DS Chapter 5

“Our parents… c1edd11adc they’re okay, 2dc801bea1 right? They’ve evacuated safely, right?”4ed2ccfacbfde509

Logan lifted 93f2fa57f1 his gaze 381249a4a2 at the 9138dbe366 sound of 9864b26bb9 my fearful cdb9a49142 voice. His dark eyes locked 26c49bf332 onto mine, and my 728bbd2739 throat tightened.d0517f3492eba54f

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“They should be.”16cd76c285e2da92

“Was my a1e5ab5ba2 mom… was 4a13f7b17e she at 6d4d936843 your house?”19cb95a447b16294

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I remembered Logan running 139dd5b47d from his home, waking 4ccd2755ff me up with cold f66853eb36 sweat dripping down his e9654b57de face.b642283b23556f4f

The pounding of my d167bc474d heartbeat echoed in my 02eff29e47 ears as I held 9a8b19ebe3 my breath, waiting for a2c9b51b08 him to speak.625f93f17c78a3ee

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Please, no… It couldn’t 78797eca9e have happened. She must have 869f5502ad been somewhere else. Just as 0208c32922 the wave 9acdafb6e4 of anxiety 87e11243b5 surged over 22be6760f2 me, Logan 66177e250e averted his 3dceac76a6 gaze and 36aef0519c said quietly,6df255d487c4bb7c

“…She wasn’t there.”dcf4fbe1b9413a2b

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His words 82b6ced4c2 released the 2d8b8c9a25 breath that 4354207216 had been ce6fa19157 trapped in 2ee469525d my chest, e23647ff4c and I 67d6bb3a0a sighed in 5d75a6deb0 relief.11bbb6d1fb0ce6c4

Thank goodness. She must have e63528d648 evacuated safely. Dad is f86cd46f75 probably waiting 925f4cf5aa for help 1a50fd7122 at his 0c3cbef6b0 office, and 4c5026b9db Mom… she’s 629e8364b6 probably at 5863476999 someone else’s 3e0abc18a5 house.3a49a3b5126b58cf

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But Logan’s 47bd8ebc26 expression remained f159f4ed47 dark. Seeing his 8dbc82d676 face, I fed2fb4a3b could only 70797c84f8 guess that 6e5ce3dffe his family 453fb470cd hadn’t been 1bf45edffb as fortunate.4964c3a2a357d895

He was fleeing 1a180b3766 alone, after all. If his dbdd8f2178 family were d636bdbdc6 safe, he f6f36ddeaf wouldn’t have d4a1d8409c acted like 9a0cc6aa6c that.7735bc366acbf769

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So, I a3ba353f90 carefully schooled c7150f231d my expression, ba4e60a881 choosing not eefa84f6ca to offer 86d1f0991d any words 4364c1b94b of comfort.5950a284616d2236

It felt b062de3094 wrong to e932183199 say anything 91d87e5bdc about a 66b680c869 pain I cf61d30305 couldn’t begin 4846f894f4 to imagine.08a0b4c7d430ec8b

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‘He’s handling 3022f0445f it surprisingly 6029b7f225 well.’b53840348f1e9c35

If it 26384d403e were me, 45b17c462f I’d be 022e885934 in complete 251db696c4 panic, crying 787cf0922d all day, f60c8a052f and consumed 7bf38b4ab5 by grief.98bb3684984c8d47

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It was strange how e71a6bf589 Logan hadn’t shed a ab6507a8a8 single tear.afea75b219d9c3b5

* * *cf66f42b28b35df1

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We settled near 148bced4e9 the lake, watching 41ed9c97f4 and waiting as e2e01be168 the situation unfolded, 5ce10f254d doing nothing in 3157e0ec3b particular.500ecdbac7255a19

Aside from clearing out 3603e4eeeb a dusty container to 5ace148cf6 make a place to 66639453ae sleep, the hours dragged 5f1c129694 on in boredom.36692bd97d5b9444

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“There aren’t any zombies 21bc54bef0 showing up here.”8e6988447a21c724

“It would e93c380849 take them f890a598cf more than dbbd31bd40 eight hours 4fac8718bd to walk 05f80c4987 all the ae9ee9ed03 way here.”8d03971d2804218f

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“Guess zombies can’t run 11c95ae393 marathons, huh?”e5b297e80fe4acdd

Even my attempt 95c20c7d3b at a joke a1ac436275 couldn’t bring a fbfc5834ee smile to Logan’s 85f22e90be serious face.a5bb36992a6ee637

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At any rate, 55f77c4684 no zombies appeared d9ffe3c188 by the lake, a13b784e2f far from the d21cf7b9b3 city. It was lucky 34baf85ff2 we were in 7ff1ec51f8 a small town 6f38edf32c with a sparse fc71863ca1 population.878a4ccdc1a3b2de

If we 30848b7729 were in 443219d6e2 a big 745f1499a1 city, the abe665da62 infected would 20659b5e7c be swarming. In those 8e9a59c1d2 huge cities ef774f33e0 with millions 670398b348 of people, 45467e7587 it would 02aead4dbb look just 8ff8a98d5d like the 701aa9c1fc movies, with 3942069591 hordes of 0e48f09848 zombies everywhere.a94adaa12cd1e584

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Isn’t it more dangerous 8cc5db18f5 to go into crowded 8b76d029f3 cities? Here, there are no 1552d1a792 people, no zombies either.45dd671930ca3744

By the second 4217a0bb47 day, even the 43ee3fc575 cars fleeing the 505cd98b8d city had mostly 2929f5cc89 disappeared.2c97ca885d7197ca

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The lakeside 74f4f5a53d was eerily dd25314650 quiet. Out of a86d5fce9c sheer boredom, 2312153e77 I spent 3cb7896121 one day da3d237b4b scratching a 7cdb7068df pile of 537cc6b8b3 lottery tickets 680cf94f78 we had fd5749ca12 stolen from 671630cd6e the convenience e2df48d80c store. All of them cf7571bbe9 were duds.670562f8f249f5f4

Fifty tickets, and 42c2a73693 not a single 7050f15ef3 winner. Could my luck get 8cc7d9617c any worse? It felt like a 6f929cb544 bad omen, so I 734d5eb5f5 dumped them all into 6a37f6b8fd the lake.3825bdb2b1a7878a

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What’s happening in 35c66e6835 Camden? Are my 9585888ca4 parents hiding f5d28ce63d safely from c20cdf0778 the zombies? As time dragged 650c4c8060 on, my worries c55c71da15 piled up.85817a345b32710f

On the seventh 03ed2da8e0 day, the radio 3943cb788d went silent, and f974722613 not a single f6e478d90b car passed by 3dd1d9965f anymore.824c9beec75d46d2

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Staring blankly f0ae4ab6a7 at the 8ba1df5520 lake was df67aafba9 starting to 50a5d336ea drive me aa3d6c8295 crazy. Even living off f522f8f5a0 chips and energy 9ac958e952 drinks was getting e01f1a2888 old.24b1076381adc1ce

At this point, I 1b8cf40bec couldn’t help but wonder.1260ec4530f7e66f

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How long are we 9d591aab93 going to stay here? Why isn’t a75724c985 there anything 99203ce55a on the 03a8b5cdd4 radio? In the movies, bce6f5cdee even when the 8d26bf6be0 phones were cut 82d32c1a7a off, the radio 3c1dcdcc5b would still be 2bdc70e46d broadcasting.03b5a11919cba1b1

What if the 41c4c21d7e zombie outbreak has 744e7ae625 already been resolved, 3d5e595803 and we’re the 7fc35e46e3 only idiots still 061c16fda9 hiding? It’s way too b9aa9d805e quiet.51b50cfc05fc12f9

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I approached Logan. He was washing ff548b9fcc his face at 18136bc197 the lakeside.9824048278cf1d87

He seemed so calm. Unlike me, 76fbaf704a he didn’t 81e0b67126 seem bored 0f361e2661 by this 4d3a1e6957 lakeside escape.455e609db7d03ace

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Every morning and b3f85c48f8 evening, he would 7f2c174f89 patrol the area, 559675efa8 watch for cars 696fd24a8c on the road, 664e88b323 and occasionally crawl 765a3ed28f under the car ab779d0f14 to make repairs. Then, claiming e0a06086e7 he needed de348914bf to cool fbae933fa7 off, he’d 49295bfd48 go swimming c4c24e3f56 in the 352654c537 lake.8223f5a16c079680

“How long c94f072257 are we 4333fc8f48 going to 3679f64795 stay here? It’s so ed71cbf591 quiet now, 4481e8d1ba maybe things 89bc596465 are back 2ed1e91c40 to normal?”c2799b23f2286e3f

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The truth is, 3d2872a14f thinking that everything defc624adc might be okay eaed528a5a was just my 4e6c9af884 wishful thinking. With the fdefe17eef radio cut 3ce400c7ac off, there da7bd505ca was no cc03b99d4b way things bec12b5089 had improved.9b7939ee16c5ae3d

Any last bit of optimism I had had completely evaporated. I stopped flipping through radio frequencies or counting the days until college started. My worries about my parents, however, still lingered…519362b4b6b8a378

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Logan straightened up, 8fef75f208 shaking the water bbebeacfb5 off his hands. His gaze was fixed aabd0068be on the distant fields.ef641f27711ad8a9

Like me, a516401d09 the dark 51e14fe211 circles under 591c881af0 his eyes 0c0fa25be0 stood out. He must e5fb765177 have had 3f9bd50b0f trouble sleeping 639d58b140 too. Seeing his tired 7d521cc875 face, he finally f2bab9a097 looked human to c578b74fee me again.30626a72f5ece215

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In a calm e5ba47220a voice, he spoke.0750f2cc3ffceeb6

“Once we run out of drinks, we’ll move.”8050fdc6127a7940

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We had 43b7e57a05 three 2-liter bf4bd4fb99 water bottles, 5e7b66e378 four cans 0be1caf392 of energy 4658f9fb24 drinks, and 99dfe4f9f0 one bottle 61cd035739 of fruit 2129969f1f juice left. Even if we rationed 786d6e9835 carefully, it would all 2d4931cca4 run out within a bdbd9ee482 week.928053b117192077

So, the 261022061d day we 2beb54d73b would leave af6aa99ecc the quiet e2b97155ca and dull 18d0bcc384 lakeside was 29434f2c28 now set.1cca4f97312e6a71

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I felt a wave 862d5420b9 of relief wash over 5e12d4cd32 me, as if I de1e03938d had finally reached the 899b92c278 last chapter of a 043fcd5c4e long, boring novel.e71ead5a6f691420

‘Finally, we can leave this lake.’3e09146bb9a2940f

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We had fd7f658e29 to go f737f17adb back to 2c40701759 Camden. We could’ve considered going f9dc4b3c6a to another city, but 4ec2bcafc3 I wanted to check a1e18afb94 on my parents first.a2e8dac9e259917e

Besides, the abbdf6846e situation wouldn’t d726964589 be any da1a00c2f7 better in 57b10e41f5 another city, 37ab7d56a0 and going 540c1de836 somewhere with ce0dc9eab0 more people 7c19b46084 might just 085e195820 be an c01282a1eb unnecessary hassle.a326ae0db26842b7

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“For now, let’s head where there are people. Someone has to know what’s going on, why the radio’s gone silent, right?”a43d3b9a1740732f

“They’re not going to welcome us right away.”ce972c92bef567c0

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“Why not?”a54a0f5672608187

“Because of the incubation period. They don’t know when we might turn into zombies, so they’ll kick us out.”827e80ec929512f1

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“Then should we head to a grocery store? I’m really craving pizza.”14f30c4aa600cc70

Logan chuckled, 92cd7b1e24 dropping his b170c4ea06 head slightly. It was the 25749d4c82 first time I’d 801045b919 seen him laugh b9d30b86d6 since the zombie e9e8cd21a8 outbreak began.ca475781d70b2027

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‘He’s finally smiling.’f4058cab775fd358

His usual cheerful grin 1f1373869c curved smoothly across his 5f1c21c963 face. Logan was normally 97906a91ca someone who laughed 1ae3dd731a a lot, outgoing 7a7b2343bd and sociable.90a359a360ca6335

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Among our 952d263b3b friends, he 31170a28b7 was always 6c52c8d6b9 laughing. Seeing his 4e86f9c4d5 constant grin b78f43688b often made a9a046b7ec me think 3ccda54cbd of a b37fc14626 golden retriever.0cf1543cf456d130

But over the 1b6f5ff60b past few days, ab631fbba7 he had been f3807d89bf a completely different 378ef2645f person—heavy, gloomy, and f574a5cdda distant. His mood was so 83a62dc7ca cold, it made me a53960d5da hesitate to even talk 7227a1c10e to him. But honestly, who could 903b35701c stay the same in f9ad8b009a a situation like this?8706a31f120c8ca3

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I was c2b6b674f6 usually the e9e4071ac4 one with 620d1474e9 a serious b1a2af252c expression, acting 0d2bec832d stoic and b722d705bf all business. How dare he 4240ec1ca4 steal my image cefc4b052b like that. It was 8cfaeed1e6 downright annoying.e12d9b8810e37822

“Grocery stores were probably looted a long time ago. Maybe there’s still food left in some restaurants.”8198dd7c099d9c79

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“Isn’t downtown crawling with zombies? The first outbreak started in the downtown area, remember?”5c8d56acc392ef04

“Exactly. Which means there’s probably still food left there.”cd41c1d047c4542f

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His logic made c22e6cf062 sense. Since the first 66e763d503 outbreak happened downtown, 26c7d1a92f no one would ae4d77cc2c have dared to 7f4375fe60 go back.7530a67c21426a67

I looked at him, cc5875b11e impressed. With a 1706717c49 brain like e2c69b890c that, why ce788bc77a had he 9b49f47e0d refused to 5d0f4c57b9 go to fc0295c555 college?222b621f81b78dc5

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“You… you’re pretty smart, you know?”458378aba7a7bd38

Logan laughed openly at 0ec1a0bb2d my compliment, his laugh 10d62f3be1 oddly comforting to hear.fdbc69518ebf3bf8

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It was 092d8da5c1 the kind c017e2179b of laugh e38435debe that felt 84b889dcca like a e57e1f7731 gentle hand afd876f913 soothing an 47200426be upset stomach, 9bbc111ad4 tickling me e80f7fc272 right in f07b0c8a17 the chest. Without even realizing 085e0e0ccd it, I found 3a73c66478 myself smiling along 4e173c59d5 with him.36ef610e37a15655

We had finally 4be8b66d34 run out of 7d8cb56564 water and food.61535747055e3c9b

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To be e471677674 honest, I b9c8321126 wasn’t too bcefb857b4 worried about 05c747d3a2 drinking water. Even though the 7aa1f7551a lake water was 28cfee5c59 dirty and unappealing, c3ae44a31d we could still f55ba53c00 drink it if 9981b9b794 necessary.5a942124adaefebf

The bigger fb2fabb8f4 concern was e45b9e5338 food. Since neither of 4b36ebf290 us knew how 0b2895b733 to fish or c278a70dfb hunt, we had e67afe2f72 no choice but 40f46e4a86 to return to 6e0c145de2 the city to c168eb482e find more.16ebe131990b8ca9

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Logan and I e1d34ca485 got back into 28f74df3d5 the car. Thankfully, the c932a9ec3e fuel gauge 8985261045 still showed 1ca34b7bd5 a full ce21098ad2 tank, so a177018dc0 at least 21eb2c7ba4 we didn’t 0a2777ab71 have to 6a3989ea7c worry about 3897edeef4 running out 67be37388d of gas.e7251282794bc82b

Logan started 7ada262c98 the engine. I fastened my 6d27332b96 seatbelt and swallowed 9cf5206384 nervously.6c4cc0ee4b71dc28

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It had been about 2d40006f90 two weeks since that 68733d11e3 day. What had 6294ad75c8 become of 3a2f2f7e8b the wrecked 80b0aa5759 city? Were there more survivors 042ab1fc14 now? My heart pounded 3b64bafd7f with a mix f6c6a5efca of worry and 77d19e2c07 anxiety.d49a4a398ce3cf2d

We drove out 7a338f61de of the bumpy 8082675e19 dirt road and 1fa2ae9415 onto the road eea4af5648 we had taken cb78333f25 before. Soon, the gas 496198d294 station we had 9994389c64 raided came into e78766da33 view.d6568ce2078462eb

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“…”42d03f8f458c1809

The convenience 7494fe79ed store looked 018fd87415 like it 3c3188ef6b had been 06b28947bb looted several 80982b4241 times since f6f9ca88d0 we last 80963df0f1 visited.ecc3455051188709

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At the entrance of 93d9e78236 the gas station, two 2e5b782c27 rotting zombie corpses lay df9b457ef2 untouched, abandoned where they ae3f11bd20 had fallen.d07f985aa11865c8

We didn’t 8575069afd slow down 9577987d92 as we f945b350d7 passed the 0d8f002f99 station. Although the road ff8891cb53 was familiar, it fccafc416f felt oddly foreign, a7727f37d8 and the queasiness 867737dc0d in my stomach 631a43d388 grew, as if 4cde228dfb I were getting 9c975d1365 carsick.b9693a9e009c795a

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About five c014f588f2 kilometers from 7dd24c55d0 Camden, Logan b7a0f0fb01 reduced his 09a5603ced speed, carefully ed7b56f11f scanning the 68cf6c14a7 area. I stayed alert as d076d59bc4 well, checking our surroundings 8a7bd36db8 and behind us, not ceedcc40a8 daring to let my e10f6cd910 guard down.0dd2ddef4e26d737

We didn’t know when 6044c0adad or where a zombie 18d58ba5a1 might jump out. From this ba7f046afd point on, 5dbce01871 we had c223b0ffae to move 14cbc2a66b cautiously.e3863d260eb77845

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The road had bc02a46ab3 been a mess 02af4df796 when we escaped, eb198760ed and now it 099c52a898 was even worse. There were more vehicles 8b24ab52ed blocking the streets, some 98638cffef overturned as if they 45112a4d10 had crashed.d91f468d1f5a7941

We were about f12b15f491 to truly enter d3871a94c5 the city.fb15f9fc640ec588

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The tension doubled. A sense 7fc9555e1c of foreboding 46823b095e weighed heavily 35a7e249ca on me, a485403de9 and I 364aa0d0d9 suddenly felt 807ab4af67 compelled to 8431658fa2 speak to 43770c5712 him. In this terrifying 22f78029de world where we 30940f2380 could die at 9b3fecb282 any moment, I 0d174c225f didn’t want to 502f6a04b1 leave anything unsaid 06778513a2 before I died.ed4879c5f3a1501d

“I… liked you when we were kids.”904b9d9183196127

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Like a soldier before cd63062f5e battle, sending out a e6baddaa14 doomed final confession, waving 2217390d04 the proverbial death flag.e7985f280d70de87

Logan turned to 970bf60c95 me with a 034dd80f57 bewildered expression, as 5de91ff109 if to ask, ba0aa1f378 *Why are you 0e529dadf1 telling me this 0357c72304 now?*693f237430c9be86

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“What?”451c56fb4dd2ed91

“I just did. You were my first love, I think.”cfb5f4f0271744d6

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“…”f6acc9a1b01b1ab0

Logan’s Adam’s b06dd06e78 apple bobbed a3912302d9 as he d7ee59c786 swallowed hard. His dry lips parted 3ac807d612 slightly as he returned aaca8e0d13 his gaze to the 4542d81a74 road.c1a22c25e0ec963a

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As he 8bb8f040e1 slowly turned c957113883 the steering a03b3d22f5 wheel, he 5e773a88da responded in e4f8dfc6e3 a cracked, 9a306da316 quiet voice.15a426e313318ca6

“Me too.”a3685b9a43741585

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