In the past three days of our journey to the next bunker, Yibo and I noticed something amazing that absolutely helped us. For the first time, we were able to observe the gray hairless creatures as they searched for food, human or animal, and noticed something very important that we didn't know before.

After spending our night, or rather day, in this old house, we moved on as darkness fell and after a meal that, like most meals, came from a can. We made good progress again and walked as long as our legs could carry us. At some point, it was already starting to get brighter on the horizon, we had to look for a new hiding place and ended up again in a run-down house.

In this street there were many houses that were closely lined up. Most of them were not older than maybe 20 years and surely still inhabited when the apocalypse hit the world. But unfortunately, all the doors and windows of these houses were firmly locked and Yibo was too tired to pick one of the locks with his special tool.

So we tried a very, very old house. Since the front door and all the windows were boarded up, we didn't have much hope of getting in. But that changed quickly when we came to the former garden of the house. The back door was open and so we entered the house without any problems.

It had probably been abandoned even longer than the house where we had previously turned day into night. The former kitchen was only recognizable as such because there were a few old pipes sticking out of one wall that were rusted. In pretty much all the rooms we went into, the paint on the walls had peeled off a long time ago.

In the former living room, there was still the remnant of a sofa. Nothing more than rotten wood and many springs. A table with only two legs was lying next to the former sofa. And what I felt as somehow ridiculous was that next to it was a still intact vase in which dried up flowers were stuck. That was somehow also strange that they had not long since crumbled into dust.

One room further we came to the former bathroom. The toilet and the sink had been smashed. Instead of a bathtub, there was a big old bowl made of plastic, which already had big cracks and holes in many places. There were no more water fixtures. Even there, only the rusted pipes could be seen sticking out of the wall.

Next, and practically last, we looked at the former bedroom. There was nothing there but dirt and the peeling paint on the floor, which was pure concrete. There was also a staircase leading up, but the wooden steps had long since rotted and at some point had simply fallen down. So we couldn't get upstairs and didn't want to.

We set up camp in the living room and ate something before going to sleep. But noises from outside kept us awake. We crept as quietly as we could to one of the boarded-up windows and peered out through a narrow crack. We saw these gray hairless creatures that seemed to be growing in number.

For a few minutes they just stood in the street, looking around and around, apparently waiting for everyone to get the connection and for them to be complete. And then they looked around curiously. A few immediately ran off to the houses and a few looked at our house but kept walking. And likewise again others. They ignored our house and looked in the others for something to eat.

At first we thought it was a coincidence and we even thought we were wrong, that they just ignored our house. And we didn't understand it either. They did not even come closer to the house.

But then, after we had spent the day, mostly asleep, in that house and had moved on during the night and ended up again in a crumbling house, observing the same thing as the morning before, we understood that the creatures seemed to be intentionally ignoring the run-down and destroyed houses.

It was just a guess, but according to this, Yibo and I assume that they don't suspect a living soul in such dilapidated houses. And usually that was true. Even Yibo and I would have preferred the more modern houses because we imagined that they offered us more protection. But now we know we were wrong.

We tested our theory one more time. In another run-down house, we hid again and waited for the creatures to come. A handful came and Yibo shot two times with a pistol in the air. He came back to me in the house and the creatures immediately started looking excitedly. But again they ignored our hiding place!

Now that our test had succeeded and we could verify our discovery, Yibo saw another advantage of our new undisturbedness and less fear of suddenly being surprised by creatures. He grabbed me with both arms, pulled me back to our sleeping place, I had not noticed that he had in the meantime connected our sleeping bags and put me in the now double sleeping bag.

He lay down next to me, kissed me and said: "If the temperatures around us were not at -10°C now, I would just tear your clothes off your body and throw myself on you. But that doesn't mean we can't still have some fun." Then he opened my trousers and slid his hand inside. It was ice cold, but only for a moment was I aware of how cold his hand was, because with what he did next, I forgot everything around me.

It's really hard to have a relationship when we live in an apocalypse. It is even harder to get closer physically. Because at any time you could be surprised and then that was it. Besides, the crazy cold was another factor at the moment, making it hard to feel like doing more than kissing.

Still, we lay there, kissing each other with such incredible passion that I didn't care about anything else. His hand in my pants was doing things he hadn't done since our one week in my apartment. I literally melted under his touches and kisses. And when I unzipped Yibo's trousers and slid my hand down his pants, he nibbled on my ear and whispered, "I'm so madly in love with you and so insanely crazy about you that I can hardly contain myself." Yes, I could feel that. I had the proof in my hand! Ahem...

As his hand slowly slid around me and to my butt, I grinned and nibbled lustfully on his bottom lip. He loves it when I do that and often gets even wilder as a result. Somehow it really turns him on.

His now no longer cold hand stroked my butt cheeks, he kneaded them and he began to prepare me. Which was not so easy without the appropriate remedies. Fortunately, I remembered that we still had a jar of marigold balm with us and I handed it to him. The balm made it easier for him, but especially for me. More bearable, until I got used to it.

When you don't get to sleep with each other that often, it's like the first time all over again every time, so it takes a while and good preparation for me to feel comfortable and relaxed. But Yibo is very skilled at it and so it actually didn't take him long at all before he turned me around so that I was lying on my belly.

He pulled my trousers down further, we were still fully clothed as otherwise we would have frozen to death, then he lay on top of me, kissing and nibbling on my neck and throat as he slowly penetrated me. Both of us were aware that despite our discovery regarding the creatures, we could not take as much time as we wanted. Because no one knows if they would not still scent us. Therefore it should rather become a fast number.

I don't know how many minutes he was on top of me, inside me, and we made love, but when he came I wasn't ready. However, he did not leave me unfinished and helped with his hand until I had also cum. Afterwards we quickly got properly dressed again, cuddled up to each other and fell asleep.

That evening, after making love two more times and eating more than we had in previous days, we set off again and reached the next bunker before dawn. Since we were in contact with the residents in the bunker and they also had night watches, they were already waiting for us when we got there.

They led us inside the bunker and we immediately realized that this bunker was different. It was not only painted with a beautiful wall color, but had modern and at the same time beautiful lights. Already then we realized that this is a bunker for the rich and beautiful of this country. Fancy expensive furniture was everywhere. In a storage room there were boxes of champagne and wine stacked up to the ceiling and there were even several boxes of Russian caviar. 

The two men who showed us around, they belonged to the ordinary people who probably only live in the bunker because they work for those who built this bunker, also showed us huge freezers full of frozen meat, fruit and vegetables. They gave us some fruit and vegetables, which we were only allowed to eat secretly.

In the large luxurious living area everything had been up to date. A television went from one wall to the next. Thousands of movies were stored on external hard drives. The seating was fancy and as expensive as a new car. Bookshelves also stretched from side to side and up to the ceiling, containing something for everyone. There is even an extra reading area there where there are several reading chairs and the appropriate lighting. The living area was, in short, pure luxury.

Even the dorms of the rich and beautiful, of which there are four, are equipped with proper beds. The mattresses on the beds are also of a luxury brand and such that they are ideal for any type of person. The bedding and covers are also only of the very finest. And on all the walls were large closets where they stored their luxury clothes.

But then they showed us the dormitory for the ordinary people who earn their place in the bunker by working. They have simple cots, each with a small pillow and a blanket. For their clothes there are narrow lockers with little storage space and where they also kept their private belongings, souvenirs, jewelry and the like.

Honestly, Yibo and I were stunned when we realized that even in the face of an apocalypse, these people still insist on the clear boundary between poor and rich people. Yet not even all the beds in the four luxury bedrooms were occupied.

What also struck us was that there were no children there. At least not among the workers. They were not allowed to reproduce, we were told later when we spoke to the director of the bunker facility. He came out of one of the luxury bedrooms about an hour after we arrived there and first treated himself to a freshly brewed coffee, which a woman of the workers had to make for him. Besides a sumptuous breakfast, of course.

The leader assigned Yibo and me two cots with the workers and said that if we wanted to eat, we would have to work for it. Yibo shook his head and said, "We'll just stay until dark, then we'll leave. Besides, we still have food ourselves." Then Yibo pulled me behind him into the dormitory and said to me, "I won't stay here any longer than I have to!"

"I don't want to either." I said and looked around the dormitory, which was painted with dark gray. One by one, the workers got up and got to work. One of them showed us where we could take a shower, the water was ice cold, and then he went to work.

Yibo and I looked around a bit after our shower ourselves and discovered the luxury bathroom of the rich and beautiful. Or rather, the bathrooms. Because there were also four of them. All of these bathrooms had beautiful showers with a wide shower head, hot water, whirlpools, a sauna and four bathtubs each. And if that wasn't enough, there was even a 20-meter long and 8-meter wide pool in a separate area.

None of the rich and beautiful spoke to us. They didn't even look at us and lived their life of luxury while everyone else slaved around them so they could continue to live in luxury. We had seen enough and went to sleep.

In the evening, the rich and beautiful were all in the living area having a small party, Yibo and I got ready for our onward journey. One of the workers came up to us carrying a large bag. He kept looking around anxiously, shoved the bag into my backpack and said in a whisper, "They won't notice if some fruit, vegetables and meat are missing." I wanted to say thank you or something in response, but he disappeared as quickly as he had come.

The director came to us once more and escorted us to the door. Probably he wanted to make sure we were really leaving. He let us out and just said, "Well, have a good onward journey. Thank you for your visit." Then he closed the door and we stood outside in the cold again. But somehow we felt more comfortable there than in this bunker.

We started on our way again. We assumed that we would reach the next bunker in two days. However, if our supplies would be enough, we would skip the next bunker and go on to the one after next.

Then in the morning, as we sat once again in a rotting house eating some of the fruits and vegetables while roasting meat over a small fire, we talked about the luxury bunker and how glad we are not to have to rely on the bunker. And just as I was about to say something after Yibo said, "I guess the workers there are glad for the space they have there." I felt something deep inside me. But not only me, also Yibo.

With a steady gaze we looked at each other and suddenly Yibo jumped up, ran to the door, opened it and a wounded soldier of the Amores fell into the house. Yibo and I dragged him into the house together, covered his blood trail in the snow and went back into the house. We treated the Amores' wounds and he said, "They're coming..." Then he lost consciousness...