|| Chapter 6 ||

May 2, 2020

Once the two made it to the alleyway below the fire escape, Max took Mia's hand in his.

The sun is rising, it's the start of a new day.

The streets are still dimly lit, and the fires are beginning to go out on their own.

It's quieted down.

"We need to find a car," Max whispered, glancing over to her. "Do you know how to drive?"

Mia glanced over to Max for a moment, then she shook her head. "I literally just turned turned seventeen, like, a month ago," she responded.

And that's all Max's mind focused on.

Her age.

She's only seventeen, she's so young, so innocent.

"What's your last name?" Max spoke again, this time more interested in her life.

"Stark," Mia answered.

A small smile formed on Max's lips as he pieced her name together.

"Mia Stark," he breathlessly said, his smile grew obnoxiously wide. "That's cute."

"What's yours?" Mia asked, trying to hide the obvious blush on her face.

"Bieber," Max responded.

"Can I ask you a question?", Mia asked.

"Hm..go on" he answered.

"Where is it you are from? Because you don't look english." She asked the question which have been bugging her this all time.

"Well I'm from Chinese-American. My mom is Chinese and my dad is White. I used to live in China with my mom, but then I moved.So yeah." Max answered.

"Yeah? What brought you to LA, Mr. Max Bieber? Mia asked in a cute voice.

Max glanced over to her for a moment. "Buisness," he replied, and that was the end of the conversation.

Mia frowned as Max began walking ahead of her. She held onto his hand, which caused him to pull her along with him.

The two of them stepped out onto the lifeless, trashed street.

Several of the cars out in the street, have been crashed by their owners. Smoke is pouring out from them, but there are no fires.

Max cautiously began walking again, pulling the young girl with him.

The two of them walked down the street, taking in the new world they live in. Nine of the infected are in their sight.

Mia glanced around the street, mesmerized by how quite it is, how different it is.

It made her heart hurt.

Max spotted a car along the side of the road. It seems to be in good condition, as it seems to be parked from the last time someone used it.

Max pulled his hand from Mia's, and he walked ahead of her.

Mia, not realising that he's left her side, continued to look around her. She stepped out onto the street, and glanced both ways.

No one is in sight.

Mia slowly approached a car that had crashed into a telephone pole. She peaked in the back seat, finding an empty car seat.

Her heat sunk to the pit of her stomach.

She could feel tears starting in her eyes.

And before she could do anything else, something grabbed her ankle.

Mia looked down, finding a zombie with half of its face burned off. Its stuck under the car, but is snapping at her leg.

She screamed as loud as she could, trying to kick it away.

If the zombie applied anymore pressure to her ankle, it would have left scratches, which would have infected her.

Max immediately left his position at the car he was trying to hot-wire, and saw Mia across the street, trying to escape from the zombie under the vehicle.

Another zombie exited a building after hearing her scream, and started to come up behind her.

Max immediately ran over to her, not wasting any more time.

He slipped between the zombie and Mia, where he shoved the knife into its eyeball. The zombie died instantly, and it fell on to the ground.

Mia sobbed as the zombie on the ground held onto her.

Max took his attention to it, where he shoved the knife into its skull.

The zombie died instantly, and let Mia's ankle go.

Mia fell back onto her bottom. She quickly backed away from it, breathing heavily and in tears.

Max yanked the knife from the zombie's skull. He shook the blood off, then he turned to face Mia, who seemed traumatized.

Max sighed as he took a step closer to her. He held his hand out for her to take, which she ignored.

"Come on, you're okay," he said, not lowering hi hand.

Mia shook her head. Her body is shaking, her hands are trembling, and her head is throbbing.

She ignored him. She didn't even look up at him.

Max sighed, glancing around. Atleast fifty feet away, towards a big intersection, Max spotted a group of zombies approaching them.

They must have heard Mia scream.

"Mia," Max spoke, not looking down at her. "Get your ass up," he spoke calmly, but urgently.

Mia immediately looked in the direction he's looking. Tears bursted from from her eyes as she saw the other infected people approach them.

She instantly grabbed his hand and he yanked her up, then the two started running in the opposite direction, abandoning their original plan.

Max's pace is much faster than Mia's, so he's pretty much dragging her along with him.

They ran through the streets for a building to hide in, not realising that every buliding he passed, people were inside, peaking out at them, waiting to see their fate.

Max yanked Mia into a small grocery store, which doors were open. He slammed the door shut behind him, then he pulled her through the store. Most of the food has been looted, but there's Some left.

As they ran down an aisle, Mia jolted to a stop, which caused Max to stop as well. He looked back at her, not quite understanding why she stopped, until his eyes focused on where she's looking.

At candy bars.

Mia grabbed two Hershey bars, then she looked at Max.

Max simple stared at her, waiting for her to speak, but she never did.

The two of them continued down the aisle after that. They reached the emergency exit, where they ran out into a parking lot behind the store.

Mia and Max approached a single car in the lot. Max tried the driver's door, but it's looked.

Max, then, pulled his elbow back and smashed the glass. He reached in and unlocked the door.

"Go, get in," he told her.

Mia quickly ran around the car. She got into the passenger seat and carefully and quietly shut the door.

Max opened his door and wiped the sea off. He pulled a piece of plastic off, that was covering the wires under the steering wheel, and he started to hot-wire the car.

As sparks came off of the newly cut wires, the engine sputtered, and eventually turned on.

Max shut the door and immediately started driving out of the parking lot.

Mia fastened her seat belt and she looked over at him. "Where are we going?" she quietly asked.

Max glanced at her for a moment, then he focused on the road. "See if you can hear anything on the radio," he told her.

Mia reached forward and flipped the radio on, finding nothing but static on the station they're on.

Mia switched stations, and continued to do so until she came across an emergency alert system.

"Emergency alert broadcast for all the United States," the robotic voice spoke. "If you require immediate care, do not got to the hospital. Stay indoors, and wait for further instruction."

And that was the end of the emergency alert broadcast.

Mia sighed. She glanced over at Max, waiting for his reaction, yet he gave none.

He simple sat there, stewing in his own anger.

Mia looked down at the candy bars she took from the store. She picked one up and held it to Max's arm.

"I got you one," she smiled to him.

Max glanced over at her for a moment. He carefully took the candy bar from her, then he nodded.

"Thankyou," he said.

Mia smiled in return. She sat still in her seat, and played with the wrapper on her candy bar.

***

A/n : Thanks for reading plss vote and comment on this chapter:)

16/03/2021

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