14. A Feeling.

Leon wakes up in total darkness. He can still feel Alexis beside him so hes not worried. Looking at the watch on his wrist shows it is 4:00am.

He carefully crawls down from the table as to not wake Alexis. The two dogs look up at him after noticing movement. He quietly assures them that everything is okay and gives them a pat on the head.

He orders spike to stay and protect Alexis and has his new zombie dog follow him outside. He just wants to get some fresh air for a moment and maybe think of a good name for his new companion.

After emerging from the police station, he scans the exterior of the building. Nothing seems out of place so he plops down in front of the door and the zombie dog sits next to him obediently.

He then starts thinking about names. Hes never been good with names, he usually doesn't name his pets and just calls them what they are like dog, or cat, but in times like these it's important for his new companion to have one.

At least for teamwork purposes.

After pondering for a couple of minutes he finally comes up with Edgar. When he looks at the rotting zombie dog, aside from his horrid appearance, he can tell what kind of personality he has. He feels like he will like the name Edgar and so that's what he will be called from now.

It's almost like they have a mental tether of sorts. He can't use telepathy or anything, but he can very faintly feel their emotions in a way.

Leon stays outside until he can see the sun slowly rising in the distance. He stands up and walks back inside the police station with Edgar so he can make breakfast for Alexis.

After traveling for a while with Alexis he's gotten to know her pretty well. One of the things that he's learned is that she's quite the little glutton.

It's unlikely they will find her parents at this point. It's sad but what can he do? At first he didn't even intend to take care of her. It's just something he started to do.

Actually, if not for her company, he might have gone insane by now. He always feels much happier when she's around.

And if course he doesn't mind her eating a lot as long as she's happy. It's actually very easy to find food in the apocalypse. Most people died before any looting could be done, and anyone who survived can only get supplies from places close to their settlement for safety purposes.

Unpacking the camping stove, he begins preparing a couple of things for breakfast.

Alexis wakes up once she smells the nice aroma of delicious food filling up the room.

"Morning." Leon says when he notices her crawling down from the table.

"Good morning~" She replies while stretching her tiny arms.

She sits across from Leon while he finishes cooking and hands her a bowl.

She happily accepts and begins scarfing it down. Earlier that night Leon was thinking about what there next move should be. He hadn't thought about it before because he was so caught up in trying to escape and create distance from the settlement.

Now that they are free, they can go anywhere.

"Hey Alex, where do you think we should go? You got anywhere you want to visit?" He asks.

After swallowing a mouthful of her food she replies. "Um, I'm not sure why, but I think we should go that way." She points off in a random direction through the city.

"Is there any reason why you want to go in that direction?"

She shakes her head slowly from side to side. "I don't know, I just feel like something is pulling me in that direction."

Okay that's strange. Leon thinks to himself. What could it be that's pulling her there? Maybe there's more to this little girl than he originally thought.

"Okay, then I guess we'll head that way. You can take the lead with spike and I'll follow you okay?"

"Leave it to me!" She says with determination.

...

An hour later the group is walking down a road in the city. Alexis is riding spike in the lead and Leon is taking up the rear with Edgar.

During the few times he couldn't sleep in the past few nights, Leon was actually working on something for Alexis. He took the little saddle bags that he put on spike to help carry supplies, and he remodeled them a bit. Now, they still have bags on both sides, but in the middle he fashioned a saddle that would make it more comfortable for Alexis to ride.

With Edgar actually having flesh he has an advantage over spike. Although he doesn't have much flesh, it's enough for him to retain his senses. He can smell other zombies if they're nearby.

Since spike doesn't have a nose he was never able to smell anything. Edgar periodically sniffs the air and helps them avoid larger groups of zombies.

It's not like they can't fight them and win. It's just that it would take a lot more time and energy if they had to fight every time they ran into a horde.

This ended up saving them a lot of time and they made it much farther today compared to the last couple of days.

Alexis said that at first she was feeling a very faint tugging sensation, but the further they go the stronger the feeling gets.

Leon is a little worried about her. He doesn't know if what they find will be friendly or hostile. If it's the latter than he's confident he can at least get her out safely even if he has to sacrifice himself in the process.

Shaking those thoughts out of his head, he catches up with Alexis and they keep walking through the city.

....

A couple of hours go by and they make it to one of the most populated areas, the city center. This place would normally be crawling with thousands and thousands of humans.

Today though, they can't see a single soul in sight. What they do see shocks them to their very core.

Leon almost breaks his neck trying to look up into the sky where he sees a absolutely massive tower. It reaches so far into the sky he can't even see the top. It pierces the clouds and continues to go beyond them.

"Alexis notices Leon's shocked face and asks." Was that not there before Leon?"

"Definitely not." He replies with a pale face.

Of course Alexis wouldn't know since she's just a kid and has probably never seen the city, but Leon has. This tower looks like it was made out of black colored bricks, it's nothing like anything he's seen before. Not to mention it looks like it broke out of the surface of the earth when it appeared.

That's when he finally realizes they are heading straight for it. Whatever is calling Alexis is in the tower.

They continue on for another hour before calling it a day. They have been traveling for a couple days straight and it's really taking its toll. The next time they come across a clothing store, he's gonna make sure he takes as much as he can. He also needs to grab some new shoes as well. The boots he got a while ago are already ruined.

Alexis would also benefit from a shopping spree.

They find a nice little house just on the side of the road and decide to stay there for tonight. They walk inside and Leon locks the door behind them. He does the usual sweep and clean ordeal they do everytime they stay in a new place.

You don't want to have a zombie jump out of a closet and tear you to shreds as soon as you let your guard down. Thankfully, there's nothing to worry about in this house. Whoever lived here before left in a hurry.

There was even some half eaten food left on the table in the kitchen. Well, it's rotted now. He throws the food out back and then collapses on the living room couch.

Alexis is outside playing with Spike and Edgar. Surprisingly, she doesn't mind Edgar's appearance at all. She treats both dogs equally, and they are both very protective of her. They would protect her even if Leon didn't give the order, and she's not even the summoner.

But it's not a bad thing so Leon throws the thought in the back of his head and tries to relax for a moment. He gets the feeling things are going to get real hectic soon and he won't have time to rest then.

Once it starts getting dark, he begins cooking and Alexis accompanied by the two dogs comes back inside to eat. Well the dogs don't have to eat obviously, so they just lay on the ground all curled up.

Although it looks like their sleeping, they are actually completely alert.

After eating some beef rations and veggies, they both get ready for bed. Leon wraps Alexis up into a little borrito using her blanket to where only her head is sticking out. He then falls asleep right next to her on the couch.