ã€ŠRapture Resurrection: The Manifestation of Sinã€‹


 Chapter 1: Conspiracy Brewing

    Chapter 1: Conspiracy Brewing

    you¡¯re probably right, and Josh confirmed, ¡°Yup. Right on spot. You know how Derek has been tracking news related to the new Ebola virus spreading in South Africa? Supposedly it was contained, and routes from South Africa to the US were shut down temporarily, but just now, he noticed that a 6-year old child died from a high fever after contracting a yet-to-be identified disease in Santa Monica.¡±

 Chapter 2: A Day at School

    Chapter 2: A Day at School

    There were three chances we had during the day to gather¡ªbefore classes, during lunch, and after school. Though with AP tests over and the majority of us scoring well, the teachers allowed us the privilege to mess around in class as long as we weren¡¯t disrupting instructions. We were especially bold in math class because the teacher had a stash of board games. Going to class was more like spending a night out with the guys. The moment we entered class, the teacher would begin instructions, and we would begin our games.

    None of us was as bold as Chris though. He played on his DS and PSP in the middle of class as if that was the thing he was supposed to be doing. I remember a time when one of my classmates tried to pull off the same stunt and was severely rebuked by the teacher. Even though he tried to pull off the classic, ¡°He¡¯s doing it too!¡± excuse, the teacher only dismissed him saying, ¡°Chris is getting an A in the class. As long as he does well, he can do what he wants, but you on the other hand would benefit from paying more attention in class.¡±

    The whole class laughed, and that was that. I actually think that¡¯s pretty fair. The administrators and the college entrance department doesn¡¯t see what¡¯s going on in class. All they see are the tests and the grades. If you do well, you look good and the school looks good. Who cares if you play games in the process of instruction?

    With that said, I looked at Josh who was sitting on the same row as me but on the other side of the room. I was near the entrance of the classroom second from the wall. He noticed my glance and nodded while holding his chin with his right hand.

    That was the signal to check my phone. I don¡¯t know why he chose that to be his signal since it was kind of awkward when he did it, but I wasn¡¯t going to judge. It got the job done.

    Since Josh, Chris, and I were all top of the class, it was easy for us to send messages to each other while pretending to play games. Though most of the time, we were actually playing games. Most of the teachers didn¡¯t mind, so we decided to take advantage of our blatant privileges. Some people would say it¡¯s not good to show off and take advantage of our given privileges, but in this case, I think it was pretty good motivation for the class. They were envious, sure, but they were motivated. I could see the determination in their eyes when they looked at us.

    Whether that was good thing or a bad one, I didn¡¯t care, and I don¡¯t think Chris nor Josh did either. All that mattered was that we did well, didn¡¯t get in trouble, and got into a good college. That¡¯s what our parents wanted, and that¡¯s what we gave them.

    When I saw Josh¡¯s signal, I double tapped the touchscreen on my phone and it lit up. I set the light to its lowest setting so that it wouldn¡¯t be as noticeable. For some reason, some teachers have a thing about texting in class but not with playing games. My biology teacher was one of those teachers. Maybe it was one of her pet peeves, or maybe it was a habit she developed whenever she caught someone on their phone texting. I don¡¯t know, but as long as I did things discreetly, it was okay.

    Unlike Chris, I didn¡¯t play games in class, besides the board games available in math class. So while I was sliding the phone closer to me so I could read the text, I continued to look at the teacher and nodded my head at the appropriate times. Photosynthesis, yup; electron transport chain, got that; ATP production, great; Derek hasn¡¯t come to school, what? I double glanced at my phone to check the text Josh had sent me.

    ¡°Derek didn¡¯t come to school. Something must have happened.¡±

    Although Chris and I had all the same classes together and thus the same schedule¡ªAP Korean, AP European History, AP Bio, Lunch, AP Lit, AP Calc, and Tennis¡ªJosh and Derek¡¯s schedule differed from ours because they decided to take different AP classes and learn a different language. Josh¡¯s schedule was a bit more similar to ours because he was also taking AP Bio, AP Lit, and AP Calc, but instead of AP Korean and European History, he was taking AP German and US History. His choice of sport was different too. Instead of tennis, he was on the track team.

    I like running, but I feel like running isn¡¯t a sport. It¡¯s more fun to work with another person while coming up with set plays or strategies to defeat an opponent. Of course, track and field isn¡¯t only about running, but there¡¯s no strategy involved besides showing off your physical prowess.

    Derek on the other hand had the most different schedule from ours. He was kind of like the odd one out of our group. It could have been due to the fact that we became friends with him later, but instead of trying to match his schedule with ours, he was more set on taking classes that were more interesting to him. His schedule was AP Spanish, AP US History, AP Chem, Lunch, AP Lit, AP Statistics, and Swimming.

    Even during lunch, he didn¡¯t always hang out with us. He hung out with the swim team near what we called the wall. It wasn¡¯t really a wall, but it was more like these awkward concrete benches that arched around the swimming pool. No one really sat on them, but the swim team and people who played basketball usually hung out there since it was also near the basketball courts.

    So even though we had three chances to meet during the day, we really only had two if we wanted to hear the latest gossip and conspiracies Derek had collected the night before. If it was important though, Derek would meet us at our usual spot. Our original plan was to hear from Derek before classes, but he sent us a text saying he¡¯d be late to school. Since he had AP US History with Josh, Josh was supposed to get the updates from Derek and relay it to us during lunch, but Derek never arrived.

    What could have happened?

    I looked at Josh and he rolled his eyes at me with his cheek resting on his fist like he was bored. That was another signal of his: ¡°Let¡¯s meet ASAP.¡± I think he was really bored though. I glanced at Chris to see if he got the news, but he was swiping away at his DS screen. He was probably playing TWEWY.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    I rolled my eyes back at Josh and waited for the lunch bell to ring.

    ---

    After getting our food from the cafeteria, which was pretty good today¡ªchicken hamburger and salad with orange juice¡ªChris, Josh, and I headed to our usual hangout spot, a random trashcan near the main plaza of the school. I don¡¯t know why we decided that this trashcan had to be the spot where we ate, but it was a place we kind of took over ever since we were freshmen. It was also convenient because we could throw away our trash and leftovers as soon as we were done. But even after we were done eating, we didn¡¯t leave the spot. I think part of the fun was talking to random people who would try to throw away their trash.

    That¡¯s how I started talking to Angela. The first time I met her was when she transferred to my middle school, same grade. The teachers told me to help her for whatever reason, maybe because I was a ¡°model¡± student, so I helped her adjust to her new school. It¡¯s not like we never talked, but whenever I was with her, there was always an awkward silence. I wanted to talk to her more and get to know her, but it was weird.

    She didn¡¯t look like a model or anything, but I liked the way she smiled, gentle and genuine. The first thing I noticed was her long black and straight hair. I could tell she combed it daily. I¡¯m sure other girls do too, but it wasn¡¯t to the point I noticed a difference. But her hair felt different. It¡¯s not like I touched her hair or anything, but even from looking at it, I could tell how soft it was. It made me curious.

    After graduating middle school though, we didn¡¯t really meet each other often. She was in some of my classes, but besides the occasional greetings, that was it. I needed an excuse to meet her, and the trashcan we ate at provided it. I think she probably needed it too since she was the one who started throwing her trash away at our trashcan. I mean, the way I see it, there¡¯s so many other trashcans she could have used, but she didn¡¯t.

    The first time she threw away her leftovers at our trashcan was a bit awkward. She caught me by surprise since she came from behind me and kind of nudged me to the side. I think she was just trying to get through, but because I wasn¡¯t expecting it, I spilled all the food I was holding in my tray. I was almost in tears. I don¡¯t like wasting food, so for it to all go to waste in a blink of an eye was kind of sad.

    On the bright side, it was easy to clean because we were right next to a trashcan, and on the brighter side, our conversation went beyond our usual greetings to an apology and, ¡°If you¡¯re still hungry, here¡¯s my leftovers.¡± Though I don¡¯t like wasting food, I¡¯m not too keen on eating other people¡¯s leftovers. There¡¯s something repulsive about it. Maybe the germs. Even if it¡¯s from someone I like.

    But from that point on, she kept throwing away her food at our trashcan, and during those times, we¡¯d have short exchanges: ¡°The weathers great, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°How about them Lakers?¡± ¡°Did you hear about this and that?¡± Thinking about it now, it¡¯s kind of embarrassing, like what were we actually talking about?

    On one of those occasions, I asked her, ¡°Where do you usually eat?¡± I think she was joking because she said, ¡°Around a trashcan,¡± but I thought I¡¯d follow along and said, ¡°Well, maybe I should throw my trash away at your trashcan. Or, you can just eat at our trashcan.¡± I know. It¡¯s not the most romantic of conversations, but it worked. Like they say, all¡¯s well that ends well. Though, I¡¯m not sure who said that. Chris would probably know.

    Eventually, Angela did join our little group around the trashcan, and for once, it wasn¡¯t awkward. The transition was very natural. One day, she and I happened to be waiting in line for our food at the same time, and instead of splitting off to go to where she usually ate, she stayed with me. I tried to appear as natural as possible, but to be honest, my hands were shaking. I knew because she said, ¡°The pint of milk in your tray looks like a house going through an earthquake.¡±

    Josh and Chris looked at each other and laughed. I think they didn¡¯t mind the extra company because when Angela joined us for lunch, her friends Victoria and Sally also joined. So we went from a group of three to a group of six. Perfect. Everyone gets a match. Except Chris and Sally weren¡¯t really on good terms with each other. Was it one of those love-hate relationships? I don¡¯t know. I was just glad I could hang out with Angela.

    When we had gotten into formation surrounding the trashcan, Josh was the first to speak.

    ¡°Did you get my message Chris?¡±

    Chris nodded, ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t lie! I saw you playing your DS the whole time!¡±

    Chris gave Josh a weird look and asked, ¡°Why were you looking at me the whole time?¡±

    The girls also looked at him with an incredulous face.

    Josh flinched and waved his hands in the air, ¡°No, I¡¯m not like that!¡±

    I laughed and said, ¡°Okay, okay. We believe you Josh. Now, could you explain what¡¯s up with Derek?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up with Derek?¡± Angela butted in.

    Josh looked at her and then back at me, ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure. He said he was going to be late, right?¡± Chris and I nodded. ¡°But I didn¡¯t see him in second period, so at least until that time, he wasn¡¯t in school.¡±

    Victoria asked, ¡°Well, did you text him?¡±

    We all looked at Josh, and he looked like a deer caught in lights. ¡°Well, er¡­ Yeah.¡± He said while taking out his phone.

    Chris shook his head at him, ¡°You idiot.¡±

    Everyone else nodded, except me. I shifted my eyes between Chris and Josh. Maybe they also have some sort of love-hate relationship going on. It was a stray thought, but I thought it carried an ounce of truth.

    Josh looked down at his phone and texted Derek. Angela leaned towards me and whispered, ¡°Anything I should know?¡± I don¡¯t think she was trying to get me excited, but the combination of her proximity to me and her whisper turned the engine running in my heart up a notch. The pleasant fragrance of vanilla entered my nose, and I assumed it was coming from her.

    My mouth dry in a flash, I whispered back with a slight stutter, ¡°I-I¡¯ll tell you later.¡±

    She nodded and smiled at me, ¡°Call me.¡±

    I looked at her and didn¡¯t look at the others because I felt their stares on us. Josh had already finished texting. I was thankful for him though because he prevented the awkward moment I would have faced by clearing his throat like he had something to say.

    We all looked at Josh expecting him to say something, but he just raised his right hand to his chin and nodded. It was the sign for us to check our phones. Chris and I glanced at each other from the corner of our eyes while the girls looked at him still expecting him to say something.

    After a few more seconds, their faces grew from expectation to confusion and then Victoria said, ¡°Well? Are you going to keep us waiting?¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± he said, ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant. I mean, Derek replied to me just now.¡±

    ¡°We know that,¡± Sally said while crossing her hands over her chest and looking at Josh like he was an idiot, ¡°What did he say?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right¡­ He said something came up all of a sudden, so he wasn¡¯t going to come to school anymore.¡±

    Victoria said, ¡°What a weirdo,¡± while Sally scrunched her eyebrows together like she was trying to read Josh¡¯s mind. She didn¡¯t believe him, and neither did we, but Chris and I would have to confirm our suspicions later.

    Angela looked at me with puppy eyes. Damn, okay, I got it.

    I relented, ¡°It¡¯s okay Josh, tell us what he said.¡±

    Josh looked at me and then Chris. Chris shrugged like he didn¡¯t care, so Josh sighed.

    ¡°He said he¡¯s getting out of the city and that we should too. Class 3 outbreak.¡±

 Chapter 3: Alexs House

    Chapter 3:Alex''s House

    Everyone stared at Josh. No one responded. In my mind, the world had gone quiet, disregarding the ignorant laughter of my peers eating their lunch and the people passing by the hall. I¡¯m sure Chris was already calculating.

    I looked over at the girls. What are they thinking? Sally was still looking at Josh like he was an idiot, and Victoria was rolling her eyes like it was all a joke, waiting for Josh to say, ¡°Just playing guys,¡± but it never came. Angela shifted her eyes from Josh to me and her smile died.

    Hey. Don¡¯t look at me like that. I just found out as well.

    ¡°What¡¯s this about?¡± she asked me.

    Well, crap. Now I was the one caught in the lights, but before I could formulate any further thoughts, Victoria said, ¡°No, before that, what the heck is a class 3 outbreak? Is he trying to skip class? Period 3 is already over.¡±

    Sally and Chris both did a face palm. Eh? I was not expecting that. Chris, I understand, but why¡¯d Sally also do a face palm? I don¡¯t think I was the only one taken aback because the moment she did that, both Josh and Chris turned to her. When she noticed all three of us staring at her, her cheeks turned red.

    ¡°What? I read a lot, okay?¡±

    ¡°What kind of books?¡± Chris asked. He was trying not to sound like he was curious, but I could tell he was.

    ¡°Survival. You?¡±

    ¡°Same.¡±

    Their exchange was under a second, like two boxers jabbing at each other, trying to size each other up. They both paused and nodded with approval.

    So there¡¯s hope after all.

    Josh cleared his throat again and said, ¡°Okay you two, discovery time can come later. We have bigger fish to fry.¡±

    ¡°Like what? What kind of fish are you trying to fry?¡± Victoria said.

    I think she still thought Josh was joking and that we were all in it except for her. The awkward silence that followed her question made me giggle a bit. I couldn¡¯t help it. I love awkward situations. Regardless of how dire of a situation we were in, some people couldn¡¯t be helped. There¡¯s just no time to explain.

    A light laugh never hurt anyone. I mean, I don¡¯t see any signs of a zombie outbreak. Derek could be lying for all I know, but thinking about it again, Derek¡¯s never been one to pull pranks on people, except for the time when he tried to TP Josh¡¯s house and epically failed by breaking his window instead. Fortunately, it was Josh¡¯s, so no one minded. Josh just laughed it off, but I could see how sorry Derek was afterwards.

    That¡¯s probably why Derek is a bit closer to Josh than Chris an¡ªJosh was making signs at me. He shifted his eyes from Victoria to me and back while crossing his two index fingers over one another. I looked at Victoria, and her glare pierced into my eyes. Like a Chihuahua being approached by a sudden stranger, I retreated a few steps back. Crap. I¡¯m still giggling aren¡¯t I?

    But before I could go any further, Angela grabbed onto my wrist and said, ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    ¡°Oh, no, I¡¯m not going anywhere,¡± I said while freezing in place. A little lower and we¡¯d be holding hands. I think she noticed because she immediately let me go and broke eye contact with me.

    ¡°But I think it¡¯ll be better to go,¡± Chris said.

    ¡°What? Skip school?¡± Josh asked like it was something that never occurred to him before. He was actually a model student. He was never absent from school, and he was never tardy. There was one time I saw him running across the street so that he could get to class on time before the bell rang. He made it just within seconds. That¡¯s dedication.

    ¡°I¡¯m down,¡± Sally said.

    Angela echoed her, ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute. Where are we going? We don¡¯t have to leave now¡­ Do we?¡± Josh said while losing confidence in his train of thought. He noticed Chris was giving him the narrow eyes. That was his signal for, ¡°Shut up or die.¡± It was pretty effective, especially against Josh. Chris never made it official, but I¡¯ve added it to my list of nonverbal communicable signs that we developed.

    ¡°Are you serious? I¡¯m not ditching school.¡± Victoria said.

    Chris looked at her and shrugged, ¡°Okay.¡±

    I think Chris¡¯s curt response hurt Victoria more than he intended because she gave him that look that girls make when their world doesn¡¯t go the way they expect it. Chris realized his mistake the moment he saw her face and looked away like a man. Another one of his unofficial signs that means, ¡°My bad,¡± but not like this was the best time to explain that to her.

    Sally looked at Chris like he was a bug (she¡¯s not afraid of bugs by the way) and said, ¡°Jerk much?¡± while walking towards Victoria and linking arms with her, ¡°Victoria, you¡¯re coming. I¡¯ll explain later.¡±

    Chris and I looked at each other because we were thinking the same thing. I don¡¯t think Sally realized how suggestive her last couple of lines was, but I wasn¡¯t going to say anything.

    Except Josh pointed at Chris and laughed. ¡°Yeah Chris, jerk much?¡± He tried to regain his breath but continued to laugh, ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re definitely coming, Victoria.¡±

    Sally rolled her eyes and said, ¡°Unbelievable.¡± I think everyone¡¯s antics were too much for Victoria because she didn¡¯t say anything while Sally dragged her away.

    ¡°I guess they¡¯re going to the parking lot?¡± I said while turning to Angela.

    ¡°I guess so.¡± She nodded, ¡°Where are we going?¡±

    Chris and Josh replied at the same time, ¡°Alex¡¯s.¡±

    I shifted my eyes back and forth between the two, and then looked at Angela who smiled at me and said, ¡°Fine with me.¡±

    I was expecting her to follow after the girls, but she didn¡¯t move. She just continued smiling at me. It was a bit awkward, and I wanted to giggle, but I held the urge back.

    Don¡¯t laugh now, Alex. Why¡¯s she smiling at me like that? Don¡¯t laugh, Alex.

    Then it hit me, ¡°Oh. You need a ride?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yup,¡± she replied, ¡°I¡¯ll also text the girls that we¡¯re going to meet at your place.¡±

    I looked at Chris and Josh, and they both gave me two thumbs up.

    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll be going with Chris then.¡± Josh said.

    Chris looked at Josh like he was crazy, ¡°What happened to your car?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t need it.¡±

    Chris paused and nodded, ¡°So you can plan ahead after all.¡±

    ---

    When I pulled up into my driveway, I saw Chris¡¯s car parked in front of my house and guessed they probably went in first.

    Angela asked, ¡°Where¡¯s everyone?¡±

    I replied, ¡°They probably already went inside.¡±

    ¡°Really? They have keys to your house?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I laughed, ¡°I never lock my doors and neither does my father, so the guys have gotten used to entering without asking, but that did get me into huge trouble once.¡±

    ¡°Tell me more. When does Alex ever get in trouble?¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    I laughed again, ¡°Hey, I can be a bad boy too, if that¡¯s what you like.¡±

    ¡°Come on.¡±

    I parked the car and said, ¡°All right, to explain simply, what would happen if your parents came back home expecting you to greet them with a big hug but are instead greeted by Chris and Josh who are playing games in their living room while eating the food they made you?

    ¡°My father would call the cops, and my mother would beat the crap out of them.¡±

    I laughed. ¡°Exactly,¡± though something didn¡¯t sound right about what she said¡­ But before I could question her, she got out of the car.

    I shrugged my passing thought away and got out as well. Sally¡¯s car was parked further down the road. Since I didn¡¯t see the girls around, the guys probably let the girls in on my behalf. What great host-guests. Does that even make sense? I chuckled to myself.

    ¡°Why are you chuckling?¡± Angela asked while looking at me like a weirdo.

    I stopped chuckling and put on my poker face. ¡°No, I was thinking about something. Explaining would ruin the joke and I¡¯d take too much time. Ladies first.¡±

    I opened the door for her.

    She rolled her eyes and said, ¡°Right.¡±

    When Angela and I entered, Josh was raiding my fridge and Chris was on his laptop sitting on the floor with the two girls sitting on the sofa across from him. Sally was on her phone. Victoria seemed to have gotten some of her nerve back, but she was taking slow and deliberate breaths.

    Something happened while I was gone. I guess Sally did some explaining in the car? But how much did she know anyway? I didn¡¯t even know if a class 3 outbreak was really happening or not.

    At the sound of the door closing, Chris looked up from his laptop and said, ¡°Alex, you have to check this out.¡±

    Angela and I looked at each other and joined the others at the living room. But Josh kept raiding my fridge. I think he was putting food into a duffle bag¡­ Wait, that¡¯s my duffle bag! Angela sat next to Sally who moved her phone over for both of them to see.

    ¡°So what¡¯s up?¡± I said, sitting beside Chris.

    He turned his computer to me so I could see better and said, ¡°Read.¡±

    ---

    Riots erupt in Los Angeles: Live updates

    By John Nar

    Updated 8:06pm PST May 18, 2017

    Key updates

    <ul>

    <li>At least 80 people are dead, and a large number of people are wounded.</li>

    <li>The first riot happened in Santa Monica on May 17, 2017 and has spread from west to east.</li>

    <li>Police and military units have been deployed for riot control</li>

    </ul>

    .

    .

    .

    ---

    My phone vibrated.

    ¡°Here¡¯s some stuff from twitter.¡±

    Chris looked up at Sally and said, ¡°I was going to show him those.¡±

    She shrugged. Victoria was staring at Sally¡¯s phone in silence.

    I opened my text and looked at the tweets she screen captured.

    ---

    Justin Gai (@JGuy) ¨C ¡°Riot in East LA. #LARiots pic.twitter.com/kbacFCNWase¡±

    Sean White (@SWhite) ¨C ¡°Crowd mentality at its finest. A rioter bites a cop¡¯s ear off! #crowdmentality pic.twitter.com/csedMTLAods¡±

    TD (@Tankdeath) ¨C ¡°Zombies are real, chumps! Come to TD¡¯s Survival Shop and then gtfo out of here! #EscapeLA #SurvivalShop¡±

    Cindy Pear (@SweetyPie) ¨C ¡°Cops are gearing up to slaughter. Those aren¡¯t rubber bullets #crowdmentality pic.twitter.com/mvgaJWCAnie¡±

    .

    .

    .

    ---

    ¡°Seems like it¡¯s spreading pretty quickly,¡± Chris said.

    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t seem like a class 3 outbreak.¡±

    Chis looked at Sally and nodded his head while deep in thought.

    ¡°Should we be concerned?¡± asked Angela.

    ¡°Maybe we should see how Derek¡¯s doing,¡± I said while refreshing the news page to see if there were any more updates on the situation, ¡°We¡¯re about 30 minutes away from East LA, and the news stations may not be reporting accurate information, if you know what I mean. I think the most importan¡ª¡±

    ¡°Alex, I¡¯m not feeling too well. Could I use your restroom?¡±

    I looked at Victoria. Her face was pale, and she was sweating. I guess talking about this stuff in front of her has her freaked out. Angela was a bit fidgety and kept glancing at me. It made me a bit nervous as well. Sally didn¡¯t seem phased at all. I think Josh was pretty nervous as well since he usually likes to keep himself busy when he¡¯s nervous, like the time when he came over to my house to play games while I studied for the AP test we had the following day. This time, he was gearing up for whatever was to come.

    It still didn¡¯t feel real to me.

    ¡°No worries,¡± I replied, ¡°Take your time. The restroom is down the hall to the left, across from my room.¡±

    Angela nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go with her.¡±

    As soon as they left, Chris called over Josh and said, ¡°Let¡¯s see what you packed. I don¡¯t think Alex has all the proper supplies we need, but we can get a rough idea of what stores to hit up on our way out of town after we see what we have.¡±

    Chris moved his laptop off the table, and Josh dumped the contents of the bag onto the table while Sally got up to get a better look.

    There were 4 cans of spam, peanut butter, strawberry jam, a loaf of bread, baloney, cheese, instant noodles, mixed salad, a box of cheerios, a portable water filter, a kitchen lighter, a keychain compass, two 200 hour flashlights, a kitchen knife, and a first-aid kit.

    ¡°Pretty good, right?¡± Josh said while giving Chris two thumbs up.

    ¡°The equipment is pretty good, but the food isn¡¯t going to last. We have six people in our group.¡±

    Josh frowned, ¡°True. We should eat a good meal before we leave.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll also need more bags,¡± I added.

    Sally raised her right eyebrow at me, ¡°We have enough already.¡±

    I twisted my head a little and raised my eyebrow back at her. That was my signal for, ¡°Oh really?¡±

    I thought it was a universal signal, but she didn¡¯t seem to understand. She just scrunched her eyebrows together and looked at me like an idiot. Maybe that¡¯s one of her signs for ¡°Are you an idiot?¡± I guess, when you talk to someone who can¡¯t understand you, you eventually stop talking and start making faces.

    Chris saved the day by saying, ¡°Backpacks.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Sally said, ¡°We should empty our backpacks and use them¡­ Is Victoria crying?¡±

    We paused for a moment and listened. Victoria was crying. She was muttering something as well, but it was hard to make out because of her sobbing. Is she okay? Angela was also saying something.

    Josh looked at Chris and I, and we all got up to go to the bathroom door.

    ¡°Hey Angela, is everything all right in there?¡± I asked.

    The door slid open (My bathroom doors were not conventional doors that opened and closed outwards or inwards. They slid into the wall).

    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong with Victoria,¡± Angela said, panic in her eyes.

    I peered into the bathroom and saw Victoria sitting on the toilet cover. She was muttering, ¡°The window¡­ the window¡­¡±

    ¡°She keeps saying the window, but when I tried asking her what was wrong, it¡¯s like she¡¯s not even registering my voice.¡±

    Angela looked at me like I knew what to do, but I didn¡¯t. Come on. Don¡¯t look at me like that. Victoria¡¯s probably having a mental breakdown, but maybe following along will help her, and it¡¯ll give me more time to think. Somehow, I felt off balance, like someone had nudged me just enough that if I didn¡¯t take any side-steps, I¡¯d fall.

    I turned to Josh and asked, ¡°Can you check the windows?¡±

    Josh hesitated, but he nodded and said, ¡°On it.¡±

    Chris said, ¡°I¡¯ll repack everything and get ready to leave ASAP,¡± and followed Josh back down the hall.

    Sally pushed me out of the way and said, ¡°Let me take a look at Victoria. You should help check all the windows. Your house is practically see-through with all the windows you have.¡±

    It was true. My house had a lot of windows, especially the living room area where one side of the wall was basically windows. The door from the living room to the side yard was also made of glass. My room and my brother¡¯s room used to be like that as well, with one side of the wall having a lot of windows, but because we wanted more privacy, we took out the windows and patched up all the holes.

    I nodded at Sally and went to check out my room. Everything looks good. My bed was to the left of the entrance and my desk was across the room on the right. My room had two windows. One next to my desk straight in front of me and the one next to my bed, which was bigger. I went over to the window next to my desk and tippy toed because it was slightly higher than me.

    The moment I peered out the window, I ducked back. Oh shit.

    Josh came running back down the hall, ¡°Uh, Alex, do you have gardeners or some¡ª¡±

    I put my fingers on my lips for silence and crawled over to the window next to my bed. It was open as I left it in the morning. The wind was blowing in and the curtains fluttered. I reached over my bed and slid the window closed. After locking the window, I turned to Josh and pointed outside of my room and twisted my hands like I was holding an invisible key.

    Josh got the hint. He went into my brother¡¯s room to close and lock the windows while I moved to the living room. When I passed by the bathroom, Angela stopped me.

    I think I wasn¡¯t as calm as I thought because she whispered, ¡°Alex, what¡¯s happening?¡±

    I put my finger on my lips and motioned her to follow me. Sally lifted Victoria up and Angela went to support her. Victoria kept mumbling, but she wasn¡¯t as loud as before. She was much quieter.

    When we got into the living room, Chris had already finished packing and was pulling down the blinds. I looked at him and he nodded. The girls say back down on the sofa.

    ¡°I already locked everything and covered the windows and glass doors as much as possible, but your home isn¡¯t ideal for turning into a base.¡±

    I nodded, ¡°I know. We need to get out of here ASAP.¡±

    Sally asked, ¡°Is it here already?¡±

    I walked over to the front window and peeped through the blinds. In front of our cars were four or five people walking around.

    Josh whispered to me, ¡°Is this really happening?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t answer. I didn¡¯t know for sure. I didn¡¯t see any signs of blood or mutilation. The people outside were just wandering around here and there. A few more came into sight across the street.

    Our phones vibrated. Josh¡¯s phone was on the kitchen table, so it made a loud noise. We all froze, but Josh was already up and running towards his phone. I looked out the blinds again and sighed because it didn¡¯t seem like the people outside noticed. At least, they didn¡¯t show any signs of obvious reaction.

    Josh picked up his phone and whispered, ¡°Sorry.¡±

    I nodded and pointed at my phone while showing them I was putting it on silent. Everyone followed suite, except Victoria. She seemed to be in a daze still, but Sally dealt with her phone by removing its battery. Impressive.

    I checked my phone to see who had texted us. It was Derek.

    ¡°Are you guys out? Let¡¯s meet at the safe house.¡±

    Although Derek called it a safe house, it was one of the vacation homes his parents owned in Big Bear. It was our first go-to place in case of any large outbreak. His parents had won a law suit against a hospital that had mistreated his younger brother, who died a few days later. We weren¡¯t friends with him at that time, but it was something he told us about when we asked him about how his parents had enough money for a vacation home in the mountains.

    I texted back, ¡°No, we¡¯re at my place, surrounded. Any advice?¡±

    ¡°Weapons?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll see what we can do. If you don¡¯t hear back from me, something probably happened. See you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let them touch you.¡±

    I put my phone back into my pocketand sighed.This is really happening...

 Chapter 4: First Encounter

    Chapter 4: First Encounter

    Josh crawled back to my side and whispered, ¡°So what do we do now? I just asked Derek for advice and he told me to not get in your way.¡±

    I narrowed my eyes, ¡°Not the time to be joking.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m serious.¡±

    I sighed and crawled back to the living room where everyone else was. Josh followed behind me.

    ¡°Why are you both crawling like that?¡± Sally asked, as if we were idiots.

    I looked at Josh and then shrugged, ¡°Seemed like the right thing to do. We don¡¯t know much about the infected.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one of my concerns too,¡± said Chris. We were all whispering. I guess even quietness can be infectious. ¡°We don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll be like the zombies described in the survival guide or something else entirely. I can¡¯t even conclude if they¡¯re zombies or not.¡±

    Victoria seemed to react to what Chris was saying because she looked up at him, ¡°Zombies? No, no zombies¡­¡±

    ¡°W-what do you mean?¡± said Angela. Her mouth was dry, which caused her to stutter when she spoke. She was trying to sound as natural and calm as possible, but I could tell how nervous and confused she was. She kept looking back at me like she expected me to say something, fill in the silence created by Victoria¡¯s speechlessness.

    I had to step up.

    ¡°Derek told us to get weapons.¡±

    Chris said, ¡°I already discussed with Derek about the options. It would have been great if your dad worked as a contractor or something dealing with construction and had something we could turn into a makeshift gun like a pneumatic nail gun¡­ but your dad¡¯s a chef.¡±

    Chris, Josh, and I sighed.

    Sally bit her lip and cross her hand over her chest. She thought for a moment and said, ¡°Well, knives will just have to do for now. I¡¯m sure he has some decent quality knives, right? I don¡¯t think I or the girls could go around carrying a nail gun all day, lest even know how to shoot one properly.¡±

    Josh said, ¡°Well, I also saw a metal bat your brother had under his bed, and you have a few tennis racquets behind your room door, right?¡±

    We all looked at Josh and paused.

    I asked, ¡°What made you want to look under my brother¡¯s bed?¡±

    Josh corked his head from right to left, looking at each of us once like a sprinkler, ¡°What? I was kind of scared after I saw those guys outside of your house, so I had to check places where they could be hiding. I mean your house is unlocked after¡­ all¡­¡±

    We all turned our heads to the front door as Josh¡¯s voice trailed off into silence.

    How¡¯d I forget to lock the front door?

    ¡°You locked it right, Alex?¡± Josh asked me.

    Everyone looked at me, and I slowly crept away, crawling. Before I crossed into the dining hall, which was what connected the living room to the entrance of my home, I looked back and said, ¡°I¡¯ll be back really quickly.¡±

    Sally put her arms on her hips, and Chris crossed his hands over his chest. Josh nodded at me like he understood. Not helping. I was a bit embarrassed.

    ¡°Well, for now, let¡¯s gather the bat and stuff,¡± I heard Chris say as I crawled back towards the entrance of the house.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°Wait up.¡± Angela said from behind me.

    I looked back and saw her crawling towards me. Her shirt was dangling just enough so I could see some of her¡­ cleavage, so I looked away while tugging on my shirt to let her know her shirt wasn¡¯t fully covering her. Well, it¡¯s not like she was busty or anything, but it was good enough for me.

    She looked down at her shirt and blushed when she realized how much she was exposing herself to me. It wasn¡¯t much actually, but my imagination was getting the best of me. This would have been a good time to get closer to Angela, but I resisted my physical urges and kept heading towards the door.

    Calm down, Alex¡­ Not the best time for this.

    When I got to the shoe rack along the wall and under the entrance window, I had the sudden urge to peak out the window. They say curiosity killed the cat, but I had looked before and nothing happened. The zombies were pretty docile. This time though, before I looked out the window, I heard a man shouting. He sounded like he was really angry.

    I don¡¯t know what gave us away. Was it Josh¡¯s phone? Were we talking too loudly? I don¡¯t know. The man¡¯s roar was met with Victoria¡¯s scream. Her scream wasn¡¯t one of anger though. It was panic.

    The window above me burst and shards of glass rained on me. I covered my head while curling next to the shoe rack as much as possible.

    So much for home security.

    Why I didn¡¯t consider this a possible scenario mystified me, but I didn¡¯t have time to consider any further. My thoughts stalled while the joints in my bones locked in place. My neighbor Sean had busted through the window and light from outside glinted off the shards of glass embedded into his skin. He looked down on me, blood dripping down the side of his face and onto my socks.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let them touch you.¡± Derek¡¯s advice resurfaced into my mind. I scrambled to get away, but the wall stopped me from going any further. I contemplated jumping out of the window, but I saw Angela¡¯s face of horror. She wasn¡¯t looking at Sean but outside, through the gaping hole in my house. I couldn¡¯t see what she was looking at, but I heard other people shouting like in a riot and had a pretty good idea of what was coming.

    Sean crouched lower to grab me, but I smacked his hands away, warding off each of his attempts. Then his fist collided with my face, and I cowered. It was hard for me to dodge since the shoe rack was behind me, and I didn¡¯t have much mobility on the floor. Defense seemed like the best option, but it wasn¡¯t going to make him go away.

    He pounded on my back. I felt a few more hands on me and realized the others had arrived at the windowsill, probably climbing over as I struggled to protect my head and neck. Is this an earthquake drill? The stray thought made me want to laugh. I chuckled while tears dripped down my face. Am I going to die?

    ¡°Alex.¡± No! He was trying to strangle me now, but I pulled away at his arms. I¡¯m not going to die. I¡¯m not going to die. ¡°Alex!¡± Huh? I looked at who had called me name from the corner of my eyes. Angela was holding onto me while tears flowed down her face. ¡°Get up,¡± she cried.

    I looked up to see Chris and Josh warding away the zombies trying to get into the house through the busted window. There were five more outside but only two could comfortably get through the window at a time.

    They were all from my neighborhood, but Chris didn¡¯t seem to mind that fact. He was swiping away at them with my Wilson racket, the one I kept behind my room door. Josh was hammering away at their heads with my brother¡¯s metal bat. It was pretty effective because a couple of hits seem to knock them out.

    ¡°Fuck. This is just like the Battle of Chancellorsville, 2017.¡±

    Josh¡¯s voice snapped me out of my daze.

    ¡°No, you idiot. There¡¯s no strategy here. Stop talking and keep pounding.¡± Chris said.

    Angela dragged me away, and I noticed Sean on the floor, blood oozing out of his head. Sally was clutching onto one of my father¡¯s kitchen knives with both of her hands. Blood was dripping down from its blade. She was trembling and staring at the scene before her.

    Chris glanced at me before shouting, ¡°Get Victoria. We¡¯ll try to go from the side yard and jump the wall.¡±

    Angela and I moved to the living room and found Victoria huddled up at the corner of room. She was rocking back and forth while mumbling to herself. I went up to her and shook her. ¡°Victoria, we have to leave. We¡¯re going to jump the wall to my neighbor¡¯s.¡±

    I lifted Victoria¡¯s head, and we made eye contact. Her pupils dilated and her eyes scanned my face. It was like she was trying to double check who I was. I didn¡¯t know how to respond, so I said, ¡°Victoria. We need you with us.¡±

    ¡°Alex? You¡¯re alive?¡± She said.

    I frowned and nodded, ¡°Of course. We¡¯re all alive. But we have to get out now.¡±

    She nodded and got up. Angela helped her.

    Chris came into the living room with Sally and said, ¡°Shit, I need a new racket.¡±

    ¡°I-I got some knives.¡± Sally said.

    I nodded and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Josh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± he said while dashing into the room trying to catch his breath, ¡°I got everyone¡¯s shoes as well.¡± He said while holding up our shoes all tied up.

    ¡°Is it safe now?¡± asked Angela.

    Josh replied, ¡°We handled the five trying to come in for now, but there are others out there raiding other homes.¡±

    ¡°Then there¡¯s no point in jumping the side wall,¡± I said, ¡°We need to get out of the city.¡±

    What should we do next? I thought.

 Chapter 5: City Chaos

    Chapter 5: City Chaos

    ¡°Let¡¯s just stick to the plan,¡± I said.

    ¡°What plan?¡± Sally asked.

    Chris looked towards the broken entrance window and replied, ¡°Not the best time for questions.¡±

    His gesture made me notice the faint screams and shouts from other homes.

    ¡°I wanna rest.¡± Josh said as he slumped on the sofa. ¡°And eat.¡±

    ¡°Get up then. You know the plan.¡± I said, ¡°We¡¯re going to Costco.¡±

    Sally crossed her arms and took a moment to consider what I had just said. I moved closer to where Angela was standing, and she leaned closer to me.

    ¡°Once we¡¯re a little safer, then we can take some time to rest and talk,¡± I said.

    Although everyone heard what I said and nodded, I was speaking more towards Angela. I wanted to give her some reassurance that things were going to get better. Everyone looked tired, but I was more sensitive to Angela¡¯s condition.

    Her hair was a mess. I noticed that she was wearing a little bit of makeup because the tears and sweat that rolled down her face and cheeks betrayed their existence. Still, she captured my eyes.

    She nodded at me and asked, ¡°So, how do we get there?¡±

    I shrugged and replied, ¡°Our cars?¡±

    Victoria nodded and mumbled, ¡°I think that¡¯s a good idea¡­¡±

    ¡°Hold on, let me check the situation outside again,¡± said Josh. He jogged towards the entrance window while we followed behind.

    Chris went the other way to my room and followed after us a few seconds later with my spare racket in his hand. Josh and Sally were still holding on their weapons.

    We all took a peak outside. If someone were looking at our house from outside, they¡¯d probably be greeted with an amusing sight, a group of heads popping out of the windowsill. If the zombies outside didn¡¯t catch him off guard, we would.

    When I saw the wreckage outside, it caught me by surprise. I didn¡¯t get a clear chance to see before, but the houses across from my house all had broken windows and doors. Now that I was paying attention, the shouts of anger and screams of death became clearer. Even though it was right in front of me, it was still hard to believe. A woman holding a baby was running down the street while an angry mob of people chased her and beat her down. There were six of them.

    None of us said anything. I¡¯m sure the others were thinking we had to do something, but they were also probably thinking of how powerless we were to do anything except get ourselves killed.

    Chris broke the silence and said, ¡°This is our chance.¡±

    Sally nodded and said, ¡°Unlock your cars now if they¡¯re not, and make sure to lock once everyone is inside.¡±

    ¡°Chris and I¡¯ll drive,¡± I said.

    Victoria shook her head, ¡°No. Chris and Sally should drive. You should stay with Angela.¡±

    I frowned. It was strange hearing Victoria deny me outright. She was balled up in the corner of my living room just a moment ago. But now, she had an air of conviction in her voice, like she was sure of what to do.

    Angela agreed and said, ¡°I¡¯d like that as well. You need to rest,¡± while laying her left hand on my thigh.

    I wanted to drive, but I took the hint. When Angela spoke, she looked at me, but she wasn¡¯t looking at my eyes. She was looking at the cuts and bruises on my body. Right now I was feeling fine, but after the adrenaline in my body died down, I¡¯d be in no condition to drive or move around.

    ¡°All right,¡± I said, ¡°Angela, Victoria, and I will go with Sally to my car since it¡¯s the closest. Chris can take his car with Josh.¡±

    The guys looked at me, and I shrugged, ¡°What?¡±

    Victoria said, ¡°I¡¯m fine now, Alex. I¡¯ll go with Chris and Josh. I can run.¡±

    The guys looked at Victoria and then each other before shrugging at the same time.

    ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± said Josh.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go,¡± said Chris.

    We all nodded and snuck out of the front door. I wanted to chuckle at the odd situation, but I turned it into a smile and a cough instead. Never thought I¡¯d ever have to sneak out of my own front door¡­

    My car was parked in my driveway, so it was easy to sneak too. Chris, Victoria, and Josh would have to take a much greater risk since Chris¡¯s car was parked in front of my house on the street, about 6 feet from where the mother and her baby were being pounced on. They were probably dead since the body stopped crying and the mother stopped screaming.

    The ¡°zombies¡± didn¡¯t look any different from a mob of people. It made me doubt that a disease of sorts was spreading, at least not the ones we had in mind. Yet, my neighbor had broken into my house and beat the crap out of me, and now, the whole neighborhood at least was in chaos. Mind you, Mr. Sean wasn¡¯t the type who¡¯d get angry so easily. One time someone egged his house. When I came out of my house to get some groceries, I noticed him cleaning his front door. So I offered to help, but he just smiled and told me, ¡°No biggie.¡±

    Maybe something triggered him. He could have been releasing all the stress he built up until then, but I don¡¯t know. He seemed like a nice guy, but with these other guys on the streets, I wasn¡¯t going to hesitate. Whether they were nice people in the past or not didn¡¯t matter to me. They were vicious murderers, and I wasn¡¯t going to be fooled.

    I unlocked my car and Sally jumped into the driver¡¯s seat. Angela and I crawled into the back seats from the left side of the car. I got in first and scooted over for Angela. Sally locked the doors as soon as Angela closed the back door and looked at me. She was holding her hand out.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°Oh,¡± I muttered and gave her my car keys.

    She smiled and then looked at the others who were hiding behind our car. Josh was peeking out to see if the mob outside was still distracted. They weren¡¯t. They were all looking up at the sky and yelling. Then they all turned to us and dashed at us.

    ¡°Shit, unlock the door, Angela,¡± I said.

    She stumbled to unlock it but got it open by the time the mob of people were on my lawn. Chris, Josh, and Victoria were stunned at the unexpected development.

    Chris noticed Angela opening the door and shouted, ¡°One car,¡± and jumped into the car while I rolled into the passenger seat. Victoria looked confused still and was holding her forehead. Josh grabbed her arm and pushed her into the back seat.

    I heard the car engine turn on and looked at Sally who released the e-brake and put the car in reverse. The mob was only a couple of feet from us. Josh threw his bat at the closest attacker and jumped into the back and on top of Chris and Victoria while bending his knees to get his feet inside the car.

    The moment Josh jumped in, Sally reversed into the mob, running over two people and hitting a third to the side. The other three pounded on the right side of the car and tried to latch on as we reversed into the street.

    Sally swerved the car to the left while we were reversing and didn¡¯t stop like I expected her to. She kept going back until we had about a few meters of space between the chasing mob and our car. When she stopped, she stopped suddenly, so the momentum of the car shut the back door with Josh still on top of Chris and Victoria with his legs bent behind him.

    Sally put the car on D and drove forward, hitting the three people in front of us. They all rolled over the car and part of the windshield cracked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look back,¡± she said and kept driving.

    I looked at the side-view mirror and saw a mob of eight other people chasing from behind us. More were joining them as they dashed out of the other houses, probably done with raiding the houses they were in. Some were coming in from the front, but Sally kept flooring the car down the street so they had no chance to catch up.

    We passed by dead bodies on the street or near cars. Some people had tried to escape, but they weren¡¯t as successful as we were, though we weren¡¯t exactly out of harm¡¯s way yet. Tire tracks on the street suggested that people had hauled out of the residential district. We were close to a freeway, but I didn¡¯t think going in that direction was a good idea.

    The freeway would probably be jammed with all the people trying to escape the city.

    ¡°Shit,¡± said Sally, ¡°There¡¯s a roadblock up ahead.¡±

    Three cars had smashed into each other head on. It was a weird sight because we weren¡¯t at an intersection. There was no way that could have happened unless the third driver wanted to smash into the other two cars.

    Chris said, ¡°Take a left here.¡±

    ¡°Into the park?¡± Sally asked a little confused, but a few seconds later, she realized what Chris meant, ¡°Oh, right.¡±

    Josh joked, ¡°You must have gotten a 100% on your driving test, right?¡±

    Sally ignored him and cut around the roadblock by going through the park.

    Victoria muttered something under her breath. She was talking to herself. Something she did when she was under stress and trying to solve a problem she couldn¡¯t understand during a test. A teacher once thought she was trying to cheat and made her sit in the corner of the room away from the others. We tried to tell the teacher that she wasn¡¯t trying to cheat, but he didn¡¯t listen. I think he only realized later when she kept mumbling to herself even though she was taking the test alone in the corner of the room. He apologized to her but reminded her that talking during a test was prohibited.

    Since then, she had taken strides to fix her habit, but I guess old habits die hard.

    After Josh¡¯s attempt at lightening up the mood, nobody said anything. Everyone was looking outside. Even Sally, she would see something and even do a double take while driving. I wanted to be in the back where she and I could lean against each other and reassure one another, but she was sitting behind me.

    How did things go so wrong so quickly? If some sort of outbreak was happening, the rate the virus was spreading was unimaginable. Everything was fine at school when we left, and it couldn¡¯t have been more than one hour when we arrived at my house and started preparing. Somehow, in a span of an hour, everyone in this city had been infected.

    It was something that made them mad. They didn¡¯t bite like zombies, and from looking at the mobs on the street, it didn¡¯t seem like the infection spread through wounds or blood. Still, it worried me how close we were to them, the infected. Derek¡¯s last text to me refused to die, ¡°Don¡¯t let them touch you.¡± What did he mean by that? I was almost beaten to death, but I don¡¯t feel any different from before, mentally at least.

    The only thing I hoped for was that we¡¯d be able to find a safe place before the adrenaline in my body died out. The more time passed, the more I was aware of how much pain my body was suffering from, especially my back, ribs, and arms. My infected neighbor had done a number on me, but I was glad that I protected my neck and head well.

    The city was in far worse condition than me, but there wasn¡¯t as much congestion as I thought, though a few cars were crashed here and there. Fires would probably spread through the city tonight. Not something to look forward to.

    Some people were looting stores while others were running amok, trying to get away from the groups of mobs forming. Soon, the mobs were also going to get out of hand. Some heroic police officer was shouting for peaceful surrender but was stampeded upon. Someone took his gun and ran off.

    I¡¯d like to think the ones breaking the law with a purpose, like trying to gather supplies for survival or weapons to defend themselves, I¡¯d like to think they were the uninfected ones, the hope of humanity that could keep order in our society, but it was hard to tell the difference once everyone was thrown into the fray.

    A few mobs and what seemed like infected people tried chasing after us once in a while, but we zoomed by them. They could have been shouting for us to help them while waving their arms about, but we weren¡¯t going to stop and listen. Sally was good at ignoring people, and even more so now that she had opened her mind to the possibility of driving off road.

    Victoria was right. If I had been the one driving, then would I have been able to run over people without hesitation or ignore wounded people pleading for help? I¡¯d have probably gotten everyone killed before we even reached Costco.

    But if we lose our humanity, how are we any different from them?

    Without hesitation, Sally had run over a handful of people, and we had used the time a mother and her baby was being attacked to save ourselves. It didn¡¯t make me feel good.

    I glanced at Sally to see how she was faring, but she seemed unfazed. It was like when we were playing for keeps in Texas hold¡¯em. Whether she won a hand or lost a hand, her expression never gave away her genuine feelings. It¡¯s not like her face was expressionless. She laughed and showed concern at times, but there was something off about it. And that bugged me. The only time she seemed to express any of her true thoughts was when she was looking at you like you were stupid or a bug.

    But even though her face didn¡¯t betray her, her other behaviors did, the way she gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white and the way she bit her lip. That, at least, made sense to me.

    ¡°Can you stop looking at me?¡± Sally said.

    I looked away and said, ¡°Sorry, a lot on my mind.¡±

    ¡­

    She glanced at me and looked back at the road.

    ¡°You think I killed those people? They weren¡¯t human. It was us or them.¡±

    ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­ But it¡¯s like they¡¯ve lost their mind to something¡­¡±

    Chris agreed, ¡°I never felt so much anger from another person in my life. It was scary. I¡¯m sure it was for all of us. But we did what we had to do.¡±

    Angela put her arms around me from behind and asked, ¡°Are you okay, Alex?¡±

    I asked, ¡°Is anyone okay?¡± more to myself than anyone else.

    Josh said, ¡°Forgot it, guys. We¡¯re almost at Costco, right? Let¡¯s just get some grub and find a safe place to rest.¡±

    Victoria asked, ¡°But there¡¯s probably going to be people there, right? What are we going to do then?¡±

    Josh turned to Victoria and said, ¡°Oh? Done mumbling to yourself, Victoria?¡± which earned him a pinch in the thigh. ¡°Okay, okay! Stop! Sorry! I¡¯m tired and my legs are falling asleep from being in this weird position.¡±

    ¡°Dude, my legs are asleep from you being on top of me,¡± said Chris.

    We all laughed. I think conversing a bit helped us distract ourselves from what was going on around us. We had a goal at least and we were going to see it through the end. For now, we had to get to Costco, fill ourselves with food, and see if there were others we could work with.

 Chapter 6: Pit Stop

    <h1>Chapter 6: Pit Stop</h1>

    When we arrived in Costco, people were rushing out of the warehouse screaming. Other people were coming from behind stampeding over the slower ones. I saw a boy and his father get crushed by the stampede.

    We were still on the street driving towards the entrance when we saw the sight.

    Sally looked at me and said, ¡°Pit stop?¡±

    I looked back and said, ¡°Sure. How about McDonald¡¯s? It looks pretty empty, even the windows are gone.¡±

    She rolled her eyes and smiled. Angela pinched me.

    What? I wasn¡¯t flirting. Just trying to lighten the mood. Sally wasn¡¯t as tall as Angela but she was a little bustier, which I didn¡¯t mind at all. I looked at her wrists and noticed how skinny she was. Her wrist had to be at least half the circumference of my wrist. It was like a twig. How was she still even living? I think that¡¯s what made her bust stand out more. It was almost anime-like.

    Angela pinched me again. Sally didn¡¯t say anything, but I think she noticed I was (kind of) ogling her.

    Chris patted my shoulder and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t be deceived by looks.¡±

    The car swerved into the plaza in front of Costco. Sally was biting her lips and looked pissed. She didn¡¯t even go through the entrance. My car bounced up over the curve and into the parking lot.

    Chris did not look impressed.

    Josh cursed aloud, ¡°Shit Sally. Just because the situation allows, doesn¡¯t mean you should drive so recklessly.¡±

    ¡°No, no. Josh, get your feet out of my face!¡± Victoria said as Josh¡¯s feet got dangerously close to her face.

    ¡°Sorry. I took my shoes off if that makes it any better.¡±

    ¡°No, you idiot. Your feet stink!¡±

    Sally shrugged and said, ¡°Did you look at the entrance? Too many cars trying to get out.¡±

    Actually, there were cars pulling the same stunt as her, except they were trying to get out instead of in.

    Chris muttered, ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to steal a car later.¡±

    I looked back at Chris and gave him my epic blue steel look. It was when I scrunched my eyebrows together and puckered my lips out. Did he really just say that?

    Sally nodded and floored the car through the parking lot plaza which made me lurch forward. If I wasn¡¯t wearing a seat belt, I would have flown out of the window.

    Sally continued her reckless driving through the gaps she found in the parking lot as she headed towards McDonald¡¯s. It wasn¡¯t jam packed, but it wasn¡¯t deserted either. The closer we got, the less cars there were. Some cars seemed to have been abandoned, but maybe the owners just didn¡¯t have the luxury to return.

    I looked at the side mirror and saw the people who had gained the most distance from Costco. They weren¡¯t heading to their cars. They were running into the street. One person got hit by a car, but the driver kept on going. I¡¯m guessing there was a riot in Costco as well.

    Angry people crowd psychology suggested that no one would care about sticking around in a rundown McDonald¡¯s. It seemed like the mob had already come and gone, taking the citizens away with it. Though, there were a few bodies here and there lying still on the ground. I didn¡¯t want to check to see if they were dead. Though, if they were zombies, it would be a good idea to double-tap each of them. But I didn¡¯t have a gun with me. Chris had the only weapon, a tennis racket. My tennis racket.

    When we parked the car, the engine coughed to a stop. Even after Sally had turned off the car, something still spun inside the car¡¯s engine. This was the end of the line for my car, parked perfectly in front of McDonald¡¯s. I sighed. This is your new home now, bud.

    I guess we really will have to steal a car.

    While I was glancing for other cars in the vicinity, Victoria got out first, followed by Josh.

    When Josh got out, he stomped to put his shoes on and tapped on the driver-side window, ¡°Wow, Sally. I think you really are someone who likes to play by the book. You parked between the two lines and right up to the bumper. If it were me, I¡¯d have tried to park diagonally over two spots and a bit into the handicap just because.¡±

    Sally swung the car door open and almost hit Josh. Josh jerked back and bowed while muttering, ¡°I apologize. Please forgive me.¡±

    Chris got out the other side of the car and laughed while nodding his head. It wasn¡¯t just a regular nod, but it was one of his official signals expressing, ¡°I told you so.¡± It was subtle signal. You¡¯d only pick it up if you knew Chris well. When he smiled and nodded, there was always something up because Chris never smiled for longer than a second before going back to his neutral, ¡°I don¡¯t give a damn,¡± face.

    I guess I really can¡¯t judge a book by its cover. Though, Sally wasn¡¯t a book that I hadn¡¯t read before. I guess her cover was just that eye-catching¡­

    I tensed as I felt Angela¡¯s hand resting on my arm.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    Nothing beats Angela though.

    She smiled and just gave my arm a gentle squeeze before getting off the car.

    Sweat dripped down the side of my face, and I put on the best smile I could before getting out of the car.

    ---

    Once we were inside McDonald¡¯s, we confirmed that it was indeed empty. We checked both bathrooms, the staff lounge, the manager¡¯s office, and the kitchen. Josh volunteered the check the kitchen and came back with a bunch of hamburgers and fries in his hands. The employees who had worked here had all ditched on the job.

    We sat at two tables we brought together near the middle of the room, away from the windows that were shattered. Most of the glass was scattered on the inside of the building while some pieces were on the outside. This suggested that some people had broken into McDonald¡¯s, very much like what my neighbor did to my home (even though my front door was open). I think that¡¯s one characteristic of the mobs I should take note of. They don¡¯t care about standard procedure.

    Josh said, ¡°Anyone ever try the McGangBang?¡± The girls looked at Josh and he raised his hands, ¡°Not a joke. It¡¯s true!¡±

    Chris and I nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± at the same time. Our little truce among bros was brought to credibility when Sally nodded as well.

    ¡°What the heck is a McGangBang?¡± asked Victoria. She still didn¡¯t believe us.

    Chris said, ¡°I¡¯d tell you to look it up on your phone, but not sure how long the internet will last. It¡¯ll be a good idea to charge our phones actually.¡±

    I nodded while looking up at the lights turned on above us. The electricity was still running.

    Sally shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s not like we have chargers with us though.¡±

    We all sighed. In our rush to escape my house, we weren¡¯t able to take any supplies.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Angela exclaimed. ¡°Alex and I have our backpacks in the car!¡±

    She got out of her seat and dashed out. When she got to the door though, she peeked around to check if it was safe. I got up to follow her but my body pulsed with pain so it was difficult for me to stand.

    Chris stood up to support me and said, ¡°Just chill, dude.¡±

    I nodded. When Angela came back, she had my backpack and hers in her hand.

    Sally said, ¡°You have an Android, right? Give me your charger.¡±

    Angela pulled my charger out as well and gave her phone with the two chargers to Sally. When Sally had gone and come back from plugging the phones into the outlet, Josh tapped the table.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you¡­ the McGangBang!¡± he said while emphasizing the last few words and holding it out for us to see. He had picked up a McChicken from in front of me and sandwiched it inside of a McDouble.

    Victoria swiped away the hamburger and said, ¡°Let me try.¡±

    Josh laughed and said, ¡°Dang Victoria, you look hungrier than me!¡± while reaching for some French fries to munch down.

    Angela asked, ¡°How does it taste?¡± and leaned closer to me, ¡°Alex, make one for me too!¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s what you want,¡± I said, ¡°Just make one for me, too.¡±

    We all laughed and ate while tasting other secret menu items that we knew and making a few new ones ourselves. It was an unusual scene because of the ruckus going on outside of the plaza. From our perspective, the people running about and the cars driving away looked like ants rushing out of an anthill that was being flooded with water.

    Someone had decided to play God, and people were paying for it. It made me think about whether a God existed or not. If he did exist, either this the end times or he was a very wicked god.¡±

    ---

    After we had finished eating, we moved to the staff room.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t we eat inside the staff room?¡± asked Angela.

    Everyone looked at each other and I saw Chris and Sally go for a face palm.

    It was a sigh of how tired and hungry we had become. It was important to eat, but sitting in the middle of McDonald¡¯s with no cover and broken windows wasn¡¯t the smartest idea, especially with people still about. There could be people like us as well but with worse intentions.

    Josh crashed onto the sofa and asked, ¡°So what¡¯s the game plan now?¡±

    Sally crossed her arms and stared at Josh, who scooted over for her.

    Chris said, ¡°Let¡¯s sleep here for the night. I checked it out when we first got here, and it¡¯s pretty secure. The manager¡¯s room over there has no other access points besides a small window. So we can lock this door and cover the window in the manager¡¯s room with some paper.¡±

    We all nodded and sat around the lounge table. Chris was holding some papers making origami shapes with them, and Angela was holding my hand. Somehow that had happened, and it felt nice. It distracted me from the pain my body was in.

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty amazing how you were able to spot the McDonald¡¯s,¡± said Angela.

    Sally nodded, ¡°I was too focused on what was going on in front of Costco that I didn¡¯t even consider the McDonald¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why he¡¯s the lead¡ª what¡¯s up, Victoria?¡± asked Josh.

    We turned to look at her, and she was crying.

    ¡°No. It¡¯s just. Sorry. I can¡¯t be like you all. I just froze. I know I¡¯ve been holding you all back,¡± said Victoria in between sobs.

    I shook my head, ¡°No. I think you were helpful. Somehow you knew about the window, and your suggestion for Sally to drive instead of me was a good choice.¡±

    Chris and Sally nodded.

    Angela rubbed me on my back.

    Thanks guys, but I meant it.

    Josh asked Victoria, ¡°Yeah, how did you know about the window?¡±

    She replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know... I saw it happening before it happened, like I was there. That¡¯s why I was so freaked out,¡± she paused, ¡°I thought you died, Alex. I thought we were all going to die.¡±

    Weird things had been happening, so I didn¡¯t want to discount what Victoria had experienced, but it nevertheless gave me the chills.

    ¡°But I didn¡¯t die,¡± I said.

    She nodded, ¡°That¡¯s why I thought I was going crazy. It happened again before we left the house. I saw a vision where you were being pulled out of the driver¡¯s seat by a woman drenched in blood.¡±

    My stomach churned. I think everyone else was feeling a bit frightened too because they were tense and fidgety. Chris had stopped making his origami creations, and Sophie was biting her lips. Angela was squeezing my hand. If someone tried to separate us, it¡¯d have to be after one of our arms broke, and I¡¯d still hold on anyway.

    Victoria continued, ¡°It reminded me of the last days.¡±

    ¡°You mean like in the Bible?¡± Josh asked.

    Victoria nodded, which reminded me that she was a believer. I better keep my thoughts about God to myself.

    Chris cited, ¡°In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.¡±

    The girls looked at him, and he shrugged.

    Josh coughed, ¡°Bookwarm,¡± and Chris threw an origami shuriken at him.

    I knew Chris had read a lot of books, but I didn¡¯t know the Bible was one of them. Though, I¡¯m not sure if he was a believer. When we had talked about a presence of an Almighty God in the universe, we were skeptics. Though, it never hindered us from creating end world scenarios triggered by such beings. I mean, if there¡¯s anything I¡¯ve learned in life, it was that things happened for a reason.

    Angela said, ¡°So, you can see visions now?¡±

    Victoria frowned and shrugged. She seemed to want to cry, but I don¡¯t think she had any more tears left in her tear ducts.

    ¡°Did you see anything else?¡± said Sally.

    Victoria shook her head.

    ¡°Maybe when we sleep, we¡¯ll all have similar dreams like in The Stand,¡± said Josh with a bit of humor in his voice.

    Chris shrugged and I sighed. Maybe. We¡¯ll have to see. But I was tired. I wanted to rest.

    And so I did.

 Chapter 7: Another Side

    <h1></a>Chapter 7: Another Side</h1>

    Damn, Alex. I¡¯m so jelly. He gets to sleep leaning on a girl! But at least I have this couch, and Sally sitting next to me, but I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s a good thing.

    I peered at Sally from the corner of my eyes and was met with her glare.

    Yeah, she¡¯s scary all right.

    ¡°Do you think things will have quieted down by tomorrow?¡± asked Angela.

    Chris shook his head and said, ¡°Probably not in the city, but I think the mobs won¡¯t stick around in Costco as long as there¡¯s no one left for them to beat.¡±

    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s what¡¯s driving them?¡± asked Victoria.

    Sally shrugged and replied, ¡°I¡¯d like to see if they have the common sense to eat and manage their bodies.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯ll be a good way to distinguish them,¡± I said with a grin, ¡°If we encounter a stranger, we¡¯ll just throw them a couple of burgers and see how they react.¡±

    Victoria was the only one who chuckled.

    Jeez, tough crowd. At least Alex would have laughed along if only for the lameness of the situation.

    Sally rolled her eyes and said, ¡°That¡¯s just a waste of food.¡±

    ¡°Whether they are infected or not, if they attack, they¡¯re our enemy,¡± said Chris.

    ¡°I just want to find a safe place,¡± said Angela while laying her head on top of Alex¡¯s. Her eye lids were half shut ready to say good night even though it was barely evening.

    I looked at my watch, 6:47 pm to be exact.

    The lights were dimming when we had entered the room, so by now, the street lights should be turning on if they haven¡¯t already. The city still had some electricity left in it since the room lights still worked.

    I don¡¯t think a McDonald¡¯s would have its own power generator, but it never hurts to check around later.

    ¡°It was a joke,¡± I said, ¡°A joke! I¡¯d rather eat the food for myself than throw it around at other peop¡ªOuch!¡± Chris threw another shuriken at me, and that made Sally chuckle. ¡°Ha-ha, very funny, Chris.¡±

    Sally yawned, ¡°Okay boys, I¡¯m going to kick the bucket for tonight. You can take the sofa Josh.¡±

    I was a bit surprised by her offer, but I wasn¡¯t going to fall for it, ¡°No, no. You can sleep on the sofa, Sally.¡± I said while getting up.

    She got up as well and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to the manager¡¯s office. You should rest well since you¡¯re our runner. Victoria, come on.¡±

    I turned to Chris as Sally walked away, ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±

    Victoria got up and followed her. Chris shrugged, but it was one of his ¡°figure it out yourself¡± shrugs. He had a way of expressing things to people without saying anything. So much for bros before hoes. Not that Sally is a ho though.

    Sally turned back to look at me, and I stared at her without blinking. Game face Josh. I¡¯m not thinking anything right now. Slow breathe in. Slow breathe out. Yeah, just like meditation. When she turned away and went into the manager¡¯s room, I let out a long sigh of relief.

    I looked back at Chris and he nodded at me, the ¡°I told you so¡± one. I pointed at the sofa with my thumb and said, ¡°I know, I know.¡±

    Chris plopped down on the sofa with a sigh and looked over at Alex and Angela who were now both sleeping against the wall.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay up first,¡± I said.

    Chris nodded and laid on the sofa to rest.

    Hey. I was expecting some sort of, ¡°No, I¡¯ll go first,¡± or something! But that¡¯s Chris I suppose. He must be conserving brain power for later. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised.

    I didn¡¯t feel like sleeping just yet, but it¡¯d be unsafe to go outside alone to look around. Plus, the door only locked from the inside. Unless I could find the key, which might be in the manager¡¯s room actually.

    I looked over at the manager¡¯s room door, which was closed.

    Probably best not to disturb¡­

    Just in case, I lifted a chair and leaned it against the doorknob of the entrance door and sat at the edge of the room, straight across from the manager¡¯s office.

    If someone caught wind of us and tried to break in, we¡¯d need to have reliable escape paths. Chris said there was a small window in the manager¡¯s room. I should have checked it out to see how big it was, but since he considered it an ¡°access point¡± then I¡¯m sure it is big enough for a person to get through if they tried. Besides that, there¡¯s the vent near the clock hanging on the wall.

    I wondered how long the clock would last, longer than us perhaps, but I didn¡¯t plan on that happening. I looked at my MATRIX PowerWatch, full-power. I must have generated at lot of body heat today. ¡°We have to be careful not to get sick,¡± I thought while ruminating about the things we¡¯d need to get tomorrow at Costco.

    Medicine, unperishable food, sturdy bags and clothes, maybe a tent, fruit snacks¡­ Oh, what the hell, I feel like we¡¯re going camping. We need weapons. Maybe a crowbar, knives¡ªI¡¯m sure the kitchen has a few cutlery we can use as weapons¡ªlighters¡­?Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    .

    .

    .

    I opened my eyes. It was 12:58 am. I had fallen asleep. What the heck. Chris is going to kill me. I looked over at the sofa and realized someone had cut the lights. It was hard to see where everyone was so I pushed myself up from the wall and slumbered over to the table lounge.

    Chris wasn¡¯t on the sofa. I looked over at where Angela and Alex were sleeping to find them gone as well.

    Okay¡­ Where¡¯d everyone go?

    I was getting a little freaked out, but my brain was still in start-up mode. Something had happened when I was gone, but I wasn¡¯t sure what. I reached for the lights, but nothing happened when I flicked the switch. I flicked it again. Nothing.

    They better not be pulling a quick one on me.

    The chair I had propped against the doorknob was still leaning against the door, so it was impossible for them to have left the room, unless there was some trick they used, but why put in so much effort? The only place they could be was the manager¡¯s room.

    I looked at the door and a shiver ran down my spine. Somehow, the darkness of the room and the weirdness of the situation made me worry that a mob of zombies was going to bust out of the door as soon as I opened it.

    After creeping over, trying to not betray my presence, if there was someone watching, I hesitated in front of the door. Just in case, I went back to the sofa and found the racket Chris had brought in with him. Yeah, they had to be around still if Chris didn¡¯t take this with him.

    Back in front of the door, I griped the tennis racket and lifted it above my head ready to swing it down the moment something came rushing at me through the door. I twisted the doorknob millimeter by millimeter until it was ready to be opened.

    Now!

    I tossed open the door and saw nothing.

    It was pitch black, like I was staring into the abyss. Was it a trick of the light? Part of me was curious, but a bigger part of me was scared, telling me to close the door and back away. Yet, I took a step forward. But the moment I crossed into the darkness, someone pounded on the entrance door.

    I jumped at the sudden sound and stared at the door, holding my breath.

    The pounding continued, but I heard some whispering as well.

    I crept closer to the door, legs shaking, trying to get a better grasp at what was being said.

    ¡°He¡¯s here. Here¡¯s here. The resurrected one...¡±

    ¡°We need to be thorough.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we need to make contact.¡±

    What were they saying? It seemed like they wanted to contact us, but it was only me at the moment. Were they trying to contact me?

    I leaned over to put my ear against the door but froze when I noticed a body leaning against the wall across from the manager¡¯s office.

    Was I going crazy?

    I squinted my eyes and blinked them multiple times. The body looked familiar, too familiar.

    Even though my heart was pounding, the blood in my veins didn¡¯t seem to be moving.

    I don¡¯t know how long I stared at the body for, but it didn¡¯t move. The thing that brought me back to my senses was the pound at the door right next to me.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t go yet.¡±

    ¡°We know you¡¯re there.¡±

    ¡°Talk with us.¡±

    My mind was too confused to deal with the strangers behind the door. I had to check the body first. So I scurried on all fours to the body.

    It was me.

    ---

    ¡°Josh.¡± I said while slapping him in the face. ¡°Wake up. You fell asleep, dude.¡±

    Josh¡¯s eyes shot open and he almost sprang into my face.

    ¡°Damn, chill,¡± I said.

    He let out a half scream before realizing he was having a nightmare.

    ¡°Rest well?¡± I asked, crossing my arms and staring at him.

    ¡°Holy cow,¡± he said, ¡°I had a crazy dream and not one where I was in a cornfield with nice acoustic music playing in the background.¡±

    I gave him a few seconds to catch his breath. Something had really scared the bejesus out of him, but he seemed fine enough to make jokes.

    ¡°If you were tired, you should have woken me up so that one of us could have stayed as watch. The chair was a good idea though,¡± I said while pointing at the chair which was leaning over against the door.

    Josh looked past me and at the sofa.

    ¡°Come on,¡± I said while helping him up, ¡°Victoria had a dream as well.¡±

    Josh nodded, and we joined the rest at the table. Angela and Alex were cuddling next to each other on the sofa, and Sally had brought a chair over from the manager¡¯s office to sit on next to the sofa. Victoria was sitting on the floor again, probably a habit.

    When Josh sat down on the floor he raised his hand and asked, ¡°Did anyone see their own dead body in their dreams?¡±

    We all looked at him like he was crazy. No one had that kind of dream.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t dream anything,¡± I said.

    Josh sighed with relief, ¡°Then never mind. It was probably just me.¡±

    Sally shrugged and said, ¡°Yeah, probably not as significant as Victoria¡¯s.¡±

    Victoria looked much better after a night of rest, and she had been more comfortable telling us about her ¡°visions.¡± Whether true or not, I still wasn¡¯t sure, but I was never one to ignore useful information, especially if it could help us get a better idea of what we were dealing with.

    Victoria smiled and shook her head, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know. You should still keep track of your dreams Josh because there could be some special meaning behind them. I think I have a lot of dreams because of the journal I keep. Some I have found to be meaningful while others not so. Last night though, I had a vivid dream.¡±

    A vivid dream happens when a person can see, touch, feel, smell, and hear things in a dream to the point their brain is fooled into thinking its awake. I¡¯ve had one vivid dream before, and it was a nightmare. It was during the time when I was getting into reading the Lord of the Flies.

    I guess I had fallen asleep while reading, but in my dream, the last chapter was missing! It was so unjust that I threw the book into the trash after I had woken up. After thinking about it, I realized I had dreamt the whole thing. When I checked, it was there.

    Victoria continued, ¡°We were at Costco, and the infected were still around but not as many. They seemed to have basic desires because they were eating, but they weren¡¯t eating the food around Costco. They were eating the dead. I think it¡¯s safe to call them zombies at this point.¡±

    Alex joked, ¡°I¡¯m glad my neighbor wasn¡¯t hungry when he broke into my house.¡±

    It was a crude joke that made me cringe because of the hint of truth in Alex¡¯s statement. If they had come at us hungry, we would have come out with more than a few bruises and scratches.

    I think Angela pinched Alex because he flinched and said, ¡°Sorry.¡±

    Josh asked, ¡°So is there anything else you saw in your dream?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We have to be careful of this other group that¡¯ll come by. They were armed and tried to¡­¡± Victoria¡¯s voice trailed off and she looked at Angela and Sally.

    ¡°Okay, we got it. So we just have to avoid this group, right?¡±

    The girls nodded. When Victoria had first told us about her dream, she was pretty shaken, but it seemed like she woke up before having to experience anything traumatizing, besides Josh¡¯s death. It seems like that could be one of the trigger¡¯s that ends her vision, someone dying. A little morbid, but I wasn¡¯t one to overlook a pattern.

    Josh said, ¡°I¡¯m sure we protected you guys though, right?¡±

    Victoria shook her head, ¡°You were the first to die.¡±

    ¡°What!¡± Josh said but then nodded like he could see it happening.

    Sally rolled her eyes, not impressed.

    Bringing everyone back on topic, I said, ¡°So we¡¯ll wait today to see if the group comes by or not. If they don¡¯t, then we¡¯ll try our hand at some window shopping while keeping an eye out.¡±

    Alex raised his hand and said with a grin, ¡°On the off chance that this is somehow unavoidable. I have a suggestion.¡±

    I knew what was coming and grinned as well. If there¡¯s one thing I¡¯ve learned about Alex, it¡¯s that he can be ruthless if you give him enough time to plan ahead. The only problem would be execution, but with time, history has shown that people have been quick at getting used to dealing with people, and I wasn¡¯t planning on being an exception. I hope Alex wasn¡¯t either, but I¡¯d respect his decision.