As the thunder roared outside, a heavy rainfall started. The world outside was empty, no one could be seen on the road or even in the stores across the street. All shutters were down. The only noise was that of the rainfall.

One month ago it was all good but, things went into a direction of no return at some point. The people of this world were scared, not of aliens or something like that but people. They were scared of each other because someone might turn and the next they knew would be the same thing happening to them. It was just the start, everyone's humanity would be tested because of the things happening right now. There would be more chaos, bloodshed and a whole lot of gore.

-Aria's POV- 

"Boss, it's bad. Several cities are already under lockdown and it won't be long before this city would also be put under a lockdown too." I looked at the man who had just come into my office to inform me about the current situation and instead of leaving, he just stood by the door.

"I know. We are already prepared for it. Even though our strength is not enough, we will overcome this." I said to him and started reading the reports of my company that has been going downhill since the start of the pandemic. A few minutes later I turned on the T.V to watch the news.

The news channel on the T.V. started explaining humanity's current predicament. "The scientists who developed this virus have already been caught and have been interrogated by the government and every person in this world is waiting for the results of this interrogation." The news anchor kept on saying things that I had already known for a while now. The scientists that she was talking about were known for their inventions but one of those inventions now, has caused so much damage to the world that the current population rate is declining faster than ever seen before, it has even left black death behind. The virus they created is said to turn people into cannibals or more like zombies after their death. This situation may seem like those in the movies where the dead people come back to life and start eating everything alive that they come across and yes that is the exact situation people are facing. Everyone had turned against each other, no one wants to trust each other now except for the people with families. The virus has been said to be airborne and has already infected more than half of the population in just a month. The media had speculated that the virus originated from the US but even the media was not sure about the exact location of its spread. No one knew where it was spread from at all. The government was yet to answer the question as to where it was exactly spread from and what were the origins of those scientists who created this virus.

"Hey ! Make sure John gets here safely, I don't want any harm to come to my daughter." I said to the man standing at the door. Not having moved an inch from there for a long time. He radioed the person on the other end and relayed my message.

My daughter, who had gone to school this morning, with John, her favourite uncle and my best friend, even though the school should have been closed a long time ago. Both of them were on their way here. 

I looked through the window at the outside world. It was dark with no lights at all like a blackout had struck the city. Thunder roared now and then as the rain kept falling, it was night time. I hadn't thought that the situation would become this extreme but I had a few contingency plans for situations like this and that was my goal now. Nothing mattered except for survival. 

-An Hour Later- 

A knock was heard on my door and I looked up from the documents that I was reading to occupy myself from not thinking about the worst scenarios regarding my daughter. "Come in." I said and the door opened to reveal my ten year old daughter held in the arms of John. 

She jumped out of his arms and ran towards me "Mommy !!!" She shouted as I left my chair and embraced her in my arms. "How's my sweetheart doing? All good?" I asked and kissed her cheeks, as she giggled.

"Yes, yes. It was fun today but the teacher said that the school will be closed from tomorrow." She said and looked a bit sad when she mentioned her teacher's words. 

"Aww, don't worry sweetie. If the school gets closed, you will be able to spend more time with me. Isn't that good?" I said to lift up her mood. She was still small but the world had become a lot more cruel than it was before. I had to protect her at all costs.

"Reallyyy??" She asked with a joyful look on her cute face. She was my angel, a sweet little angel that kept this demoness chained and I would do anything to protect her. "Yes, yes. We will spend a lot of time together from now on.

The two of us played and joked for a while and soon, dinner came to my office. The food was really the best thing in the world, to lift up moods. The two of us were eating the food when John joined us.

An hour went by in a flash of my daughter explaining her day and now she was sleeping on the bed, in the side room of my office. I gave her a last look and closed the door behind me.

John, who had told the guard that was standing near my door to go and eat with the rest of his team, was now sitting on the chair in front of my desk, looking at the night sky that still hadn't cleared. I went forward and sat on my chair.

"Oh how the world changes, things have gotten really worse now." He said and turned to look towards me. He had been through a lot already, having lost his wife and a child who didn't even get to see the light of the world right after the pandemic hit the world.

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"Yes they have. Is the Base ready?" I asked him. The Base that I was asking about was a place near Yankton, in South Dakota. It was a place that I had built, safe and secure from the rest of the world.

"Yes it is. Each and every one of our people except the ones here are already in the Base. Their families are also at the Base, with everyone going through those protocols that you had set. Although we had a few encounters that required us to take extreme measures there was no one who went against the protocol as they had seen the situation of the outside world. The things happening right now are out of our scope and since there is no cure, we aren't left with many choices. These are the current reports of the Base." John said as he handed me the documents containing the current number of people at the base with their previous occupations and the jobs assigned to them at the base. We had almost a hundred people there, not a lot, but enough to maintain the Base. It took me almost an hour and half to go through the documents, specifying the names and their job descriptions at the Base. I didn’t need to remember their names and their job description but just skimming through it was time consuming.

-Midnight-

I was lying in my bed with Julie beside me, deep in sleep. It has been a month since the virus spread and with people going crazy about it. The government had to take serious measures and put a lot of restrictions on the activities in the city. A month of searching for the scientists who developed the virus has only led to nothing but chaos. A lot of videos have gone viral, showing what the virus does to people and how it makes them want to eat other people. Just like the zombies in the movies. The government has already declared for people to stay inside their homes and a few days from now on the Marshal Law will be implemented. I had to go to the Base before this happens, only by doing that will me and Julie have a way to survive at all.

-The Next Day- 

"Sweetie. Today we will be travelling to a safe place, where we can spend a lot of time together." I said to Julie who was eating cookies while sitting on the couch in my office.

"Mom, you know that even though I am just ten years old, I am still smarter than most of the kids my age." Julie said.

"I know sweetie but there are things that even I don’t know about. We have a lot of time and I will explain everything to you once I understand the whole thing." I said. I didn’t want her to know about those things outside, I want to protect her innocence but I don’t know for how long I can do it. There were things that even I didn’t understand and by doing a thorough research on them, only then will I be able to understand the whole scenario. A while later I heard a knock on the door and John entered the office.

"We can leave now, everything is ready." He said and waved at Julie who was reading one of her story books.

"Good, wait in the parking lot. I'll be there in ten minutes." 

-Ten Minutes Later- 

I got outside the lift and saw my people. The ones working as my security and the ones who had been with me for a long time now. Each and every one of these people have a background that would surely put them behind the bars, heck, even I have a special background but since the world is already in chaos. There was no need for me to hide my identity and it was this identity that will be helpful in this new chaotic world.

"Alright people, let's move out. We have one day to reach the Base. Check your weapons and do not hesitate to kill the dead ones. John, you're with me, rest of you stay alert and keep your guards up. We will be going into a world that has gone to shit now, so be careful about everything." I said and walked towards my car while holding Julie's hand, who had worn headphones because I had told her to. I didn't want her to know about what we were talking about and going to do to get to that Base, yet. There will be time for telling her everything but that is not now.

Our vehicles soon rolled out of the building only to witness the emptiness of the road, the rain had stopped falling just a few hours ago and the road was still wet. We had five vehicles including mine. With each having at least four people in it except for mine. Which only had Julie, John and me. We were currently in New York and the way to Yankton was twenty hours but depending on the situation, it might take us more than that. There was one car behind us and in front of us, with the other two on the right and left side. 

“So, have you thought about what you wanna do now?” I asked John who was sitting in the shotgun seat. The roads as far as we know were empty, because of the safety protocols the government gave but still I could spot a few people here and there. Stealing stuff from the stores and fighting with each other over the stuff.

“I have. I'll be guarding the Base with them.” John said as he started checking out the M16A4 rifle, a standard infantry weapon of the Marine Corps since 2003. It weighs less than 3.3kg (just over 7 pounds), unloaded. It measures 100 cm (39 inches) long, it comes with a 20-round and 30-round magazine, and fires 5.56-mm (.223-calibre) ammunition at a rate of 700–950 rounds per minute. It was a piece of work and getting my hands on this cost a lot of fortune and connections. There were only two rifles with us, and a few Glock-17 right now. Most of the M16A4’s I had purchased were in the Base.

“Fine, it's your choice anyways.” I said and suddenly there was a screeching sound and the vehicle moving in front of us stopped. I immediately put my foot on the breaks, we were just inches from crashing into the vehicle in front of us.

“What happened? Why did you stop?” John asked on the radio. The vehicle in front of us blocked our view so we couldn't see the reason for stopping so suddenly. 

“Boss, we have a situation here and I think you should see this.” The voice on the other side of the radio spoke. John nodded at me and we got out of the vehicles as did everyone else, except for Julie who was sleeping soundly.  It hadn't even been an hour and we already had a situation at hand.

We went around the vehicle in front of us and only to see the road blocked by a truck, which was rolled over.

“Now that is not what I expected.” John said as I looked around the place. There weren't a lot of vehicles because the road was a narrow one that would only allow two vehicles to pass at a time. The truck had blocked the way to pass. 

“What should we do?” John asked me.

“We have to find another route. It may change the duration of our journey but we have no choice here.” I said and ordered everyone to get inside their cars and find another way.