Happiness cannot be consumed-Anonymous~.~I sit on the floor and wait for Ivan while massaging my sore legs and fantasising about our high school love story. Been running and doing all kinds of things. My feet hurt like hell. It takes Ivan around five minutes to come back. When he's back, he hands me the gun, which has all the bullets left."I don't think we should waste the bullets. I found an empty room. I'll lure the zombies there and lock as much as I can." he says."How would you do that?"Ivan goes through his bag and takes out a plastic phone."I had this as a kid," he says, showing me a phone.He presses a button, and a song plays."It's Barbie," I say."Yep.""I like Barbie. I have watched all the films.""Me too."We hear some banging sounds on the door, a sign that the zombies are reacting to the music. Ivan switches the phone off and waits for them to calm down. Then he walks out of the door, asking me to lock it just in case, and I do. Because I trust that he'll make it
Happiness is a warm puppy-Charles M. Schulz~.~Leaving the fourth floor is the same as before, something that makes my heart leap out of my chest at the fear my legs might not work as fast as the zombies. It's the same practice we did before. Ivan decides not to kill any more zombies, and he lures them to the other side as I make my way to the door as soon as possible. He joins me after a while, and we make it to the third floor.Our bags have become heavy with the samples from the lab. So we keep them aside. Then outside the emergency exit, Ivan asks me to stay back until he brings back the rest of our group so we can leave the building."I want to come--" my words get interrupted as he shushes me."Don't be stubborn. Stay right here until I bring them safely," he says."Says the one who's the most stubborn here," I mumble."There you go again."Ivan takes the walkie-talkie and speaks to it."Anyone there? Over.""Ivan! I've been sending you messages for hours now!! Where have you
The only way to do great work is to love what you do – Steve Jobs ~.~ I stay hidden, and Ivan comes into the lab. He asks me to stay in the same place and crouches in front of me. We wait for a few minutes for the zombies outside to calm down. And meanwhile, I extend my hand and keep it against his eyes. With my free hand, I ruffle his hair to get out the tiny pieces of glass from his hair. "How do we find Sasha and the other two?" he questions me once I am done cleaning his hair. Wow, he's too comfortable always asking me for a solution. "Search the rooms and see. I'll talk with Sasha to comfort her. She might be deadly worried." "Give me the gun. She said there was a zombie stuck with him. I can't fight one in front of her." I give him my gun. He searches the rooms and finds Sasha in one room. After a while, I hear a low bang, and I realise Ivan might've killed the zombie inside. So I quickly get out of where I am hiding and run to the room where I find Ivan hugging Sash
The only joy in the world is to begin-Cesare Pavese~.~"No one's there."I jolt when I hear Ivan's voice. He squints his eyes at me at my surprised state."Nice. So you were here daydreaming in this kind of a situation?" he complains."Well, I was thinking about several things. What else am I supposed to do??" I ask."Stay alert?""You should try and stay back, waiting for your partner. It sucks." I stuck out my tongue at him."Sometimes you are so annoying," he comments, not seriously, while making his way downstairs. I follow him."You aren't the first to say that. I come with pros and cons. So you better be aware.""I got it. Let me consider and tell you."Ivan walks to the first floor in search of the other two. Then the ground floor after the first. But he fails to find them there."Fourth floor it is," he says."Yeah. Let's head upstairs."We walk upstairs with Ivan in front of me, and I notice a slight limp as he walks. So I walk up to him and keep my hand on his shoulder."D
Remember this, that very little is needed to make a happy life -Marcus Aurelius ~.~ I try to get out of his grip, but he stops me. "Andrea. Are you sure he didn't do anything to you?" Henry asks me all of a sudden. "Ivan?" I ask. "Yeah." "Why would he..." I murmur, completely confused about the whole thing. "Do you know what Eric and I saw?" Henry asks Sasha. "What?" she asks. "We saw Ivan, right here, simply walking past zombies, and they didn't attack him!" he explains. I feel surprised that they have got to know the truth. However, Ivan looks unfazed about the whole thing. He looks calm, as if it doesn't bother him. Eric cautiously walks to Ivan and grabs his arm. "Eric, what are you doing?" I try to stop him, but Henry pulls me back from my upper arm. I watch as Eric tears apart the bandage of Ivan's injured arm, which hides the bite mark he got from the zombie inside the ventilation tube. "Don't do it!" I shout out. "Ivan, stop him!" But Ivan doesn't move. He waits
For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness -Ralph Waldo Emerson~.~ Ivan brings up our intertwined hands and kisses mine. As his lips press on my knuckles, I feel my body burning up. I look at him in surprise, and he gives me a smile.His other hand holds my face and brings me close to him. I silently gasp when our lips almost touch. Eric takes a turn on the wheel, and so I jerk forward, making our lips meet. I quickly pull back, feeling butterflies once again."What are you doing?" I whisper-ask."I don't know.""Uh-""Do you wanna marry me, buy an apartment and a cat?" he asks.I chuckle at his words, "Is that your dream?""Yeah. Well, I did have higher expectations before. Wanted to travel the world and eat all the food and stuff. But with this apocalypse, I realised that just living peacefully is a luxury. I just want to live like before.""You are right."Our eyes bore in the darkness, and it's like something is shared between us.Ivan and I both lean i
It is only possible to live happily ever after on a daily basis-Margaret Bonanno~.~"Hey, didn't you sleep?" I ask, walking up to Ivan."Good morning. I couldn't sleep. I have no idea why. Maybe I am too tired or scared to sleep.""Scared? Why are you scared?" I ask."Maybe... because I am afraid things won't work the way I expect. What if we fail to find a cure?" he asks."Your plan is to do some tests here and then later go to Cargo, right? Even if we might not find the cure here, we'll be able to find it there. Technology is better there than here now." I explain."You are right. I am thinking too much.""Do you want me to put you to sleep?" I ask."I am not a child.""Tsk. You don't have to be a child, Ivan. And you are right. I have put little kids to sleep when I used to work part-time in a daycare." I say with a proud voice."Then put me to sleep after eating with me."He adds another pack of instant noodles to the pot and starts making some for me. I wait for the noodles to
Life is full of happiness and tears; be strong and have faith.” -Kareena Kapoor Khan~.~We decided to leave our hideout in one week of time. So the packing starts before everything, and everyone seems to be excited about leaving already."I want Ivan! Where is Ivan??" Bailey yells across the hall in search of Ivan, who's currently making me a bowl of instant noodles."What do you want, nerd?" Ivan asks in a playful tone."I want your blood," Bailey says in a sinister way."Are you a vampire or something?" I ask, holding out the bowl so Ivan can put the noodles in. Once he does, he starts washing the pan he used to make the noodles.Ivan is my personal noodles maker."I am not." Bailey says. "I have to make the antidote, guys. I can do it quickly. In two days' time if I get Ivan's blood sample.""Ohh." Ivan and I say in unison.Ivan follows Bailey. I follow them while chewing on the noodles.Bailey makes Ivan sit on a chair, and she takes out a new syringe. I close my eyes when she d