The other team
"Noah…" Deiji murmured when she saw a familiar face among them. Noah smiled at her.
"Deiji?" Deiji turned her head towards the girl wearing a fitted red dress and classy stilettos. It was her friend. Her ex-friend, to be exact.
"Bianca!" She pronounced her name with disdain.
She rolled her eyes and laughed disappointedly when she also saw her ex-friend's boyfriend, Carlo Torres.
"Wow! Lovers under one roof," Deiji sarcastically remarked, looking at them confidently.
"I thought you broke up with him, but look at both of you. Staying together even during a pandemic," Deiji continued. Bianca sighed and rolled her eyes.
Everyone fell silent, unsure of what was happening. Noah clapped his hands once to catch their attention.
"Okay, so… Mind telling us what happened to all of you?" Noah asked, looking at them one by one.
"And Deiji, what's with the baby? Is it your son? Daughter?" He continued.
"Do I look like I have a child? This guy is crazy," Deiji retorted, annoyed at Noah for seemingly teasing her as he always did.
"Uh, the baby isn't mine. Just a survivor," Yuki answered on behalf of Deiji and took Zebby from her.
"Thanks," Glenn extended his arms to Noah as a sign of respect. He respected all of them for helping them escape, especially the one who went outside risking his life to guide them here.
"No big deal, dude. Who else would help, right? We're all just trying to survive," Noah joked and lightly punched Glenn's arm.
Glenn just smiled shyly and scratched the back of his head.
"I'm Christ!" A guy who had guided them earlier introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Glenn."
"Yuki."
"Michael and I'm Michelle. We're twins."
"Cool!" Noah commented.
"Deiji here," Deiji said as she sat on a couch, motioning for Yuki to sit down so she could feed Zebby.
"I'm Noah," Noah introduced himself, smirking like a smart aleck.
"Bianca."
"I'm Daisy. Nice to meet you all," Daisy greeted warmly, smiling sweetly.
"I'm Myrna. Nice to meet you too."
"Carlo." He avoided making eye contact with everyone.
"So, what happened to all of you? Why are you all running and letting them chase after you?" Christ asked them directly.
"Well, something bad happened where we were staying. We had no choice but to run," Glenn explained, taking a sip of his coffee that Daisy and Myrna had prepared.
"Thank you for helping us earlier. We were really panicked," Michelle expressed her gratitude, folding her hands and thanking them earnestly.
"No, it's okay-"
"What the heck are you doing here in Sitio De Villasarza?" Deiji interrupted Noah, putting her feet up on the glass table in front of her as she sat elegantly on the couch.
"What?" Noah asked Deiji, surprised by her somewhat rude manner of questioning. Especially since she had just cut him off.
"I mean, you're not from here. So, what are you doing in Sitio?" Deiji asked bluntly.
"Geez, you haven't changed. You're still pretty cool, Deiji," Noah smirked at her, finding her still attractive.
"You both know each other?" Carlo interjected, now standing behind Bianca who was seated on the couch facing Deiji.
"Yeah! We were classmates back in junior high school," Noah winked at Deiji.
"Sorry to ask, but… do you have any food here?" Glenn asked Noah, feeling his stomach growling, and sure that his friends felt the same.
"Yup! But it's running out. We already ate most of the supplies in the fridge," Noah answered.
"Whose house is this?" Deiji asked.
"It's mine," Daisy answered, raising her hand. She awkwardly smiled as everyone looked at her.
"Where are your parents?" Glenn asked her.
"I don't know. They went out for their 25th wedding anniversary. But then the outbreak happened, and that's the last time I saw them," Daisy replied sadly, tears welling up in her eyes.
They all were thinking the same thing. Even Daisy was thinking what they were thinking. She didn't want to think that her parents were wandering around as zombies, but she couldn't help it. She still hoped that they were hiding in a safe place like her.
"I'm thinking of going to get food and supplies," Noah said, hesitating. He had mentioned it to his companions earlier, but they all got angry at him, saying it was dangerous outside and that his decision was suicidal.
"Let's do that," Glenn calmly said, without fear or hesitation evident in his speech and expression.
Everyone was surprised by Glenn's quick answer to Noah, which they didn't agree with. Except for Deiji, who seemed to have plans of her own to join them.
"But we need to eat first. We don't have any energy left after running from those crazy zombies," Deiji suggested.
"You're going too?" Noah seemed surprised.
"Of course," Deiji replied simply.
"It's dangerous outside, Deiji. You should stay here," Noah said, grabbing her arm as if he were about to turn her around to follow Glenn, who was now in the kitchen.
"What's your problem?" Deiji furrowed her brows at Noah and forcefully pulled her arm away from him.
"You're too paranoid. I've been doing this dangerous job since the first day of the pandemic. Stop overreacting, okay?" She just tapped Noah's chest and followed Glenn.
Christ, Bianca, Carlo, and Daisy, who were now with them in the living room, exchanged glances. They had been together since the bad incident happened, but now they saw Noah react like this for the first time.
"Do you have a plan?" Noah asked Glenn, who was eating in front of him. They were all now gathered in the kitchen, eating the last of the food Noah had mentioned earlier.
"None," Glenn simply replied.
Noah paused his eating, lowered his spoon and fork, and leaned lifelessly against the chair.
"What?" Glenn innocently and calmly asked Noah.
"You don't have any plan to go out and get food and supplies? We're just going to risk our lives like that?" Noah asked in frustration, looking at Glenn, who still seemed unserious in their conversation, which only irritated him further.
"I don't know what you mean, Noah," Glenn replied calmly and politely.
Noah sighed, rubbing his face with both hands, and looked seriously at Glenn.
"Nothing. I might be overreacting," Noah said, gazing deeply into Deiji's eyes before standing up and walking away from them.