"I’m going home, and I’m taking Nora with me."

Leo’s hands stayed on the railing, knuckles white, eyes fixed on the sedan below.

While I took a sip of the floating coffee and looked at the same sedan for a moment.

"Huh..." I kept my voice even. "You gotta understand, only ten percent of the population has the immunity... There’s a good chance that-"

"Nikki." His voice was quiet and completely flat. "I know."

I looked at him.

He was still looking at the sedan.

And I understood fully, without needing another word out of either of us. Leo already knew the math. He had probably been doing the math since the moment he climbed out of that university window and saw what the streets looked like.

He knew what ten percent meant when you started calculating it against a family of four on a farm several hundred kilometers away.

He was going anyway, because they were his family.

Fair enough, I would’ve done the same.

"Okay... look, here’s my plan." I settled back into the wheelchair and let the coffee mug drift back to chest height. "We stay in the penthouse for the first two weeks, because most of the fresh infected will have degraded into shamblers by then, and shamblers are considerably more manageable when we’re moving... After that, we hit a supermarket and head west, making a few stops along the way... The goal is reaching Ashport before winter properly settles in... it’s the only place I know where humanity was actually winning... until spring arrived. That’s also the place my old crew would eventually gather. And I know a place in the forest outside the city where we can set up our long-term winter base and wait the cold out. We’ve got maybe a month before I need all that established..."

Leo nodded once, slowly, still watching the horde below.

"My place is-"

"I know where it is..." I cut him off. "It’s a bit of a detour, but I’ll take you there."

Neither of us said the rest of that sentence because the rest of it didn’t need saying.

"Nora will-" Leo began.

"Nora will do what she wants to do." I cut him off again, looking directly at him this time. "If she wants to roll with us after we drop you off, she rolls with us... If she wants to stay with you, she gets to do that too... And if I find even an inkling that you tried to influence that decision in any direction other than fully hers, know that I’ve gotten pretty good at making things look like unfortunate accidents."

"What the fuck do you take me for?" Leo turned to look at me, genuinely offended.

"Nothing personal, I was just putting it out there..." I said, grinning. "Don’t let it upset you. Nothing before the fold, remember?"

"Right," he scoffed.

"This isn’t a difference in ideology, Leo..." I dropped the grin, keeping my voice level. "I’m not sitting here philosophizing at you for shits and giggles. This is every piece of wisdom I’ve collected from three years of watching people die from the same mistakes over and over again... me included."

Taking another sip, I continued, "Nothing before the fold... That’s three years of accumulated knowledge packed into four words... I’m trying to save you months of bullshit and mental breakdowns."

"And I’m supposed to stand where I am, dick in hand, while an entire family gets ripped apart and eaten alive..."

"Whether you agree with it or not frankly doesn’t matter... But you follow it while you’re with us. That’s non-negotiable."

"And what about big sister Kara?" Leo shot back. "Nora? You think they’ll just nod along with it? Nikki, we were college students yesterday. We’re not like you. I’m not even sure what you’re like anymore."

I let that sit for a second without answering.

After all, he wasn’t wrong.

"You’re right... You’re not like me," I said, looking over the city. "But as for Kara, though, do not mistake her for an idealistic moping little bitch like yourself... The woman patched up a fractured cat under combat stress, along with the stress of Nora’s and your safety, and immediately started downloading survival manuals... As for Nora... sounds like you don’t actually know your own girlfriend."

Leo went quiet.

He knew exactly what I meant. He had been dating Nora for long enough to know precisely what she was capable of when circumstances removed the option of panic.

But I laid it out anyway.

"Nora is like water," I said. "She’ll cry, complain, and genuinely terrify me with sheer stupidity... And then she’ll adapt. Every single time... She always does."

"Yeah... " Leo said after a long moment, his voice softer now. "I know."

"I’m sorry for snapping at you, big bro..." he said, finally, leaning forward slightly, forearms resting on the railing now instead of hands gripping it. "I know you’re right about all of it. I just... I’m just... I-"

"Hey, I know..." I said, genuinely meaning it. "The three of us are orphans, Leo. Me, Kara, and Nora... we’re all we’ve got. Trust me, I was running on pure anxiety yesterday from the moment I woke up... I can’t say for certain I understand how you feel, but I certainly have an inkling..."

Leo let out a small hm, more of an exhale than a sound, and reached over and picked up his coffee mug for the first time since I had set it there, before taking a long sip as he looked out at the city.

The horde below continued making its usual decisions about existence.

"Tell you what... " I said, letting the grin come back. "I’ve got a base building module in the crafting tab. So when we get to your place, I’ll set you guys up a proper fortress... Think a full climate-controlled greenhouse with UV grow bulbs running all year round... Walls thick enough to walk on. Watchtowers, solar setup, workshops... and a quantity of guns and ammunition that would give a small government pause."

I leaned forward as much as my ribs would allow, which was not much but still conveyed the energy. "The whole thing... A fuckin sanctuary..."

Leo turned his head slightly, trying very hard not to look interested. And didn’t even need to squint to know his imagination was running absolutely wild.

"I’ll be honest with you, man..." I chuckled. "I’d actually prefer Nora and Kara both stay at your place while I go find the old crew... What our little get-together requires is not something I want either of them near... And it would genuinely be easier doing it without you guys..."

"Are we dead weight?" Leo looked at me.

"Right now? Yeah, no shit... After a few weeks of training? A little less so... I’m not too worried about Kara. She is already a bona fide badass, and she’s still figuring things out... As for Tikki, I think we’re actually holding him back. Nora’s the only one I wouldn’t mind carrying on my back... " I paused and looked at him. "You’re actually the biggest dead weight in the group..."

Leo turned fully toward me, one eyebrow up, not sure if he should even take that seriously.

Which was fair.

After all, the six-foot-six farm boy who’s also a civil engineering student and has experience with firearms just got called the weakest member of the team by a dude in a wheelchair.

"Because you’re a good man, Leo," I said, taking a sip of coffee and keeping eye contact the entire time. "You won’t rob a family if I told you to... Kara would, though she won’t shoot even when things go south... Nora... well, let’s say her face and height make it very hard to take her seriously. But you won’t do it out of principle, and those principles are going to get somebody hurt before you work through it."

He stared at me for another full second.

"You need therapy," he said before turning around and walking toward the balcony doors.

"Good talk," I said after him.

"Sure..."

"Oh, one last little cherry before you go."

He stopped in the doorway.

"I know they develop that fluid armor layer." he sounded resigned.

"Oh, you sweet summer child," I chuckled like a warm grandpa. "Tell me something... Don’t you find the air smelling a little sickly sweet? Like a cheap vape?"

"Yeah..." Leo turned slightly, a small frown starting. "Yeah, I’ve noticed that."

"That’s concentrated airborne pathogen you’ve been breathing in... The infected are basically biological furnaces now. Every breath they exhale carries the strain. And given how many of them are directly below this building, and will be there all night and all day once we start firearm training, well..."

I let the pause do some work before continuing. "We have immunity to it, yes, we won’t turn from it... But it doesn’t mean staying inside a heavy concentration with no filtration for extended periods won’t do shit..."

Leo’s frown had deepened considerably.

"Fever, weakness, shortness of breath, coughing, nausea, migraines, jitters, and complete exhaustion... And in case the universe wanted to keep things entertaining, you get all of them simultaneously."

I took a final comfortable sip of coffee, inhaled deeply, and smiled at him.

"We’re about to fall sick as fuck."