Chapter 17: Twins

We seal the deal, "good decision" I smiled, "You two pack your stuff and wait here" The twins nodded. And left.

"So, is it okay if I take them?" I asked Steff and Amy for further confirmation.

"We already told you, you're the leader, and besides, it's already too late for that noh?" Steff said with a smirk on her face.

"She's right, your decisions are absolute, we'll tell you immediately if we think your decision is right" Amy reassured me

I smiled at them, "thank you, for being supportive" they smiled back at me and said, "No problem" "small things"

"Watch those two, I'll be waiting outside"

"Okay, don't go wander far" Steff said, telling me what to do, "call us if you need anything" Amy said.

"Do the same" I said and left, I went outside, to look at the town. Looking at it with a binocular that I took from one of the dead cars the other day, it seemd the town is awfully quiet, it's kind suspicious.

"What the hell happened in the past few days…" I murmured, as I look at the empty town, filled with destructions and fire.

"Souta, they're done packing" Amy said as she gets out the house, I look at them, looks like they only packed their clothes in that school backpack. "Let's go then, it's getting dark" I said and went to the pickup truck.

The twins, Lily and Nana, climbed into the pickup truck as we prepared to head towards the mountains. Lily couldn't help but ask, "Why are we going to the mountains?"

Amy replied, "Because our base is there"

Curious, Amy asked "By the way, what's your name?" She added.

"I'm Lily, the oldest," she introduced herself.

Nana chimed in, "I'm Nana...the youngest." She said with a fragile voice, so Nana was her name? She was the brave girl to decide for the deal, she's quite smart for her age.

Amy smiled and introduced herself, "Ah, I see. My name is Amelia, but you can call me Amy"

"The other girl in the driver's seat is Steffanie, and the one leading us is Souta. He's our leader."

Lily, still trying to make sense of the situation, asked, "How did you meet Souta?"

Amy explained, "Souta was our childhood friend, and we also went to the same school, it's our luck that we had him when things turned side ways"

Lily nodded, not fully comprehending the situation. "Is that so?"

Amy beamed, her face filled with pride. "Souta is really cool, you know! He kills zombies with ease, bam and bam!"

Lily still struggled to grasp the reality of their situation, but she played along. "Is that so? He must be amazing, haha" laughed awkwardly

Amy noticed Lily's conflicted expression and asked, "Hey... Are you mad at Souta for killing the man earlier?"

Lily hesitated before sharing their story,

"That man earlier was our uncle. He used to be kind to us, but when things started to go bad, he became violent and would hurt us if we didn't listen to him."

Amy's voice softened as she asked again, "So, are you angry at Souta?"

then suddenly Nana was the one to reply, anger flared momentarily as she spoke, "No... He deserved that. If I were in my big brother's shoes, I would have done the same." She said menacingly

Steff and I glared at Nana on the rear view mirror, she's really a weird one, is she even a kid? I asked myself, but it's not like I'll get an answer anyway, looking at the rear mirror Amy and Lily fell into a momentary silence.

"Nana is right. He deserved it," Lily finally said, breaking the silence.

"By the way, where are your parents? And why do you have your uncle with you?" I followed with a question.

I glanced at Lily, a subtle sadness in her eyes as she spoke of their parents. "They went on a vacation," she said, her voice carrying a mix of longing and uncertainty. "They asked our uncle to look after us."

Navigating through the remnants of the world we once knew, I understood the strain of the feelings they are having. "It's been tough huh," I replied, my gaze returning to the road. "There might be still some hope, keep your heads up and survive, that's the only way we could do, with the circumstances force us to adapt to this new world."

Lily nodded, her expression a blend of understanding and acceptance. However, Nana said something, "This world has become hell the moment we know it, we crave for hope, do what it takes to survive, but do we really need it? Isn't dying a better option for us?" She said, making things awkward, but she do have a point.

"Kid, think of if like this, even if you want to die, If you're ever drowning in the pool, you would still do your best to gasp for air noh? It's kinda similar to this scenario, even with all these hardship we're facing, we still do our best to survive, that's life" Steff replied to her question, she look like a mature woman there.

The momentary silent brought us, "you're right… I'm sorry for asking stupid questions" Nana said, breaking the silence.

"No, it's not stupid, what you said has some points, even I thought of it once, the thought of killing your own life is much better option than surviving this hellish world. But looking at it, for where we're now, we manage to survive up until now, thou it's all thanks to Souta, without him we might have died already… he lead us, guide us, and give us hope, sacrificing his self for us just to survive. I admire him, and that makes him really cool! He's different from any of us… that's why I also want to survive for his sake, and for ours" Steff said…

… she's making me blush, really.. this girl. I focused on driving as we're on off road now, not noticing that my ears turned red.

The hum of the car's engine underscored the gravity of our conversation. As we continued our journey towards the mansion, the weight of responsibility settled deeper within me.