Somewhere on the narrow road through the woods-

Kartik's POV:

I felt a sudden jerk and it woke me up. I slowly opened my eyes and  realised we were still on the bus, and the road was quite awful, covered with small pebbles and puddles filled with rain water. I looked outside, it was still dark. The rain had almost stopped. I looked down to look at Naira, sleeping peacefully with her head on my chest, holding Kairav tightly who was snoring softly - just like his mom. I looked around. Everyone was sleeping. I didn't realise when I drifted off to sleep. But I was assured knowing that everything went alright and everyone was safe. I looked at my watch. It was 11:45 pm. I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

I rose up from my seat, careful enough not to wake Naira or Kairav up. I walked towards the front to see Thomas on the verge of sleeping but keeping his eyes open forcefully. I chuckled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey buddy...you can give yourself a little rest now. Tomorrow might be a big day for us", I suggested him and he nodded, getting up from the seat and walking away. I sat down on the seat and looked at Watson. He was the only one who had not taken any rest till now, he didn't look tired also instead his eyes were wide open concentrating on the road.

"Don't be too hard on yourself buddy...take some rest. I can drive", I offered and he smiled.

"You slept a little too much buddy because we'll be reaching Nilwood in fifteen minutes approx. The wood has begun to become less denser, you see", he said pointing outside at the now becoming less denser forest and I nodded.

"I don't get tired too easily. Being a sheriff, I spend almost whole day patrolling in the car. Don't worry, you can do your share of driving tomorrow", Watson said and I chuckled.

There was a moment of silence between us. We could hear the sound of the bus as it moved on the pebble covered road, people snoring softly in the back and the crickets chirping in the woods.

"Do you have any idea how this shit started?", I asked Watson and he shrugged his shoulders.

Prof. Eugene's POV:

I was trying my best to sleep but couldn't. People's screams and the snarling, growling noises of those zombies were threatening me. Yes I was the one who discovered that virus and god knows how it got leaked into the city. But I never wanted this to happen. I repeat, I never wanted this. I just created that virus to get money and fame. I never expected this to happen. The worst part is, I have no cure for this. I can't stop this fucking fuckedy fuck situation that I myself created.

"Do you've any idea how this shit started?", I heard Kartik's voice coming from the front. I got goosebumps hearing that question and I grew suspicious, fearing if he gotta know that I'm the man behind all this shit.

I heard no reply from Watson.

"This shit ain't real. I can't believe this is happening. Whenever I wake up, I want it to be just a nightmare or a Friday night movie at the theatres but this shit is fucking real!", Kartik said frustrated and I could sense the anger in his voice.

"I mean what is it....what is it that is turning normal people like us, into ugly faced, shit smelling, snarling, feeding on the living creatures! This is so sudden. There was no warning, nothing. Everything got destroyed in these twenty four hours. The whole city got ruined, bombarded. The previous night, I was sleeping peacefully on my bed and tonight, I'm on a bus with complete strangers running for their lives, can you believe it?", Kartik scoffed looking at Watson and he chuckled.

"Shit happens, things get bad, they become worse. They still haven't found the real reason behind the outbreak. I'm dreading it might be a hit and trial experiment by a crazy physcopath", Watson said and Kartik shrugged his shoulders.

"May be. But if it is and I find the man behind all this shit, I swear I'm gonna beat the shit out of him", Kartik said in a serious tone and here I was trembling in fear, my heartbeat pacing up.

"For now I hope that Chicago is the only affected city in the whole state of Illinois or more better in the whole country. I just hope things get handled before they go out of hand. If this virus or whatever it is, spreads to other cities or towns, it won't take too long for US to wipe out from the world map",  Kartik said sighing and Watson looked at him.

I didn't reveal that I'm the one who discovered this deadly virus to any one till now, and I'm not gonna do that either. It'll be suicide. You see I've got no combat skills and I'm too old to survive on my own so I need these people to take me through this. This is how I survive now. But I fear the commando. The look that he gives me everytime he looks at me, that suspicious look....it brings me goosebumps. These commandoes can smell criminals, they can read their brain. I've got to be careful around him otherwise he's gonna beat the shit out of me, like he himself stated.

KARTIK'S POV

We reached Nilwood at around 00:15 a.m. Nilwood was a small town, a very small town instead. It was like any other country side town. Everything was normal here. There was no sign of any dead walking creatures, no blood, no dead bodies. The street lights threw their narrow beam down the road. The shops were closed and the houses were locked. There weren't many buildings there. No one could be seen on the road, except for stray dogs. There were huge grasslands on the other side of the town, probably used for cattle grazing. The surroundings looked safe so I thought it would be alright to stay the night there.

Countryside Motel
Nilwood
Macoupin County

I saw a signboard as soon as we entered into the town.

"Hey...stop there", I told Watson pointing at the signboard. He parked the bus on the other side of the road, adjacent to the motel.

All of us got down the bus and looked at the motel. The motel looked quite old and cheap as the whole building was made up of wood. Even the banner on top of the motel that said "Countryside Motel" was tilted. But this could be our only shelter. I would rather spend my night here than wandering in the woods. It could be said that it was the only lighted building amongst all other buildings of the town and thankfully it was still open.

"I guess I found us a shelter to stay the night", I said looking at the motel and was relieved to see everyone's smiling faces and sighs of relief.

We walked into the motel, all of us. The interior gave the 60's feel. And I could say that when the whole world was living in 2020, this motel was living in 1960. Everything was made of wood - the furnitures, the windows, the floor, quite almost everything.

"How can I help you sir?", I heard a lady say from the reception. I turned to look at her. She was a skinny woman, probably in her late 20's. She was wearing the uniform, which again gave me 60's feel. Her hair was tied up in a bun and she was looking at me with a bright smile.

"Oh...yeah", I walked towards the reception.

"I want some five rooms for all of us", I said and she gave me a warm smile.

"I'm sorry sir but we have only four left", she said and I turned back at people.

"I can move in with the sheriff....right sheriff?", Professor Jenner asked Watson and Watson looked at him.

"Whatever...", he said shrugging his shoulders in a "I don't care" tone.

"Okay...four will be alright", I said turning to the receptionist.

"Can I have your name please?", she asked me looking at her computer.

"Kartik Goenka", I replied and she typed my name.

"And for how many days will you stay here? Actually...I don't care. You can stay here for as long as you want. Not many visitors come to this town. You people are our first visitors in two months. Who will come to spend a vacation in a small town, right?", the receptionist said and gave us our room keys.

"Here are your keys...you can go by yourselves. There are only two floors in this motel and just three rooms in each floor", the receptionist said and I took the keys from her.

"Thanks....(I looked at her batch) Kelly...Thanks Kelly", I thanked her after I gotta know her name.

"My pleasure", she replied and I turned towards the people.

"Thomas yours is room no. 3, Hannah yours is 4, Watson and Prof. Jenner, u get the 5th one", I handed over the keys to them and they walked away using the stairs.

I turned towards Naira. Kairav was asleep in her arms.

"Ours is room no. 6", I said smiling at her and she smiled back at me.

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STILL KARTIK'S POV

We reached our room and I opened the door to look inside. It was not so big room but it was enough for the three of us. It had two single beds made up of wood. Actually all the furniture was made up of wood - the bed, the sofa, the table, the drawers even the floor and the ceiling. The whole room gave an authentic 60's feel with its furniture and designing. There was a cable TV in front of the bed.

We walked inside with our luggage and bags. Naira made Kairav sleep on the bed, covering him with the duvet while I closed the door behind. After assuring Kairav was comfortable, Naira turned to look at me. She sighed and started walking towards me. I walked towards her and we hugged each other tightly. It felt so much pleasure to be in each other's embrace, to feel each other's presence and to know that you are safe.

Naira placed her head on my shoulder and I hugged her tighter, not wanting to let her go.

"I'm glad that you are here", Naira said as she his her face in the crook of my neck.

"I'll always be there....I've always been there. You and Kairav are my lifelines and I can cross any border to assure that you both are safe", I said and Naira looked up at me while we still hugged each other. She brought her lips closer to my lips and we both closed our eyes, feeling the magic. Her lips touched mine and we began kissing each other wildly. The kiss felt like magic, because it had been many days since we both kissed like this. She stood on her toes to reach my height and moved her hand through my hair. I pulled her closer by her waist and lifted her so her legs were around my waist.

She opened the buttons of my shirt and I pulled her top out. We continued to kiss each other and I carried her into the bathroom, closing the door behind. I turned the shower on and cool, chilling water started falling on us. But we felt warmth by being close to each other. I placed her down and turned her so now her back was facing me. I slid down her bra straps and started giving wet kisses down her neck line. She closed her eyes feeling my touch. She turned towards me and held my face in between her palms. Our hair wet and faces covered with water droplets. She looked into my eyes and I looked into her eyes.

"I love you", she said and I could see tears forming in her eyes.

"I love you too...I love you so so so damn much", I said lowering my head so that our foreheads touch. We felt so good being close to each other, we felt so good feeling each other's breath. I just wanted the time to stop.

I took her hand in my hand and caressed our engagement ring. She smiled brightly and I smiled back at her. We held hands and stood there, getting wet under the shower.