"Well, I’ll be damned.” Reck whistled. Cole was half-prepared for the version of Reck that the end of the world might have produced but Reck stood the same way with his arms crossed, his head tilted and a lopsided grin on his face. “The universe has a genuine sense of humor.” He lowered the gun. "Of all the grocery stores in the city." “You probably prayed for this day to come.” Cole made an attempt to tease him. "I did, actually." Reck spread his arms wide open. "Come here." He crossed over in three steps and grabbed Cole by the back of the neck, pulling him into an embrace. Cole put his arm around him and they hugged each other for a long moment without saying anything. Reck pulled back and held Cole at arm's length to observe him properly—P.A.X uniform, dried blood, the weight he'd lost and the expression on his face that said everything since the last time they spoke. "You look terrible," Reck said warmly. "The P.A.X uniform helps but underneath it you look like dun

Cole and Reck left the others inside and sat on the kerb outside the grocery store. “Man, this weather is crazy hot.” Reck sighed and shrugged off his jacket off, cracking open a can of soda. The street was empty in every direction. The Grey zone was quiet but Cole knew further down would be lurking with bloodthirsty Greys. Those creatures didn’t attack mindlessly anymore, they now hunted as a pack. It was almost as though they were evolving. "I can’t believe I’m staring at the end of the world." Reck said. “I can’t believe people can actually lose their minds and become monsters.” “People have always been monsters.” Cole snapped his knuckles. “The Plague only created a different kind.” Reck turned to him and smirked. "And you're the cure for these monsters…Did you know? Before all this." "No, I didn’t." How could he have known? It’s not like he signed up to be the last immune in an apocalypse. "Really? Not even a feeling?" "No." Reck nodded slowly. "Alright, I

Cole, Dana, Brad and Reck each carried a rifle that belonged to the dead P.A.X officers at the grocery store. They continued their trekking towards the west end with grieving Charlotte and Eli, and only took short breaks for Aisha to rest her swollen feet. “We’ve been walking for hours now, we should at least know where we’re heading to.” Brad pestered Cole along the road. “We will know when we get there.” Cole said to him to but deep inside, he had absolutely no idea where they were going. In the entire city, the tall buildings were destroyed to the ground. The looted stores weren’t enough to fit seven of them and Cole envisioned something stronger with huge walls that could defend them. Arriving at the mouth of a tunnel — an underpass beneath the highway — Cole heard a low echoing growl, rolling through the Grey zone from above. It wasn’t a single snarl of one or two Greys, it was a deep growling sound as a pack of hungry Greys had smelt them from a mile away and was rushing in

Outside the main building, the putrid Grey miasma polluted everywhere and fogged the air and Cole sometimes forgot it existed once he was indoors. Cole found Reck checking out the back gate at the east entrance. "What’s up? I'm just making sure we have all exits secured." Reck struggled to untangle the heavy chains on the gate. "Thank you," Cole said. "You can lock the gate on the inside. Let's leave the west gate as the only exit and entrance." "One entrance and one exit?" Reck succeeded with untangling the chains and tested the gate's rolling mechanism. "Yes, that way it's easier to defend ourselves from any Grey attack." Cole explained. Reck quickly padlocked the gate and held unto the key. "Any other thing, my leader?" He stood erect and saluted Cole. "Yeah, quit calling me your leader." Cole rolled his eyes and Reck chuckled at the annoyed look on his best friend's face. They continued walking around the vast compound when Reck sighted a river down south. "Dude, look there’