Chapter 5

Levi's POV

The sun was already up and the road was getting clearer. Hundreds of animals ran at us the moment I hit the gas and drove straight ahead, avoiding cars in the middle of the road from time to time. "Trash can lid? Seriously?" His frustrated blue eyes met mine on my rear-view mirror. "What kind of driving skill is that? Can't even reverse the car properly." 

Asshole. I bit my lip. My car did a sudden bounce with a crunching sound from underneath. My eyes widened. Is that what I think it is? I glanced at my rear-view mirror. I just cut a corpse in half.

 "I-it's fine, we can just- ram at them when they get on our way," I breathed, glancing at the baby with a pink ribbon sitting on his lap. She looked months old.

"What's happening." He asked, looking around.

"What?" I looked around as well. "The animals are picking up speed," he said.

Staring ahead, my heart began palpitating. "No." I stepped on the accelerator aggressively. "No, no no nono."

"What?"

Not now, please.

"HEY, What's happening???"

"...I kind of forgot to charge my car-"

"What- How- Argh! What are we gonna do now???" He whined.

"Why are you asking me- why don't YOU think of a way? You're the father here, I'm 17!"

The animals were getting nearer and nearer. "Okay, how far is your apartment from here??"

"There," I pointed at the eight-story apartment building at the end of the street.

"We're gonna need to take the elevator," I looked him in the eye.

"Take Cassidy and run when I tell you to." He took off the baby carrier and passed her to me before we hopped out of the car. Looking around, he spotted a pipe from a distance and took it before yelling at me to run. I hugged Cassidy, holding her head as I run towards the apartment building when a snake appeared under one of the cars that were left unattended in the middle of the street.

"Snake!" I stopped. He ran at the snake that struck at us and hit it with the pipe mid-air. "Don't stop! Go! Go! Go!" He kept up with me in case something tried to attack us out of nowhere. After passing a few houses, attacked by a dog whose head got bashed by an Adonis with a pipe, we finally reached the building.

The horde of animals were tailing us still, approaching faster than we expected. The moment I stepped foot near the camera that recognizes humans and their walking direction, the elevator door opened.

Ding!

I hopped in, shushing the baby on my arms. Her father was left behind, whacking a goat's head and hitting birds like it's a baseball game. "HEY!" The door started closing, so I stuck my foot to stop it. He took one last swing before running towards us, racing a gang of wolves behind him. My eyes widened, waiting for him to get as near as possible before hitting the close button multiple times. He turned sideways and slid in between the gap of the closing elevator door. He barely made it.

Gasping for air, he dropped his pipe and knelt to catch his breath. "Are you okay?" No. Stupid. You witnessed what happened.

"Do I look like I'm okay?" He turned his face to look at me, blood dripping from the spots of wounds across his face.

"...No." I held the baby tighter.

"There you go."

"Why are you being rude??"

"Because you wouldn't have helped me out there if it wasn't for the baby!"

"W- well I'm sorry! I don't even know you!"

"You don't have to know someone to save them from immediate danger! Didn't your parents teach you anything?"

I bit my lip. I want to punch him, badly, and I still don't know his name!

Ding!

We reached the third floor. He took the pipe that rolled at the edge of the elevator floor and stood up. I was going to walk out when he stretched his arms in front of me, looking around. He stuck his head out to see if any animals got up from the stairs, and when it's safe, he signaled to go out. I led the way to my apartment room, passing two doors along the way. One of them was slightly open with bloodstains across the floor. 

"We're here." I turned the door handle and it's locked. My heart sank in disappointment. I shouldn't have left Nan if I knew. I should have known. He took Cassidy from me so I could get the keys from my pocket. 

Click. I swung the door open and hopped in.

"It's a mess, I know." I breathed.

"This isn't a safe place for a baby." He walked into the living room, checking the bottles on the floor with his feet. He frowned at me.

"Well, do we have any choice?" I shrugged. He shook his head in disappointment before going into my room. "Don't go in there, it's private."

"And where do you suppose we stay?" He pointed at the living room. "You only have a filthy sofa and a television here. The rest is garbage."

I crossed my arms, frowning, and followed him to my bedroom. He took Cassidy out of the baby carrier and placed her on my 'clean' king-sized bed. I leaned on the wall and let myself slide down to sit on the tiled floor. We stayed silent for a moment, listening to Cassidy's gurgling and cooing.

"So… what's your name?" He asked, changing her diapers.

"Levi. You?"

"Name's Arthur. Sorry about a while ago, I do that when I get frustrated."

"We all do." I rolled my eyes.

I admit it, it was wrong not to let him in my car. But I'm a lady! Arthur stood up and removed his leather jacket. From observation, he looked too young to be a father, yet too manly not to be. I'm confused. 

The rumble of my stomach filled the ghost-quiet room and I gasped, eyes wide.

Arthur stood still and looked at me without uttering a single word, before looking at the door and taking his daughter with him.

"I left the groceries in the car," I whined. I must be the most unfortunate person in the world, Damn it!