#2 "The name's Levi." he informed Samantha, a shadow of a smile on his face. "Well, I could do with some kind of disinfectant. The peroxide would have done the job but I used up my entire supply roasting those walkers." "Walkers weren't the only thing you set on fire." reprimanded Lily. "That forest fire could have killed the rest of us too." "It wasn't going to spread faster than we could run, trust me, I knew what I was doing." he said, skilfully hiding the uncertainty he felt in his answer. "Hm. Fine... thanks." she replied awkwardly. "Consider this a token of our appreciation. Callie, can you bring me your backpack?" Callie, who had been sitting cross-legged in the corner of the room, stood up nervously and grabbed her backpack, hurriedly making her way over to Lily. She held it out in front of her with both hands, her confusion dissipating at the sight of her older sister's reassuring smile. --- Evelyn gasped as Scarlett plunged her blade into the child's skull and retracted it, causing thick and viscuous crimson to bubble up and drip down to the floor, pooling around her face. She heard Scarlett say something but did not listen, silently watching her leave the basement. Once she was gone, Evelyn crouched down next to the body and picked her up. At least Scarlett had granted her peace. She walked over to the corner of the room and propped the child up against the corner. There was no time for a burial and, even if there was, it seemed like an egregiously mawkish sentiment. Would she now hold a candle-lit funeral for every walker she came across? This was what the world had become, and she would simply have to get used to it. She retrieved the towel that Scarlett had used to wipe the girl's blood off her dagger and draped it over her motionless body, ensuring that she was completely covered. A hopeless sigh escaped her lips as she climbed back up the stairs, giving the corner of the room one last glance. Good. The towel had completely obfuscated her from view. No one would have to disturb, or indeed, be disturbed by, her slumber. --- "Everything alright?" asked Levi as Evelyn came into the living room. "Fine." she replied dully. "How bad is it?" she asked, pointing at Levi's exposed calf resting on the tabletop in front of the couch. The burn didn't look too threatening but this may have been due to the layer of cream covering it. "Second-degree burn but it's not a big deal." he said with a blase cadence. "I'm lucky Sam saved me when she did." Evelyn nodded silently and rested her back against the wall next to the doorway, a glum expression on her face as she stared at the ground. Levi sat up in on the couch and began to wrap a thin layer of bandages around his leg. The only sound in the room was the unrolling of the gauze as an impenetrable and solemn silence descended upon the group. Here they were, strangers, sheltering in an abandoned house from a hopeless world.