"Here, take my hand", Benedict said to Pauline as they ran on the abandoned road together.
"It's getting cold, we better find a shelter before night falls", said Pauline.
With the sun rapidly disappearing into the horizon, the air around them was freezing as the both of them searched frantically for a place to survive the night.
It had been just a month after the outbreak of the virus, but things were chaotic already. The dimly lit street would've had an aesthetic appeal to it if it wasn't for the blood and dead bodies that lay around.
"There", Pauline pointed towards a deserted house.
Benedict decided that the mansion would have been a beautiful sight, had the infected humans not attacked it.
The gate of the villa was off its hinges and half broken, and the garden looked mismanaged. The walls of the old building had cracks and..
Are those bullet holes?
Ben could not remember the last time he was this afraid. A look at Pauline confirmed his suspicions, yes they were bullet holes.
This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.
"Where did they get guns from?" Pauline's voice trembled as she pushed the gates apart. The news was worrying indeed as it meant the attacks had successfully breached the military bunkers and were not restricted to random government buildings and small towns anymore.
"Be alert Pauline", Benedict said, opening the door on having crossed the small stretch of land from the gate, and Pauline armed herself with a switchblade. They entered the house, "No power", Ben uttered as he flicked and tried a few switches.
"Let me see if I can get the power back on" said Ben, turning his flashlight on. The living room was huge and had wooden flooring. A couch lay facing a TV with a shattered screen and the two windows were braced with planks, and an arched wall led to the kitchen .
A beautiful sight indeed.
They scanned the living room and found the fuse box right beside the door that led to the staircase. Ben quickly unscrewed the blown fuse and replaced it with the spare he had. They then went back and turned the lights on.
"We better clear the floor above, then we could rest", said Pauline. Benedict nodded and they walked towards the stairs. Armed with a switchblade and a screwdriver, they went upstairs slowly. The creaking sound of the wood scared Benedict for a moment and Pauline chuckled. There were two doors on the either side of the narrow hallway.
"We'll take the rooms together. One at a time." Benedict suggested. They proceeded to the door on the left and opened it to find an empty washroom. "All good". Then they crept towards the other door and Benedict signaled Pauline to kick the door open on the count of three.
Pauline slammed the door open and they rushed in to find the bedroom empty. With a sigh of relief, Benedict hugged Pauline, not letting her go, unlike the many times in the past few weeks.
"We are going to be okay love, it's okay" Pauline couldn't help but mutter. They are useless words with no meaning, she knew it, he knew it too, but she couldn't stop herself from hoping they'd be true. The stress of the days gone past built up on Ben and he tightened his hold on her, swooping down to steal a kiss.
"Don't drop your guard Ben", Pauline smiled, "All the windows are braced with planks, we don't know if someone is coming back or not."
"You're right. We'll take turns to guard." said Benedict. He went downstairs and tied a thread around the neck of the glass jar which was kept on the table and then tied the other end to the knob of the front door. He put on the lock and went back upstairs.
"I got the front door secured" he informed her.
"Cool, I'll take the first shift, you go rest. Alright?"
"Goodnight love", Benedict said with a smile before Pauline kissed his cheek.
"Goodnight".
2 hours passed away and Pauline thought about the better days. It had been 3 months since she last saw her family, and that worried her. She thought about the day when Benedict had asked her out. The day when she had gone to the beach with her friends, and she missed all of it. The outbreak had spread rapidly and left chaos all around. She had left the city with Ben just in time or else they would've gotten infected as well.
Too much for a day, she thought to herself as her head started pounding against her skull and she wandered downstairs to quench her thirst when she heard a weird scratching noise.
"Fuck!" she nearly screamed, hurrying to the bedroom and shaking Benedict wildly.
"Wake up! I think someone is picking the lock!", she barely got out of her mouth when they heard the glass shatter.
~~~~~~~~~~~
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