Operation PHOENIX

Two to Three

Kiara just sat beside me and kept on sobbing for an hour. I wanted her to stop crying but I could not exactly tell her that. So I just stayed with her and tried to make sense of it all. Well, to be honest, I was still trying to come to terms with the situation. Everything was so strange, and at the same time it was very familiar. I had seen these kind of things in numerous games and books. I had always fantasized about all this. But now when it was happening for real, I just wished it to be a simulation or a nightmare.

Kiara finally stopped crying........Thank God!!!
As soon as the crying stopped, we both realized we were starving!! It had been 12 hours since the demise of our parents and we hadn't eaten anything since.

"Do you have anything to eat??", I asked her. "Nope, I was cooking when it happened; so everything got burnt." The only thing I loved more than games and novels was food. So I could never survive a whole day without feeding the rats in my tummy. I decided to go out to the supermarket near her place and get something to eat. But I couldn't leave her alone. So we decided to go together. She brought a bag from her room for stocking some food. I went to get a knife from the kitchen. I saw her mom there. She did not seem like she felt any pain while dying. There was a smile on her face. It reminded me of all the times she used to call me "Son". Tears filled my eyes instantly. All the memories of my family that I had locked away in my heart since this morning just flooded back. I could now see my mother's body lying on Kiara's kitchen floor. It felt like deja-vu. I recollected myself from the pain and searched for the knives. I found 3 knives in the 2nd shelf. They were large meat cutting knives. "These will work" I thought.

I gave one knife to her. "Why do we need this?" she asked confused. "Remember what my dad did? There might be others like him. We have to be prepared" I replied.

We stepped out of her house and she locked the doors. When we reached the streets, Kiara was surprisingly calm. How could someone not react to such a sight? I stopped myself from asking her about it. We reached the front gate of the supermarket.

We entered inside and I checked to see if the area was safe. It looked clear. We searched for durable foods like biscuits and crackers. We stuffed the whole bag with it. It was a giant green bag, the kind which is used in trekking and stuff. This much food would last the both of us for about 15 days.

We got out of the supermarket and started to go towards her place. Kiara said, "What was that?". "What?", I asked. I looked around, there was nothing weird. Well, apart from the wreckage of cars and the numerous dead bodies lying around. Then I heard it. Someone was screaming for help. The voice wasn't quite clear, so I couldn't locate its source. But it was coming closer. I told Kiara to just find some cover and hide. I did the same. We both hid behind a crashed Mercedes and waited for the voice to show itself.

After a few moments, a girl in a jeans and a tank top came into view. She was running as if someone was following her. From her eyes, it was evident that she was terrified. I waited to find out who was following her. A tall man with hollow eyes was running behind her, like a rabid dog running behind a car. I got out of my cover and went near the tall man. He had hollow eyes just like my father. I raised my hand and sliced on his neck with the knife. Blood spewed out of his throat like a fountain. But he did not react to that. He seemed focus on one thing and one thing only.......to kill. There was no rage or anger in him, but still he was trying to kill me. He tried to grab my neck, but I managed to dodge his attack and shifted to my right. I knew how to kill a zombie, The Walking Dead had taught me that. But I wasn't sure if he was a zombie. I mean zombies were supposed to be slow, at least that was the theory. But I still decided to go ahead with the zombie theory. I didn't have many options to be very selective. I raised my right hand and just attacked his forehead. But I lacked the strength to cut through his skull. I kept on attacking, twice, thrice. In the fourth attempt, I succeeded. He no longer moved. I had killed my first zombie. Or was it something else?

I turned around and Kiara and the girl were both looking at me dumbfounded. Kiara's mouth was hanging open. She was shocked; she had never seen me violent, except in the videogames. Even I was shocked with myself, but I was just trying to save the girl's life. Speaking about the girl, I turned towards her. She seemed slightly older than me. She was a 7 on the beauty scale, but her eyes caught my attention. Those blue, almond shaped eyes had a spark in them. I could just dive in them and swim to the bottom to find the treasure beneath. I came back to my senses and started walking towards them. I went to the girl and introduced myself, "Alex, and that's Kiara." After a moment or two, she replied, "Serena, and thank you for saving my life".