"We shouldn't have brought Quince."
"What do you expect me to do?Leave with only you to accompany me?"
Matt, Leon and Quince were running from a pack of grown-ups which smelt Matt's blood from a just inflicted wound. They were getting better at hunting them. First the runners, now literal bloodhounds thought Matt bitterly. Leon carried Quince, who was burning with yet another fever. They were running out of medicine for the sick, especially Quince, a cancer survivor. Frail, but with a mind sharper than Leon's wit. The three boys had gone out in search of more supplies, specifically medicine. The reduced number of scavengers was a precaution established by Matt, who did not want to risk more kids getting killed. They were currently running up flights of stairs in a residential block, grown-ups shambling after. A good thing was the bloodhound grown-ups were not runners too. Leon, though quite strong, was already tiring. Matt was lugging three boy's worth of weapons and a bag full of supplies. The two were exhausted, until they finally reached the top.
The three boys rushed through the door that lead to the roof and slammed it quickly behind them. Leon laid Quince gently on the floor and then went to help Matt put his back on the door, which was already shaking from the dozen or so grown-ups trying to push through. Quince stirred and woke, which caught the other , two boys' attention. Leon quickly scanned the area for an alternative exit and spied a vent. He called, "Quince get through the vent there! We'll follow behind." Quince stumbled towards the vent and peered down. His small body could fit through, but the tall and lanky boys would get stuck, leaving them open to the grown-ups. Quince said, "I can't go." Matt yelled, "What do you mean no?" Quince explained weakly which drew the results he feared. Leon and Matt insisted he go. Quince nodded, energy still falling due to illness.
Matt stood at the ready, a hand on his police baton he looted and a hand in his jacket pocket. Leon helped walk Quince over to the vent. Before they could reach it, Matt shouted a warning and the grown-ups crashed through the door. Matt released the hand in his pocket and threw the object he was holding into the throng of diseased adults. An almighty boom shook the entire building and sent the three boys staggering. Ears ringing, Matt drew a breath of satisfaction at the success of his grenade. Luckily he found a lone soldier wandering the area long ago and looted it, taking its single grenade and knife. As the dust cleared, he saw hands reaching for him.
Matt stumbled back, uttering a cry as the first grown-up that had survived bit his arm. Half of its body had been blown away, but its sheer hunger propelled it forwards onto Matt. Yelling in pain, Matt moved back, dragging the persistent grown-up with him. More destroyed but still alive grown-ups emerged from the wreckage and one by one, bit Matt and latched on. Matt, now with four grown-ups biting him, moved back further from the rest of the grown-ups but closer to the edge of the roof. Matt, through his rapidly fading mind, thought, I win. He and the grown-ups on him fell ten stories down. None survived.
Leon watched as Quince feebly went through the gate of the vent. Once he entered, Quince turned around to once again persuade Leon to try to escape with him. Leon shook his head and quickly shut the vent's gate. Quince looked devastated, but with Leon's urging and Matt's grenade's resounding explosion, Quince turned with a bag full of supplies and escaped through the vent. Leon turned in time to see Matt fall off the building with several grown-ups. He muttered, "Let's find out if there's a God or Devil today my atheist mindset." He braced as six grown-ups encircled him. Leon sent out a silent goodbye to Quince as they were upon him.
Quince looked back at the building as he made his way back to the mall. He acknowledged his friends' sacrifices and cried. He clutched Leon's laser and Matt's watch to his chest and set out.
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