A Battle They Destined to Win

"Make your way by unexpected routes and attack unguarded spots." The girl exclaims then proceeds to open her mouth by saying, "It's a quote by Sun Tzu, a legendary military strategist in ancient China."

The boy and the girl are halfway to the woodland edge. The girl lays a piece of paper on the ground, sitting across from the boy.

She holds her pencil and sketches some drawings.

"Just like what Sun Tzu said, we need to make unexpected routes for the creatures."

"When we're on our way to the city, we're going to face several creatures that are not as strong as the ones near the heart of the city. You know why?"

"Why?" The boy inquires.

"The creatures that are roaming at the heart of the city, could be more huge and vicious since they eat a lot of corpses and other zombies." She explains it concisely.

"So, we're going to have a small battle with the weaker ones near the entrance of the woods first?" The boy speculated.

"Right! We're going to build small habits first. We need to fight a battle that we're destined to win." She pauses and continues, "I personally think that it will be a great practice for you too." She smiles.

"I've been thinking to lure these creatures, and burning them down."

"If we burn them down, they won't regenerate?" He scratches his head, uncertain about the girl's plan.

"No, there are two ways to kill them. We could chop their head off, or burn them down."

===

The boy is digging a hole in the middle of the night. He couldn't believe that he is holding a shovel at this time. He feels like some kind of gruesome serial killer who is going to bury his victims. They just reached the woodland edge. He barely takes a single breath when she tells him to dig a hole.

"I thought you said we should rest first after the long walk." He sighs as he is tired from digging.

"There's no time for that, we need to finish this faster." The girl watches the boy digging the hole by himself while she is relaxing beside the hole.

"I knew you were planning something when you decided to go to that secret room and gave me this shovel before we left the house. How can you change our plan at the last minute?" he complains while still digging the hole.

"We need to spare our bullets. We don't have that much. This plan is way better to kill numbers of creatures in a short time." The girl responds.

"Help me out then!" He vents out to the girl.

"Alright, alright…let's switch up, you can rest now." She rises up, then holds out her hands and pulls the boy from the hole.

"You're smelly." She says that nonchalantly while covering her nose with her hand.

"Why do you think I'm smelly?" he hisses and displays an annoyed expression on his face.

"Hahaha…sorry it's just fun teasing you." She jumps to the hole and starts digging.

===

The girl wakes up embracing the boy beside the 3-meter hole that they dug the whole night. The boy is sleeping in a soldier position. He lies on his back with his left hand placed on the girl's shoulder. The girl could feel his soft breath at her crown. The boy is always sleeping like a log. She noticed his habit when they lived together in the wooden house.

She knows that it's embarrassing if the boy wakes up now. However, she does not want to let go of her embrace. It is comforting. It is nice. It is….something she longs for.

The girl rises up and lets go of her embrace. She hurriedly looks for her backpack. Then she walks a little further away to wash her face and brush her teeth with her remaining water. Hearing the girl's footsteps, the boy perks up right away. Holding his aching left arm where the girl put her head when she was asleep.

He stretches his left arm by making a circling motion.

"I can't feel my arm" he murmurs while his left and right ears turn red.

===

The boy is running as fast as he could. He has been passing several disfigured zombies near the woodland edge. He hates the idea of being chased by numerous bloody zombies but he agreed to go along with the girl's plan. The boy's heart is pounding so fast and his breath is coming out in an irregular pattern.

The zombies on his back are sprinting eagerly, fully motivated by the sight of the boy being their first supper.

The boy comes across a small rock that hits his feet. The boy panic and looks back. He could see the zombies shrieking in excitement seeing their food in unfavorable condition. He tries to move his feet desperately. Because of that darned rock, he now has a leg injury. He says to himself. His jeans are torn revealing the wounded knee that stimulates the zombies smelling.

Thankfully, he manages to rise up on his second attempt. He instantly uses up all his energy to dash as fast as the lightning.

The boy looks to his front "Just a little bit more," He exclaims.

The boy sees the girl with a bunch of zombies behind her back chasing her away.

"Now!" She shouts to the boy.

The boy jumps heading to the hole, except he doesn't fall there. His hand reaches the rope he tied to the tree before. Before his eyes, the girl also jumps toward him. The boy holds the girl's body tightly while seeing the zombies from their left and right go inside the 3-meters hole.

"We did it!" The girl hugs the boy in excitement.

"Your plan works!" He gives a half-smile to the girl.

They both stare into each other smiling brightly. After several moments, they avoid eye contact by looking other way awkwardly.

The boy could feel the girl's chest pressing against his. He couldn't think straight.

"I think you should go first, I'll help you out." The boy spouts.

"Oh okay, thanks." The girl smiles awkwardly.

They both get down from the trees. The girl takes a bottle of oil and spills the inside into the hole. Then she gropes her jeans pocket to pull out a box of fire matches. She seizes the matchbox with her left hand, then swiftly strikes the head of the match against the side of the matchbox with her right hand. Lastly, she throws the match into the hole.

The boy and the girl's eyes reflected a flickering fire that gradually spreads inside the hole. They blankly stare at the zombies being burned alive. Shrieking in pain as their bodies are devoured by flaming fire.

They win the battle, but their hearts feel empty.

To be Continue