The Covid-19

Chapter 3: Number 19

"At the end of the day, I'm just glad I'm still alive."

People say, that to every storm cloud there's a silver lining. Although, that could be hard to believe, especially when everyone you know and care about have been turned into Coronavirus zombies. The 5 of them remembered that day well, how they were at school when the zombie outbreak started, how they, along with their classmates were rushed out of the school building and into hiding in a panicked frenzy. They don't even know if most survived. 

It was as if their whole world was on fire that day, buildings that were once blooming with people and businesses now abandoned and bare. The atmosphere was thick and cold and lonely. For weeks it seemed that the only creatures brave enough to roam the streets were the stray neighbourhood cats. They disappeared after a week. Nobody had prepared for this either. Zombie apocalypses were the type of things that only happened in movies, like unicorns or fairies. Nobody expected it. 

~

The Covid-19 were a group of remarkable, diverse students with such different personalities would the wildest person imagine them to be friends. But they were. At one point, when the group was at 18 and looking for one final member, bets were made. Some thought that the Cheer captain would be their last addition to the group, while others thought otherwise, placing bets on students quite the opposite. But nobody whatsoever, would think that the 19th member of the Covid-19 would be him. He was average. But for whatever reason, nobody thought that they, the notorious Covid-19 would consider someone like that as a member.

But they did.

It started when he ran into Chanel. Not the best way to get yourself noticed, but it worked either way. "FU-" The boy yelled as he tripped, colliding with Chanel. "I-" She started before laughing. "Did-" She had to pause, seemingly to take a breath from her laughing. "Did you just trip on air?" The girl gasped, holding a hand out for him to take. He deadpanned as he watched her find entertainment in his misfortune. "Yeah yeah, sorry" He said, taking her hand and pulling himself up. 

"CHANEL!" Leah yelled, running over to her friend, followed by the others. "Where'd you go? You literally disappeared-" She said, not noticing the new face until she was done with her mini rant. "Oh- Hiya!" She smiled, giving a small wave. "Who's this?" Yatharth asked as he approached them. Chanel blinked a few times before replying. "Oh! Crap, sorry, what's your name?" She asked, turning to face the boy she had collided with only a few moments earlier. The boy paused. "Cael." He said. "Like the vegetable" He joked.

Silence.

"That," Leah started. "That is freaking amazing-" She said, turning to her friends. Zach, as per usual, was busy playing a game on his phone. He either did that or play cricket, oddly enough. James was there too, watching the male play his game over his shoulder. The shorter of the two would soon notice and remove his phone from the others' line of sight. "Didn't anyone ever tell you it was rude to do that?" He muttered, rolling his eyes. James grinned and shrugged. "Whatever." He said, glancing at the others. "What type of name is Cael?" he asked. "And how is it so aMazing?" He added, mocking Leah.

"You're really stupid sometimes," Zach muttered, glancing up at the boy before pushing his glasses up and returning to his game. "His name is Cael, like the vegetable, Kale." He sighed as he explained. "Oh." James said after a while. "...But what kind of parents would name their kid Cael?-"  

Nobody replied, obviously done with his stupidity. "Sorry about him, uh, he's dumb. Really dumb." Zach said, apologising on James' behalf, causing the other to speak up and protest. Leah chuckled before turning back to Cael. "Anyways, uh, see you around, yeah?" She said before walking away, talking to Chanel as she did. Yatharth waved to the boy before following the two girls, rolling his eyes at James and Zach. "Stop bickering guys, seriously" He sighed.

Cael waved goodbye as he watched the two girls walk away before turning to the Basketball court, grinning. If only he heard what started to be discussed as the group walked away.

"I think we just found our 19th member..." 

~

"Hey, how's the radio coming along?"

The girl looked up at him through the doorway. "Its still not working. But it will eventually, I'm sure of that." She replied. She then put the radio down on her desk, swiveling her chair to face Cael as she tied her hair up. "And did anyone teach you to knock before barging into someone's room like that? I could've been changing!" She exclaimed. 

Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to do that? 

Huh. Weird that he'd remember that.

"Say, Gillian.." 

She raised a brow, pushing her glasses up. "Hm?"

"Do you ever wonder about the others? The Covid-19, y'know?" She paused. "I mean," She glanced to the side, or more specifically, a photo frame. The picture it held was almost sacred to her, as it was to everyone else. It was the last photo The Covid-19 had taken before the world turned to hell. "Of course I do. They're our friends.."

It has been a really nice day, sunny too. They had been a full group of 19 for about a month at this point, and all of them had become close. Of course, within this large group, people had their preferences, choosing some over others. And, of course, you have the people who can't stand each others guts yet stay friends, for whatever reason. It was the last day of break before school started up again, and of course, everyone agreed to spend it together. It was funny, really - such a large group of teenagers, with such different personalities going around a shopping mall. The day ended, however, when Jennelyn, another member of the Covid-19, received a call from her parents telling her to be home in the next half hour. 

It was only mid-afternoon at the latest, but everyone understood. Jennelyn, the preppy, feminine one in the group - it was no surprise. She had been raised to be a fine, proper young lady. Hanging out with your friends for hours apparently, is not. 

After listening to her argue with her father for a few minutes, she grinned as she had been given an extra 30 minutes, meaning she had an hour exactly. The Covid-19 spent the rest of their day getting doughnuts and heading to a nearby park. That's where they took the photo.

"...I miss them.." She muttered as she tore her gaze from the photo. "We all do," A different voice said, from behind Cael as the door opened a bit more. "Ah, uhm, I'm really sorry for intruding but we're running low on supplies, we'll need to head out by tomorrow at the latest.." Jennelyn said, her soft black hair tied back in a braid, a white ribbon neatly placed at the top.

Cael sighed. "Go tell Kyle and Astrid, we can leave in an hour or so." He said leaving the room, heading to his own. It had been 3 months since he had seen other members of the '19, seeing as both groups' bunkers were closer together, it was inevitable that they were to meet while raiding at one point. It was nice.

 Of course, he had seen others going around villages and gathering supplies, people that weren't infected. But he hadn't tried to talk to them, he didn't see a point in doing so.

...Right?