I stared at the woman standing in my kitchen.
"I didn't know there'd be a guest in my home today," I said with confusion. "Did Google Maps accidentally bring you here?"
"Answer me," she said, her voice shaking. "Are you bitten?"
I let out a tired sigh and leaned against the window. "You weren't one of the brightest students, were you?"
"Excuse me?" she snapped, her eyes narrowing.
I replied, "After someone gets bitten by a Crawler, the virus reaches the brain in seven to ten seconds. Symptoms begin showing right after that. First the body starts twisting. Then the eyes turn red. Twenty seconds max. Basically a complete software update. Then, congratulations, he's now an official Crawler. Total transformation time from getting a love bite: thirty seconds."
I pointed toward the open window behind me. "So tell me....do you really think a freshly infected person could climb all the way up here?"
She looked at the window, then back at me. "I... didn't know."
"You should know," I said. "When surviving becomes your top priority, You need to collect every scrap of information you can find about the danger you're fighting. Ignorance is just a slower way to die."
For a moment, she said nothing. Then her shoulders relaxed just a little.
"You're right about that. But I didn't exactly have time to study them," she said quietly. "I was too busy trying not to die."
"Yeah, I can see that." I looked at the dark stain on her yellow top. "You've been through hell. What happened?"
She followed my gaze and looked down at the dried blood. She sighed. "I was just..."
"Ah....Sorry to interrupt." I hesitantly said. "But can you lower the knife."
She stared at me.
The look on her face suggested she was seriously considering to put the knife in my mouth just to shut me up.
"It's sharp, you know," I added. "Might cause an unnecessary accident."
For another long second she hesitated.
Then, She placed the knife on the dining table.
I let out a quiet breath.
"Thank you," I said. "You may continue now."
She looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read.
Taking a slow breath, she finally began.
"Yesterday afternoon... I was at my friend Emma's apartment. Unit 405." Her voice was calm at first.
"We were just... we were complaining about the heat. Laughing over a pizza that had gone cold because we were talking too much."
A faint smile appeared on her lips. It disappeared almost immediately.
"Then we heard screaming." She swallowed. "It wasn't just one person. It sounded like the whole building was screaming at once."
She looked down at the floor. "Emma thought someone was fighting outside. She said she'd take a quick look."
I already knew how the story ended. But I stayed silent.
"The moment she unlocked the door..." Her fingers tightened around the edge of the table. "....a man jumped on her."
Her voice trembling, "He wasn't a human. He was a wild animal. He bit her."
"I didn't think," she whispered. "I just reacted. I grabbed a ceramic vase from her entryway and hit his head."
She took a shaky breath. "The vase shattered. He didn't get off her. So, I hit him again. And again. I didn't stop until he stopped moving."
She looked down at her hands. "My hands were covered in blood."
For a moment neither of us spoke.
Then she continued. "I pushed him away from Emma. I thought she was still alive. I called her name."
Her voice broke. "But then....I saw her eyes. They started shaking. The white slowly disappeared....They turned completely red."
I already knew what came next.
She continued, "Her whole body twisted. Her arms....Her legs....It looked like every bone inside her body was breaking."
Tears rolled down Aurora's cheeks. "She looked at me....She let out this dry, rattling hiss. She wasn't Emma anymore. I ran. I didn't even think. I just ran. I stumbled in the hallway, in front of a room. I could hear her....it coming towards me. I thought that was it. When I tried to stand up....my hand touched something cold on the carpet. A key. I didn't think, I just jammed it into the lock, threw myself inside, and locked the door."
She looked at me. Her voice was heavy, filled with tears. "That's how I ended up here."
When she finished, the room was silent.
I reached into my pocket, pulled out a clean handkerchief, and held it out to her.
I said, "I am sorry about Emma."
"Thanks." She took the handkerchief and wiped her tears.
Only then did something click inside my head.
So that's where my apartment key went. I must have dropped it, after locking the door.
After a few quiet moments, Aurora looked at me. "So....You're Aryan, aren't you?"
I froze. "Yeah. How did you...?"
"Emma," she replied. "She used to talk about a guy named Aryan who lived in unit 402. A quiet office worker who barely talked to anyone."
Aurora gave me a small smile. "She tried to start a conversation with you a few times, but you didn't pay any attention to her."
I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling a huge guilt.
I just remembered the girl from 405. She was always smiling, she greeted me whenever she met me, she tried to start conversation with me. But I was too busy or too exhausted to even met her eyes. I'd smile politely....Or sometimes just nod and keep walking.
I said, "I remember her now."
Aurora looked at me. "She had a little crush on you."
- "....Seriously?"
She nodded. "She used to show me your social media profile. That's where I saw your picture."
I I couldn't help letting out a small sigh. "I guess I owe her an apology. I hope Emma won't try to attack me with more effort now, just because I didn't listen to her back then."
She gave me that unreadable look again.
"Sorry," I said quickly. "That wasn't a tasteful joke. Anyway, I didn't catch your name. You're...?"
"I am Aurora," she said, standing a little straighter. "Aurora Sterling."
"I am Aryan Blackwood. Nice to meet you, Aurora."
"Nice to meet you too. You know...." She tilted her head, looking at me curiously. "Your name is a bit....unexpected."
I smiled. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Actually, my parents traveled around India before I was born. During one trip, they got stranded because of heavy rain. A local family helped them until things settled down."
She listened quietly.
I continued. "That couple had a little boy named Aryan. My parents liked him so much that they decided to name me after him."
"India! My father told me, it's a beautiful country." Aurora sighed. "He wanted to take me there. But I guess, that won't be possible anymore."
- "Don't lose your hope so soon. By the way, did you manage to contact with your parents? They must be worried."
- "I couldn't. I left my phone in Emma's bedroom. And my parents are currently in Japan."
- "Oh! I see."
- "What about you? Seems like you live here alone. Where are your parents?"
- "Singapore."
For the first time since we'd met....
Aurora laughed.
It wasn't loud. Just enough to remind me she still could.
She said, "Here, we are fighting with man eating monsters. And our parents are chilling in another countries."
"It is a good thing, though." I smiled. "They are safe. I don't have to worry for them. I can focus on my survival and how to get out of this mess."
She stared at me for a moment. Then asked, "Do you still think, we have a chance? to get out of this apocalypse?"
I smiled and replied, "If we cling to our lives and fight using everything we have, there will always be chances. Our ancestors survived through plagues and wars worse than this. "
She stared at me for another second before giving a small nod.
"Alright then, Mr. Blackwood." She crossed her arms. "What's the plan?"
"Gather knowledge about our situation and our enemies." I replied. "Let's turn on the TV, keep the volume low, and see what the reporters...."
"All the channels went dark this morning," Aurora interrupted, her voice dipping back into a whisper. "I tried every station before you climbed through the window. Just static."
"Ah! Right. The internet then. Who even watch tv nowadays!" I said, pulling my phone from my pocket. "Internet will provide more then enough....."
I stopped.
No bars. Just a hollow, empty icon where the signal used to be. My stomach tightened.
Aurora noticed my expression. "What is it?"
I slowly lowered the phone. "No network."
She stared at me. "What do you mean... no network?"
I sighed. "The cell towers must be down."
"Are we cut off?" she asked, her eyes going wide. "Are we actually alone in here?"
"Don't panic," I forced myself to stay calm. "We still have electricity. As long as...."
BOOM!
The explosion shook the entire apartment. The floor trembled beneath our feet. The windows rattled violently.
Aurora gasped and rushed to the light switch.
Click. Click. Click. Click.
Nothing.
The lights stayed dead.
Aurora slowly turned to me, her face pale. "What happens now?"
I looked at the dead light above us. Then at my phone. Then back at her.
A helpless smile appeared on my face.
"Well," I replied. "Even though there's no electricity....the shit just hit the fan."