Oliver's eyes wandered around the ground as he suddenly saw three packets lying around. All of them were so loaded that they resembled rather a sphere than a box and the parachutes of each lay around entangled. 

With a knife the blond cut them off the packets, folded them neatly and put them on the ground of his cart. Now came the worst part. He hefted each packet up the cart with all his strength. It took him some time, but in the end he managed doing so and held his back huffing. His breathing had to be normal again before he would continue his task. No matter how often he did this, Oliver felt like he will never get used to the weight. 

Eventually, he cut open the packets to take a look whose content was in each. Usually the senders didn't pay much attention what content belonged in which packet, but often enough it actually was in the same order as the previous month, so the survivors had decided which packet belongs to which survivor.

Before he was about to go home again, he let his eyes wander around the scenery to see if there was anything else. Unfortunately, there wasn't this time.

He took the handle of his cart and walked back home. The way back was always exhausting as he had extra weight to carry with him. After that, he used to take a break for almost an hour at home. While doing so, Yohio usually ruffled through his hair and smiled gratefully. Oliver longed for such again, even if he had a fight with the older one just now. Usually such a disagreement didn't last longer than some days, but these days were a terribly long time considering that they had to live together in the same house. After all, they both needed each other's support, though Oliver was the one who depended on that more. 

Oliver awakened out of his thoughts as he suddenly heard a strange sound. It definitely wasn't coming from nature; the blond was sure about that. He looked around frantically, but didn't find anything strange. He wanted to take it as a simple misconception, but Yohio's words from earlier resonated in his head. It was only early morning; usually he went in the afternoon to do his job. 

Oliver gulped concerned and quickened his pace. All of a sudden the cart didn't seem to be that heavy anymore as he had to concentrate on other things.

The risk of meeting an infected person was especially at the evening, at night and in the morning high. Only in the afternoon they hid somewhere. But now to this time, it wasn't that unlikely to get to see one. 

Oliver didn't know what to do. Running away and leaving the packets behind wasn't an option. They all relied on them and he was the responsible for it. On the other hand, he didn't want to risk his own life. 

He was all alone; nobody was there to hear him, even if he screamed. Could he defend himself? He had a knife with him, but the chance of saving himself with it was extremely low. With a well provided weapon he had a chance, but none of the survivors had such, speaking of ammunition.

Once again he heard a strange sound. It was a spiteful laugh that startled him so much he bit his tongue. With wide opened eyes he checked his surroundings once again, but as exspected he didn't find anything. Yet he knew there was an infected one. Therefore, he moved even quicker forward and pulled the cart behind him hectically. 

His heart pounded hard against his chest; that was the only thing he could feel at the moment. He didn't notice his freezing feet or the wind lashing his face. These would've been minor problems anyway. 

Oliver's fitful breathing made him swallow his spit only halfway - he had to cough. But he tried to stop himself as he didn't want to make any sounds. The laughing changed to a giggle and made the blond feel even more helpless. Where was the strong Oliver who wanted to brave everyone? Why did he always loose his strength of will in important situations?

Instead, he felt like he was about to cry any second. He felt that it was no use even trying to escape - he was trapped. No matter how, Oliver would get caught. 

'That's it. I'm dead," Oliver kept repeating in his head what made him feel even worse. Inside of him he cursed himself for not apologizing to Yohio earlier. He would never see him again and leave this world with the attitude of a rude teenager disrespecting the ones who helped him. But that actually wasn't the case, he wasn't like this. 

The blond whispered his last prayer and said mentally goodbye to everyone he knew as he suddenly heard the giggling coming closer. Oliver was already running, the sudden strength coming out of nowhere would've surprised him if he had the time to think clearly. Pure adrenaline thrusted through his  bloodstreams and let him forget about everything that wasn't of need to survive. Instead, it let him manage to run even faster across the fields with several kilos dragged along. 

Oliver squinted his eyes shut and waited for the obnoxious fingers to grab for him like back then when Yohio had been there to save him, but nothing happened. The giggling went quieter until it couldn't be heard anymore and it left Oliver in silence. The blond gasped. He didn't know how to react and stopped running all of a sudden without really wanting it. His mind had shut down long ago and his body was about to collapse any second. 

Paying close attention to the sounds around him, Oliver tried to figure out what was going on. In front of him lay nothing, so he concentrated on the happening behind him. But it was silent, completely silent. His still fast beating heart was the only thing he got to hear. 

Oliver was about to start walking again, but somehow his body didn't react - there was a rustling sound behind him.