Four days had passed.
The food was disappearing faster than I liked. At best, we had enough for two more days.
Most of the food had gone bad after my refrigerator had decided on a sudden, unceremonious retirement.
Come to think of it, that wouldn't be called as a retirement. It was more like its lifeline had been cut off and it had slipped into a terminal coma.
Now, we were down to eating only dry foods, biscuits, bread, fruits.
I know, my hospitality is garbage. But hey, don't blame me.
If the weather forecast had warned, "Sunny with a high chance of biological apocalypse." I would've spent my entire salary on canned food.
As it stands, my bank account was now as useful as an umbrella under water.
I sighed. And this heat! Felt more like slowly being cooked.
"Aryan?" Aurora's soft voice broke the silence.
- "Mm? Another bad dream?"
"Yes," she whispered. "Can you... can you hold my hand?"
- "Yeah."
I stretched my hand toward where I thought she was. Instead of her hand....my fingers touched something warm. Soft. Definitely not her hand.
- "Aryan!!"
"Sorry," I pulled my arm back fast. "My night vision is currently out of service."
- "That was a pathetic excuse, Mr. Saint."
- "It's true."
- "You know... phones have flashlights."
- "I....I'm saving the battery for important moments."
- "Uh-huh....By the way, my hand isn't up there."
- "I was....Wh....why aren't you wearing proper clothes lady?"
- "I AM wearing one of your Tank Tops. Why are you topless Mr. GENTLEMAN?"
- "I....I can't help it. It's hot without fan or ac."
- "As a human, I feel that too."
A second of silence passed.
"Now," she said. "Try again."
This time I moved more carefully. After a few seconds, our hands finally found each other. She wrapped her fingers around mine softly.
"....Sorry for that." I said quietly.
She replied, "It's fine, I know you're hand doesn't have any eyes."
- "Thank you for acknowledging that fact."
I had to sleep in the same bed with her every night.
No, we didn't do anything suspicious.
She just too much terrified of dark. And when she wake up from a nightmare, this dark room became her real nightmare.
She just needed a human presence near her to make her feel safe. And I took the role. I was given actually.
The room stayed quiet for several minutes.
Then she spoke again. "Aryan?"
- "Yeah."
- "Do you....Do you think dad and mom are safe there?"
- "Yeah. The odds are in their favor."
"Please, Aryan. Look at what happened here." Her voice broke, a sharp, wet sound in the quiet. "Don't just comfort me. "Tell me what you really think truth is."
"I am telling you the truth, Aurora." I replied calmly. "Think about the biology. These things aren't like movie zombies. It takes thirty seconds to turn. That means the no one can blend into crowd after getting a bite. And can't 'sneak' across a border in a passenger jet. These things don't walk on two feet; they crawl on four limbs. An army isn't going to mistake a Crawler for a civilian. From the first day, every border is filled with army, soldiers. They won't allow any crawler to enter into their territories. So, yes. There is a big chance that our parents are safe."
She calmed down, her grip on my hand relaxing slightly. But then she hit me with the question I'd been avoiding in my own head.
"Aryan. What about us?" She asked. "What will happen to us? Will goverment send the army to rescue us?"
"Aurora, I don't want to lie." I sighed. "The chances are....low. Maybe ten percent. They already evacuated the high-priority targets, politicians, scientists, the elites. Anyone else who made it to a Green Zone was just lucky. This place? It's a dead zone. No power, no internet, no communication. They don't even know who's still alive. We're now being counted with the crawlers. The country has lost its economy, its resources, its manpower. There is a high chance that, they won't waste soldiers or fuel on 'low-priority' civilians whose deaths won't affect the system."
I stopped myself there.
I didn't tell her my real fear.
The government wouldn't just ignore us, they'd "sanitize" us. There was a good chance that government would soon gift this country of crawlers with some intense missiles, or maybe some toxic gases. That'll wipe the Crawlers and us off the map.
I sighed.
Aurora was already traumatized after hearing what I said. I couldn't scar her further.
I felt her squeeze my hand hard.
- "Aryan?"
- "Yeah?"
- "You have to stay with me. Don't ever leave me alone. I....I...."
She started to cry.
My chest felt strangely heavy.
"I won't, Aurora," I whispered. "I promise."
She sniffled. "You'll regret saying that."
- "Why?"
- "You'll get tired of me."
- "I doubt it."
- "What if I keep bothering you?"
- "You don't?"
"....Aryan!"
I smiled in the darkness. "But I don't mind."
She let out a tiny laugh between her tears.
After a moment, I decided the mood had become far too depressing.
- "Aurora."
- "Hm?"
- "I can't leave you anyway. I can't cook, remember? I'd starve in twenty minutes without you."
- "What! That's not true. You cook better than I do."
I leaned in closer. "Aurora?"
- "Mm?"
- "Go make me a sandwich."
Even in the pitch black, her fist found my stomach with 98.5% accuracy.
- "Oof!... that hurts."
The next morning....
I sat on the edge of the bed, mapping out our next move
- "Aryan!"
I turned at the door.
Aurora walked into the room.
My heart skipped a beat. No matter how many days we spent in this tomb, I couldn't get used to her beauty. It was a glitch in my logical world.
She was wearing one of my oversized T-shirts. It reached almost to her knees, making her look somehow both adorable and exhausted at the same time. Her auburn hair was messy after waking up, and despite everything we'd been through.
She was beautiful.
She stopped directly in front of me, so close that I could feel her warmth. Her chest was level with my nose. I forced my eyes upward, fighting the primal urge to look anywhere else. Her sweet scent was hypnotizing my mind. My heart was pounding like a trapped bird against my ribs.
She bent forward slightly, her auburn hair falling around her face like a curtain. "Do I smell?.....Aryan?"
- "Huh?"
- "Do I smell? Be honest."
- "Yes," I blurted out.
- "Agh! You're supposed to say no!"
- "No, I mean... no, you don't smell bad. You just smell....sweet."
- "You know, you smell too," She folded her arms.
- "Yeah?"
- "Yes. Like a bull. Or a bear."
- "Thanks for the clarification."
She sat beside me, on the edge of the bed. The playfulness vanished as quickly as it had come.
"We have to be strict, Aurora." I said, "We can't afford to waste water, Aurora."
"I know," she whispered, her voice tight with frustration. "But I need a bath. I feel dirty."
- "I know."
- "It's been six days."
- "I know."
- "My hair feels sticky."
- "I know."
- "My skin feels awful."
- "I know."
She looked at me with watery eyes. "I hate this."
- "I know, Aurora. I hate this situation too."
She groaned, falling back onto the bed.
She stayed there for a moment, then reached up, grabbed my t-shirt collar, and pulled me down to lie beside her.
She turned onto her side, resting her head on one hand as she looked at me. "Aryan, what will you do first? When this is over and everything is normal again?"
I smiled.
She asked this every day.
It was like, for a few minutes, she liked pretending this nightmare had an ending.
"I'll write a book," I said, staring at the ceiling. "Everything that's happening here. I think people will love it."
"So Mr. Blackwood wants to be a writer. I hope your readers can tolerate your terrible humor." She giggled. "I'll make sure to leave a one-star rating."
- "You're making my heart cry."
She laughed again.
The apartment suddenly felt a little brighter.
"What about you? What will you do?" I asked.
She looked toward the ceiling. "I'll take the longest bath in human history."
I nodded. "Reasonable."
- "Then I'll get a manicure. Then a pedicure. Then a full-body massage."
She raised a finger after each one. "And after that....I'm going shopping. A lot. Enough to make my credit card cry."
I smiled. "Poor credit card."
"It'll survive. And after that..." Her eyes sparkled. "I want to travel. I want to see the world, Aryan. Every inch of it. I want to see mountains, forests, the ocean. Every beautiful place in the world."
She looked back at me.
"I wasted so much time thinking I'd always have another chance. I'm not wasting it anymore."
I quietly watched her.
This tiny apartment had become her entire world. No wonder she dreamed about seeing the real one again.
"That's a wonderful plan, Miss Sterling." I smiled. "I'll be waiting to hear all about your journey."
She smiled warmly. "You'll be the first person to know." she promised.
The silence returned with the reality.
"We're low on food, Aryan," she said quietly.
- "I know. After breakfast, I'm going out to raid some stores. I'm sure the owners won't mind the lack of a receipt."
- "No."
- "I have to."
- "I'm coming with you."
- "No, you're not. Stay here, Aurora. I'll be back."
She sat up immediately, her gaze demanding. "Aryan, I want to help you. I need to help. I'm going with you."
- "Think for a second, Aurora. Every corner outside is a graveyard. You're safe here."
- "That's exactly why I'm going! You need someone to watch your back!"
"I'll be fine," I insisted, my voice rising. "If you're out there, I won't be able to focus. I'll be too busy making sure you're breathing. I've been out there. I know what it's like."
"So I'm just a burden to you?" She looked hurt.
I sat up, my heart aching. "Hey, hey. I never thought of you as a burden. It's about efficiency. If I'm alone, I'm quick. I have years of parkour experience. Those lizards can't catch me if they can't reach me."
- "What if you slip and fall?"
- "I won't Aurora. I'll be careful."
- "Why can't you let me help?"
- "Because you're someone I have to protect....I need to protect. I can't afford to put you in danger."
She looked away.
I said. "Aurora, you'll be safe here. And knowing that you're safe, I can...."
- "What if they break this door while you're away and I'm trapped?"
- "That's unlikely, Aurora. And they won't break the door. They aren't that...."
THUD!
The apartment door shook. Aurora jumped. We both froze.
Another heavy impact echoed through the apartment.
THUD!
The wooden frame groaned.
Aurora grabbed my arm.
"Aryan...." Her voice trembled. "What....was that?"
I knew that sound. I knew the weight behind it. Only one thing was heavy enough to shake the entire apartment like that.
Another impact slammed against the door.
THUD!!
"Someone who wants his free protein powder." I whispered.