Chapter 6

Levi's POV

Arthur pursed his lips and looked at me with distaste. "I thought you saw something inside with us."

I shrugged and rubbed my stomach. "Do you have any food?" 

He put Cass back on the bed and rummaged in his backpack before throwing me a zipper bag of animal biscuits. "Glad these aren't attacking us yet," I chuckled, raising the bag and pouring them in my mouth. "Don't eat it all. That's Cassidy's finger food." 

"Uhf- Showry-" He took the bag from me as I covered my mouth while chewing to prevent biscuits from falling out before putting it back in his backpack. He shook his head and sat beside Cass. "Yowr-" I coughed, chewing faster and swallowing everything. "You're not gonna eat?"

"No. That's all I have." He sighed. Growls and barks got louder and louder when a siren and a loud crash along with a faint whir of rotor blades filled the quiet neighborhood. 

Hopeful, I peered through the window blinds to see where it was coming from but noticed the helicopter getting farther and farther away. My heart sank, so I bit my lip to stop what I'm feeling before it gets worse.

"HELP!" I tiptoed and peered through the side and failed to see where the faint cry was coming from so I went to my living room window. Arthur followed and searched with me. 

"There. A cop car must have crashed trying to avoid the animals that were chasing us a while back- but failed," he said.

"Look at those roadkills scattered across the road. The animals must have been too much for his car to handle," I said and Arthur nodded in response.

The car's front was severely damaged and smoke was coming out of its hood. The windshield has plenty of cracks too. Loud screeching, banging, and growling was all that we could hear outside. Animals that surrounded it tried their best to bash the window and enter. 

"Should we help?" I looked at Arthur who was biting his nail. He sighed, "I don't know. It's too risky. I don't think we'll survive that." He quickly shook his head and continued, "We just barely escaped and that's because we have your car as a head start. It's a suicide mission."

He's right. I don't know if I want to help anyway, since it's terrifying to face those animals with just the two of us. Humans lose in terms of strength.

"HELP! ANYBODY!" The faint cry of what sounds like a woman made me grit my teeth in nervousness. I don't know if there's anybody else in the neighborhood, or if they have already evacuated, but it means we have the power to decide for her life. I almost executed Arthur by second-guessing helping him out there. 

"What do we do???" 

I turned around realizing that Arthur stepped away from the window and paced behind my back. "I don't know, I'm really torn between helping or not," I held my head.

"Should we just leave her there???" He pointed out the window.

"No. Of course not." I peered through the blinds again.

"PLEASE ANYBODY!"

I looked around the houses and apartment windows that I can see across the street to see if there are people who are aware of what was happening, but there's none. I don't know how that's possible, but I'm hoping that there might be at least a few left in the area beside us.

Trying to think of a solution, something red caught my eye. "Look, is that… gas?" Arthur came closer to look. "It can't be." I squinted my eye to see better when a goat began licking the red fluid dripping out of the car. "What the fuck?" The person in the car cried continuously.

"That must be blood." Arthur stepped away from the window again and ran his hands on his hair. "It must be," I whispered. "But goats aren't carnivores!" Arthur yelled.

"No, they're not, but it must be true, then…"

"True? What?" He gave me an irritated and worried look.

"Way back in the grocery store where I came from before we crossed paths, I met a petite old lady who told me that a goat chased a woman inside her office and feasted on her flesh. It must be the goat who was trying to bash its head through my car door." I watched Arthur sit on my sofa and stayed silent for a few seconds.

"But how is that possible? I thought they just wanted to harm us for whatever reason. They weren't normally like that. I thought they were just chasing us because the other animals were. I would've understood if it was wolves and dogs only who were trying to eat us."

"Well, obviously animals attack for a reason."

"Herbivores attack, yes, but not eat!" He stood up and started pacing. "What have you noticed when you were up close with them?" He asked.

I thought for a while, trying to remember what I have gone through yesterday. "Nothing besides aggressiveness. Birds pecked on my flesh too."

"Well, no shit sherlock! How about their appearances??"

I frowned at him. "Do we have to do this right now? There's a dying woman out there, crying for help!"

"Well go on then. March outside without any idea about those fucking zombies." He pointed at the door.

Cassidy began crying, so Arthur rushed inside to get her. 

 "W-well, possibly, but I don't think so... they look normal and it was proven that it's impossible and that it's never gonna happen," I said as I trailed behind him. 

"What? Zombies?" He carried the baby in the stomach position and lulled her to sleep.

"Yeah, its possibility has been debunked for a long time now. Remember those years when people started expecting a zombie apocalypse? Like freaks?"

"Then why are they becoming more and more aggressive? Herbivores that are normally domesticated are attacking us, eating our flesh and drinking our blood. So what's next? Cook us??? If they're not vampires, then, of course, they must be zombies."

"Stop it! And if so, then why aren't corpses running around chasing us instead?"

"Maybe it could take hours or days for the infection to activate?"

"Hello?!" A man's voice roared along with the noises outside. Arthur and I stopped talking and looked at each other before going back to the living room window to check. The voice sounds familiar.

"HELP! PLEASE!" The woman responded.

"Hold on! Imma try to help you!" The sound was coming from the upper floors of our building. I immediately opened the window and yelled, "Rocco!!!" 

"Rocco! Is that you?!" A few animals that were surrounding the car raised their heads and looked around.  

"Levi!?"

"Yes!! It's me! I'm in my apartment!"

"I thought you were out! Come up here and help, I have a plan!" I looked at Arthur for a second. "I think we should," I whispered, and he nodded with a serious look on his face.

"Let's do this."