By morning, we were on foot.
I looked back at the transport with regret. For all its beauty and power, I simply couldn't keep it. I didn't have the fuel.
We buried Richard nearby. Carrying the body with us was pointless. The dead don't care and the living only slow themselves down.
We didn't have to walk for long.
In the distance, I spotted a parked truck and a small shape rapidly approaching it.
"Well, looks like luck smiled on us a little," I said.
"Who's that?" Tommy asked.
"You've already met him," I replied.
Moments later, Druzhok came into view. He was running full speed toward me, tail wagging wildly, tongue hanging out of his mouth. He crashed into me, licking my face and wrapping his paws around me, while I stroked him, trying to calm him down.
Surprisingly, Rebecca had decided to stay and wait for us instead of leaving.
"Why did it take you so long?" she asked, looking us over then swallowing hard when she saw only us, without Richard.
"An infected horde swallowed the entire region," I said quietly.
"A horde?" Rebecca repeated, confused.
I told her everything that had happened and that Richard hadn't made it. She only asked where his body was. She decided to rebury him later, next to his son, at his home, once things calmed down.
Brian took it the hardest. He had lost his grandfather.
He said only one thing:
"Grandpa's with Dad now."
Maybe I would've cried too. But after everything I'd been through, my heart felt like stone. I felt nothing.
Nothing at all.
To my surprise, she had taken both vehicles with her, towing mine behind the truck. She asked to keep my car, offering me the truck with the weapons instead. She said she didn't need it it would only draw attention from people eager to take what was inside.
I agreed.
We parted ways at a highway intersection. She headed west. We went east toward Pittsburgh.
I gave the brothers a ride to Pittsburgh. They wanted to find a vehicle of their own. I continued with my plan: take one from the Jackals.
I needed information from them to understand what they were planning, so I could act accordingly. Attacking an armed group alone was suicidal. But setting up an ambush together with them? That could work.
The truck was slow and far too noticeable. I had to hide it and transport the weapons to my base using my enduro bike. I didn't show the base to the brothers.
I didn't want to show it to anyone.
What I did there raised questions. Suspicion. No one knew what I carried in my filters or why I wore them at all. You don't just collect that kind of equipment for no reason.
When I returned home and stripped off my clothes, I noticed blackened veins spreading along the left side of my body.
Was my blood darkening?
I needed a doctor urgently. Preferably one who knew how to keep their mouth shut.
I had time before the attack on the Jackals. I needed to meet Eric. I'd promised to return by November and I was here.
The weather had turned cold. The average temperature hovered around +10°C. In winter, it rarely dropped below +3°C. With weather this warm, snow was rare mostly slush and mud. Snow might fall at night, but by day it always melted.
This year felt even warmer than usual. There was something else I couldn't ignore. FEDRA patrols had become fewer. Much fewer. It gave me a very bad feeling. So bad my insides tightenedг like I could sense trouble closing in.
At the base an old fire station the people I'd chosen were already gathered.
Samuel Norton had only been convicted once, for minor hooliganism. He'd paid for it long ago. He truly tried to change his life but now it didn't matter.
His mother was elderly. She needed medication. He wanted to take care of her, but working for rations in FEDRA territory didn't give him access to drugs that could keep her alive.
He was twenty-six. Young, strong but with exhaustion in his eyes that couldn't be hidden. Short hair. Clean-shaven.
Nate Brooke used to be a teacher.
He worked at a middle school and, until the very last moment, escorted children into the quarantine zone, saving their lives. Only his daughter survived she attended the same school where he taught. The rest of his family didn't make it.
He joined the Fireflies by accident. All he wanted was better conditions for children nothing more. But things went wrong. Rumors spread fast. Many people knew about his connection to the Fireflies, and now he was being hunted.
He was afraid to go near his daughter, knowing he might put her in danger.
He looked worn down. A tired face, frozen in permanent sorrow. The hardest part was that he hadn't seen his daughter in a month and a half. Messy black hair. Constant tension in his eyes.
The last one was Oliver Raines.
He'd listened to speeches. Believed the Fireflies' words. He had no family lost his parents at the very beginning, when everything collapsed. He survived by sheer luck, hiding with the military.
Dirty blond hair. Green eyes. Thin build.
I trusted him the least but as they say, beggars can't be choosers. They shared the latest news with me. And handed me a note. If I showed up, I was to go into the city immediately.
The situation had truly changed.
The Jackals had grown far more aggressive. They were constantly attacking FEDRA patrols especially in the city center. But why? There was nothing there but the restricted zone and the infected. What was the point of trying to seize that part of the city?
I didn't waste time and headed straight for the zone.
When I reached the entrance to the sewers, the absence of patrols unsettled me. Even after an entire hour, no one showed up. It made my nerves tighten yet everything around me was quiet.
Too quiet.
I ran to the manhole, shoved it aside, and dropped inside. After closing it above me, I moved deeper, weapon ready. The tunnels were clear. I advanced carefully, listening, checking every corner.
I didn't see anyone until I reached the exit.
"Oh. It's you," Norman said, holding a knife. "Thought some outsider had crawled in. None of our guys were supposed to be out."
Norman helped me climb out and sealed the entrance.
"Anything suspicious in the quarantine zone lately?" I asked.
"No… no, nothing like that," he replied. His hurried tone only made me more uneasy.
"Alright," I said. I needed to find Eric and fast.
When I reached their place, the basement door was locked. It was silent inside probably empty. I headed for the dining hall instead.
I went straight to the counter where Sarah stood.
"Hey. I need Eric. Where is he?" I asked.
Something flickered in Sarah's eyes. I couldn't tell what it was, but I noticed.
"He was looking for you. I'll take you to him. Jessica, cover for me," she said to the girl beside her and stepped out from behind the counter. Then she came to me. "Come on. I don't have much time."
As I followed her, I scanned the FEDRA soldiers in the room. They barely reacted to me.
But the feeling remained danger was close.
"Everything quiet in the city?" I asked.
"Same as always. No changes," Sarah said.
Maybe I hadn't spent much time around people in the last year, but something about her was wrong. She walked ahead without once looking back.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"To our storage. We keep all the supplies there," she answered casually.
We approached what looked like a small hangar. Then moved farther, toward a structure more like a garage. She opened the door and went in. I followed.
The light from outside hit my eyes, blinding me for a second.
When my vision cleared, I found myself surrounded by FEDRA soldiers weapons aimed directly at me.
In that instant, I remembered Sarah giving a slight nod to a man near the exit in the dining hall. He had left immediately. Judging by the location of the storage, she had taken a longer route on purpose buying them time.
"Why?" I asked quietly.
She didn't answer. Just stood off to the side.
"You're under arrest," a FEDRA soldier said, stepping toward me with handcuffs.
Trying to run would've been suicide. I was boxed in. But letting them take me wasn't an option either. If they ran tests and discovered I was infected, they'd shoot me on the spot.
There was almost no choice at all.
I waited until he got close enough, handcuffs extended then struck him in the face. I grabbed his neck and yanked him in front of me, pressing my pistol to his head. But I didn't have time to do anything else. A rifle butt slammed into the side of my skull. The world went black.