DS Chapter 5

“Our parents… they’re okay, aa81f68927 right? They’ve evacuated safely, a1b6eecb62 right?”546185a11e9f2713

Logan lifted his gaze 9c3fcb674c at the sound of 3482b5e1c9 my fearful voice. His dark eyes locked 96dc6ff339 onto mine, and my 4c0b496a97 throat tightened.1dc557e3e40aae7a

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“They should be.”bb39cc229cc56c33

“Was my mom… was e1002734cc she at your house?”c6fccdc5c9545e9d

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I remembered 94c5be29d3 Logan running ff316458de from his 1c418c1df0 home, waking a028acedcf me up b0d26e0aff with cold e83046b36c sweat dripping 45e5083e08 down his f6da4ed6af face.6ff15af015db1b2e

The pounding of 7b5dac2daf my heartbeat echoed 0f2e244e33 in my ears af79fc2598 as I held 5e55d43579 my breath, waiting f715b51b0b for him to 090a3bb4de speak.bde839b2e6334bd5

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Please, no… It 3504e1bae5 couldn’t have happened. She must have been 18ca6a0ecf somewhere else. Just as the wave 89568f1ca6 of anxiety surged over 85bf1edf80 me, Logan averted his 8e1c5ff57e gaze and said quietly,ea4082ec78c1e8db

“…She wasn’t there.”0528406650a21177

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His words e2dbc61e7e released the 9231aee28d breath that 1a1d17b9ec had been 063b5703c9 trapped in 947698e28e my chest, fc95ba0024 and I d748221ff9 sighed in fd2013517c relief.e02ff5416503a5b0

Thank goodness. She must have 09d8f22560 evacuated safely. Dad is probably waiting 82b850a861 for help at his 2aa328de08 office, and Mom… she’s dae795920a probably at someone else’s 641139617d house.adc9c6da7989cdd9

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But Logan’s expression remained 63486aed7e dark. Seeing his 6664277d94 face, I bd8ad8a381 could only 93a1e979f7 guess that 13f8071f5a his family 64f32f1a50 hadn’t been 2ec6b62e38 as fortunate.8a7cbc39a06beacc

He was fleeing ae9e97b46e alone, after all. If his 01e0ed029d family were a28ffea629 safe, he e769ae2782 wouldn’t have a5bba7b2ba acted like 699a9dbc4d that.092f482d03e4b4ae

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So, I 8f0e0998fc carefully schooled 652a474706 my expression, 9f845befd8 choosing not 6b71c08e3c to offer c4eadbff16 any words 92d84228d9 of comfort.2e15ac9306d276d6

It felt 2da399cb06 wrong to 614981745d say anything 2e3a400f83 about a be7bdcc344 pain I f346271c30 couldn’t begin 1bf8ee0f70 to imagine.f04b90c09b4857ee

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‘He’s handling it e06483134a surprisingly well.’726c23dd91e0d288

If it were cebfffa01f me, I’d be ff3e7c9408 in complete panic, 29eb75f84b crying all day, 2a16390624 and consumed by 39baa18e84 grief.d4a0c3abbc89e61d

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It was strange how 7a0cef2313 Logan hadn’t shed a faa88f9cce single tear.d435f688390df1db

* * *883e8f361b7e3bb7

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We settled e6598061ad near the be081c6b1d lake, watching d5e1fe16f9 and waiting 87295bb68b as the f0f6bfceda situation unfolded, af6259a617 doing nothing 3f0091138d in particular.41c20c7995b2649e

Aside from clearing dc8c97e4ba out a dusty 76081d2821 container to make f2c0acf6ca a place to d2f9fdf1c0 sleep, the hours bafdcba245 dragged on in a021b74873 boredom.967191c8d2d36ab6

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“There aren’t any zombies 7d5d64ffbf showing up here.”f7c6efb7d1b27c7a

“It would take them e518e7cdd8 more than eight hours b9f62f1aee to walk all the 83455d95a3 way here.”d862afe3466f07d7

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“Guess zombies ccb393573d can’t run b09c54d190 marathons, huh?”88abe7ed76f7ad4c

Even my e44a5057d4 attempt at 974b6829e6 a joke 08079aa2ff couldn’t bring 8b129b3a79 a smile 3fdd8ec9e0 to Logan’s 8e248502a0 serious face.1e0a336cf63a72af

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At any rate, 261e2a7af2 no zombies appeared dfb921d69b by the lake, 08c0349531 far from the 4f797f9e86 city. It was lucky eaf338db88 we were in b7374774ad a small town e50991af9c with a sparse 209c5218f9 population.a86b2e2515b165a2

If we were 166fed041c in a big 76cee3c200 city, the infected 2f96aefd0a would be swarming. In those huge 29e866829d cities with millions d6e5152eb3 of people, it ab978ff19f would look just 1692d60536 like the movies, 0ad2ab9cb2 with hordes of cbf3f5c26a zombies everywhere.7597e809cde976ad

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Isn’t it more dangerous 7f20072f45 to go into crowded 961c3f2e78 cities? Here, there are 310163337f no people, no c17e273a18 zombies either.c69a11729d45aceb

By the acfb5304e5 second day, 9d02e87681 even the 2a7a3b0d78 cars fleeing 364de82896 the city d0e6a9982c had mostly ba2b9e2f57 disappeared.861649dd06daa2e0

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The lakeside 715be033d2 was eerily eccde710e7 quiet. Out of 3ff715bfb4 sheer boredom, 24d9cde113 I spent 562483c517 one day ad9dd75214 scratching a d4769b7175 pile of 34902c880e lottery tickets 728529fa55 we had 1cc8eb5f19 stolen from 6129a45612 the convenience a2b354f7d1 store. All of them were 4aa66a85f1 duds.a7db079a74d578b7

Fifty tickets, and not 2cf9248c93 a single winner. Could my 47f9bf6a2d luck get bdf1039f9c any worse? It felt 59758519b2 like a 149b8320ec bad omen, ab9783a887 so I e100546323 dumped them a55e0059d6 all into 21551fed61 the lake.9e8aa72a29fbafdd

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What’s happening 34969b1b26 in Camden? Are my parents de51000ee5 hiding safely from 4fd6f3d644 the zombies? As time f589c61021 dragged on, 2414fbb376 my worries 6ab937588d piled up.3be9a8b7dce8aa7b

On the 00278a1431 seventh day, 8919edf0c9 the radio 9177b51b98 went silent, 878fc7a2b4 and not 0b0966a08a a single 433d95e865 car passed 18c595faad by anymore.bccbdc89ca358995

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Staring blankly at the 67aeae54d4 lake was starting to ad869aa897 drive me crazy. Even living off a65bda7296 chips and energy 8aea84f079 drinks was getting 95c555f540 old.3bb5d1c11a80d662

At this d823569b0e point, I adc6d383ab couldn’t help 1b9b72ba0a but wonder.6459562e9a54005b

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How long are we e0cedd0bd8 going to stay here? Why isn’t ccda0d84a8 there anything 6207bbc1f9 on the e8db04392c radio? In the movies, even 73b36b8f17 when the phones were 82bccd1cf4 cut off, the radio ac5fae281d would still be broadcasting.a3d95f2ae4c3d3ff

What if 00e2405376 the zombie 65706e97a2 outbreak has e7e211527f already been 5cbbf6705d resolved, and c4a7cfa08c we’re the 52683aa509 only idiots ad113dbf7f still hiding? It’s way too quiet.a2d077683bc5e0e7

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I approached Logan. He was washing his 5a097c2e67 face at the lakeside.3f2045443ed12cb4

He seemed 3893c36610 so calm. Unlike me, cd21fc53ab he didn’t 32b12ceb9c seem bored b5bea5d5cd by this 650ad685d7 lakeside escape.84c098b429c47ec3

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Every morning and evening, 7d50fac25a he would patrol the 1f61387b55 area, watch for cars bab6d7b484 on the road, and a5bf8d9da7 occasionally crawl under the dd1c05792f car to make repairs. Then, claiming he cf83cd6ab5 needed to cool d0bf1b1c20 off, he’d go 049291801b swimming in the b8dc640eb6 lake.c3903c94daab3d18

“How long are we 686ca46ed1 going to stay here? It’s so quiet now, 2522017242 maybe things are back a044b6d409 to normal?”c0cac13f40840eef

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The truth 0578c4c69a is, thinking f8d3de4df8 that everything 5d7fc7b190 might be 29c6e1651e okay was 608eaaf5bc just my 7eb112a636 wishful thinking. With the f8e285a4c9 radio cut 576e5f91c8 off, there fa7ece3e63 was no 64f4062b4a way things f74679e813 had improved.28d8747c938c5ae8

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…bb4863286b5ddf2d

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Logan straightened up, 923f55befe shaking the water 1e08775806 off his hands. His gaze b2343d707d was fixed a0818f0b2d on the a63e7387d1 distant fields.472f46f8011b528c

Like me, the 02ce8a3341 dark circles under 1268b26737 his eyes stood 64f2d5332e out. He must have eb965f3b8f had trouble sleeping 85e47b4b69 too. Seeing his 4637881c52 tired face, ebbd4b539e he finally 4132a74f46 looked human d8e91aab30 to me c656c7f9d3 again.6af48bfed2549319

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In a calm 5efe2c1b06 voice, he spoke.6d4b01ec733b9a02

“Once we run out of drinks, we’ll move.”337f7027bb50bb44

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We had three 0efa34a733 2-liter water bottles, 01372bbd62 four cans of 0d00f2b872 energy drinks, and ee9d3c92c7 one bottle of 3df80f716d fruit juice left. Even if we rationed 846c7582a4 carefully, it would all 60e19ac268 run out within a eec2d27869 week.efdce805b109b08e

So, the day we 5beeb60ed8 would leave the quiet f45e6bf095 and dull lakeside was 69ed2ed4d5 now set.a98824b85f9abbca

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I felt a 470cd1c6e6 wave of relief 861d0fa573 wash over me, 48bbf18c14 as if I bfa6073163 had finally reached dc79dea1ab the last chapter 00f3f8bad9 of a long, ce78719da1 boring novel.dc6ec6dded957ee6

‘Finally, we can leave this lake.’ad47e8ca2f487345

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We had 29b6d027c9 to go bc7386a40a back to bc747ba266 Camden. We could’ve considered going c5746f3fc0 to another city, but 0b2ee24af0 I wanted to check 00280ceeab on my parents first.0b5de16903a45f7a

Besides, the situation 433f6dcf93 wouldn’t be any b04b27bf36 better in another f8a1124ab6 city, and going bb941b52fe somewhere with more 6674f2a1af people might just 8c002ef1b4 be an unnecessary 76c9c80665 hassle.7a8992c7687e0938

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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?”6dda324a5aa54502

“They’re not going to welcome us right away.”e27a0574e7e67293

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“Why not?”019efa153de2cdaa

“Because of the incubation period. They don’t know when we might turn into zombies, so they’ll kick us out.”e3575162f301049b

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“Then should we head to a grocery store? I’m really craving pizza.”ad5f754668f80e9f

Logan chuckled, dropping his 3ad6dfa2d5 head slightly. It was 935be88cf5 the first 2b1e1e6581 time I’d 7a18e02530 seen him 1056a84268 laugh since c9e4039791 the zombie 1f26014c3b outbreak began.e351168c8c459898

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‘He’s finally smiling.’c2c134f34d7fe0ff

His usual 4aecddba02 cheerful grin 474cde3096 curved smoothly e704d5dbad across his 49b59cd409 face. Logan was normally 06f661df51 someone who laughed f9867db0ed a lot, outgoing 65a42ac2cf and sociable.ae40cacffedb23dd

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Among our friends, 9ff6356c51 he was always 855023ff2e laughing. Seeing his constant a63c8ae8a3 grin often made 62de09b5d9 me think of 3e0c6ba215 a golden retriever.e50c85b950eba340

But over 3f479a2430 the past de665ff72a few days, 9743ea20d3 he had 8dba45453e been a cd8afb81e9 completely different eff43941b2 person—heavy, gloomy, 2cbc12bee4 and distant. His mood was so 9baed02e07 cold, it made me 6d0c4fb261 hesitate to even talk 85365c0cef to him. But honestly, who f97c7807b9 could stay the e15719adb8 same in a 879e2bb9ce situation like this?95ecfc3b5a16e3bb

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I was usually 2dc3966c91 the one with 20e7eb06c6 a serious expression, b70c928a85 acting stoic and 3938ae1d4b all business. How dare fd7044158c he steal f1df194e8c my image f7cd26ea64 like that. It was 032c82e3e9 downright annoying.d15146b9485beb28

“Grocery stores were probably looted a long time ago. Maybe there’s still food left in some restaurants.”aa7dba7facbe4863

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“Isn’t downtown crawling with zombies? The first outbreak started in the downtown area, remember?”e4e950d6be42cbb4

“Exactly. Which means there’s probably still food left there.”6a0672d161ddb7b0

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His logic made sense. Since the first 37c68755b0 outbreak happened downtown, 1e98351b2d no one would 029aae12b2 have dared to 066a7d9fc6 go back.cd9d7a5fa4c63cd9

I looked at e2aa5353ed him, impressed. With a 61813a676b brain like f9eb97fb63 that, why 515463f17d had he e5420770dc refused to e4ed2a6ab9 go to 9b94e5eb89 college?89758676bd2db517

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“You… you’re pretty smart, you know?”5db458a5fb8297bb

Logan laughed dfd0edfd96 openly at 1772002f0f my compliment, d310fecac0 his laugh 7c63a8e648 oddly comforting 6997111711 to hear.cec5a4de68efb507

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It was the 6ae6124d7c kind of laugh 0d210593a3 that felt like 964476a099 a gentle hand 06bef2cea8 soothing an upset 6afa82ba24 stomach, tickling me e60827e0bf right in the 2038ff14ed chest. Without even 6f7605f533 realizing it, 78aa695516 I found e59ce0379a myself smiling 387a36564a along with 756f193451 him.260aeca17e6d73c9

We had finally fc051e4889 run out of abdb55e922 water and food.aeb99a7d9a1dc4e4

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To be 2f50bddbe1 honest, I 9335b9732c wasn’t too 96b7d6adca worried about 18484b10f3 drinking water. Even though 585ed7d0cd the lake 9e8db20858 water was ad2771f961 dirty and 6310ede9b4 unappealing, we 17a79a3678 could still bf949d9869 drink it 48b2dd8f5f if necessary.25aa9c819e2b3ceb

The bigger concern was 33b9314634 food. Since neither dc0c9e005d of us 540f3ead31 knew how 60e7f4439e to fish 402f99df23 or hunt, 3a702912b8 we had 22d01500e9 no choice a6e6f4e23a but to 6c662924b7 return to 16c78c3e31 the city 4d8fcf8c87 to find 3a503a09b1 more.1728fa08dadbe23f

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Logan and I got 274d7aab1e back into the car. Thankfully, the fuel 52a3f0314d gauge still showed b17dbb0793 a full tank, f7e1e79b77 so at least d5b01265f6 we didn’t have e39da49e79 to worry about c0a35264cc running out of ab9fa1c114 gas.786d25df5c8d1b67

Logan started 5df4e1d8ef the engine. I fastened 2340812eda my seatbelt 182c1eda6d and swallowed 5c17788380 nervously.449ae9e5c13d9cf9

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It had been about 4cadde5b54 two weeks since that 8e68ad33da day. What had become 9c8e79ff54 of the wrecked b655f7a106 city? Were there more survivors d166be275c now? My heart pounded with 1a69ec1c2b a mix of worry dd7c3b4fb1 and anxiety.8b7a8c621692178f

We drove out of f2990a6d8e the bumpy dirt road f0fdef8f7f and onto the road f47038d1f5 we had taken before. Soon, the 05b3cb0fb9 gas station df81c0fc70 we had 9a32099375 raided came 6d8bee6e02 into view.9f1b24ba37a1fc26

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“…”1583e51f3d976f5d

The convenience f2c5fb4233 store looked d4e208c5d8 like it b5bda6d745 had been 41fb6d4042 looted several a1937ecaea times since 10bae31b2c we last 8f9f2f0aea visited.0bc01f7d96ef6881

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At the entrance 701a6f7e8e of the gas 54750d01c5 station, two rotting e9f8a1fe79 zombie corpses lay 80a87a276e untouched, abandoned where 2ebaa8fb7c they had fallen.94f992720794ee52

We didn’t slow d8f5bb3ea8 down as we 6da8a66a06 passed the station. Although the road 3b5cddeddb was familiar, it b01996e213 felt oddly foreign, 3de21a5812 and the queasiness eb4d9d192a in my stomach 88f6666949 grew, as if d0824bd159 I were getting 784fbd3947 carsick.05263e2ddf19c9d8

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About five kilometers 8570312815 from Camden, Logan 954f93b7ef reduced his speed, 59aa2ef384 carefully scanning the 799d33701c area. I stayed 0c24e9ac39 alert as 9b667243a4 well, checking de87bc0b8c our surroundings 5545eefae2 and behind 90baa04926 us, not 5e2be72d8a daring to 28e98555ef let my 8a34352e02 guard down.b6f5ce7639e4de8a

We didn’t know when 693aa4abf8 or where a zombie b1c1855f0a might jump out. From this 9a2f8d39d6 point on, d10a33b655 we had 7e05176d0b to move 16c426f4cd cautiously.8899ba8a42a6e011

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The road had been 3a75ebf985 a mess when we 75c6058ec5 escaped, and now it eb2c848a79 was even worse. There were more vehicles 60c5f98469 blocking the streets, some 5b86029902 overturned as if they f134b0a17d had crashed.7ea614e25c134087

We were about e235c50520 to truly enter 4856a4a3d3 the city.5bdebceb059e7521

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The tension doubled. A sense of foreboding 8a3b633f57 weighed heavily on me, f3a6f81db7 and I suddenly felt efaa9bdc5d compelled to speak to 56b5043b49 him. In this 82678b1422 terrifying world 4894e65b17 where we 42b914d21b could die 580cbcc2b0 at any a3d076e1ca moment, I 60ca8a357f didn’t want 18c9b37e96 to leave 62ac3a2236 anything unsaid 33d28780f7 before I 2fe7e79a82 died.aa17db2684d20f42

“I… liked you when we were kids.”24b133dc91e675d3

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Like a soldier 005a71feac before battle, sending 3480cf5eb2 out a doomed 9bf58d33aa final confession, waving 488f7a8d93 the proverbial death f6bc3716b2 flag.33043d3aef18cf0e

Logan turned to 5551e95202 me with a 994414e6f7 bewildered expression, as 70d51c1064 if to ask, f9508bd194 *Why are you 195db9bb78 telling me this 4235e05a09 now?*55bf4399844687fa

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“What?”a461a4fdb1b61668

“I just did. You were my first love, I think.”f8d9f5629c262b8e

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“…”9753db1b7d5c18f7

Logan’s Adam’s apple 6cc9a9fb81 bobbed as he bca877bd9b swallowed hard. His dry lips parted 93184276e1 slightly as he returned f07ea7e125 his gaze to the 8b5214c024 road.c8b3a121471bea63

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As he e8cbf7305e slowly turned 2321119bba the steering 6ebb3642fd wheel, he c5f28cae9c responded in 3ccd377963 a cracked, dbced48ac8 quiet voice.75a8b660595e7ea0

“Me too.”d7b6fff630e2a552

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