The End Of Life

Mark slowly opened his eyes, rubbing them. He looked at his watch and noticed it was already 6 in the morning. He sat and looked at his friend's sleeping faces. He could only sigh. He knocked the bed of David's above him and then shook both Suzie and Kevin, waking all of them up. 

The three slowly woke up and Mark said, "Alright, enough sleep. We need to get going quickly. So come on." clapping his hands, he ordered them. 

They brushed their teeth, and Suzie cooked food once again. Mark looked at the instant noodles in his bowl and decided to raid a supermarket once again, and if possible find some vegetables. Eating noodles most of the time was not the best diet for them to have, especially while traveling around a lot. 

They quickly gobbled down the food and took their bags. Mark and David loaded their guns, and they walked out of the room. Walking into the hallway, they reached the center of the museum once again. Mark decided to take the same route as he came, climbing over the wall. He hoped there won't be many zombies like last time. 

They walked into the eastern hallway. As they entered the eastern hallway, Oliver looked at them from the first floor. He was sitting on a chair with his legs broken. He couldn't walk properly and probably needed rest for at least an entire month. His gaze was filled with hatred when he looked at Mark's back. 

'Just you wait, bastard. Just because you have some power, you think you are a big shot now. I will show you your place once again and make you a slave.' as a slight red glow flashed in his eyes, which went unnoticed by everyone around him. He could only clench his hands and grit his teeth. 

They reached the end of the hallway and looked out of the doors. Mark noticed there were only a few zombies outside and felt relieved. Mark looked at David and said, "Cover the back. There aren't any. I will help all of you jump over the wall." making him nod. 

Mark slowly opened the door, and all four of them sneaked out in a line. David closed the door and gave a nod to Mark with the gun in his hand. Mark looked around and found the blown away part of the field to the side, because of the grenade he threw the day before. There were burnt zombies and many -parts spread across the field. 

There was an awful smell from the burnt zombie bodies, which made all of them instinctively close their nose. They slowly jogged across the field as Mark shot a few zombies which were getting too near to them. When they reached the wall, Mark leaned back and made a steady wall chair. David continued to shoot the zombies as Suzie was the first to jump. 

Suzie was much more active compared to before making it easy for her to jump over the wall. Kevin went right after her and last was David. Mark stood up after David jumped and shot a nearby zombie before jumping himself. He crossed the wall and jumped down next to them. 

"Alright, where next?" asked Kevin. There weren't many zombies on the road, so it was safe for them to stop for a minute. 

"We need to get to our vehicle. We parked it in an underground parking lot down the road. So let's get going." and jogged towards the apartment they parked it in. 

They reached the apartment and made their way down. Mark and David exhaled in relief when they saw the Jeep parked in the same spot. Mark first checked the trunk and found nothing stolen. 

He took out the Glock 17's he collected from the people who tried to kill him and placed them inside. The Glock used 9mm bullets similar to the Beretta 07 he uses, so the ammo is in stock. He decided to give the Glock to Suzie and the AK47 to Kevin. 

David looked at Mark and asked, "So where next? Stargaze city?" He missed Daisy very dearly and was concerned about her safety. He wanted to return right away. 

But contrary to his expectation, Mark shook his head and said, "No, we need to find the location of the military base located in this city. The General back at camp Stargaze asked me to bring for him something. I couldn't deny as I owe him a favor for the jeep and guns." with a wry smile. 

David's mood went downcast hearing him, but he collected his thoughts and asked, "Do you know where the camp is at?" 

Mark could only shake his head. He didn't know where it was. The camp could be anywhere in the entire city, and Evergreen city was not a small city to search. David frowned and asked, "So, how are you planning to go to the camp if you don't know where it was at?"

Mark could only shrug and say, "I know we can't search the whole place. Especially when the city is nothing to scoff at. So for now, let's go to a nearby supermarket and stock up once again. Our supplies are running low." 

David gave a nod and got behind the wheel. Mark turned to Kevin and asked, "Did you hear anything about the military camp?" 

Kevin shook his head and said, "No, from what I heard when the thugs talked, it seemed like a military patrol jeep actually came around the area but retreated because of the enormous number of zombies surrounding the museum." shrugging. 

Mark gave a nod before he got in the front seat. Kevin and Suzie sat behind and David started the car. He slowly drove it out of the underground parking lot and asked, "Do you know where a supermarket is?" 

Before Mark could answer, Kevin did, "There should be a huge supermarket in the area. I remember because, on the day the zombies came, our class stopped there so we could buy things we want." 

He pointed out the way, and David drove through the streets. Mark shot occasionally when the zombies were too much. But as he looked at the zombies, he suddenly remembered something which happened the day before when they were trying to get into the museum. 

He remembered the strange behavior of the zombies. Large number of the zombies did not get attracted to noise but came towards them instead. This was something which made him get a headache as he thought about it. 

The incident made him doubt his own past observations. The zombies concentrated only on them. 'Did they get a sense of smell too?" but he quickly shook the idea out of his brain. Why? Because earlier today, not all the zombies focused on them like before. The zombies far from them did not have even a slight reaction when they jogged across the field. 

'No, that is not it. Then what is it? Does that mean some zombies mutated further and gained the ability? If so, how can we identify which zombie has the sense of smell and which do not.' all the questions were only a mystery for him. He needed more answers and data on the sudden change. 

'We were lucky this time and were able to escape from the horde. But if we get trapped in a closed space, we would die easily.' with a frown. This sudden problem was too much. 

He then looked at his hands and then thought, 'Now that I saved Kevin, what's next? We can't stay in the military base. Those people would leech off us, and that is the last thing I want to happen. Should I make my own base?' he thought, looking outside. He took out his gun and shot a zombie which was too near and exhaled thinking about the problems. 

"What happened, Mark? Anything on your mind?" asked David as he noticed Mark's change in expressions. 

Mark shook his head and replied, "No nothing much." and looked out again. He didn't want to share his thoughts with the group yet. He needed more data on things, so he could convey his thoughts to them. If he conveys them now, it would only cause some more caution among them. 

"Right here. There is no parking on the outside, so you need to park the jeep underground." pointing at the corner. 

"Alright, let's both go down and see if there are any zombies first. Before the car can come down," said Mark to Kevin. 

He grabbed his sword and got down. His gun was on his back. He remembered Kevin did not have a weapon and said, "Kevin, come I will give you a gun." walking to the trunk. Kevin had a smile on his face when he heard Mark. 

Mark looked at the eager expression on his friend's face and smiled. He opened the trunk and took out the AK47. Kevin's eyes were practically sparkling at this point as he immediately snatched the gun from Mark.