Base (1)

Walking to the entrance of the base, the two military men that drove them there greeted the guard who stood in front of the door with a machine gun.

"More survivors. That's good. Now then, boys, I'm obligated to ask you a few questions before you enter. Is that alright with you?"

Johnathan examined the man wearing military armor and with a gun in hand before answering. "No, we don't mind."

The guard looked at the other three teens behind Johnathan, waiting for them to confirm if they minded or not.

The three teens nodded, making the guard take out an iPad from the bag behind him and start asking his questions.

"What are your names and ages?"

"Johnathan, 16."

"Ivan, 17."

"Danny, 16."

"Charles, 16."

"Zack, 17."

The guard nodded his head and jotted down the names.

"Have you killed any zombies and if so give a rough estimate on how many."

Johnathan looked at Ivan and Danny before giving a very rough estimate. "Us three have killed 15+ all together."

The guard nodded once again and turned to the other two.

Charles and Zack looked at each other before answering. "4-6," Zack said in an uncertain tone.

The guard once again nodded and wrote what they said on the iPad. He lifted his head once more and asked a question that threw them off. "Before I let you in, I'm obligated to ask if any of you want to help with exterminating the zombies and helping rescue people."

Johnathan looked at his two friends. "Should we?" He leaned in and whispered to them.

The two shrugged their shoulder, making Johnathan sigh and respond with a "we're not sure yet."

He then looked at the other two, but he once again got denied.

The man nodded his head, understanding the situation. "If you change your minds, you're free to ask any of the soldiers for directions to the recruitment room."

Once the questions were done with questions, the man opened the door with a password and let them in.

Finally, looking inside the base, the four teens couldn't help but be shocked. This was the first floor of the building, but there were hundreds of people sitting and conversing. There were only a couple of couches and places to sit, so the rest were on the floor or standing.

Some had smiles on their faces, some were crying, some sleeping, some even angry. There were all kinds of people here. Johnathan couldn't imagine how many people there actually are in the building.

"Let's walk around." Suggested Danny.

He not only wanted to check if his family was there, but if there were other people he could recognize.

"Sure."

Johnathan had no problem walking around. There wasn't much else he could do. He and Danny looked towards Ivan and the other two.

Ivan shrugged his shoulder and stepped forwards with them while the other two looked at each other and said, "sorry but I guess this is where we part ways."

"Again, sorry for how badly we treated you guys back in middle school. It was nice seeing you guys again. Stay safe." Said Zack, continuing after Charles.

After saying their goodbyes, they split up.

"They were a lot better than I thought they'd be. Seem like nice guys now." While walking, Ivan voiced his opinions. Johnathan and Danny could only nod.

They also didn't mind the other two. And with all the shit going on around them, they really couldn't give them too much mind.

"What do you guys want to do? Should we join them and fight zombies?"

As they continued to walk, Johnathan asked. The question was eating at him. If they stayed in the base and didn't fight zombies, they would be safe. But they wouldn't get stronger as fast, since cores speed up the process. On the other hand, if they joined them and killed zombies, they would get cores at the cost of their safety.

The other thing was, Johnathan doubted if they joined, they'd be able to hoard the crystals. Without a doubt, the government already knew about the crystals. Not only that, but Johnathan didn't want to expose his time ability. But he wasn't too concerned about that part, since he could always say he had short-range teleportation.

"I don't know. It might be a good idea since they'll definitely train us. But I also don't know if I want to risk my life. At the same time though, I don't wanna live being bored. Fighting the zombies is fun. Especially since… you know."

Johnathan smiled widely, understanding what Ivan meant. The powers they got were amazing. Not using them would be impossible. Using them not only relieved their stress, but it's like a dream.

"I get you. What about you Danny? You want to join them or not?"

Danny stopped in his tracks and thought for a moment. 'If my family's safe, would there be a reason to leave them and fight zombies I know I can die against? Is that really a good idea?'

If his family were alive and well, Danny doubted he'd want to join them. Why would he? His powers were amazing, but right now, his family was a lot more important. Leaving them and possibly dying for entertainment was stupid.

"Nah, if my family's here, I'm going to just chill with them. I realized how much I took them for granted. Fighting zombies is pretty fun, but I don't want to die and leave them alone."

Johnathan Ivan smiled and nodded. Unlike them, Danny had a good chance of his parents being here. They didn't want to ruin their time together just because they had no one left.

"No worries. Plus, it's not a hundred percent we're gonna join. Just a thought." Said, Ivan.

After that, the three resumed their walk. On their way, they noticed a lot of soldiers talking to family members. Especially the ones with kids their age or older. "Must be some recruitment thing," Ivan said, making the other two nod in agreement.

After a few more minutes of walking around the first floor, Danny tapped his friend's shoulders.

"Hey look. Is that who I think it is?"

The two looked at where Danny pointed. "It is. I'm surprised they're alive." Johnathan said.

"Let's say hi."

The two followed Ivan and made their way to the people they recognized.