It was already getting dark outside, forcing Benji to finally enter the apartment through the window.
The last thing he wanted was to stay outside in the night.
Also there was the matter with his body.
He walked carefully through the apartment...
Benji stayed alerted and saw the door to the stairwell wide open.
He checked one room after another, while walking towards the entrance.
Benji closed the door as silent as possible, there could be more zombies roaming inside the stairwell...
'This place seems to be free from zombies, I only need to check that locked room to be sure.'
There was only one room locked in this apartment and Benji wouldn't be able to rest until he was sure that it was safe.
He tried again to open the door without results.
'Let's try something out...'
Benji went all out, kicking the door.
The lock on the door shattered with a loud sound, causing the door to open violently.
Benji was positively surprised with the result.
'My strength did really reach an inhuman level haha.'
He observed the room carefully, but froze shocked on the spot.
Benji felt his heart sink, his expression turned grave by the sight in front of him.
This room was obviously a child's room but what shocked Benji was the little girl that was cowering at the corner of the room. She was trembling, her big eyes staring at Benji in terror.
Benji noticed two empty bottles of strawberry yogurt. The stench of filth penetrated his nose.
His heart sank even deeper when he observed the condition the little girl was in.
'This little girl....don't tell me she was trapped here the last four days...surviving on two bottles of strawberry...'
Benji was shocked and saddened.
'Could that female zombie from earlier be her mother?'
Benji looked at the little girl with pity, she was still shaking in fear, hugging a unicorn doll.
He felt tears build up at the corners of his eyes.
'Jesus this is...'
Benji felt like reality struck him hard right now.
'The world is going down...this things are happening everywhere I shouldn't feel responsible for it but...'
He looked back at the poor girl that was in a bad condition, her face was haggard from not eating for 4 days. She should be highly traumatized right now.
'I can't help but feel hurt seeing a child like this...' His tears fell down on the floor.
His view fell on the other corner of the room and he closed his eyes in pain.
'She was trapped and couldn't even go to the toilet, f*ck!'
Benji took a step forward and the little girl reacted scared, trying to crouch back but she was already in the corner and couldn't escape.
Benji stopped, 'I could slap myself! Of course she would react like this!'
He lifted his hands up in innocence, "It's alright, little one I mean no harm. Forgive me for destroying your door. Look, I will put some water and black bread here on the table, you are hungry, right? I gift it to you." Spoke Benji carefully.
"Ah right, I'm Benjamin but everyone calls me Benji, you can call me Benji too. I live nearby in the Elstern str.(1), you know that street right?" He tried to start a conversation with her while putting some black bread and water bottle on the small desk.
The little girl didn't answer, she kept trembling in the corner while watching Benji in fear.
He sighed and stepped back, leaning on the doorframe.
"It's for you, I won't move, promise."
The little girl finally began to struggle, her eyes wandered between the food and Benji.
It took her 5 minutes until she couldn't hold it anymore.
She took the black bread and water bottle and went quickly back to her corner like a scared kitty.
Benji finally smiled a bit, observing her eating and drinking greedily.
The little girl suddenly started to cry.
She was crying while eating.
'What now? I can hardly keep myself alive but with her..... But I can't let her alone now...' Benji knew that he was done for, everything was alright if he was alone and he didn't care about other adults, but kids...
Benji recalled the event that changed him.....
It was a hot and dry day, like all the other days before. They went out of the base to patrol around what they called "Blue Box".
They later visited a village to gather some intel and befriend the native people.
Benji was holding his G36 rifle, observing the surroundings with his other squad members.
They should be safe here but they were taught to always stay allerted.
Everything seemed fine until a kid came to them holding something that looked like a bomb.
Everyone tensed up and aimed at the little dirty native boy.
They began to shout agitated at the boy to stay still and don't come closer.
[Shoot!]
'What?'
[SHOOT OR WE WILL DIE YOU IMBECILE!] Screamed Adam fiercely.
'It's a kid...'
The boy didn't seem understand them, coming closer, and then....
"Your eyes.....they are the same as mommie's...."
The timid voice brought Benji back from his memories.
"What? My eyes?" Asked Benji unsure if he had heard right.
The little girl nodded while hugging her unicorn puppet, "They are the same, but you are different." Answered the little girl who had finished eating, the fear in her eyes was mixed with curiosity.
She kept staring at his eyes.
'What is with my eyes?' Thought Benji.
He went to the bathroom, looking at his reflection in the mirror.
'My god! My eyes are red! Just like the zombies!' Exclaimed Benji.
He was checking his reflection when he noticed something move in the corner of his view.
Benji turned his head and saw the little girl standing in front of the bathroom.
'She left her room?'
The little girl looked at the ground, gripping her unicorn harder, "Can I...uhm..."
Benji realized why she came, "Of course, I will leave."
He left the bathroom, hearing the door being locked.
Benji sighed, he went back to her room to pick up his backpack when he noticed some things.
First was the pictures of a happy family, he didn't know the man but he recognized the woman!
It was the female zombie he killed. The little girl was in the middle, they looked so happy.
Benji continued towards the child's room where he took his backpack back.
He looked around a last time, Benji was just about to turn around when something piqued his interest.
Benji ignored the stench, entering the room. The thing that piqued his were two small handprints on the window.
It was only when he took a glance on the outside that his body stiffened.
He could see from there the garden at the back of the apartment building.
'That means...she saw everything?' Guilt flooded his mind.
'She watched me kill her mother and the others? Oh my god!'
Benji went out of the room, sitting down on the couch in the living room.
He needed a break to sort his mind out.
'There is nothing I can change about it, I would have died back then if I didn't kill them....Also I can't be certain that she watched it, it could be from before...But I caused quite the ruckus back then. There is no helping it, I will assume that she saw everything. The most important thing is what to do with her, I can't leave her alone....I just can't! I will stay here overnight and think about it tomorrow after I wake up.'
Benji stood up, taking a chair from the living room to block the door that lead to the stairwell.
The next thing he did was going through the kitchen. Benji heard the shower from the bathroom while searching for food and water.
He wasn't left disappointed, there was still plenty of food left that could be consumed.
Benji filled his backpack with some and left the rest for the little girl and himself.
"Sigh!" Benji fell back on the couch, he was mentally drained.