𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦

✮12. Murphy's Law✮

All of us were led into a makeshift base with a huge number of bunk beds. I saw that some people had already fallen asleep while the others were gathered and talking, with an atmosphere of relief around them. We all went to the edge of the base and picked our bunks there. I called top bunk and climbed on it before Yara, which made her roll her eyes. We were given a synthetic bag which contained a toothbrush, a mini paste, and other toiletries. 

"I am so tired", James groaned as he jumped on his bed. All of us passed words of agreement and started setting up our beds. Cameron had already started snoring as soon as his body hit the bed and Dylan smiled at that, shaking his head. There was something really captivating about the guy. Apart from his looks which were obviously Godly, his whole personality and demeanor seemed really cool and caring. I definitely wanted to get to know him better, NOT in a romantic way because that's pathetic to think about during an apocalypse but more as a friend. 

I hung my backpack along with Yara's on a hook on the edge of our bunk and was about to get cozy when Yara said, "Hey, Diana. Can I talk to you for a second?". Giving a quick nod I followed Yara towards the corner of the base. 

"What's up?", I asked. She seemed anxious. She was pacing up and down with her hands folded, reminding me of the time we had to get our C.A. exam results back in college. "Look, I'm glad we're here, you and I. We've made it this far and I know I'm supposed to feel safe and all because of these military men and doctors running around but..." "But...?" "But I just can't help but feel that it's far from over". She stopped pacing and looked at me with worried yet curious eyes, waiting for my response. 

I was dreading this conversation. A thing about Yara, she always has a bad feeling about everything good. She overthinks a lot and she's been dealing with this for a while. My job is to divert her thoughts. Have a more optimistic viewpoint because if I feed into her delusion, we'll both go mad. This time however, I had this pegging feeling as well. Something can go wrong will go wrong. Hoping Murphy's law is not applicable this time. Doing what I had to do I said, "Yara, it's alright to feel that way. I mean who knows what tomorrow might bring? All we can do right now is hope."

Still looking unconvinced, Yara gave me a quick nod and made her way to our bunk. The lights were almost all out now but now I didn't want to sleep. Yara's thought was bound to keep me awake at night and I do not want to have nightmares about it.

I started roaming around for a while, trying to think about other things but nothing cleared my head. Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming behind me. I turned around to see Dylan standing there. "Couldn't sleep?", I asked him. He gave a nod and I replied, "Yeah, me neither."

"Wanna go for a walk?", he asked and I agreed, gesturing for him to lead the way. "What's keeping you up?", he asked. "Yara has a feeling that we're not entirely out of the danger yet. Frankly, I think so too. What about you?" He gave a shaky laugh and said, "Same. I've been tryna battle that thought but it just wouldn't go away" 

"Okay, so I have an idea. How about we NOT talk about this subject and more about ourselves" "I'd like that, you go first." I cleared my throat as if I was give a speech and begun, "Well, I'm originally from San Francisco. I grew up there pretty much all my life with my grandma and aunt and I moved to college in the east coast, majoring in C.S. My biggest worry has always been trying to land a good job but now of course, my priority has become to not get killed", I concluded. Dylan gave a quick laugh and I asked him to go next. "Okay um well I'm from New York. Moved to Seattle when I was 9 and got into Georgia tech where I met my right hand man, Cameron. James and I went to high school together. He had a really strong British accent when I met him." I laughed at that. Man, do I love surface level talks. 

"How do you feel about this whole thing? I heard you and Yara telling your whole adventure but how did you really feel about it?", Dylan asked after a few moments of silence. I took a deep breath before answering, "Words like shocked, scared, worried cannot even begin to describe what I was feeling when it began. But right now, I just feel...lost. I don't know what's to come next and I hate the feeling of not knowing something, you know?" Damn, why did I go so deep instantly. 

Dylan moved a bit closer to me and said, "I get it. It's gnawing to not know certain possibilities. I mean, I don't even know where all the people I know are. Are they dead? Alive? Infected? It just doesn't sit right, does it?"

"I couldn't relate more. Honestly, it's so weird to think about how we've always been told to live life to the fullest like who knows what can happen next? And now we actually know the true meaning of it. The worst part, we can't rely on hope as much. Hope seems far away when you actually need it."

Dylan's face was showing a deep state of reflection. Looks like he really needed this conversation. He said, "Exactly. The feeling of 'something will go wrong' is just too hard to push away. I mean what can go wrong, will go wrong. It's like Murphy's-" "-Law", I finished the sentence for him.

We stood there, in the corner of the base under a few dim lights. We both were really blown away from this conversation, both getting out what they needed to get out. "Wow, that turned really deep", Dylan smiled awkwardly. "I guess so", I laughed, "I don't know about you but I'm really hungry, wanna sneak into the food court?" I asked. "Thought you'd never ask!"

We slowly made our way outside the base, walking stealthily passed the sleeping guards. We were going to turn towards the court when a sound made us stop in our tracks. It was a scream. But not the scream you'd expect. 

It wasn't human. Or at least, it wasn't human anymore.