Chapter 3

Mirin fetched the few bags of potato chips she was able to scavenge from the small town across the valley. She had been saving them for a while now, but tonight seemed like a nice occasion to enjoy them. It wasn't every day that you could get a chance to enjoy a snack like this, with how rare it had become to find; things like chips, chocolate bars, juice boxes, snacks along those lines became an oddity, a delicacy.

She makes her way over, across the open floor plan. Through the kitchen and to her right, she joins Hobie on an L shaped couch in front of an inviting fireplace. The flames of the fire roared ever so slightly as Mirin walks by, flickering its embers. She sits a seat apart from the young man, setting the bags of chips down on a coffee table and retrieved two water bottles from a hidden drawer within it. Mirin hands Hobie a chip bag and some water, and he takes them with gusto.

"OH, My Days! I've been looking for chips for months! How did you get your hands not one, but two bags? Thank you, thank you!" Mirin found his utter delight adorable, even if he had made a small mess of crumbs on her floor when he opened the bag so eagerly. She removes her mask and places it on the table, "Enjoy it, those are one in a million now-a-days. I had been saving these for quite a while now, so I think you owe me a story in return." Hobie licks his fingers and downs the bag into his mouth, not taking the time to savor its rarity at all.

"Damn, boy! I just gave you that! Did you even taste it?!" Mirin pokes fun at his display, as he licks the bag clean. "I'm sorry, it's been so long since I've had these...sweet, sweet artificial flavor." He looked up at her through a laugh, and noticed that she had removed her mask. He looked her over as she giggled at him with her hand covering her mouth; noticing a scar on her cheek when her hand moved out of the way. "You're a mess." she chuckles, handing him her bag of chips. "Here, knock yourself out."

When he reaches out for the chips, Mirin yanks them backwards out of his reach and waves them in his face, teasingly. "Start your story first." She waves the bag about each time he tries to grab it.

"GIMME THE FUCKEN CHIPS!" He growls, lurching forwards at the chips like a dope fiend and tries to snatch the bag from her hands.

"Eh eh!" Mirin backs up into the couch and watches him flop down before her, missing his target. "I just want the chips~" Hobie whines with his face buried in the couch cushion, his cravings manifested an itch that he couldn't scratch. "And I want you to start talking. You'll get them, now spill." "Fine," Hobie sits up, sighs, and begins his backstory.

Hobie: "The day this all started, I had gotten up for school like any other day."

Mirin: "School? How old are you?"

Hobie: "I meant college, I'm 19"

Mirin: "Aww, you're just a baby, a spring chicken."

Hobie: "I'm not a baby, I'm a whole man; now let me get back to it."

"I got up and got dressed; I remember shouting goodbye to my parents, then walking to the bus stop. It was empty, which was weird, but not enough for me to get suspicious. The bus never came, which was odd too but not abnormal. I had to walk to school, which went fine enough, nothing too out of the ordinary besides the lack of people. I just figured it was early, I reached school to find the front doors were locked, so I walked around the back to the same result. I was just going to go home, but then, someone jumped out at me! They caught me off guard and I managed to push them off of me; but they were deranged and crusted over. Disgusting, really. It spooked me something fierce as I ran home. Only then did the world start to fall apart. People running, cars zooming and crashing, it was crazy."

Mirin: "And you didn't notice any of that on your way to school?"

Hobie: "I must have been too engrossed in my phone to notice... I mean, I saw the cars, but zooming cars are normal"

Mirin: "You damn kids, always on that damn phone!"

Hobie: "Hey! you don't look that much older than me!"

Mirin: "I'm only 6 years older than you, but you could never group me into your generation."

Hobie: "You're only 25, so we're a part of the same generation whether you like it or not~"

Mirin: "Ugh, the level of disrespect is crazy, but, continue."

Hobie: "Anyway, like I was saying; I ran back home as fast as I could. When I got back, my parents weren't there...I thought they were home, but then I realized that they hadn't come home the night before...I tried calling them over and over, but got nothin but dial tone. That first month was hell for me."

Mirin hears the pain in his voice as he recalls it all, he was just a kid going through all of this alone. Her heart sank as she placed her chips before him. She really wanted them for herself, but wanted to cheer him up if she could, even if only a little. She could find another bag, hopefully.

Mirin: "I'm really sorry about that...here, kid."

Hobie: "Thank you...Anyway."

He takes her bag of chips and holds it close as he takes a chug of water.

Hobie: "I stayed in that apartment for 2 whole months. Living off of what we had stocked and growing paranoid day by day as the internet slowly went out. As did the lights, the air conditioning, the electricity in general. I eventually ran out of food and had to venture out. I scavenged what I could, using my father's gun to defend myself. Pretty soon, my building was overrun and I had to leave my apartment entirely. I packed what I could into this bag and frantically fought my way out, there was no coming back. After that I roamed the streets, homeless essentially; finding an abandoned bodega or small shop to sleep in here and there. I've been on the move for a while, I'm from Clydesdale Peek.

Mirin: "That's about 500 miles south east from these woods, you really aren't from Limbo..."

Hobie: "I tried to tell you."

Mirin: "And you lived so close; that accent made me think otherwise."

Hobie: "Oh, yea," He chuckles. "I moved here about 5 years ago. But yeah, I came across that small town about 2 weeks ago, looking for my next crash site. The town was nice and quiet until I was run out, yet again by the dead; leading me into these woods. And now I'm here...where are we exactly?"

Mirin: "This is Calypso Valley, and that small town you left was Andromeda springs. You've ventured out a long way, and you're still alive, I'd say you've more than earned those chips."

Hobie smiles to himself and opens up the bag, he's gentler this time and savors them chip by chip. This was a small 50 cent bag, so there wasn't much, but the fact that there was so little made them hit so much harder on his tongue. As he lifts the bag to his mouth for the last few gold nuggets at the bottom, there is a loud thud at the window right beside them. It startles them both and he drops the last of the chips on the floor.

"Damn..." Mirin says, shaking her head, trying to hold in her laugh. "Please shut up Mirin, you're making me mad." Hobie slides off the couch to retrieve them, eating them off the floor as Mirin bursts out laughing. "Eww, man; that's nasty," "I've eaten worse." He beams as he sucks his fingers with disgusting satisfaction.

"What was that, anyway; I thought the zombies couldn't get up here with the stairs retracted?" "They can't, it was probably an animal. Don't worry, whatever it is can't get in." Sitting back on the couch, he reaches for his water and chugs the rest. "Your turn, shortcake." "Hey! Who are you to call me short?" Mirin immediately takes offense as if her pride was being challenged. "Someone who's taller," he retorts. "Don't let my size deceive you, I am perfectly capable of taking you on." Hobie snickers, he was just pushing her buttons at this point, testing the waters. "I'd love to see you try." He knew good and well that this woman could hold her own, but where's the fun in admitting that? "Did you already forget who held you at gunpoint not even an hour ago?" Hobie looks her in the eyes as he sets his empty bottle down. "No, but do you think you could take me without your trusty trigger?" Mirin couldn't believe her ears, but she wasn't stupid enough to make the first move, he was baiting her. "Aight, I'll bite, come at me." She stands to her feet and puts her hands up, revealing that they are empty. Hobie quickly jumps up onto his feet and charges at her. He thinks because of his height advantage, he should at the very least be able to overpower her small frame. He was a whopping 6'3 compared to her 5'4. Shifting to be behind her, he proceeds to attempt to put Mirin in a headlock. But to his surprise, she dips down low into a crouch, leaving his arms empty as he wraps them into position. Mirin gracefully pivots her leg out, grounding herself with her hands on the floor. In one swift motion, she sweeps his leg, knocking him off balance. He stumbles backwards, toppling over as his arms catch him on the couch and he falls onto his ass. He was left wide open and she took this opportunity to pin him between the couch and herself. She withdrew her switchblade from her thigh pocket and held it to his throat, "Still think I'm a joke, kid?" she smirks, pushing herself back and sitting in her seat. He was in a daze at how quickly the tables had turned on him. This woman was no joke, that's for sure. He sighs and sits on the opposite side of Mirin.

"You cheated!" He shouts, sitting up in his seat. "And how's that?" "It wasn't a fair fight; you had a knife! Let me try again!" Mirin just laughs and sips her water, sliding her knife back into its place. "Was the way I swept your leg and pinned you down before I put my knife to your throat, not enough proof for you?" Hobie pouts, "You just got lucky!"

'He's such a child' Mirin thinks to herself, watching him brude in his seat, arms crossed with a pouty lip. 'We're really vibing...suspiciously well. I'll keep my eye on him, but I can't deny that this is nice.' Mirin gets lost in thought, the way they hit it off great with one another warmed her soul, despite the state of the world outside. It was a nice break from it all, a breath of fresh air; even if they had a tense start. Hobie looks her way to find her faintly smiling, and they simultaneously laugh once their eyes met, enjoying each other's company.