" What a joke, am I right?" Jeremy had a weak smile on his face by now.

" Who can we even protect, when we can't even protect ourselves."

" Do I blame god now, what more do I even have other than the faint hope that they would find peace in their afterlife?"

Suppressed emotions emerged in all of them, the rush of imminent survival had numbed not removed.

Ben was the first to speak, his face had a serious look on it, contrary to his usual smile, his words carried authority.

" All hope is not lost, get yourself together."

" As a soldier, don't you feel ashamed to abandon your duty? If not, then I want you to listen closely."

" There are still people out there, barely surviving, starving in fear of catching attention from monsters that roam the streets."

" They are doing their best to survive as long as they can. Even this kid, Ralph, didn't stop and give up hope."

" You might feel like you have lost your purpose, lost your hope. But you don't need a grand reason to help others."

" Preserving the hope that they carry is a grand enough reason for me. Do you really want them to believe that all humanity was lost that day!"

" Show them the humanity that you carry and humanity will never be lost!"

Jeremy looked shaken, his head facing the floor.

" I understand, Sir. The alcohol must have gotten to my head. My work isn't over yet, how can I have the nerve to act this way."

Jeremy had a new perspective, it wasn't that he was hopeless, he was merely lost in his own head. He had another thing to fight for.

" Don't blame yourself, boy. Winds shake trees often, it's the trees that have roots deep enough to stand their ground. Don't get uprooted."

" Ralph has a way for us to survive and to rebuild civilization."

Ben shortly explained the way they could hunt the monsters to grow their strength and with the army base as their base of operation head over to other cities and get people out of them and into the base.

" Can we really fight them off?" Jeremy had a new fire in his eyes.

" Do you doubt my words, I won't blame you even if you did. I found it hard to believe until Ralph showed it to me."

Jeremy and Ben looked over at Ralph who had been sitting on a nearby chair all this time. Feeling stares on him he looked up, the floor had been mesmerizing, to be disturbed and then rudely stared at, Ralph thought it wise to entertain them for a while.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

" Is there something on my face?"

" No, just that I admire your courage, I wouldn't have dared to touch something that came out of a monster out of curiosity."

" Well it's mostly the fact that I didn't run across many of them and when I did, I was too busy with killing them quickly and changing my location."

Ben smirked at Jeremy.

" That training didn't teach you how to fight shadow monsters?"

Jeremy laughed.

" How could I have, you came up with the training plan after all."

The two men laughed heartily at their inside jokes while Ralph put his headphones on and sat down after taking a last look.

After reminiscing for a while Jeremy directed Ralph to the coziest room the base had to offer. After adjusting to his surroundings, Ralph placed his belongings on the floor and decided to take a quick shower before having a meal.

Luckily, the living quarter was lavish enough to have its own bathroom. Ralph turned on the shower and watched the water flow, as it hit his skin, the coldness washed away the tiredness, the ride had been rough, his nerves taut the entire while, who knew what they could run into on the road?

He had foolishly suggested that highways wouldn't cause any trouble, just because he hadn't yet seen any monster in the open didn't mean that he couldn't. He hadn't only risked his own life but also that of Ben. The prospect of a safe shelter with other people had gotten to his head. Making him take the kind of decisions that he had learned the hard way not to.

' Didn't We make it in the end, and wasn't it worth it? The town was a death sentence anyway. That hulking beast would have come knocking sooner or later.'

Another voice spoke in his head.

' Excuses, not everyone is like you, when Ben dies he won't magically come back to life. Being alive after all your stupidity has made you bold enough to wager a life other than yours. Change your ways or will become something else entirely.'

Ralph stopped making excuses in his head. He just stood there for a while, waiting for the water to wash away the guilt.

After a while, he took a towel and dried himself. After changing into fresh clothes he walked out of the room. He remembered the directions he had been given by Jeremy and made his way over to the dining hall.

It was a large empty hall with lots of tables. A lot of people could eat here at once. The food they served here though, could only be called nutritious. Ralph picked up a loaf of bread and poured himself some warm gravy, which must've been cooked by Jeremy.

He lowered his expectations.

' I shouldn't be a gourmet at others' expense. Should I cook for them sometime?'

Ralph thought to himself as the gravy-dipped piece touched his tongue.

He was utterly shocked.

' How could it be? Have I been a frog in a well all this time? I have to learn his ways even if I have to beg him. I must learn how to cook like him.'

Ralph started idolizing Jeremy in his head.