June 24, 2075

1045 CDT

On a Rooftop in North Winner, South Dakota

Anna Robinson's Point of View

“We did it. We actually did it,” I say.

The rain, it’s so chilly. At least I have your jacket since I forgot mine at the station, and no way in hell am I going back to retrieve it. But you don’t have a coat now, so that means we’re both going to get drenched. Sigh, this view of the street from this high up, is quite interesting.

“Anna, why did you save me?!” Nia yells out in anger.

“I think that you and I are more alike than we realize.”

“What? You’re on one!” She rudely points at me.

That’s a new one.

“Hmph! You are definitely not how I imagined my first real friend on Earth to be.”

“I can’t believe that I’m stuck on this rooftop with you. I should just kill myself now,” Nia says bluntly.

“Ouch. How harsh. You are unbelievably rude.”

“Sigh, I’m sorry,” she apologizes in a disheartened tone. “Ignore me. I don’t mean to be so rude. Let’s start this conversation over.”

Your stomach’s rumbling? You’re either peckish or…

“I-I have some beef jerky,” I say.

“I’m a vegetarian! Yeah, I know, ironic, right?” She impolitely rolls her eyes.

“Well, excuse me for trying to be lush.”

“Thank you, Anna,” she kindly thanks with a look of sincerity in her eyes.

“You’re welcome.”

I think I should apologise.

“I’m sorry for calling you a peasant. I-it was rude of me, and I didn’t mean it. I’m still adjusting to life on Earth.”

“You’ve been here for four years, and you’re still adjusting?” She chuckles with a head nod. “Girl, you might never fit in here, but that’s ok. Standing out has its pros and cons.”

“All I ever do is stand out, though. It’s very lonely not having anybody to relate to. All of my friends are on the cruisers, and my B-F-F in the entire solar system stopped texting me shortly after I arrived on Earth.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” She asks with a look of confusion. “Your best friend is right here,” she confirms with a bright smile.

Wow, I’ve never seen you smile before.

“HAHAHAHA!” She laughs maniacally.

Gasp, deception?

“Listen, that was a test. If you’re going to be my best friend, you’ll need to increase your clout,” she reveals with a smug look on her face.

“My what?”

“C-l-o-u-t.”

“I know how to spell it! Hmph! I was just a little baffled. I am still adjusting to earthling slang.”

Clout? I must memorize.

“Earthling slang?” She slightly giggles. “And what does earthling slang sound like?” She asks as she puts her hands on her hips and raises an eyebrow.

“You know. Turn up. On fleek. Lit. Deceased ass. Large yikes. Going off. Flex. Bottom key. Acquiring bread. And finally, casting shade.”

“You’re hilarious, Anna.”

“That must mean my c-l-o-u-t has increased.”

As to be expected of my perfect phenomenal performance.

“Hmm. Y-e-s,” she says with a worried look on her face. “I think it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room.”

“The elephant in the room? That is not slang. It is a metaphorical idiom.”

“I’m aware of that!”

“We can talk about it if you’re ready, but we don’t have to, Nia.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“I want to keep Rico’s death a secret. I murdered him, Anna. I’ll be in so much trouble!” She says with a look of worry on her face.

“You saved my life, Nia! Not only did he disobey orders, but he went nuts, got drunk, and attempted to rape and kill me! I am certain that our superiors will understand after we inform them of what happened. That’s why I think we should tell them not because you’ll get in trouble, but because of the opposite. Olympus needs to know how horrible of a man he was.”

“I…I didn’t mind the name-calling, because he was the only thing I had, so I endured it despite the pain. But one day,” she says as she gazes deeply across the green horizon. “I was late and woke up with morning sickness. I don’t know if it was his or not, and I’ll never know. It probably was because of how much we did it. He’d practically beg, and even force me sometimes because it was one of his methods of relieving stress. And he had a lot of stress. But sometimes, he’d bring a friend or two and, uh yeah.”

“I get it.”

“I was scared to tell him because One. I was afraid he’d leave me and Two. I was afraid that he’d kill our baby. So instead of doin’ something, I just sat and pretended everything was fine. I was too stupid to worry about the inevitable baby bump, but it didn’t even get to that point,” she says as a single tear falls from one of her eyes. “He was extremely pissed off one day. I’ve never seen him so mad before. Of course, I, being the stupid girl I was and still am, tried to comfort him instead of leaving his ass. He didn’t even say anything. He just walked up, looked me in the eyes, and started beating the shit out of me. It was the worst beating he ever gave me in my life,” Nia, sniffing, reveals in tears.

I’m going to give her a hug.

“Anna, you have to believe me!” She says as she hugs me back. “I tried! I tried to protect my stomach! I tried so hard, but you know how strong he is and how hard he hits!”

“Nia, I believe you. I truly am sorry that this happened to you.”

“Will I be forgiven? Do you think I’ll be forgiven?”

“I don’t know. I can’t answer that.”

“It was only after, that I started to despise Rico. It’s so stupid! It took an unborn child’s death for me to finally give a shit about my life!” She vents as we end the hug.

You don’t deserve this, Nia.

“Anna, wait. Let me treat your eye,” Nia says as she pulls out an icepack from one of her pouches.

“It’s so cold, Nia!” I say as she taps the ice pack on my eye.

“Well, it is an ice pack,” she rolls her tear-filled eyes at me.

“Ha, ha. That was a sarcastic laugh.”

“Oh, really? I couldn’t tell,” she chuckles in her own sarcastic tone. “Anna, you know they’re going to transfer us into different squads, right?” She says quietly.

“Huh?!”

“You can’t really fight herds of zombies with two people. Only Red Riding Hood and The Exterminator can do that, but they’re practically zombie-slaying machines, so it doesn’t really count. It’s probably why they’re in Battalion A because their mission is more dangerous than ours. Trapping yourself in a roadblock is way more terrifying than the shit we went through. Let’s face it, Squad Eirene is dead. I’ll be transferred to fill in another squad, and the same thing will happen to you. I don’t know if we’ll be on the same squad, but we’ll probably never see each other again for a long time.”

What?! How unfair! I, I must hold back my tears.

“I see, Nia.”

“Anna, I dunno why people gossip about you all the time. People be casting shade on you for no reason, but I don’t understand why. I can only wish to be as strong as you one day.”

“Strong? Rico beat my arse.”

“What you lack in physical strength, you make up for in spirit,” she says with a slight blush. “Don’t ever forget it.”

“Thank you, Nia. W-what do you plan on doing after you get transferred?”

“Well, I’ll top-key try not to die,” she answers with a chuckle.

“Ditto.”

“But I’ll probably learn more about medicine whenever I can. I studied it to help cope with Rico’s… you know. Ok, this will sound mad corny girl, but I also want to help and save people just like how you saved me,” she struggles to say. “What will you do after the transfer, Anna?” She asks with a bright look of curiosity in her eyes.

“I-D-K yet. I’m just trying to survive for now.”

“We all are, but I think that you’ll be someone the world looks up to someday,” she says proudly.

“Me? Amusing. Nobody even likes me.”

“Yet. Nobody likes you yet. I don’t even like you T-B-H, but we’re best friends now, so I’ll tolerate you,” she says with a soft smirk. “I’m kidding, and I apologize for calling you a harlot. It was insulting.”

“Apology well accepted.”

“You’re not so bad, Anna; for a former Royal. Thank you, for everything.”

*

Meanwhile near Winner Tower, Central Winner

Luke Miller’s Point of View

“Keep moving!” Duy yells out as we continue to fight our way through the streets.

Same formation as earlier, and our ammo is fully replenished, thanks to Teresa! This fight is almost over. We’re almost at the target location, a large office building with plenty of floors to protect us until the Deathbringers are ready. Even though we’re surrounded by hundreds of zombies, we can do it. We just have to keep fighting!

“Oh shit! Get out of the way!” Duy yells out in fear.

A semi-truck?! Those bastards are flipping over a parked semi-truck near the curb, and she’s in the way!

“TERESA! LOOK OUT!” I yell as the truck flips over.

No, fuck! Damn it, we’re so close! The door is right there, but Sonya and the others have gone ahead to clear the pathway up the stairs.

“My legs!” Teresa shrieks in agony. “I can’t feel my legs! Help! Duy! Luke! Help! I’m gonna…”

No no! Not Teresa! I’m so tired of these fucking zombies.

“Duy, we have to help her!” I say.

“No shit! But the zombies are closing in on us, and the path that the others cleared will be gone soon! You know how fast they clump up!” Duy yells as we struggle to free Teresa from the rig of the semi.

I have to save her; I can’t let her die!

“Luke, buddy! I… we can’t do it. It’s too fucking heavy!” Duy says, trying to free Teresa.

“Shut up, Duy! It’s Teresa!!! We’re not leaving her!”

“I know who it is! I’ve known her a lot longer than you!” he snaps back at me.

“Everything isn’t a competition, Duy!”

“I’m in love with her, Luke! All the more reason I don’t want to see her suffer!” Duy admits.

“Suffer?! She passed out from the pain! She has no fucking idea what’s going on!”

“Luke, we can’t save her. The right thing to do is to give her a mercy kill,” he says sounding defeated.

“What?! You just said you love her! How could you say that?! She won’t be able to hear your confession of love if she’s dead!”

“Ah, you’re still a kid. You wouldn’t understand,” Duy says as he prepares to execute her with his pistol. “I’m sorry, Teresa, for everything.”

Damn it! You’re right! Killing her in her sleep is the most humane thing to do but still! I won’t let her die!!!

“AHHHHHH! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE! TERESAAAAAAA!” I scream at the top of my lungs as I deliver a powerful punch to the truck.

What? No fucking way? Did I just do that? Did I really just do that?!

Did I seriously just punch the truck down several blocks and kill hundreds of zombies in the process?!

“Duy… I…” I say.

“Upstairs!” Duy yells out as he gently picks up the unconscious Teresa. “Now!”

What just happened? What the fuck just happened?!