We decided to discuss our further route in the morning as it was getting dark outside, and I was strongly advised not to go into the city at night. But first I wanted to find out what was going on around me.

I was given a private room in the guesthouse for the night. They wanted to take Mary to the girls' room, but she refused to leave me. So, I left her in the room, put the phone on the charger and went to get some information.

Vikki and two other girls were cooking something in the kitchen, and the men were drinking beer and discussing the upcoming trip. As I heard, they were going to rob the Metro supermarket the next day, which was not far from our location. It was a risky idea. When all started, people immediately rushed there to get supplies, resulting in a huge crowd of zombies at the entrance of the supermarket.

After being introduced to everyone there and well fed, I joined the conversation.

- Matt, do you know how to hold a gun? - Paul asked.

- I was in the army, and after that we went to the shooting range a few times with friends - I replied.

- Well, that's not bad. And most people don't even know which side the bullets come out of. I'm exaggerating, of course, but in general the situation is deplorable.

- Guys, what's going on in the city? And the world in general. I was at the station all the time and was in a complete information vacuum.

- The whole world is fucked - replied to the guy who was introduced to me by Don - there are rumors that even nuclear weapons have been used in India.

- There are a lot of horror stories now. And the first one says that some psycho blew up a whole building in the center with a hundred zombies inside. And in a couple of days, it will turn out that it wasn't a psycho, it was a military armored corp. And not the building, but the whole fucking Times Square.

- So, this shit happens all over the world, I said. - What about the government?

- Yeah, I heard they're hiding somewhere in Virginia. The local military are trying to organize some kind of order, but we haven't managed to work with them yet. There are difference opinions in our group about this. What are you going to do next? Will you stay with us?

- My wife and my daughter are in Sent Louis. So, I'll try to get through to them.

- And what about the pretty girl you brought with you? - asked Don with interest.

- What's talking about, but Don about women, - Paul laughed.

- I only met Mary a few days ago.

- So, you don't mind if I took a crack at her? - Don persisted.

- I'm against it - I replied with pressure. - This girl has been through a lot, so find someone else.

- Why are you liking the dog in the manger? Neither you nor the people. Let the girl decide for herself whether she's interested or not, - he said with a wry grin.

I hated people like him. I saw he didn't care about Mary; he was just provoking me. And not because he was trying to get something out of it, but because he was just doing it for fun.

- Enough! - Vikki came to the table. - Don, if you go near that girl, I'll cut your balls off. I hope you heard me.

Vikki, after taking off her leathers and motorcycle helmet, turned out to be a very pretty young girl. Long, waist-length light brown hair, blue eyes and a very slight plumpness. But what kind of fullness - I always put this kind of girl in the category of "something to hold on to". It was obvious that the girl was actively keeping fit.

Don stood up abruptly and, after giving me a contemptuous look, went upstairs. He was a real 'shit man'.

- Don't worry about him. He'll calm down by tomorrow. What are you going to do, Matt? - Vikki took the vacant chair and rested her head on her hand.

- I have to go back home and pick up a few things from the apartment and the car. Then I'll go to Sent Louis. I hope that Mary will want to stay in your group. My journey might be too dangerous. You will accept her, won't you?

- Yes, of course, there's no question about it. But are you sure you'll be able to get into the city and out again? It's hell out there right now. You shouldn't go in blocks. Those creatures aren't just fast, they can jump several meters. We lost a man when we were trying to get a family out of an apartment block. We were clearing the house and a zombie literally jumped on our heads from the top of the stairs.

- But you can't give me a car either, can you?

- Sorry. There are more and more of us every day, but the number of cars doesn't increase.

- So, there's nothing to discuss. Can you drive me home tomorrow morning?

- Where do you live?

- It's about ten minutes from the police station where you picked me up.

- Okay, - Paul replied for everyone, - but I'm sorry, we're not going to help with the clean-up. We don't have the time. And we're not going to risk our lives for your car.

- Thank you, - I said sincerely, - and what about a gun?

- You're a sly one! We can give you a Glok and a box of bullets. We can't help you with M4s, sorry, we need it more ourselves.

But if they thought I was upset, they were wrong. When I started this conversation, I had no idea that I would get a ride home and weapons.

When I got back to my room, I quickly grabbed my mobile phone and went back outside. The first thing I did was checking the dozens of messages. I wanted to dial Alice's number right away, but I figured there would be anything important in the messages. Or maybe she'd written asking me not to call her because they shouldn't be allowed to make any noise.

At first the texts were disturbing, full of fear and despair. Then, after Alice's father took them to his house, she calmed down a bit. After that, the messages were just full of excitement about my disappearance.

"Matt, answer me, please."

"Are you okay???"

"Please tell me that nothing has happened to you. Write something."

And the next messages tore my heart apart.

"Matt, my love, I'm sorry. Forgive me for nagging you for so long because of your work, because of my endless jealousy. I'll do anything if you survive."

"Your phone has been disconnected for two days now. My father has been subtly hinting at me, apparently thinking I'm stupid. I know you're probably dead because you disappeared. But I don't want to believe it. Come back!"

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Kiara read the first word today...you had to know!!!"

And a few dozen more messages just talking about what was going on.

Since there were no call bans, I immediately dialed her number.

- Hello? - I heard a man's voice, which I instantly recognized as her father's.

- Mr. Bidder, good evening! This is Matt!

- Matt? Well, thank God - he said with relief. - To be honest, I had already put a kibosh on you.

- I'm not surprised. Can I hear Alice and Kiara? Why did you hold the phone? Is everything all right?

- Everything's fine, calm down. They've gone to bed. I took the phone because my daughter didn't let go of it and she's always texting. She needs to think about Kira right now.

- You were right. Can you call her?

- Just a second.

I had to wait while Mr. Bidder went into the other room.

- Yes? - I heard my wife's voice.

- Alice!

- Matt, my God, you're alive! Asshole! Bastard! I hate you! Do you have any idea what you put me through? I'm almost out of breath! I hate you, hate you!

- I love you too,' I smiled, 'is everything OK over there?

Instead of answering, I heard the girl sniffle angrily. I suddenly remembered that I had once fallen in love with her for her charming impulsiveness.

- It's all right,' she finally began to calm down. - We're in the village now, we haven't even seen any zombies yet. Where have you been?

- Yeah, there were some problems, and I couldn't charge my phone. I'll try to go to you tomorrow. I have to pick up my car and it's best not to go into the city at night. Can I talk to Kiara now?

- She's asleep, Matt, I just put her to bed. Shall we do it in the morning?

- OK, no problem.

- But be careful in town, OK? Do you remember Helen, my cousin?

- The one who used to dye her hair weird colors?

- Yeah, that's she. Dad tried to pick her family up too, but when he got to their block, he saw her and her husband eating someone near the building.

- Fucking hell....

- Matt!

- Yeah, sorry. It's just hard enough to describe what's going on in the world in other words.

- I agree. Tell me what you've been going through the last few days.

We talked for hours, pausing for a few moments when the connection went down. We talked about the first days of the zombie apocalypse and then we moved on to old memories. It didn't matter if they were good or bad. We just put off the moment when we had to hang up the phone as long as possible. It was as if we were afraid, it would be the last conversation we'd ever have.

It was my dead phone that helped us get away from each other. But it had been signaling for a long time, so we were both ready for it, having agreed to call each other when I would be in my own flat.

At the end of the call, I didn't go into the house, where the light was still on in the kitchen. I wanted to get some sleep, so I went to my room.

Mary was in bed, sobbing quietly. I wanted to lie down on the floor. But she reacted immediately and asked me to lie down next to her. There was no innuendo in her request; she was just scared and lonely. Her parents' and brother's phones were switched off. Perhaps they were in the same situation as us, but we both realized that the other option was far more likely. I was even relieved for a second that I hadn't had any other close relatives. I couldn't imagine how survivors could survive so much loss. With these thoughts I fell asleep.

When I woke up in the morning, I realized that Mary wasn't there anymore. I didn't feel like getting up, but from the sounds coming from the street I could know that people were already busy.

There was a small meeting in the kitchen again. Mary and Vikki were drinking herbal tea, judging by the smell, and talking peacefully about something. I was glad that the girl was at least a bit livelier.

- Matt, good morning! - Paul said cheerfully. - Haven't you changed your mind about going home?

- No, why should I? - I asked, making myself some instant coffee.

- We are planning a route. Can you help us at a food stall on the way to your house?

- No problem. Can I borrow your M4? I have a feeling I'm going to shoot today.

- Sure. Come on, I'll show you something.

Paul and I went up to the attic, and there was a pile of leather clothes.

- Did you rob a bunch of bikers?

- No, we visited a couple of motorcycle clubs and leather jacket shops. I always wondered why people don't wear leather first in films. They can't bite through it. Pick something up. It's not a panacea, but it might save your life.

- You know, I always wondered why zombies always come out in the summer. Now I'm talking about the movies. Imagine how good it would be in winter, when it's 77 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. One night they would all turn to ice. Then they could be killed without any risk. Nice. No, man, it started in summer too. It was a trap.

- That's right, - Paul laughed, somehow thinking I was joking.

I chose a thick leather jacket and motorcycle gloves. There was nothing suitable for trousers, and I had a good pair of boots at home.

- Are you ready? - asked the bearded man, "Are you sure you don't want to take anything else?

- I don't think I need anything. Just make sure Vikki will take Mary to the attic, she'll need some extra protection.

- All right. I've got a present for you, because it's kind of ugly in my heart that we can't help you with the car.

- Come on, you've already saved our lives.

Meanwhile, Paul took a knife out of his backpack and handed it to me.

- Here, take it. It's a Colt CT45 Jungle Commander, used by some special units of the FBI. A Glok is good, of course, but in close combat you might need something quieter. Do you know how to use it? Won't you get scratched?

- I'll try - I replied, pulling it out of its leather sheath - that's a good thing! Thank you very much. Do I owe you anything for this?

- Oh, come on. Maybe we'll meet again, and I'll need your help.

Half an hour later, we were on the ring road towards the city. On the opposite side of the road, we could still see columns of survivors, skillfully maneuvering between abandoned or crashed cars.

- Matt, remember this. Zombies only react to sound when a person is in their field of vision. That's why we drove calmly to the police station, not afraid that the crowd at the entrance would rush in our direction. It seems that with all the cacophony of noise in the city, they just get lost and don't know where to go. But indoors, everything changes. So, try to be as quiet as possible inside buildings.

- Important information. And what do they do in the dark?

- They stand around and wait for something to happen. We don't know if you can get blood on your face and walk past them. We haven't been in a desperate enough situation to find a madman who wills to try.

- I'm afraid someone's going to have to do it sooner or later," I said, looking around the dying town.

- Maybe, - he said thoughtfully.

The question of why we were going to the stall that was not far from my house disappeared of its own accord. Most of the shops had already been looted. And there were crowds of zombies in more or less large supermarkets, lazily turning their heads in our direction.

- Why aren't they following us? - I wondered.

- I don't know. Maybe they know they can't catch up! But if they have at least the rudiments of intelligence, then humanity is definitely doomed.

- I don't think so. In my opinion, they could put a few armored units in a city and clean it up. What does the military do?

- Well, when you meet them, ask about it. All I care about right now is the survival of our group.

- All right, what's the plan?

- It's quite simple. Four men will secure the perimeter, four men will load the goods into the car. Mary, you will stay put, no matter what happens, got it?

She nodded silently and Paul continued.

- Matt, you will be the loader, as there are better shots than you. Don't you mind?

- I don't mind. Although, to tell the truth, I was hoping to do some shooting at the same time. Well, you're in charge here, so no problem.

That's the deal.

We arrived at the stall ten minutes later. There were a few zombies wandering around, staring at us as if they hadn't decided whether or not to attack us. The trigger was our getting out of the cars. And when three men, whose names I didn't remember, stood around the cars and started shooting zombies, Paul had to deal with a one-armed corpse in a vest who was running towards him with the help of a knife.

- I'm lending my hand," he explained. - What are you standing there for? Go to the shop! Take everything and we'll sort it out! We have got ten minutes, no more. Then we're out of here.

We lost one of the guys in the first minute. While we were clearing the shelves, he went into the back room, where a woman, apparently a shop assistant, came at him from the side. I reacted immediately and gave her a short blow to the head. Unfortunately, my efforts could not help our fighter. The dead girl had managed to rip off a piece of his ear.

- Matt, damn it, why didn't you check the back room? - he shouted, examining his comrade's wound.

- I forgot. I stupidly forgot. I thought if the shop was locked, there was no one in it,' I excused myself.

Only now I saw that the boy who had been bitten was a teenager. He was holding his hand to the wound and seemed to feel no pain from the shock.

- Uncle Paul, - he said in a trembling voice, - I'm not going to die, am I?

- Why did you stop? - he shouted, - let's keep loading! - Then he turned to the boy. - Mike, let's go to the car. You'll rest now and everything will pass.

And as soon as they got out and disappeared into the corridor, a single shot rang out from that side. A second later Paul returned, wiping tears from his eyes.

- I didn't want to take him with us, - he said quietly, - I gave in to persuasion and decided that an extra pair of hands wouldn't hurt. What an idiot! Did you pack everything? Let's go.

It took us about five minutes to get everything packed in the car, and then we were on our way to my house.

- Aren't you going to pick him up? - I asked in surprise.

Paul just shook his head and didn't answer.

When I looked back, I saw that our comrade was already being torn to pieces by a zombie.