Knowing Me, Knowing You

CHAPTER 7

—CHAPTER SEVEN—

                          “We need to go out tonight.” Akira swear, she heard Johan’s neck crack when he turned his head to her so fast.

It was midday and the sun's inconsiderate heat is killing the two of them. The electricity is still down, and they're sure it won't be back sooner.

“What do you mean us going out?” Johan still asked her as if not knowing their lack of necessities.

Akira silently eyed him, “We are running out of food. We can't just stay here and wait for help while doing nothing.” she said while playing with her phone that she's currently holding.

“If we don't move our asses then we will die here due to hunger instead of a zombie attack.” she says casually as if not stating the obvious.

“B–but…okay.” Johan scratches the back of his neck defeatedly.

They don't have any other option to choose from afterall. This is pure survival.

“I know you're feeling scared, but I am too.” she tried consoling the man while walking towards the window again.

Johan too, followed her and nodded when she asked for approval to remove the blinds. Next is the window, for the first time after staying days inside that building, they decided to finally open the wide window.

The air is chilly and the outside is so much brighter. They never realized they both missed having the sunlight touches their skin. The birds are chirping happily from the nearby tree branches.

“What is that smell?” she heard him suddenly whispered.

Curious, she started sniffing the air. At first, it smelled normal not until she immediately covered her entire nose and mouth.

“It smells like a rotten meat.” her words are muffled due her hands covering half of her face.

She can smell a mixture of something burnt and a distinct smell of blood and rotten flesh.

Johan immediately closed the window, “It could've worst outside. The stench is stronger outside. Be thankful we're on the second floor and the bad smell won't hunt us forever, just keep this window closed.” he added.

“We can't go outside tonight. It's dangerous for the both of us. What makes you think it's a great idea to sneak at night?” his question is directed to Akira.

“The government groups came to visit last night, we can ask some help to th–”

“We can't.” Johan cut her off.

“Of course we can, have you heard the bombing last night?”

“Yeah, we both heard the bombing, does it make sense to you now?” Johan responded.

Akira crossed her arms, “You’re implying something.” she hated the fact that no matter how stress and mad looking this man in front of can be, he will always look this gorgeous.

It took Akira's will to get herself together every single time she gets overwhelmed with the man's presence. It doesn't help that they always fight and the man's messy look is still hotter when he's actually performing on stage.

“Are you listening to me?”

“I’m sorry, what?” the tall blonde rolled his eyes before continue speaking.

“As I was saying but you're not listening. It's not safe for us to ask for help. We both heard it last night. The bombing, the continuous gun fire and the screamings. How sure are you that those people are from the government? What if they're bad people and only uses a police vehicle? They got bombs and other weapons, something that we don't have. The might kill us too.” Johan was breathless after his long statement.

Akira bow's her head and sat into a nearby chair. He's right. She's thinking impulsively. They are stuck in a very dangerous situation, one wrong move could lead them to death.

“We have to make a plan.” she uttered.

***

“Did you find anything?” Johan shouted from the other corner of the room, head still inside a wide cabinet.

“Some uh, flashlights! But we still need more of it and batteries!” Akira is busying herself opening some random boxes and searching for something they might be needing upon going outside.

The sun is setting from the horizon when they started searching for anything inside the room that might be helpful for them.

“How ‘bout this?” Akira's attention went to Johan and the archer that he's holding.

“Do you know how to use that?” she dusted her pants and decided to get a separate empty box to put the useful things that she found.

When she looks up, Johan shook his head. Akira smiled to herself.

“But, I can.”

It's funny to see the idol's comical reaction.

“You do?!”

She nodded, “Yup.” she responded with a pop. “I learned it since I was ten years old.”

Ten minutes passed and the two of them continued with their search just like that. The silence is no longer awkward for the both of them. That's how they interact with each other. They're still strangers afterall.

Well, not to Akira's perspective.

Johan cough. She didn't mind him.

Another cough, Akira thought it must be dusty inside that cabinet.

Another cough again, this time it sounded unnatural.

“You okay there?”

“I was wondering…”

She waited but the man didn't speak furthermore.

“About what? Oh, look there's a Katana here. It's quite heavy too. I know you can hold this as if it weights nothing, your family loves Katana, I remember your favourite one is made by your per–” Akira stopped her blabbering when she realized her words.

“I–I mean..” she closed her eyes, did she just exposed herself?

“Ah that one, it was made by our family's blacksmith. The carvings are written in Mandarin which is our names and birthdates. I left mine at our ancestral house.” the man continues to share about his family's love for katanas.

“I heard it a few nights ago that you're a fan?” Johan eyed the blushing Akira.

She nodded. “I actually went to your fansign event..” there's no room for denying now.

“Ah, that event.” the idol said thoughtfully, Akira failed to notice his darkening expression.

“I know I'm too late for this, but I want to apologized to you for acting rudely on our first meeting and for the past days of our stay here. I'm just worried for everything. I'm so sorry..”

As if on cue, Akira spoke. “Akira Davila.” she presented herself.

The man smiled, a genuine one. “Johansson Alejandro, you can call me Johan. But I often go with the nickname of Jonas. It's a top secret.” then he winks.

From that moment, she realized her doom.

—end of chapter seven—