She walked through the empty street of sydne. It was weirdly quiet making her sense something wrong. The streets were usually packed with dead people walking around the streets and looking for human flesh, but she stopped caring long ago since her father's death, today is the day she thought, afterall she was going to end her life here and now.

Gloria was a girl like any other living normally in a stable house with both her mom and dad, she went to school and did everything right. She was happy, she didn't mind how boring her life was sometimes. It was all ruined by the virus outbreak. Now both her mom and dad were gone.

She counted her parents as brave and loving. Her mom worked as a nurse who tried her best to save innocent people's souls. That's why she didn't stop working; instead she worked extra hours to help people as much as possible but the virus found its way to her. Few days and she was gone, it was a big blow to Gloria but she still had her dad or so she thought.

Her dad on the other hand was working for the government, he was back home for his holiday and was excited to spend some quality time with his family but the virus came and his wife died with it. He was devastated by it but it didn't stop him from protecting his dear daughter.

He tried to help and save as much as possible by turning his house into a base and welcoming people. He planned on escaping the city and going somewhere far to find safety but a stupid guy made a commotion and a huge crowd of the dead found their house and dinner.

Her dad knew his the right thing and bombed himself with the crowd therefore Gloria and the group of people could escape the city. Since then Gloria has been alone, wandering around staying alive because of her father's will. Her father told her to stay alive and to find poeple to protect them.

After remembering all the moments she had with her happy family, she dindt feel the need to stay alive with no one. It's sad to think about it but she had been wandering around for two weeks and hadn't seen a single human being.

She wanted to meet her parents again so badly and the only way was for her to let herself go and give up even if her father wouldn't like the idea. She couldn't stop the image of finally meeting her parents again and living with them.

She also couldn't stop herself from looking over the knife and grabbing it. She simply hid behind a building, looked at her pockets and pulled her pocket knife. That’s the easiest way, not like I wanna end up like these dead. she calmly thought as she brought the knife to her throat and breathed deeply…..

“HELP, IS THERE ANYBODY HERE” said an unknown voice. The voice seemed pretty near her location, she finally found a human being who is alive.

A human and a human girl, I thought everyone died or turned into these long ago she thought as she quickly put her pocket knife back into place and ran crazily looking for the sound. The sound came from the other street where the gas station is.

She ran into the street only to see a teenage girl running towards her and trying to escape a crowd of them. That’s why I didn’t see any of them today, they were running after the poor girl. She ran towards the girl, grabbing her hand and dragging her with force to run faster.

“Don’t worry, I am here to help” Gloria shouted over the dead crowd's voices but the girl only nodded her head back. The girl was young and scared, that's why she held Gloria's hand tightly as she did as told without arguing.

I know this place more than I know my body after all this place is where I lived for the last month. There should be an emergency ladder in one of these buildings. Gloria had gone around the area and checked all the buildings to search for humans or any emergency escape when she first arrived here.

The unknown girl was losing her pace and Gloria needed to find this ladder as soon as possible because the crowd was catching up to them. Gloria looked ahead of her where the road split into two, she already knew where she was going but one or two of the dead were exactly not too far behind them, in fact they were about to catch the girl.

“Look if you wanna save your ***, run faster. I already know a safe place but they are catching up to our pace” Gloria shouted to the girl who looked horrified but also nodded her head pointing that she was saying yes.

The unknown girl instintaly started running faster which caused Gloria to increase her speed even more. Good they are far behind us now. Gloria reached the road split and took the right turn. They ended up in an abandoned market, a place she knew too well. She searched for the store with her eyes and as soon as she saw it, she increased her speed again.

“Listen to me, there is a fire escape ladder that will lead us to the highest store of the building. I want you to increase your speed while climbing it because you will go first”. Gloria calmly told the girl.

“...ok” the girl replied and immediately ran faster. She was already struggling to keep up with the speed and was breathless but she still went along and forced herself to run faster.

They finally approached the ladder and the girl started climbing quickly, following her Gloria climbed the ladder. They magically escaped the crowd and sat on top of the safe building. Gloria finally reached the top story, only to see the girl hugging her knees to her chest and crying.

“You’re safe now, you should be happy you didn’t end up at their dinner table tonight”. Gloria said sarcastically but she herself knew how the girl must feel after the terrifying experience. “I am Gloria by the way,” Gloria said in an attempt to create a friendly atmosphere.

“I am Crystal…., Crystal Anderson,” Crystal said while trying to hold her tears. “I am sorry, it is just that I have never seen that much of them. I was living at the gas station for a while until I tried to break the vending machine window for extra food and they heard me”

“It is ok, I am glad I saw some humans, afterall i haven’t seen one in weeks. What do you have in this bag?” Gloria asked while pointing at the bag Crystal was wearing.

“Some noodles, a book with a pen, some used clothes and candy that i stole from the gas station in case of an emergency like the one that just happened…” Crystal said as she showed Gloria the bag.

“Great then we’re having candy for dinner, you can’t complain. can you?”

“I wish I could, I haven't eaten a normal dinner in 3 months.”

“Three months, why is that the virus only started two months ago.”

“Well… let’s just say i was living at the psychiatric yard until the virus spread then i ran away when everyone was scared and anxious, i don’t think anyone cared after all” she explained with a shrug.

“What about your parents?” Gloria said while looking at the ground sadly when remembering her own dead parents.

“they went on a business trip after putting me there, you are the first person i told this too or the first person who spooke to me in months.” Crystal said with a sad smile. “Does this count as friendship?”

“Well… we just met, can’t say we are friends...”

“Oh sorry, I better pack my stuff back, seems like you are leaving me tomorrow just like everyone does.” Crystal said while taking a deep breath to stop her tears.

“Oh about that, let's say i was looking for a person to keep my company so i won’t go crazy in the next month or so.” Gloria said while rubbing the back of her neck.

“Really?” Crystal asked hopefully after letting her bag and stuff fall. Crystal was the type of person who everyone left, she was surprised someone wanted her company or even her presence.

“and why not?, I too wanna experience friendship.” Gloria said with a shrug. “With a girl.”

“Oh thank you, that's the best news I have heard in forever” Crystal said with a big smile while practically jumping in excitement.

That will keep my sanity, I wonder if seeing more humans like her will hype me up to keep up with my father's wish. Gloria thought while taking two candy bars from her bag and giving one for Crystal. She opened her candy and started to eat as slow as possible to enjoy the candy that she considered dinner.

Ever since the virus outbreak no one was able to eat normally or even eat properly, a lot of food was stolen or taken by rich people. That's while places like gas stations closed down, that's why the survivors find it the best place to find or steal food.

“By the way you told me your parents were on a business trip, who are they exactly? your surname sounds very familiar and do you know what happened to them?” Gloria asked while looking at Crystal who also started to eat her candy bar.

“umm… well my parents own a very big chain of fancy restaurants across the country and their names are Mary and Jack Anderson and i don’t exactly know where they are, the only thing i know about them is that they were on a business trip somewhere in Europe.” Crystal said, looking unbothered by her parents' disappearance.

“I am sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t worry about it, i stopped caring about them 4 months ago but i am not going to tell you the whole story now. It is just uncomfortable.” Crystal said before yawning and stretching her arms in the air.

“I understand, how long has it been since you last slept? i can stay up awake while you sleep.” Gloria said with a smile.

“a day and a half… no it has been two days so sleeping sounds like a good idea.” Crystal said before grabbing her bag and putting it under her head as a pillow and using her jacket as a blanket. “Goodnight.”

“Yeah, have a good sleep.”

……………

Gloria was lost in thoughts about their situation, she found someone to protect but she didn't know how to protect her. She decided the best thing to do was wait for today and rest so they can move with their new plans tomorrow. Gloria was thinking before a very sleepy Crystal cut her thoughts short with her yawning.

“I am sorry, did i sleep for that long. you can sleep now i will make sure everything is ok while staying on watch.” Crystal said while getting up and rubbing her eyes.

“Ok make sure to wake me up at dawn or if something happened.” Gloria said before going a long half-slumber to relax her body afterall she also has not slept in days now except for a few hours when she thought she was safe enough.

…………………………

“Gloria, Gloria, good job surviving until now me and your mum are very proud of you.” Gloria’s father said, waking Gloria up and patting her head with a proud expression.

“You know it has been very hard since you and mum have died and I almost did too today only if I have not found someone to protect. After all, you taught me to protect people.”

“i can never be happier for my little girl.” Gloria’s father said while tilting his head to the side with a sad smile.

“I wish you and mum were still here with me trying to survive in this new world America created.”

“You know that’s impossible, afterall what happened can’t be undone. It is almost time for me to go Gloria, I wish you all the good luck.”

“Please don’t go. I miss you and mum. Dad, Dad, Dad please stay longer.”

…………………….

“Gloria, Gloria wake up please. We have a problem here” said Crystal while shaking Gloria with a weird expression before pointing down towards the new formed dead crowd.

“Is it dawn already?” asked Gloria while rubbing her eyes.

“Yes but we have a problem. All the dead started coming back to the building after chasing a cat and they ripped her open and started eating her. And they stayed here for some reason.” Crystal explained stressfully to Gloria who seemed to think about a solution.

“It is ok. But we only have one option.” Gloria said while looking at the building next to them. “We will wait here until the afternoon and see if they leave their spot if they don’t then we jump to the other building and try to escape from there.” she explained

“I wish i could say no.”

“Looking at the time we have, let’s discuss our next move. We are out of weapons except for a pocket knife so we are going to look at the nearest gun shop which is Gun World.” she said while pulling a map out of her bag.

“And also i have been on contact with one of my friends whose father was also in the military and i am sure his next move will be guns too” Gloria explained while pulling her out of service phone to show Crystal the last massage which read ‘Gun world shop, 21 of May see you there’ with an address attached to the massage.

“But today is 19 may that means we only have two days to walk 35 miles without a car” Crystal said while Gloria pointed at the store and measured the distance.

“We can walk 20 miles a day if we want but I wanna use the time we have to walk there instead of running.” Gloria explained looking at the sun to tell the time. “It has been 30 minutes since i woke up and they are still here. I will only wait for another 90 minutes then we jump if they don't leave.”

“Ok but how do we make sure your fancy friend is still alive?” Crystal asked with confusion.

“Well you see my fancy friend had the best training with weapons and military arts i have ever seen and to your information bazooka got his name because of his skills with weapons and I am sure he has a group of people by his side now.” Gloria explained “but if he is dead by now we still have the weapons. It is a win-win situation.”

“Wait bazooka…., you serious? I mean, is that the name his parents gave him?” Crystal asked with narrowed eyes.

“Well I am ashamed to tell you that I don’t know my friend’s given name but no one actually knows.” Gloria said with a shrug. “He worked in the military with my father.”

“I am getting more surprised by the minute but your father was in the military?” Crystal asked with an impressed expression.

“My father was in the military, he was a brave soldier so I’m proud to say he died protecting me and other people when the dead started spreading” Gloria said sadly.

“I’m sorry to hear that but your father really was a brave soldier who loved his daughter.”

“Yes he was. By the way, I wonder what interesting people bazooka will get with him.” Gloria wondered with a hand on her chin.

“I’m sure he will get interesting friends with interesting names too. Oh mother is that what living now is like? Having friends with very interesting nicknames.” Crystal sarcastically said while dramatically holding her forehead.

“I bet you were in drama class when you attended school.” Gloria said jokingly.

“Yes I was. Drama was one of the things I really like to do besides writing stories. That's why I have a book with all the stories I ever wrote and I still keep it but now it is a journal. I hope that this journal will be a future movie when humanity is back” Crystal said with a warm smile.

“When humanity is back, I wonder if that will ever happen.” Gloria wondered aloud with a frown.

“Well we are going to meet your fancy friend and his group in a matter of days which mean we will increase in number and then maybe we will find other survivors along the way. There is always some hope buried somewhere in people’s hearts. That's what my English teacher used to tell us.”

“That was very cheesy. I can’t believe upper classes are this cheesy.” Gloria said sarcastically with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh come on, it wasn’t very cheesy and upper classes are gone now. Everyone cares about saving themselves and their families, no one cares about money now.”

“I can’t believe I was looking for a job to pay my college fees just months ago, this all sounds like a dream or a movie made by Hollywood.” Gloria said with a soft smile while looking down at her lap.

“Tell me about it, I was studying for 12 years of my life, just to be met with the end of the world movie with us being the characters in the movie.” Crystal said sarcastically while pointing at herself and Gloria.

“What are you mostly skilled with? I am mostly skilled with material arts.” Gloria asked before punching the air.

“Hmmm I think I am mostly skilled with medicines and medical care, I read a lot of books to teach me about it. We should look for a first aid kit.” Crystal said.

“I should have thought of that before that is a very crucial thing. Your specialty would be very useful.” Gloria said praising Crystal.

“I guess you can say that,” Crystal said, feeling happy someone appreciated her skills.

“It has been two hours now and the crowd is still here, I guess we have to go with the jumping plan.” Gloria said.

“I am very ready.” Crystal said enthusiastically while clapping her hands with a nervous expression.

“Glad to hear that.” Gloria said before packing her staff and putting them in her bag. She looked at the space between the two buildings to measure it. Good enough to jump from here she thought then looked at Crystal who also finished packing her stuff. She walked to the building with Crystal and…..

End of chapter.

To be continued………….

Crystal could only think about how scared she was to jump, she wasn’t scared of the distance between the two buildings but she was genuinely scared of heights. However, She was still glad that Gloria magically pulled a rope out of her bag to make her less scared.

“Don’t worry, I will jump first while holding the rope and then you will jump with the other side of the rope. Just hold onto the rope tightly.” Gloria comforted her while holding the rope and passing it to Crystal.

Gloria held her side of the rope and fearlessly jumped making it to the other building safely. Meanwhile, the dead broke the building’s main entrance on the ground floor after hours of forcefully pushing the locked glass door. They then started using the building's emergency stairs, as they couldn’t possibly use the elevator, to get into the roof.

“Listen Crystal you are safe, they are not here yet just grab your bag and keeping holding the rope, count to three and jump” Gloria said with a smile while Crystal nervously stood and breathed deeply.

Crystal then proceeded to grab her stuff and start counting.

“One ...two ...three ….” Crystal then closed her eyes, held onto the rope and jumped. After what seemed like forever she opened her eyes only to be met with Gloria’s green orbs staring back into her, while Gloria’s hand tightly held into her body to stop her from falling to her death as Crystal barely made it to the building’s edge. Gloria then started pulling Crystal into the safety of the building.

“That was a close one.” Gloria said jokingly while wiping the sweat off her forehead.

“I made it, I can’t believe it,” Crystal said while heavily breathing and clenching her shirt to try to catch her breath.

“Yes you did but we don’t have time to waste, they already broke into the roof.” Gloria said before they both looked to the roof to see the dead walking through the roof’s door. “I can tell that the streets are empty now that they are all in the building so we need to move fast before they get out of that damn building.” Gloria said while watching some dead throw themselves off the building.

Crystal didn’t waste time by responding; she only nodded her head once and followed Gloria who again magically took out a small screwdriver and put it into the door’s key hole. She then started to move the tool.

“Is that really going to work?” Crystal whispered so the dead won’t hear her.

“Yes, you just need to push a small button inside the keyhole to open the door, some people can even use a straightened paper clip. Don’t worry I will teach you how to do it later.” Gloria said while moving the screwdriver. Gloria had previously learned how to break into the building’s door due to her need to enter some buildings after the dead spread.

Gloria then heard a satisfying sound that pointed out that the door was open, therefore she stood up and gracefully used the door knob to open the door. “Here you go, we are not safe yet so it is preferable if we run.” Gloria said before she entered the building and ran towards the end of the stairs.

“Crystal clear.” Crystal replied before she started running as soon as she walked through the door, following Gloria’s pace with no struggle.

“We are going to use the back door to go into the other street to escape the dead crowd, we will also try to find a car that could help us go to the gun shop.” Gloria quickly explained the plan receiving a nod from a heavily breathing Crystal.

They continued to run until they reached the ground floor, then started looking for the back door, the sooner they were out of the building the better and more chance they had to escape the crowd in the other building.

“I found it, it was in the manager room, they have a back door in the manager’s room.” Crystal said while opening the manager’s room door and barging to find a key in the desk.

Gloria entered the manager’s room and went straight to the door and opened it using the key that crystal passed her. They were finally on the streets again but they didn’t waste any time to rest or stop as they immediately went to check the cars in front of them.

“This car was left by its owner and it has a quarter of a tank in there, can you check the other car?” Gloria said before Crystal quickly proceeded to check the other car.

“This car has half a tank,” Crystal said.

Gloria looked at Crystal before walking towards the car’s back and checking the box where she found an empty fuel container and a small hose.

“I’m sure this guy was ready to survive by getting fuel from other cars and running somewhere safe.” Gloria said before putting the empty container on the ground, she then put one of the hose sides in the car’s fuel tank while putting the other side in her mouth, next she started to suck the air until she tasted fuel in her mouth which led her to take the hose out of her mouth and put it in the container that immediately started filling. She then took the now nearly full container and filled the other car’s tank.

“That leaves us with a nearly full tank, get in.” Gloria commanded. Crystal then got into the rider seat and Gloria got in the driver seat where she connected some wires to turn the car on and start driving.

“Pull out my map and put it on my lap, we have a long way.” Gloria firmly told Crystal without even turning around to look at her but focusing on the road, Crystal immediately responded by getting the map out of Gloria’s bag and putting it into Gloria’s lap.

“You can be really bossy sometimes, you know?” Crystal commented while shaking her head with a deep breath due to her tiredness.

“What can I say, I was born to be a leader.” Gloria dramatically replied with a smirk while rolling her eyes.

“How long would the trip take?” Crystal asked while relaxing into her seat and opening the window for a breather.

“Well the car will get us through the majority of the trip which is 30 miles which will take us 2 hours with our current speed then we will camp in the car for the first night. The next day we will go look for the gun store and camp there until bazooka arrives.” Grolia calmly explained while Crystal pulled out her bag to pull out two candy bars and give one to Gloria.

“We haven’t eaten breakfast, and you need energy to start your day and keep driving.” Crystal said with a warm smile before shrugging while Gloria took the bar out of her hand in a swift and quick movement.

“Thank you. we will finally be able to eat something other than candy, we will eat noodles. I am sure that bazooka have the right survival equipment and can help us boil the water for the noodles cup.” Gloria said while eating her candy and looking at the road.

“That’s something to celebrate, you know? I always loved to eat noodles.” Crystal commented while looking at Gloria who didn’t seem focused enough to hold a conversation. Therefore, they sat in silence for the majority of the trip.

………………………..

“Can’t believe we have to deal with shit only to meet some unknown girl, bazooka thinks is alive.” A guy who seemed like a young adult with dark hair and black eyes said with his annoyed tone before kicking the chair in front of him.

“We are out of shit anyways, you wasted them only to kill some bastards you found on the road and then we had to run from the dead crowd for a whole fucking day.” bazooka said loudly only for his friends in the car to hear before sighing in annoyance.

“Bazooka is right, we need the weapons and we also need to see some new people. I am so fed up with waking up everyday to see the same ugly faces.” A young guy with brown hair and chocolaty eyes said while driving the car and letting his hand run through his hair.

“At least Adrian here have a fucking mind not a lust for kill, and I am pretty sure she is alive, she can’t die with all the training she received.” bazooka said while straightening his back and sitting up to stare at Rellik.

“We will see about that.” Rellik said while having a staring contest with Bazooka before giving up and going back to lie on his chair.

“Why the **** I am driving while you and Rellik fight back there?” Adrian suddenly asked while slapping the steering wheel.

“You had the shortest time for driving, you have been fucking sleeping the whole time.” Rellik said with both eyebrows raised in an unimpressed expression.

“I can’t agree more so shut the **** up and keep driving.” Bazooka loudly said before facepalming himself and relaxing back in his chair.

“Ok, ok we will arrive up in a couple of hours. Anyways, why the **** did you choose a place in Sydney when you were in Malbourne?” Adrian asked while looking at the front mirror with a raised eyebrow.

“Because this place is nearly isolated which means that nobody stole any weapons from there, and we also would not have to kill any fuckers.” bazooka explained calmly.

“You know that my point in life is killing these fuckers but you are taking us to a place where we can’t find any of them,” Rellik loudly said with a loud and annoyed sigh.

“Your fucking point in life is not as important as surviving for me, just keep that in mind.” bazooka calmly replied while pointing at his head and looking at Rellik daringly.

“Well, look on the bright side.” Adrian started to lighten the bad mood in the car. “She might have some hot friends with her.”

“You're right.” Rellik said while slowly sitting up and looking at Bazooka. “Is she hot? Does she have any hot friends with her?” Rellik asked curiously.

“She is hot.” Bazooka started while rolling his eyes in annoyance. “But I warn you. Don’t try to have any of your wide imagination.”

“Ohhhh, is someone jealous?” Adrian asked with an impressed expression. Bazooka wasn’t the type to praise a girl for her look and he certainly didn’t tell others to stay away.

“No, of course I’m not jealous and she wouldn’t budge for you anyways.” Bazooka said with a mocking tone and a shrug while looking at Rellik with a smug smile. “But you can still aim for one of her friends, if she brought any.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Rellik whispered with an annoyed tone before settling back into his chair. “At least we will have some eye candy.”

“Don’t even try.” Bazooka firmly said, causing an awkward silence to fall in the car.

They sat in silence for the rest of their journey to Sydney, after all they have to keep their energy for any accidents that may happen. In addition to the fact that no one actually cared enough to start any other conversation.

………………………...

Gloria and Crystal had already driven for thirty miles and then camped in the car for the night near an isolated area with little buildings or trees expect for a few across their cars and they decided to camp and sleep in the car for safety measures.

The next day:

“So your friend is smart enough to choose an isolated place in the middle of the desert.” Crystal sarcastically said while looking around the area with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m happy we won’t have to deal with the dead for a while, it seems like a peaceful place. I just hope bazooka would make it, he had moved to Malbourne before the virus started.” Gloria explained while walking towards the store with her map.

“That's a long way from here, but I am sure he will make it, he does seem like a badass.” Crystal said jokingly. ”What will our next move be?” Crystal asked after she started following Gloria’s pace into the store’s direction.

“I will leave that for bazooka, he has more experience in this field and I think he already has a plan.” Gloria answered with a shrug. “but for now we have to walk for nearly 2 hours and we will arrive at the store.”

“I feel bad for leaving the car behind, but we already started walking 30 minutes ago. We can’t go back now, can we?” Crystal asked looking back at the small figure of their last car.

“No we can’t and we don’t need the car for now. We will find another one in the future, and we still took the fuel container and hose in case we don’t find new ones.” Gloria said while shaking the fuel container that she was carrying on her shoulder.

“Yeah right, I just hope we will make it and see other humans.” Crystal hopefully said with a soft smile while looking at the horizon.

…………………………

“I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we are nearly there, the bad news is that we are out of fuel and still have a day and 10 miles left.” Adrian explained with a straight face while opening the door and getting out of the car.

“We will leave the car here. we are in a nearly isolated area with no cars, we can’t easily find another one to take fuel from.” Bazooka explained while getting out of the car and standing next to Adrian.

“Ten miles on foot is easier than running from a dead crowd for a whole day.” Rellik said before following the other two.

“Aren't you the one who led the crowd to our hiding spot by using your gun?” Adrian sarcastically said with a raised eyebrow.

“I was trying to kill the dead instead of killing you so be glad.” Rellik said before he started walking to the right.

“Thank you for sparing our lives Mr Rellik” bazooka sarcastically said before pulling his map out of the car. “Left Rellik.”

“Huh funny,” Rellik said before stopping in his tracks and turning around. “Move your asses, we need to arrive as soon as possible.”

“This is going to be a long walk,” bazooka commanded with a sigh before he and Adrian started following Rellik.

………………………...

“Is that the place?” Crystal asked while looking at the big store in front of her and pulling the door open to enter.

“It certainly does look like a gun shop.” Gloria answered following Crystal into the store. “He will probably arrive tomorrow, we will camp in the store for tonight.”

“I don’t mind, the store is good enough, I just hope your fancy friend will make it here.” Crystal said while getting two candy bars out of her bags. “This is the last two I have, we need him to arrive so we can eat our noodles cups, or we will have to walk 30 miles to look for food or eat dry noodles.”

“You can relax now, I am certain we will be eating noodles tomorrow or better, canned vegetables and soups.” Gloria commented while opening her candy bar and taking a bite.

“I’m excited to see what fancy food they have with them.” Crystal said dreamily thinking about the food, she was happy enough about trying some new food other than candy.

“Why don’t you tell me your story while we’re waiting? you know, if you feel comfortable enough.” Gloria asked to break the silence.

“Why not, you saved my life after all.” Crystal started with a shrug, she was certainly feeling more comfortable around Gloria.

“It all started because of my parents, they were forced to marry each other to make an alliance for their companies, then their parents forced them to have an heir which is how I was born. They never loved each other or even me, they treated me as a robot. They always wanted me to be the top, the best and the highest ranking student and I didn’t mind, I just wanted to feel loved so I did what they wanted.”

“What happened after?” Gloria asked, looking sad for her travel buddy while resting her head on her hands and looking at Crystal with a reassuring smile.

“Well I studied and aimed to be the best and I had the goal of being the heir of my parent’s company until one day my teacher asked me what I wanna be.”

Flashback

“What are your goals, what are you aiming to be in the future?” Miss L asked curiously with a sweet smile.

“I think it is obvious enough. I am planning to take my parents business when I am older.” Crystal boldly answered with a straight face.

“Crystal I didn’t ask about your parents wishes, I asked about yours.” Miss L said honestly with a disapproving expression.

End of flashback

“I didn't answer her question that day, I didn’t even know how to answer it, after that I felt very empty and pointless in life. Therefore, I did what I thought was right, I committed suicide by taking a lot of pills but I was driven to the hospital by an ambulance that the maid called, they saved me but admitted me to a psychiatrist yard. The next week I received a letter from my parents telling me that they went on a business trip somewhere in Europe, it also told me how much of a disgrace they thought I was.” Crystal stopped for a minute to take a deep breath. “I am happy they can’t control me anymore.”

“I’m happy for you, and I am glad you were born because if I didn’t see you that day I would have ended everything.” Gloria said smiling. “It was one of the extremely bad days.”

“I’m happy i helped somebody. I know my goals now, I wanna help people who need help and I wanna widen my knowledge with medicine.” Crystal said cheerfully before hearing footsteps and looking at Gloria who put a finger to her mouth telling her to stay quiet then she got up from her spot behind the counter only to be met with the door opening to reveal…………...

End of chapter.

To be continued…………..

“....bazooka! You came.” Gloria happily said before jumping on him to take him in a bear hug, causing Crystal to relax her body and come from under the desk, they were hiding in earlier.

“I’d never betray a friend, and you are early,” Bazooka said while hugging Gloria back and before letting her go and doing a weird handshake with her, picking the interest of everyone in the room.

“Well, you are always early for some reasons so we decided to surprise you.” Gloria said while pointing at herself and Crystal.

“Certainly an eye candy, but better two eyes candies.” Rellik whispered to Adrian while looking the two girls up and down.

“It would be nicer if you introduced us Gloria.” Bazooka said with a deadpan expression before Gloria realised her mistake.

“Oh sorry, this is Crystal. I just met her two days ago.” Gloria said while pointing at Crystal walked up to him and put her hand out for a handshake.

“Great to meet you Crystal, you can call me Bazooka. By the way I too have some company.” he said while shaking Crystal’s hand before pointing at both Rellik and Adrian. “Rellik and Adrian. I’m certain you will not like them.”

“Yo, Rellik in your service” Rellik said with a smirk before taking Crystal's hand and kissing the top of it. He didn’t bother going near Gloria after Bazooka sharp glares. “Always in your service.” He emphasised.

“Stop trying to bang any girl you find Rellik.” Bazooka said before hitting Rellik on the back of his head and sighing.

“That’s what I have been doing for the last two years Bazooka **** off.” Rellik said while letting Crystal’s hand go before he started a new staring contest with Bazooka. “I can’t help it if I am just too sweet with ladies.”

“And your new friend Adrian,” Adrian said with a sweet smile, ignoring both Bazooka and Rellik’s glaring contest behind him.

“Oh god, so charming.” Crystal commented. “I’m Crystal by the way.” She said with a smile.

“I agree, I’m Gloria.” Gloria added while rolling her eyes at the eye fighting in the back.

“I appreciate all the heart warming meetings but we have plans to discuss.” Bazooka commented after ignoring Rellik and turning around which caused everyone to sit under the counter.

“For now, we have a limited supply of food. We only have food to go to the nearest town on foot.” Bazooka started with a serious expression.

“We have a lot of two minute noodles that we couldn’t eat because we didn’t have boiled water,” Gloria started. “We have 25 cup noodles and 10 water bottles. In addition we have some equipment I stole from a garage.”

“Very good, we have three big camping bags that contain 12 water bottles, 9 cups of noodles, 29 can of vegetables and also some equipment like a lighter, kitchen stuff and garage equipment too.” Adrian added, pointing at the three bags behind them.

“For today we are going to have a campfire to cook some noodles and then sleep inside the store while we take turns to watch.” Bazooka explained.

“What about the weapons we need?” Rellik asked while pointing at all the weapons around the store.

“We can’t use guns anymore, they bring a lot of attention and need a lot of bullets. that leaves us with knives, bats, matches, axes, and crossbows.” Crystal explained with a raised finger to point at the aid kit at the back of the store. “We also need a first aid kit for any injuries”.

“She is right, these are more ideal than guns,” Bazooka started explaining, “but we will take some renegade and guns for the absolute worst scenarios.”

“Seems reasonable, but what's our next goal?” Gloria asked after nodding her head to agree with the weapons plan.

“The military base.” Bazooka said with a straight expression while everyone looked at him, deadpanned which caused silence for a few minutes.

“The military base, that’s 300 km from Sydney.” Adrian said to break the silence while everyone still looked shocked with their stupid open mouths.

“Yes, it will take us a week on foot, that’s why we need to move as soon as dawn cracks tomorrow.” Bazooka said with a neutral tone, not like they would have to walk for a week to go to the military base.

“And what is the way that we will take?” Gloria asked, giving up to Bazooka’s idea and getting everyone back to reality.

“We will pass at least three towns while travelling which is where we will take supplies from.” Bazooka started explaining, “I also plan on crossing a small forest.”

“Why? Is not that going to take longer?” Rellik asked, complaining while rolling his eyes, walking for days was already annoying for him but walking for a whole week was hell.

“I know, but think about it. Do you think everyone went to the useless camps the government made?” Bazooka asked.

“The annoying camps were camps made by the government when the virus started, a lot of people actually packed their belongings and went there but one of the soldiers had the virus and infected everyone else which ended up with a whole group of dead roaming around in Perth, which is where the camp was held. Nobody had any information about the camp. The news didn’t get around because the news reporters got infected too.

“He is right, some people might have gone to the forest where the dead won’t see them or reach them.” Gloria explained with a hand on her chin. “The dead didn’t spread in forests; they mainly spread around cities, big cities.”

“That means there is a chance we can see another group of people who survived until now.” Crystal excitedly added with a bright smile.

“But what do you think happened to the people who went to that camp?” Gloria asked with a curious tone, nor the news channels nor the people who lived there gave them any news.

“They are probably dead by now, the government doesn’t have that many people to protect a whole population, which means that the dead broke into the camp and fed on everyone there.” Rellik answered with a straight face, not really caring about the dead people but giving his own theory.

Everyone, except Rellik, who didn’t really care, sat down in silence thinking about the poor people and families who couldn’t survive, they felt lucky to survive and have a chance to live longer than nearly the entire earth population.

“So… why don’t we have dinner now, I am excited to get to know you guys.” Adrian said breaking the awkward silence while pulling the caps out of his bag. “I’m a big fan of noodles.”

“sure why not? I haven’t eaten anything other than candies for a while.” Crystal said, trying to hide her enthusiasm to eat anything other than candy.

The group of five stood up and went outside and sat in the nearest spot to the store. Rellik pulled out burnt wood, a bottle of oil and a lighter to start a fire while everyone else sat down next to the not-so-ready fire and pulled some kitchen equipment to start boiling the water.

“Why don’t we play a game?” Crystal asked after everyone settled down and started eating their noodles while she herself took a bite and melted into the taste of noodles.

“A game, like what? Jump the rope?” Rellik said sarcastically with a raised eyebrow while mixing his noodles for some weird reason and throwing all the water out, they all looked at him with questionable stares but didn’t bother asking anything about his way of eating noodles.

“No, it is a game I played when I was in kindergarten. For example I am gonna ask a question and everyone is gonna answer it then someone else will ask another question, the game finishes when everyone asks a question then we can ask individual questions for a specific person.” Crystal explained before taking a deep breath and blowing on her noodles.

“Cool, it is a good game to get to know each other, I will start” Gloria started, “what’s your hobby?” Gloria asked to start the game with an easy question and get everyone in the mood.

“I used to play a lot of video games in my free time,” Bazooka boardly answered while looking down at his noodles, not really interested in the questions.

“Fucking chicks.” Rellik simply answered which made everyone look at him with raised eyebrows, except Crystal who didn’t know what ‘fucking chicks’ was.

“What does ‘fucking chicks’ mean?” Crystal asked innocently before Gloria leaned in to whisper something in her ear causing her to make a dumbfounded expression and look at Rellik with a raised eyebrow. “That’s not a hobby,” Crystal added seriously with a weirded out expression.

“Killing the dead.” Rellik answered, looking at Crystal with a ‘are you happy now?’ While she nodded in satisfaction.

“That’s better, my hobby is watching anime,” Crystal said confidently with a smile while going back to eating her noodles.

“Me too, I liked watching anime,” Gloria excitedly added with a smile, Crystal also smiled back at Gloria.

“I used to watch hentai too,” Rellik boldly said before both Gloria and Crystal turned around to look at him Gloria was just staring at him with an open mouth while Crystal didn’t really know what ‘hentai’ was .

“What’s hen-“ Crystal innocently asked with questionable stares before getting cut off by Gloria.

“Why don’t we skip this question, Adrian, what's your hobby?” Gloria quickly asked to avoid answering Crystal’s question.

“Sure, I am in love with computer hacking” Adrian answered while patting the computer in his bag.

“Is that why you always carry that computer? And does it actually work?” Rellik asked curiously.

“Yes, I am glad you asked. I made that computer myself and it works with solar energy so it doesn’t need a battery and it has wifi that I added my s-“ Adrian explained.

“Spare the details. Let me ask the next question,” Rellik said, getting bored of the explanation. “When did you lose your virginity?”

“I am still a ******, I wasn’t allowed to date” Crystal innocently replied with a straight face.

“Me too, I wasn’t interested in dating.” Gloria answered. “What the **** is even wrong with your question?” She asked after realising the stupid question.

“Me three, I needed time to figure out my sexuality” Adrian said while pointing at himself. “And yeah your question is fucked up.”

“I was seventeen” bazooka answered while rolling his eyes interested in the conversation.

“You guys are pathetic, I lost it when I was fifteen” Rellik said proudly showing off his virginity loss.

“Is he flexing now, I can’t believe he is flexing about sex.” Adrian said disgustingly before facepalming himself and ignoring Rellik’s proud looks.

“Ok next question, what’s your skill?” Bazooka asked, finally interested in the game, he was thinking of the best question and this seemed like the best one.

“Computer hacking.” Adrian answered without a second thought.

“Material arts.” Gloria answered.

“Medical care.” Crystal replied.

“Killing bastards, but you guys are off the list.” Rellik answered with a smug smile.

“Oh thank god Rellik, we are such lucky bastards.” Bazooka started with wide eyes before his expression went back to the straight face. “Guns.”

“Next question, what do you plan on getting tomorrow?” Crystal questioned the group.

“A blade and one of the bats I saw in the back, man that shit is strong and full of blades.” Rellik answered with an almost impressed expression.

“Yeah the store has a lot of strong weapons that the owner himself made,” Bazooka explained. “I plan on getting a gun with a lot of bullets to keep with grandes for difficult situations and some forearm sword blade.”

“Oh badass, I am planning to get an axe and a sword. I have been taught how to use them.” Gloria replied with smile.

“I plan on getting a first aid kit that I found in the back of the store and a pocket knife for protection.” Crystal answered. “I’m not really good with weapons.” She said while rubbing the back of her head with a smile.

“The killing is not my job so I will have something for self defence to use when I am alone.” Adrian told the group with a nod.

“Last question,” Adrian started while slurping the last of his noodles. “Do you think we will survive in this apocalypse?”

“It is possible,” Gloria started. “ We have a lot of different people with different skills, we will survive.”

“Yeah she is right, the only right thing to do now is be positive and have hope, that’s what they told us in training as soldiers.” bazooka added while Gloria nodded to agree.

“I think you guys are amazing and fearless, so I am sure we will make it through this together.” crystal hopefully answered.

“You guys are not completely useless, so what would stop us from surviving?” Rellik replied to the question asked with a ‘duh’ tone.

“Ouch but thank you. I think that too but I can’t help and not think about dying. It is not an easy task to survive a whole *** apocalypse with five people.” Adrian sadly said to bring the group to the bad situation they are in.

“That’s what hope is for, humans made hope to mentally survive difficult situations.” Crystal explained. “Ok let’s go to the individual question, I will start with Adrian. Why did you learn computer hacking?”

“To take revenge on some assholes who were against the government.” Adrian answered. “And for a bit of personal reasons.” He said with a shrug.

“Did you take revenge?” Crystal asked curiously.

“Yes, I hacked into their facebook account and posted some gay porn on their profile because I knew they were very religious so I wanted to embarrass them infront of everyone they knew.” Adrian said evilly while everyone looked at him before cracking in laughter.

“Tell them the truth,” Bazooka said while rolling his eyes.

“Well that didn’t exactly happen, I hacked into their devices to find their locations then I worked with the government to arrest them, and that’s how I met Bazooka because we worked together then became friends and when the apocalypse started he asked to meet me somewhere in Malborne to start travelling together.” Adrian said, explaining everything in a rushed tone so Rellik wouldn’t interrupt him like always.

“What about you Rellik, is that your real name?” Bazooka asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, I got this name when I was in jail, I used to have a lot of fights where I ended up killing different people who were rapists or did anything wrong to children so they gave me the nickname Rellik and if you flipped it, you get killer.” Rellik explained. “And don’t ask about my real name because I am not going to answer that question.”

“Can you believe that some people loved him because he took revenge on people who raped them or their families?” bazooka said, amazed.

“Cool, but how did you guys meet?” Gloria asked.

“Rellik was in a forgotten prison where the guards ran away leaving the prisoners in their cells, and when I was passing by, I heard someone screaming so I went to check and I found the only person who survived for a week.” Bazooka answered, holding a finger up. “Turned out a guard who Rellik killed his sister’s rapists gave him a bit of supplies before leaving as a thank you.”

“Yeah, I was pretty lucky everyone else died in their cells on the third or fourth day and I was screaming for the last time before giving up when he heard me.” Rellik added.

“Pure luck, let me ask everyone a question,” Adrian started. “How broke were you before the apocalypse?”

“I was studying and living off my parents' money.” Crystal answered.

“I was so broke that I was looking for a part time job to pay my college fees.” Gloria replied as she nodded her head.

“I was a drug dealer so I earned a lot of money before going to prison, I don’t know where the **** my money is now.” Rellik stated angrily.

“Well I earned a lot of money for locating those guys as some of their names were on the most wanted list.” Adrian stated proudly with a smug face.

“I was already working with my old man, and they did pay me a lot for doing crazy secret jobs for the government.” Bazooka answered.

“Jobs? Like what?” Crystal asked with a puzzled expression.

“Like killing some crazy dude who is trying to start a civil war with an army of cows because he doesn’t like Queen Elizabeth.” Bazooka explained.

“That’s some crazy shit.” Adrian commented with a surprised expression.

“I agree,” Crystal and Gloria added together.

“Did you guys ever use *******?” Crystal asked out of the blue.

“What’s that?” Bazooka asked.

“It is an app where people write stories and other people read it,” Gloria explained. “I did use it for a while when I was thirteen.”

“Yes I did too, man this shit is all about celebrities, vampires, werewolves, ceo and mafia which is exciting for thirteen year olds.” Adrian answered.

“That’s my first time hearing this, but I prefer not having an experience if that’s the case.” Rellik told the group.

“Me too, I totally agree with the daddy and mommy issues guy.” Bazooka added referring to Rellik who didn’t seem impressed.

“Whatever,” Rellik said uninterested while rolling his eyes in annoyance.

“Crystal, your name and features seem very familiar. Do I know you by any chance?” Adrian questioned her.

“Well my family used to have a big fancy restaurant chain, so you probably know the name Crystal anderson.” Crystal explained.

“Very interesting,” Adrian said.

“Bazooka, why don’t you use your real name?” Rellik asked, targeting Bazooka’s most secretive thing.

“I will never use the name that my so-called father gave him,” Bazooka said harshly. “And he will never deserve to be called a father.”

An awkward silence fell on the group causing everyone to look at their empty noodles cup uncomfortably while stealing some glances at their friend who seemed very distracted by the question Rellik asked.

“Why don’t we all go to bed? We have a long trip tomorrow and the fire is going to be out in a few minutes. I don’t think anyone wants to stay outside in the cold weather.” Adrian said breaking the ice cold silence.

“Yeah, that's a good idea and we need to wake up early for tomorrow. Come on Crystal, we are sleeping at the back.” gloria added to further break the awkward silence.

“Yeah, sure” Crystal replied while getting up.

Everyone went to sleep that night not caring about what’s gonna happen to them tomorrow or the day after but only caring enough to enjoy their sleep.

The next day……………..

End of chapter.

To be continued…………………..