The moment I arrived behind everyonee and caught a glimpse of the view displayed on the screen, my thoughts were instantly confirmed.
"Oh, my God!" The man's scream tore through the speakers as he ran through one of the Isles within the store.
With the help of his camera, we were able to see the infected running after him.
They snarled and bit at the air as they gained upon him. Beside me, Bright began to chant. "Run away!" as though the man could hear him.
"Gruuugh!"
"Get away from me!"
The comments rolled in with some sending in laughing emojis, too.
"Find a place to stay!"
"Scream at them!"
"Start a fire!"
"Why did you even go outside?"
"Now you are running when you should have waited for the military from the start!"
"This poser is dead as hell, hahaha!"
Upon seeing the comments flooding the comment section, I felt bad for him. Many didn't even feel any sort of sympathy.
He was warned at the beginning. Still, what else could he do? His family was starving.
"He needs help!" Sofia screamed.
"Do you want to help him?" Collins retorted.
"Perhaps, carry your brother's QUAX arm and go and shoot them?"
My sister was older than Collins by five years, but Collins didn't care about that since he hardly respected anyone.
They began to argue, but I shut them up and focused on the video.
"I don't know where to go! They got in through the door! Help me!"
His words became incoherent at a point, and I realized he was getting tired.
I pulled the laptop from my sister's lap, causing them to stare at me as I began to type on the screen. They pressed towards me as I typed in the words: "USE YOUR AXE."
I didn't know if he could read it, but I really hoped he had enough sense to use his weapon. Suddenly, the camera fell, and the only thing we could see was running purple veined feet.
"Did they get him?" Bright asked.
No one answered. I was holding the laptop so hard that I feared it would break.
Several seconds later, a scream was heard...
"Noo! Arrrghhhh!!! Kyaarrrhhggggghhh!" It sounded like a person undergoing the worst form of torture as the scream echoed repeatedly.
"Run away, you dimwit!" Sofia screamed as though the man wasn't already getting ripped apart.
Due to the displaced camera, we couldn't see anything, but we could hear the sounds...
The sound of crunching bones and ripping flesh.
The man got caught by the infected.
Bolaji covered his little sister's ears and eyes as the infected made a wet, slurping sound while they chewed on the man's flesh.
For the umpteenth time, we had witnessed another human fall to the infected.
The comments also showed how people rarely ever cared about the situation others found themselves in unless they were the ones experiencing it themselves.
"Should have fucking stayed home."
"Where the fuck is the military?"
"Do you think he will turn?"
"He's fucking stupid. Who told him to go out there?"
"He has a wife and kids. How will he feed them?"
"More like he is going to feed on them now hahaha."
Aa the comments rolled in, the infected began to run wildly through the store, their feet pounding heavily against the ground as they moved.
As they passed by the camera, one of them accidentally stepped on it, and it sent a loud crunching sound through the air as the plastic casing of the camera snapped and shattered.
The live feed transmission went off.
"Oh my God," my mum muttered as she reached over with her arms open toward my sister.
I glanced at the others and saw the worry in their eyes.
We had all watched the video and I was sure similar thoughts were running through everyone's mind;
'How were we going to get food and other necessary supplies if they ran out before the military arrived? Are we going to starve?'
In light of the situation, it was advisable to stay home but how could we if there was nothing to sustain us? If the infected caught up to us, would we have the strength to run or fight back?
There was still electricity which allowed us to get updates about what was happening in the world but it wasn't enough.
'If the authorities don't come up with a solution soon, we are all going to meet a bitter end.'
I for one wouldn't sit back and witness my loved ones die so I began formulating plans in my head.
....
Three days passed and nothing happened still. During this time I had secretly been visiting the shack outside the house, situated within the compound.
We watched more videos of people who tried to step out of their houses but were either killed or turned before our very eyes.
One interesting occurrence happened to be the fact that more and more people left the confines of their house to rose to try their luck. It was as though the deaths of the others had done nothing to deter them.
"But why do they keep on going outside to die?" Collins asked that morning as we placed Bella's laptop on the table.
We had just finished watching another video where a group tried to go out together to get food but ended up becoming food for the infected.
"Because they don't have food, you fool. It is getting to a point where you either die of hunger or get killed by the infected," Bright answered and then threw a glance at me.
"We might meet the same fate soon," He added.
It almost felt like he was trying to tell me to find a solution. Since Bolaji and I were the brains around here, I wasn't surprised.
"Father just had to be a good Samaritan. Tsk," Collins clicked his tongue while speaking.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bolaji asked angrily as he rose from his position.
I touched his arm, hoping to calm him down, "Kids will be kids," I voiced before turning to head out.
Bolaji threw Collins a glare before following after me.
We arrived upstairs in Bella's room... one she shared with the girls. Our parents said they wanted to have a meeting and didn't want to be disturbed.
Bolaji and Bella were interested in joining the meeting of adults and requested to be there but It turned out that our parents didn't want them there.
Bella and Bolahi got annoyed since we were all adults, yet our parents were treating us like kids.
I already knew what the meeting was gonna be about. The food was already going down and we needed more.
They were probably wondering if it was a good idea to send someone outside.
I found it a bit humorous since they'd eventually come to me for advice.
Meanwhile, I was already making plans outside the house where the small shack was situated.
"I am almost done with the preparations," I said to Bolaji and Bella.
"What preparations?" Bolaji and Bella inquired.
"Follow me," I said to them while heading outside.
They followed after me to the small shack close to the east fence. We headed in and the first thing they sighted were pieces of equipment and gadgets on a table.
"You've been building drones?" Bolaji expressed his shock the instant he spotted them.
"Not just ordinary drones... the MSV type," I responded.
Bella didn't understand what that meant but Bolaji's jaw instantly dropped to the floor.
"That would really help in this situation," His face beamed with joy.
"I only need a virtual he..." As I was about to speak again, we heard a yell from the main house.
"No! I refuse!"
This yell prompted us to return to the main household.
"What is it?" We soon arrived in the other living room where they had been holding their meeting.
The adults were stationed in different spots in the living room. Everyone seemed okay except for the troublesome expressions on their faces.
Bolaji's mum was standing with arms akimbo in front of the TV while Bella's mum was by her left with a grim expression.
My mum was seated beside Bolaji's dad and also bore a disturbed expression. Bella's dad was the only one with a blank expression on his face.
"Who screamed? What's wrong?" I questioned once again.
"Let's just turn on the TV and see what's going on," Bolaji's father tried to change the topic.
"Haven't we watched enough?" his wife asked, her face turning red with annoyance. "What else do you want us to see?"
Bolaji's father frowned. "But that's the only way to know what's happening. Should we do nothing while we stay here?"
His wife snorted. "You've said what you want to do. What else do you want?"
'What the hell are they fighting about?' The look on Bolaji's face was that of bafflement as he stared at his parents.
"At least let's see what is going on," my mum added.
Based on how she was positioned beside Bolaji's dad, I assumed they were on the same page with whatever was discussed there while Bolaji's mother wasn't.
"The matter hasn't been settled and you want us to watch TV? My husband wants to send my son out there and you say—"
My mother rose with an expression of annoyance. "My son is going out there too and I'm also concerned but they are the ones who know how to use that tech--"
Bolaji's mum shook her head wildly while interrupting.
"Then, you are not concerned at all! For days, people have been dying and you want to send your son along with mine out there to die?! I'd rather we all die of starvation here. My son is not going anywhere!"