I'll show you upstairs." Allen grins as he heads up the crooked stairs, Lenalee close behind.
It only took a few minutes to show Lenalee around, considering the tiny space.
So, the four regroup downstairs to talk. They push everything to the sides and lay out one of the blankets. They all sit down, except for Kanda who remains standing.
"It's just…a little too regulated for my taste." Lavi admits. "Too many forms and stuff, no fun at all."
"It's just how they're used to doing it." Lenalee counters. "We should try and fit in."
"Ugh, lame." Lavi falls backwards.
"Maybe we'll get used to it." Allen suggests. "It might get better soon."
"Doubt it." Kanda mutters.
"But this place has hundreds of people." Lenalee adds. "There are little other ways to look after that many."
"I guess." Lavi shrugs.
"And they can help collect information." Lenalee continues.
"Information?" Lavi perks up a little.
"About everything." Lenalee says. "You know, how to better survive or collect and grow food, or even about the new zombies."
"Fair enough." Lavi lies back down. "I just want to know what the hell's going on and if this place is going to help with that, then I'm all for it."
—
