"When I was driving to the center, I saw the same tunnels dug in the city closer to the N River. I think that's how they build their nests. If they are afraid of the light, as in the tales of monsters, then it's time to leave. Moreover, there are more of them than us... ah, you know, today for the first time I missed the traffic and people's curses. I almost lost hope of finding someone. I thought the city was empty and I was alone in it. The destroyed buildings just made it difficult to move half of the road. I was going to leave the city in proud solitude. Fortunately, you showed up, and I'm not going to stay here anymore. We must survive by any means."

"What if… Are there any other survivors?" I expressed my opinion hopefully.

"Even if there were." nodding towards the back of the car, the neighbor opened the window. My eyes fell on the rear passenger seats full of a variety of food and water when I heard the last part of the dialogue:

"I wouldn't take them."

Swallowing hard, I looked at the driver as if he was a stranger.

As if reading my thoughts, the neighbor grinned.

"If the end of the world came, I could be considered a saint. Now everyone wants to survive, and no one will help others just like that."

"And... if there were two left alive?" my skin crawled.

I saw the soft curve of Mr. Mark's blond eyebrows.

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"I would advise them to find a car, and we would go to our destination together." he took a pack of cigarettes out of his breast pocket and handed it to me. I refused.

"I advise you to stick with me. If you stay in the city, you will bitterly regret it at night. You may face your waking nightmare and it will be a painful experience. I was lucky, I slept half the night in the garage, in the observation pit. My swallow saved me by protecting me from enemy eyes." Mr. Mark slapped the steering wheel a couple of times and laughed:

"But then I woke up to Catherine screaming from the 13th house. She screamed as if she was being torn apart. Although, probably, it was. When I got to my feet, I saw that the garage door had been forced open, and some creatures were wandering around the street. I couldn't help the neighbors, I could only shiver and watch."

With a metallic click, the lighter released a blue flame, and the fire touched the tip of the cigarette, instantly burning the paper.

Taking a deep drag on nicotine smoke, the interlocutor relaxed his shoulders. He seemed to be talking about the weather, not the brutal details of last night.

We drove in silence, and I was ready to give up the trip and walk through rubble and mountains of garbage. To where my parents could be.

"Don't worry, I'll make a small circle so that you can see the "right" building. On the ring road, right?"

I nodded gratefully in response to my neighbor's words:

"Thanks a lot, me... I don't even know how to thank you."

"I don't need anything substantial. There's only a man's oath between us." With another puff, the cigarette was finished, and Mr. Mark without a twinge of conscience, threw the steer onto the dilapidated road with a snap of his fingers. "You have to promise me something."

"I'll do anything if I can find my parents, I won't ask for help, I'll find some car to go with you... In the future, if you need help, then... I'll do that..."

I didn't finish the sentence when a neighbor interrupted me with a giggle:

"What can you do that I can't?"

Pressing my head into the hood of my hoodie, I fell silent, searching for the right words.

"I only want one thing, what you don't see there, you have to promise me not to lose hope."