Pure Survival

"It's safe around here; follow me," Alicia said, supporting Dominic, who had a wound on his leg.

There was no one in the short alley, and the green and red brick walls on both sides seemed clean of blood, unlike other places. The alley was narrow, barely allowing a car to pass, making it secure.

Since there was no one cleaning the streets, over time the corners had become filthy, and those who still lived there had taken ownership of as much as they could see, so they had to be careful where they stepped.

A faint cry from a distance shattered the alley's tranquility. Several crows at the alley's entrance were startled and flew into the sky, flapping their wings.

Heavy footsteps sounded, and Alicia, holding onto Dominic, hurried away, glancing back from time to time. Alicia looked with concern at Dominic's excessive blood loss from the leg wound. She wanted to stop, but if the people who shot them found them, the best they could hope for would be to be killed.

Both carried the weapons they could grab and their combat suits covering their bodies, so they were well protected for now from the walkers. Blood from Dominic's leg wound trickled down his leg, staining the ground. The way it was bleeding indicated it might have hit a concerning point, so they needed to check it as soon as possible.

After running a few more steps, their pace slowed down. Finally, Alicia decided to find a place to hide.

Dominic quickly reached out to support himself against the wall and held a gun with the other hand, coldly surveying their surroundings. After catching their breath, they continued moving forward.

Alicia was panting heavily and looking in the direction they were fleeing from, anxiously awaiting something. Soon, her eyes spotted a young man running at the end of the alley.

"No, no encounters."

"We need help from anyone who can offer it. If that boy is bad, then I will kill him." Alicia was confident she could handle it alone; her only priority now was to take care of Dominic, no matter what.

The young man in gray didn't stop until he reached them.

"Are you the soldiers who fell from the helicopter?" The curly-haired boy looked at Alicia, who was unknowingly in front of a girl.

Dominic held a gun while evaluating the young man in front of him; any wrong move, and he was sure to end his life no matter what.

Alicia didn't speak; she assessed this boy as Daniel had taught her, hoping to learn something that would help her make her next decisions.

"I'm fleeing from those people; they killed everyone in my shelter, and now they are following me."

Alicia looked back to where this boy came from and asked, "What's your name?"

"Tomas, you can call me that."

"Let's get out of here, Alicia; we need to hide," Dominic said, having an idea of what might be happening.

"What do we do with him?" Alicia wanted to know Dominic's thoughts on Tomas.

"Let him come with us; he can be our guide." Dominic didn't have many options, so he asked Tomas to help Dominic walk while Alicia watched over them.

As they continued forward, they soon encountered another figure. The man wore a white vest on top, and from his waist down, his intestines seemed to be hanging out.

His exposed skin was a dark gray, and a horrible wound appeared on the right side of the man's neck.

This walker had been around for a long time, so they knew everything was fine, at least for now.

"Finish it off, and let's get out of here."

Alicia nodded, drew her sword, and with one swift cut, the walker's head detached from its body.

Crack!

Tomas, who watched this, was surprised by these people's skills and the fact that they didn't seem hostile to strangers. What he didn't know was that if he made a mistake, he would be killed by the hands holding him.