In a neat, sleeked bun, his hair was jet black, much like his facial hair, to which was groomed similarly in style to the man beside him. Sharp and narrow were his eyes, cold and stern in his typical expression. He was distinctively of Asian origin.

Instead of carrying a heavy weapon like the tall man he was with, he sported a samurai sword in a holster at his hip, and clutched a pistol in one hand.

Dempsey exhaled. With such a dastardly mean look on his face it could certainly kill.

Oddly, the shotgun aimed their way seemed directed more so towards the American, but (Y/n) dismissed it as he clearly appeared to be weary of Dempsey more so than her, presumably because of the way Dempsey was death glaring at him.

The girl noticed the way his finger was twitching on the trigger of his gun and decided to intervene before tensions accelerated.

"We don't want any trouble." She reasoned, ignoring the way Dempsey scoffed and rolled his eyes a second time.

His shotgun slumped, and surprisingly his squinted eyes softened when the man looked her way, taking in the sight of her.

"You are here for the German?" His voice was deep and heavily accented.

'Russian. He surely has to be.' The girl guessed.

"I believe we all are." She answered, glancing at Dempsey.

The sincere look she gave promised him that she was being truthful, seeming to subtly ease the hostile tension rising between the men.

(Y/n) watched them suspiciously when, the Russian, huffed and turned to the shorter man beside him to mumble something incoherent. The Asian didn't seem to want to engage much, nor want to look at him, for he remained focused on her and Dempsey. He only responded with a single nod and a mutter of just a few words to the Russian.

Suddenly, they began trudging towards them, the Asian walking slightly behind. Dempsey instinctively reached for the pistol strapped to his thigh, prepared to the defend himself, but the Russian held up an empty hand in front of him.

"Stand down, comrade. I do not wish to cause trouble." The Russian grumbled, sounding unimpressed.

He stopped a small distance from them, standing more so before the girl. She watched as he took a deep breath and stood tall, significantly larger than her. Glancing over at the other man, she noticed him eyeing her too, his arms crossed making his muscular arms appear flexed.

"My name is Nikolai Belinski." He greeted, outstretching his free hand to her.

She shook his hand and smiled softly. "(Y/n)."

The girl offered a handshake to the Asian, surprised to see his stoic manner shift as he reluctantly accepted.

"Takeo Masaki." He introduced, subtly bowing his head when he greeted her, seeming like a subtly mannerism of his culture.

"And you are?" Nikolai drowned out his question when he eyed the American with his hand out to him.

Dempsey sneered, staring him up and down in disdain. The girl only watched him.

""Tank" Dempsey." He responded bluntly, looking between the two men and crossing his arms tightly, rejecting his offering of a handshake.

(Y/n) happened to notice how the Russian's hand balled into a fist when he dropped it to his side, already disapproving of Dempsey's rude greeting.

Nikolai cleared his throat and looked back at her. "Have either of you seen the German?"

Despite how the Russian was generally questioning both of them, his attention was solely fixated on the girl, and Dempsey noticed this.

The girl looked back at Dempsey, silently questioning just who was going to be the one to answer the man. Instead, she only caught him eyeing her intently.

She huffed, sounding defeated. "No we haven't."

Nikolai scowled and turned away.

The girl observed the three men. Each of them were insanely hostile, making sure to keep their distance for the meantime. She watched as they explored the church individually, finding herself doing the same. During that time, no mere mutter of conversation was heard, but only the sound of the blistering winds whistling through cracks in the walls.

Takeo happened to wander over to a workbench with interest. A tool box sat opened wide, with said tools scattered besides random components to an unknown device yet to be constructed. Papers with instructions written in German lie in messy piles about the tabletop, and just by his feet from where the wind had blown them astray.

Catching sight of him from the corner of her eye, the girl observed him as he picked a few sheets of paper, that now appeared discoloured with a rustic brown hue and smeared with ink by the dampness within the church. He studied them, trying to make sense of the notes scribbled in ink, just like she had before.

She glanced to Dempsey, who was preoccupied with searching crates for useful supplies, before making her way over to the samurai.

Apprehensively, she stepped up beside him and spoke, "I tried making sense of these myself."

Takeo wearily side-eyed her, but strangely did not think to step back when approached by someone he hadn't met long ago.

"Turns out I am none the wiser." She breathed, looking down at the tabletop for something she may have missed the first time.

While she was fixated on shifting through papers, she missed the way Takeo's stone-faced expression softened into a faint look of awe as he observed her. From her facial features to, her attire, he absorbed even the little details in that brief moment.

"You are familiar with the American?" Takeo's husky voice made her peer up at him, his English slightly broken.

There was a hint of something pleading in his tone, just a tad, that only she picked up on, like he was hoping for a specific answer.

She shook her head vigorously. "I only know him just as well as you do. We just got split together when the bunker caved in."

Her attention reverted to the papers once again, searching for something particular. Takeo squinted as he watched her hands shuffle through the sheets until she pulled one up before him.

"Here," She saw his eyes scan the paper curiously. "I found this earlier, and I think it might give us an idea of where the German might be."

The paper showed a perfectly drawn representation of the mound central of the battleground, as well as secret tunnels and passage ways in various locations. According to the map, beneath the mound was an entirely new setting, the drawing somewhat representing an ancient crypt. Takeo was visibly intrigued.

"He's hiding somewhere." (Y/n) handed him the crinkled paper for him to observe closely.

She turned and began walking away, leaving Takeo to stand alone by the workbench, paper in hand, but he couldn't find himself studying it, not like she had. Instead, he stared blankly through the map, his mind dwelling solely on her, awed by her cleverness and natural will to be so sharp-eyed. Takeo knows in himself that he could have potentially missed finding such a helpful aspect for their mission, and it made him feel embarrassed, almost.

Light footsteps caught Dempsey's attention. He stood with his back against a stone pillar, arms folded across his chest, eyeing the girl sharply as she walked his way. Just before she bypassed him, Dempsey piped up.

"Getting a little friendly, ain't ya?" He chided.

Nikolai glanced over his shoulder, pausing from searching through the contents of a crate when he heard the bitter tone in the American's voice.

She scoffed. "You sound jealous."

The way she visibly caught Dempsey off guard went unnoticed by her when she strode past him with a smirk on her face. His heart fluttered at her witty retort, and Nikolai noticed this when he appeared startled afterwards. He chuckled faintly at the American's flushed face.

Finding herself wandering towards the entrance, the girl stopped just beforehand, merely watching the rainfall. Strangely, she delighted in the serene melancholy.

Fighting tooth and nail to keep herself alive, facing creatures she believed were only a fable, proved to bring nothing but hardship; moments that would bring the faint of heart to death at the first hurdle. She had been a witness to calamities born and collapsed, and it certainly took its toll to shape her perception of the world in its fragile state. Countries had rose to stardom and ultimate power to rule and conquer lands, while others met fate when swarmed and overrun by flesh-hungry zombies within days. For as long as she could remember, peaceful moments were a luxury, and a rarity, above all.

So much as watching the rainfall, even if just for a minute, was but a sheer moment of bliss.

As if on queue to disrupt a peaceful moment, banging and cluttering, followed by gargling shrieks and screams rang in their ears.

Everyone exchanged hurried panicked looks and sprung into action. A silent, unprompted plan to fight alongside each other being formulated in their minds when wooden planks crafted as makeshift barriers across gigantic holes in the walls were being torn to shreds at an alarming rate as the undead fought their way in, driven by a dire need for a feast of human flesh.

"Sticking together might be our only option!" The Russian called over the sounds of shrilling screams and gunfire.

"And you think that'll work out?" Dempsey barked immediately.

The girl blasted the head clean off a zombie before she yelled, "Dempsey, I don't think we have much choice at this point."