Ah... anyways, we'll most likely stay here until we decide to move.
I hope none of us get bitten, even shitty hair... sigh.
Well, for now, I'm going to eat and rest a bit since I didn't get any sleep, and neither did the others.
10:37 AM
I rubbed my eyes lightly, taking in my surroundings. Looking around, I recalled what had happened last—each of us took a bench in the restaurant and slept there. We played a few games before bed, and although the bench wasn't very comfy, I still slept well.
I didn't get up, I just looked around. When I turned to my left, I saw Christian lying on the—no, wait, he was on the... ground. I had to hold in my laughter for that one—
"AH—!" "Ouch…"
I fell off the bench. I guess that's what I get for making fun of Christian.
Rubbing my head slightly, I stood up and looked for Ruby and Nicole. Nicole was sleeping peacefully on his bench, as well as Ruby. I smiled slightly at the sight, then sat back down. I took a snack from the food bag and some water. Once I finished, I tossed the trash into the bin.
I pulled out my phone, but something odd happened.
No signal?
That's weird. Last night I had great Wi-Fi in this place, and now suddenly... nothing?
I walked up to Ruby and gently shook her awake.
"What happened...? What's the time?" Ruby mumbled groggily as she sat up.
"Well, it's 10:52 AM… and something's up, wake up, sleepyhead."
She blinked at me, still half-asleep. "What is it?"
I hesitated for a second before answering. "There's no signal. No Wi-Fi or network."
Her eyes widened. She jolted up.
"WHAT? WHEN? HOW? WHY?!"
I flinched, moving slightly away as she practically screamed in my ear.
"Calm down... I just found out too," I said, rubbing my ear.
After helping Ruby calm down, we both woke up Nicole and Christian. We explained the situation, and now they were eating snacks while processing it. The clock read 11:17 AM.
"So, basically, what you're saying is the signal, Wi-Fi, and network all got cut off?" Christian asked.
"Basically, yes," I replied, leaning against the wall, watching as he and Nicole stuffed their mouths with food.
But the moment I pushed myself off the wall—
The building vibrated.
Like, actually moved. The four of us exchanged glances. "what the. ." Muttered Ruby.
"Yeah, we should probably leave. Now," I said, grabbing the food and water supply bag.
The others hurriedly took their bags, and Christian grabbed mine too. We rushed out of the mall… and stopped dead in our tracks.
The building was on fire.
"...What the hell…?" Christian muttered, staring at the flames.
That shouldn't be possible. From what we knew, zombies weren't smart. They couldn't even open doors, let alone start a fire.
An accident, maybe?
Who knows.
We decided to shrug it off for now. No use thinking too deeply about something irrelevant to our current survival.
Walking through the familiar streets of the city again, we realized—
We had no idea what to do next.
"Shouldn't we explore other cities? There might be people there," Nicole suggested.
"Yeah," Ruby agreed. "We should probably check the news, though. This city looks completely abandoned."
Christian and I both nodded.
"Does anyone know how to drive?" I asked.
Silence.
Everyone looked at me.
"Alright, I'll drive then."
After searching for a good-looking car, I coincidentally found one—keys still inside.
A red convertible. One of those cool topless ones with a portable roof.
Nice.
We all hopped in. Ruby and Nicole sat in the back, Christian sat in the passenger seat next to me.
As we drove, we pulled up the last known news reports about the situation—no, at this point, we could just call it what it was.
A zombie apocalypse.
The news explained that the creatures were completely oblivious when it came to seeing things. However, they could hear better than humans.
"So we can only get infected by being bitten, huh?" Christian mused.
"Good enough for me," he added, continuing to listen.
About an hour passed as we drove toward another city—or maybe even another state. The time now read 3:27 PM.
"When are we getting there?" Christian groaned.
Ruby and Nicole were keeping themselves busy in the back. Ruby was playing offline games on her phone, and Nicole was reading a book. I was listening to music with my headphones on while driving, and as for Christian…
I had no idea what he was doing.
The breeze was calming as we approached a bridge—
But then we saw it.
A trail of cars blocking the entrance to the next city.
"...Why are we slowing down?" Christian asked, looking at me.
I glanced at the gas gauge.
"We're outta gas," I deadpanned.
Nicole sighed. "Seriously? Dang." He hopped out of the car.
I exhaled. "We still have some road left before we reach our destination. About another day."
"Another day?! Aw man…" Nicole pouted.
We all got out of the car.
"Let's get to the end of the bridge and take a car from there. The bridge shouldn't be too long, nor should the trail of cars," I said.
Christian and Ruby nodded. Nicole took the lead, cautiously walking ahead. We followed with the same wariness, trying not to make a single sound.
Zombies littered the area—lying on the ground, unmoving. We carefully maneuvered past them.
But then—
"AHHH!" Ruby's scream cut through the silence.
We all spun around.
Ruby was on the ground.
A zombie was attacking her.
She struggled, resisting with all her strength. Still screaming.
I rushed back, kicking the zombie off her before helping her up.
"Are you okay? You didn't get bitten, right?" I asked immediately. I always had to be cautious. Even with my friends.
"I'm fine," Ruby reassured, panting.
But when we turned around—
The zombie was still standing.
"RUN FOR IT!" Ruby shouted.
We took off, sprinting down the bridge. We ran past the remaining cars, trying not to look back.Halfway through, we finally lost the zombie. Panting, we leaned against the bridge railing, catching our breath.
"That… was… so... scary…" Ruby gasped between breaths.
"Yeah… please… be cautious… next time…" Nicole wheezed.
We all took a moment before continuing toward the end of the bridge.
Eventually, we reached the last car in the trail—or maybe the first.
"Alright… let's continue the trip, shall we?" I asked.
They all nodded, and we got into the new car. As we drove, Nicole and Ruby had a decent conversation. Meanwhile, Christian and I sat in silence. A few minutes passed. We spotted a gas station half a mile away. Then we noticed—The fuel gauge.