"C'mon Noct, we're almost there. You've got to keep going!"

The blonde, Ventus, staggered with the weight of the dark haired male he was carrying. Noctis' arm was draped over Ventus' shoulder like a limp doll as he struggled with his hoarse breathing from exhausted lungs and limbs.

Noctis was injured, badly, with a deep slash to the side of his abdomen and a steel pole that had impaled his shoulder during a fall. Ventus wasn't faring well himself, but his woulds were minor compared to his friend's.

Bodies littered the empty cracked roads as they stumbled through away from danger. The painful cries and groans of the undead, trailing after them at a slower pace. Not far in front of them Prompto kept a look out, making sure the way they were heading was clear.

They were desperately looking for a place to rest and search for supplies and medical equipment. Prompto had suggested the hospital but Noctis had shot him down straight away, mentioning that the hospital would be a place where there would be a higher density of undead. So, the school it was. There would be medical supplies there, and a rooftop to call for help.

"You're so lucky you haven't been bitten yet." Prompto muttered as he pressed onto the oozing gashes to stop the bleeding once they had found the school's infirmary and barred themselves in.

Their weapons lay discarded not to far from them, bloody and dirt ridden. The three were relieved to finally take a break.

"We have to go back for Gladio and Cor. They may still be alive!" Ventus stressed sweat layering his forehead and neck from supporting Noctis all that way. The other two remained silent, Prompto grimacing and Noct shaking his head in denial. The chances of that were slim. Very slim, and as much Prompto knew he and Noctis would do anything for their friends, Prompto couldn't risk the young prince's safety. 

"I know who we can contact. They can help us, they're my friends." Ventus wheezed through his winded lungs. Prompto paused his cleansing of Noctis' wounds and dressing them.

The two perked up and looked up at Ventus, hope glimmering in their eyes. "Who?" 

Ventus held up his wrist, the one that held an odd looking black bracelet, as he showed it to the others.

"Avalanche." 

It had been another sleepless night there at Seventh Heaven. You had returned to your room that evening, barred and locked your door and not slept, in fear of losing your mind and going after the people who had cared for you and looked after you. 

You knew sleep wouldn't find you. You were too panicked about what could happen if you were to fall asleep. Nothing may not have happened the last night but you couldn't be sure as to what would happen this time.

You could only pace, your mind centred on the mindless killing machine you would become in the night.

This was bad. You couldn't hurt these people, they had been kind to you. Offered food and shelter to a stranger, someone they didn't even know and let you in to their safe place.

It was strange to you, how seemingly nothing had happened through the night. Why weren't there bodies and flesh and blood strewn over the floor? Why weren't your hands covered in red liquid? As nice as it was in 7th Heaven (the bar owned by a lady you met earlier called Tifa) you had to figure out what was going on before letting anyone get hurt. 

Was there something here or nearby that was preventing your mind from turning flesh hungry? Or perhaps had you body fought the infection off? No, it couldn't be that as your cuts and wounds had been healed over from your accelerated healing.

You lifted a hand and turned it, palm faced upwards and you noted how it lightly shook, as if in fear. 

Scared. You were scared. You were terrified of yourself and you were afraid that if it would come to it, if someone were to kill you, you wouldn't put up a fight. It would be better that way, right? You had no idea of what exactly you were. Of course you had been infected, but you had never found out as to why you still held onto your human conscience. 

You needed to leave soon too. If not for the monster that you could possibly turn into, then because ShinRa would find you, and put the others in danger.

Just then, another thought came to you. You still had no clue to anything - the seemingly different infection you had contracted. Was it worth trying to figure out what it was? Even if you did manage to find out, what then? There was no cure, not yet anyway. Were you to wonder around the city as you were and live a normal human life? Or would you return to the other side of the wall, where all of your other undead friends roamed.  

You had paced, lied back down, got up and paced and sat, all until the first light of dawn slipped through your window. You groaned, wishing to have at least a wink of untroubled sleep.

You had stayed in your room, well into the day as you listened to the others bustle around the building, getting along with their routines. That was until a knock came to your door.

Aerith poked her brown haired head through and asked if you wanted some lunch, to the point where she started to almost beg you to come down, to stretch your legs.

Aerith began to worry. You hadn't eaten anything since herself and Cloud had brought you back to the bar with them. Your already tired eyes seem to droop more, bags had formed and your skin was dry and lifeless. She knew there was something strange going on the moment she found you, however Aerith knew you needed nutrients of some sort to replenish your health. If only she knew that you needed something other than the sustenance humans needed.

You sat at one of the booths again, alone and staring at the plate full of food in front of you. It looked and smelled, oh so delicious, it had your mouth watering. You hadn't seen such a divine looking sight in a long time. Perhaps, one bite wouldn't cause your body too much trouble. You hadn't had the chance to eat normal food since you had turned anyway, what could be the harm? Yet a small part of you said that it wasn't the best idea. 

You picked up a fork and took a small chunk and lifted it to your lips. The aroma was stronger as you held it up and you lost all self control as you took a bite. 

Bad.

Decision.

The flavour was gruesome, felt as bland as a sponge on your tongue and dry you almost spat it back onto your plate if it weren't for Denzel who happened to trot over and take a seat opposite you.  You forced yourself to swallow it with a wince, hoping the brunette wouldn't notice.

"How is it? Tifa's a really good cook, on't you think?" He asked with a grin. He seemed hopeful, for an odd reason, you weren't sure. In fact you didn't even know why he bothered to speak to you. You hadn't exactly made the best impression since being there.

Oh Jeez...

You bit back a cough. "Yeah, its good." You lied smoothly. "But I don't have much of an appetite, I know its rude of me but I don't think I'll be able to finish it." You said solemnly. A half lie then. 

Denzel's smile dropped a little before it returned just as quick. "So where are you from? You never mentioned. Sorry if I'm intruding, I'm just curious." He said with a certain shyness averting his gaze away from you now and then. Why on Gaia would he be interested in knowing something like that?

You opened your mouth to speak only to be interrupted by the flowers that were presented suddenly before you. With surprised eyes, you looked down at the girl behind them.

"Oh! (Y/n), this is my adopted sister Marlene. She never got to speak with you. She's been dying to meet you." Denzel piped up, which you were glad for. You narrowly dodged a bullet there...

The young girl wore brown hair in a plait that was tied with a cute pink ribbon, much like Aerith you noticed. She wore a white sleeveless turtleneck and a patterned skirt. 

"You seemed sad, so I brought you some flowers I picked from the church." She said sweetly holding out a bunch of flowers out for you to take. 

You gulped, swallowing your emotions as you stared at the young girl in front of you, her gesture unexpectedly meaningful to you. Your eyes flickered to the minuscule red dots that slightly painted the pale petals blood. The young girl probably didn't even realise and that made guilt squeeze around you heart. The fact that she had picked up on your emotions before you had left you in awe and somewhat speechless.

"Tifa and I were wondering if you wanted to go outside to the market with us. You've been inside for a while. Cloud and Cid and Barrett will come too!" Marlene chirped.

"That might not be the best idea. I'm meant to be hiding." You said with a frown. 

"That's alright, Tifa said you could borrow one of Cid's cloaks to keep yourself covered." 

You still weren't convinced, and both Denzel and Marlene seemed to notice. The young brunette opened her mouth once more to convince you until another deep voice cut her off. "Humour the lil' lady for me. We all think it would be good for you."

The man that stood behind Marlene towered over her greatly. He had a huge build and wore a worn brown sleeveless jacket with green pants and large brown boots. There was a quick glint of silver which turned out to be a dog-tag around his neck and three noticeable scars on his right cheek. What caught your eye was the huge metal machine gun in place of his right arm. Part of you hoped that there was still a healthy hand concealed within it, but from its size and the way it was attached told you otherwise. 

"Barrett!" Marlene squealed happily. You didn't fail to notice the sweet child like love that shone in her eyes as she gazed up at him. The man seemed to notice the hidden question that must have glinted briefly in your eyes, and smiled. 

"Barrett, nice tuh meet yuh. I'm Marlene's adoptive father." 

So that's why Marlene looked at him like her were God. It was sweet. You could tell immediately that she treated him like he was her real father. It almost made you smile at the two.

You pondered over it. You would like to go outside for a bit, but it would be pretty risky. You didn't want to get caught, you couldn't go back to that lab, to that scientist. The memories of the prodding, injecting and torture made you shiver involuntarily. 

It didn't take much to persuade you. You really did want to go out and stretch your legs and feel the air on your lacklustre skin. 

So you nodded and agreed, much to Marlene's glee.

"As you know, food production has depleted since the apocalypse started, so finding cheap ingredients and potions is hard to come by. We have a few connections though." Tifa told you later as the group geared up, what for, you weren't exactly sure, but then you remembered that they were also enemies with ShinRa, so it was probably natural for them to keep on guard at all times. 

"I guess its a good thing then, to have allies in various places over the city." You replied. She smiled and nodded at you.

Before setting out, you had made sure all the contents you had swallowed were safely emptied down the toilet, as you didn't want it to upset your stomach, as the organ only had  a taste for something else more bloody and fleshy. 

It saddened you greatly that you could no longer taste the things you used to love, but you had to remember, you weren't who you used to be. That girl, (Y/n) was dead, and in her place this corpse who feasted on flesh and blood. 

You were handed a heavy, dark grey hooded cloak by Cid at the door before you left. A hand weighed down on your shoulder as you finished adjusting the clothing around you and you turned to see that it belonged to Aerith. 

"Be careful (Y/n). ShinRa will still be looking for you." She warned softly, care shone through her eyes. How could someone be this kind to a stranger she barely knew. With a small smile you nodded.

"I will."

You, Tifa, Cloud, Denzel, Marlene and Cid finally ventured out to the market to grab the supplies. 

You walked a few steps behind the group, mindful to keep the hooded cloak tight around you, to keep your identity hidden. You watched as Marlene swung both hers and Barrett's locked hands as she giddily skipped down the street. 

You shouldn't have enjoyed a time like this as much as you were, but walking outside in the clouded sunlight was so refreshing and watching normal human beings go about their lives was a wish come true. You had never valued times like this as much as you did now. 

Cloud seemed to notice your odd contentness, and fell back a few paces to join by your side. 

He eyed you with a slight twitch of a smile playing on his lips, watching as there was more of a bounce in your step than your usual lifeless dragging of your legs kind of walk. He also saw that your mouth wasn't pulled into a deep frown as it usually was, but rather a straight line. 

"Your spirits seem to be lifted." Cloud mused quietly. Your eyes flickered to him for a split second, a ghost of a smile playing on your lips. "I wouldn't have thought a quick walk to the market was this exciting." He lightly teased.

"It's not, its just nice to get out." You replied with a roll of your eyes. Cloud only smiled softly in reply as they continued through the market. 

The group came upon a certain market stall that, from the front, lead into a slightly bigger store. Fruit and veg and other various foods were littered on the wooden stall and from the corner of your eye, at the back of the store you saw the glints and flashed of weapons, lots of them. 

You followed the group further in to the store looking around curiously. You spotted four strangers, who greeted your group with fondness. 

"These people are our friends. We trade with them often and in return for having each others backs we get a sort of discount." Denzel informed beside you, his shoulder almost brushing against yours. You weren't a fan of such closeness, but you had to be normal about it, so you shrugged it off. 

"(Y/n), this is Sora, Riku, Kairi and Naminé." Tifa introduced you to the strangers. The four looked over at you, the silvernette more warily than the others. It reminded you of Vincent. 

"Who are you?" The spiky haired brunette asked with such bright curiosity sparkling in his eyes as he walked up to you. 

"Sora don't be rude!" Kairi scolded, hitting him gently on the shoulder.

You watched the girl - Kairi, scold the boy and looked her up and down. Dark maroon like red hair brushed reached to her skinny shoulders and she had blue eyes like the others, a pale complexion and wore a pink strapless mini-dress as well as a white halter top underneath the dress with a black hood. You liked her. She seemed like a person who wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

"Ah! I didn't mean to be! I was just curious, I'm sorry, miss." He bowed to you apologetically. 

You just weren't sure that giving your name to a bunch of new people was a good idea. You waved your hands in front of you slightly with a quiet 'its fine.' But was it really? Did you look strange or stand out in some way? Now you were just going to be self-conscious around others.

Your eyes flickered over to the quiet blonde who merely smiled fondly at the group, but kept her words to herself. Naminé was it?

She had pretty blond hair that was draped across her left shoulder. A white dress hugged her snugly and ended at her thighs. Dainty, that was how you would describe her. 

You picked up on the strangely similar resemblance Naminé seemed to share with the brunette - Kairi. They both shared the same true blue eyes, body frames and features. Were they sisters?

The group conversed and caught up with each other as you sat back and watched from the background, feeling something in the pit of your stomach crawl up and eat at you. 

It was envy.

Envious of the group of friends in front of you that laughed and joked, without so much a care. You were once like that. You missed it dearly. 

The sadness seemed to reveal itself on your features as someone you didn't expect to notice shot you a concerned look. Naminé, to which you returned a shrug, telling her it was ok.

The banter died down quickly as the conversation grew into a more serious tone, the brightness suddenly dimming, as the topic led elsewhere. 

"Whats wrong?" Tifa asked, frown dipping on her lips.

The group grew quiet, as if they were afraid to reveal the news. Until Riku, the handsome silvernette spoke up. His eyes shot over to you and then back nervously, as if he weren't sure whether to reveal the news in front of a stranger. He decided to go with it.

"It's Ventus. We received a distress signal a few hours ago from the other side of the wall." 

"What!? Why on earth is he over there? And on his own!?" Barrett exclaimed. Marlene's small hands tightened into frightened fists at her chest from her adoptive father's raised voice, and it came as a shock to yourself when you found yourself stepping over and taking one of her hands in your own. Denzel eyed you with surprise, which melted into a small smile at the sight.

"He went to help out a friend who was in trouble. You know that the only way to the Kingdom of Lucis is through that part of Midgar, and Ventus insisted he had to help." Riku continued.

"Wait, you mentioned Lucis? Is something wrong over there?" Cloud broke in, brows furrowed.

"He wouldn't say, only that he had to go right then and left in a hurry. But now hes in trouble."

"And how do you know this? How did he contact you?" 

"We gave each other these bracelet like devices that include buttons to press that will light up our own. We agreed to only use them when we're in dire need." Sora said, as they all held up their wrists adorned with thin black metallic bracelets.

Of course, friends helped out friends, and your concentration fazed out as they shared plans and rescue missions, and the hairs on your arms stood on end suddenly. 

Something wasn't quite right. You could no longer hear the bustling footsteps and voices outside the shop. Like time had frozen outside. The hair on the back of your neck rose. Your eyes began to dart around nervously. 

What was it?

Your breath suddenly hitched at the red dot that out of nowhere hovered over the skin on Kairi's forehead and as your brain processed it, red dots began to appear on over everyone's heads.

Snipers.

Your mouth hung open to shout a warning only to be drowned out by a louder voice from a megaphone.  

"Don't move!"

"Drop your weapons, we have you surrounded!"

Your eyes widened considerably, and your grip on Marlene's hand tightened. 

ShinRa.

Sooo, for some reason I'm really not happy with how this chapter turned out, but I hope you guys enjoyed!

What a long ass chapter and Holy crap! I was going through editing older chapters of this story and guess what I found out!? I started this back in 2014! That's 5 years ago! Wow...I gotta get my shit together. -Rikki

UNEDITED