It’s day three, and the situation is still the same. But this time, we have hope.
“Alright! Turn on your phones, laptops, et cetera, and get your butts in social media!” Dan yells across the department store. “Find the most reliable news and get some information from it. Or if you find anything updated just now, then, still get some info from it or whatever.”
It’s almost impossible, to be honest. I keep thinking our plan wouldn’t work but it’s worth a try. Assuming that everyone else in the world is gone and we are the only ones left, along with the guys who were in the chopper last night. Assuming that they were still humans.
As they are told, everyone looks upon their phones—which they’ve gotten right out of the stores in the mall—and scrolls through their social media to find any news about a rescue base. Since the appearance of that chopper, questions flooded my head until I ended up concluding on one important thing.
Most times, in every zombie apocalypse film, there must be a secret hideout or a base for the survivors. It may be the basement or an abandoned building, as long as it’s highly guarded against the zombies for a long time, it could be called a safe place. The government must still be alive by now and they’ve launched a rescue base that is safely guarded by the military, so there could be a place to stay for the survivors they find in their rescue patrol.
Smart of them, anyway.
If we could find a way to get those people’s attention through the internet, we could still have a high chance of surviving. We could all be safe from then on. And there could be no one else dying in front of us anymore.
I stroll around to see clues in the crowd’s faces if they’ve already got what we need. News or an article, anything. Maybe an updated blog post about either a zombie-related issue or not. If we could find one, then the thought of everyone dead in the whole world will be changed. This means we aren’t the only ones left yet. Dan is at the other side of the department store, doing the same thing as me. As we reach each other, I shake my head as a message that I still got nothing.
I tried my account as well, and yet, everything in my news feed seems to be frozen. No new posts or stories or videos coming out, and I seem to be on the loop as I keep scrolling down to find new ones. All the posts in my feed were just from about two or three days ago, right before the outbreak happened.
So, hope may end up hopeless.
“Oh! I found one!” Everyone gasps and rushes toward Lenore when she exclaimed.
We gather around her as she sits on her mattress. We all look down at her screen where an article is shown.
She reads through a paragraph, “It says, ‘Search and Rescue and the US Army have collaborated in the hopes to look for more survivors inside the country, as commanded by the US government. Because of the love the President has gotten for his people…’ Wait, the president’s still alive?”
He’s protected, of course. They can’t risk losing him.
“Wait, wait, wait.” Finn cuts Lenore off. “Sure, he loves the country, but we need to get to the actual info that we need.”
“Oh, okay. Let’s see what we can get.” Lenore scrolls down for another paragraph. “Here! Okay. It reads, ‘This rescue base is located in Wilmont City, or forty-seven degrees north and one-hundred-one degrees west. For the survivors heading to the place on-foot, keep safety your first and second nature, bring important resources such as food, weapons, clean water, and wear an outfit that prevents penetration of any zombie bite.’”
“Wilmont City? It’s too far from here.” Nathalie comments as Lenore finishes the paragraph.
“At least they gave us a tip to survive the apocalypse,” Edward replies.
“Well, let’s just stay here until another chopper comes.” Mark joins, crossing his arms. “Wilmont is six or seven states away. We might not able to reach the place without getting bitten.”
“That’s right. Staying is the best option.” Nathalie seconds. She turns to me, her expression is serious. “Riley, what’s your plan?”
I think for a second. Though, it’s right to stay in the place since we got everything that we need here. But I don’t think it’s too safe for us to stay any longer. The time will eventually come that they could be able to break in before we know it. “We’re staying for the chopper. Later tonight, let’s all gather together on the rooftop and grab their attention when it’s around. But before that, we must prepare everything that we need just in case.”
“And if we fail?” Bucky’s eyes pierce mine.
“And if we fail, then…” I know the next words that will come out of my mouth might upset them, but if we fail, we don’t have another choice. We all know we can’t stay here forever. The place is surrounded by millions of zombies, and we can’t live like that with fear in mind. We have to get out. As soon as possible. “… If we fail, then we fight our way through them.”
They all gasp and start muttering to each other.
“Impossible.”
“I’d rather stay.”
“Never in my whole life.”
“Uh-uh.”
“Bad idea, seriously!”
“I’d rather be cut into pieces by a serial killer.”
“But you’d still die.”
“Okay, guys.” I silence them. “Any other suggestions?”
Jesse holds her hand up. “Uh, what if we use social media to grab their attention instead? It’s way safer.”
“Phone usage rots your brain, Jess. I think you still don’t know that since you got none.” George disses her with a smirk.
The boys laugh as Jesse rolls her eyes and walks away. The other mean girls follow here, also rolling their eyes.
“At least she had a suggestion!” Courtney squeaks the words out.
“At least she had a suggestion!” George mocks her voice. They laugh again.
Mark sways his hand, hitting George’s head, making him scream in pain. “Shut the heck up, George.”
“Okay, we’re getting sidetracked. Focus, guys.” Stephen silences the crowd.
“Wait, Jesse’s right.” Gwen walks forth as she speaks. “Since social media is worldwide, we can take it as an advantage right now, and it might be easier to grab the authority’s attention through it. We never know, they’re using it too to find some survivors.”
“She’s right. Let’s give it a try.” Bucky says, looking at each of us. “Let’s make a message. Anything. It could be for your family, friends, or directly for the authorities. We tell them where we are, and how we’re striving to survive here. We can also offer them anything they need and survive with them. We never know if people we know and loved are still alive right now. It’s worth a try.”
“Exactly.”
“So, what are we waiting for?” I look up at him. “Let’s do that right away.”
He smiles and then nods. Then he looks away immediately, clearing his throat.