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FIGHT OR FLIGHT: CHAPTER FOUR—of podcasts and plans.

❝sleeping with giants, i'm tip-toeing quietly.❞

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THIS IS A fact, a statement, a truth of being: you tiptoe around the dead.

You rarely walk through graveyards. You avoid looking at them when you pass by. When you visit one, you're only there for a fleeting few minutes before you leave again.

It's because graveyards carry somber tones. Sadness drifts through the air on a breeze. Humans have a nature, a force of life—they don't want to carry that sadness, the weight of the souls gone unmourned and unknown.

What would it feel like if your whole world was a graveyard?

Millions around the world, six feet below. Billions, even. Dead within days.

Would you feel that grief in the air? Would it even reach your mind? Would it taint your conscience?

Would you grieve because you knew you were one of the lonely few left alive?

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The world felt lonely.

That's what Viktoria was thinking.

The world felt lonely, and she was so, so alone. Despite the five people sitting next to them. The five people surviving with her.

But not five people living with them. Because there is no living here, Viktoria thinks. There is no life. There is simply just survival. Eating, drinking, sleeping, and running does not constitute life. It is the bare necessities.

It is not living.

"Viktoria? Are you listening?" Emery says, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm listening."

The others were talking about a plan. A plan to find supplies. A plan so that they could continue living.

Plans were useless, in Viktoria's opinion. Nothing ever goes according to plan, so why bother?

"There's the Costco about a two miles away," Pluto was saying. "We could try that, it's sure to have a bunch of stuff."

"Don't you think that's a bit... far?" Zane says.

"It's the biggest store nearby. It might be the only chance we have." Toby looks down, arms crossed. She's got her combat boots propped up on the broken bus seat in front of her, looking about as relaxed as one can in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

Pluto and Zane both look thoughtful, and Emery looks downright disturbed. Kai has drool dripping out of the corner of his mouth as he lays in a bus seat, asleep.

Viktoria probably looks utterly dead inside. They pop in an earbud that's already connected to their nearly-dead phone, and starts the seventh episode of their favorite podcast.

"On this week's episode of Truly Dead, we see a young girl—"

Viktoria sighs. Best to take her mind off of their current situation and listen to true crime and think about someone else's problem.

"When should we leave?" They hear Emery say.

"Tomorrow morning, I suppose. Although we should probably try and find some weapons first," Toby answers.

"Right. Well, at least we already have Viktoria's gun," Zane adds.

"We need more, though. One guns isn't enough against those... things," Pluto says. "Especially not if we have to face more than one."

Toby nods. "Okay, so tomorrow, we look for weapons, and then we try to make it to Costo." They tilt their head. "We should try to find a map, too, I think."

"What for?" Emery asks.

"To find the fastest, safest route. You know, so we don't get eaten."

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Viktoria awoke later that night to a buzzing sound. It was so loud that it seemed to be surrounding them, filling the junkyard and making her ears ring.

They groaned, sitting up and rubbing their ears, resisting the urge to claw at them. The others slowly woke around her, Kai covering his ears completely and laying still as if he could drown the sound out.

"What the fuck is that awful sound?" Viktoria can barely hear Pluto say.

"I have no idea," Emery replies.

"Maybe it's a warning system? Maybe something's happening?" Zane offers.

"Let's check it out," Toby says, hopping up and stomping outside the bus.

And just like that, the noise stops.

"What the hell," Emery says, rubbing her head. "What the hell."

Pluto looks around, squinting in the light of the moon. "What happened to it? Why did it just... stop?"

No one answered.

Viktoria didn't know any more than they did. Except... a recognition pricked her mind.

No. She was not going to focus on that now. It wasn't important. Plus, the buzzing stopped.

The group filed back inside their sanctuary of a school bus.

Not one OF THEM SLEPT.

—THE AUTHOR SPEAKS.

0.8k words.

kinda boring chapter,, sorry. but hey, at least i did it ??

i hope you liked it !! so so sorry it took me forever to get out ! i've just been busy with school starting and everything.

what do you think viktoria knows about ?? and what do you think the buzzing sound was ?? tell me your theories, i'd love to hear them ! (but you get no hints)

see ya !