A World Gone Under

Matt & May 1

I stand and turn away, seeing Alex standing where he was with his arms crossed. Him and Zach don't show it but I know they're shaken by the death too. I walk up and gently take his hand. He looks down at me and a small smile slides up his face, small, but there. It certainly wasn't my first time seeing death or anything, but it might've been for Ember and Alex and Zach, I'm not entirely aware. Sure, we've sliced and killed many of Z's, but they were already gone, they hadn't witnessed a fresh attack. Hadn't seen the light drain from someone's eyes, hadn't watched someone's skin turn blue. Eventually, all my emotions towards that type of thing seeped out. Maybe I'd regain it eventually, I could care less, it leads to less accidents and such. Surviving this long, you'd obviously have to lose some of your humanity, if not your mind. The weak weed themselves out, only the fittest survive, and I don't always mean athletically. I had met a few people on my long trip before Alex. They were brief encounters, and obviously I didn't stay with anyone until now, but I could bet you they were still holding up. I met my first survivor about two months in, when most were turned. I was starving quite frankly, and walking on the street in the sun wasn't helping much. I had stayed up the whole night in a sketchy house, worried for Z's to invade. I saw a decent house with a high chain-fence about a block away and figured it be good defense. I was honestly exhausted walking up to the yard, wondering if I should scale the fence or just jump it. A Z came wallowing up the street but since it was only one, I was too tired to get my sword. I grabbed the Z's head in a headlock style, and quickly twisted its neck, letting it slouch to the ground. It hit the grass and its hand flew up, touching the fence. Immediately a shock was sent through the Z's body as it convulsed on the ground. Instantly, I step away from the fence and realize I can hear it buzz, I was just too exhausted to notice before. I looked up to the sky and thanked whoever, if nothing at all, that sent that Z to wake me. When I looked back down, a motion in the window caught my eye. I saw a little eye peeping out at me, but as soon as I made eye contact, the curtain swung back down. I was too weak to scream, and it would've been dumb to do so anyways, but I needed them to hear me. "Hey! I saw you! You should let me in, I haven't ate in a while and I swear I'll do you no harm!" I stated. All of a sudden, I hear the buzzing go silent, meaning the fence was temporarily shut off. I poked it at first, just to check, it was warm, but off. Backing up, I jogged at the fence, grabbing it with both hands and launching myself over. I landed in my classic "cat style" (crouched down with one hand on the ground between my legs). I jog up to the door and knock, when it slowly opens. A boy stands there, he couldn't have been more than 13, maybe 14 with a girl standing behind him. "Hi, I know this is an awkward question, but are there adults here?" He shakes his head no and I see the girl squeeze his leg a little more. "Can I come in for a moment?" I say. He opens the door and steps back. I walk in and dust myself off, of what, I'm not sure, but I can feel his stare on me. "I know I might be the first person you've seen in a long while, but I won't hurt you or anything. Did you survive this long by yourself?" He looks at the girl and back to me, his voice coming out gruff but I can tell it's a little forced, "Yeah." So he wasn't much of a talker, or at least to strangers, but that's okay, he was smart. "Is that your sister?" I indicate towards the girl. "She's the neighbors girl, she came over here and once my parents left, she was my responsibility." So a caretaker too, compassionate, I was beginning to like this kid. "I hate to barge in and stuff, it's just I haven't seen an actual person in a while, do you have any spare food?" I question. He nods and the girl walks up to me, grabbing my hand, she leads me down some stares and into a small room. He walks behind me, still cautious, and I can understand why completely. The little girl sits me on a small wooden crate and pulls a can of fruit off a shelf. It's the type with a pull tab, so she pulls it off quickly and sticks a fork in it, handing it to me. I take it gingerly and thank her, so she goes off the color or something at the time. I begin to eat as the boy sits across from me, about halfway through, I can still feel his stare so I set down the can. I reach my hand out towards him, extending for a handshake, "Im Victoria, you can call me V or Vic if you want though." Surprisingly, he grabs my hand and shakes it firmly, "I'm Matt, that's May." Cute, I think to myself. "So, I assume this is a bunker and that you operate that fence out there, pretty smart." He smirks, "The bunker wasn't originally for this situation, obviously, but the fence is entirely me. I put it up when dad didn't come back, the electronic part took some time, but it was obviously worth it." I nod and pick the can back up, digging back in, I look over at May. It fits her, she couldn't be more than six or seven, still playing with some stuffed animals. Part of me feels sympathy for her going through this, but she has a good protector and she'll grow into this a natural. We talk all night about how we started, our purpose, etc, until it gets dark out. I stand up and dust myself off again, like a habit. "Well, thank you for the food and company, I'll get out of your hair now." May looks sad and Matt speaks, "Hey, um, you can stay here a while, we have plenty of room." Im touched and politely agree, I had missed human-interaction a lot. I thank them while they lay out an extra blanket for me to sleep on, they had put a lot of trust in me and I surely wasn't going to break it. We lay down together and I honestly feel like crashing right then and there, but I wait until they both drift asleep before passing out. I flash back to reality and realize we've all been walking again. I'm still holding Alex's hand so I assume he had been dragging me along, walking to wherever. I think we're just looking for a rest-stop at this point, maybe a gas station or something. I smile at my group, I'm glad I stayed with them. They're all I have at this point, and I'm completely okay with that.