"Listen to me. No matter what you do. Don't get too close to them. Don't look at them and DON'T stop. Don't let them get you."
"I'm scared."
"I know, me too. But I'm gonna fix this, okay? There's a lab, just north of the city. Roma Technology. I'm gonna be right there. I'm going to fix this. You need to trust me, but until then, you need to stay safe. Don't do anything reckless and stay hidden."
"We need to get going now. The roads are closing soon."
"Eduard! Don't leave me here!"
"We'll see each other soon, I promise. We're going to be okay. Just don't let them catch you!"
Raivis woke up with a start and a pounding heart. He looked around frantically, trying desperately to figure out where he was. At last, his eyes landed on the faded floral curtains that decorated the dusty old attic. He released a sigh of relief as he remembered where he was.
"Everything's fine." He muttered to himself. "Just fine."
A distant scream from outside told him it wasn't, but he shook it off. He was safe here. With a sigh, he stared out the dusty old window. In the far north, he could just barely see the outlines of the forest where Roma Technology had their secret laboratory.
"It's been four month, Eduard. Where are you?"
It was raining outside, he noted bitterly. It looked cold and unwelcoming, but then again, he was yet to face a situation that wasn't cold and unwelcoming. He could hear the door opening downstairs and the sound of large boots stomping on the floor.
"Speaking of cold and unwelcoming." Raivis muttered as he got up to greet his companion.
The old house creaked underneath his feet, making it seem almost like an old house. It'd been an orphanage back then, before everything started. Raivis had loathed it, almost as much as he had loathed the people living there. These days he'd have given almost anything to get all those people back. Most of them had fled the city, in hopes of a better life. Some had not been so lucky. The orphanage-manager had been the first to disappear. No one really knew what happened to her. Some said that she simply abandoned them, others said she died. Raivis hadn't bothered making an opinion on the matter. She was gone, and that's all that mattered. The next one to disappear was a boy named Peter. He was an odd and somewhat scrawny boy, but Raivis had liked him. People often said that Peter must have left the city, or found his parents and that's why he'd left, but Raivis worried. The ten-year-old had been a reckless kid, and Raivis had seen plenty people loos thief lives to recklessness. It wasn't until Eduard left that Raivis realized how bad the situation was. "I'm going to fix this." That's what he'd said. Fix what? Raivis had barely known at the time but he the look on Eduard's face told him all too much. Eduard had been one of the managers at the orphanage but Raivis had viewed him more as a brother. Eduard was smart, too smart, according to some, and Raivis always wondered why someone with his intelligence would work at an orphanage. Eventually his intelligence had caught up with him in the form of government agents knocking at the door. "We need your help, curing the virus." That was all Raivis was told from them, but Eduard didn't hesitate. He knew what was at stage and willingly left them to work at the laboratory, leaving nothing behind but a weak promise to return. Raivis sighed. Eduard had been the last adult to stay behind and take care of them. After he left, they were helpless and scared. It was Toris that eventually took charge of their survival. He was the oldest of them, almost eighteen, and he was the one to suggest leaving. Raivis had refused, claiming that he would wait here for Eduard. He wasn't sure if it was because he feared what was out there, or if really was staying behind to wait for Eduard. Parts of him didn't even believe that Eduard would come back.
"Raivis? Are you there?" a hushed voice called out from the hallway.
Raivis turned around the last corner and down the stairs to meet up with his companion who anxiously awaited him. The tall blonde closed his eyes in relief when he saw him.
"I heard a scream, earlier." He said. "Not too far away…"
"Yeah, I heard it too, Ivan." Raivis admitted with a shudder. "Any idea of who it could have been?"
Ivan shook his head as he dumped his stuffed backpack on the floor.
"As long as it not one of us, I don't really care."
Raivis shuttered at the cold sentence but he couldn't seem to disagree. His eyes drifted to the bag on the floor with a thoughtful look.
"Did you get what we needed?" he asked eventually.
"Food and ammunition." Ivan said and hoisted the bag back on his back and trudged up the stairs, as though avoiding Raivis. "No phone."
"Did you look?" Raivis asked, following him upstairs.
"No!" Ivan said, rolling his eyes. "I went in blindfolded. Off course I looked! It's not like there's a up and running Apple store in the area."
Raivis shut the door behind them as they entered the old attic.
"I just want to know that he's okay, that anyone's okay."
Ivan didn't even answer. He just threw himself on his bed with his eyes closed. Raivis sighed and sat back down by the window, looking outside.
"Did you see anyone out there?"
Ivan mumbled a brief 'no' and Raivis fixed his gaze on the bloodied streets below.
"What if we're the only ones left." He muttered.
Ivan only hummed again.
"Doesn't that scare you?"
"I watched my mother murder my father when I was five." Ivan muttered. "Nothing scares me. Though I can't say I'm excited at the prospect of spending the rest of my life with you."
Raivis smiled sadly.
"Dear God, if you're out there." He muttered as he traced the lines on the windowsill. "Don't let the last person I speak to be Ivan."
His thoughts were cut short by a loud crash downstairs. Ivan got up quicker than Raivis thought possible for such a large body.
"You might have your wish come true." He muttered and grabbed his trustworthy pipe in his hand. "Get your gun."
Raivis shivered but didn't object. Grabbing his shotgun, he left the attic, following his large Russian companion. Ivan stopped right outside the kitchen. They could clearly hear someone rummaging through the cupboards on the inside.
"Sounds like it's only one of them. I'm going in." Ivan whispered. "Cover me."
Raivis nodded and gripped his gun tightly. Ivan took a deep breath before heading into the kitchen. Raivis held his breath for a few seconds, listening, but he heard nothing from inside. He was just about to follow Ivan when he heard the creaking of the floorboards behind him followed by a terrifying clicking sound. Raivis swallowed hard, raising his trembling hands into the air before turning around. He was met by a shining shotgun in the hands of a teenage girl. She stared at him in pure shock.
"Y-you're alive?" she asked.
"For now." Raivis mumbled. "But you know, gun to my face, you never know."
The girl just about threw her gun on the ground and embraced Raivis in a bigger hug than Raivis had ever received. Raivis stood frozen, unable to move nor speak. The girl broke away from him with an awkward cough.
"I'm so sorry. I haven't met another living person for such a long time." She said as she picked the gun back up. "I guess I was just so happy. I thought I was the last one."
"Me too." Raivis whispered.
"I'm glad you guys found each other and what not." Ivan said, standing in the doorway. "But we need to get back to the attic if we wanna stay alive."
The attic seemed tenser than usual as the three teenagers stared at each other.
"I was home alone when it all began." The girl told them. "My brother is in the military so I was able to defend myself using his weapons, but… it's not sustainable. For a while now, I've been trying to track down my brother, or other survivors. Yesterday, I got a message on my phone. There's a group of survivors using the old high school as their base."
"School…" Raivis muttered.
Raivis looked up at the girl, staring thoughtfully at her.
"I know you, don't I." he asked. "You're Lily. Lily Swingly. You were on the cheerleading team."
The girl looked up in surprise.
"How do you know my name?"
"I'm Raivis Galante." Raivis tried. "We were in the same class."
Lily just shook her head.
"I'm sorry." She said. "I don't remember."
"No offense, but who cares." Ivan muttered. "I went to that school as well, now none of that matters because the world is coming to an end. You said something about survivors at the school?"
Lily nodded.
"I don't know who's leading it, but it has to be better than working on your own." She said thoughtfully. "When the world is ending, I figured it's better to be with someone who might remember you when you're gone."
"Why don't you just stay here?" Raivis asked. "It's safe, there's three of us. We have plenty of food…"
"I'm sorry." Lily said. "I made a decision. I'm going to the school. If my friends are anywhere… alive… it's there, and right now it might be the safe place in the city."
Raivis and Ivan exchanged uncertain looks, and for a moment Raivis sincerely hoped that Ivan had known him long enough to know what he was thinking.
"Let us come with you." Ivan said, proving once and for all that he did not in fact know what Raivis was thinking.
"Wait, Ivan!" Raivis objected. "We can't leave the orphanage. We have to wait for Eduard."
"Eduard left, Raivis!" Ivan snapped. "Like everyone else, now I don't know about you, but I meant it when I said I don't want to live the rest of my life alone with you. I'm going with the cheerleader back to school. If you actually want to live long enough to see Eduard, or anyone else again, I suggest you come with us."
Raivis was taken aback by the harsh tone in his voice.
"Let's go to high school then."
Within half an hour, Ivan and Raivis had packed up their entire life and found themselves standing at the front door.
"I guess we're really doing this." I whispered. "Leaving home."
Ivan nodded. Lily was the last to descend the stairs.
"Are you guys ready?" she asked, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Ivan muttered.
Ivan warily opened the front door and stepped outside, clutching a few moments at the doorknob before letting it go. Lily turned with an encouraging smile towards Raivis.
"Oh, I wanted to give you this."
Lily awkwardly handed Raivis a piece of paper.
"It's for your friend." She said. "If he does come back, he'll know what to do."
Raivis could only nod numbly as he put it up on the wall.
"Let's go."
The two of them stepped out together, greeted by the light drizzle outside. Raivis turned to look at the orphanage with a nostalgic look on his face. Ivan and Lily followed his gaze.
"You know, I always hated this place." Raivis said thoughtfully. "But now that we're about to leave… It's like I never noticed how beautiful it was."
"You'll come back." Lily assured. "Once all of this is over…"
"Guys." Ivan interrupted. "It might be over sooner than expected."
Raivis and Lily turned around to see a dussin of human-like created make their way towards them.
"Zombies." Lily muttered, gritting her teeth as she prepared her shotgun.
Raivis cast one last look at the orphanage, thinking back to the lonely note that awaited Eduard on the inside. 'Dear Eduard. We're at the High School'.
Raivis swallowed hard and gripped his gun with trembling hands.
"God, let it be true."