It was now completely dark. Brie found herself walking into the station with Akame, forgetting that having a cat wasn't exactly normal right now. Adam came forward to greet her, instantly beginning with an apology that was cut short.
"What is that?" His red eyes inspected the furry ball with curiosity. It shuffled in Brie's arms, refusing to meet Adam's gaze.
"This is Akame. I met her in a field, she's friendly." Brie held her tighter, feeling suddenly wary of Adam and his piercing red eyes.
"Akame? Why is her name that?" He questioned. Akame's head lifted and she blinked towards Adam. Their eyes matched, glinting with a sudden hostility Brie didn't realise.
"Red eyes... She's infected, Brie!" Adam went to grab the skinny cat from her arms but she threw herself back.
"A bit hyprocritical coming from you!" She snarled angrily. "Sometimes I'm convinced you don't have a brain."
There was a pause between them, like they were debating on saying something.
"I mean, I probably won't have a brain soon..." Adam mumbled, tapping the side of his head. Melissa walked in, confused.
"Are you guys still arguing?" She sighed, but her eyes went wide when she saw Akame. "Kitty!" She ran forward, arms stretched to pet the fluff.
Akame purred against her, trilling with affection. Brie set her down and went into the kitchen to find a can of food for her.
"John?" She called out, awaiting a response. He finally arrived, his hair messy and eyes drooped.
"Is there any chance we have cat food?" Brie smirked as he perked up, clearly confused. "We don't have a cat..." His voice trailed off as Akame stalked in, exploring the station with big curious eyes.
"Where did you find a cat?!" He grumbled, running a hand through his hair and opening cupboards to find food for her. "I have tins of chicken and tuna if that's any help." He pulled out a small tin of tuna and peeled it open, balancing it on the floor.
Akame sat and ate contentedly, stretching her hind legs in the process. "She's a very calm cat, we can totally keep her!" Brie gave him puppy eyes. John's permission was most important since he owned the station.
"It's not like what I say will matter soon. Josiah is coming to collect us soon." He reminded, looking down at Akame. "Is she infected? Her eyes, they're red."
Brie sighed, following his gaze. "I don't know. I'll message Josiah." She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text. He responded almost instantly, like he had been waiting.
'This could be more than the infection. The cat could have an eye disease from living in the wild or it could be albino. We can take tests on Adam AND Akame when you arrive if you want.'
Brie read the text out, and John frowned. "He seems too helpful. I'm suspicious. I want to know when we're leaving." He demanded.
Brie typed out the question and gasped as her response came through.
'Tomorrow.'
Mel and Adam walked in, and caught the end of the conversation. "Are you sure about this?" Adam murmured, unsettled. She nodded confidently.
"We got this." She grinned. "Come on guys, let's sleep. We need the energy for tomorrow!"
They split, Brie walking to the couch with Akame, Adam and Melissa went into the spare room. John went to the door and kept watch. There had to be someone out tonight. Besides, they just fought off a huge monster and found out there were two possible infections staying with them. They had to be careful.
Brie fell asleep fairly quickly with Akame curled on her chest. Her comforting purring was more than enough to send her into the dream state. It felt like only moments had passed before she woke up again to a call from Josiah.
"Hello?" She groaned, lifting herself up and nudging Akame from her comfortable position.
"We're outside. I tracked your number's GPS." He had a cheeky tone to his voice. "I notice you don't have a door. What happened?"
"Tracked my GPS? Eek... We were attacked. I'll explain after I wake everyone up. We'll be there shortly." She jumped up from her comfortable den and shook everyone awake, noticing that John should've been on duty. Why didn't he wake them up?
She pulled on her clothes, hoisting her backpack with her necessities and walked outside.
"John?" She called out, looking around for a sign of movement. There were two black cars with their engines on, chugging out a calm noise. She turned to see Josiah. He wasn't what she had pictured him to be. He was dark-skinned with a cheeky smile and short black hair. He had 2 men, probably body guards, standing by his sides that looked awfully similar to each other. Were they twins? They were built strongly, one with neatly-cut hair and the other had a man bun.
"Have you seen a tall man with brown hair, probably smoking a cigarette?" She felt herself get out of breath as the men shook their head sadly.
"I'm here!" Brie jolted as she felt a large hand plant on her shoulder. She looked up to see John with a pack of cigarettes in his free hand. "I ran out, so I went to the shop to get some more. Sorry about the scare, love." He stretched.
Brie turned to see Adam and Melissa walking out, followed with Akame. She bent down to pick up the small cat, who was licking her lips happily. Brie could smell the tuna on her.
"The infection in Adam seems to be developing incredibly slowly, so I'll let him travel and stay as long as no other symptoms occur." Josiah orders, and the men seem to relax slightly
Were the guards only here because of Adam? What about the other threats around? She glanced around, clutching Akame like something would jump out at any second. She sighed.
"I guess we should go. Do you have everything?" She looked down to Melissa, who was eyeing the body guards like they were two lions who had escaped the zoo. She nodded solemnly and they climbed into two cars. Adam went with John and the girls stuck together with Josiah. Each car had a guard.
Akame wriggled, taking her claws out for the first time today. Brie looked down confused. "Is the car scary?" She caressed her chin, hoping it'd calm her. Soon, Akame had fallen asleep to the vibrations of the car moving along the road.
"So Josiah, how come there aren't any walkers around? Shouldn't the car attract them?" Brie asked, looking around the bare streets.
"This town was deserted weeks ago when the food ran out. At least, that's what the walkers thought. They missed you, apparently." Josiah sat in the passenger seat. "Once we get into different cities, this is going to be much more difficult. There will be bigger threats than walkers." He seemed to shudder.
"We were attacked by a bigger threat. It was like a huge ball of goop with legs!" Melissa exclaimed, reminding them of yesterday's incident.
"Ah, yes. There was a... huge creature. It attacked us, but Adam scared it away." Brie explained.
"You didn't kill it? That means..." Josiah spun around quickly, and his eyes went wide as he focused on the back window.
Brie raised an eyebrow, slowly turning to see what was going on. Her eyes widened as Josiah yelled out.
"Drive!"