Broken World

2. Seriously?

We traveled till it got dark and stopped by a small abandoned house protected by walls from all sides near a town. I drove the car inside after Jane opened the main gate and parked near the house entrance. 

“Why we stopped?” Kevin asked, rubbing his eyes. 

“My hands hurt; I need some rest” I replied, coming out of the car. I kicked open a door, it was dark and gloomy inside. I entered inside holding a torch, the ground was covered with blood.

“The smell is still strong; do you think someone was here before?” Jane asked. 

“It’s not like we are the only survivors on this planet,” I replied, looking around. 

“It would take us a few more days before we reach our destination,” Ivan said, staring at the map. “Our next stop would be one of the biggest cities of the state; Amber. We should be prepared before going… that damned place must be filled with ghouls.”

“If nothing goes wrong we should be entering the city by tomorrow afternoon,” I replied, sitting on a chair. 

“I don’t think the shortcuts are worth risking for,” Ivan said. 

“Without any doubt, the sound of the car will attract a lot of attention, and on top of that, we are low on fuel now,” I said. 

“We have enough in the back of the car, it took a lot of time to collect,” Jane replied. 

“That won’t be enough, it might be sufficient to enter the city, we would be needing fuel again,” I said, getting up. “For now, let’s sleep, we will think about it tomorrow.” 

“You better don’t run away in the night, or I will find you and make sure you are dead,” Ivan threatened me. 

“Where is Kevin?” Jane asked. 

“He’s sleeping silently in the car as if we are living in a normal world, that idiot won’t make it long if he continues to act stupid,” he replied.  

“Guys, all the food we collected has expired, except oats, milk powder and raw rice,” Kevin screamed, coming inside. 

And we are low on ammo too. This doesn’t look good.

***

Before the sun came up, we again started our journey. Kevin and Ivan were still sleeping in the back while Jane looked outside. 

“The world was so beautiful before,” Jane said in a low voice. 

“Thinking about the past won’t change anything,” I replied.   

“Why you don’t want to be around people, huh?”

“I have my reasons, miss.” 

***

By afternoon we entered Amber, the city was awkwardly silent, and the sound of the car filled the air. The roads were filled with blood, dead bodies and the wrecked vehicles blocked the roads. I drove around and found a gas station. 

“There’s no point in going to a supermarket, most of the foods are expired,” Kevin said. 

“We won’t be stopping anywhere after filling the gas,” I replied.

We again started the journey, this time I increased the speed of the car to leave the place as soon as possible, to our surprise out of nowhere a young boy around our age came out of a narrow street and stood before the car, I had to apply sudden breaks, the car jerked and Kevin hit his face against the front seat.

“Ouch!” he said, holding his head.  

“Who is that joker?” I said in a low voice. 

“Hey, are you ok?” Jane asked, putting her head outside the window. 

“Seriously Jane? Is that what you are asking?” Ivan said, frustrated.

“Hey, if you want to die, jump from that building or something, don’t stand before my car, bastard!” I shouted.

“Come on, don’t be rude to him,” Jane said, looking at me. 

He slowly walked up to us, his legs were wobbly and seemed to be terrified. “S-sorry, I was crossing the road, didn’t see the car,” he said, innocently. 

“No problem,” Jane replied with a smile. 

“You guys look hungry, want to come to my place? I have a hideout nearby,” the stranger suggested. 

“Did someone say food?!” Kevin shouted in excitement, again hitting his head against the roof.

“Kevin, if you die, you won’t die of hunger or ghouls but of your stupidity,” Ivan replied.

“We have to reach Golden Woods, I can’t waste my time, I have other things to do,” I rejected his offer.

“Nah, nah, nah, you can’t do that. I didn’t have anything to eat last night. My stomach is growling like hell. I can’t go another second without food,” Kevin said. 

I sighed while the three of them were waiting to hear my approval. “Fine, fine. We will have food and leave the next moment.” 

***

A NEW TROUBLE 

He took us to his hideout, which is in a huge building on the tenth floor. The lifts were obviously not working, and we had to use the stairs. It took us quite a while to reach the top. The kitchen was neatly arranged with all the supplies, and the fallen city was clearly visible from the altitude and ghouls who were roaming the streets aimlessly.

“I’m Zach and be relieved this place is safe from monsters,” he assured us while preparing something in the kitchen. 

After we ate our food, we went to the rooftop to get some fresh air, the wind was blowing wild, and the clouds were a little dark. As we were enjoying the cold breeze, we spotted a truck coming towards the building at high-speed, they got down along with their firearms. 

“Guys, they don’t look like good people,” Ivan said. 

“Come on, Ivan, don’t judge people by their looks,” Kevin scolded him. 

We came down, and Zach gave us an evil smirk, an indication of trouble. 

“You bastard,” Ivan shouted in anger while charging at him, Zach dodged the attack and kicked him in the stomach. He fell to the ground. 

“Ivan!” Jane and Kevin said in unison. They helped him to stand up.

“Let’s not do something stupid,” Zach warned, cracking his fingers. 

The next moment, a group of men entered in and surrounded us while pointing their guns at us.