“So you’re just leaving?”
Marius turned and faced Brandon. “I can’t stay here any longer. I need the fresh air, the sun. Besides, staying here with the supplies diminishing like they are will only make this our tomb.”
Brandon didn’t speak for several long moments.
“You can come with me. We can find a place above ground, try to find survivors, help them.”
Brandon shook his head. “I don’t want to run into those fuckers, Marius.” He ran a hand over his face. “We already had to deal with that down here with Marie and Kyle.”
Just thinking about the two other scientists who had been put down here when they’d gotten infected made Marius sick. Marie had been infected with the virus when she accidently pricked herself with a needle, a rookie mistake that had cost Marie her life.
But she hadn’t told anyone she was infected, and they hadn’t known until it was too late. She’d kept herself away from them as the infection ate away at her body, and when she finally did die and was resurrected as one of those walking corpses, she’d gone after Kyle.
Marius ran a hand over his face. He’d been the one to kill both of them before they got him or Brandon. It was something that had to be done, and he knew something he’d have to do above ground if he wanted to survive.
“Staying down here will be your ultimate death, Brandon. If you want to survive, you need to get out while you can. If lack of food and water doesn’t kill you, the isolation will drive you insane.” Marius shook his head at the reality of that. “We haven’t heard any news from up above in weeks. That has to tell you something, tell you that we are now on our own.”
It took a moment for Brandon to move or even speak, but he finally breathed out and nodded. “You’re right; I know that and should be smart enough to understand it, but I can’t leave, Marius.”
Brandon was afraid, and rightly so, but staying down here really would bring about their deaths.
“What if we just get supplies and come back here?” Brandon sounded hopeful.
“Brandon, I need out of this fucking place. We’ve been down here for a long damn time, and I can’t take it anymore.” Marius grabbed the backpack and slipped it over his shoulders. He had his boots on, a couple changes of clothes, and he hoped enough food and fresh water packed that he could survive until he found something else. “You’re welcome to come with me, to face the world above, but I can’t and won’t stay here.” Marius walked toward the man who had stood by him through all of this, since the very beginning. “I’ve left you enough food and water that you shouldn’t have to find any for a while, but Brandon,” he pleaded with the other man, “staying here will have you dying too.”
Brandon sat down on the chair in front of Marius, and made this low, exhausted sound. “Good luck out there.”
And he knew Brandon wouldn’t come, not even with the knowledge that he would die down here if he didn’t at least try. The world anymore was hectic and deteriorating, but hiding in a bunker underground wasn’t the way to live, no matter what anyone said.
Marius held out his hand, and Brandon took it. The men shook, stayed silent, and then Marius nodded once and turned to leave. He had to try to survive out there, try to see if he could help anyone. He knew about the virus, about every aspect of it.
He’d been on the team that helped create the initial vaccine, and that’s why he had such a sense of guilt after everything had fallen.
He had to help, in any way he could, no matter what the risks were.
3
Maya didn’t know what had woken her at first, but as she opened her eyes, her heart was already beating fast and hard. Sherman, who they kept in the room with them at night, started whimpering and scratching at the door.
Maya turned her head to the side, saw the spot her mother usually lay in was empty, and instantly sat up. Since everything had gone to shit, she and her mom had been sharing a room, wanting to stay close. They’d set up her father in another bedroom, something he wanted, and the smart way to go, given the fact that he was sick.
“Mom?” Maya called out. There was silence in response, but after a moment, the sound of something crashing came through, startling Maya.
Sherman started scratching on the door with more fervor, his growl low, threatening. She climbed out of bed, knowing something wasn’t right, and bent down to grab the baseball bat she had tucked underneath the bed.
It hadn’t been planned to use on her father if he turned while they were asleep, because they kept their door locked and were “relatively” safe. They kept the door locked in case looters, rapists, or the humans that had gone insane because of the anarchy decided to break in.