"Where is this camp?"
I had been searching for it for a month now. A place that is nearest to your heart but makes you want to die. What place was that? I had almost given up on finding it. Maybe I would just die like this, in this strange place, without ever finding the camp or any human. I did not care where I was. Even lying on the road in this hot weather did not seem worse than my situation. It almost did not matter. Almost.
And I did not even realize when my tears had started falling, when I had become so weak to the point that I wanted everyone to come back. This was absurd. What had I ever done to deserve this? Was wishing that everyone disappeared that bad? Was I that selfish? Was I the only selfish person in the whole world that I was pulled out of it and put here?
"Why, God, why was it supposed to be me? It must be a joke." I was screaming at nothing. Obviously, there was nothing, no one other than me. I had had enough. Now death seemed easier. I had accepted my fate. I would just die like this. I closed my eyes, still lying on the road under the blazing sun, waiting for my time to end.
"Are you okay?" someone said. Maybe I had finally died, and now it was some angel. So I had finally died. Just as I was thinking that, someone slapped my face, and death was nowhere to be found. I sat up and looked at the person who had slapped me. It was a girl. She was staring at me, almost judging me. I knew why. My clothes were dirty, my hair disheveled, and I almost looked homeless. I was homeless, as I had left my home and did not feel like staying anywhere else. I had been roaming the roads for a month.
But she seemed like she had been living her best life. She looked as if she was going somewhere because of how refreshed she appeared.
I could not help but look around to make sure I was not dreaming. Were all humans back? Had I been dreaming all this time? Was I back in the real world? Where did this girl come from? I had so many questions, but there was no one else around. It was just her, the girl who had slapped me. She wore big round glasses. She had short brown hair with curtain bangs, and she was staring at me. Her eyes had an intensity to them. They were just like her hair, brown, and she had long lashes. Her eyes looked so pretty, or maybe the fact that I had not seen any girl in a month made me find her pretty despite her average appearance. I myself was not a handsome guy, I knew. But something about this girl was just so pretty that I could not help but stare. She was clean, and I, on the other hand, was covered in dirt.
But there was something that made me hate her.
Despite her innocent appearance, I felt a sudden urge to kill her. And just when I was about to hit her, the sudden loud sound of something being shot behind me pulled me out of my stance. My heart was racing like crazy, confusion, panic, fear. All the emotions were taking a toll on me at once, and nothing made sense. It was as if the world had stopped. I turned my head toward her again.
She had shot something. I suddenly felt something wrapped around my ankle. When I looked down, that thing looked like a snake's tail. It was wrapped around my ankle, and I could not help but scream.
SLAP.
And there came another smack to my face.
"Be quiet," she scolded me. And I was just shocked. No one in my entire life had ever slapped me. And this girl had slapped me twice.
"Who are you? And stop slapping me," I said, my hand on my cheek.
"You deserved it. Why are you screaming? Never encountered that thing?" she said, almost scolding me, and pointed at that snake… but it was not a snake. It looked like a snake but resembled something human. The moment that creature started crawling away, all the hatred I felt toward her disappeared. It was as if I was being controlled.
"No, I have never!" I replied truthfully while still staring at that creature. It was disgusting, and soon it crawled away.
"What a lucky life you have been living," she said, standing up and looking around. "I thought I was the only human left here." She looked at me, and I just could not meet her eyes. She seemed stronger, better than me, and I was only a coward who had been waiting for death.
"I thought the same…" I paused, then mustered the courage to look at her. "Why are we stuck here?" I asked the question I had been searching for the answer to.
She looked me dead in the eyes and said, "I would not be stuck here if I knew…" She then looked around once again. "Where have you been living, and are there any humans? Like anyone other than you?"
"I have just been wandering around, trying to find the camp. I left my house a month ago. I have come a long way now." My voice suddenly dropped low. Why was I being so vulnerable, and in front of a girl? Maybe it was because she was the only human I had found after a whole month of being alone and not seeing anyone. I did not even realize I was fidgeting and looking at the ground like a child who had lost his mother in a crowd.
"What camp?" she asked with a tilt of her head.
"What?" I was shocked. I thought she would have known about it. She was supposed to be there too, right?
"The camp you said… What camp are you talking about?" She asked again, this time a bit frustrated. She looked like she would kick me if I did not tell her.
"The camp that crow was talking about…" I tried saying, but she cut me mid-sentence.
"What crow? And stand up. We have to leave this place as soon as possible. Tell me everything while we search for a place that is safe." I did not understand what she was talking about, and it seemed like she did not either.