F3, Fewich city
17:18PM
October 13th, 2031.
After a long day of driving, they finally arrived in Fewich. It took them many hours to drive, with one pause and one switch of drivers. Danny drove the first half, and then Vanessa took the final half and drove. Meanwhile, Alex was reading an old book of Material Art in the back while Owen was sleeping until they stopped. A hotel, "Menchik," was their destination, where they would stay for a night as a place of defence.
The night was about to arrive soon, they didn't wait any time to get their stuff and go inside the building. A hotel "Menchik" was a shelter for civils before but now it's abounded for some weird reason. The entry door is impossible to open since it is metallic and the barbell wire was in front of it, thrown like some bush. However, they found one window with a half-broken wooden barricade. It was easy to break it fully and get in without a problem. The hotel wasn't so big but still, they chose to be on 1st floor in one of the rooms. The night has come and the only light they had was the lantern with batteries. Since they were inside in a safe place and since Danny fixed the broken window, they were relieved. They even thought about not putting someone on duty, so all of them could sleep more. Relieved or not, Alex still didn't let his guard down. Before they were about to relax Alex got an idea to go and search a hotel from top to bottom. The four of them went alone. Alex was at the entrance, Danny was on the 1st floor, Owen on the 2nd floor, and Vanessa on the last one, the 3rd floor. They were searching for useful things like lanterns, lights, weapons, bullets, clothes, equipment, or anything else.
The atmosphere was quiet, only footsteps could be heard. Vanessa finished her search, she found some non-open bandages, scissors, more band-aids, and an unopened bottle of alcohol for disinfection. Nothing that much, but in this situation everything helps. The last door on that floor was closed, that was the only closed door. She puts all of her hope in that door, maybe it's closed just because they had storage there, she thought. On her luck, the door wasn't locked, but she heard some strange noise like cracking. The fact that she was in an old building nothing was strange to her, it could be some old installation or a disgusting rat. But it was worse, something the room revealed a hideous nightmare: not just another zombie, but one deformed and mutated. Its head was encrusted with a monstrous fungal growth, and its mouth was a maw of sharp, piranha-like teeth. The creature's body lay twisted on the floor, half-rotten, something she had never faced before.
As Vanessa's gaze locked with the creature's unseeing eyes, it twisted its head toward her with a horrible creak. She screamed, her voice breaking through the creepy silence, and slammed the door immediately.
However, the door couldn't hold such a creature, within a second it was out chasing Vanessa.
"HELP, YOU MORONS WHERE ARE YOU!!!" Vanessa was screaming and running as fast as she could but not as fast as the zombie. It soon grabbed her and threw her to the side, letting the fungus get out of its head. Vanessa tried to get off the floor, but it was too late. The fungus was about to chop her head every second until that head fell down. The sound of a gunshot saved Vanessa's life, firstly it was only one strong noise of a shoot, followed by 3 more but from a pistol. The body of the zombie was now on the floor, and the head was in several pieces in front of her. But then she heard a known voice from the side.
"ARE YOU OKEY?" Owen ran towards her, he looked as frightened as Vanessa was. For the first time, she was happy to see him. She turned her head and noticed Danny as well walking towards her, yet Owen was already on his knees checking her. She does hate them, or better said she hates Danny with her whole heart. But now seeing that this will be a part of her daily life, she has to make it stop. She didn't need to see Danny holding a sniper, she knew he hit the first one by just remembering the sound of the shoot. His shots were just like him, it won't show until the last seconds. That shot saved her life, in conclusion, the person she hates the most saved her life.
"ARE YOU OKAY? DID IT HURT YOU? DID IT BITE YOU ANYWHERE?"
Owen was nervous, frustrated, and traumatized, the rush of various feelings. Before Danny hit the first shoot Owen knew that it could be the end. Understanding the fact that Danny never shot with a sniper before and he was even short on time. That shot could have killed her by more than 50% since Vanessa's head was so close to one of the zombies' fungus.
"I'm okay." She replayed softly, however, Owen stayed in the same position looking at her without even blinking. "You can move out of my face now Owen I'm okay." Vanessa's voice quickly changed to annoyance as she pointed with her finger at Owen's head to push him aside.
The steps were heard coming from the other side, coming faster and faster. Something was on the side where were the stairs, the noise was louder and louder with every second. Danny was in position, ready to shoot it at any second. However, again the unexpected.
"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED...WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT." Alex was the unexpected one, he was yelling back from the stairs and soon started running towards them.
"YOU FUCKING TWINK I ALMOST SHOOT YOU." Danny stammerly shouted as he put the sniper down the second he saw Alex.
Now, four of them were stressed. Alex was running from the ground to the third floor in just two minutes because he heard gunshots. Owen heard Vanessa screaming and faced a moment where he had to look If his friend would save her life or end it. Danny had her life in his hands, unsure if he would shoot her or a zombie. And Vanessa was at the line of life and death.
21:48PM
Time passed, and the first attack of the journey happened on their very first day. What a beginning. They made sure there was no zombie left in any room or behind any door. In the end, Owen and Danny managed to move a large cabinet and lean it against the window they had entered through, even though Danny made it nearly unbreakable. Vanessa became more relaxed as soon as Alex took care of her, finding comfort in her best friend's hug and feeling secure. They were in a room on the first floor that they had broken into, of course. What they found was a lifesaver for their tired eyes: a big bed against the wall, complete with a mattress, a big blanket, and two pillows. This had been the original hotel room; it was guessed that army generals had slept here. Alex and Vanessa were sitting on the bed in the clothes they had slept in: Alex in his classic t-shirt and shorts, and Vanessa in her pink pajamas.
"I'm telling you, I'm not hurt anywhere," Vanessa told Alex multiple times but nothing could stop his stress level now.
"I just want to make sure. I had a heart attack, you know. I didn't know what to think at that moment." Alex replied.
"You got scared for your puppy, didn't you?" Vanessa teased.
"Shut up, I was scared for you... and them, but mainly you. How can I not be scared when you're just one small chick, huh?" Alex said, cupping her cheeks and playfully squishing her face.
"I'll bite you." Vanessa threatened. As soon as Alex moved away slightly, he threw a pillow at her.
"Fuck youuuu, asshole... Will you spill it now?" Vanessa demanded, making a grimace on her face and lifting an eyebrow at him.
"Spill what?" Alex asked, confused at her actions.
"Come on, you two sneaked out yesterday, didn't you?"
"Oh God... Eh, no. I went to him during his duty time to bandage the wound on his neck. That's how I ended up with him, even cutting his hair," Alex explained.
"And that's all?"
"Yeah, why do you sound so confused?"
"Because you two acted quite weird today. Nothing bad happened, right?" Vanessa asked.
"No, of course not. I'm pretty tired, and you know Dan. He easily gets those derealization moments." Alex explained. It was true, but not the full truth about Danny's behavior. Danny's social awkwardness sometimes flared up over insignificant things, like the touch from yesterday. However, Alex hoped it was just the exhaustion.
"Yeah, I forgot how weird your boyfriend is." Vanessa commented.
"Don't start it," Alex warned.
"You know, I talked with Owen and found out something weird,"
"Like what?"
"Like some story where you left and faked everything. Owen even admits that Danny said nothing," Vanessa stated.
"The fuck?" Alex responded, unpleasantly surprised.
"Yeah, pretty messed up. I know he wouldn't lie to me, but the stories don't match. You should talk about it, just to clear things up," Vanessa advised.
"I don't want to mention it or talk about it," But Alex declared it.
"Fucker, I have to make Owen tell me," Vanessa said determinedly.
"I know it's not hard for both of you to gossip."
At that moment, the duo in question opened the door. They had moved the closet and were now back after the adventure of finding a "toilet". They were staying for just one night, so they didn't care too much. Both had changed into t-shirts and shorts or sweatpants. Danny dropped his bag on the floor and placed the sniper on the window shelf with glasses next to it before throwing himself onto the bed and curling up to the left side, half-asleep.
"Is he even alive?" Alex asked.
"He's a better example of a zombie than a zombie itself," Vanessa joked.
"Yah, get those legs next to the wall. I don't want to sleep and smell your stinky socks," Owen warned.
Danny just showed him the middle finger and stayed as he was. Owen lay down on the bed, taking the spot where everyone's legs would normally be. He was the type who slept only curled, and this position was the best way to do it.
"Try to kick me once with those legs, I'm warning you," Owen repeated.
"Just shut up already," Danny replied with an asleep voice.
"How much space did you leave for us, amazingly ridiculous?" Vanessa asked as she went to the lantern, turned it off, and lay down on the right side of the bed, a foot and a half away from Danny. Alex was the last to lie down on the mattress, after taking off his glasses and placing them on the windowsill. He positioned himself between Vanessa and Danny, creating a separation between them. It didn't take long for everyone to fall asleep. They knew they were safe here and the only problem might come when they woke up. But that was a problem for another time. For now, everything was good.