𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XIX - 《of zombie lions and flying rocks》

oOo

Glenn had brought back some books for Diana on the first supply run some days back. One was a big atlas of human anatomy that she had yet to crack open and the other a paperback about nutrition.

Diana had her nose currently buried in the latter, reading rapturously like her life depended on it. She sighed dejectedly and let it fall to her lap, her finger marking the page. "Guys, I miss peanut butter," she announced to her family, as if saying it would satisfy her craving.

Irene looked up from the shirt she was sewing up, one eyebrow raised. "I told you to stop reading that book before meals, filha. You'll make yourself unnecessarily hungry. Read it once you're full."

"But I'm never really completely full, plus I'm learning so much." Diana raised a knowledgeable finger and read out loud, "You know that peanut butter has vitamin E and B6, magnesium, and potassium. It can decrease the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions." She looked up and licked her lips. "Yummm. Delicious and nutritious."

From her spot lying on the blanket by the fire pit, going through her polaroid pictures, Alice spoke up. "You ever stop to think if Beyoncé's still alive?" From peanut butter to Beyoncé. Diana sometimes wondered what Alice's thought process was like. Not that she was any better.

Irene laughed and inspected her work on the shirt. "You've got some strange priorities."

Diana gave a soft chuckle in response. "I hope so. I mean, imagine teaming up with Queen B," Diana said, head already in the clouds. Actually, the possibility of meeting a huge celebrity in these circumstances was pretty low, but she could dream.

Felix paused in his bat swinging and joined in. "There's a higher chance she's dead, though," he said nonchalantly. "Now my man, Abel, that's a brother I think coulda made it out this far." He smiled smugly and tapped the bat on his shoulder.

Diana closed her book, done for now, and solemnly joined her hands in her lap. "A moment of silence for Beyoncé, baddest bitch in the game," she said in all seriousness.

Alice sat up and joined her hands in prayer. "We hope you slaying in the afterlife," she said with eyes closed.

Felix snorted and mumbled an 'oh my fucking God' and then said, "What about zoo animals?"

Alice gasped, fully offended, and her hand flew to her chest. "You wanna compare Beyoncé to zoo animals?"

"Shut up," Felix laughed and came to sit next to Diana by the fire pit, dropping the bat at his feet. "No, like what happened to them? Are they out roaming free or you think they're gonna die in their habitats? You think animals can become zombies?" Those were good questions. Felix, the animal lover, there you go, folks.

"Who the hell knows," Sam said with heavy breath. He took one final swing of the axe and threw the chopped timber into the fire pit. Then he went around Alice and Diana to slowly creep up behind Felix. "One of these days a zombie lion's might crawl into your tent and eat you alive!" he yelled out and tickled Felix's sides, his weakest spot. Sam laughed out in victory when the boy yelped and flinched away from his hands.

He cleared his throat. "That didn't scare me," he said, trying to regain his composure.

Sam smirked and crossed his arms smugly. "A real lion would've."

Felix sighed in mocked anguish. "You know, times like these I wanna go to my room and play some Destiny 2 or a nice, relaxing round of Pokémon. Try to catch some shinies and shit, but, ya know, circumstances..." he clicked his tongue.

Irene folded the shirt in her lap and stood up to put it away. "All this happening and you still only think about your video games," she sighed.

Felix widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows in defense. "I'mma never play video games again. Lemme at least mourn them, woman!"