Four, five…ten. He counted ten in the room ahead of him, only two were up and moving, three were sitting down, one leaning against the wall, two laying on the floor and the last one hunched over grabbing at its head flailing from its pain. All of them showed clear signs of exhaustion and pain, even after they fully turned and their minds were gone, the fever and sickness still remained. He watched one of them vomit, her body lurching forward as she expelled bile and blood across the floor then collapse to her hands and knees only to begin crawling before laying down to sleep.

A sad and pitiful sight. The fever caused by this infection burned away the higher functions of the brain, reducing even the most intelligent people to a primal almost neanderthal state. When not provoked by something they simply shuffled around in a permanent daze. From what he had been able to observe and study over the years they acted like a primitive individual, a caveman with a severe illness, unable to communicate, unable to do anything except carry on and whimper from the pain. He noticed one of the infected walking around with a severed arm in its hand, they couldn't use tools or weapons, but some had latched on to things and due to the muscle spasms were unable to let go leading to unintentional weapon usage.

They were surprisingly docile when not alerted to or provoked by something. Their senses of sight and hearing were drastically hindered by the infection to the point where they would walk into doors and walls and ignore most sounds that were not out of the ordinary. One kicked a soda can and while they were alerted to the sound of it clattering across the floor they ignored it once they saw what it was confirming that on some level they could tell the difference between living and non-living things. Occasionally one would still attack an inanimate object out of a fever-induced rage, but for the most part they just continued on.

There were only ten of them he could easily take them out, he brought a suppressor for his pistol, but one could still alert others from nearby rooms if he didn't take them out fast enough.

"I could always sneak by them" he thought, "Slip by quickly and move on, as long as they don't get out the facility sanitation will take care of them."

He took a deep breath as he weighed his options deciding it best to leave them for now, if he drew too much attention there wouldn't be enough room to maneuver and no matter how good he was if he was outnumbered enough in such a small space he would surely die. This was worse than what happened at the Vrede facility, at least then he had Mark to watch his back, here he was alone and even though he was experienced in dealing with these poor souls, fear naturally set in. What happened to cause this, were the suspicions of sabotage true, how many infected were there, what was waiting in the darkness and what happened to Mark. No matter how steeled he was on the outside these thoughts invaded his mind making him anxious and on edge and it only grew the deeper he went into the facility.

Coming to a branch in the corridor he stood flush against the wall before peering around the corner, there was only one infected standing there, slowly swaying back and forth, muttering to itself like a drunkard. Holstering his firearm he pulled his knife from its sheath as he moved toward it, swift and silent like the huntsman he had trained to be, a single precise stab to its skull ended the man's misery. Wrapping an arm around the corpse's waist he guided it to the floor wanting to avoid as much noise as possible as he moved on. His first goal was to check the security room and then the on site dormitories to check for survivors, afterwards he would need to go to the facility's power generator, restore power and initiate the sanitation protocols.

He had long since memorized the layout of every lab in Remnant, he knew exactly where he was and the quickest route to the security room; his only concern was what would be between him and that destination. Pulling his silenced firearm from its holster he steadied it against his forearm, his other hand still tightly gripping his knife, pointing ahead of him and he moved through the hall, a quick peek into every open door he passed and silently closing the doors as he did. He checked his watch, he started a timer once he got inside, he had already been here for close to an hour thanks to how slowly he was moving. Finally reaching the security room he powered on the monitors, security in each of the labs ran off their own backup power supply, but it only lasted a short time if the main power wasn't restored.

He quickly shuffled through the video feeds across the facility, the infected were everywhere, the cafeteria, the lobby, the research labs, the containment rooms, even the dormitories. Over eight hundred infected and dozens of bodies too mutilated to rise again. The nearby armory door was open and he saw an infected woman stumble out of the door with an arrow sticking out of her back. Switching cameras he caught a glimpse of what looked like a red dress with gold highlights darting around a corner, he followed the path switching to the next camera only catching the same glimpse, who or whatever it was moved quickly.

He followed again, switching to the next camera and then the next finally seeing who it was when they stopped to fight a small group of infected. It was a woman, long black hair over her left shoulder wearing a red dress that ended in a short skirt just past her hips, its gold highlights well illuminated in the red emergency lighting. He watched her form a bow and an arrow from thin air and score a headshot kill on one infected before separating the bow into twin swords, swiftly killing the other two. Checking her location he noticed she was only a few halls away from him, not wanting to risk anything happening to her he rushed from the room to find her.

Rounding the corner he was met with a blade slashing against his throat, thankfully his aura took the hit as he came face to face with the woman he was looking for, someone he recognized.

"Cinder right?" he asked, "We met at the Vrede facility."

Her eyes, narrow at first widened when she recognized him, "Dr. Helms, I heard you survived what happened there."

He nodded as she lowered her weapon, "Yeah, good to see you did as well, I take it you left before everything went to hell?"

Cinder recalled what she told him that day, "Yeah, I dropped off what I needed to and left to go back to Mistral. Guess I got lucky."

Sin agreed, "Yeah, but it looks like you know how to handle yourself though" he nodded to the 360 camera on the ceiling, "I saw you from security."

Her lips curved to offer a small, but confident smirk, "Well learning to fight is kind of a requirement to survive in today's world."

Sin couldn't disagree, "True. Do you know if anyone else is alive?"

Cinder shook her head, "No, honestly I doubt there is."

"How long have you been here?" Sin asked her.

Cinder checked her scroll, "This all happened about seventy-six hours ago. I've been trying to get the power back on, but electronics and engineering isn't my forte and dodging these things make it take longer. I prepared a safe room in the dormitories to rest and was on my way back before I heard you running this way."

"I'm impressed at your survival skills" he replied, "I'd rather not stay here too long, but a safe room sounds good. Let's head there and think of what to do next."

Cinder agreed and the two began heading to the dormitories, "So what brought you out here?"

Sin answered, "Mark Shore, he's a friend, but he's gone MIA. No one's heard from him in two weeks, he never goes more than forty-eight hours without checking in. And once I heard this place went silent I rushed out here. His most recent assignment was capturing specimens for this facility so I was hoping to find him."

"Mark Shore" Cinder hummed, "The faunus right?"

Sin nodded, "Yeah."

Cinder looked at the floor, "I'm sure someone with his skills will be fine."

"I know" Sin said, his concern betraying him, "It would take a lot to bring him down and even then he's not going without a fight and a lot of noise."

Cinder smirked, "The same could be said about you. You escaped the Vrede facility mere seconds before the sanitation started. Quite the noise you made."

Sin once again nodded, "Priority one is always to make sure the infection doesn't make it outside the facility, no matter the cost."

"Can't argue with that" Cinder said, "But I don't have any plans for this place to be my final resting ground."

"Same here" Sin agreed.

Back at the dormitories Cinder showed Sin the safe room she had set up, the former rec room had been cleared out and remodeled into an improvised safe room, heavy shelves standing next to each door ready to be tipped over to deny entry, two of the couches brought together into a makeshift bed. The connected kitchen was still clean, the cabinets stocked with hundreds of non-perishables and bottled drinks and the bar mostly untouched.

"Had a few drinks?" Sin asked jokingly, seeing a glass recently used.

"One or two last night" Cinder answered, "Girl has to take the edge off somehow" she added with a wink.

Sin chuckled, "You are surprisingly calm considering everything."

Cinder turned to him, "What? Surprised because a woman can handle herself?"

Sin laughed again, "Oh no, definitely not that. Besides, I learned a long time ago that women can handle themselves. You should meet my old teammate Ivy, she put me on my ass every time we fought."

Hearing his tone Cinder smirked, "Sounds like you like strong women" she leaned against the counter, "I hope I fit that description."

"The judges are still convening" Sin smirked, "But with that last performance I think you can expect tens on your score cards."

The two kept eye contact, smirking at one another in silence for a few moments, the brief exchange a welcome distraction from their situation.

Sin finally looked away, "We should focus on what we need to do. I need to find clues to what happened to Mark, then we need to check for survivors and get the main power back online."

Cinder dropped her smile, reluctantly agreeing with him, "My dorm was on the third floor, there's nothing above that and my whole floor was empty which leads me to believe this started when I was resting. I cleared the second floor and first floors before setting this up."

She brought him to the bar where she had the facility map laid out, "I've marked the areas I've dealt with so far" she points to the red X's, "These are rooms I've closed off, at least as best I was able to. I wouldn't call them completely inaccessible, but I doubt the infected can get through without a significant number trying at once. The green lines are sections I've decided are the safest routes to go through. The yellow circles are the places where I've seen the most."

She stopped when she saw Sin take a marker and start writing numbers in each area.

"What are those?"

"How many I counted in each area" he answered, "I counted them when I was checking the security camera. Eight hundred sixty-four total, unless some were in the bathrooms, no cameras in those."

"You got an accurate count that quickly?" she asked him, clearly surprised.

Sin set the marker down, "I get focused quick when this sort of thing happens. Can't miss a single detail" he looked over the map writing the number they had each killed on the side, "Using my count as a rough total we can better keep track of things. Of course they can still wander around so these numbers will change the longer we let them be, but if we move fast we can be done with this before it changes too much."

Cinder smirked again, "Good looks, good fighting skills and smarts, what don't you have?"

"Sobriety" Sin answered, "I may or may not have issues with alcohol abuse."

"Sounds like you just let the stress pile up too much" Cinder said standing behind him placing her hands on his shoulders, "If the two of us are going to be stuck working together I don't mind helping you with that stress" she slid her hands forward and down his chest.

"Maybe some other time" Sin said standing up, "Besides, if an infected wandered in it would kind of kill the mood don't you think?"

"Well the tone would probably shift" Cinder admitted, "One of us might feel pent up enough to kill it out of frustration more than mercy" her tone, seductive and not at all subtle.

Sin turned to her, "You always like that or just happy to see someone else in this hell with you?"

A suggestive smirk as she replied, "Well I have been here alone with these things for over three days now."

"People" Sin corrects, "They're not things."

Cinder pauses seeing the serious look in him as he said that, "I know" she apologizes, "It's just easier to kill them when you force yourself to not see them as people."

"I know" Sin replied, "For a while I was the same. Every infected, every mutated animal I looked at them as things, as experiments to try and not think about the fact that they can still feel and react to pain. Eventually it started to eat at me, I tried to perform my experiments as painlessly as possible to do whatever I could to preserve the dignity that they deserve."

He fell quiet remembering everything he had done over the years, "One day I realized that no matter what they were in pain whether I added to it or not and that there was no helping them once they changed. I had to force myself to remember that using them was for the greater good of the world. Grimm or person I would do what I had to, but I would humanely euthanize them before their time was up."

He remembered the grimm that killed Peach, his old friend, his teammate. He let his rage and despair dictate his actions that day, he ruthlessly shot it again and again to kill it, aiming not to kill, but to inflict pain until it died from the trauma. Looking back he hated himself for it, the actions of a murderer, a monster.

He didn't realize he was shaking until she touched him, her beautiful amber eyes gazing at him, "How much have you been through?" she asked him.

"More than anyone should" he admitted, "We can talk about it another time, we should get going."

The two head back into the facility, first heading to the main generator to see if they can restart it.

Striking a conversation Cinder began, "If we can get the power back on we can get the lights back on, it would make seeing easier."

"True" Sin agreed, "But it would make it easier for them to see us as well, but we're smart enough to find a way to deal with that. All they'll do is snarl and chase us."

Cinder added, "Well having the power back would also let us lockdown certain sections, we can better contain them."

"Exactly" Sin said, "And with proper power restored we can also tap security and remotely access the cameras from your cozy little home."

Cinder chuckled, "Well until we're out of here it's our home isn't it?"

Sin smirked, "Well there are worse roommates to have during an apocalypse. I don't have any complaints of mine being an alluring woman like you."

"Alluring?" Cinder repeated, "Out of all the words available you chose that one?"

Sin threw a playful smirk her way, "Considering how you were acting earlier it seemed appropriate."

"I'll remember that" Cinder replied leaning against the doorway, a taunting smile of her own.

She stood guard while Sin went around the room checking the main generator and breakers. It took him a few hours, but thankfully they had each other for conversation to keep them sane and focused. Repairing the primary breaker he managed to get the generator back online, the large turbine roaring back to life along with the lights and the rest of the power.

Checking his watch, Sin determined they still had enough time to do a quick sweep of their immediate area before heading back to the safe room to rest. The noise from the generator did attract a few dozen infected all of which easily dealt with between the two of them. Closing the door to the generator room to muffle its noise they returned to the ground floor where their next stop was the infirmary followed by the lab. Cinder searched for useful medical supplies while Sin went through various computers and daily logs to try and determine how the outbreak happened.

He began back tracing the outbreak, finding potential patient zeros and narrowing them down to half a dozen candidates, but before he could narrow them down any further they both heard a scream.

Cinder looked at the door, "That sounded like a child."

"What the hell is a kid doing here?" Sin yelled, shoving the files into a nearby briefcase along with a laptop and running out of the room, "Come on!" he yelled to Cinder.

Cinder quickly followed knowing the screams would alert nearby infected and soon the howls of the horde would follow. Right on time with her thoughts she heard them, dozens, hundreds, so many howls echoed through the halls and snarls from nearby rooms as the infected began beating on the doors and windows to get to them. She ran after Sin as he charged down the hall following the screams until he saw a pair of infected running around a corner away from him. Pursuing them Sin rounded a corner too quickly, tripping over overturned furniture leaving him open for an infected faunus to lunge down at him, sinking its teeth into his neck.

Coming around the corner Cinder grabbed the infected man pulling him off Sin and throwing him against the wall, summoning her swords and impaling them into his chest killing it before checking Sin as he got back to his feet.

"I'm fine" he quickly said, retrieving the briefcase, "Let's go!"

He continued running down the hall, his aura taking the bite instead of him, coming to the end of the hall he saw the infected beating against the door to one of the restrooms, their swings rabid and feral, unhindered by their brains they beat against the door with their full strength denting it and from inside the screaming could be heard even more.

Setting his briefcase down Sin drew his unscrewing the suppressor from the barrel dropping it to the ground as he moved forward, firing a shot at the nearest infected killing it immediately, the gunshot attracting the attention of the others. Waiting for the group to rush him Sin fired again, sidestepped the next tripping it, grabbed the fourth using it as a shield as he rushed the fifth pinning both against the wall, a single shot going through both of their skulls before he turned and fired a quick shot into the skull of the one he tripped.

Holstering his gun he ran to the restroom door and called out, "Hey! They're dead, open the door we need to go before more show up!"

No response, Cinder watching from the junction as Sin beat on the door calling out again, "More are coming, open the door and I can help you!"

"Sin!" Cinder called, forming her bow, "We need to leave!" she fired an arrow down the hall at the approaching horde.

Growling Sin looked back at the door and yelled, "Get away from the door!" with all his strength and a burst of his aura he kicked the already damaged door, breaking its lock and hearing another scream as he stepped inside, a little girl in a green polo dress with a small white jacket tied around her waist.

She screamed as he rushed over to her and picked her up, terrified and full of panic she tried to kick and push him away, but he held her tight against him as he ran out of the restroom yelling for Cinder to grab his briefcase and run. The three of them fled, the girl's screams slowly stopping as she realized these two were trying to save her and she buried herself into Sin's shirt. Returning to the safe room Cinder closed the door tipping the bookshelves over to stop the door from opening and stepped back with her bow drawn, Sin behind her with his pistol also trained on the door, standing sideways to shield the girl in the event the infected got through.

The two of them counted as the minutes passed with no sounds or signs that they were still being pursued and finally relaxed. Holstering his weapon, Sin turned toward the couch and set the girl down, her eyes red from how much she had been crying, her face flushed from burying it against his shirt and shoulder.

Kneeling down to her height, Sin asked, "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head weakly thanking him for saving her.

"I wasn't going to leave you there alone. What's your name?"

"Clemintine Suzuki" she told him, her voice still hoarse from how much she had been screaming and crying.

"How old are you?" Sin asked her.

"Eight" she answered, still crying.

Sin placed a hand on her shoulder, "You're safe now okay. We'll get you out of here. Do you know where your parents are?"

She shook her head, "We got separated, I was trying to find mommy, but the monsters kept chasing me."

"We'll help you find them okay" he told her, "I'm a doctor, is it okay if I check to make sure you're not hurt?"

The girl nodded and Sin looked her over, checking to make sure she wasn't wounded, "No wounds so far."

"What's a wound?" Clementine asked him.

"It's a word for the really bad owies" he told her with a small smile.

He looked at Cinder, "Can you take her into the next room and check under her clothes for any injuries?"

Cinder crossed her arms, "I thought you were the doctor?"

"I am" Sin said, "But I'm trying to be professional and responsible here."

"Given our situation is professionalism really a concern?" Cinder asked, trying to get a rise out of him.

"Yes!" Sin immediately answered, falling for her taunt, "Also she's eight so please?"

Cinder chuckled, "Alright. Come on little one I'm going to finish your check up."

Cinder led the girl into the next room while Sin sat at the bar counter and opened the briefcase looking over the notes once again trying to determine how the outbreak happened. Cinder returned half an hour later with Clementine to let Sin know she was completely uninjured and showed no signs of infection.

Sin nodded, "Right, with the power back see if you can't bring up something fun on the TV, I'll find something for us to eat."

With the power back on Sin checked the refrigerator, there were some half-eaten meals and ingredients, but nothing he felt safe using with no way to tell if it was contaminated or not. Moving to the cabinets he checked all the non-perishables, finding a lot of canned fruit and vegetables. It would have to do for now. Opening the cans and grabbing some of the bottled drinks he made sure their seals weren't tampered with before he brought them back to Cinder and Clementine.

"It's not much" he said, handing a can of peaches and a bottle of water to her, "But it's the safest thing we have right now. The other stuff might be bad and spoiled."

The girl nodded as she took them and began eating and drinking. Soon after falling asleep from the day's exhaustion.

"Do you think she really survived on her own for three days?" Cinder asked him, staying quiet to not disturb her.

"Maybe" Sin answered, "Or maybe her mom and dad were still with her until recently."

Cinder looked at him, "You know they're most likely dead right?"

Sin didn't want to answer that, "We still need to look for them. I'm already here to find clues to where Mark went, might as well try to find her parents as well."

He sat next to Cinder staring at Clementine as she slept on the opposite couch hearing Cinder chuckle.

He asked her, "What's funny this time?"

Cinder looked at him, "Earlier you called this my cozy little home. And now here you and I are with a child. Maybe it is feeling like a home after all."

She watched as Sin's cheeks turned a little red and he looked away, "I um" he stood up, "I'm going to go over what we found, keep an eye on her."

Cinder watched with a smirk as he went back to the bar counter, she had fun teasing him, but she wondered how long she could keep it up until he started getting suspicious. Was he suspicious of her now? Should she take care of him now? What if his aura was up? She was confident she could take him, especially if she caught him off guard, but…where would be the fun in that. Why not play with him a bit longer.

Her eyes narrowed as she traced a mental bullseye on his back, wondering when the perfect time to hit it would be, the same way she did with that foolish tiger faunus.