"The fuc' is it so dark in here for?"

"Shut your trope and see if you can find any more food."

"Yea, yea, I hear ya."

Jida was no longer able to breathe and the bones in his body felt rigid as he tightly clenched onto himself. He tried his best to stick to the wall, not making any sounds as he stared at the floor.

The booming voices he heard were deep, the two voices talking amongst each other as they rummaged through the basement, their footsteps loud and thundering.

The first voice he heard was one of a man that slurred the words he pronounced and drew out his vowels. The voice was unlike anything he's ever heard, the tones and the way the man pronounced the vulgar words he spat out was much different than his father's.

The second voice made him tremble in the corner he hid in. The voice came out aggressive and horse. Almost like the man had never coughed in his life, or maybe the man just needed some water, either way, Jida had never heard anything so appalling.

"The fuc' is the light, man. Too dark in here, how do' ya expect me to find anything." The slurred voice said.

"Sheesh, I don't know, not like you have a flashlight."

Then Jida heard a slight laughter and a sound of annoyance from the slurred voice.

Suddenly the room was brighter and everything in the room was exposed to the two men.

Jida's eyes widened when he could see the cement like ground clearly. His knees that pressed onto the ground were small and darkened with dirt and he could also see the slight cracks in the ground.

Up ahead the two men paused, their eyes widening and their pulse jumping at the crouched figure. One of them pulled out a rifle, preparing to shoot.

"The fuck did ya do Sam?"

Another pair of footsteps pounced down the stairs, stopping by the two other men.

"Generator."

'Sam' reached behind him, pulling out a small handgun and immediately pointed at the crouched figure near the corner of the room.

The other two men followed his lead and slowly they waited for the creature to emerge from its positions.

But Jida did no such thing, all he could do was stare at the cracked cemented floor and hold his breath in fear. His heart pounded against his rib cage and his breathing was ragged and short.

He tried his best to keep it in, tried his best to play dead. But judging by how loud his heart was and how short his breath was, it wasn't going well.

"Get off the floor," the raspy voice shouted, "now!"

Jida gulped, his hands were still clenched around his head, and slowly he came to his knees.

The three men stared at the boy, their eyes cautious and hesitant. Sam approached the boy, gun still up in the air and clenched in his hands.

One of them reached out to grab Sam, "aye, careful," slurred voice said.

Jida's gaze was trained downwards, his lips nervously pressed together. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know who these men were and what they would do to him.

And right then, Jida realized that all he knew was his father, and that was all he would know if these men were kill him right this second. And that maybe this was his last day on this earth, his last day without ever seeing the world outside.

"Guys, it's just a kid," raspy voice said, his gun slowly lowering.

"I don't know man, what if it's a trap?"

"Stop being a fucking idiot, Jean, look how scared he is."

'Jean' rolled his eyes, losing his gun as well. Sam did the same, his eyes still trained on the small boy. Nothing else was said between the three men, all they could do was stare at the boy and all Jida could do was stare at the ground.

Suddenly Sam stood up straight, looked around the basement, and turned back to the other two men.

"I'll see if there's any other rooms."

"Wait— what do we do with... and he's gone," raspy voice sighed.

Jean kept his eyes on the boy, his eyes sweeping over the boy's face, or maybe the girl? He wasn't too sure, but he could tell that the kid was young, very young. The kid's long black straight hair was hung around his face, features sharp yet delicate. There was dirt on his clothes and dirt all over his face.

He could make out the kid's Asian features and he could noticeably see how underweight the kid was.

"Hey kid, you can look up now."

Jida trembled, his eyes still trained to the ground, not daring a chance to look up.

"Jenny, can't ya see the poor kid's about ta piss his pants, let's just leave him be."

"First of all, stop fucking calling me Jenny, and second; this is probably his house. Maybe he can tell us anything valuable."

Jean shook his head, "if it's his house, why would he tell us anything dumbass?"

Jida was perplexed and immensely confused. What was he supposed to do now, could he just wait until they left or were they taking him with them?

"How old are you?" 'Jenny' asked. His voice deepened and the raspy undertone of his voice calmed as if he were talking to a child.

Jida was unsure whether to respond or not. But before he could, he was interrupted by a huge clang, louder than the one he heard before. It resounded throughout the house, and it made Jida flinch so hard that he lost balance on his knees and fell.

"You alright up there Sam?"

"Fine."

Jenny roughed out a long sigh, his big combat boots were tightly strung onto his military pants and the dirty white shirt he wore clung onto his biceps like second skin. The brown of his skin seemed like it was glowing under the florescent light of the basement and his dark short hair was riddled with sweat and mud.

The men looked at each other, Jenny's eyes sweeping over Jean and Jean doing the same. They both realized how dirty they were. Jean more so than Jenny.

Jean wore a sweatshirt that was covered in blood and goo, his pants ripped and torn apart. What once was his red ginger hair now looked like brown dark hair. His face was littered in freckles and his eyes were light blue, tinged red with fatigue.

"I'm gonna... head up and see if the water is still working. Watch the kid" Jenny said, his feat already halfway up the steps.

"Wha- you're just gonna leave me here with the kid?"

Jenny responded with a two fingered salute as he was already making his way through the doorway of the basement.

The room immediately filled with an awkward tense silent, one that was preoccupied with sounds of rustling and shuffling that could be heard throughout the house.

Jida tentatively relaxed onto the ground, cautiously laying his legs straight, his knees unfolding from its previous stinging into the hard ground.

Jean tried not to look at the boy, he really did, but goodness did the kid look malnourished. As malnourished could one be in a middle of a crisis as such.

He knew food was scarce and rare now and then, but goodness. Didn't the kid have some sort of food laying around?

With a prominent sigh, Jean looked around the place, his eyes sweeping over the decaying walls and the emptiness of the basement.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard once again, startlingly both Jida and Jean.

Jenny was running down the stairs in a rush, his boots thumping against the cemented staircase as he plopped in front of Jean.

"What's going on-?"

"Zombies... they're swarming up the house."