David stared at them both, frozen. He watched as Tundra picked Damian up by the collar and pinned him against the wall. He was joined by Noche, who curled around his legs.

‘‘Answer me, you asshole !! Where is he ?!’’

‘‘Listen, Tundra, I’m afraid I can’t help you, I’m not with the founders anymore, I got kicked out b-’’

Tundra interrupted him by punching him in the face. Some blood ran out of his nose.

‘‘That doesn’t matter, Damian, you still know where they are ! So tell me, and then I can let you go…’’

‘‘You interrupted me. I was saying something that you might wanna know. They kicked me out, because… I’m infected’’

He licked the blood from his nosebleed and his eyes turned yellow. He was turning.

‘‘Oh shit !’’

Tundra stumbled back and tripped on the cat, falling on the ground. He quickly got back to his feet, picked up Noche, and started running, as Damian yelled in pain from his transformation. Coming out of his stupor, David pointed his gun up but before he could shoot Tundra grabbed the arm holding the weapon and pulled him along, running.

‘‘I need him alive !’’

‘‘He’s turning !’’

‘‘He’ll turn back ! Don’t question me, just run !!’’

He didn’t really know why he was listening to the orders of a kid who looked no older than 14 but he just followed without questioning it. They turned a corner and they could hear Damian’s yells turn into screeches. Tundra ran straight to the nearest manhole cover, removed it, and dropped Noche into the hole. He waited for David to get in, then jumped a few rungs down and slammed the lid back on, just in time. He dropped down next to his new friend.

‘‘So, what’s your name ?’’

A few hours later, they were both sitting against the wall, petting Noche to try to distract themselves from the murder monster trying to join them.

‘‘Oh come on kid, I told you about myself, you can open up a little !’’

‘‘Leave me alone.’’

‘‘You don’t have to open up about some sensitive topic, but at least say something…’’

‘‘I’m from Europe.’’

‘‘Y- yes, I could tell, you have an accent. Can I know why you need that guy alive ?’’

‘‘Why are you like this ? You don’t know me, you don’t need anything from Damian, so why are you still here ?’’

‘‘Oh, I, er, I guess I was lonely, or something ? And, it would just be wrong to leave some random kid out here alone.’’

‘‘I’m 16, I don’t need a babysitter.’’

Stolen novel; please report.

‘‘Well, I’m sorry, but you don’t look 16. Also you’re really short, no offence, and you don’t look that strong either.’’

Tundra sighed, annoyed.

‘‘Fine. That guy is called Damian. He’s- he was with a group of assholes who call themselves the Founders. They think they’ve been chosen to survive the apocalypse and found a new society. They also think they need to recruit everyone else. And they know they can’t force older people to join, but they say it’s ‘unfair of us to deny our kids the chance of joining them’. So they kidnapped my brother.’’

‘‘Oh.’’

‘‘Yeah.’’

There was an awkward silence. David looked the other way, unsure what to add. Tundra pulled out his knife and absent-mindedly broke off pieces of the concrete ground.

‘‘Listen, kid, I’m sorry I asked…’’

‘‘Shut up. You can hang around if you want but there’s a rule and that rule is you just shut up about my personal life. You don’t ask question, and you don’t try to guess shit.’’

‘‘Okay… well since you told me about your brother do you want me to tell you something personal ?’’

‘‘If you want. But I’m not your therapist.’’

‘‘Okay… Well, I had a daughter. Her name was Lena, she was your age, she… she was wonderful and kind. I failed to protect her.’’

‘‘I’m sorry for your loss.’’

There was silence again. They awkwardly looked away and Tundra started playing with his knife again. After a moment he opened his pack and pulled out a can of food. They could still here the thing above them trying to get the manhole cover off.

‘‘Er, since you lost your pack, do you want something to eat ?’’ he offered.

‘‘Oh, yes please. Just anything will do…’’

They ate without speaking, giving Noche a little bit of their food after he kept meowing at them.

“So, um… H- how about some icebreakers ?’’ David offered, trying to break the ice.

‘‘Sure.’’

‘‘Oh, okay, well, er, what were you doing when the Aliens got here ?’’

‘‘I was hanging out in the sewers with my friends. We were skipping school. You ?’’

‘‘I was at work. Lena was at school. Now you ask something.’’

‘‘Erm… Okay, wh-’’

They both jumped and looked up when they heard a gunshot up on the street. The thing suddenly went silent. Tundra sprung to his feet.

‘‘No…’’

He hurriedly climbed up and pushed the cover up. Damian was dead. Some blood dripped down into the sewers. He climbed out onto the street and saw a teenage girl and a man, both staring at him. The man’s gun was still raised. Tundra angrily kicked the body.

‘‘No !! I needed him alive ! Why did you shoot it ?! It was too busy trying to get in the sewers to notice you, you could’ve gotten past easily !’’

‘‘Well, I don’t know how we were supposed to know any of that !’’ the girl said. ‘‘You can’t blame us for killing an infected !’’

David struggled out of the hole, carrying Noche under one arm, and put the cat down at his feet. It sniffed at the body then turned away from it, seeming disgusted by it.

‘‘Kid, it’s okay, we’ll find someone else who knows where your brother is…’’

‘‘Shut up.’’

‘‘Listen dude, I’m sorry I-’’ the man started.

‘‘Shut up !’’

He stared down at the body and took his face in his hands. He felt like the word was spinning around him.

What am I gonna do now ?! Fuck. This is all my fault. I messed this all up. If I’d been more careful he never would’ve turned. And I should have hidden somewhere I could keep watch on Damian. Actually I should have been ready for them to come in the woods. And I don’t know any of the other Founders so how am I ever gonna find one of them ? I can’t even remember what those who beat me up looked like !! Why did I have to be so bad with faces ?! And I-

David shook his shoulder, pulling him out of his spiral of thoughts.

‘‘Kid ? Are you good ?’’