Arrival

It was a new dawn for Ralph, who hadn't seen dawn for quite some while now.

The journey to lederberg was uneventful.

He did see a lone shadow spawned under the shadow of a board in the middle of nowhere, Ralph saw no reason to stop for it, no need to help him out of his misery.

He entered the dilapidated city and started going through the city at a slow pace, he didn't believe that the shadows would pose a difficulty, he feared them about as much as stray animals.

Their disappointing nature made him scowl.

'So much lost potential. If I would have made them, they would at least form large groups. I think I can kill one with my bare fists now. They were such a nightmare when I couldn't run away from them.'

The zombie fanatic sighed and drove through the streets 'littered' with shadows.

'There's a fair number of them here as well. Could there be another survivor here?'

He searched through his supplies and picked up a megaphone among the various trinkets he had prepared for the trip.

'Let's not be too bold.'

He put the megaphone down and took out a speaker instead.

'This should help me get some distance. Let's get a block away, surely the wireless range wouldn't be too disappointing.'

He walked back with dissatisfaction and walked into a shop nearby.

'I deserve the death if the monsters end up sniffing me out. Should've found long wires before coming here.'

With an unwilling look, he spoke up on the mic.

'Hello! Is anyone still alive? You will find me here for a while. I have enough ammunition to safely extract you if you end up getting chased. The shadow monsters are deaf, so unless there are other monsters here you can make a loud noise and I'll come over to your location.'

He read out the introductory speech he had prepared and stuffed the paper back into his pocket.

'I doubt I'll find anyone here, survivors would find it hard to survive with a small group amongst those monsters. I guess my case was the same.'

He was musing over the things that had happened to him so far when he heard an alarm go off at some point.

He ran back to his car and sped through the burnt cars. He arrived in front of a house that had a broken front door lock. An axe stuck to the lock.

'This has to be a human, but why use this roundabout way to inform me.'

He took a look around the street and saw an elderly man walk out from inside a house on the opposite lane.

The man had a strong build probably in his late 40s, he had black hair that had greyed due to his age. He expected happiness on his face but got a stern look.

He ran up to Ralph with a gun in his arms and a small backpack that he carried on his shoulders.

"What the fuck were you thinking kid? Quickly, get in the car we need to move out right now."

He half dragged Ralph inside the car after snatching the keys from his hand. Ralph didn't understand, but he believed in the man.

It was time to act, not to chatter.

They had just sat down in the car when a guttural scream rang out from a distance.

The old man didn't bother to explain and stepped on it.

His expertise in speeding through the crowded streets had to be praised. He controlled the vehicle with refined control, Ralph would be praising him if he wasn't holding on to the passenger seat for dear life.

So many instances of almost crashing into cheeky chimeras.

Another reason to admire the old man in the driving seat.

They had left the city when the man slowed down the car.

"You have my apologies for startling you like that. Since you have already seen the monsters before I'll have an easier time explaining for now. The scream you heard back there belongs to a big one. I have seen it rip a car in half before, so don't even think you could have taken it down with the gun you carry."

The man took a deep breath. His facial muscles relaxed and he began talking again.

" You were right about the other shadows being deaf, it saved my life the first time I encountered them. The big one can hear you loud and clear though. That was a stupid move you pulled back there, you must have thought you could outrun it to your car but it's too fast for that."

Ralph nodded after acquiring the new information.

"I was expecting to run into monsters that can hear sooner or later. That message you heard was short because I didn't expect to run into anyone alive. I grew too confident despite anticipating the horrors I could face out there. I am thankful that you saved me and also apologetic that you had to risk your life to save mine."

The man gave him a weird look.

" Aren't you too well-spoken for a kid your age, this world sure did a number on you, didn't it? No need for you to apologise, I made that decision at my discretion. If anything you could call it my selfishness to approach you, it has been such a long time since I have seen another human, I would be damned if I didn't save someone in this hell."

Where are my manners? I didn't even introduce myself properly, that was quite a stressful situation. My name is Ben, nice to meet you, kid."

Ralph greeted the man," Nice to meet you, Sir. My name is Ralph. I came here from my hometown Quintonville. I have been looking for other survivors for such a long time, everyone from my town, including my parents disappeared a few months ago."

Ben tapped him on the shoulder.

"Slow down kid, you don't need to tell me everything, you know. Also, no need to be too formal with me, you can call me Uncle Ben if you feel like it, though I doubt you'll enjoy that much. I am joking, just call me Ben if you're comfortable. This isolation has fucked up my sense of humour."

They talked as they headed to Quintonville. Going back to Lederberg right now would've been the second worst idea Ralph would've thought up that day. None of them were stupid enough to do that.

The world seemed brighter for the two strangers who had lost everyone they knew.