An icy cold wind hit us as we opened the Heavy Bunker door and stepped out into the darkness of the night. The full moon hung bright and clear looking like a large disc high up in the sky as we set out again on this freezing night. It was time to leave and continue our journey.

After a last dinner together with Haikuan and my relatives, we took our freshly filled backpacks and said goodbye to everyone we met in the past three and a half days. I even said goodbye to the 14 year old bitch, to whom I said with a grin, "I knew you couldn't keep him away from me. Well, now I'm taking him with me again." She glared at me angrily and ran away crying after Yibo refused to hug her and kiss her goodbye. So her last attempt to win Yibo over also failed.

As soon as we stepped outside and felt this icy cold, we would have loved to turn back and hide further in the warm bunker. But we have a goal and we want to reach that goal. We want to find our parents, no matter how hard it gets. And for that we are ready to walk for days from one bunker to the next.

I could say now, at least it had not snowed in the night when we continued our journey and the full moon illuminated our way. But it was just so bitterly cold that after only a few hundred meters we were already chattering our teeth because it was very stormy and the icy cold found a way into every corner of our clothing. The black uniforms are nice and functional, but they don't keep you warm one bit. But at least we had gloves and hats. A scarf would have been nice, too.

Yibo and I walked side by side, holding our spears in one hand and a pistol in the other. Because all the time we had the feeling we were being followed. But because our shoes crunched and crackled so loudly on the snow, we didn't really hear much. It was just a feeling that we both had and it accompanied us for quite a while. But we didn't see or hear anyone.

After four hours the cold had become simply unbearable for us and we decided to look for a hiding place as soon as possible that would give us at least a little protection from the icy wind. And the first building that seemed relatively safe was an old school. It stood lonely and deserted, looking as if classes might resume the next morning.

We crept onto the grounds and kept looking around in all directions. Of course, we thought to cover our tracks, but as before, I'm not sure that was enough. Well, anyway, we walked around the school building looking for an entrance, since the doors were locked solid and so iced over that not even Yibo could open them with his tools.

However, our search for an entrance was unsuccessful. We had to destroy one of the basement windows and then entered the building through the basement. The only problem was, the basement door was also locked. It took Yibo more than 5 minutes to pick the lock, only to be immediately confronted with the next lock, which belonged to a barred door that was still in front of the basement door. Yibo cracked that one, too, and so we were able to look around the school building.

We knew beforehand that there were probably no creatures in the building itself. There were no damages there and except for the window we broke, all the others were intact. What we were looking for were the toilets to see if there was still water. There was not. And of course we were looking for a place where we could retire and rest. But it wasn't that easy, because all the doors were locked and we knew there were these huge windows everywhere.

In the end, we set up camp in the middle of the hallway. All the doors were locked around us and there were no windows in the hallway itself. We put heat pads on our feet, hands, necks, lower backs and thighs so they could help us warm up faster. After all, we couldn't build a fire.

We crawled into our sleeping bags with the heat pads against our bodies and it quickly became comfortable. So warm that it was hard for me to keep my eyes open when Yibo discussed the further route with me. But even Yibo could not stay awake for long. At some point he put his head on my shoulder, kissed my neck and fell asleep. So did I.

A few hours later we woke up again because we heard gunshots nearby. Yibo hastily picked one of the locks of a classroom and we rushed inside to one of the windows. But we didn't see anyone shooting. But Yibo thought he saw tire tracks nearby. Exactly where we had walked last night.

Since we couldn't see anyone, we looked around the classroom and realized that this used to be an elementary school. Well, maybe it will be again someday. Across the street from the school, we hadn't seen it at all last night, was another school building. A middle school, which also seemed to be in an intact state. And sitting on the roof of the middle school was a lone black flying creature and it looked kind of strange.

I mean, they look hideous and also dangerous. But there was something wrong with this creature. It swayed back and forth like it was drunk, almost fell forward off the roof several times, and one of its pointed ears was missing. Mhhh, had those who had shot injured this creature? Had they perhaps hit it in the head, injuring it so badly that it had coordination problems? I wondered.

Yibo didn't think so and reminded me of the sick gray hairless creatures we saw. And I had to agree with him. This flying creature was probably sick, too. But what made it sick? Could we reproduce what made these creatures sick and thus kill them and rid our world of them?

It was also fascinating in a strange way to watch this creature. It was hard for us to look away, even though the chance of it seeing us at this huge window was more than high. But maybe it was already having trouble seeing or understanding what it was seeing. I don't know.

After a while, when it seemed to be getting weaker and weaker, two more flying devils appeared and tried to animate the sick one to move, to fly. They kept nudging it, lifting its wings with their mouths and claws. But the creature continued to just sway back and forth, back and forth, screeching, at almost every touch of the other two.

As much as I wish death on the creatures. But to see these two trying to help their companion or whatever, was at some point just heartbreaking to watch. Especially because it was obviously suffering agony, especially when they touched it. The part of me that hates and curses these creatures wished the thing the worst death. But the human and compassionate side of me, wished the creature would finally die to be released from its torment. I had no pity, but I also did not want the creature to torture itself further.

Despite all the attempts of the other two creatures to help, the sick creature only got weaker and weaker and at some point actually toppled forward and fell head over heels from the roof onto the snow-covered ground. But it didn't die as a result, instead injuring itself even more, causing it to shriek and scream incessantly. The snow beneath it began to turn red and the other two creatures sat next to it and seemed to be crying? It looked like they were crying.

For half an hour it lay there in the snow, wings spread and too weak to lift its head, when a group of hairless gray creatures came. The other two tried to chase them away, but could not. The gray ones beat the dying creature lying on the ground with their fists, tugging at it, biting it again and again, which it commented shrieking, and the other two couldn't do anything about it because they were too busy suddenly saving themselves.

At some point the two creatures just flew back up to the roof and had to watch as the gray creatures started eating their companion alive. They ate and dragged the remains with them, leaving a bloody trail. The other two creatures flew down from the roof, running around the large pool of blood and wailing. It was horrible to watch. I think they must have mourned for two hours before they flew away.

During the whole time we were watching all this, Yibo and I didn't speak a word. And even afterwards we were silent for a while before Yibo suggested that we should eat something and rest a little more and gather energy for later when we set off again. But somehow I wasn't hungry after seeing that. Still, Yibo insisted that I eat at least a little, which I did, but then vomited again shortly after.

I don't know why this situation hit me so hard in the stomach. I think I just found it cruel and absolutely horrible. That may be their nature, kill or be killed and eat whatever they can capture. But even knowing that doesn't make it any better. Not if you saw how agonizingly this creature died.

After I threw up, I slept in Yibo's arms for a few more hours. He slept too and told me later when we were awake again that he hoped he would never have to see such a scene again as we had in the morning.

We each ate two energy bars, drank water, and renewed our heat pads. This time we were going to use them right away to give us a little warmth when we were out in the cold again. To leave the building, Yibo opened one of the windows and we climbed out of there.

That night the full moon was shining brightly again, but there were also a lot of clouds and it wasn't long before it started snowing again. I think that night it was not as cold as the night before. Or it just seemed that way because of the heat pads. In any case, we also made better progress than the night before.

Oh yes, Yibo had been right by the way. There had been tire tracks in the snow and we followed them for a while. But at some point they led to the left, but we had to go straight ahead. And we had neither the desire nor the time to look where the tire tracks ended. And who is so crazy to drive during the day with a car and shooting through the area, is probably not only crazy, but also dangerous.

I don't know where we got the strength, but that night we walked a long way and didn't look for a new hiding place until the morning slowly dawned. It was cold, but bearable and it had also snowed only lightly and not continuously, but off and on.

Our next hiding place was a small house that looked very dilapidated. Probably nobody had lived there for a long time before the apocalypse. There was some furniture, but it was old and falling apart almost by itself. And also the roof was no longer tight, so where the roof had a big hole, there was a big pile of snow on the floor underneath.

We retreated to the former small bedroom. There was no longer a bed, but we probably wouldn't have used that either. Yibo lit a small fire for us, since there was a draft everywhere we didn't have to worry about choking on the smoke from the fire, and after covering the small window with old newspapers, we settled into our sleeping bags. We fell asleep almost immediately, so exhausted we were.