Chapter 1: Ghosts from the present.

They ran for a long time, but that scenery followed them. It seemed it was happening throughout the entire city. Burning cars, bodies on the floor, people crying and running. A person got bitten right in front of them. They dodged and kept on running. They can get to their hideout. They go inside and for their luck the place was empty, or so it seemed. They sit on the room's floor with their hearts beating so fast that it was possible to hear their heartbeats, even not being so close to each other.

They sweat a lot and can't breathe properly. They could still hear the screams outside. They try to calm down, but they can't. Steve then says:

- Damn it, I killed him! How was he still standing? What the hell is happening? I killed him, I'm sure of it. I...

- I also don't know - said Adam, with a calmer yet shaky tone of voice.

- Are they Yürei? Could they be - said Yumi, referring to a kind of ghost from the Japanese folklore.

Livia couldn't say a word. She just had heavy breathing. She tried to contain herself but ended up fainting. Nobody believed in what happened. The deceased were walking. Killing is what they have done the most in their lives, but now the deceased were walking. Is like if everything they have done in life is coming back to hunt them down. Some hours later, the screaming outside couldn't be heard anymore. Only constant groanings and the sound of things being dragged. It's like if hell itself was outside.

They kept hidden there for days. They fed up with what they had in the hideout. With time, they became lesser frightened. Livia was the one seeming more affected by what happened. She didn't say a word for three days. Yumi was the one trying to help her recover from her trauma. Adam was the most peaceful, but he seemed worried all the time. Steve still stayed away from the others but sometimes he joined them for eating or chatting. They did nothing but surviving there. They were not so close emotionally. The conversations were short, about how they were feeling or about their lives and things they liked doing when not killing anyone. Adam was the one who talked the most with Steve. The man used to go to the boy's room to make him company for a while. One of their conversations was about Steve's poetry books:

- So, you like poetry, right? - Adam took one of the books from the bookshelf and opened it.

- Yes, makes me relaxed. My mother liked it too, I got it from her - says Steve, looking at the books.

- You seem lost boy. Why do you do that? Why did you get into this shitty life - asked Adam, with a sympathetic tone of voice.

- I don't talk about it. Thanks for caring, but I'm fine.

Adam so puts the book back on the bookshelf, thanks to the boy for the chat, and leaves the room. Hours later, he leaves the room and goes to the kitchen to eat something. That's when he saw there was only a canned ram and nothing more. They were running out of food. He tells the others about the situation. They get unhappy, knowing that if they wanted to survive they would have to go outside. The group decides that two would have to go outside and two would have to stay. The two chosen to go are Steve and Yumi. As Livia was not recovered yet, they thought it would be better for her to stay.

Adam makes company to Livia and, Steve and Yumi go out through that door that stayed closed for days. They slowly open the door and right away a hot air passes through it. On the outside, everything was greyish, destroyed, or reduced to ashes. They closed the door and walked through the death-smelling grey landscape. They ask themselves if it was something passenger, an outbreak that happened in the city or if it was something even more serious. Steve once again wears his black jacket, hood, and skull mask. He tells Yumi:

- Maybe you should also cover your face with something. We don't know what that was. What if it was any kind of disease? Or you really think it was Yürei?

- I don't know, Steve. Maybe it was. What virus would do that? There was one person bitting and chewing the other - said Yumi, watching the place around her.

- Beats me, Yumi. There's a lot happening in this world, right? That was terrible, but Yumi, why did we find all that so terrible? We spent years killing people. Me for less time than you, but even so, we were supposed to be used to this. We got so scared as the victims we made that day. Isn't that weird? - He looked at an abandoned shop.

- Yeah, that's weird - Yumi also stops at the front of the shop -, but I think it is... something we can't control.

They both go inside the dusty and messed shop and look for something that can be useful. They have to find food, or they

wouldn't survive much longer. The shop was so torn apart that they didn't know what kind of shop it used to be. They were counting on luck. They approach the shop's balcony and see broken glass on the floor. They enter a door that was behind the balcony to see what kind of thing was stored there.

There are cardboard boxes, most of them unclean on the outside. There are hanging pieces of meat. It is a butcher shop. It seemed like the freezer was still working. They look at the meat pieces. It seemed good. They approached to take a look. To their surprise, more than the meat, they see a zombie impaled in one of the hooks where the meat is hanged to. It has its eyes wide open looking at them. Those white empty eyes do not come off of the youngsters it doesn't matter where they tried to dodge. They so decide to come out and look for another place.

The two youngsters get out of the shop, partly nauseated with what they saw, partly disappointed. Yumi leans to the wall and seems to try to recover her breath back. Apparently what she saw affected her more than what Steve noticed. He gets close, places a hand on her shoulder, and tries to calm her down:

- I'm here with you, ok? Let's take something to eat and get out of here. Let's go, Jap.

She puts herself together and follows him again. The city's quietness itself is scary. The smell makes them queasy. The smell of burning things, blood, and maybe something chemical. Yumi then lifted her scarf and covered her face. They saw right at the end of the street and right at the start of the other street, an open truck. It looked like there were potatoes chips, lots of them. Thinking that this is better than nothing, both assassins walk to the truck.

They take a look, the chips seemed good for consuming. They decide to take it with them. Steve takes one of the chips sack and pat's Yumi's forehead as if kidding with her, but she didn't seem to like the joke. They take some of these sacks and start walking back to the hideout. Getting there, they show what they got but notice Adam and Livia got somewhat disappointed seeing the chips. They gave the sacks to Adam, then Steve went to his room and Yumi followed him. They felt kinda ashamed of being able to bring only that. Adam threw one of the chips for Livia. She before long opened it and put a fistful of chips on her mouth. Adam also opened one for himself and went to Steve's room, putting some chips on his mouth. He knocked at the room's door and Yumi opened it. She seems down. Adam asked to enter. They allowed it. He sits on the floor, close to the youngsters.

They share the potatoes Adam took with him. Livia also went to the room and asked to enter. She was allowed and also sit on the floor, along with the others. The climax was kinda melancholic. Adam then says:

- We spent all this time killing people and now we will die of hunger.

- Death surrounds us. The death that we used to surround victims puts us in their place. The punishment for distorted self-love - said Steve, thinking about the poetries he reads.

All the violent pose they had before turns to fragility now. The four of them were there, in a small room, in a devastated city. Even after taking so many lives, they don't seem to be ready to die. Suddenly, they hear a sound coming from the dining room as if something has broken down the door. Steve grabs his machete and they go check what has made that sound.

In the room, they saw the door was broken down and three armed soldiers searching the house. One of the soldiers sees them. Steve quickly hides the machete before they see it. He approaches them and asks:

- Who are you?

- We just live here - answers Adam, trying to keep calm.

The soldiers guide them outside. They follow 'em, trying not to show so much what they actually used to do. On the outside, there was an armored vehicle. At the top of the vehicle, there was another soldier, but this one with a type of hat, looking like one of those cowboys use. The soldier that took them outside addresses the one with the hat:

- Sir, we found more survivors.

The man makes a gesture with his hand as if he was calling them. The other soldiers open the vehicle door and ask them to

go in. They look at each other, apparently relieved on having been found, but kinda nervous about who they really were. They get inside the vehicle and see other people there. They sit together with the others but when the soldiers were about to close the door, a voice coming from one of those people said:

- No! They are murderers. They killed my parents! - Melanie stands up, surprising the assassins with her presence.

The soldiers quickly discuss something and pull them four outside. The soldiers consider what the little girl said and the fact they found hidden weapons on the hideout and cuffs them. They frisk them and take away Steve's machete. Steve tries to deny saying the weapons were to fight the zombies, but one of the soldiers comes to report about other people's personal items they found inside the rooms. The soldier deduces it was things from people they killed. Right after, they throw the assassins inside the vehicle, in a brute way. The soldiers close the vehicle and start moving again. While the vehicle moves, it shakes and causes a certain uneasiness in the assassins who are on the floor. All people inside looked at them with rage and disgust. A woman, apparently thirty-year-old, embraces Melanie and looks at them the same way. One of them spat on Livia's face. The vehicle kept on moving for some hours until it stopped. The doors opened and the soldiers took people out, one by one, leaving the assassins for last. Getting out of the vehicle, they see it is a military base. Other vehicles were coming, with more people. More specifically, two more vehicles with the same quantity of people as in the one they came in. Two soldiers pointed their guns at the assassins and tell them to go where they are told. Steve gets close to Livia and whispers to her ears:

- At least they didn't kill us.

- Not yet, right - answers Livia, also whispering.

One of the soldiers hits Steve's head with the gun butt and tells him to keep walking. Steve passes the hand in his head and sees it was bleeding a little. Adam looks around and sees one of the soldiers carries a big black bag, where their weapons from the hideout were. People were taken inside the base, until a refectory. They sit on tables, most of them together, but the assassins sit apart from the others. Nobody even looked at them. people whispered with each other and they could hear words like ´´Assassin`` or ´´Killed a little girl's family``. The news spread throughout the base.

A cooker entered the refectory, holding a pan. Another one came with her, placing plates on the tables. Right after, the other one put food on the plates. It was a kind of meat stew. Some people ate fast, putting it all at once inside their mouths. It seems a lot of them were hungry for a long time now. When they got to the assassins' table, they've put just one plate and very little food, then they turned their backs and went back to the kitchen. The four of them looked at the plate and the food didn't feel enough for them to share. Steve then pushed the plate to Livia. Yumi and Adam seem to agree. Livia ate the food but felt uncomfortable.

On the walls, screens were hanging, transmitting what looked like filming from a security camera. They saw different parts of the city, with zombies walking to and fro. That really was happening. They just don't get why the monitors are in the refectory. Maybe it is for being more easily visible to everyone. Livia ends eating, pulls the plate ahead, and apologizes to the others. They embrace her telling her there was nothing to apologize for. They see the man with the hat coming in the refectory. He goes to the middle of the room, calls everyone's attention, and says:

- Listen well, we still can't explain what is happening. We are investigating. All we know now is that probably a type of virus spread and it's causing chaos around all the city. We'll keep you safe here and frequently look for more survivors.

After saying this, he also takes a plate of meat stew. He walks to the table the assassins are, and sits with them. They get surprised by the presence of that man. They look at him, confused. While he chews the food, he talks directly to Adam:

- So, you really are assassins? You didn't deny anything until now.

-Professional assassins, actually - answered Adam, scratching his beard.

- Professional. You think if you call it like that, it seems lesser disgusting, right? For everyone else, this might be a refugee, but for you, being here will be worst than being outside! - Answers the man with the hat, while he stirs the food on his plate.

After saying what he had to say, he kept eating in silence. They noticed he was there not to make them company, but just to eat in front of them. He chews with delight and eats slowly. Adam felt a certain rage against the man, at the same time he knows he doesn't have the right to feel like this. After he finished eating, he took his plate, stood up, turned around, and left.

The assassins begin to regret going with the military, but then, how would they guess Melanie would be there? After the other people finish eating, the soldiers take everyone but the assassins to rooms. Those are taken to an empty room, by the man with the hat. The man says this is where they would sleep this night, pushes them inside, locks the door, and goes away.

The little room was way smaller than the rooms they had back in their old hideout. There nearly hasn't space enough for them. Insects were crawling on the floor and walking on the walls. Yumi takes off her overcoat, puts it on the floor, and lays on it. She then tells the others, with a low voice:

- We can escape, right? I guess I can take off these cuffs.

- I don't wanna go - said Steve, taking off his hood.

- How's that? Dude, what's the problem now? Went nuts? - Livia answers and lays back on the wall by Steve's side.

- Think well, what are we gonna do out there? Everybody died already, what are we gonna do with our lives? And by the way... I decided to change myself - answers Steve, looking into Livia's eyes.

- To change? Wake up man, there's nothing to be changed. We're assassins, our souls are stained in blood. Do you

really think you can change? Dream on - said Livia, pissed off.

- We are already in hell, aren't we? Maybe we can abandon all this - Adam agrees with Steve.

Livia turns her back to the others, angry. Yumi didn't say anything, only observed the others. Adam leaned to the other wall and Steve lay down on the floor. The four of them fell asleep, even in such an uncomfortable place. On the next morning, they woke up sore, with parts of their body feeling numb. Adam stands up and tries to open the door, but sees it is still locked. He sat on the floor again. For how long would that last?

Some hours go bay and they stay there, doing nothing. Someone then unlocks the door. They stay away from the door, asking themselves who it was. Livia discreetly gets ready to run, not being noticed by the others. The door opens and there was the man with the hat. He gives them a canned bean and says:

- That will be your breakfast this morning. Enjoy it!

When he was about to leave, Livia runs towards him and hits him from behind. His head bleeds a little. She runs to the corridor, but there were ten armed soldiers there. She turns to the other side of the corridor and sees more ten armed soldiers. The man with the hat recovers from the scam, holds her from behind, and pulls her back inside the room. He then takes the canned bean back from Adam's hands, gets out, and locks the door again. Adam and Steve look unhappy at Livia. They couldn't even eat a bean can, who knows when they would get something again, even because it is not common for militaries to leave any items with prisoners, for those could be used as weapons. Yumi still watches them, not saying a word.

Livia turns her back, angry again, but doesn't seem to regret what she did. They spend some more hours locked in there, and their stomachs start to growl. They all seem down and don't speak much. Steve saw Livia was still turned to the wall, away from all. He walked to her and embraced her from behind. He tried to calm her down, but she shook her body, letting go of him. He preferred to leave her alone and moved away. Yumi then stood up and told Steve:

- You don't get it, do you? No one here is a friend. We worked together, but that's all. We don't know even half about each other. Give up on anything, it's over for us.

Steve stayed in silence and moved away from the others. Yumi was right. They only killed together. Death is all they caused. Now they are getting what they deserve, and that's all. They were no victims and there wasn't anything comoving or justifying enough to explain what they did. Maybe there is really no redemption.

Later, the man with the hat went back to the room they are and offers them the opportunity of taking a bath. They accepted and were taken to the bathroom, followed by armed soldiers. They went on two by two, first, it was the girls. Adam and Steve wait on the outside. Even so, Steve could see Yumi's back, at a glance. She has a dragon tattoo on her back. The tattoo covers the greater part of her back. After the girls finish, it was the men's turn. Livia and Yumi go out and Adam and Steve go in. While Steve takes a bath, the thoughts about what Yumi said burn on his head. The water was extremely cold, but he didn't pay attention to that. After finishing the bath, the two of them get out of the bathroom and the soldiers take them back to their little room. They spend days and more days in that little room. Some insects even came to bite or sting them, causing itch and inflammation. Steve's mind goes with the idea of changing. In his last days as an assassin, before the outbreak, he already thought about changing. Even so, he was still confused, didn't know where to start from. He decided he needs to take an initiative, even being what he is. On a certain morning, the man with the hat went to their room to check what they were doing. Steve then turns at the man with the hat and asks:

- Is there a way I could help?

- Help? Do you want to help me? With what? You already crazy just with this luxurious treatment - said the man with the hat, sarcastically.

- With anything. - Steve answers but is pulled back inside his room.

The man looks at him with a serious expression, locks the door, and leaves. Steve sits on the floor again, and they spend one more night there. On the next morning, someone unlocks the door very early. Steve and Adam wake up. Yumi and Livia

still sleep. The man with the hat was the one opening the door, he looks at Steve and asks him to stand up. Steve stands up and the man pulls him outside. Right after, he locks the door again. The man with the hat finally presents himself:

- My name is Bernard. I am a general. So, you said you want to help. Wanna flatter me to not get what you deserve, chuck?

- No sir. I don't have the right to ask for much. I... I am confused, I think. Even so, even knowing we are assassins, you've been keeping us here, safe from the zombies. I just want to help with what I can - answers Steve, with his head on low.

- Well then, it's like that, you'll be followed by armed men all the time, don't try anything funny, got it? Now go. - He points to a group of five armed soldiers.

Steve joins the soldiers and they guide him through a corridor. They give him a full bucket and a mop. They so get to the toilet and tell the boy to start working. He takes a look in the toilet and sees it was pretty unclean. He then rubs the sink first, for then cleaning the rest. The soldiers stay by the door, observing.

The boy kinda rubs well. He cleansed the sink and then the flushing toilets. He rubbed the walls and then started rubbing the floor. He cleaned pretty well as if he was used to doing that. He sweats because of the efforts. He then takes off the coat, goes to the door, and asks for one of the soldiers to hold it. The soldiers look at him for some seconds with serious expressions, until one of them pulls hard the coat from his hands. He then goes back on rubbing. He even rubs some drops of sweat that fall from his face right into the floor. He wipes the sweat from his forehead with his arm.

Some hours go by and he finishes it. His back kinda numb for staying crouched for too long, and covered in sweat. He gets out of the bathroom and one of the soldiers tells him:

- Very good, you finished the first one!

- What? - Steve lifts the bucket and takes a look at the corridor.

On the corridor, there were two more bathrooms. Steve then goes to the other bathrooms to finish the job. Hours later, he finishes. It was already nighttime and all the other civilians at the base were sleeping. After finishing the job, Steve was taken to Bernard. Bernard's room is kinda odd in its decoration. There was a chair in which Bernard is sitting, with his feet on a table right in front of him. Behind him, on the wall, there was a stuffed deer head. To one of the walls, there is a long basket with umbrellas inside. The room's floor is covered by a claret carpet. On the other wall, there are big guns.

The soldiers tell Bernard the boy accomplished the tasks. Bernard gives a canned bean to Steve and tells the soldiers to take him back to the little room. They do as told. Another night and he is again thrown in that room, now covered in sweat. He shows the canned bean to the others. For a while, they got less unhappy, but then Adam asks:

- Cool, how do we open it?

Steve looked disappointed at the can. He worked all day, but it didn't go anywhere. He could help cleaning the toilets but still didn't help much the friends. He put the can on the floor and lay down. They fell asleep and another night went by in that little room.