18 June 2026

(It's been more than a week since we arrived to this affluent. We thought we'd have to leave days ago but the rottens around here were very slow and there weren't many. Now I'm getting quicker and I don't freeze when I see a zombie, so that's some good progress. I've also been spending most of my time with Duncan -sometimes Mads would join us but she gets bored with our chats too soon- because we are around the same age. )

"Isaak! Give me a hand with the fish!" Victoria told the Russian boy from where she stood. He walked in the water to the other side of the affluent ready to raise the fabric and trap the fishes. But a noise distracted him, it was that familiar groan of the rottens yet it seemed changed. Isaak looked behind Victoria and he couldn't see anything else other than the other three members of the group cleaning their guns. The noise was getting closer and now Vic could hear it as well. Her eyes darted around as Isaak's had done, but she did spot it. A rotten was coming down the river. Victoria pulled her gun quickly but he stopped her "If you shut it in the water there's a risk of contaminating the affluent we won't be able to drink or fish in here anymore" Azarov explained quickly and she nodded, putting her gun on the back of her trousers.

"Okay, we need a big branch to pull this bitch out" She suggested. Isaak walked to the camp again looking for the pile of wood that they had for the fire. Duncan saw him trying to find something and came to help him.

 He had seen the slight worry plastered on the blonde's face and he knew something was up. Isaak simply signaled to his right, to the river where the zombie kept coming closer because of the current. Duncan nodded wordlessly and directed Isaak to the pile. Between the bunch of wood, there wasn't anything big enough to stop and pull the zombie out. The black-haired didn't waste time jumping their fence gracefully. Isaak watched with wide eyes but followed him -just that he got out of their perimeter by the river- to the woods. The taller guy patted a tree and told Isaak to come closer.

"Stretch your arms up and try to reach the branch" the blue-eyed instructed him without a further explanation. He didn't ask either so he just did as told and jumped to grab the branch, he got it on the third attempt. Isaak didn't understand what they were doing because he was basically hanging on a tree while a rotten was coming closer to their camp. The blonde watched as Duncan jumped and grabbed the branch in just one try, then the wood in his hands started to shake and he realized that Duncan was moving as if he was jumping. Isaak decided to do the same when he heard the crack of the branch. Of course, there was their big stick.

"Jump down before it falls on you" Duncan warned him when they heard another crack from the branch. Isaak didn't waste time and let go of the wood, landing perfectly on the floor. It wasn't a really tall branch, probably it was at 6'5 feet from the ground so when Duncan let go as well he could still pull for it until it fell. Between both of them, they carried the branch to where Victoria was. They were lucky that the current was slow and the zombie hadn't reached them yet. They put the branch in the water waiting for the undead to arrive and then pull him out.

"Get ready boys" Victoria told them as both guys held the branch securely. The hit of the zombie on the stick made them stumble a little but they pushed together until it was half out and crawled the rest of the way by itself. And right when its whole body was out, Victoria shot it in the head. "Good job, guys, very creative" She said patting Isaak's shoulder.

Victoria had already told them that the next day they would be collecting their things and heading to their destination. They would wake up at seven, take off the blockade at the affluent, and grab their can system. They would leave the trenches and the fence structure in case other survivors found it, if they could help that little bit they would.

"Lunch is ready!" Josh voiced about an hour after they took down the zombie. It didn't take long for everyone to drop what they were doing to join in the middle of their camp. The three youngest members of the group sat on the branch that they had used before, the oldest two sat on rocks right in front of them. Everyone had their weapons within reach whenever they ate, they had to be ready for anything.

As usual, they chatted calmly, you could still hear the natural sounds of the water running and the wind moving the leaves. They talked about their wishes for the future, hoping that once they get to the north they will be able to settle down in a location, build a place to live, stop running...It was ambitious but it kept them going.

"Isaak, you are always with that notebook of yours, what is it?" Duncan questioned when the conversation had died down. He had been curious since he saw him pull it out the first time. It was the only belonging that he had along with his phone, which Isaak had explained that could be useful even without signal. "Well, the school counselor told me to write my thoughts and feelings down. Since the start I've been using it as a dairy, it was helpful at the bunker when I could just say things that I wanted to say but couldn't, now I just take different notes now and then" Isaak explained biting down on his fish.

"The start...We called it the outbreak," Victoria said softly, remembering the first days of chaos. She was sure that Isaak didn't know what had happened, just like most people didn't. And she believed that it was everyone's right to know. "The infected had been contained in camps, most of them were first grade sick, which meant that they would be sick for weeks before turning. Most of the zombies were killed once they turned but they kept small groups for their studies. These studies were done by a scientist company called 'S.A.I', trusted by all governments. Until one day a sound frequency started playing through the radios of the military that guarded the buildings. It made the zombies crazy" She closed her eyes, the memories were horrible, they didn't know how to handle the situation when it started. "They jumped and broke the barriers with an agility that we didn't believe they had. We spent two days trying to control them, but we started losing people and they turned too quick. They made us evacuate to escort people to safe places. Only the rich ones. That was my cue to leave my unit. After a week of trying to find people that needed help I found a young man shooting rottens all around and then trying to steal my car"

"Hey, it looked abandoned!" Duncan defended himself, pointing at the blonde woman with the spine of his fish.

"So we are going to share our stories?" Madison asked, she liked to talk about it unlike everyone else. Most people had bad memories about it but for Mads, it wasn't that bad. She turned to look to Isaak as he was the one that didn't know their stories, he gestured her to talk. "I was being sent to a foster house around here. I had never been in one before, I had always lived in the orphan. The woman who was driving me there stopped to refill the tank, I watched her do it until something jumped on her. She was being attacked by rottens, and instead of panicking like everyone else I got out of the car, grabbed a stick, and stabbed both of them in the head. I'll always thank the gods for my obsession with Zombie movies. Then I just grabbed the car and drove until it was out of gas, which was like a week. Which got me to a full of zombies place and a firefighter. And then, boom, five zombies dead in matter of seconds thanks to the Sargent and Sniper-boy"

Isaak couldn't help but be surprised at the ease that the young girl had to talk about it. It almost seemed creepy how she didn't care about the apocalypse, but Mads hadn't lost anyone by the chaos, she never had anyone. The apocalypse brought her to the group, to her family, something she never had. 

"The fire department was getting many calls, fires had started from cars crashing. Other people called out of panic, saying there were monsters in the streets." It was Joshua's turn to talk and unlike Mads, he did look troubled by the memories "We didn't know anything about the virus unlike the army or some cops, but we wanted to help. My unit was told to get a small truck and see what the fuss about monsters was. The street was full of rottens when we got there, my team thought they were still human. They approached the zombies while I waited in the car, reporting the situation. Once I looked up again from the truck...My mates were gone, my sister's fiancé between them. They were going to get married just a month after the outbreak, but as Tim was getting in the car to leave for our mission, my sister was being attacked by rottens...After that when we were dismissed from our job, I got all the supplies a could.  I run off to help people along my way until I got here, it took a kick in the balls from Madison but it was worth."

"I thought you were a pervert! It's not normal to reach for random people!" Madison threw a stick in Joshua's direction. Soft chuckles were shared, all four of them had lived that kick together, Isaak could just watch them but it was calming to do so. "Duncan, it's your turn" Madison reminded the dark-haired whose face turned into a frown.

"I was at home, Dad had gone hunting. When he came back he had blood on his arm. A bite. He told me about the zombies and then I had to- had to do what everyone has to...The rest you know it, I found Vic and then we found these two" Duncan's story was more rushed than the others, he was looking at his fish like it was something worth analyzing. Isaak could tell he hated talking about it, apparently, he had to kill his father and then be alone for a week or so until he crossed paths with Victoria. There was no doubt Duncan would hate talking about it, Isaak wouldn't be able to talk either.

After that they ate, keeping an eye out for zombies. But the black-haired boy seemed on edge the whole evening after sharing his story. Isaak watched him carefully, he had never seen Duncan like that. It shouldn't have been surprising because they didn't know each other for that long but he felt like Duncan was never that way.

"I'm gonna do the last patrol" the boy announced grabbing his sniper. "Alone?" Isaak questioned. Of course, he knew his new friend was amazing at shooting but it wasn't good to be out there alone.

"Yes, it's just a simple walk around"

"I'm going with you" Isaak announced grabbing the machete Mads gave him. Duncan tried to stop him but he wasn't having any of it. Both boys walked out of the camp perimeter to patrol the forest. It seemed to be calm, they could hear a few birds singing above their heads, it had been a while since they hear something like that.

"Why did you want to come along?" The black-haired asked out of curiosity. "You don't seem to be in a good mood so I didn't trust you going alone" Isaak shrugged. Duncan raised his eyebrows at him before laughing quietly, the Russian boy turned around to face him with a frown on his face.

"You are supposed to be my back up, whiskey boy?" Duncan smirked at the nickname like he was the most original guy in the apocalypse. "Leave it already, I've been learning how to defend myself these past days" Isaak glared at the other boy as they turned to the right. He had really made some process at using his machete, it was way better than guns. Isaak had learned to listen for rottens too, their way to walk was pretty different from humans. But apparently, he was still a newbie.

"We should be-" 

Before Duncan finished his sentence Isaak yelled at him to dodge something. A pair of rottens came their way. They were too close for the grey-eyed to have a clear shot so he used his weapon as a way to block the first rotten, it must have been a recently turned one though. His strength overpassed Duncan's making him trip and fall on his back. The other rotten launched himself towards Isaak, making him fall as well. The zombie opened his mouth but before he could bite, the blade of the machete came in between to block it. This one was weaker than Duncan's attacker but it was still strong. Isaak looked at his side for help but his friend was in a worse position than him. "Fuck" it was that Isaak could think, the way he was holding the blade was cutting at his fingers. His gaze moved from his bloody hand to the zombie's jaws before he made up his mind. He kept pushing forward even if it damaged his fingers, the zombie's flesh was very rotten so if he started cutting he would be able to kill it soon.

"Duncan! Just hold on a bit!"