It was Sunday. Summer vacation was ending, and school was about to start again. I was happy because I had moved on to my final year and would finally be free from school. My 12-year school life was coming to an end. I turned on a movie channel and started watching a film.
By the end of the movie, when I saw the characters who had kept us hooked throughout the story die, my eyes filled with tears. It felt as if I had known them for years.
As I tried to pull myself together, the movie suddenly cut off and an emergency news broadcast began.
"Do not leave your homes! For now, the safest place is your home. The virus is spreading rapidly."
As I wondered what they meant by "virus," a video suddenly appeared on the screen showing people attacking each other. They weren't just attacking—they were eating one another.
I slowly stood up, my goal to grab my phone and call my friends. As soon as I reached it, I called them and asked them to come to my place. —I had lost my family years ago in a traffic accident.— After everyone arrived, we discussed what to do next. There were me, Mehmet, Tuna, Batu, and my two cousins, Ali Mert and Halil Efe… six of us in total.
First, we needed to gather food. We left the building and went straight to the nearest market. Because of the virus, the place was completely empty. Even if no one had died yet, everyone had hidden in their homes out of fear. From the market, we took one shopping cart of food, one cart of water, and one cart of clothes.
—————— Two Months Later ——————
The supplies we had taken barely lasted two months.We had very little water and food left. We were afraid to go outside, but we had to find something to eat and drink.
We went out. The streets were empty and smelled awful. Blood and corpses were everywhere. The world had turned into hell in just two months. Being in Antalya had its own downside at a time like this. Before the outbreak, Antalya was a tourist area, and the more tourists there were, the more people there were to carry the virus.
We carefully entered one of the markets. We left two people outside for security. Mehmet and Tuna stood guard at the entrance. Once inside, we started searching the shelves. The canned food was gone, and the meat and dairy products had spoiled. Batu said:
"There's nothing here. But big markets like this usually have a storage room. If we find it, our food and water problem will be solved."
Ali Mert agreed:
"Exactly. It has to be somewhere around here."
After about two minutes of searching, Halil Efe said:
"I think I found it," pointing to a door.
The door was locked. After wandering around the aisles for a bit, I found a hammer and came back. After hitting the lock a few times with the hammer, a dozen gunshots suddenly rang out behind me. Mehmet shouted:
"There's someone here!"
We went over to Mehmet and Tuna. After the gunfire suddenly stopped, a girl came out—she must have heard Mehmet's voice.
"I thought you were infected. Sorry," she said as she stepped outside.
Mehmet was just about to reach for the gun at his waist when Tuna stopped him and stepped forward.
"It's no problem," he said.
The girl came over to us.
"I'm Esra."
Esra was a girl with bright blonde hair and hazel eyes. She had a pistol at her waist and spare magazines.
"It's nice to see survivors. And there are six of you," she said happily.
Mehmet stared at her blankly. Tuna nudged him to snap him out of it. Suddenly, Mehmet said:
"If you want, you can join us."
This time, Tuna jabbed him hard in the shoulder, and Mehmet rubbed his arm, groaning.
"Of course. Why not?"Esra accepted the offer.
Tuna clenched his teeth and said to Mehmet:
"Happy now?"
We went back into the market, and after a while, we managed to break the lock on the storage room. The moment we opened the door, an infected person lunged at me. Its saliva dripped onto my face, and it smelled horrible. Just then, Batu came running with a machete and chopped the infected person's head off. After throwing it off me, I thanked Batu and we entered the storage room.
There were three more infected people inside. We all attacked at once. Since we outnumbered them, we killed them easily. The storage room only contained weapons and water. Esra tossed Mehmet the keys and said:
"The car is just ahead, in front of the café—a black Mustang. While we load the supplies, you bring the car."
Mehmet smiled and ran off. After loading everything into the car, we returned home. Now there were seven of us, which meant someone had to sleep on the floor. Esra agreed to it, but Mehmet said, "I'll sleep on the floor." Esra objected at first, but Mehmet's stubbornness won.
We ate our food. Only a few cans were left. I turned on the TV and put in a CD. I chose a comedy movie to have a little fun. When the movie ended, everyone was laughing. Mehmet, however, kept staring at Esra nonstop. I'm sure he didn't watch the movie at all.
When Esra noticed Mehmet staring at her, she asked with a surprised expression:
"Is something wrong?"
Mehmet was still looking at her. Tuna nudged him again. Mehmet snapped out of it and said:
"N-no… n-nothing."
Esra shrugged. "Alright then."
After watching a few more movies, I said, "Good night, everyone," and went to my room. After drifting into thought for a while, Tuna came in. He slept on the couch in my room. He turned off the light and lay down.
"Good night, Tuna."
"Good night, my friend. Good night."