Chapter 5: The end of peace.

This time, right when they wake up in the morning, their door was already open. There were soldiers to and fro in a hurry, outside. Adam came out of the room, stopped one of the soldiers, and asked:

- What's going on?

- One of the sides of the base is compromised. There are many living dead trying to get in. Some soldiers are trying to contain them shooting from far, but they are many. We've never seen so many like this.

The soldier then joins the others again. Adam and the other three assassins get worried. Why would an attack be happening like this, all of a sudden? They then see Bernard going towards the little room. The general gets to the door and with a movement of his hands, asks them to follow him. The four of them leave the small room and go after Bernard. In the corridors, the soldiers evacuate the civilians to the other side of the base. The people looked scared. They can hear the groans of pain and the sounds of zombies beating on the doors. Bernard stops in front of the laboratory and points inside. The assassins look inside the laboratory and see everything destroyed and the scientists dead. There was blood everywhere.

Livia enters the laboratory and sees that the false mirror was broken. Most of the shards were outside, scattered all over the laboratory. She then deduced that it had been broken from the inside out. The girl leaves the lab and asks Bernard:

- Where is Melanie?

- I don't know. - He enters the room and looks at the shattered mirror.

The base then shakes and the lights flash. Everyone looks around, trying to understand what was happening. The zombies were many, but they didn't have the strength to do it. Yumi looks to one side and sees passing in one of the corridors, a big thing crawling very fast on the ground. It was like a big snake or a tentacle, but rosy in color and damp in appearance. Even so, it passed too fast and she couldn't identify. Her face expressed amazement after seeing that. The others saw the expression on her face and turned to see what was there, but they saw nothing. Bernard then asks:

- What happened? What did you see?

- It was something big. It was pretty strange, I don't know what it was - answers the girl, still amazed.

Bernard guided them to the side of the base that was not being attacked and put them with the other civilians. They saw on some monitors on the wall, the number of zombies that were outside. They looked at the civilians who were there in that room. For the first time, the civilians didn't look at them with disgust, but it was only because they were too scared to do it. Bernard joins the soldiers to look for civilians who might still be on the side that was being attacked.

The soldiers look in all the corridors, rooms, and halls, but they can't find anyone. Bernard enters the last room, in which they had not yet looked. There was Melanie, cowering in the corner, crying. Bernard tries to help her, but as he puts his first foot in the room, the floor collapses, the furniture, the bed, and Melanie herself fall downstairs. The man gets desperate but sees that the little girl was still alive. Other parts of the base start to fall as well. The place around Bernard starts to collapse all at once and he doesn't see any alternative than running from there. Everything behind him falls on the floor below.

He gets scared of what happens and goes back to the side of the base that was not being attacked. Everything was still standing there. He approaches and says to the assassins:

- I found Melanie, but the floor collapsed and she fell. She is on the lower floor.

The four get surprised in knowing part of the base had collapsed. Zombies then find their way inside the base, through the havoc of the part of the base that had collapsed. Bernard tells the soldiers to take the civilians to the garage, to take them out of there. The base was lost! The civilians follow the soldiers, but Livia stays still. The other three assassins turn to her, to see why she has stopped. She raises her head and says:

- I'll go there rescue Melanie.

She runs to the side of the base that is fallen. Steve, Yumi, and Adam follow her. Bernard decides to trust them and let them go alone, for the greater priority is to take the civilians from there. He then goes to the garage to help the soldiers.

The fallen side of the base was infested with zombies and the four were not armed at the time. Yumi picks up a crooked rod that was on the ground and Livia picks up a big stone. When they come close to the zombies, Yumi sticks the rod in the eye of one of them and Livia hits the head of the other with the stone. Steve and Adam manage to dodge through them. The four of them run through the undead until one of them grabs Steve's foot and knocks him down. The others don't notice and keep running, looking for Melanie. Next to him, Steve sees Yumi's katana, which probably ended up there with the destruction caused. When the zombies are very close, he manages to grab the katana's handle and pull it out of its sheath. He cuts the leg of the zombie that was approaching in front of him, this one that falls back and hits its head on a pointed part of the rubble. Steve gets up and runs in the direction the others went. He looks around him and wonders why the base was collapsing.

Adam, Yumi, and Livia walk all around and then hear a child's voice calling for help. They go in the direction of that voice and see downstairs, Melanie, surrounded by rubble. The little girl was dirty and hurt. Adam looks to the sides and realizes that Steve wasn't there. He then turns to look for the boy and soon sees a zombie coming towards him. The dead man extends his arms toward Adam. Adam grabs his arms. The zombie reaches for Adam's face and opens his mouth. From his mouth, a larva shows itself and comes out almost all the way out. It tries to approach Adam's face, but the zombie's head falls off. Soon after, his body falls too and behind the zombie, he sees Steve, wielding the katana.

Adam shakes Steve's hand and thanks to him for saving his life. Steve goes to Yumi and hands her the katana. Livia now descends to the floor below, by a kind of ramp formed by the debris. She manages to get to the bottom floor. Still, there wasn't much space for her to move to, due to so much debris around. Melanie sees the girl reaching out to her. The little girl is scared to see her mother's killer there and walks away. Livia tries to get closer, but Melanie seems not to want to be saved by her. Livia asks her:

- Was it you who did it?

- No. That came out of nowhere. It wasn't me - answers Melanie, still afraid.

Livia moves towards Melanie, grabs her, and lifts her. The little girl screams and spurs, asking to be released. Adam holds her and pulls her up. Soon after, Steve helps Livia up too. The way they would return was infested with the undead. Yumi assumes her fight instance with the katana and starts to cut them. The girl's skills with the katana were incredible. She cuts zombies in half, cuts their heads, dodges attacks, and cuts the hands and arms of zombies trying to grab her. Little by little she manages to open the way for others to pass. They run towards the side of the base that was still standing, when suddenly something like a pink and damp looking tentacle crosses their way, opening a hole in the wall.

Yumi was sure that this was the thing she saw dragging on before. She hit that with the katana, and the tentacle moved as if it was feeling pain. That then bled yellowish blood and withered after a few blows. The four of them passed through the tentacle and ran to the other side of the base. They went to the garage and to their surprise, Bernard was waiting for them in an armored vehicle, along with three other soldiers. They enter the vehicle and leave the base. The place was now finished.

Bernard looks back and is sad to see his base falling to pieces. He has the feeling that everything he fought for was lost. The vehicles run through the gray and dusty streets, taking people who have just lost part of their hope. They get further and further away from the base and get closer to the emptiness of starting everything from scratch.

There were five armored vehicles crowded with people on the road and another one taking the killers, some soldiers, and Melanie. The little girl was looking angry at the assassins and was sitting away from them. The assassins avoided eye contact with her because they were not good with her around. How to face her, from whom they took everything? They felt they were far from redeeming themselves with anything. Livia, who was one of the most psychopaths, was the one who felt the most pain now. She remembered the way she killed Melanie's mother. Even though she saved the little girl, she didn't feel redeemed. That memory would belong to her forever.

The vehicles stayed a long time in motion until the worst happens. The fuel of three of the six vehicles was running out. They were now on a road, far from the city. Around them were only dry bushes and dead animal carcasses. They are forced to stop the vehicles and go down. They hold the vehicles without fuel in those that could still move. They lost speed considerably. They had to find fuel soon, or else they would have to follow on foot.

They keep following the road until they arrive at a gas station, apparently abandoned. The place was empty and dusty. The gas station store was closed, but it could be seen that there was food inside. They stop in front of the gas station and Bernard tells them that the four assassins will check if they have diesel and check the store too. The four get off the vehicle and check the diesel. It looks like fuel could still come out of the hose. They then go check the store.

The door was made of glass, they looked inside and there was still a lot of apparently usable merchandise. The door was locked with a chain and padlock. They decided to break the glass to get in. Yumi throws the katana against the door and makes the glass in pieces. She takes the sword back and they enter the store. They look at every part of the store and everything looks clean and preserved. There were no signs of zombies there. They go to the door of the store and call the others. The soldiers take the vehicles to the diesel and supply them with one at a time, because only one hose released the kind of fuel they needed.

Some of them went to the store and took as much food and drinks as they could and took it to the vehicles. They finish filling up the vehicles and go back to the road. The vehicles had even less space now, with so many civilians, soldiers and food and drink inside. They all tightened up so that everyone could fit in and some sat on the "floor" of the vehicle.

Bernard did not know what to do from now on. Without the base, he couldn't get any help, nor he has where to shelter more survivors if they found any. They had been on the road for a long time and had not seen a zombie for a few hours. The sun was rising and the headlights of the vehicles were going out. From time to time, they stopped the vehicles for people to drink or eat something. The food they got was cookies, cakes and other things like that, so they didn't stay fed for long. In one of the stops, Bernard took some of the food to the killers. He had a sad expression on his face for a long time. Adam decides to ask:

- What bothers you? Is it because of the base? It really is a great loss.

- Shut up, don't think we are friends or anything for me to tell you how I feel. You'll still have to do a lot to redeem yourselves - answers Bernard, rudely.

- You're right. Even so, I believe you are not so much older than me. I know different looks. If I could bet, I would say that look is of someone worried about someone else - calmly answers Adam.

- Listen up... maybe I have to go back there, ok? Now the zombies there might have gone somewhere else. I have to go back there, I just want to find another place for the survivors first. That's all - said Bernard, still being rude.

- It's family, isn't that - insists Adam, even seeing that the man is angry.

- It's my daughter. A while ago, the soldiers thought they saw her in an abandoned house close to the base. I went there and there really was a survivor, but it was not her - explains Bernard, with teary eyes.

- Are you sure she is alive - asks Yumi.

- No, but I have faith. Our house was destroyed, but there was not a body there. I think she could run away - answers Bernard, passing his hand on his eyes, to avoid crying.

Adam looked at Bernard as if he knew how he felt. As if he had been through something like that. He puts his left hand on Bernard's shoulder, trying to support him in this situation, but Bernard threw his hand to the side, looked at Adam with anger, and left. Adam felt bad for not being able to help. Livia saw that Adam had stayed kind of down and asked him:

- What's up? I think we can't help so much, right?

- I don't think so - answers Adam, with a sad tone of voice.

They eat the dumplings that Bernard had taken and go back into the vehicle. Some people were still outside, getting air and feeding and moisturizing themselves with the drinks like water and energetic drinks, but the assassins didn't want to be near the others. They didn't feel that right. They rest their bodies a little in there. Adam lies down on the floor of the vehicle. Yumi and Livia sit next to each other and Steve sit right in front of them. He looks at them both and feels something strange. It was as if he wanted to say something to them. He just keeps looking, without saying anything. Yumi realizes that he was looking at them. She looks at him for a few seconds, but then she closes her eye and lowers her head. He stops looking at the girls and also closes his eyes. When Steve closes his eyes, the images suddenly come back to his mind. The people he killed, the blood, the screams, and his own hands, dirty with blood.

He starts shaking and roaring. The other three quickly look at him, to see what was happening. He gets out of the vehicle and falls to his knees on the ground. He puts his hands on his head and keeps shaking. The other three hug him as a group and try to calm him down. They lift him and help him back to the vehicle. He retracts himself in the corner and covers his face with his hands. He looked like he was crying. The others preferred to leave him alone for now. Even being all guilty there, the three others felt sorry for the boy. It seemed that there was something inside him that hurt him a lot.

People finish eating and go back to the vehicles. They were ready to leave. The soldiers return to the vehicle where the assassins were and they move again. Still, Bernard had that will to come back and look for his daughter. Steve slowly recovered and stopped shaking. He looks at the others and sees that Livia was sleeping, Yumi was close to sleeping too and Adam seemed thoughtful. Steve saw in them, the only people who could understand him. Even so, he didn't feel at ease to open with them. Something in his past seemed to make him feel worse than the rest.

Bernard, as always, was on top of one of the vehicles watching everything around him. He saw some signs with something that looked like the name of a city written on them, but the paint on the signs was worn out. By all indications, they were approaching another city. Bernard realizes that the sky was grayed. Shortly after, a drop fell on his arm. He looks up and sees the rain falling from the sky. While the water falls down, he keeps his face up, opens his mouth, and puts out his tongue.

People inside the vehicles can hear the rainfall. The vehicles then stop. The soldiers open the doors and ask the people to give them the bottles they had emptied. People deliver empty bottles of water, energy drinks, and juice. The soldiers then open the bottles and fill them with rainwater. Bernard screams from the top of the vehicle:

- We better avail this. Who knows what can happen until we get there?

They fill the bottles and deliver them to the people. For now, they had a little more water to go on. The soldiers go back into the vehicles and they move again. The sound of the engines mix with the sound of drops hitting the ground. The city is soon seen by Bernard. The other city seemed even more grayish and finished than the one they left. The other city had also suffered an outbreak, it seems. Still, maybe there was a place there to keep the survivors. The military base where they were in the previous city was the last safe place they had there. Now they were blindly in another city, not knowing if they were in the same situation or if they were worse. The vehicle enters the city and moves through the streets. Some zombies are seen immediately, inside some houses and walking on the streets. The vehicles run over some of them that were on the way.

A place apparently safe is sighted. It was a big church, with a Gothic style. The view from the gargoyles in the rain was somewhat threatening, but the surroundings of the church had iron bars and a closed gate. Bernard asked the vehicles to stop. He comes down from the top of the vehicle, goes to the vehicle in which the assassins are, and opens the door. He says to them:

- Job for you. Like I said before, the cinch is over. Go check that church.

- Will you at least give us weapons - asked Steve.

Bernard went to one of the vehicles, in which there were some weapons they had brought from the base. The general took some and took them to the assassins. For Steve, he gave a loaded revolver. For Livia, a semi-automatic pistol, for Adam a submachine gun, and Yumi, a Magnum revolver. The murderers got out of the vehicle and went to church. As they approached, they saw that the front gate was closed with a chain. They jump over easily and see that the front door of the church was open. Adam goes in first, pushing the door lightly. He enters the church and the others follow him right after. The place looked normal. The big wooden benches were all in place, the red carpet on the floor was clean and there was no sign of struggle there, except for a scene they could see further ahead.

At the altar of the church, there seemed to be a man in a suit fallen to the ground, and a woman bent down looking at him. She wore a white dress, resembling that of a bride. Steve asked the others to wait there and went to her. As he approached, he could hear more clearly that she was crying. He could also see that there was some blood near the fallen man. When he was almost at the altar, she turned her face to him, probably because she heard his footsteps. He saw that she was really crying, she had her face all blurred with makeup, and she was sobbing.

He climbed up on the altar and lowered near her. She looked at him with a sad, heartbreaking face. Steve helped her up. When she stood, Steve saw that her dress is stained with blood on the front. He also saw that in her hand there was a bite. The boy felt sad to see it. Would she be with the larva? He looked at the man lying on the ground and saw that in his hand was a ring. He looks at the woman's hand and sees an equal ring. He tries to understand what happened:

- What happened here? Are you ok?

- It was horrible! My relatives, my friends, they were all here. Some people came in causing a muss, but they walked slowly. They looked like zombies or whatever, or they have used something! They bite and scrapped people. Then, then a siren... - The woman cries and sobs even more.

- Calm down. What is your name - asks Steve.

- It is Vanessa. Sorry. I'll keep telling.

- Ok, Vanessa, you can go on. - Steve dries the tears from her face.

- The siren rang and the police came to the door. They dragged the hooligans outside, and the guests too,

because of their wounds. My marriage was ruined, and I don't even know why those people have done that. One of them was still here, the police didn't see him. He bit me and I felt something entering my arm when I took this bite. My fiance pushed him, and then him... he... His throat... he bit his throat, there was blood everywhere. The police then came to the altar, grabbed him, and took him outside. They said they would come back to take my fiance to the hospital, but they didn't. I went outside and there was no one.

The woman then breaks down in tears and leans her head on Steve's chest. He embraces her and lets her drop her tears. She cried a lot, for a long time. She then stayed away from Steve and looked at her groom on the floor. The sadness in her eyes has got Steve feeling bad. He wants to do something to help, but he can't. She lowered by the fiance's body and said:

- We didn't even kiss, ya know? We wanted to do this only after marriage. I think it is kinda cliche.

She turned his body, approached her face, and kissed his lips. She touched her forehead in his and shed more tears. She then stood up and looked at Steve, with her face covered in tears. She looked at the bite she took on her hand and passed the other hand over it. She then said with a sad voice:

- Is this really what I think it is? It is, right? Shit, I thought it was movie stuff.

- How long ago did you get bitten - asks Steve, in a low voice.

- That happened some hours ago. Five hours, I guess. I saw too much chaos happening when I went outside, so I

locked the church's gate. I got a little out of time notion - answers Vanessa.

- Five hours ago? Does that mean this city has an outbreak after the other one? - He turns to the other assassins, who are sitting on a wooden bench, by a distance.

Vanessa coughs and seems to lose balance in her legs. She almost falls, but Steve holds her. As he holds her, he feels she's sweating cold. She seemed to be losing strength. She takes her right hand up to her neck and grabs a necklace she was wearing. It was a very beautiful necklace, silver and with a pendant with two folded wings that formed a heart. She says:

- He gave me this on our first date. I found it beautiful, so I wore it on special occasions, like today.

- Listen, there are more people outside and some vehicles. I can take you there - answers the boy, still with a low voice.

- I'll turn into one of them anyway, won't I? I want to stay here with him. Until death do us part didn't get to be said - joked her, even being sad.

She took the necklace from her neck and gave it to Steve. He took the necklace with a certain reluctance. She smiles when he takes the necklace. She looks into his eyes and says:

- Give it to someone you love. - She stays away from him and approaches the groom again. - Shoot, please. This is where I want to die.

Steve's eyes were filled with tears. He points his revolver at her and a tear rolls down her face. After so many victims he made in those years, someone was asking him to be killed, voluntarily. His heart hurt a lot when he heard the request. He didn't want to do that, but he understood the girl's desire. His hand was shaking and she was crying and staring at him. He closed his eyes and tried to find the strength to do that.

He engaged the gun and aimed at Vanessa's head. She thanks him. He shoots. Her body falls next to the groom's body. Steve cries and screams right after. The other three assassins approach him and hug him. They then tell him to take a rest and go check the rest of the church. They go upstairs by the stairs and Steve sits on the altar. He puts the necklace that Vanessa gave him. A few minutes later, the others come back and say that the upper floors were clean. The four of them leave the church and give the news to Bernard. He then orders the soldiers to take the civilians inside.

While the soldiers take the civilians out of the vehicles, they see Steve carrying the bride's body and Adam the groom's. Bernard finds it strange to see that. Yumi had a shovel in her hand. They put the bodies on the ground and start digging on the side of the church. As they dig, the soldiers shoot the chains that lock the gate and take the civilians inside. Bernard stops at the church door and watches the assassins. He approaches and asks:

- What happened inside? Who are they?

- They are people we found inside. She was still alive, but she was infected. - Steve shows the girl's bitten hand.

Bernard turns around and leaves them alone for now. He goes into the church and the assassins stay outside, burying those people. The rain got in the way of them digging, but they still managed. They put the bodies inside the hole they dug. They bury the two together, at Steve's request. They close the grave and go to the church. Inside, people were already sitting on benches and relaxing. They seemed to be very tired from the trip.

The place was big and had more than one floor, so there was plenty of space there, even though it was smaller than the base. Steve, Yumi, Adam, and Livia sat on a bench at the back of the church. Some soldiers locked the church gate, then entered the church and closed the door. Steve looked around and saw that the people seemed relieved to have arrived in another shelter, but they also seemed lost. He saw the soldiers talking and looking at the people and saw Bernard sitting away from everyone, on the tip of one of the wooden benches. He was so shaken by what happened that he forgot to say something to Bernard. He goes to where Bernard is and passes the information on to him:

- She got bitten five hours ago. The girl I buried. That means the time for someone to turn is a little more than five hours, but also means that if the story she told only happened hours ago, the outbreak in this city happened after.

- I see. but doesn't this town looks more destroyed than the other? - Bernard takes off his hat and assumes an expression of concern.

- Yes, it does. What might be the reason - answers Steve, also concerned.

Bernard gets up and takes a look around. The church for now looked like a good hiding place. The number of soldiers there was about fifty. They were well trained, but the situation was different. Even so, maybe they could stay there for a while. Bernard turns to Steve and says:

- These soldiers, I trust they are enough to hold it together for now. The church seems safe and from up there, it is possible to see the city, if there are survivors here or a better place, they will see it. I'll go back. I have to look for my daughter, the civilians are already safe again. - The general stands up and goes to the church's door.

Steve watched him leave the church and go outside. It still rains, but the general is certainly a lot worried about his daughter. Adam approaches Steve and says:

- I think we should go along. He'll end up dying if he goes like that.

- I know. Call Yumi and Livia - answers Steve.

The four assassins getter together and go outside. They see Bernard passing straight by the vehicles. The four run until him. He hears them, stops walking and turns to them. Adam gets closer and asks:

- What do you intend to do? Go on foot?

- No, but I can't take one of these vehicles, they might need it - answers Bernard, calmly.

- Why don't you take soldiers with you? At least some of them - asks Livia, kinda nervous.

- You say you want to change, right? Do you at least know the value of a life? I can't do such shit like leaving these people without the protection they have. Not for just a single life, even if it is my daughter's. I won't screw up everything, so I'm going alone. As the outbreak happened later here, I think there might be lesser zombies, that relaxes me, in a weird way - explains Bernard, still calm.

- We are going with you - answers Adam, in a serious tone of voice.

Bernard turns and keeps walking. The four follow him. The rain increases and the view of the city seem even darker. Bernard gets close to some cars he sees on the street. He gets into the cars one by one, to see if they start. He tries three different cars, but he doesn't succeed. He doesn't give up looking for one that works, and the four keep following him.

The zombies are seen, but they were too slow and were not in great quantity, they stay on alert, but it didn't seem anything too dangerous. The four assassins and Bernard distance themselves from the church and approach some abandoned buildings. In the parking lot of one of the buildings, there were vehicles. Bernard decides to go there. Again the others follow him. They enter the parking lot. It was dark, but the cars seemed to be in good condition. They walk cautiously through there and Bernard chooses a pickup truck to do the first test. Lucky for them, it works. Bernard gets behind the wheel and Adam goes in the front with him. Livia, Yumi, and Steve go up in the back. The pickup truck leaves the parking lot and there they go, back to that city they had to leave in a hurry.