Nocturne

1: fugue

A deafening cloak fell on the room. This cloak known as tragedy—its smothering opacity blocked out not only our voices, but also our thoughts and our emotions. The wails of various police and ambulance sirens outside passed by unnoticed. Guns continued blazing unheard. Various news sources showed notifications on the screen of my sleek metal laptop.

I decided to break the silence. "I'm leaving in 20 minutes."

"Dumbass, you seriously killed him?!" Cynthia berated.

"What was I supposed to do?"

"We could've waited for the EMTs or something!"

"Did you see him? He was trying to kill me!"

"You're the one that wanted to kill him first!"

"He was a fucking zombie, of course killing him would be natural!"

Aoi butt in. "Shut up! Everyone shut up! It was self defense. Would you rather have Ray or Lucas dead?"

"Lucas, obviously! That piece of shit doesn't contribute anything to society, just sitting in front of his fucking computer browsing Quora all day!"

"It's StackOverflow, are you blind?"

"Same difference!"

I was grateful to Aoi injecting herself into our rather unproductive conversation once again. "20 minutes. You don't have to follow him. If you hate him that much, he's leaving in 20 minutes. That's not too bad, right?" She whispered to me at a volume only I could hear. "I'll talk with Cynthia."

"I appreciate it."

My brain had been overclocked by adrenaline. I rapidly thought of each thing I would need in order to survive; Maslow's hierarchy of needs quickly comes to mind. Air, sustenance, warmth, rest, health for my physiological needs... then I'd also need to take care of safety and security. Assuming the worst case scenario, I'll need a way to derive these essentials from my surroundings.

Stuff like social belonging, self esteem, and self actualization can come later once I've actually figured out how to survive. Besides, I think my roommates have enough sense to not tackle this alone. I'll have people that are close enough to me who can call me a friend without hesitating for more than 5 seconds.

Quick and light footsteps echoed through the bamboo floorboards from behind me. I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. If I was in a laughing mood then, I would've made a remark about how she wasn't a monster.

It was only now that I started to appreciate Aoi's strangely calming presence. The soft gray in her left eye was contrasted by the harsh black in her right. She wore a pleasant smile, as always, but it didn't quite reach her worried gaze.

"I'm coming with you. I'll pack the food and water and medical supplies, I guess."

"I'll pack my own, thank you very much."

"I'm a doctor... I think I'd know more about that stuff than you do."

"Suit yourself. Should I pack other shit for you in return?"

"No, I'll also pack my personal belongings. Besides, I don't really trust your knowledge on things like female hygiene," she said as she tried to lighten the mood.

Her fit figure floated across the short hallway to her room across from mine. Her silky black hair disappeared around her white pine door as I turned to face my room.

If she takes care of packing for sustenance, I'll only have to worry about the other physiological needs. A gas mask helmet for air, a canvas and wool trench coat for warmth, a down sleeping bag for rest, and a tent for shelter. I dug out some hoodies and sweatpants and other necessary mundanities to pack into my rather utilitarian gray backpack. After packing in a few common sense survival items like a multitool, torchlight, etcetera, as well as my laptop and phone, I donned my black trench coat with my jet black pistol holstered.