The End Of Life

Slowly, they exited the town safely, without having to face any zombies. The highway from Loshin was much quieter compared to the road from Stargaze city to Loshin. There weren't zombies on the road and the halted cars were less. He looked through the mirror and found Suzie looking out of the window into the grassy plains. 

He wondered if she had thought about what they talked about the night before. He wanted her to be more like her old self. He wasn't asking her to forget everything that happened, because that is impossible and he knows that the best. After going through something like that, their memory would be etched forever or a very long time in her brain. 

And getting rid of it in such a short time is near to impossible. But what he wanted her to be was more independent. To think for herself and act for herself. Have her own thoughts and ideas. Suzie right now has no goal to live, she is like an empty shell. Because in the present state of the world, that is what is more important. 

He could only exhale and hope that there would be a situation in the near future for her to gain some rationality and be more normal. He looked ahead and noticed a zombie. He did not slow down, but instead opened the window and took out his gun. He shot it and continued ahead. 

The journey for Evergreen from Loshin city was a long one. It would be afternoon by the time they reached tomorrow. As he drove, he took out the blue cube from his pocket. He held it in his hand and observed it. His palm was not as red as before, but the mysterious symbols showed no signs of disappearing. 

He could feel a strange sense of connection to the cube. He could only look and fiddle with it. The cube was shut tight with no means of opening it. Of Course, he could take some extreme measures but he still didn't know if the thing inside it was delicate or not. He doesn't want to break it by trying to open it. 

He felt this cube, and the symbols in his hand meant something more than he thought. He hoped that something he felt was not bad for him. He kept the cube back in the pockets and looked out of the window. 

He looked at the road ahead and concentrated on his eyes. He was able to look far ahead, around the same as the time he checked 2 days back. He still wondered if his theory on what happened to him was true or not. He looked at David and wondered when he would get something like this. 

He slowly continued to drive and the sun slowly moved on top of him and the hottest part of the day arrived. He was sweating buckets. Even with an AC, the jeep has, his shirt was still soaked wet from all the sweat he had until them. He noticed the time was 12 and decided to stop for lunch at 1. 

When the time hit one, he started looking for something to sit under and eat, like a tree. He found a large tree to the right, ahead. He stopped the vehicle and looked at David. Shaking his body, he woke David and noticed Suzie was also asleep. He gently woke up Suzie. 

Looking at David who was rubbing his eyes and Suzie who looked at him with confusion, he said, "It's lunchtime. Let's eat and we can continue our journey." David looked at him with some sleepiness and nodded. They all got out of the car, took out the stuff from the trunk, and went towards the tree Mark noticed. 

As they walked towards the tree, Mark noticed the few zombies around the tree and took out his sword. He didn't use the sword much, so he decided to use it. He slowly walked towards the group of zombies with the sword in his hand. There were only six zombies surrounding the tree. 

One of the zombies noticed Mark and rushed towards him. Judging by its speed, it was a bitter. The other zombies looked at Mark when they saw one of their own running away and also started running. All of them were bitter and were faster. 

The first zombie to run already lunged at him, and Mark only dodged it to the side and looked at the next zombie. He moved quickly to the 2nd zombie and cut its head off in one clean slash. He felt his senses scream from behind and immediately stepped to the side like he was dodging. He looked to the side and noticed the first zombie was actually jumping at him from behind. 

He suddenly felt irritated and cut its head in a second. His body reactions were way quicker than he imagined. After killing two of the zombies, the rest 4 were also already within. He went for the next one and quickly took care of it and also the one beside it. He felt something on his side and moved away. He saw the zombie's stretched hand. 

He quickly cut the handoff, and then its head. Now there was only one more zombie left, and he took care of it before it reacted. As its head fell on the ground he looked towards David and Suzie. David already had his gun out, ready to assist him. He simply waved his hand and motioned them to come quickly. 

His shirt was now dyed in black blood, so he took it off. He opened the bag he was wearing and kept it inside while taking another shirt to wear. They continued to the tree and once they reached, David set the solar oven and quickly cooked something for them. 

While they were waiting for David to complete cooking, Mark noticed something unusual. He felt something from the giant tree before them. He wondered why there were zombies around it. He touched the trunk and felt a similar feeling like the one he felt from the cube from his hand. But it was way less. It was not even 2 percent compared to the cube. He wondered if the huge tree had something different. 

He could only wonder but do nothing about it. He moved away from the tree only when he heard the lunch was ready from David. After having dinner, they continued to drive towards Evergreen city. David took the wheel from Mark as he felt energetic from the much-needed sleep he had the whole morning. 

They slowly drove, and the sun eventually started setting. They started searching for any temporary shelter for the night. But unfortunately, they weren't as lucky as before and Mark asked David to stop searching. The sky was already dark and Mark got out to take care of the nearby zombies. 

With his heightened vision, he was able to see in the dark to some extent, so he shot all the nearby zombies quickly. He turned towards David and said, "So, are we sleeping in the jeep?" 

"We have those tents we took from the store you saved me from. We have two, one should be big enough for two people. Suzie can sleep in the single tent." Mark nodded, and they took out the tent. 

They brought the solar oven once again. They could use the solar oven even at night, as it has the function to store energy in the morning. It came in handy. They quickly cooked some food and ate it slowly. After eating, they set the tents up beside each other. 

Mark turned towards Suzie and said, "Suzie, this is your tent. Don't be scared when you sleep. I will be in this tent, so I am here." pointing at the single tent first and the double tent. 

Suzie's body trembled but she nodded and got inside her tent. Mark noticed her trembling but didn't say or do anything. He looked at David and said, "I will keep a lookout until midnight. You can do the rest." David nodded and got inside his tent. 

Mark took out the lamp they had and sat beside it. He looked at the stars and sometimes the surroundings. He planned for tomorrow. He decided to go to the hotel first and look for Kevin. He hoped his friend was back from the museum in time and was safe in the hotel instead of surviving in the museum or even worse outside. 

Eventually, the date on his watch changed, and he went to the tent. After waking up David and handing him the lamp, he slept. He fell asleep quickly. But as he slept, the cube in his bag shined a little like it was some kind of signal. But after once it did not do it again. 

But after that, the giant tree where they had their lunch also blinked in blue. But no one was around to notice, both of them blinking.