Journey

"May I ask what for?" Hyeon had no obligations to answer Aayan's question as it wasn't his business what Hyeon did and didn't do. Nevertheless there was no harm in giving an answer.

"I'm looking for my sister." Hyeon answered, moving to leave the place. He looked around, there was no zombie in sight, even though they considered him one of them, there was still always one or two roaming around. However, there was not a single one.

"She could be dead." Aayan said with little sympathy.

"She's not." Hyeon said this with no uncertainty, it seemed as if he was only trying to convince himself. "I'd at least like to look everywhere."

"Alright, I'm coming with you."

"I-"

"Before you deny me, I'll have you know that the directions on the radio is false." Hyeon's eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "You want to know more?" Aayan had this smug look to him that made Hyeon not want to request more information. However, in the end, he had to find his sister.

"Yes."

"It's a security measure. Only select persons are given the actual location. This is why I doubt your sister will be found there. Unless there was something about her that set her apart from others. You see the shelter isn't really a shelter."

Hyeon frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

Aayan shook his head. "I've already said too much. The downline is, I can bring you to the actual location of the shelter."

"Wait-" Hyeon paused as something came to mind. "As you said this 'location' is fake, right?"Aayan frowned in confusion but nodded nonetheless. "Then what if, Yeon went there thinking it was real, shouldn't we still go look for her there?"

Aayan nodded "You make a point."

With that, the two headed out for Oulton Street, Montana. They walked for a good 10 minutes before the growl of Aayan's stomach brought the two to a stop. Aayan sheepishly scratched his neck. "I haven't had anything to eat for a while now."

Hyeon didn't bother to say that neither had he because he knew what would satiate his hunger.

"There's a small shop about 5 minutes from here, we can stop there for a bit. I'm a bit tired so we can rest and get you something to eat." This was a lie, Hyeon wasn't tired in the slightest. But the observant Aayan would find it strange if he didn't get tired.

-----

Aayan popped open another packet of lays and stuffed the chips into his mouth greedily. "A sausage would actually satisfy your hunger, you know?" Hyeon said as he glanced at the 4 empty lays bags.

"True, but lays are tasty, sausages aren't."

Hyeon shook his head in amusement and got up. "I'm gonna go get a bag and pack some stuff." Aayan was too busy eating his lays to pay much attention to what Hyeon was saying so he just absentmindedly fanned him off.

Hyeon chuckled and walked away. The first thing he picked up was a knapsack. The he walked along the store picking up anything he thought they might need for their journey. He packed some clean bandages, a flashlight and some batteries. He wouldn't need them, but Aayan might.

He ended up in the food section and was just about to leave until he spotted a few canned sausages. He walked over to it and packed a few. He grabbed some cheddar flavored lays as well as some other energy food. Spotting the drink section, he grabbed some water and a bottle of Pepsi. The bag was full and couldn't hold anymore.

The quiet moan of a zombie, coming from the direction Aayan was sitting made Hyeon rush over. He stopped before he was in sight and stared dumbfounded at the scene. A zombie passed the store the spot Aayan was sitting without sparing him a single look, rather it seemed to hurry away from him.

Aayan didn't even look at the zombie.

Hyeon waited a while then he walked out. Aayan immediately looked up and smiled at Hyeon. "Finished already?" Hyeon didn't answer and simply walked over to where Aayan sat. "What did you get?"

"Nothing much." Hyeon answered, staring down at Aayan with suspicion. He decided not to ask about what he had saw earlier and instead observe the other for a while. "You ready to go?" Aayan nodded and stood up. The two left the store.

"Have you noticed that there're no zombies around?" Hyeon asked glancing around the empty street.

Aayan smiled. "I think they can't stand to be around me." Hyeon glanced down at Aayan, surprised that he answered honestly.

"What do you mean?" Aayan shrugged in response.

"I rarely see them actually. But when I do, they stay as far from me as possible." Hyeon listened to Aayan's heartbeat. The steadiness of it indicated that he was telling the truth. "It's been like this since the start." He smiled at Hyeon. "Don't bother asking why."

"Should I trust you?"

"No." Aayan answered without hesitation. "But do keep in mind that I'll never lie to you. I'd rather not answer."

Hyeon nodded. He didn't know how or when but Aayan must have met him some time before the appocalyse seeing as he knew Hyeon's name when they met in the woods. Hyeon didn't ask about it tho as he had already questioned the boy enough.

The two continued in silence. "Montanta is a good forty minutes from here." Aayan informed, looking up the sunset he said. "We won't make it before nightfall. We can rest here." Seeing how skeptical Hyeon looked Aayan added. "Don't worry about sleeping in the open, zombies won't come near."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

"Your sister?" Hyeon nodded. "Tell you what, if she did come this way and found that it was fake, she'd have to walk along this route, it's the only in and out of Montana. We can take turns looking out for her."

Hyeon nodded and settled down on the grass, they were literally on the sidewalks, sleeping on the road. A few months ago, Hyeon never expected this to be him. A few months ago he was planning his death, in a way, he really did die.

"Tell me about your sister."