Chapter two: a long trip

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…………..

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