our last night alive

Act 3

Yuji

The refuge is far bigger than I expected, far too big to accommodate just 17 people, but we'll hopefully manage to create a relevant community like the old man said.

"That light-blue building you see there at your right was in origin a town hall, at the moment we're using it as a research centre. I'm currently working there with two other people; Marguerite, she's a doctor and is trying to discover more about the zombie-gene, and Anastasya, she's a Chemist. I was a firefighter." I listened carefully to what he was saying. "Then, we're using that building near the town hall as a hospital, just three people are working there currently but that's not a problem considering we are not a big group and some of us choose not to exit from here. You'll find Rosylin, another doctor,  Mia, a nurse, and Lisa, another nurse there. Those two men you see over there are Billie and Christopher; Billie is a builder while Christopher's an architect, they are working extraordinarily to build new buildings or restructure old constructions. We all try to help each other, so we often lend a hand to them as well."I observed everyone, surprised by the amount of organisation they had. I felt really glad I found George. "What's more, we have two vegetable gardens; two women and a man are taking care of it and although the quantity of food it can offer us is not enough to satiate everyone, it still constitutes the major source of food we have though. Since it's not enough for everyone, we generally part in two small groups and cautiously exit the refuge to go search some somewhere else, such as the city, there's plenty of food there and it's not far. You are not here to do nothing, just know that. Since you are here, you both gotta help the community arise and be useful."I nodded. The boy, Megumi, seemed pretty annoyed but I'm quite sure he agreed as well. "Last but not least, you can sleep wherever you want. There are tents but we are working on a project that could provide more places to sleep. For now you can sleep wherever you feel safer, also in the hospital. Oh, and, we usually have dinner together around that bonfire you see over there."He said pointing at a fireplace not too far from our position. "I hope you young boys will feel at home. I consider this community a safe place for whoever, unfortunately, doesn't have a family anymore."I nodded, a little moved by his words. "You can go, if you need something you can ask me or any person inside here, we'll be glad to help you."I smiled. I already felt comfortable, they were so welcoming that the weight of the apocalypse seemed to get lighter for a while. Megumi thanked him too and I observed him going directly to the hospital. I just assumed he went there to rest, I needed that too. I preferred sleeping however in the tents George told us about. I didn't realise how much I needed it until I had the chance to lay down. I fell asleep straight away and slept for probably five hours, that was when George woke me up for dinner. Megumi accompanied him too. We are probably the youngests here. Winter is slowly coming, owing to that, it was already dark as hell outside, chilly as well.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you."George turned around as we followed him from behind. "We have some clothes as well, we took them from the city, there are both new and second hand ones. If you need them just ask me. To take a shower you can go to the hospital, there are plenty there."We arrived at the fireplace, where everyone was already sitting down surrounding it. All of them seemed so happy to see other people. I'm not gonna lie, I almost teared up at that sight. I couldn't have imagined that so many people could be alive and feel cheerful and curious  at the sight of other humans. Feeling happy seems like a privilege. We sat down and after taking our food from a big pot, we started eating.

"So, Megumi, Yuji."George began saying. "Mind if I ask you to tell us something more about yourselves? I'm sure everyone here is impatient to know you."He said, smiling warmly. I smiled back.

"Is it okay if I start first?"Megumi asked me. I didn't expect that but obviously agreed kindly. I just feel happier if he manages to fit in with them, he looks far too reserved and he surely is a loner in comparison with me. "What would you like to know?"He asked furtherly, biting one of his spareribs.