A Meeting At The Convenience Store

"That was a pain in the ass…." Leo complained as he finally reached the convenience store. It took him almost an hour because no matter what he did, the damned zombies heard him, mainly because the bike in his hands had a squeaky wheel. He had never realized it until now when he actually had to be quiet as he walked. But because he was forced to fight and kill multiple zombies, Leo's level actually increased. 

This increase in level only bumped his attributes by .01%. It was nothing to write home about, and Leo felt a little disappointed about now getting more. But Nora told him he was lucky he was getting anything at all. He basically got a few hour's worth of training points for free. 

"Leo, someone else is already inside," Nora warned. She was on high alert, and her ability to see in the dark and hear things was much better than any human.

"I will be careful." Leo nodded as he walked into the store. He looked around but did not see anyone. He listened quietly as he moved towards the water section. His main goal at this time was to get some water. If he can get water and some dry goods, he could live for at least a week. But he had to limit how much water he took in. 

As he walked through the store, he did so as quietly as possible, but when he passed by one of the isles, he stopped when he saw a familiar figure frantically pouring peroxide on herself. 

"Umm… You okay?" Leo asked. He knew he should walk away, but he couldn't just leave this girl.

Rebecca's eyes flashed slightly as she lifted her head to look at the person speaking to her. She lifted her arm, and with a grim smile, she shook her head. "One of them scratched me. Now… Heh…" Her eyes lowered. They landed on the sword strapped to Leo's waist. "Can you kill me now? Before I turn? I want to die as a human….."

"This…" Leo frowned. He did not wish to kill another human if he did not need to. But he could see the desperation in the girl's eyes. "Nora, how infected is she?"

"36% and rising fast. If you want to save her, you will need to feed her twelve gummies. But I advise against it. There is no telling if she will turn against you or not." Nora only cared about her host. She did not care about other humans.

"It's fine; I can kill more zombies for me," Leo whispered under his breath before taking out a handful of gummies. He looked at Rebecca and said: "I know this sounds crazy, but if you can trust me. If you are willing to stay alive. Then eat these. If they do not reduce the infection, then I will do as you ask and kill you here and now."

Rebecca looked at the gummies in Leo's hand and wrinkled her brow. She did not know why this stupid man was giving her candy at a time like this. She found it funny to the point that she actually reached out and took them. She was as good as dead anyway, so even if they were some strange drug, it was only a matter of time before she would turn into a zombie. Since that was the case, and this man was good looking, she would not mind if he decided to do things to her. She could always bite him when she turned. 

While these wild thoughts were running through Rebecca's head, she suddenly felt the heat in her body starting to cool off. Her eyes widened as she looked down at her arm. The strange red lines that were spreading out like a spiderweb were slowly retreating back to her wound, and even the wound itself was starting to close up. Now that she was thinking about it, she realized that this man did not reach into his pocket to pull these things out but in the middle of the air in front of him where nothing was. This was… "You? How did you?"

"She's clear. She won't turn now." Nora announced.

Leo scratched his head. "Just think of it as me being able to do some crazy things. These gummies are something only I can get." 

Rebecca stared at Leo for a long time, but she could not tell if he was lying or not. She only knew this man was her neighbor and that he played a lot of games. There had been a time when she wanted to tell him to shut up, but she ended up just ignoring him. "Your name…."

"Me? I am Leo. I am your neighbor. Leo Rivers…." Leo replied.

"Leo…. I am Rebecca Nickerson," Rebecca looked up at Leo and smiled. "Thank you…. I did not wish to die. I did not wish to turn into one of those things. I do not know where you got these gummies, but you saved me."

"I just couldn't let you end up as one of them." Leo really did not know what to say when faced with such a heartfelt thanks. Rebecca was looking at him much differently than she had in the past. She was smiling, which made her already pretty face even prettier. 

"No matter what, you saved my life." Rebecca slowly got up. She looked at the mess on the floor and sighed. Then, a thought came to mind. "Since we are both neighbors, why don't we help each other out?"

"Oh? What do you have planned?" Leo was a little interested. If there was one more person, they could split things and grab more items.

"Leo, are you really going to trust her so easily?" Nora was worried. She did not know if this girl was scheming something or not.

"They say there is safety in numbers, but I do not believe that. But if it is only one or two more people, then maybe it will be okay." Rebecca took a deep breath and asked: "Would you like to team up with me and try to survive this stupid apocalypse?"