Lesley ran as fast as he could , keeping a low profile and staying in hidden corners and not drawing too much attention to himself as he fled . Not that it was hard , for all the zombies in the city , the streets were pretty desolate. Dead tress lined the pavement , abounded cars stood in their place and silence made it seem as if the world had lost all inhabitants .
One might wonder then who he was hiding from. The answer was easy ; he was hiding from other people . The survivors in the city were often wandering around just as he did right then, looking for food or trying to last another day by finding someone to eat . Yes , survivors ate human flesh when the situation was right . Martin had told him stories of cannibalism amongst humans he'd met in excursions . Of course that was only in cases of starvation and among each other , meaning Lesley was relatively safe if he kept low .
But was that the only reason for him to hide ?
No.
He was seen by survivors as an enemy even if he was human. This was because he was from the safezone and , worse , he was a squad fighter ,which , Martin told him , meant he was enemy number two , second to the zombies . Squad fighters in the early years shot at survivors who tried to enter the citadel and this built a very thick layer of dislike over the years .
Lesley knew he had to be weary of those people ,and that made him want to laugh .
It was so ironic .
How ridiculous that he was not thinking about being kilked by a zombie . They should have been the the first thought in his mind as he turned a corner, but they weren't .
Apparently spending his time with that zombie had ruined him and Liam and Martin would probably laugh at the story . If they found it funny . Lesley smiled thinking about them ,as he kept running through another alleyway .
How many alleys had he gone through? he had lost count now and to be honest, he was not really counting , he had other things to worry about.
The streets of the city were relatively hard to navigate across and he had to be careful of his steps with a lot of debris, junk and whatever else people had dropped on apocalypse day in a panic . It was kind of hard to look at the streets and made Lesley feel bad about the way things are . The poor and destitute sight he saw , like the zombie's apartment building, always made him feel this way when they went on excursions.
Cities were empty or zombie infested . Limbs and bones , with rotten carcasses could be found if you turned the right bend . It was sad that the survivors lived in that mess while he lived in a safe and secure area . It wasn't fair . It wasn't right .
But he couldn't change that .
On a brighter note the air on the other hand was by far better than the one in that bedroom with the zombie . Fresher and not so stale , Lesley thought with a smile .
Lesley stopped dead in his tracks and frowned as he realized something ; that was thrice . Thrice that he had thought about that undead corpse in the apartment and he could not figure out why .
Was he insane ?
Lesley looked up at the Deadpoool-HQ building that stood like a beacon , taller than even the citadel wall . It seemed to call for hikm and Lesley smiled . He was close , he'd been running for nearly an hour now . Soon he'd be safe at home .
" Hey ! Look ! "
Lesley turned around to see an old man pointing at him with a rotten stick in his hand . The man was wrinkly and wearing a blue a bathrobe that was , thankfully , tied around his waist . He was thick in the gut like a balloon and he wore sunglasses like blind man. On his feet were faded sneakers and Lesley felt a frown form as he looked at the salty cogger .
What the heck was he looking at ?
The old man looked at Lesley with a thoughtful gaze and then he spat on the pavement .
" Where are you going ? " He asked Lesley in a disgustingly dry voice .
" None of your business . " Lesley said eyeing the man suspiciously and glancing around Incase this was a trapabd survivors were going to ambush him .
At any second.
But there was no ambush , just a wrinkly old man who was scratching his butt with a small smile on his face .
Gross , he thought as he looked at the senior .
" You're one of the fighters huh ? " The old man said to Lesley , who grew tense and placed his hand on his Crux hilt .
Even if the guy was an old man , Lesley had been taught to never be unprepared for the unexpected . Young or old , a threat could come from anywhere and he would not be stopped then by anyone . Not wheh he was so close to home .
" Yeah so what ? " He asked the geezer .
" Well I always wanted to ask you guys . What is it you fight for ? I mean just asking ? "
" What ? " Lesley said frowning in confusion . What was this old geezer talking about ?
" People have purpose, kid . Without it , they are just moving around like headless ants . The big guys have money and want more money , the little people have little and try to get a little more everyday . Everyone has something they want , that is what keeps them alive . What about you , squad fighter? What's your goal ? "
" You're senile . " Lesley said flatly and the man chuckled softly .
" Maybe . Maybe I am . " The old man said rubbing his belly , " But if you don't have a purpose - "
" Listen geezer , I'm a protector . I protect the citadel from zombies . I save people and keep people alive . " Lesley said turning around with a shake of his head , " That's my purpose. "
The old man watched as Lesley ran away , quick as a hare , he disappeared around a corner . As soon as he was gone , a small toddler came from behind the old man . He had blonde hair and blue eyes with a skinny and pale body .
" Is he - " the toddler started to talk but the old man cut him off .
" No . Not yet . " He said with a smirk on his face , " But soon he will be . "
" He'll be like us ? " The toddler asked him .
" No . He is not like us . He will never be part of us . Let's go . " The old man said walking down the street and the toddler quickly followed him .
He turned around once to look at the way Lesley had gone .
" Soon . " He said softly and carried on walking .
.....
Home !
At last , Lesley thought as the citadel wall came into his sight .
Grenhit safezone's wall was collosial and covered the whole CBD area and residential area . Almost the half the height of a skyscraper , they were created with the highest level of security during the cleansing after apocalypse day . Cameras with motion sensors and built-in Skillets and missiles were part of the security wall's system and this meant most zombies died again there .
It took Lesley awhile but he managed to find an access point on the wall . These were allocated places of communication with Deadpool-HQ built at certain bases in the wall for use by squad fighters who needed to request assistance or report emergencies .
Lesley opened a hidden panel , built to keep survivors out . He pulled out the receiver hanging inside a small compartment , which looked like an ice cream cone with a wire attached to the end .
" Report requested . " He said to the cone and a ringing sound like a small a bell started coming from it .
" State your report and identity , aswell as squad . " A small feminine voice said to him .
" Umm , you want my report first or my name ? " Lesley asked and heard a slight gasp .
" I mean identify yourself , your squad and give your report . " She said and Lesley could hear the embarrassment in her voice .
But he didn't care .
" Lesley Woodsman , squad 36 and my report is ; attacked , injured but not infected , requesting pick up . " He said methodically looking around at the sky and buildings .
The area around there was far cleaner than the city streets he had ran through . The government was able to keep the area around the wall clean but no one knew how or why . It was a citadel secret but common people had their ideas .
" I'm sorry what ? " Lesley asked the girl to repeat .
" I said that your request has been denied . " She said and Lesley frowned.
" What do you mean ? Why ? " He asked her .
" It's because ... well because , " the girl hesitated to speak and Lesley lost his patience .
" Spit it out already ! " He shouted .
" Because he's dead . " She said quickly and Lesley's heart stopped in it's tracks .
" What ... did you just say ? " He asked her softly and the girl grimaced where she sat , nearly ten miles away from him . She was new but she had to deal with this ? Why was life so unfair ?
" I said that Lesley Woodsman is dead . He has been classified as dead for two weeks . " She said to him , " Is there anything else you want? "