"We are not taking you to her grave given the fact that we have been through a lot, only to get to where we are now." Ace blurted out, keeping his mouth shut after Mike suggested.
"We should go back!" the person who suggested it had let his stubbornness get out, knowing that there wasn't anything wrong with what he said.
"Do you have a death wish, Michael?!" Ace was ready to jump on his dear friend, the boys were causing yet another commotion compared to the girls who would only do things as a joke to turn their frowns upside down.
"And things were going so well, so well, you hear me?" Blessy got in between the two as she squeezed her fists in the most cunning way possible to lecture them about friendship.
"Aren't you guys friends??"
Her lips were formed in a confused shape as one of her eyebrows ascended above the other one, sassily facing both of them as she made her point.
"I wasn't talking about Bonnet's grave, you can bring me there when all of this is done but..." Mike laughed like a maniac upon realizing what his friend had perceived in regard to his suggestion to go back.
"What I ought to say is, the origin." the rest of them now knew that he was referring to the source of their problems. "Specifically, where?" Rissa wondered.
"I have absolutely no clue." the silver-haired boy stopped laughing as soon as they mentioned the part that they are not certain about knowing, falling into a quiet state of mood while they figured out the location.
"So, if we had a map..." Shawn took out his phone but had nothing useful in it, and the same goes for the other survivors when they attempted to check their own phones as well, except for one person.
"Bliss, do you know anything?" Ace questioned in hope.
"Does this mean that you're willing to risk your lives only to put an end to this infection??" she felt a sense of worry, uncertain in deciding if she would share everything she knew with them since she does know a lot more than anyone else in that matter.
"You know something, sis? And you didn't even bother doing anything??"
Rissa triggered the other. "I had to scout the country to locate the whereabouts, I could not have just flown here and gone around, asking about it..." she explained, trying to justify her choices in life as they stood there in surprise but not the good kind.
"Blessy! You knew that something like this would happen, and you didn't even warn us." the older female was in disbelief.
"None of that matters now, we can't bring back time." June ended their fight before it even began once more, letting a moment of silence engulfs their surroundings while clearing each of their minds to prepare for the worst.
"We should talk about this tomorrow, for now, we must find a stable place to gather our courage and a little bit of gear." Blessy sighed as she postponed the reveal of her knowledge, softly urging her sister to halt any further topics about it.
"Your sister is right, we mustn't break off this team as much as possible if we want to survive and do something at once."
Mike and Shawn agreed to this while arising from their seats.
Telling the others to get up too and they departed.
"Isn't it great? How we're just going out for a walk, or trip to the market?" Rissa shook her head from left to right upon hearing the other female talk, putting her hands inside the pocket of her jeans as they walked in two columns.
Mike was ahead of them while Shawn stood beside him along with Blessy who is stretching her hands in the air so freely, and behind them are Rissa, June, and Ace feeling so serious and thinking of the discussion they had earlier.
"This origin, you say..." Ace made Mike elaborate on his idea to better understand their goal and purpose in going there.
"We need to avenge Bonnet's death, she was so young and had a lot ahead of her life." he felt emotional again and their guilt of not being able to protect the girl caused this feeling of sorrow. "We will avenge her, and avenge them all."
"In order to do that, spill." Rissa leaned forward as she separated her legs and spread them with her hands letting her chin rest on them, patiently waiting for her sister to tell them everything she knew.
"I really want to tell you everything that I am aware of, bit by bit, however, there is some private information that I cannot share." she looked at them.
"Due to an agreement that I had made with a bunch of so-called exclusive personnel. To death, I said when I told them that I would promise to keep the confidentiality only between me and those who were present there."
Blessy ignited the others' attention as she started telling them what had happened in a short yet precise manner for them to understand.
"I was fourteen years old when I had come in contact with that exclusive personnel though I wasn't living here yet at that time, and upon overhearing they are supposed to be a secret project... It became the solemn reason why the southern island of this country had lost its habitats, such as the citizens."
The red-headed female vaguely revealed to them.
"That was before you came here when you found out? And it was years when it started??" Rissa was flabbergasted when she thought about the period of time that had passed since the cause of the outbreak began.
"Let me finish, will you??" they nodded and remained silent, lending their ears, eyes, and even their minds to the girl. "Okay, so..."
"It took them a week to notice someone they weren't familiar with, quickly tracking the device I was using to join in their private online call to which I accidentally became a part of... Uhhh, I was kind of testing out my hacking skills as a girl who was studying how to code and meddling with all sorts of technology features." they were shocked to hear this but did not give any reaction, at first, avoiding any interruption to her storytelling session.
"Go on." June rooted for her.
"It wasn't really a big deal, to begin with. They were only after the advancement of this country but it lead to a spread of infection instead, when the person leading the scientists went rogue." her mind made her recall those times when she actually couldn't do anything but sit back and watch it all happen before her.
"There was an error in their research."
"And the thought of that error still lingers in my mind, none of us could save the very person who was in charge of the entire scientific discovery in the human blood because none of us were smart enough to figure out what was wrong in his findings, poor guy!"
"He even had a daughter who was just born during his big breakthrough in the Field of Science."
"I heard that he had bitten her, and she was only a month old." they pitied the scientist as well as his daughter for the unfortunate fate they had lived in this lifetime, having to be treated with care lesser than an animal...
"Nonetheless, after that particular scientist's passing, they locked him up in an isolated yet not so secured cell where he can be seen and studied by the other scientists who participated in the advancement project, and what kind of goal did they have exactly?"
"To give themselves a positive mutation, like transforming their human bodies into something stronger and become the most feared political leaders."
"Those ambitions and greed became a nightmare though once the scientist in charge had tested the formula on himself because they were against using animals in those kinds of experiments. He was the first infected creature..."
"And even if they already kept him stored somewhere safe, the infection continued to spread after he escaped from the cell to which his daughter was found inside, lying in her stroller with no sign of life." Blessy slowly added.
"After that, they closed down the laboratory but didn't put in any more actions, telling me to keep my mouth shut unless I want a bomb to suddenly drop at home..."
"Just like all of you, I wanted to do something but I didn't because I was young." they fully understood her reason.
"I also couldn't be too reckless, it might have become worse than it already was."
"The southern island is where most of our people who are known to be intelligent and contributive come from."
June was all the more informed about the people in their country while Ace knew most of the places or sightseeing that were around them, Shawn being the one who knew all the tea had heard such strange things about that island too, and Mike had knowledge of the languages or dialects that their country possessed.
"This will be easy then."
"And what kind of attribute can you offer to us, Ms. Riss?" Ace made Rissa do an eye-roll as they distributed roles in the team, other than Blessy knowing how to handle technology and having knowledge concerning the event going on...
"I can use my fists better than you can!" the older female backfired. "Carrot head." the other answered. "We need all the help we can get."
Blessy smiled at her with a hint of trust in her eyes, relying on the other female as they plan on journeying across the country to the other side of the island.
The group explored the town before the night arose, and then, another day began with almost the entire world getting fully infected, at this point, time was running without having to wait for them to prepare for any sort of counterattack.
'Wait for a second...' Ace stopped in front of the caravan, it was already a few kilometers from the mall where they met but he found it quite familiar, and yet, somehow the vehicle ended up there. "Why is it here?" he wondered out loud.
"Is there something up?" Rissa asked the male, motioning the others from afar to stop walking, calling their names so loudly as she untied her shoelaces to send them a signal.
"Why are they in such a hurry..?" the 21-year-old female snorted at the sight of her sister and the other boys ahead of them, leaving them both behind.
A series of furniture came breaking out of the windows of the vehicle along with a descending scream of pain from within the caravan as Rissa faced it, not being able to see much from the outside since it was kind of huge in size.
"Ace!" she whispered as time went on without the other survivor in sight, she burst through the door as the caravan stood on the side of the road, the others were still clueless about their disappearance.
"Ace, my fellow!" she placed her foot on the floor of the vehicle, entering her head first while holding onto the sides for support.
The lad was lying on the ground with a corpse in his hand, it was lifeless and there was no sign of it turning into one of their enemies at all. "Dude, are you okay?" the girl asked upon seeing him in tears given the fact that it seemed like Ace knew the person so well which made him enter the caravan in the first place.
"He left me a letter..." he mentioned, pointing at the piece of paper lying on the floor.
'How odd, he looks exactly like the security guard back in the mall.'
Rissa covered her nose from the reeking smell of the corpse, discovering that there is another body inside the bathroom, the door was slightly opened, revealing the other security guard she knew.
"Don't tell me you know these guys?" she scoffed while taking the letter in her hand, feeling utterly shocked about this. -\Our boy, Nick Asher...\- the letter started with an unfavorable call for Ace using his birth name.
-\There is this girl we know from work although, we don't know her personally. She's a great fit for you than that Little Lamb you call.\- it said.
-\But whoever it is that you desire to be with, in the end, we support you and bless that you live with no regrets.\-
"Is he your father?" Ace nodded and looked over to the other body in the bathroom.
"Him too." he answered with his voice seemingly broken from the lump in his throat, mourning so silently for the death of his two fathers.
"I sincerely apologize and I am here for you..." the female paused for a moment as she approached him slowly.
"I can even lend you my handkerchief if you need it." her eyes grew wide once the other individual gave her a weird and questioning reaction on his face.
"I mean, you know? To wipe your tears since I can't really lend my shoulder..."
She suddenly realized what she said, looking at the other survivor as he laughed at the harmless reply. "That is such a unique answer. Very unremarkable." he commented before sighing once more.
"Can you help me?" he planned to bury the bodies of his parents at the back of the vehicle. 'I never knew there was a park around here.'
"You look surprised." the female answered when she noticed his display of shock.
"Nevermind, I think this place is just something they grew on their own. It isn't in any of the maps anyway." they both struggled to lift themselves up, at first, however, the two managed to overcome that.
Soon being able to dig up a hole near a tree that is big enough for two.
"Next stop, the southern island!" they spent days collecting resources, securing places to camp in every single place they have gone through or stayed in, sparing every minute with gladness and perseverance.
"It isn't easy but it'll be worth it."
"I get that we are a part of this team..."
Ace murmured to himself, standing above a cliff where he can see the lonely and empty neighborhood they covered up with tall vehicles to avoid getting contaminated with those living undead beings.
"I still don't fully trust them no matter how much they reveal about themselves." he looked back at what he planted.
"I wonder how long it would take for this to grow." he tilted the bucket filled with water, pouring half of it on the soil as it nourished the seeds under the ground.
Letting out a deep breath while he stared at it. 'The smell of fire.' he thought to himself as he felt the scent of smoke that was starting to burn up.
"Are you finally done exterminating them?!"
The sound of their walky-talky increased in volume as Shawn spoke in a loud voice, asking for an update from the girls since they were both assigned to handle the remains of the monsters that they finished taking care of. "No need to ask."
Rissa replied, the tone of her response making her exhaustion so obvious.
And before you ask, where did they acquire those walky-talkies?
"These things are making everything almost super efficient when we're separated..."
Mike commented as he listened closely to the others talking on the small intercoms.
"Where did they get these intercoms again?" he questioned the younger male beside him, resting from all the hard work.
"I heard from Blessy that her sister and Nick got it from his parents' caravan." the thing about their eldest comrade's discovery about his parent's deaths, they didn't even consider asking him what happened, knowing that it was a shock.
"Even though we expect the worst things possible, it still surprises us." they were all hoping that their families are safe, however, with little knowledge about the outbreak that occurred for a month and a half now.
"I never knew the reason why he was bullied back then, until now..." the silver-haired male took a seat beside his friend, leaning on his back as they took a break for the rest of the day after a long period of time, focusing on scavenging for a few more items that they might possibly be needed someday.
Rissa and Blessy were scouting the last few houses in the town as the day is slowly coming to an end, the two of them did not expect any more trouble as their sleeping hours and recharging of energy came near.
The carrot-haired older sister decided to sneak behind the younger female and eventually, they fell apart from one another.
"Blessy? My baby sister, where are you?!" the 21-year-old female called for her but unfortunately, there was no sign of her anywhere on the premises.
"And I ended up being the one without a walky-talky..." she facepalmed when she found nothing to use in order to communicate with the others.
'That can wait though, I should finish securing this area.'
"Hey, do you feel that?" it was some kind of a sound wave flowing around the red-headed girl, she held onto her sleeves to prepare herself for battle in case another living undead is creeping in closely.
"Please..." she wandered into each corner of a factory as soon as she realized that she was alone, stopping in front of an infected infant wrapped with a cloth.
"Don't make me do this for goodness' sake." she dropped her hands aside, keeping her daggers hidden because she cannot handle the guilt of having an innocent child murdered even though it is actually no longer alive.
"But these sound waves are too hard to keep ourselves from faltering. Somehow, I must stop it." she talked to herself, gently pulling the child.
It was screaming in pain, crying from hunger but what can she do about it?
"I can't really feed you or anything since it could benefit you into growing like those hardcore enemies that we already have, and can barely fight with." she shook her head from the thoughts that were lingering in her mind, vaguely losing her sanity from the sound waves that are traveling inside the abandoned structure.
"Why am I holding this?" she gazed at her palm, currently holding a dagger.
"I need to resist the temptation!!" she scratched her left wrist with the spinning dagger, trying not to give herself a deep wound to worry about, it was driving her mad since there was no one nearby.
"Just a little bit of drop, it wouldn't hurt." she crawled toward the young infected being, letting her blood drip from the cut and be swallowed by the creature.
'This isn't supposed to be happening...' her face fell flat on the cold and hard tiled floor, absorbing the madness that the child was producing as it cried for something to eat or drink, creating the sound waves that traveled not-so-far from Blessy's location.
However, the living undead soon grew quiet and this awakened the red-headed 19-year-old female. "What is this? Am I hallucinating from the effect of the sound waves?"
She faced the child as it became completely silent after a while of being fed with the female's blood. 'Is this some kind of a joke??' she was in a daze from the loss of too much blood and started having these visions of colors surrounding her.
"Get away from me!" the girl tried pushing it away.