Breathe

A few days of mourning went by where it was impossible to give Marya a burial of any sort. No one else caught the virus. Marya was fortunately part of the 10% who didn't turn which was a relief as no one, especially Marcus, could handle the trauma of that happening. They all knew Marya probably wanted to say something inspiring after revealing the hidden truth.

To tell them not to worry and to go on doing their best but it was hard to do just that. Everyone was just so quiet. The girls whispered to each other but Marcus kept his distance from everyone including James so there was no unity present in the group at all.

Marcus had received a system notification saying, 'As the member with the highest stats, you are now appointed guide admin privileges.' He didn't know what that meant and didn't care. It also gave him locations to other valleys like this one and other bunkers too. There were two bunkers within the 10km radius as well as one other valley. Still, he couldn't care less at the time.

Eventually, a second notification from the system let them know that the zombies had moved on. Luckily there was running water as well as food in the bunker. Enough food to last a few months but of course the books were there to teach you to be self sustainable. Not to sit on your ass like they were. The water seemed to come from the mountains and it was filtered to make it drinkable.

Everyone helped in some way to carry Marya's corpse from the bunker but not a single part was pleasant. Especially when going up the ladder. Marcus shared nearly all the burden anyway. They buried her near the waterfall. They decided it needed to be a place they would visit often so they would never forget.

Just in case, they cremated her too so she couldn't become a walking corpse. Why the zombies had all shown up and just left a few days later was a mystery. No one bothered to ask. How would they begin to understand the behaviour of something that wasn't supposed to be real?

For a gravestone, they dragged a small boulder to her resting place and carved out her name onto it. There was no special service and no one said anything. Samantha just offered some flowers to honour her.

After that, they weren't motivated at all but they did things because, "Marya would have wanted us to". A phrase that Marcus would hear at least twice every day. He was sick of it and so was everyone else but if no one said it, nothing would get done. They needed some sought of reason to keep going.

They were working on building a coup to keep chickens in. They discovered wild chickens in the part of the forest where they had found the hatch which Marcus marked on his map. They also found empty journals on the bookshelves. There to be filled with new knowledge or stories of the new world.

No one felt like writing in them now but Marcus took it up as a new hobby. He started drawing his own more detailed maps of the heathland. While the others built the chicken coup, he went out alone to explore. Anything to get away from the valley just for a while.

The cycle repeated itself like this for a week until one day, Marcus went out exploring and fell to his knees. The final piece of his mental well being had fallen from its place and so his legs just gave way like that.

Before he knew it, he was letting out a loud wail of forgotten sadness. It wasn't a choking cry. In fact, now he could almost breathe naturally again. After everything he'd been through, he'd had it the worst. He'd already experienced moments of depression and trauma so why did it still hurt just as much?

He knew the others would feel again in their own time but that didn't stop him from running back. When he found everyone now having lunch, chicken coup finished, he fell before them and apologized.

"I'm sorry guys! I really am. I've been a shit leader who hasn't even tried to look out for the group! I never tried to get to know you guys properly and now I've missed my chance to get to know one of you because she's gone! I won't force you all to move on. I know everyone deals with things differently but I'm ready to listen now I promise. I'll never forsake you guys like that again!"

Silence filled the gap afterwards. The waterfall was the only sound reverberating off of the cliffs. Even the animals fell silent like they sensed their pain as well. The sound of water crashing down was suddenly so much louder than it usually was. Encompassing to the point where they assumed they'd never actually listened to it until now.

Lana was the first to speak. "You're right. We can't fall apart now when we need each other the most. Samantha and I are just as sorry for shutting you two guys out."

James took longer to speak but even he had something to get off his chest. "Marcus. It wasn't cool for you to completely isolate yourself from us. Especially when I needed a bro to stand by me." Marcus bit his lip. He deserved that. He really did as there was no excuse for his actions.

"However," continued James. "I get that Marya meant a great deal to you so I admire that even though you suffered the most, you were the first to try and bring the group closer together again."

"Yeah it's true," Sam chipped in. "Every leader starts somewhere and if you were the first to think of everyone's well being after all that, then you're at least a better leader than any of us."

She beamed a warm smile along with Lana. It was hard for James to smile but he did as well. They were doing it to make Marcus feel better about himself which he appreciated more than ever.

"Wow, this chicken coup looks perfect guys!" Marcus remarked. It was mainly a stick frame with a small enclosure in the middle with perches for roosting. The roof of the frame was covered with many layers of leaves and willow.

"Ah, I see. The willow will grow so one day we won't have to continuously replace the leaves or thatch! Brilliant!" James explained he got the idea from a memory he had of running through a willow tunnel as a child.

Catching chickens was incredibly difficult as they ran really fast and even if you were quick enough, they just used their wings to give themselves a burst of speed to get away. The only way to catch them was by chasing them into a bush where you could pin them down.

Altogether, the group caught six hens and a cockerel who pecked and scratched at James relentlessly. It was amusing at the very least and after not laughing for so long, it was good for everyone to let go a little. They also had plenty of opportunities to laugh whenever one got duped by a chicken or fell over trying to catch them.

Even if it was for their survival, the fun they had was more important. So much so, that at night when the chickens were sleeping, they managed to bag another cockerel that they shared for dinner. His flesh was tough but it just gave them something else to joke about. They were all late teens in the end just looking for a good time.

The fear hung over them of being eaten in the night by zombies so from now on, everyone slept in the bunker together. It was warm down there with the fire. Not to mention safe and the sofas were the most comfortable surface they'd slept on in weeks. There were in fact beds but for now they'd snuggle up together.