In the morning Daniel watched the four men leave, watching them through his window, which was partially frozen over through the night, distanced from them, not even saying 'goodbye' or 'see you soon'. He was itching to go with them, feeling the need to help them, knowing he is the only one who can actually fight the demons, however he chose not to. He didn't want to upset his friend anymore or cause trouble to anyone. He saw them loading a small jeep with empty crates and bags, them carrying machine guns and colts, getting into the car and them waving their hands to the women who stayed behind, together with Wulf, who promised to do his best to keep them safe.
The four of them drove to the next city, since apparently the grocery store in the current town, Ashburg, was already raided for edibles. The next city was called Shepham, a smaller city which was mostly agricultural. They hoped to find live animals along with a full Tesca, which was a common store brand. They knew that they expected a lot but that was the only nearby city within an hour of driving, not to mention the jammed roads making it even more difficult.
Clark's group had already prepared for a zombie apocalypse as a hobby, which is why they have so many firearms. The two women who stayed back were Clark's wife, Lyn, and the other was Hanson's wife, Sarah. Driving through a forest was difficult, since the highway was full of empty cars and demons, but they finally made it to Shepham. Since it was Autumn, the usually lush green grass was wilting, bathing in the morning dew. The fields were empty, due to the exceptionally cold weather, not even the animals were outside. This however gave them hope, since they would be in a barn, in the warm, protected from the hungry demons.
Checking up on every farm, barn and small store in the town, they found quite a bit of canned food, and also the livestock. Cows, bulls, sheep and chicken were kept in the barns, safe from the monsters outside. They locked the barns after finding them, since they can't transport the animals currently, however they want to come back soon to bring them home.
Next on the list was the Tesca store, it was large and had everything one could hope for. Groceries were a big part of its stock but it also had clothing, electronics, gas and most importantly medicine. It seemed that nobody had the same idea yet, so they wanted to grab everything as fast as possible, but they found that some singular items were missing. Possibly someone bought it before the outbreak? They didn't know for certain.
They split up, each looking for different things. Leo had to find bread and meat, Clark was to find gas and some batteries for the flash lights, Robert was looking for clothing for the upcoming winter and Hanson was trying to find some utensils for the women. They asked them before to bring plates, tableware, towels and other things which they needed to live a comfortable life. Walking through the bakery area within the store, Leo heard a crackling noise, which alerted him.
Have they been found by someone, or something? What was the noise?
He steadily walked closer to where the noise came from, letting the others know with hand signals, waving in the direction. The crackling became louder, it sounded like plastic wrapper. Eventually Leo faced the wall of the bakery, still hearing the noise, but not finding anything. He stepped around fanatically, wanting to find the source of it until he stumbled. Grabbing onto a nearby shelf, he caught himself, but looked closely to where he stumbled. One of the floor tiles was slightly lifted, the clean, white, stone tile made him stumble. Kneeing down, he took a closer look and the lifted spot, and touched it, noticing that it was loose. Suddenly the noise vanished, he probably gave himself away by lifting the tile.
Everyone stood around him, ready for everything that could happen. He began pulling the stone tile up, and below was a dark room. It was part of the foundation which served to hold up the floor. Within it, Leo saw a small thing, shaking, trembling in fear. A little boy was crying, probably thinking that he was in trouble, before him several cans, wrappers and even a small, crinkled bag of crisps. Leo knew that had to have been the source of the noise, but what was a small boy doing down there?
He jumped into the hole, which was about two metres high, with a small ladder leading up and down. The child cried, he didn't know the person who came for him, and didn't know if they he was good or bad. Leo knew, just by looking at the little one, who curled up, covering his head that he was scared of him. He kneed down, took the bag of crisps, and with a quick pull he opened it up.
"Here you go. Don't worry, we won't harm you," he said, holding the bag towards the child.
"My mum told me not to trust strangers." The boy shook his head, causing Leo's mood to sink.
Thinking of the situation on top, the fact that the child was alone down there was a sign that something must have happened. Feelings of pity and sadness overflowed within his heart, even losing a few tears. He grabbed the boy, threw him over his shoulder and began to climb the ladder, however the boy struggled, "Stop it! Let go of me! Mum, help me!"
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"It's gonna be fine, we won't hurt you." He embraced the child, tears flowing from his face onto the kid's dirty, grey shirt.
The warmth made him feel safe, feel secure with the strange man, causing him to stop struggling. Back on top, he put down the child, who was overwhelmed by the men around him. Out in the light, they could see his dusty blonde hair, and his baby blue eyes, he was really young, too young for such a cruel world.
The little boy gripped Leo's trousers and hid behind his legs, he was scared of all these men with their guns on them. They quickly understood his reaction and put away their weapons, trying to seem friendly. Eventually they asked if there was anything the boy would like to have, they were quickly pointed towards cake, candy, crisps and many other types of sweets. He even pointed them to chocolate milk, he seemed to really like it, even opening one and drinking from it with a straw. Sadly, they had to be careful with how much milk they could buy, same goes for food which should be kept cool. Due to the circumstances the power network didn't work, meaning that refrigerators don't work either.
Soon they were done, having filled the crates on their jeep with enough food to last them a few weeks, they were ready to depart and head back home. Before that, they felt guilty and asked the boy about his parents. If they were still alive, they would take them home as well. However, the boy was silent after hearing the question, and shook his head with a quivering chin.
Meanwhile at the garden centre, Daniel was still sulking inside his little room, looking out of the window while thinking about what he has done. He had caused a lot of trouble for those around him, not only did he take on all of the responsibility from his friends, making them feel useless, but also did he hurt his guardian angel. The ability he possessed was blessing and curse at the same time. He knew if a soul was within range, and could listen to their voices, on the other hand he was also burdened by them. Listening to pleading voices, crying for help and freedom, was exhausting. Unable to ignore them he wanted to release them, not for the sake of letting the souls rest in peace but to silence them. He used his regalia for his own well-being, to retain his sanity and through his selfish actions did he awaken dark feelings within him, blighting the regalia and Wulf. Blight, was deadly for angels, once fully blighted they would cease to exist.
Daniel as unsure what to do now, he didn't want to endanger his friends needlessly, but also didn't want to make them feel useless. He wanted to help the souls, but couldn't decide whether he felt that way for the sake of the souls or for himself, risking that he might hurt Wulf further.
He heard Wulf scratching against the locked door, wanting to help the boy, yet he didn't answer. Wulf didn't want him to know about the blight, allowing him to be endangered, since he knew that it was difficult for his partner. It was weird for the glowing wolf, who sat in front of the door, waiting for an answer. As an angel, he was not supposed to have feelings, be neutral to everything, merely creating the image of having feelings in order to communicate with humans, despite that, he felt something within him. What he felt was duty and solidarity. Wanting to support Daniel, hoping for him to get better soon, impatiently waiting for an answer. It was not something that angels were meant to feel, he shouldn't mind. He should think about what is best for everyone, but here he was, thinking about a way to help for a singular person. Albeit with no answer for it. He was used to hearing the voices of the souls, both dead and alive along with even seeing them visually, as a divine being it was part of him. However, he could do that because he didn't feel, now though a human had similar powers and even beyond them. Capable of hearing the voices of souls who should depart and also having the ability to somehow heal, as Wulf noticed on the day they met. A scratch on Daniel's face healed within a short time frame, something which angels cannot do.
Back in Shepham, Leo and the others were just about to head off, but there was something in the air which made a shiver run down their spine. Suddenly it was really cold, and they heard something which they could not put into a category. It was almost like buzzing, a lot of it. They looked around them to find the source until they saw something behind them, far back in the distance. The sun was in the same direction, allowing them to merely see a black cluster in the horizon. Carefully they tried to make out what it was, but what they saw was not what they had expected.
Behind them was a large swarm of bugs of all kinds. Dragonflies, flies, bees, beetles and more, they all flew in a large cluster and came closer to them. Hastily they got into the jeep and Clark, the driver, pushed down on the gas, wanting to get away as soon as possible. Next stop was the garden centre, however they were pursued by an abnormal swarm of critters. Taking detours, trying to not go in a straight line, none of it helped, the bugs flew in the direction they took.
Clark frequently looked into the mirrors, trying to get away from them, but there was something behind the swarm, something huge. Shrouded in a dark green mist, was a green horse with eyes of red. On top of it, riding it, was a large knight in the corresponding colour. The armour thick and bulky, seemingly unarmed. The horse alone was about the size of two men, but the knight was double the amount.
Almost there, the swarm has already caught up, almost touching the exhaust pipe. Clark tried to warn the others inside the centre by sounding the horn of the car and it worked. Daniel could already see them, as well the large pursuer. He worried, stood up and opened the door. Before him was Wulf who felt what was coming, and barked at him, "No regrets, you need to protect them. So use me and fight. No matter the result, I won't blame you, for I if I was human I would do the same, thus is the gift you humans possess.