Chapter Text
Morning light flitted against Reki’s eyelids.
The warmth of the sun snuck through the windows, slivers of brightness spread across his face. Reki’s eyes peeled open, his vision adjusting to the moldy ceiling above him. It took him a moment to register where he was, almost forgetting the whirlwind of events from the day before.
Reki felt heavy from exhaustion. He brought his hands up to his face, rubbing his eyes as he lay still.
His gaze rested on the shadows dancing above him, their paths slowly shifting as the clouds moved. Reki’s body ached from lying on the hard floor. Cold tiles stung against his skin, each shift had him resisting the urge to shiver.
Even though he wished he could rest for longer, Reki opted to start his day early. He stretched out his limbs, cracking away his stiffness with small pops.
He sat up, leaning against the wall behind him. The glow from the sun illuminated the room, which now looked much different from when it was veiled in the darkness of the night.
Given new light, Reki could see the phantoms of life the office held. It was worked in, breathed in, lived in. The scattered papers filled to the margins with notes that no longer held meaning. Desks carefully laid out to their owners’ preferences. Pictures of happy families gave warmth to the room.
He wondered how many of those families were able to reunite.
Reki shook those thoughts from his head and glanced at the boy beside him. Langa was still fast asleep, his body sprawled out across the floor. His hair seemed messier than it had been the night before, untamed strands fell across his face and rested against his cheek. His breathing was steady, he looked peaceful.
With a small smile, he shifted his attention away from Langa, eyes landing on his worn-out backpack that rested against the wall. It was a miracle he hadn’t dropped it while running. The bag was faded from overuse, and some of the stitching was becoming undone. He crawled over to it, hesitantly reaching for the zipper.
He was so shaken up when he packed it, he couldn’t even remember what he brought along.
He would be disappointed if there was nothing useful inside of it.
Reki carefully opened the bag, hoping for a small miracle in the form of supplies.
And he was met with just that.
The items he had taken from the base were still there, none of it had fallen out. There were a few cans of food, bandages, a flask of water, and a flashlight inside. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to last them for a few days if they rationed it correctly.
They were supposed to head out today anyway, they’d have opportunities to get more supplies along the way.
Or, at least, he hoped.
They were currently near the heart of the city. Their best bet would be to get near the outskirts, away from the hordes of zombies. Reki didn’t know how well Langa fought yet, but he couldn’t let his guard down. He didn’t know if a repeat of their first encounter would occur, making the boy a liability.
Langa had mentioned the safe zone was out West. Though he wasn’t the best at directions, Reki knew he could lead them through the city he’d lived in all his life. After that, he wouldn’t be too sure on where to go.
How far was the supposed safe zone? How long would it take them to get there by walking? It would be hard enough to find a working car, and Reki certainly didn’t know how to safely drive one. Especially when an undead could run into it without warning.
He shuddered at the thought of driving head-first into one of them.
Would it even kill it? Or just slow it down?
The undead never seemed to die from impact in any area other than the brain. Anything else just temporarily immobilized them.
Reki’s barreling mind was interrupted by a soft groan near him. Turning to the side, he met a pair of blue eyes blinking up at him. He looked confused, as if he was still dreaming. Reki suppressed a chuckle at his disgruntled appearance.
“Mornin’ sleepyhead.” Reki grinned, his will wasn’t stronger than his desire to tease.
It took Langa another moment to bring his mind into focus, then he snapped up with a newfound alertness.
“Did I oversleep?? Why didn’t you wake me up?!” He spoke frantically, looking as if he was about to bolt.
Reki burst into laughter, much to the other boy’s dismay. His body shaked with short bursts of giggles, the tension in him melting away.
“No it’s-“ He started through wheezes, “It’s okay! I just woke up too!”
Langa physically relaxed with that, giving himself a moment to fully wake up. He stretched his arms out with a yawn. He combed through his messy hair with his fingers, revealing his ears. They were dusted red as he calmed down from the previous embarrassment.
Reki took a minute to compose himself before resting his head on his knees. He stared at the other boy, who was pointedly avoiding eye contact.
“You know, you snore in your sleep,” he shifted his head slightly, grinning as he continued to tease Langa.
“Really? I’m so sorry- did I keep you up? I’ll try to be more careful, I-“
“Stop!” Reki lifted his palm to the other boy. “I was just joking!”
Langa nodded and relaxed again. Reki was starting to realize teasing the boy did more harm than good. He seemed to take everything at face value.
Maybe he should lay off the sarcasm for a bit.
“Oh, here! You must be thirsty,” Reki tossed the flask of water to Langa, who caught it smoothly.
“Thank you.” He replied before taking a swig from the flask. “I wasn’t able to get any supplies from that store, so we need to restock before we head out.”
“Yeah, I was thinking about that earlier.” Reki nodded. “Hey, do you know the exact location of the safe zone?”
Langa shook his head. “I only heard of the general area it was in, which is pretty far west from here. It’s going to take us a while to get there, especially if we travel on foot.”
“Well, do you know how to drive? I don’t think I’d trust myself behind the wheel.”
“No..” Langa furrowed his brows as he tossed the flask back to Reki.
They fell into silence as they took a moment to think. It was definitely going to be a struggle for two teenage boys to travel this great distance. The energy in the room seemed to dampen with their lowered morale.
Suddenly, Reki stood up with newfound enthusiasm.
“Sitting here moping around isn’t gonna get us anywhere!” He shouted, “Let’s take it one problem at a time and find supplies first! We’ll keep going west until we reach the edge of the city!”
Langa was still for a moment before a small smile spread across his face.
“Alright!” he nodded.
Reki strapped on his backpack before holding his hand out to Langa, who used it to hoist himself up. He picked up his baseball bat and Langa’s crowbar that were resting against a nearby wall, and handed it to him. They walked back to the window they entered through. This time, Langa lifted Reki up first. He grabbed onto the window, turning to the messy office one last time before jumping down.
Reki hoped they didn’t disrupt the lingering memories of its workers too much.
As his shoes hit the gravel, Reki was met with the persistent heat of the afternoon. Even though mornings were cooler now, that didn’t stop the sun from blazing as the day progressed.
He gave a small nod to Langa, and they began walking.
They stayed close together, fearing being separated. Their steps were careful, gazes fixed on the ground. With every sound they heard, they raised their heads, conscious of any sign of danger. They grabbed onto each other when either of them felt like they were going to stumble.
They continued through the narrow alleys until they reached an entrance to another main road. They were still in the center of the city, it would take a long time to reach the end on foot. Possibly several hours, even without stopping for breaks.
They turned onto the road and were once again greeted with the view of the cityscape. Everything seemed much more peaceful now as they weren’t being chased. The wind hummed gently against each building, a softer and calming noise that was the exact contrast of the groans of the undead. The two had nothing to worry about for now, except for the dreadful walk ahead of them.
Reki fixed his gaze up. Even if he had lived here his entire life, the city never failed to amaze him. Even though it practically reeked of the undead and was covered in filth, Reki chose to ignore that for just this moment. This may as well be the last time he set foot in the place where he grew up.
The midday sun reflected against the glass panels of the buildings. It brought life to the dead city, a final act of atonement for the life it once had. Birds soared from above, their numbers increasing since the outbreak. Without the chemical fumes and deadly dangers from normal human life, they seemed to thrive, and they weren’t the only ones.
Animals of all kinds gained a new sense of bravery without human interference. The undead stayed away from them, as long as they were quiet. Stray cats had taken over alleyways, away from the sight of lurking undead. There was plenty to eat, as the rat population crawled out of the gutters and continued to multiply. Reki wasn’t sure if the virus was exclusive to humans, but he can’t recall the last time he saw a cannibal pigeon.
Plants were also experiencing changes in the forgotten city. Lawns became messy and overgrown. Sidewalks often had sprouts of life coming out of them. Trees grew without restriction, their branches hitting the exteriors of buildings they had never dared to touch. Mosses started to settle in patches along the walls. In just a year, plants had overtaken much of the outside. The city had become unrecognizable to what it had been.
As Reki focused his eyes back on the street that lay before him, that fact became even more apparent. Totaled cars, discarded trash, and rotting bodies flood the streets. Compared to the view above, reality seemed to sink in faster down here. It would be justified if Reki were to get lost in the streets he had walked since he was a child. Despite all of the chaos, it all felt so… empty. If he didn’t have Langa in front of him, he may have believed he was the last normal human left here.
Looking at Langa, Reki noticed the cold sweat and the shaky expression that refused to leave his face. His eyes darted around nervously, locking onto any undead that could be spotted from a shop window.
Reki had witnessed Langa’s fear during their first encounter, but he didn’t realize it might still be bothering him. Reki noticed he didn’t know much about Langa in the first place. Maybe Langa hadn’t been through many encounters with the undead before. He was unsure if Langa would be able to handle another confrontation with one.
Reki began searching for something that could help ease Langa’s mind. They had moved onto a less prominent road, there weren’t as many undead to be seen. The isolated roads felt calmer, Reki felt like he could catch his breath for the first time in a while. They had been walking for at least a half hour already, maybe a break would help both of them calm down.
“We should rest for a few minutes,” Reki stopped in his tracks, swinging his baseball bat playfully at his side. “This road’s pretty empty, I doubt an undead would sneak up on us”
After glancing around one last time for any potential threats, Reki slumped against a brick wall. He pulled off the straps of his bag, roughly throwing it onto the ground. He dropped his bat beside him, keeping it at a close distance. He watched as Langa hesitated, darting his eyes around every corner of the street before he turned to sit. He watched carefully for any signs of the undead, thankfully there weren’t any. He joined Reki against the wall, sitting beside him. The caution on Langa’s face proved that he was still a bit wary, regardless of the clear street.
“I haven’t sat in such an open place since the apocalypse started..” Langa admitted, placing his crowbar beside him.
Reki snorted, “Before the apocalypse, you would have been kicked out for loitering. Now’s the time to do stupid stuff like sitting on a sidewalk. Hell, we could lay on the street, and no one would say anything.”
“No one is here to say anything.” Langa added, cutting Reki off before he burst into laughter.
“You’re not wrong,” his laughter slowly died down after a few moments. “It’s pretty weird though, there used to be so many people living here before the apocalypse. Now, you’re lucky if you find another person.”
Langa glanced at him before continuing the conversation.
“Did you live here before the apocalypse?”
“Yeah, I did. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve never really left the city at all …other than for vacations once in a while.” Reki thought for a moment. “What about you? How long have you been here?”
“I moved here about two years ago, a year before the apocalypse started” Langa answered, “I lived up North before.”
“Really? Did you get a lot of snow up there?”
“We did!” Langa smiled, “It was much colder, especially in the winter. I’m still not used to the heat here.”
“Trust me, it bothers me too. So, what did you guys do for fun?”
“We snowboarded when we got a lot of snow. My father taught me when I was younger, and I guess it just… stuck.”
“That's cool! Snowboarding… that's similar to skateboarding right?” Reki asked.
Langa hummed, “It can be, they both use boards, but snowboarding requires more control. Do you skateboard?”
“I do! I could teach you to skateboard one day, but we would need to find one first.”
“That would be fun, but I don’t know if I’d be any good..”
“Are you doubting my skills as a teacher?!” Reki gasped.
“No!” Langa said, looking flustered, “You could totally teach me! I’m the one who might be a bad student! I mean, I’ve never tried skateboarding and I hear it’s pretty different from snowboarding and-”
With a groan, Langa buried his face into his hands, too embarrassed to continue speaking. Reki stared at him, bewildered. After a second, he started laughing again, bright and happy. Langa couldn’t help but join him, although his laughs were muffled behind his hands. He lifted his head up and glanced over at Reki as he spoke.
“Man, has anyone ever said you overthink like… way too much?” Reki said between giggles.
“Yeah.” Langa deadpanned. “My mom, all the time.”
At the mention of his mother, Langa’s smile got smaller and he looked down at his hands. Reki wasn’t a genius, but he knew what a family being separated during the apocalypse meant and how it felt. He had experienced a similar fate just over a year ago.
When Reki didn’t respond, Langa continued.
“I miss her… a lot….” He was fully frowning now, his expression was distant.
Silence overtook them again, and Reki found himself awkwardly resting his hand on Langa’s shoulder as an act of comfort. He was never the best at consoling others, he just hoped that at least this was enough.
“I miss my family too.” Reki replied, lowering his gaze. His voice was smaller than it had been before.
Langa looked up and their eyes met. For a moment, they were able to talk like two regular kids. But, the weight of their problems will always come back to crush them. They were not two regular kids. They were in the middle of an apocalypse, they had loved and they had lost. Now, they only had each other to lean on, even though they barely even knew each other. They had only met a day ago and yet it felt like it was longer.
Suddenly, Langa lifted his head, blue eyes meeting Reki’s own.
“I-”
Before he could continue, the familiar pained groans of an undead rang out. Reki leaned forward with a quiet shushing sound. His heart pounded within his chest as he slowly reached to grab his baseball bat, gripping the handle tightly. Langa followed him, picking up his crowbar. The boys rose to their feet, the undead hadn’t noticed them yet. It was in the next street over, drawing closer with slow steps. They couldn’t make any sudden movements. Although the undead relied on their hearing to hunt, they could easily be spotted if they began to run. Reki glanced at each end of the road, looking for any possible escape route, but he stopped when looked at Langa.
He was shaking, his eyes would not leave the undead strolling along the street ahead of them. With each second, his breathing was getting more frantic.
Faster.
Louder…
They couldn’t afford to be louder, they would get noticed if they were. His face was filled with terror. Reki knew they had to leave, but would Langa be okay to follow? Was he stable enough to walk? Was he at risk of tripping over himself? They didn’t have time to hesitate, the undead would be in earshot soon enough.
Reki didn’t know what to do.
This boy is a liability.
His brain was screaming at him.
Is he really worth your safety?
They had to move, they had to keep going.
Is he worth your life?
Reki brought his hands to Langa’s head, forcing the boy’s gaze on him.
“Look at me,” he whispered, “We have to leave. Look at me.”
His voice was quiet but firm. His fingers held the nape of Langa’s neck, strands of blue hair brushing against them. His stare was shaky, but it was on Reki, and that mattered more than anything else at the moment.
Without a response, Reki continued, “We’re okay, but we have to leave.”
Langa finally seemed to snap back into focus, his eyes focusing on Reki. His breathing was still erratic, but it was slowing down. The loud heaves became weighted breaths. He was coming back.
Reki sighed with relief before he moved a hand down to reach Langa’s. Their eyes stayed on each other until Reki began their escape with a few steps. His grip on Langa’s hand was firm, the boy cautiously moved with him. They walked down the street, into an area with much more abandoned cars. It was an intersection, vehicles from all directions were colliding with each other. Many were on the sidewalks, doors open from their drivers’ abandonment. One particularly bad crash resulted in the rear end of a car poking out from a nearby building’s wall. The traffic light had fallen to the ground, its lenses shattered. Glass crunched on the road beneath them, this place was much more chaotic than their previous isolation.
They had wasted too much time sitting down. By now, they would only have a bit longer to find a safe place before the sun began to set. Staying out late was dangerous, especially for an area they hadn’t explored together. In the dark, they wouldn’t be able to properly assess their surroundings. They would have a much higher chance of stepping on something loud or stumbling. Having a flashlight wouldn’t help either. It would only lure the undead, light was a shiny beacon that led to the unassuming.
Now, their main objective would be to find shelter, preferably somewhere with supplies. Thankfully for them, they were no longer in the heart of the city. They had walked far enough to be midway to the outskirts. They could probably get to the edge by dark if they walked fast enough. They continued through multiple streets, careful not to trip over any garbage or the occasional scurrying rat.
There were far less traces of the undead as they walked farther, the streets began to look emptier and more peaceful. The amount of waste on the sidewalks lessened, and there were only a few deserted cars along the roads. They turned a corner and found themselves on a road filled with several ornate townhouses. Each one differed in color, some kept their original brick designs while others were painted to have an elegant light color palette. The traces of the people who had lived here were clear. Some had now abandoned cars parked in front of their homes. A bike was left, fallen on its side, in front of one of the townhouses. A few children's toys were left in the yard of another, slowly losing their color. Many had pots with plants that were now dried out and dull. Water from rain wasn’t enough to keep them alive.
“It’ll be dark soon.” Langa pointed out, snapping Reki out of his thoughts.
Above them, the sun was beginning to set. The clouds were engulfed in shades of maroon, the purples of night and oranges of dusk met across the sky. They didn’t have enough time to find shelter somewhere else, so this area would have to do. Reki started up the steps to one of the townhouses, gesturing for Langa to try the one adjacent. When he got to the door, he noticed the foul smell leaking out from it. Reki had scavenged enough to know what that meant - it was likely something died there. Even so, they were still alive, and they needed shelter. He attempted to twist the door handle, pulling at it roughly. But, no matter how hard he tugged, it wouldn’t budge.
“It’s locked!” Langa called out from the next house.
Reki groaned as he walked to the next one. Locked. He was contemplating breaking one of the windows when he noticed another building down the street. A small supermarket, no doubt for the original inhabitants of these homes to get their weekly groceries. Him and Langa needed supplies, and there was no better place to get them.
“Come on!” He yelled at Langa, who was pulling so hard on a handle, Reki was sure it would break.
As they made their way to the store, Reki was surprised to see it hadn’t been looted yet. The glass windows and doors had been preserved, no one had forcefully broken in. Aside from the trash that had travelled by the wind and weeds growing through the cracks in the pavement, the exterior looked just as it might have before the apocalypse. There were signs posted in the windows, sales or old job openings, Reki smiled at the reminder of simpler times. As he reached out to open the doors of the time capsule, he made sure to be quiet. Unlike the townhouses, the store wasn’t locked.
They made their way in, noticing how the shelves were almost perfectly arranged. Aside from a few cans knocked to their sides. The sun had fallen by now, the only light that slipped through the windows was from the moon. The store was decently sized, there were a few cash registers in front, and different aisles throughout. Reki was sure there was a bathroom or manager area somewhere, maybe they could stay the night in one. It wouldn’t be ideal to sleep in a public bathroom stall, but it wasn’t like they had many other choices.
Reki was ripped from his thoughts by the sound of a loud crunch, his head darted up as he squinted to find the source. When he looked to the next aisle, he realized Langa had stepped on a bag of chips. He turned around and met Reki’s eyes with a sheepish smile. Reki shook his head and continued on his way.
His first course of action was to find food that would last well beyond the expiration date. The items in stores were already at least a year old. The dairy was long beyond edible, the foul odor of rotten milk filled the room. For now, the main foods he looked for were instant noodles and canned goods. Getting staples like rice and pasta was another choice, but it may be unwise to waste water while boiling. They should focus on getting other supplies too, like matches and bandages. They also needed disinfectant. If the undead didn’t kill them, infection or starvation would.
Reki continued pilfering small items and adding them to his bag, cautious of making it too heavy for him to carry. Eventually, he made his way back to the front of the store. When he saw Langa, he realized the boy had found a bag of his own, a small hiking backpack he had already begun to fill. He was turning over a bag of chips in his hands, holding a small flashlight to it and reading over the labels with a focused expression. Reki snorted before he made his way over.
“You can eat them if you’d like, but they’ll probably taste terrible.” He said, leaning over Langa’s shoulder.
The boy jolted at the sudden voice, but relaxed when he realized it was Reki.
“I might take that chance, I miss junk food.” Langa replied, pouting a bit.
“Me too,” Reki smiled, “But you won’t be saying that when you eat a stale, sour chip.”
Langa grimaced before putting the bag on the shelf with an exaggerated groan.
“So, what did you find?”
“Mostly food, I also found some matches and bandages.” Reki took his bag off to show him the contents.
Langa nodded, eager to show off his own haul, “I got this flashlight…” He danced the light in Reki’s face before continuing, “...a few bottles of water, and some canned soup.”
“Oh, that just reminded me! I think the batteries in mine are gonna run out soon. We should probably get a pack or two.”
Reki dug through his bag before pulling out his old flashlight. When he found it, he flipped the switch to turn it on. It worked, but light emitting from it was weak. It had definitely seen better days, but a quick change of batteries should make it work better. He placed the flashlight back into his bag and quickly made his way into another aisle before returning back to Langa, who was zipping up his backpack. Reki returned holding a large piece of folded paper along with the batteries he said he was going to bring.
“I’m so thankful stores still carry these around,” Reki said as he unfolded the large map. Illustrated on it was the entire mainland of the country with each major road and city labeled carefully.
“You said you knew where the general area of the safe zone was, right?” He asked Langa who nodded and reached his hand out to take the map.
He placed the map on the floor and crouched down. Reki followed after him, kneeling down beside him. Langa studied the map for a moment before he spoke.
“It should be… around here” He traced a circle with his index finger at a few states within the far midwest, the northern portion of the great plains.
“That’s… really far west from here. It would be impossible if we just walked,” Reki said.
The reality of the situation was sinking in. There was no way they could travel that far of a distance without a car, and neither of the two knew how to drive. By foot, it would take them months to travel that distance, not even calculating each break they would need to take. They would need to find a car with a working engine sooner or later and somehow learn to drive it.
“Yeah, we’d definitely need to find a car sometime” Langa stayed silent for a second before continuing, “I don’t think any of the ones around here would even turn on. I remember, a while ago, my dad told me that cars can only sit for about a month without being turned on.”
“I guess that’s just our luck.” Reki frowned.
“Well, maybe along the way west we could find-”
“Wait.” Reki said suddenly, interrupting Langa.
Langa raised his eyebrow, confused. “Wha-”
He was cut off by Reki shushing him once again. He was looking around now, pushing himself and Langa further into the shelf. Langa was about to speak again, but Reki quickly covered his mouth.
“Footsteps. Someone’s here.” He whispered, still frantically searching for the source.
After Langa nodded, Reki moved his hand down, gripping his bat again. He continued listening, the footsteps were heavy and slow. It wasn’t an undead, their footing isn’t so controlled. This was a person, one who could be strong enough to take down both of them. They were speaking loud enough for another person to gain an idea of their location. They had been careless for not checking the entire store for other people. It wouldn’t be a bad plan for someone to use a store as a base, especially since it had all of the necessary supplies. Reki hadn’t met many others since the apocalypse began, but he knew most were only concerned about themselves. Supplies were limited, and one more life was a small price to pay for their own survival.
Once Reki seemed to navigate the direction of the footsteps, he gestured towards Langa with his head. They held their weapons firm, preparing to attack. They slowly moved to the corner of the aisle, Reki led with his bat in the air.
Closer…
Closer…
“Do you guys really think you’re hidden there?” A voice rang out from behind them, followed by the click of a flashlight.
The boys yelled out, nearly tripping over themselves by how fast they turned around.
“Well, what do we have here?” Another voice, from the other side this time. Much deeper than the first.
In a fit of panic, Reki swung his bat towards the larger man. The man easily sidestepped the sloppy strike, causing Reki to lose his balance and stumble. Him and Langa stepped closer to each other as the other two closed in. Their backs flush against the shelf, weapons in hand.
“This looks like it could be fun!” The deeper voice bellowed.