A Light That Never Fades

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    No sign of any humankind lies outside their school fence from the tall view above. The city and world itself was burning just as much as the pharmacy from afar. The teens couldn't pull their eyes away from the inferno, the black thick smoke had spread rapidly into the atmosphere towards their school. Few of the teens broke into coughs as they took notice of the lingering toxicating smoke heading their way.

    Fabian coughs, he waves off the foggy smoke as he tries to contemplate his next idea. The brown haired boy spots a can of paint that sat beside the door of the roof, he sprints over there to take a closer look. The can of paint was labeled to be Black. That's when Fabian's mind began to formulate an idea, he wasn't ready to give up just yet.

    Without hesitating, Fabian grabs the paint can along with a brush. The group takes notice of this, puzzled and concerned looks washed over their faces as they curiously watch the boy's actions. Fabian opens the lid of the paint can and forcefully throws it behind his shoulder without any care. He works quickly, even with his hands now beginning to shake, he continues to write every letter down on the roof floor with his paintbrush. He bumps into a few of his friends as he moves along but does not seem to care as his main focus was wanting to deliver this pointless message.

    "Fabian stop", Samy calls out to him. She walks over and attempts to grab for his shoulder. Fabian shakes his shoulder off to let free of her grasp, he manages to paint the final letter and backs away slowly to observe his sloppy but well understandable message. Samy stands beside him to read the huge letters he had written on the roof.

    SURVIVORS

    "Why?", Samy turns to him.

    Fabian shrugs, he leaves the paint can on the floor beside him. "Why not?". Everyone looks at him worryingly like he has lost his mind, when really, Samy actually understood Fabian's desperation in still believing that another helicopter will arrive again. Even if their situation now seems hopeless, even if they might be left abandoned here for more days to come.

    "That can't be the last helicopter to ever be seen again. That was the only one that we've seen today, there can still be more out there looking for survivors as we know it", Fabian points to the fallen aircraft. He didn't want his friends to give up so easily, he strongly wanted to believe that the military was still out there somewhere. Human civilization couldn't be in ruins, he refused to believe that.

    Darius scoffs, "For all we know, the entire military force could be infected. Just like that guy who was flying it". As much as it pained Nettie to agree to this misogynistic piece of waste, she also believed it herself about the low chances of the military still being in control. She steps up to face Fabian in front of her.

    "We can't be too sure if another aircraft will ever arrive again. Writing this is pointless", Nettie accidentally steps on the wet paint beneath her white shoe, she clearly does not show any sign of care as she stood there still without moving her foot away.

    Fabian shakes his head, "You don't know that. It hasn't been long since the virus broke out. This has all been happening for only about four days. There's no reason for us to give up yet"

    "You're right, let's wait for at least a couple hundred days here. I'm sure the U.S. military just has a small cold they're dealing with. They'll get here in no time!", Nettie says sarcastically. Fabian eyes her angrily after hearing her snarky comment.

    Taylor sighs, "I don't see the point in staying here anymore after what I just witnessed. So what do you suppose we do Fabian?". Fabian stands there speechless, trying to think of a way of how to convince all of them to continue staying. Nettie turns to look at her, wondering exactly what their next step of action was. Maia peers over the roof, she stares off into the city and spots countless infected people wandering around the streets of Boston. She thinks to herself how dangerous it would be if they all chose to venture outside their school considering the depths of the situation.