Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Pat wanting to go out there with him caused more of a ruckus than he’d expected. His father refused wholeheartedly and everyone who was at the meeting told him that under no circumstances was he allowed to go on a trip outside. Obviously, Pat disagreed, so it ended up becoming a screaming match between Pat and his dad. Until Pran intervened.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t understand,” he said suddenly and everyone turned to look at him. “Why can’t he go? Is it because you’re afraid that he won’t be able to survive out there or because you won’t be able to function in here without him?” He asked genuinely and left everyone dumbfounded, but he didn’t wait until they replied and just continued talking. “I survived out there. Which is honestly not as big a success as you might think it is… I’m not athletic and, frankly, I’m a little clumsy. If I can survive out there, anyone can. Everything I’ve learned is just practice. He’ll be going out there with me, he’ll be fine.”

“You want him to go with you?” Ming asked, sounding sceptical.

“Of course,” Pran answered nonchalantly. “He’s the only one out of all of you that has been eager to learn anything that I can teach you about the world out there. And I could use the extra set of hands. You’re clearly not good at navigating the outside world, so let him learn with me and you can focus on how everything works around here. Stop worrying about the world out there when you can’t even handle what’s in here. Hasn’t he managed everything so far? You need to switch from time to time.”

“You have no right to tell us—!”

“You can do whatever you want. Pat is coming with me,” he interrupted him and crossed his arms over his chest. He saw from the corner of his eye Pat’s smile.

“You can’t just go by yourselves. You can go with—”

“More than two people is a hassle. Remember, I travel alone. Even when I was with my parents, there were times when it was difficult to survive. What’s it to you either way? You want me out of here.”

“You’ve competed with my son for your entire life. How can I be sure that this isn’t some sort of plan to finally get rid of him?”

“Dad, what the—?” Pat started, but Pran interrupted him.

“The only reason we competed was because of you. My mother is dead, so you really think I care about the bullshit rivalry? Move on.”

“Okay, Dad, this is ridiculous. I’m going with him, we’ll be back with food, just like you wanted. And it’s not the first time I've gone out there, so stop acting like this is a big deal. Ink will help you in here, just in case there’s anything I took care of. But it should be fine for a few days.”

“How long are you planning on staying out there?”

“Shouldn’t be more than three days,” Pran replied and shrugged.

“You’re expecting to find food to feed everyone for a month in three days?” Ming asked him, sounding sceptical.

“If you guys aren’t picky eaters. It should be fine, I saw a lot of edible things on my way here.”

“Do whatever you want,” he finally let out and Pran nodded.

Before they could change their minds, he walked out of the house with Pat so they could go get their stuff ready.

“Should we leave tomorrow morning?” Pat asked him and Pran gave him a confused look.

“You wanna wait?”

“I don’t know, isn’t it better to go out first thing in the morning?”

“It’s the same I think. We can leave whenever you want. I would… Honestly, I would leave as soon as we’re ready. I have a feeling everyone will try to convince you to stay here…” He mumbled and grabbed his backpack when they got to the hideout.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Pat replied and snorted. “Thanks, by the way. For helping me out.”

“But you’ve been out there before, haven’t you? Why did they react like that when you said you wanted to come with me?”

“Uh, I haven’t been out in a while. It was in the beginning, I took some trips in my car to help my friends find their families, but I’ve never gone out for food. They think that’s more dangerous.”

“It isn’t. Trying to find someone out there is infinitely more dangerous than just going to find food.”

“Is it true that more than two people is a hassle?”

“It is, hiding is a big part of surviving out there. Two people is perfect, three it gets difficult. I can’t tell you the amount of times that my dad had to sacrifice himself just so my mom and I could hide. Thankfully, he was a good runner, he distracted the monsters while we hid.” Pat hummed and grabbed a backpack so he could fill it up with his stuff.

“I’m gonna go take a shower before we leave.”

“Okay, I’ll pack your bag if you want me to. I know what you’ll need,” Pat hummed and grabbed a pair of towels before he left the room.

While Pran was grabbing Pat’s stuff, Paa and Ink ran into the room, looking a little shaken.

“What’s this about you leaving with Pat?!” Paa exclaimed and Pran shook his head slowly.

“We’re just going out for food. I’ll show him how to get food out there,” Pran replied like it wasn’t a big deal.

“It’s dangerous!”

“I lived, right? He’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

“Pran, we had so many people die out there. I understand you’re used to it, but we’re not.”  

“And that’s why he’s going with me.”

“But he’s—!” Pran sighed and raised his head to give them a look.

“An adult. You two need to stop worrying about him. He’s going out there with me, he’ll be fine. I promise,” Pran told them and grabbed his backpack. “And he’s a grown man, he can probably defend himself better than I can.”

“Why are you so calm?” Paa asked him.

“Because I don’t see the world out there as this very dangerous thing that you can’t survive from. Like, yeah, it’s not safe, but that doesn’t mean you can’t even last a week out there. It’ll be fine.”

“Do you have weapons?” Ink asked him, sounding concerned.

“Pat has a gun. But I don’t think we’ll use it, it makes too much noise. I have some stuff,” he mumbled. He usually didn’t tell other people what weapons he had on him, and he wouldn’t do it with Paa and Ink, it would only make them worry.

“Okay, I’m gonna… I’ll go get you some stuff,” Ink said and almost dragged Paa away just so she wouldn’t try to convince him to stay.

Pran sighed and looked down at Pat’s backpack. It was only three days, so they wouldn’t need a lot of stuff. Two nights. Once he closed both backpacks, Wai walked in, and Pran looked at him with a smile.

“Here to try to convince me not to go outside with Pat?” Pran asked him and sat on one of the chairs at the table.

“Actually, I brought you water for the trip. Korn is cooking something, I think,” he told him and left a few water bottles on the table, Pran thanked him. “You sure you’ll be okay out there?” 

“I’ve survived six months by myself.”

“But you’ll be with Pat now.”

“I think it will be easier, honestly. He’s not the type of person who would hold me back,” Pran replied and shrugged with a smile.

“God, I used to hate him so much,” Wai said and started chuckling. 

“That bad?”

“It was awful. The only reason I’m here is because we were fighting when it happened.” He explained, Pran remembered them mentioning something like that, but he couldn’t imagine the situation.

“How was it? When it happened…”

“Pran, it was… It was chaos. We were locked at the uni. It was me and two other guys from architecture. Safe and Louis,” he started to explain and Pran frowned, he hadn’t seen them around. “After being locked in there for so long, we heard Pat tell his friends of a plan he had, about going to get his car from the parking lot and getting back there to take them to his house. Safe and Louis lived close to the uni, they only had to wait until they could let us out to go back home. But I—” He stopped and took a deep breath. “I didn’t have anyone. Just my mom, remember? And she lived so far away, there was nothing for me to stay there.”

“Why didn’t you go with Safe and Louis with their families?”

“Their families lived in the city centre, it was a suicide mission and I didn’t want to risk myself like that for something I didn’t know how it would turn out…” He mumbled. Pran could tell the memories were haunting him. “Pat left, and we… We kind of made fun of them. We told them that there was no way he was coming back with that car. Because he was either going to die at the hands of one of those monsters or he was going to leave them behind. But…”

“He came back,” Pran guessed. He knew Pat like the back of his hand.

“Of course he did,” Wai confirmed and rolled his eyes, a small smile on his lips. “And… Korn, Chang and Mo jumped into the car. But before they drove away… Pat lowered the window and told me to go with them. He’d heard Louis and Safe making plans that I couldn’t follow, he knew I had nowhere to go. But— I didn’t want to leave my friends behind, you know?” He explained slowly. “Safe and Louis almost pushed me to the car. They told me to go with him, they knew that I would be safer with Pat because he was going outside of the city.”

“So you left with him?”

“I did,” Wai sighed, and Pran saw him fighting against the tears in his eyes. “I haven’t seen Louis and Safe since… But they were right, I haven’t been safer than when I’m with Pat and his friends. Even if they hated me and we fought so much. They didn’t want to leave me behind. He even—” He cut himself off when he got choked up. “He even drove me to my hometown a month after the fence was finished so I could go check on my mom. After his mom had just died. He packed his car and told me to go with him and Korn so we could find my mom.”

“Did you?”

“No… Well, kind of—” He sighed and looked down, avoiding his gaze. “When we got to my hometown, everything was destroyed. We found one of my neighbours, he’d barricaded himself into his house, so he was the only one left alive in the whole village. And he told us… He told us that he’d seen my mom get attacked by one of the monsters. She was dead.”

“Wai, I’m so sorry,” Pran whispered and grabbed his hand to squeeze it.

“It’s okay. It was so long ago already. I’ve learnt to cope. But I wouldn’t have been able to do that if it weren’t for Pat. If he didn’t take me to find her, while he was still grieving his own mother. I wouldn’t have been able to get any closure. But he did, and I was able to sleep again knowing that at least she didn’t have to live through this hell.”

Pran furrowed his brows and leaned closer to hug him tightly, trying to comfort him.

“So I get it,” Wai whispered against his shoulder, and Pran had to lean back so he could look at him. “I get why you love him.”

“What?” Pran asked breathlessly. “I don’t—”

“Don’t lie. I see the way you look at him,” Wai told him with a smile on his face. “And he’s worth it, Pran. So— Take full advantage of those three days.”

“Shut up,” Pran said and pushed his shoulder as he rolled his eyes. He kind of missed being teased by him about boys. It was something he hadn’t been able to experience ever since the apocalypse started. But he was happy to have his best friend back.

“Do you think you’ll need something else for the trip?” Pran was about to tell him no, but then thought of something.

“Actually… Pat told me you guys have beer?” He asked hesitantly, and Wai threw his head back and let out a loud laugh.

“Yeah, I’ll go get you some if you want it,” he said as he got up.

“Thank you!”

Pran sighed and leaned back on the chair. First time alone since he was there. He wasn’t used to that, he’d been alone for so long that it was a little overwhelming to be surrounded by people all the time. He couldn’t wait to get back out there. He’d been in communities before, and he hated them; at least this one wasn’t underground, so he still saw the sun. After a year living on the surface, trying to survive, he wasn’t used to being around people so often, or being inside.

He looked up when he heard the door open, waiting to see who was going to say goodbye to him or try to persuade him to stay. But it was just Pat. He felt relieved to see him. He was already dressed while he dried his hair with a towel. 

“Do you have everything?” He asked, and Pran nodded, pointing at their two backpacks. Pran’s was comically fuller. 

“Ink and Paa came here to try to persuade me to let you stay,” he commented, and they both chuckled. “Why is everyone so scared?”

“Pran, we’ve lost a lot of people. Going out there isn’t exactly cause for celebration. And you—” Pat stopped himself before he finished the sentence. Pran gave him a confused look and gestured for him to continue. 

“I— What?” Pat took a deep breath before he answered.

“Your parents died out there, I don’t know why you’re so eager to go out again.”

“They might’ve died out there, but that’s also where I lived with them. Survived. It doesn’t bring bad memories because I have a lot of good ones to back them up. Living in the forest reminds me of my time with them, so it’s not sad or triggering,” Pran replied easily and shrugged. “And you’ll love it too, don’t worry.” Pat chuckled and nodded.

“It’s weird hearing someone talk about the outside world like that…”

“You’ll be talking like me once we’re back, don’t worry,” Pran said and got up to throw his backpack at him. “By the way, didn’t you want to show me something at your house?”

“How about when we get back?” Pat told him, a smile on his face. “A promise that we’ll be back soon.”

“Okay,” Pran mumbled, feeling a little dazed by Pat’s smile.

“I’ll go put these in the car,” Pat said and grabbed his backpack.

“Mh? No, we’re not taking the car,” Pran told him as if it was obvious. “Too much noise and we can’t go deep into the forest with it. It’s better to walk.”

“How will we carry everything back? It’s supposed to be a lot of food.”

“We’ll figure it out, don’t worry.”

“Who are you and what have you done with ‘I-have-a-plan-Z-for-everything’ Pran?”

“I still do, we just have to adapt, so plan Z might become plan A at some point,” Pran replied and shrugged, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. “Wai said Korn was gonna give us some food, I’m gonna go look for it. You should make sure you have everything.”

Pat nodded, and Pran walked out to go to the building where they had the main kitchen. Pat had shown it to him the day before when he was showing him around. Everyone was staring at him while he walked down the street, he knew they didn’t like the fact that he was taking Pat out there. But he didn’t regret it, they relied on him a little too much, and Pat definitely needed to get out from time to time. He walked inside the house, it had the door open and the biggest kitchen around. He smiled when he saw Wai and Korn talking while Korn cooked. 

“Hey,” he greeted them and they both turned. “Not interrupting, am I?”

“When he’s talking about food? You can always interrupt,” Wai said and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Here, this will last you through the trip.” Korn grabbed a bag with their food and gave it to Pran, who stuffed it in his backpack.

“And this,” Wai pulled out two bottles with a brownish liquid. Pran chuckled and grabbed one.

“You sure this is safe?” 

“Honestly, it’s better than the watered-down version we got at the bar,” Korn assured him. “You’re really… Revolutionising this place, huh? Everyone’s a little anxious about Pat leaving.”

“Why? Afraid this place will fall apart without him?”

“Honestly, it might. So make sure he comes back, alright?”

“Don’t worry, I will,” Pran assured him and closed his backpack.

Seeing Pat again at the main doors in the fence was like a breath of fresh air. There were so many people gathered there to say goodbye, Pran could really tell people cared about him. Ink and Paa were hugging him, and even Ming had shown up.

“You ready?” Pat asked as soon as he saw him, and a few people turned to look at him. Suddenly, he felt put on the spot.

“Yeah,” he said as he fixed his backpack on one shoulder. “Let’s go.”

Paa was the only one who hugged him tightly before they left; everyone else just kept throwing glances between him and Ming. They could clearly tell he didn’t like him. But Pran didn’t care, he just wanted out of there.

They opened the fence for them, and they walked out. Pran checked his watch as soon as he heard the fence close. 

“Uh, I think we can walk a few miles before lunch. We should—” Pran stopped when he felt Pat grab his wrist.

“What the—? You still have this?” Pat asked, baffled when he saw Pran’s old watch. Pran chuckled and nodded.

“Yeah, I like to be able to tell the time,” he replied easily and started walking.

“How does it still work?”

“Old things work, Pat. I just have to wind it,” he said and pointed at the watch with a smile. “You don’t tell time?”

“The sun,” Pat replied and pointed at the sky, keeping up with him and walking right next to him. 

“Speaking of the sun, I didn’t find a hat in your room. Sunscreen, nothing?” Pran asked him and fixed the baseball cap he was wearing.

“Only you would care about something like that right now.”

“Come on, Pat, you may think the world ended, but skin cancer is still very much real.”

“I think that’s one of the last things any of us could die from…”

“What about sunburn?”

“Nope. I mean, I can tell the time with it,” he said and shrugged. Pran chuckled.

“Not that accurately, though, right?”

“Unless you make a sundial… It’s not that hard.”

“You can make one?”

“Yeah, I can teach you if you want.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice, just to know if this thing is still accurate.”

“Here,” Pat said and leaned down to grab a stick.

Pran looked at him while Pat explained how to read the time just by using the shadows, and Pran checked it with his watch, which was still pretty accurate. He missed hearing Pat talk about things he cared about or made him passionate, and he was still a smart guy. Still ticked all of his boxes, probably more now.

Pran shook his head before Pat realised the way he was looking at him and told him to keep going. If Wai had noticed his feelings, it wouldn’t be hard for Pat to realise them too.

“I have to pick something up,” he told him and walked into the woods. Pat followed him, looking a little confused. 

“Did you leave something out here?”

“Yeah.” He leaned down and moved some leaves around before he grabbed his trusty weapon. He heard Pat gasp as soon as he pulled it up.

“You’re joking, a bow and arrow? Pran…”

“Guns are noisy. And we both went to archery when we were kids, remember?”

“That was years ago.”

“Well, I picked it back up, seemed like a good time, right?”

“You gonna teach me?”

“Yeah, if you wanna…” He said and placed the bow around his shoulders. It was a professional one that he found when they stumbled upon a gym that also taught archery lessons. “I stashed it in here when I saw the fence. I don’t take my weapons inside other communities; most of them don’t like it. I’ve had it taken away from me more times than I can count,” he explained and strapped the arrows to his backpack after counting them, he turned to look at Pat and saw him giving him a weird look.

“What?”

“Nothing you just… You look—” Pat stopped himself, and Pran immediately brought a hand up to fix his cap.

“I don’t have dirt on my face, do I?” Pat chuckled and shook his head slowly.

“No, sorry. You just look so different.” Pran stared at him dumbfounded, he couldn’t understand if he said it in a good way or a bad way, but Pat smiled and continued. “You can’t blame me. You used to be so prim and proper, now you navigate yourself in the forest better than I ever could.”

“Well, I live here,” Pran replied easily and tried to imagine the change that Pat saw, from his clean white school uniform to his worn-out and dirty clothes, soft and always clean hair, to the dry mess he had that he always covered with a baseball cap. And then his trusty backpack was full to the brim with everything he owned. “Roles reversed now, huh? Pretty boy,” he teased him, and Pat let out a loud laugh. “I still probably bathe more than you do, though,” he pointed out and started walking again. Pat let out a loud laugh and followed close behind him.

“No way, I have an actual shower.”

“Do you know how many rivers and waterfalls there are out here? What I missed was the hot water, not the shower.”

“Same way you don’t miss the bed? Don’t think I didn’t notice you didn’t sleep on a bed the first chance you got as soon as you saw that we had beds.”

“Like I said,” Pran said and turned to look at him before he looked back ahead. “I live here, I’m used to it,” he explained nonchalantly. “I used to complain about it, in the beginning. But after a few rough nights, you end up being glad that you can sleep at all instead of just complaining about not having a bed.”

“Your parents gave you shit about you complaining?” Pat asked as he followed behind him. 

“Yeah, my dad, mostly. Don’t touch that, it’s poisonous,” he said suddenly, and Pat shot back his hand so he wouldn’t touch the plant that he was about to place his hand on. “My mom was the one who had the hardest time adapting. She hated it. But… She wanted to be strong so I could adapt better.”

“Yeah… I can’t imagine your mom out here, she was definitely… A lady.” Pran snorted and shook his head.

“It was kinda funny, actually. She complained even more than I did.”

He stayed quiet after that and Pat didn’t press for more. They walked together in silence for a while until Pran stopped and looked down at a plant. 

“Can we eat that?” 

“Yeah,” he replied and took a bag out of his backpack to start grabbing some berries. “Do you know how much food we should get?”

“Depends on how many options we have…”

“There are a lot of fruits out here. So, we have…” Pran thought about it for a moment and then reached into his backpack to pull out his notebook. Pat leaned in and looked at the pages over his shoulder.

“Wow,” he mumbled when he saw the content of the pages. Pran smiled and showed him. He still liked to draw, and he’d gotten pretty good at it. 

“There’s not much to do out here. Drawing keeps me… Level-headed,” he explained and gave him the notebook.

Pat looked through the pages, all the annotations and drawings that Pran had. Every monster he’d seen with ways to kill them or how to use them if they were harmless. Every poisonous plant or edible fruit he found.

“This is… This is really good, Pran. I haven’t seen half of this stuff.”

“Out here, we really only have four options on what to eat. Fruits, berries, fish, and very few of those monsters. It’s hard to find the ones you can eat, so I don’t think we’re gonna bring one back. Oh, and honey, obviously…” He said and chuckled. 

“Sounds good. If we could fill up a couple of bags of each, I think we should be good.”

“Okay, we can grab these berries and leave the bag here. Once we fill up another one, we bring it here. That way we’ll have them all in the same place by the end of it and we won’t have to walk too much, this is like a couple of miles from the town.”

Pat nodded and got to work too. They started a competition to see who could grab more in less time. It was fun, they hadn’t competed about something in so long. Pran had done that so many times, by himself. But having Pat next to him, making him laugh and throwing berries at him was like a breath of fresh air. He’d been by himself for so long, he’d forgotten how easy it was to laugh. 

They left the bag of berries there and continued their journey. They talked about mindless stuff while they walked and made each other laugh as they pushed each other or remembered funny anecdotes about their rivalry days. Pran stopped when he saw a plant.

“Okay, look, this,” Pran said and squeezed the centre of the plant until a liquid came out. “Natural shampoo.”

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not, we can fill up a couple of jars with it.”

“I know your dad studied environmental science, but this…” Pat mumbled as he reached into his backpack to grab the jars.

“Oh no, this was my mom. There was no way she wasn’t going to wash her hair. Apocalypse be damned,” Pran explained and they both started laughing.

“Yeah, Paa keeps complaining about it. But we can’t find any more bottles at the stores they check.”

“Half of that stuff is expired. I stopped checking them months ago after I got food poisoning…” They both stopped and whipped their heads up when they heard a noise.

He saw from the corner of his eye how Pat reached for his gun, but he stopped him.

“Sshh…” he indicated with a finger to his lips. He slowly reached back and grabbed his bow and an arrow. He saw in the distance a centipede climbing up a tree. A nasty one. “Come here,” he whispered and grabbed Pat’s arm so that he could stand in front of him. “Do you see it?” He whispered close to his face as he pointed at the tree in the distance.

“Yeah…” Pat mumbled. 

“All centipedes are dangerous. This one isn’t too big, here,” he continued to whisper and gave him the bow. Pat grabbed it and raised it, trying to point at it. It stopped moving, so Pran didn’t think it was too difficult. “Aim for the head…” He said and helped him point it. He suddenly became aware of how close he’d gotten to Pat, they were almost cheek-to-cheek as he was helping him fix his pose. He kept it together and Pat let go of the string, shooting out the arrow and missing.

“Shit,” Pat cursed and lowered the bow, seeing as the centipede scurried away.

“It’s okay,” Pran told him as he chuckled and took back the bow. He grabbed another arrow and shot it before he lost sight of the insect. He heard Pat gasp beside him when he got it in his head. 

They walked over so Pran could get his arrows back.

“Did you let me shoot that arrow only to prove that you were better than me?” Pat asked him and he laughed.

“I thought you asked me to teach you. And besides, you were better at rugby but… I was always better at archery, right?”

“Right, the only two years that our parents tried to get us to do that…”

“Before they realised they were essentially teaching us how to shoot each other down, and then the rivalry would be a little too real, right?”

“I would’ve never shot you.”

“I think your dad wouldn’t mind if you did that now, right?”

“He’s just… Let’s not talk about that.”

“You know, when we go back…” Pran started to say as he cleaned out his arrows. “He won’t want me there. No matter how much food we bring.”

“I thought I said not to talk about this.”

“Fine, have it your way,” he snapped and opened his backpack. “Here, lunch, courtesy of Korn,” Pran told him and took out the couple of sandwiches that he’d seen in the bag Korn gave him. Pat grabbed it in the air when he threw one at him.

They both ate in silence and went back a few steps to get the jars they were filling up when they saw the centipede. 

“I saw a few trees with edible fruits a mile out, we can go and get them. Then go back and leave them and the jars with the berries before continuing,” Pran told him, and Pat nodded slowly as he followed him.

This time, they walked in silence, probably thinking the same. Pran knew he was never going to get on Ming’s good side, and he didn’t care. But Pat definitely did. His relationship with his father had always been complicated and while Pran was growing closer with his parents, Pat only grew apart from his dad. He couldn’t blame him, he’d seen the community and what Pat was doing. When everything went down Pran was at least allowed to be scared, to hide behind his parents when he needed to. Pat couldn’t, not even with his friends, because according to Wai, everyone looked to him every time a decision needed to be made.

Pran was able to survive alone, but he couldn’t have ever been able to pull off what Pat did. To be a leader. Even if his dad would deny it. 

Pretending to be important by only caring about the outside world because it seems more dangerous was definitely not what a leader would do. He knew people like Ming; he’d seen it in other communities. There was always that one guy who thought he ran the place only because he took down monsters every few months when they went out to get food. Anyone could do that, but running a community? Not many could.

“These ones are pretty tasty,” Pran said suddenly and plucked a fruit from a tree once they got to where he’d led them. “There are a few trees on that side. You check there, and I get these ones?”

“Yeah, just yell if you see anything,” Pat said and walked away.

He took out his bag and started filling it with every fruit he could find. He’d always found picking fruit pretty therapeutic. He just had to find the ripe ones and they always smelled really well. Fruit wouldn’t fill his stomach, but it was a good snack to skip a few meals before he could find something better. And they kept him hydrated. 

He frowned when he heard something up in the trees. Pran looked up and froze; all of the fruits he’d been picking fell to the floor. His breathing quickened and a cold sweat ran down the back of his neck. He stared up as a giant spider started sliding down from her web. It had long legs and it was yellow and black, probably bigger than a car. He couldn’t move, he tried to reach for his bow but noticed that his hand wasn’t moving or listening to him. He was trembling and there was no way he could even shoot a straight arrow, even if he managed to grab the bow. He couldn’t even scream for Pat to come; nothing came out of his mouth.

He flinched and closed his eyes when he heard a gunshot. A loud thud let him know that the spider had dropped right in front of him before he opened his eyes.

“Pran!” He heard Pat yell behind him and quick footsteps. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the monster in front of him, and he let out a gasp of terror, even though he knew it was dead. Pat enveloped him in his arms and made him look away. “I got you,” he whispered, and made sure Pran didn’t have to see the spider again, which is when he noticed that he was crying. “It’s okay, I got you.”

He tried to slow down his breathing, but he was pretty sure he was having a panic attack and the only thing keeping him grounded was Pat’s arms tight around him. He could feel Pat’s lips against his forehead as he whispered something to keep him calm.

“Don’t look,” he told him and made him look away when Pran took a step back. He leaned down and grabbed the bag of fruits Pran had been picking. “Let’s just go…” 

Pran nodded slowly and followed him, turning their back to the corpse and walking away. 

“I’m sorry, I— I barely ever freeze up, it’s just…”

“A spider, I get it. I don’t think I’ve been able to kill a scorpion ever since…” Pat said and let out a sigh, he had his arm around his shoulders as he tried to comfort him.

“I’ll kill the scorpions for you if you handle the spiders,” Pran mumbled with a weak smile. Pat chuckled and nodded as he rubbed his arm. 

After walking back to leave their supplies with everything else, they started to walk in a different direction, but when they didn’t find anything else to eat and the sun was starting to go down, Pran decided it was a good time to have dinner. They started a fire, which Pat was apparently better at than Pran, and they heated the food Korn had given them. 

“I can’t believe you guys have been living with this kind of food the whole time,” Pran commented when he started eating. Pat let out a chuckle. 

“We’ve had bad months… Sometimes we didn’t have enough to feed everyone. Korn always finds a way to make it work.”

“It’s good to have someone like that.”

“Yeah, from the few skills that I was able to learn, cooking wasn’t one of them. Can’t afford to burn anything, so they never let me touch the food,” Pat explained, and Pran let out a laugh.

“Yeah, my dad was the same, my mom never let him touch any of the food.”

Pat looked at him as he ate. The forest was almost pitch black during the night, so the fire was the only light source around them. 

“You talk about them quite often,” he mumbled and Pran turned to look at him. “I can’t even mention anything related to my mom and it happened over a year ago…”

“It’s different, isn’t it? You were surrounded by people who reminded you of her. Giving you condolences while you were trying to grieve,” Pran started to say and looked down. “And they probably didn’t let you, right? Wai told me what you did for him just after your mom died.”

“Had to.”

“No, you didn’t. You wanted to,” Pran corrected him. “I spent six months by myself after my parents died. I didn’t talk, had no one to…”

“I thought you found some survivors after it happened.”

“Yeah, a guy and a girl. I was… In a dark place, it had barely been a week since they died. But I only stayed with them for a week or so. We didn’t talk a lot, and I didn’t tell them about my parents. They just helped me get back on my feet,” he explained and moved around the wood so the fire wouldn’t die. “But I didn’t talk about it. I kept everything to myself until I saw you guys. So I had time to heal… By myself.”

“I get it,” Pat mumbled as he looked down. “Everyone reminds me of her all the damn time… Not talking about her helps a little. But you were like… A breath of fresh air.”

“Paa said that too…”

“You know, when I saw you out there… I thought I’d finally gone crazy. That I was seeing a ghost. ‘Cause there’s no fucking way Pran Parakul is just standing right outside our fence,” Pat told him and Pran chuckled, lowering his head and remembering the moment he saw Pat. “After four years. And an apocalypse in the middle. How—? I just can’t believe it.”

“I also… It was a shock seeing you too. Good one, though. I couldn’t— I couldn’t believe it either.”

“You should’ve had a better welcome. This was your home. I can’t… I can’t believe my dad sometimes.”

“It’s okay, as soon as I saw the fence, I knew it was going to be difficult. Seeing you was the last thing I had on my mind, but it was enough, Pat. Your dad treating me like that isn’t news.” Pat shook his head slowly.

“Still doesn’t make it okay. I’ve taken a lot of shit from my dad the past year…” Pat started to say slowly. “And I’ve kept my head down so far, done my part, because I know it’s been hard for everyone. But— I know that if we go back and he still treats you like that… That’s where I would draw the line.”

“And then what?”

“I don’t know, take over?” Pat said and shrugged. “He can’t keep people fed, he can’t run the place, the only thing he’s good at is the fence. I just… I don’t know, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, don’t worry.”

“Don’t do anything harsh for my sake, Pat. It isn’t worth it, and it’s not your fight.”

“Anything involving my dad is my fight,” Pat replied with a serious expression, but suddenly opened his eyes widely when he seemed to remember something. “What time is it?” He asked as he reached into his backpack.

“Uh, ten fifteen, why?”

“I brought you something, here,” he told him as he pulled out a radio. Pran raised his eyebrows, impressed.

“Does that thing work?”

“I’m pretty handy with tech. I got it fixed, and it’s battery powered.”

“And you still have batteries?”

“Yeah, solar-powered ones,” he explained nonchalantly and turned it on. Pran gasped loudly when he started hearing music after Pat fidgeted with the dial for a while.

“What? How does that—”

“There’s this girl from a different community, every day at ten, she plays music on the radio for half an hour, sometimes an hour. I heard she got shit for wasting energy, but… I think it’s a good way to use it. We listen to it every day back home.”

“I haven’t heard music in… So long,” Pran replied and leaned back against his hands, closing his eyes. 

“I remember how much you liked it, so I thought I should bring it…” Pat mumbled next to him. Pran smiled and nodded slowly. 

They listened to the radio for the next fifteen minutes in silence. Some of the songs Pran knew, others he didn’t, but it was so relaxing. When the music died down, he opened his eyes and noticed that the fire was dying down. He got up and put it out with his foot.

“Let’s go, we can’t stay here for much longer.”

“Is it safe to travel through the night?”

“Safer than staying where we ate.”

Pat gave him a flashlight, and they started walking. Even if it was dark, Pran was still able to adapt his eyes to the darkness, Pat would be able to do that too soon. But the flashlight helped. He smiled widely when he noticed something.

“We can stop here to sleep.”

“I thought you said either warm food or sleep. We’re not far away from where we ate.”

“Do you trust me?” Pran asked and looked over his shoulder at him, Pat stared at him for a moment before answering.

“Of course.”

“Okay, then, follow me. We’re gonna get some sleep,” he told him and started climbing. 

He offered Pat his hand to help him up. Once they got to the top of a rock, Pran sat down on the floor, the top was covered in moss, so it was comfortable. 

“No tarp?”

“We don’t need it this time. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Pat mumbled and sat down next to him. They put their backpacks down as pillows and lay down. 

Pran closed his eyes and placed the palms of his hands under his head. They stayed in silence for a little while until they were startled by a noise that Pran knew all too well. He grabbed Pat’s hand before he could reach for his gun and squeezed it.

“Just wait,” he whispered and opened his eyes to look up.

The sky was covered by the high trees, so they couldn’t see the moon or the stars. But he heard Pat let out a gasp next to him when a light turned on, and then another one, until everything was covered in slow-moving lights.

“Fireflies,” Pran explained, and he realised he was still holding Pat’s hand. “Well, giant fireflies. They’re harmless, don’t worry.”

“Pran…” Pat mumbled breathlessly. He turned to look at him and saw his face in awe as he watched the lights above them. For a second, he was transported back to when he would sneakily glance at Pat during class, hoping that nobody else would notice. But now he was lying down, less than a foot away from him, and he couldn’t keep his eyes away from his face. “It’s beautiful,” Pat whispered, and Pran smiled.

“Yeah,” he replied slowly and quickly looked back at the fireflies. “Sometimes it isn’t bad out here…”

“‘It isn’t bad’?” Pat repeated and chuckled. “You talk about it like you love it here,” Pat pointed out and turned to look at him.

“I do. You haven’t seen what I have. Thailand has always been beautiful, but now… With no people, new animals, and new plants. This is just… This is nothing.”

He felt Pat thread their fingers together and squeeze his hand.

“Yeah, but it takes a lot in someone to see the good out there.”

“Out here,” Pran corrected and didn’t turn to look at him, even though he knew Pat was looking back. 

“I missed you,” Pat said suddenly and Pran couldn’t help it when he moved his head to look at him. His breath hitched and he couldn’t come up with anything to say. “Even before all of this happened… I kept telling myself that it was better because all the stress about the competition was just gone. But… I was so lonely,” he whispered close to him. “I thought about you a lot. I wondered if you were okay, if you missed me too.”

“Of course I missed you,” Pran let out, and it was the easiest thing he’d ever had to say. 

“Why? We weren’t even friends,” Pat said and didn’t move his eyes away from him. “I always wondered why I missed you so much. But it wasn’t hard to realise that even if we’d been raised to hate each other, we were still the same, right?” Pran squeezed his hand because he didn’t know what to say. “And then everything went to shit and… One day, I realised that you might be dead. That I wasn’t going to see you again, not because you got transferred, but because you had died.” Pat moved his right hand and placed it on the side of his face, Pran’s heart skipped a beat. “I lost so many people and somehow I ended up crying more for the one that I hadn’t even seen die.”

“I missed you too,” Pran replied easily and inched closer. “I always miss you. When I saw you again… It was like seeing a mirage, I’d been dreaming about seeing you again for so long that I thought I was too dehydrated, seeing stuff.”

“Well, we’re finally together again.”

Pat slid his hand to the back of his neck and brought him closer to join their lips together. Pran kissed him back and brought up his left hand to place it around Pat’s waist. His stomach was doing somersaults and his heart was going so fast he was sure Pat could probably feel it. He leaned back for a second so that he could look into his eyes, not believing that Pat was the one who kissed him first, not in his wildest dreams. 

Pat caressed his cheek, and this time it was Pran the one that leaned closer to kiss him, bringing their bodies together. He opened his mouth into the kiss and slipped his tongue inside. They were grasping at each other, getting desperate before they got tired and ended up kissing lazily.

“We should sleep,” Pran whispered against his lips and closed his eyes. Pat left a kiss on his forehead and nodded slowly.

“Come here,” he said as he grabbed his shoulders and brought him closer. Pran rested his head against his chest, and suddenly all he could hear was Pat’s heartbeat. He knew he was alive, but having his warm body against him and his heartbeat loud against his ear, it almost made him tear up, because he didn’t want to lose anybody again. He’d promised himself that he wasn’t going to get his feelings involved with anyone, not after what happened to his parents. But this was Pat.

“I’ve always loved you, you know?” He whispered and held him tighter. “Even before… It was so clear to me. You’re— you’ve always been on my mind.” He felt Pat kiss him on the top of his head before he answered.

“I think I realised only after I thought you’d died…” He mumbled against his hair, caressing his arm slowly. “I don’t know what’s worse. Pining for years or realising you wanted something only after it’s gone.”

Pran chuckled and hugged him tightly, closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep. Pat’s heartbeat lulled him into sleep.

He woke up to the sound of the tree’s leaves moving around them. His head was going up and down as Pat breathed, and the sun was too high to be early. He never slept so much, but sleeping against Pat helped him.

“Pran?” Pat asked him when he noticed he’d woken up.

“Mh?” He hummed and wrapped his arm tighter around his waist.

“Is the forest moving?”

“No, we are,” Pran replied calmly and finally opened his eyes. “I think he woke up.”

“Who?” Pat asked, completely confused.

“The snail we slept on.”

“What?!” Pat sat up quickly and gasped loudly when he saw that they were indeed on top of a snail, and it was moving slowly through the forest. He let out a loud laugh, it was so big they’d been sleeping on its shell without noticing. “You knew?!” He exclaimed and turned to look at him. Pran smiled and nodded.

“They don’t even feel it. It’s good if you find a big one. Most monsters leave them alone, you know, gentle giants…” 

“Wait, but we moved through the night, how will we know where we are?”

“They’re slow, don’t worry. We just have to keep the sun on our left and we’ll make it back no problem. But these guys… They seek water, always. So we just have to wait for a little while until we find a creek, or a river if we’re lucky, we can fish there.”

“God, Pran…” Pat mumbled and turned to look at him with a smile. “I would’ve never even thought about this.”

“You want breakfast in the meantime?” Pran asked and opened his backpack. Pat reached into the bag of food, but Pran stopped him before he grabbed the couple of protein bars they had. “No, leave those.”

“But he gave us plenty of food for three days.”

“Never eat all of your food, okay? Always leave something just in case, no matter how hungry you are.”

Pat nodded and grabbed whatever Pran gave him to eat. They sat on top of the snail until Pran saw something and made them jump off its shell. 

“Come here, look!” Pran told him and Pat had to run to keep up with him.

“Pran, wait, there’s—!” He exclaimed when he heard the buzzing.

“Bees!” Pran finished for him, but he was smiling. “I told you they’re harmless. Well, as harmless as a normal bee. Don’t piss them off and you won’t get stung. If we follow them, we’ll find their beehive.”

“I don’t know how safe this is…”

“Okay, just follow me,” Pran said and grabbed his hand, threading their fingers together. They walked together until they found the beehive and Pran let go of his hand only to get the jars and fill them with honey. “Here, try this,” he mumbled and grabbed a piece of honeycomb to give to him. Pat gave him a confused look. “It’s chewy, I’m serious, it’s good, try it.”

Pat chuckled and brought it to his mouth. Pran was right, it was good, he hadn’t eaten something sweet in so long. Even the dessert that Korn had made the other day, he wasn’t able to try it. So he opened his eyes widely when he felt the sweet taste on his tongue. 

“Holy shit, this is good,” he said, still chewing. 

“You can spit out the wax if you don’t like it, but it’s edible, you’ll just have to chew a lot.”

“Can we take some of it?”

“Yeah, how many jars do we have left? It’s a little messy getting it in them.”

“That’s fine, we can wash up when we find a river,” Pat said and flinched away when he felt a bee brush past him. Pran laughed at him. “Hey, you spend a whole year killing these things, it’s hard to get used to this.”

Pran chuckled and shook his head. They filled up a few jars with honey and honeycomb and placed them all in a bag. Pat slung it over his shoulder and they started walking again. He only stopped when they saw a creek.

“We can—” Pran stopped him immediately, placing a hand against his lips so he wouldn’t talk. 

“Sshh… Be quiet,” he told him and made him get away from the water. “You see how still it is?” He asked, and Pat nodded slowly. “There’s something inside it. Not good. We’ll find another body of water, don’t worry. Let’s just follow the snail trail.”

Pran grabbed his hand and they continued to walk, following the trail that the snail had left behind until they found a waterfall. Pran smiled and tugged him along, which was enough to let Pat know that it was safe. Pat immediately took his shirt off and dived in. Pran looked away until he remembered that he had nothing to hide because Pat liked him back. 

He extended a hand and beckoned Pran to get in too. He pulled on his arm and Pran gasped when he realised how cold the water was, but Pat tugged him and made him get in. Which only started a water fight between them as they tried to drown each other playfully. After getting clean, Pran went to get his bow and arrows so they could catch some fish.

“That’s how you get them? With arrows?”

“It’s good target practice. How do you think I got so good? I was hungry,” Pran explained and shot an arrow straight through a fish. He walked over to grab it. “You can also make a fishing net, but that takes longer. This is faster.”

Pran started shooting a few fish, and when he ran out of arrows, he went to get them and placed them in a bag.

“All right, your turn, come here,” he said and motioned for Pat to get closer. 

He gave him the bow and tried to teach him again.

“Don’t be afraid to miss, the arrows will wash up on the shore so we won’t lose any,” he explained and fixed his posture. “Point where you think the fish is going to be, not where it is.”

“Okay,” Pat whispered and closed one of his eyes to point better.

It took him all of five arrows to finally catch something. He yelled in excitement and jumped up, almost running to get the arrow. Pran clapped for him and they ended up filling two bags with fish. They took it back to where they’d put all their other supplies and went back to find more stuff after eating lunch.

Pran showed him which trees and plants were poisonous and which were edible. He taught him how to climb a tree to get the best fruit.

“You need a knife to cut down those—” Pran started to say, but Pat had already ripped one out. He raised his eyebrows, impressed. “Shit… I could’ve used your muscles a long time ago,” he mumbled and noticed the way Pat’s biceps flexed when he ripped one of those fruits out. 

Pat chuckled and threw the fruit down with the others they found. They were pretty high up in the tree, but Pat was a quick learner; he even got more fruit than Pran did.

“I’m surprised you didn’t get any. Life in the forest… It’s tiring, isn’t it?”

“I don’t do much heavy-lifting,” Pran told him and cut down another fruit with his knife. “I run, I hide, but that’s pretty much all the exercise I do. You look… Like you do a lot more than that.”

Pat smiled and raised his arms, doing a show of flexing his muscles, which made Pran chuckle and shake his head.

“Ah, you’re still a cocky asshole.”

“But you still like me.”

“Don’t make me change my mind…”

“After all these years? Impossible,” Pat teased him, and Pran let out a loud laugh. “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot,” Pran asked him nonchalantly and cut down another fruit.

“Where were you gonna go after getting your parents’ picture? Did you have a plan?”

“Yeah, head to the coast, grab a boat, find an island,” he replied calmly and shrugged. “We’re in Thailand, plenty of them to go around.”

“That seems like a solid plan…”

“Thanks. It was my dad’s idea. But every time we got close to doing it, something always got in the way. I was about to reach the beach when I thought about the picture, and I… I couldn’t go without at least trying to get it.”

“Well, I’m glad you did.”

“Yeah, me too,” Pran said and looked over at him with a smile. “Let’s get down, I think we've got enough.”

They climbed down the tree and started putting away all the fruits that they’d thrown down from the tree. As they were tying up the bags, Pran heard a noise and snapped his head up.

“Pat, we gotta go,” he whispered and before they could even get out of there, a giant gecko broke through the woods.

They both started running away until Pat drew out his gun and stopped.

“Pat, let’s go!” Pran yelled and tugged on his arm, he could hear the lizard getting closer. 

“I can kill it, it’s not the first one I’ve seen.”

“Don’t!” He told him and tried to get him to keep going. “How do you think I survived for so long by myself? You see one of those things, you hide.”

“Did you think I had a place to hide back home whenever they got inside the fence? We can’t outrun that. I might’ve stayed inside, but this won’t be the first monster I kill.”

“Pat—”

“Stay here,” he told him and pushed him up against a tree.

“No, no, Pat. Don’t leave—!” He tried to stop him, but Pat had already run off. Pran gasped and tried to look over the tree trunk to see what he would do.

His breath hitched when he saw the lizard appear between two trees. Pat was holding his gun, aimed high at his head. He looked but frowned when he didn’t see him shoot. He wanted to say something, to urge him to shoot the beast down, but he didn’t want to draw attention to himself. 

Pat lowered his gun, and Pran felt his heart going a mile a minute. He frowned when he saw him reach into his bag and pull out one of the fruits that they had picked up. He bounced it in his hand a couple of times and threw it at him. The gecko caught it in its mouth, and Pran let out a gasp. He grabbed another one and threw it far away, making it leave.

He turned to Pran with the biggest smile he’d seen.

“He just wanted some fruit!”

“How—?” Pran asked as he slowly walked out from behind the tree.

“You told me to look into its eyes, right?” He said and walked closer to him. “Geckos eat fruits, I knew that. And… It had gentle eyes.” 

“That’s… Pat, that’s amazing!” Pran exclaimed and walked up to him. Pat had his arms open but before Pran could hug him, he raised his hand and slapped him on the shoulder, hard. “Don’t ever do that again!”

“Pran!”

“Are you insane!?” He yelled and hit him again. “Do you know what happened the last time someone told me to hide and wait?!” He saw Pat’s eyes widen when he noticed, and he flinched away when Pran hit him again.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Pran got tired of hitting him, and he sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, okay? Come here,” Pat said and grabbed his arm to bring him closer. He brought his other hand up and grabbed the back of his neck to bring him into a kiss. Pran gripped his shirt and kissed him back. “I’m not going to leave you, okay?”

“We both hide, or we both run, or we both fight, you got it?” Pran said as he grasped his clothes to bring him closer.

“Okay, I got it, sorry,” Pat mumbled and brought him into a hug. He placed a kiss on top of his head and felt Pran relax against him. “We should get these back with the other bags.

“No, it’ll be dark before we get there. Let’s find a place to sleep, and we’ll take it tomorrow morning,” Pran replied and took a step back.

They started walking together until Pran stopped when he saw something that caught his eye.

“Let’s stop here,” he said and dropped his bag on the floor next to a tree.

“It’s a little far, isn’t it? Maybe we can get more walking in before the sun sets.”

“No, trust me, let’s just sleep here,” Pran told him, getting settled.

“We’re not on top of another one of those things, are we?” Pran let out a loud laugh when he heard that. Pat sat down on the floor next to him.

“Would you have slept there comfortably if I told you we were on a snail’s shell?”

“Well, no, not really.”

“And you definitely wouldn’t have kissed me.”

“Okay, yeah, you’re right…” Pat mumbled as he chuckled. “But you can’t blame me. I haven’t seen one of those… Ever. They told me about them, apparently…” He stopped himself short, and Pran raised his head to look at him when he noticed he had hesitated.

“What?” He asked him as he pulled out their dinner, they wouldn’t have to make a fire this time.

“They told me they’re hard to kill…” He mumbled sheepishly and grabbed his share of the food.

“Uh, yeah, they are… Their shells aren’t as fragile as before, and they camouflage themselves,” Pran replied, not wanting him to feel bad about other people killing them. “But they don’t do anything. I mean, maybe don’t sleep on one that’s tiny, but the one from yesterday was pretty big, I knew it wouldn’t even notice it if we slept there. And you cover some ground even when you’re asleep.”

“Did you ever find a big one enough to hold you and your parents?” He asked him curiously and Pran nodded with a smile as he chewed his food.

“Yeah, big ones like houses. Nobody messes with those.”

“I thought the bigger ones were killed by the government at the beginning.”

“Some of them, yeah. I saw a few go down when I was still in Phuket. I don’t think you’ll ever see those. I’m talking spiders that covered the top of a high-rise. Or wasps big enough to carry people away. It was… Scary. The military killed most of those, but they also killed the military in return, and some of them have grown since then, so I don’t think they’re all dead.”

“Doesn’t it frighten you? Being out here, knowing that you could encounter one of those things?”

“You know, I was really scared of cockroaches before all of this happened…” Pran started to say. “I still am, have you seen how big those things are? But… You live with them. At the end of the day, you know that if you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you.”

“But back then, it was different. We’re their prey now.”

“Mh, not really. They still eat what they did before, and we were never part of their diet. It’s the provoking that gets them. Think about it, the spider only came down when we started picking the fruit near its web. No fruit means no insects will come and get it, so we were essentially taking its food source. And the gecko came running after us when we got all the fruit left on the trees. They’re scary, yes, but you can avoid them. This isn’t ‘survival of the fittest’, you just learn to live with them.”

“Does anything scare you?”

“A lot of things scare me. Did you see how I reacted when I saw the spider?” Pran reminded him and chuckled. “It’s not that I’m not afraid, it’s just that I don’t want that fear to take over my life. To make me hide underground and just wait for the day that something kills me, like everyone else has. If I die, I’ll do it out here with no regrets. Because I’ve seen everything.”

“Is there anything you want to see?”

“Oh, so much,” Pran replied and broke into an easy smile. “One time, with my parents, when we were bathing on the shore, we found giant jellyfish. They glowed in the dark, Pat. It was beautiful. And— Have you ever ridden a giant butterfly? It’s a little scary at first, but once you get the hang of it, they’re very docile and they always take you to where there’s pollen, meaning flowers, so fruit . And—” He stopped himself when he saw Pat’s smile as he listened intently to what he had to tell him. “Sorry…”

“Why? I wanna hear, it sounds great.”

“No, it’s just… You haven’t seen any of that because you were busy actually running a community. I was… I was with my parents.”

“Surviving, that’s no easy task.”

“It isn’t as hard as people make it out to be. Like I said, I had more good times than bad ones. I’m sorry you didn’t get to see any of it because they didn’t let you go outside.”

“I’m here now, aren’t I?”

“Well, you’re better than me at killing them…”

“There’s no way, you have a bow—”

“I use it to hunt. Barely to defend myself. I just hide whenever I see one of the dangerous ones. You... You face it head-on.”

“I’ve had to protect everyone when the search party goes out to get food. I’m used to it.”

“Well, now you’re the search party. And I think we've got enough food, so… Should we celebrate?”

“How—?” Pat stopped himself and smiled widely when he saw him pull out a couple of bottles of beer. “No way.”

“I asked Wai to give me some before we left. I haven’t gotten drunk since… Since I was still in boarding school with him.”

“Should we? I mean… Won’t it be dangerous to get drunk out here?”

“No, not here, we’ll be fine,” he said nonchalantly and opened one of the bottles after he threw the other one at Pat.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Look up,” Pran pointed out and brought the bottle to his lips to take a sip.

Pat missed his grimace when he tasted it because he gasped when he noticed the flowers glowing now that it was almost dark. Pran couldn’t help his smile when he saw Pat’s childlike awe.

“How—?”

“They’re a good light source, and they’re poisonous to most insects, but not us. We’ll be safe here, we won’t even have to use the tarp.”

Pat didn’t say anything and just looked up as the sky slowly went dark and the flowers glowed even brighter. He leaned back against the tree and continued to drink while Pat just leaned back on his palms, looking up and admiring the view.

“That’s two nights in a row where we can sleep peacefully out here.”

“That’s the norm,” Pran told him with a smile. “There are so many ways you can ensure safety during the night out here.”

“I’ve only heard our people complain about not getting enough sleep when they’re out here.”

“Because it’s scary when you don’t know what’s out there. Every little sound puts you on edge. It was like that for me too, in the beginning. It took me a couple of months to finally get a good night’s sleep. It’s practice, and you never get enough if you run back to safety every time one of those things comes near you.”

“I guess so…” Pat mumbled and opened his bottle to take a sip too. Pran drank from it, and Pat chuckled. “Go slow, this is way stronger than the shit they used to sell at bars.”

“Huh, and my tolerance isn’t good to begin with…” Pran mumbled and set the bottle down. “Hey, it’s past ten,” he pointed out when he saw the time on his watch. Pat smiled and pulled out his radio to turn it on. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh when he heard the music fill the empty silence. Pat didn’t put it too loud in case it attracted unwanted visitors.

“Come here,” Pat told him and grabbed his arm as he got up.

“What are you doing?” Pran asked, but still followed him since Pat was tugging at him to get up.

“Dance with me.”

“What? No way,” Pran refused and tried to sit back down.

“Come on, Pran. We’re getting drunk, there’s music, it’s kinda like we’re partying, don’t you think? Dance with me.”

“Bold of you to assume I would dance with you even if we were at a club.”

Pat let out a laugh and grabbed his waist to bring him closer to his body.

“Humor me,” he whispered, now close to his face. Pran placed his arms around his shoulders and looked up at him, his breath hitching at the closeness. 

He’d never liked dancing, but after drinking half the bottle that Wai had given them, it was easier. Especially when it was with Pat, who had his arms around his waist and was making him sway to the beat of some Billy Joel song that he’d forgotten the name of. He buried his fingers in his hair and looked into his eyes before he brought him down into a kiss.

It still felt a little surreal to be able to kiss Pat. To feel that he was alive, right in front of him, and he wanted him back. He stopped kissing him and made him turn when the song changed into something a little more upbeat. He let out a loud laugh and followed Pat’s lead, letting the alcohol take over him. Pat’s skin glowed under the light of the flowers, and with the way Pat was looking at him, he could only hope he did too.

“Do you think we would’ve ended up together if the world didn’t end?” Pat asked suddenly when the song slowed down, he kept his arms around Pran’s waist, and their chest against each other. Pran was looking up at him, even though Pat only had a couple of inches on him.

“It didn’t, we’re still here, right?”

“You know, your whole glass-half-full speech is very hot,” Pat mumbled and grabbed his neck to bring him closer, Pran chuckled and looked into his eyes.

“Is it?” He said in a teasing tone. 

“So you’re saying this isn’t the end of the world…” Pat prompted and got so close to him that their noses were rubbing.

“Maybe as we knew it. But there’s a whole new world, we just need to learn how to navigate it,” Pran whispered, and Pat smiled lazily, dipping his head and leaving a kiss on his jaw. “And I found you again. We were going to meet either way, weren’t we? When I transferred to your uni…” he said and let out a gasp when he felt Pat’s lips against his neck. “Everything leads me back to you, doesn’t it? The world keeps spinning because we needed to see each other again.” Pat leaned back and looked into his eyes for a moment before he said anything.

“I think that’s the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“Well, I’m a little tipsy, and I have been in love with you for years. So I got a lot of those left in me…” 

Pat chuckled and leaned in to kiss him deeply, almost catching him off-guard. When he felt Pat slip his hand under his t-shirt, he buried his fingers in his hair and made him walk backwards until they hit the nearest tree. Pat slid down, and Pran ended up sitting on his lap.

“I love this song,” Pran whispered breathlessly when Pat leaned into his neck and started leaving kisses there. He could still hear the tune of ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ over their harsh breathing as they tried to get their hands on each other.

“She only plays songs from the eighties or the nineties, since she has to use cassettes,” Pat explained, and Pran let out a laugh before he leaned down and kissed him again. “Maybe we should slow down…” He mumbled when he felt Pran move against him on his lap as he bit his bottom lip.

“Or maybe not,” Pran replied easily and brought him into another hungry kiss. “Do you want to—? Stop?” He breathed out and gripped his shoulders.

“No,” Pat replied easily and grabbed the hem of his shirt to pull it up and off of him. He grabbed his waist and immediately brought him closer to leave a trail of kisses on his chest.

Pran moved his hands and started undoing the buttons on Pat’s shirt. Back in high school, when he still lived next to Pat, sometimes he would dream about Pat slipping into his room one night to tell him that he loved him, and they would end up doing it and having to be quiet because his parents were at the end of the hallway. He would’ve never, in a million years, have imagined that Pat would reciprocate his feelings or want him. Much less that they would end up doing it in a forest at the edge of the end of the world. But he gasped against Pat’s lips when he slipped his hand inside his pants. He buried his face on his neck and whimpered at the feeling of Pat’s hand around him. The second he won back some clarity, he did the same with Pat’s pants and smiled when he heard Pat moan against his skin. He pulled back his shirt, making it hang from his elbows since Pat didn’t seem to want to move his hands away from him. 

“Pat—” He moaned and gripped his shoulders tighter. Pat left a kiss on his collarbone as he took both of them in his hand and stroked them faster.

At some point, their moans and gasps drowned out the music and Pran couldn’t even register where he was kissing Pat. Every inch of his face and neck as he moved his hips to the rhythm Pat had set. It didn’t take long before he dug his fingernails into Pat’s skin and spilled between them, his face buried on his neck. Pat followed soon after, grasping at his skin with his free hand on his waist.

They breathed heavily against each other as they tried to come down from their high. Pran leaned his head away from his neck and looked down into his eyes, so close that their noses were rubbing. The music came back to the forefront now that the only sound they were making was loud panting. Pran leaned down and kissed him deeply as he listened to the sound of Hotel California in the background.

After the song ended, the radio died down and there was only static, which let him know that they probably lasted longer than he thought and they’d missed a few songs. He couldn’t help the giggle he let out when Pat kissed down his neck. He moved his hands and tucked himself back in as he zipped up his pants. Pat did the same and took off his shirt to clean their stomach.

“I have another one, don’t worry,” Pat told him when he saw Pran open his mouth to protest. 

He laughed and got up to look for his shirt, which Pat had thrown to one side. He had to shake it a couple of times to remove all the leaves before putting it back on. He didn’t want to sleep on his last clean t-shirt.

Pat turned off the radio and offered a hand so Pran would grab it and sit down next to him against the tree that Pran had been sitting at previously. He grabbed the bottle of beer with his free hand and took a sip.

“So is this the equivalent of us hooking up at a club?” Pran said suddenly and reached for his bottle too. Pat threw his head back and let out a loud laugh.

“We would’ve never done that.”

“No, not in a million years,” Pran agreed as he chuckled. “Hooking up means no feelings involved…”

“Too many ups and downs to just ignore that, right? Especially with our parents… I can’t imagine how they would’ve reacted back then if they found out.”

Pran nodded slowly and took a sip of his drink before he opened his mouth.

“You know? I told my mom about you…” Pran said slowly, and Pat whipped his head up to look at him.

“What?”

“When we were…” Pran sighed and looked down. “After the whole thing went down… I spent so much time with my parents. I don’t think I’ve ever been closer to them than in those first few months after the apocalypse started,” he explained as he fidgeted with the grass under them, his other hand was still holding Pat’s, so it grounded him. “We talked a lot… I found out a lot of stuff about them that I didn’t know.”

“Like what?”

“Like the reason our parents hate each other,” he blurted out and looked up at him. Pat frowned.

“I thought it was because of the business.”

“It wasn’t. Apparently, my mom used to be friends with your dad because they went to high school together,” Pran explained and saw Pat’s surprised expression. “They were pretty close up until your dad stole a scholarship from her.”

“What? Are you serious?” Pat asked, his blood boiling. “That was it? The whole rivalry was because of my dad?” Pran could tell Pat was getting angrier by the second, which wasn’t the point of telling him that.

“It was. But— Pat, the world went to shit. I don’t think it matters anymore. At least it didn’t matter to my mom…” Pran mumbled and shrugged. “After she told me that… We started talking about you guys. And I— I ended up telling them that I’d been in love with you for years.” It would’ve been difficult saying that if he hadn’t already said it to him. Pat looked at him curiously.

“How did they react?”

“They…” Pran chuckled and looked down. “They felt bad, actually. For making me feel like I had to hide who I loved,” he gripped the grass under him and tried to give himself some strength to keep talking, since he was getting choked up. Pat squeezed his hand tighter. “I told them when I started liking you and why. You know… All those times that you were kind to me or even to other people. They started to see you with different eyes. It was actually… Very emotional. My mom cried for me. She said she felt bad for pulling me away from you.”

He saw Pat look down from the corner of his eye, and he didn’t have to look at him to know that he was probably crying too.

“She also hoped that we could meet again…” He whispered and moved his other hand to grab Pat’s arm. “I told her she was crazy. That there was no way we would ever meet again. And even if we did, there was no guarantee that you would even reciprocate my feelings. She told me…” Pran chuckled breathlessly and felt a tear run down his cheek. “She told me that the last thing we had to lose during times like these was hope. So I should never stop hoping.”

“She was right,” Pat said softly and brought him closer into a hug. He pulled back only to kiss him. “We should get some sleep,” he whispered against his lips as he smoothed out his hair. Pran nodded slowly. 

They settled down and only had to use one of their backpacks as a pillow because Pran fell asleep, resting his head on Pat’s chest, the sound of his heartbeat lulling him to sleep once again.

The next morning, they woke up when the sun came up, so they knew it was pretty early. They walked back to where they had all of their bags and only stopped when they saw some plants that could be used as medicine. 

“If you mix these leaves with water, you can make bruise cream. It’s pretty good, similar to aloe…” Pran explained as he filled up one bag with the plant. 

He flinched when Pat raised a hand and lowered the visor of the cap, covering his face.

“Hey, what was that for?” Pran asked him and raised it again to look at him, taking the baseball cap off so he could fix his hair under it. But before he could put it back on, Pat grabbed him by the shirt and brought him close to kiss him, Pran let out a surprised gasp.

“What? Can’t tease my hot, forest-ranger boyfriend?”

Pran rolled his eyes and pushed him away, but his cheeks were flushed.

“Don’t get distracted, we have a lot to carry back to the town.”

“On it,” Pat said immediately, and Pran chuckled at his eagerness to do whatever Pran asked him. 

They still joked around as they walked over to where they had left their bags. Pat smiled widely when he saw the amount of food they’d managed to get. 

“This is great, Pran. I don’t think any team has come back with this much stuff,” Pat said excitedly and grabbed one of the bags, but it was heavy. “How are we supposed to carry it back? Do we make a couple of trips?”

“No, that would be too long. I thought of something, don’t worry. Just wait here.”

Pat nodded and Pran left. Finding what he was looking for took him a little longer than he thought it would, so when he got back, Pat looked way more anxious than he thought he would.

“Hey,” he said with a smile. Pat whipped his head up and let out a sigh of relief.

“You took so long! I thought something happened to you!”

“Sorry. He walks slowly,” Pran said and shrugged.

“Who?”

Pran turned and pointed behind him, Pat gasped when he saw a caterpillar following him.

“How... What?”

“Never finish all of your food. You never know when you’ll need to ask for a favour,” Pran explained and showed him the food he was carrying in his hand that the caterpillar seemed to be following. Pat stared at him in disbelief. The caterpillar was green and black, and it was probably as big as a dog, if not way longer, obviously.

“I thought you meant to never eat all of your food because you never know when you’ll run out…”

“Nah, that’s not common, you can always find something to eat around here. But you should always have something in hand just in case,” Pran replied nonchalantly. “Come on, help me get the bags on him.” 

Pat watched in awe as Pran placed one of the bags on top of the caterpillar and secured it with some rope. When he realised what he was doing, he started to help him.

“Mh, no, not the honey, that’s too heavy for him, we’ll carry it,” Pran told him when Pat grabbed the bag with the jars of honey. He nodded and grabbed another bag. Soon enough, they had all of their bags on the back of the caterpillar.

“Okay, let’s go,” Pran said and clapped his hands before he grabbed his backpack to take out some food. He gave some of it to he caterpillar and then started walking. The caterpillar started walking slowly behind Pran when it realised that he had food.

“Oh my God, we are never going to get there,” Pat exclaimed when he saw the pace that the caterpillar was going in.

“Hey, he’s carrying all of our stuff. I’d like to see you run with this much weight on your back,” Pran replied, and they both laughed. “I couldn’t find any ants. They’re usually better for this. Very hardworking, you know?”

“I was kinda curious about riding one of those…” Pat mumbled as they walked, following the pace of the caterpillar.

“Oh, I can take you,” Pran said excitedly. “Honestly, this was just a food trip, but we can go out any day, and I can show you all the animals that can help you around. I don’t think it’s hard to domesticate them, they might even be useful back at the town.”

“What’s your favorite? Besides roly-polies…”

Pran hummed and thought about it for a moment.

“One time, when I was by myself, I saw a giant hummingbird. It was so quick, you know how hard it is to spot those, right? But since it was so big, it was easy to see. It was… So majestic,” Pran explained as he remembered the sight. “He was gone in the blink of an eye, and I thought… Nobody is going to believe I saw this. I kinda want to find one again, it must be amazing getting on their backs, they’re so fast…”

“It must feel like flying, right?”

“It does! The first time I did it… It was pretty scary. Butterflies are slow, you can start with that. But I think the best ones are dragonflies. They’re so quick and they always take you where there’s water.”

“You can’t really guide them, right?”

“Not really. The ones that are smaller than us are easier to navigate, since we’re still bigger than them. But the ones you can ride are still too big. If they’re harmless, they let you ride on their backs in exchange for food, but you’ll have to go wherever they take you. I’ve found that it's easier to trust their instincts. They might not take you where you want to go, but they’ll take you where you need it.”

“It must be amazing…”

“We’ll go together if you want to, after we take the food,” Pran told him with a smile, and Pat nodded.

They saw the fence just an hour later, and Pat raised his hand to signal that it was them. Chang was on guard duty then. They heard him yell to tell everyone that they were back before the fence opened. When the door was opened, a few people came running to greet them. 

“Oh my God!” Paa exclaimed when she saw the caterpillar carrying the bags, so everyone started walking over to see what they brought.

They both leaned down and started untying the bags.

“That’s so much!” Korn yelled when he saw the number of bags as he walked up to them.

“Yeah, Pran had to ask for a favour to carry all of them back,” Pat joked and gave him the bag of honey jars.

“He’s… Kinda cute?” Paa said and leaned down to look at him closely. Pran let out a sigh when he untied the last bag.

“We should give him some food and water, he’s been carrying these for a while,” they all stared at him in disbelief when he said that. “What? Don’t you feed your animals?” He asked Paa specifically since she was the one who took care of their animals.

“Yeah, I think I can find something. Do I just…?”

“Here, he’s been following this,” Pran told her and gave her what was left of the protein bars. Paa started walking hesitantly, he heard surprised gasps when they saw that the caterpillar started following her. Pran smiled. He knew it was impressive the first time one of the insects did what you wanted it to. 

He saw Ming approach them and he gave the caterpillar a weird look before he saw all the bags that they brought. He inspected them before he turned to look at Pran.

“How did you catch all these fish?” Pran didn’t reply and simply pointed at the bow on his back, earning a few impressed looks, but none from Ming. “The last time we tried to catch fish, we were attacked by a monster in the lake. How do we know this fish is safe to eat?”

“Because the river was clear enough for me to point and shoot,” Pran replied nonchalantly. “I taught Pat how to be able to tell whenever a body of water isn’t safe.”

“Dad, the interrogation isn’t necessary, okay? We just came back from a trip. Can we rest?” Pat reminded him, and Ming simply turned around and left. Pat let out a loud sigh and leaned down to grab one of the bags.

“We’ll handle these, you two should go and get some rest…” Korn stopped them and the few people who had gone to greet them took care of carrying the bags back to the main kitchen. 

“We slept a lot. Why did you tell them we needed to rest? It’s barely noon,” Pran said when they were by themselves, walking to the house.

“So that they would leave us alone,” Pat said easily and smiled widely, reaching over to grab his hand. 

Pat dropped onto the bed as soon as they got to the little hideout. He pulled Pran’s arm so he would get on the bed with him. It took some pulling and pushing, but Pran finally dropped onto the bed next to him. 

“How long has it been since you were on a bed?” Pat asked him and cuddled him closer.

“Mh… A few months, I think… It’s hard to keep track.”

“I know you like the back of my hand, Pran. You definitely have a calendar.” Pran chuckled and buried his face against his neck, bringing him closer. “What day is it today?”

“Today is November twelfth, Tuesday,” he answered easily, and Pat let out a loud laugh before he realised something.

“Shit… I figured it was getting a little colder, but…”

“Has it been a year already?” Pran whispered and placed a hand on his cheek to look at him.

“Yeah. Everything started in September, remember? A few weeks after classes started. She died just a month after that… So it’s already been a month since the one year—” 

Pat didn’t finish his sentence, and he leaned in and placed a kiss on his forehead before he brought him into a hug. They both closed their eyes; maybe a nap would be good. Pran wasn’t used to naps, but he used to love them.

“It feels weird sleeping inside…” He whispered suddenly and made Pat chuckle since he’d broken the comfortable silence. 

“You really love being outside, don’t you?” Pat asked him and squeezed him tighter, resting his head on his chest. Pran nodded and brought a hand up to card his fingers through his hair.

“I don’t know, I’m used to it by now…”

“Don’t sleep then. Just… Hold me.”

They stayed in silence for a while, but Pran knew Pat wasn’t falling asleep either; his heartbeat wasn’t as slow as it usually was when they slept. He still held him and carded his fingers through his hair absentmindedly.

“Do you have a room inside, or do you always sleep here?”

“I do, yeah. But I barely use it. It’s between Paa and Wai’s rooms. Which is supposed to be individual, but it hasn’t been in months.”

“Oh, right, earplugs?”

“Every night,” Pat replied and groaned.

“Mh, you can get revenge now.”

“Yeah, I think we definitely annoyed a few birds last night, didn’t we?” Pat teased him and raised his head to look at him. “You know, they won’t bother us until dinner…” 

“Pat, no…” Pran started to say as he got away from him, but Pat poked his side and made him laugh as he flinched. “Pat, they’ll hear!” He tried to stop him, but his laughs were drowned out when Pat grabbed him by the hips so he would lie under him before he kissed him.

Word got out fast, and it didn’t help that Pat wouldn’t let go of his hand even when they were talking to their friends before going to get dinner. Pran went with Paa to set the caterpillar free after it’d been fed, and they went back together to the bonfire for some food.

Pat was already sitting at their table with Wai and Korn. Ink cut them in line so they could get something to eat. Paa grabbed her food and went over to their table, but Pran flinched away when his plate of food was almost shoved against his chest. He looked up and saw a girl looking angrily at him before she turned to the next person to give them their food, this time more gently.

“I don’t think she likes me very much,” Pran mumbled as he turned to look at Ink, she chuckled.

“You just stole the most wanted bachelor in town, none of them like you, Pran,” Ink told him, and he let out a laugh.

“Can’t be, all of them?”

“Oh, Pran, they’ve been trying to get with him for months. Pat is a tough nut to crack, and you got him in… What? Two days?”

“Try years,” Pran mumbled as he rolled his eyes. “You think this came out of nowhere?”

“I knew it! God, you guys were so obvious back in high school.”

“Maybe I was, Pat was clueless…”

“I don’t think so… He definitely liked you too.”

“He didn’t realise until last year,” Pran replied and shrugged as he walked over to their table. Ink followed him and bumped his shoulder amicably before they sat down. 

Pat had saved the seat next to him. During dinner, some people passed their table to thank them for bringing the food, but most girls only thanked Pat with a hand on his shoulder. Pran would be jealous if it weren’t so hilarious. Pat had made it sound like barely anyone wanted him, but it was almost every single girl and definitely a few guys. He couldn’t blame them, Pat was the hottest guy around and also the one who ran everything in there; it was easy to fall for him. Pran would know.

But just to be petty. He was there first.

He didn’t get mad at all the looks Pat got because they were holding hands on top of the table, so it wasn’t like Pat was hiding it. He noticed, however, all the dirty looks he was getting from Ming, which were the only ones that concerned him. But he didn’t say anything and just kept to himself. 

Pat was explaining excitedly everything that Pran had taught him, and suddenly, a lot more people wanted to go outside to see what it was like. He didn’t tell them about their encounter with the spider, but he explained in great detail how he looked into that gecko’s eyes and knew that it didn’t want to hurt them. Pran rested his cheek on his free hand and listened to him with a smile as he recounted everything they’d seen and done. Keeping to himself their intimate moments or their personal conversations.

“I still have to show you something in my house…” Pat whispered to him without anyone else noticing. Pran opened his eyes widely, he didn’t even remember that. 

After dinner, they walked together towards Pat’s old house, and this time, thankfully, it was empty. Pat tugged on his hand so he would follow him up to his old bedroom, and he only let go of his hand to open the closet and grab something from inside.

Pran’s breath got caught in his throat when he saw his old guitar’s case.

“You’re joking,” he let out, a wide smile on his face, before he grabbed it and opened it to check the guitar. “Pat, what the hell?”

“I wasn’t lying when I said you’ve always been on my mind…” Pat replied easily and sat down on the bed. Pran followed him and rested the guitar against his lap to try a few chords. It was definitely out of tune, but he didn’t mind. 

“Pat, this is… This is amazing.”

He looked at the guitar one last time and set it aside before he jumped on him to hug him. Pat let out a loud laugh and brought his arms up to hug him back.

“Pat…” Pran whispered against his ear, and Pat leaned back to give him a confused look. Pran was looking out the window like he’d seen a ghost, so Pat whipped his head around to check what he’d seen.

“A firefly?” He asked, stunned to see it there.

“It must’ve followed us,” he whispered and got up, tugging on his hand to make him get up. “Do you know what that means?” He asked him and went down the stairs quickly, dragging Pat with him.

“No, what?”

“Fireflies don’t travel alone,” he said and opened the front door. 

Pat looked up and gasped when he saw the amount of fireflies that lit up the night sky. People were coming out of their houses to see the sky too, and suddenly the entirety of the main street was filled with people looking up in awe. Some kids were running around, trying to catch any, but they were flying a little too high to catch. Pat was still squeezing his hand, and Pran noticed from the corner of his eye that he wasn’t looking up at the sky. He was looking at him.

“I know that look,” Pat said suddenly, and Pran turned to him.

“What look?” He asked.

“The kind of look that tells me that no matter how many beds, hot water, food or people we have here… Nothing is going to keep you away from the world out there. Not even me,” Pat said softly, looking into his eyes and knowing that he was right. “You love it too much… And now I can understand why.”

“I could stay here, for you,” Pran said easily, and Pat smiled softly as he shook his head.

“And you would be miserable,” he said, which was exactly what Pran had been thinking, but he didn’t want to say it out loud. “My dad runs this place, and no matter how much he tries, he will never… He will never treat you how you deserve to be treated. How I want him to.”

“This is why I don’t like communities…” Pran said slowly and chuckled, looking away. “I’m not made to be locked up in a community. I’ve been out there and— It’s beautiful, Pat. You haven’t even seen half of it. I know it’s the apocalypse and a lot of people have died. But that doesn’t mean we have to hide, or stop living our lives. There’s a new world out there and I refuse to ignore it just to feel a false sense of security.”

When he turned his head and looked into Pat’s eyes, he was surprised to see him smiling fondly.

“You’re the first person that’s ever talked about this whole thing like it was something beautiful…” He whispered and didn’t move his eyes away from him. “And you’ve shown me so much… I want to see it. I wanna go out there with you.”

“I can’t ask you that, Pat. Your family’s here.”

“But you won’t be,” he answered easily and Pran’s heart skipped a beat. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to me since the world went to shit. I can’t— I can’t let you go now,” he confessed. Pran tried not to get teary-eyed, but it was hard. “I can’t blame you for leaving. But please understand that I would also be absolutely miserable if you left me behind. I don’t want to hold you back. I want to go with you and I want to see what’s out there.”

“Okay,” Pran said finally, and squeezed his hand as he did. He tugged him closer and kissed him softly before looking into his eyes again. He knew Pat was serious and he didn’t know what was worse, him wanting to leave everything behind for him, or him loving him enough to know what would make him miserable without Pran having to articulate it.

They stayed in the town for two more weeks. Making sure everyone could warm up to the idea of them leaving. Pran took other people on trips to teach them how to survive out there without having to kill anything that moved.

At first, everyone refused, and some of them didn’t talk to Pat or Pran for a few days, too mad at them for leaving. But the more they saw from the outside world, the more they understood why they wanted to leave. 

They were going to follow Pran’s plan, head to the coast in hopes of finding an island. They had a map of every place Pran wanted to see before that, natural landmarks that had probably changed after the apocalypse. 

So, after a couple of weeks, when they made sure that the whole place could run smoothly without them, they packed their bags and were ready to leave.

“What will you miss?” Pran asked him as he fixed his backpack.

“What do you mean?”

“Will you miss something from here?”

“Uh, hot water?” Pat replied and chuckled.

“Good,” Pran said and laughed. “I think that’s the only thing we can all miss. I just asked because if there’s more stuff that you will miss, it might be a sign for you to stay…”

“Are you joking? Pran, I’m decided, I’m leaving with you.”

“I know,” Pran mumbled and leaned in to kiss him.

“Wait!” They heard someone yell, and they whipped their heads around. They were standing at the doors of the fence, and a few people were running up to them. 

Pran frowned when he saw Paa and Ink run up to them with backpacks in their hands. Wai and Korn followed behind them with their stuff packed too.

“What’s going on?” Pat asked them when they got close enough.

“We’re going with you,” Paa said, a little breathless.

“Guys, don’t. You have something good here…”

“Don’t even try to persuade us, okay? We’ve had like a thousand meetings to discuss this, we are going with you,” Wai told him and squeezed his shoulder.

“Are you serious?” Pat asked them. “But they need you guys here.”

“Anyone can do what we do. If they can survive without you two, they can survive without us. But we’re not letting you leave without us,” Korn said nonchalantly and shrugged.

“You guys can’t show us what’s out there and then leave us here,” Ink pointed out, and they both laughed. “We’re going with you.”

“Okay,” Pran said and smiled at them, looking at their backpacks. They definitely planned it. 

Before they could leave, almost everyone in town came out to say goodbye to them. Pran felt bad for the tears; he could see how much everyone cared for them, but they all looked so decisive, and there was no changing their mind.

“Dude, you’re staying? I kinda feel bad now…” Pat said after he hugged Chang.

“Dude, I’m not going out there with three other couples,” Chang said, and they all laughed. “I’ll stay here. Someone from engineering needs to stay behind to keep the radio working. How will we keep in contact with you otherwise?” Pat nodded and brought him in for another hug.

“Every day at nightfall, okay?” Pat reminded him and Chang nodded. They were going to keep in contact with them. Leaving didn’t mean that they weren’t going to see them again. Pat could fix up a radio better than anyone, which would keep them in touch. And Pran told them that the path was easy to follow, so they could still come back and visit whenever they wanted to.

Pran squinted and pulled out his cap when he saw Ming approach Pat to say goodbye. He’d been nicer to them the last couple of weeks, but he definitely didn’t like the fact that they were leaving. He seemed to know that Paa would be leaving too because he didn’t get mad or scream at them. He hugged Pat and then turned over to hug Paa tightly, if his eyes were teary, Pran didn’t mention it. Suddenly, Ming turned to him, and Pran didn’t know what to do or say. At the end of the day, he was the one taking his kids away from him.

Ming didn’t say anything and simply brought him into a hug when everyone else was distracted, talking amongst themselves. Pran gasped, not expecting him to do that.

“Take care of them, please,” he mumbled before he took a step back.

“Of course,” Pran replied, making sure that his voice sounded serious. “Here,” he said and moved his backpack to pull out his notebook. He extended it to him, and he suddenly heard everyone go silent around them. “This has everything I know about the outside world. You’ll make better use of it than I will.”

“Pran…” Pat tried to stop him, knowing all the drawings and time he’d spent on it.

“It’s okay, I can always make another one. Everything I know is in here,” he said and tapped his temple twice. Ming grabbed the notebook and opened it curiously. “Take it, I want you to have it. So that when we come back, this place will still be here, thriving.”

Ming nodded slowly and closed the notebook to look up at him.

“You guys should go. To cover more ground while the sun is still up.”

He made a gesture at the person on top of the fence, and they opened the doors for them. They walked out and turned back to wave them goodbye.

Pran grabbed Pat’s hand and threaded their fingers together as they started to walk away.

“So, what do you guys wanna try first? Riding ants, sleeping on snails or flying with butterflies?” Pran asked and all except Pat snapped their heads to look at him.

“What?!” They exclaimed at the same time while Pat and Pran laughed hysterically at their reactions, knowing that it would be even better to see their faces when they actually did it.