|| Chapter 7 ||

May 4, 2020

It's been exactly three days since the world ended and became anew.

Since then, Mia met a new friend, a complete stranger whom she barely knows.

Max is asleep in the front seat, while Mia is supposed to be sleeping in the back.

Of course, she's actually not asleep.

She's just laying there, wanting for him to get up, so she can have someone to talk to.

Mia pulled her cellphone out of her pocket, and turned it on. It powered up with seventy-five percentage of battery.

Mia turned the brightness down and opened her gallery, where she scrolled through old photos.

Yet, as soon as she saw a photo of her mom, she dropped her phone onto the seat.

Tears started to pool up in her eyes, and she started to sniffle.

As she laid there, breaking down, the front seat moved. Max sat up and glanced back to her.

"Hey, you okay there?" he quietly asked, clearly half asleep.

Mia gently shook her head, looking at him through the dark. "No," she replied.

"Wanna talk about it?" he questioned.

Mia sniffled, and sat up. She climbed over the middle console, and sat in the passenger seat. She rested her hands on her thighs and didn't look at him.

"I'm just scared," she spoke, her voice broke halfway through. "M-my mom... she's dead, she's one of those things out there."

"I'm sorry," Max quietly responded.

Mia's bottom lip started trembling, so she slightly bit it. "My dad was trying to save her, and I think he's dead too," she told him. "I had a younger sister and she ran away after my mom was attacked. I also had an older brother, but...he wasnt home, he was in California."

"Why was he there?" Max questioned.

"Uh, he's a...a Marine," she answered. "He was stationed at a base there."

After she said that, cold silence filled the air between the two.

It was as if Max didn't want to push any further, or maybe he's just not interested in her life before this.

Either way, he didn't seem to want to speak again.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? In LA? What kind of buisness were you doing?" Mia asked, glancing over to him.

Max's jaw clenched shut as he glanced down to his lap. He stared at his for a moment, as if he was thinking of what to say.

"I..." he started, but the words died on his tongue. "I've lived in LA for a few years now, I came here to further my education."

"Yeah? What kind of education was that?" Mia questioned.

"Ah, i was studying to become a lawyer," he answered.

"Oh, Mr. Lawyer," she started to giggle, but her laughing quickly disappeared. "I wanted to go to a college to become a doctor, but I don't think that'll be happening any time soon."

Max glanced over to her for a moment. He took a deep breath, then he nodded in agreement.

"A week ago, you were worrying about school and now, you're worrying about how you can't stay alive, how you can survive this," Max paused. "Our lives prior to this, were pointless, everything we did, was pointless," he said.

Mia nodded, silently agreeing with him.

A long pause went by without either of them speaking and when he finally did, she wished that he didn't.

"Did you have a boyfriend before all of this?" he asked.

Mia immediately looked over at him as if she was shocked that he would ask such a question.

"No," she quietly answered, blushing. "Wh-Why would you ask that?"

Max looked at her for a moment, then he looked straight again. "What! I'm not allowed to get to know you?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows. "It was just a question, Mia."

Mia sighed, defeated. "What about you? You said something about an ex-girlfriend, what happened there?" she asked him.

"Adult stuff," he simply answered.

"Adult stuff?" she repeated, looking at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, she fucking another man in my bed," Max told her, looking at her for a moment, but then he looked away.

"She cheated on you? That's surprising," she mumbled. "You don't seem like a bad guy, you know? I don't see why anyone would cheat on you. I mean, you're nice, and you're so handsome!" she smiled cutely.

"I'm handsome?" Max glanced over to her, raising an eyebrow.

Mia frowned, not looking at him. "Don't get all perverted just because I complimented you," she mumbled. "I'm hungry," she changed the topic.

"We're supposed to be staying off roads," Max looked over at her. "It isn't safe out there."

"So what, we're gonna hide under the Santa Monica Pier for the rest of our lu es?" she asked, glancing to him.

Max glanced around their surroundings, then he nodded. "I don't see anyone bothering us, so why not?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, we have no food," she told him, pouting. "Homeless people exist, you know."

"Are you suggesting that we kill and eat a homeless person, Mia?" Max questioned, looking at her with the most serious look on his face.

Mia laughed, reaching over and hitting him in his arm. "Shut up, meanie!" she told him.

The word sent Max into a laughing fit, which, for whatever reason only pissed her off.

Mia quickly opened the door and got out, where she began walking out from under the damp pier.

Mia heard another car door open and shut, and footsteps approaching her.

"Mia, where do you think you are going?" Max called after her.

"As far away from you as possible!" she told him.

"Yeah? You really think you'll last five minutes out there?" Max asked, getting closer and closer to her.

As soon as she stepped out from under the tall, wooden pier, a hand grabbed her and yanked her back under.

Max stepped in front of her, slamming her into the wooden pole, one that's meant to hold the pier up.

The force from him slamming her, caused a gasp to escape her lips. She looked at him, clearly terrified by his sudden outburst.

His body is so close to hers, his hands are on either side of her, and his face is lowered to her level.

"You aren't going anywhere," he repeated himself.

"Let me go," she told him. She started to pull her arm back, but he simple tightened his grip. "Let me go!" she screamed.

Max quickly placed his hand over her mouth, silencing her. She could feel tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Are you crazy?" he whispered. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

Mia stared at him with tears in her eyes, unable to speak due to the fact that his hand is over her mouth.

He seems annoyed, yet as soon as he saw her crying, he softened up a bit.

"Stop crying," he quietly told her.

The words only caused her to cry more.

Max pulled his hand away from her mouth, yet his hand around her arm stayed there, as if he's afraid she'll run away.

Mia sniffled, wiping her eyes with the palm of her hand.

"Wh-Wh-Why w-won't you j-jist l-let me go?" she stuttered, not looking up at him.

"If I let you leave, you'll die," he simply responded.

"S-So what?" she looked up at him. "I don't care if I die."

"That's a lie, you and I both know that," Max responded, shaking his head, and looking back at their car. "If you didn't care about dying, you wouldn't have come with me in the first place. You wouldn't have come with me the other times, either. You're too scared to die," he finished looking at her again.

"You're a kid," he paused. "A kid who's scared, alone, and who depends on others to keep her safe."

Mia looked down at his chest, thinking about what he just said.

All of it was true.

Max sighed, releasing her from his grasp. "Let's go find something to eat," he said, and with that the two of them left on foot.

***

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

19/03/2021

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