Levi's Last Hope

7.

        LEVI DID AS ROSIE SUGGESTED and stored his gear inside her flat. Before he went, he took his handgun with him just in case and grabbed his machete, as well as the crowbar.

        He knocked loudly when he first found himself standing outside of flat 12, just to be polite. Gave a fancy little, "My name is Staff Sergeant Levi Brackley, I'm with the British army. Best you open up, mate. I'm coming in either way."

        Nothing. Silence.

        "Alright then."

        There was an obvious lack of light in the hall, away from the tiny window in the stairwell, but it wasn't dark enough that Levi was willing to use his headlamp yet. He propped the crowbar into place before working the door open with a held-back wince. His side wasn't quite healed yet from the run-in he had with that gang but it didn't hurt enough to slow him down. Nothing would. Not when it came to protecting those two girls downstairs. 

        Levi stepped inside with his machete raised and face covering fixed in place. His Captain would be pissed if he knew Levi wasn't wearing the protective eyeglasses too, but he found them irritating.

        "Bloody hell," Levi commented followed by a rough exhale. Just like the flat they'd found on the first floor, the walls were covered with red dripping words. One of the sentences above the sofa looked half-finished and when Levi touched his hand to it, the paint stained his fingertips.

        A light breeze tumbled through the room, drawing his attention to the wide, open window. Levi narrowed his eyes at it. The scene was all too familiar.

        Despite knowing he wouldn't find anyone, Levi searched the rest of the apartment. It didn't look particularly lived in. The bed was made, and cupboards shut with untouched food. There wasn't anything which looked fresh in the bins. Other than the destroyed living room walls, the flat was frozen in time.

        But someone had been here and they'd left in a hurry, most likely when Rosie had disturbed them.

        Whoever it was, they were playing games. Ones Levi didn't take too kindly to.

—

        Levi spent the next few hours gathering wooden boards and nails. He broke whatever suitable furniture he could find for the job and gathered it all together before heading back to Rosie's flat. It was starting to get dark now so he used his headlamp to guide him.

        Once back inside he placed the wood on the sofa and hesitated outside of Rosie's bedroom. The door was cracked open, wide enough for him to peer inside. Rosie laid curled up on her side with a thin sheet over her and Lily next to her spread out on her back. Levi watched them for a moment before quietly stepping inside.

        He knelt next to the bed and gently nudged the back of Rosie's shoulder. She stirred, making a sound in the back of her throat, and then rolled over onto her back, looking at him a little startled.

         "What are you doing in here?" she asked, groggy and squinting from the light on his head.

        Immediately, Levi removed it and chucked it onto the bed facing up. "This is going to sound strange," he said quietly. He didn't want to wake Lily too since he always heard you should never wake a sleeping baby. "But I need to board up your windows."

—

        Rosie joined him in the living room.

        "You think someone is climbing the building?" she couldn't wrap her head around the idea. Maybe if it was like an apartment block in New York, lined with fire escapes and ladders, she'd believe it. But there was nothing outside to grab onto - well, maybe a pipe and tiny window ledges, but surely that wouldn't be enough?