why?

Chapter three: why?

---

Luca glanced at her, taking in her shocked expression before speaking casually.

"Let's get some fresh air. Don't worry, those zombies are trapped. Can't go through the front door."

Kassandra barely reacted. Her gaze was distant, her mind still reeling. Then, almost in a whisper—

"…I need to change."

Luca frowned. "What?"

She blinked, snapping back. "I said I need to change. This wedding dress—it's killing me."

Luca smirked. "Sure. What do you want, your majesty? Gucci? Prada? Maybe some Louis Vuitton?"

She ignored his sarcasm, so he just rolled his eyes and opened a closet. "Only men's clothes here. Probably won't fit, but better than nothing."

"Leave," she muttered, still deep in thought.

Luca had already turned to go, shrugging as he left her alone to change.

A while later, she stepped out, now in an oversized hoodie and a pair of loose-fitting pants.

She followed behind him in silence, her mind racing. Should I kill him now and run?

Before she could even process the thought, Luca answered.

"You know, you can't kill me that easily with a knife. Especially when I have two guns." His voice was as casual as ever. Then, with an amused tilt of his head, he added, "Never taken a life before, huh?"

Her jaw clenched. "I wasn't going to. If I wanted to, you'd be dead already."

"Yeah, yeah, of course." He waved her off like he didn't believe a word. Then, as if it was nothing, he pulled out a gun and tossed it to her.

Kassandra caught it, eyes widening in shock.

"Since the monsters—or whatever the fuck they are—aren't as common lately…" he trailed off, watching her reaction.

It wasn't trust.

It was a test.

---

"If you see something big that looks like it wants to molest us, drop the gun as far as possible," Luca said nonchalantly, continuing forward.

Kassandra grimaced. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Relax, princess. Anything besides zombies seems to only attack people with weapons. Especially guns. Or… maybe it prioritizes them? Hell if I know."

"Why?" she asked, still gripping the gun awkwardly, like a total newbie.

Luca sighed dramatically. "Well, if we use Einstein's theory of relativity and the shape of fucking watermelons, we realize that—HOW THE FUCK SHOULD I KNOW?!" He snapped, frustration finally slipping through.

He hated feeling helpless. Hated it.

"I'm no expert in whatever the hell those things are," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Fuck you, man! Don't yell at me again!" Kassandra snapped, eyes flashing with anger.

Luca's expression didn't change. "Aww, your first F-word. Or was it the third? You're evolving, aren't ya? Good Pokémon."

Kassandra shot him a glare, but he ignored it.

"You even know how to use that?" he asked after a moment, eyeing the way she held the gun.

She nodded stiffly, still pissed off.

Luca sighed and came to a stop. "Every gun is loaded—even when it's empty. Never point it at anything you don't wanna kill. Safety is always off, even when it's on—so triple check. And hands off the trigger unless you're planning to shoot."

Kassandra glanced down and immediately adjusted her grip, realizing her mistake.

Luca smirked slightly but said nothing.

They kept walking until they reached a bicycle—the kind with a side attachment for a second rider.

Kassandra raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Luca just patted the seat. "Hop on. We're rolling in style."

—

Kassandra pedaled while Luca sat comfortably in the back seat, arms crossed, completely at ease.

"Such a gentleman, aren't you?" she muttered through gritted teeth.

"Oh yeah, of course. Wanna switch? Can you shoot?" He didn't even glance at her.

She kept pedaling, following his directions. Her muscles screamed, but she didn't stop.

"If he wanted to hurt me, he wouldn't have untied me…" she thought, stealing a quick look at him. "But still. I'm not trusting this creep."

They took the safest paths—avoiding the roads Luca had marked as zombie-infested—and eventually, they reached the city with minimum effort.

For him, at least.

Kassandra, on the other hand, was dying from exhaustion.

"W… why… wh… why the fuck didn't we just take the car?!" she panted, barely keeping herself upright.

"Too much noise," Luca replied casually, stretching his arms like he'd just woken from a nap.

She glared at him.

He ignored it. "I was planning on leaving the city, but it's more comfortable to stay for a few more days. The monsters are gone for some reason, and zombies aren't much of a threat."

He hopped off the bike and walked toward a nearby store, stepping over shattered glass like it was nothing.

Kassandra followed, gulping down water. "How come everything's barely touched?"

"Told you. Shit was crazy crazy back then," Luca said, browsing through the half-stocked shelves. "Lizards, some sumo-looking thing, whatever the hell it was." He tossed a few supplies into a bag. "Zombies were the least of anyone's concern."

He glanced back mid-sentence—

And stopped.

Kassandra was crouched near the freezer section, devouring a tub of ice cream like she hadn't seen food in years. No spoon, no dignity—just bare hands, ice cream melting between her fingers as she shoveled it into her mouth.

She noticed him staring.

Her face twisted in mild embarrassment before snapping in irritation.

"WHAT?!"

Luca sighed, rubbing his temples.

He decided to let it slide.

Wordlessly, he turned and kept searching through the store.

Luca returned, dragging a massive shelf on wheels, the metal screeching against the floor as he pulled it toward the entrance.

"Doctor Freeze, help me out," he said casually.

Kassandra, still licking melted ice cream off her fingers, blinked. "Doctor who?"

He gestured for her to help, and despite her exhaustion, she grabbed some nearby crates and started stacking them against the door.

"You don't know Doctor Freeze? Wait… Mr. Freeze. Not Doctor." He corrected himself mid-movement.

"Are you trying to piss me off?" she muttered, straining to push a box into place. "No, I don't know what that is."

Luca frowned. "You've never heard of Batman?"

"Of course I have."

"Then how the hell don't you know Mr. Freeze? He gets the Mike Tyson special from Batman every Tuesday."

Kassandra scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I know Batman, but I never read any of his books."

Luca froze. Literally stopped mid-push.

"…Books?" He turned to her slowly. "Books? Batman is a cartoon."

"No, it's not. It's a comic book."

"Is it?…" He thought for a second. Then shrugged. "Fuck it, who cares."

They finished barricading the entrance.

Luca dusted off his hands. "Go grab some supplies. Imma go make sure we're alone in here." Without waiting for a response, he turned and disappeared toward the back of the store, leaving Kassandra standing there.

For the first time since they met, she was alone.

---

As Kassandra gathered supplies, she couldn't help but sneak bites of things she couldn't resist—chips, chocolate, anything that didn't taste like the apocalypse.

Cut to—

A sharp, sickening crack.

Luca stood over a fresh corpse, his expression unreadable as the body slumped lifelessly to the ground.

Two more bodies lay nearby.

He hadn't hesitated. He hadn't spoken. Just snapped their necks as easily as if he were turning a doorknob.

"Potential threats... Sorry, dude," he muttered, stepping over them without a second glance.

He moved to the upper floor, boots silent on the dusty floorboards.

"If these three were hiding here, and the doors were unlocked… that means this floor is clear," he mused, heading straight for the window.

The city stretched out before him, a wasteland of ruined streets, dead silence, and distant echoes of something not quite human.

But Luca wasn't looking at the city.

His eyes locked onto a specific building in the distance.

The place where he had originally found Kassandra.

Where he had first seen the fat witch.

He narrowed his eyes.

Something about it wasn't sitting right."well well well…I think I should visit her after all…"

---

A bus roared past, packed with people.

"Shit… shit!"

Luca's eyes widened. Without hesitation, he bolted downstairs.

Outside, the bus swerved violently, tires screeching against cracked asphalt. A massive horde was right behind it, a wall of death—grotesque bodies lunging forward, dozens, hundreds, their shrieks ripping through the air.

"HURRY UP!" someone inside screamed.

Luca barely reached Kassandra in time.

She had just stepped toward the door, eyes widening in shock—when he grabbed her.

A single, brutal yank, physically forcing her back, his arm locking around her waist. One hand clamped over her mouth before she could make a sound.

Her muffled screams vibrated against his palm. Terrified. Furious. She thrashed, hitting him, fists slamming into his chest.

Then she panicked. Really panicked.

She reached for the gun.

Luca caught her wrist instantly. In one sharp motion, he disarmed her, flipping the weapon into his own grip.

Kassandra lost it. Bit down—hard.

Blood filled her mouth, hot and metallic, running down her chin.

Luca didn't flinch.

He just held her there. Silent. Unmoving.

Outside, the screams turned to agony.

The bus flipped, metal crunching like paper as bodies tumbled inside. The passengers—trapped, broken, bleeding—didn't even get a chance to crawl out before the horde piled on top of them.

Teeth tore into flesh.

Limbs were ripped off like chicken bones, blood spraying in thick, wet bursts.

A woman's hand clawed at the shattered window, trembling—before something latched onto it and twisted. Bone snapped. Flesh peeled.

Another man tried to crawl out through the emergency exit—only to be yanked back inside, his legs disappearing into a mass of gnashing teeth.

The moans of the undead soon drowned out the last human screams.

Kassandra squeezed her eyes shut, hands over her ears, rocking slightly.

She looked horrified.

But not as horrified as she should have been.

She was accepting it.

Luca finally let her go.

And just sat there.

Waiting.

---