Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been eight years since the first invasion, eight years since I lost my parents, five years since I lost my best friend, and two years since we locked ourselves up in the school. 

I approached the mirror, there was a paper sheet taped to the wall next to it, with an handmade calendar and names of students that used to be in our class.

A̶n̶n̶i̶e̶ K̶n̶i̶t̶t̶s̶
Bebe Stevens
Butters Stotch (?)
Clyde Donovan
Craig Tucker
Eric Cartman (?)
J̶i̶m̶m̶y̶ V̶a̶l̶m̶e̶r̶
Katie Royce (?)
Kenny McCormick
Kyle Broflovski (?)
R̶e̶d̶ M̶c̶A̶r̶t̶h̶u̶r̶
Scott Malkinson
Stan Marsh
T̶i̶m̶m̶y̶ B̶u̶r̶c̶h̶
Tolkien Black
Tweek Tweak
Wendy Testaburger

 I stared at my reflection in it. 

"I should dye my hair again." I thought to myself, staring at the black roots showing up, I dyed it blonde once about 6 months earlier. I put on my jacket, similar to the one i had when I was a kid. I walked down the hallway to the cafeteria, where everyone met in the morning. We rarely ate together, so it was more of a meeting room. There were 8 familiar faces: Tolkien, Clyde, Wendy, Bebe, Tweek and Craig. I opened the door and walked in the room, Kenny appeared in front of me.

"Yo, dude." Kenny looked rougher than me. He had been working out in the past year, grew an half-assed mullet and lost a tooth. Even though he made it this far, I still have no idea of how the hell he's still alive.
"Scott says he's coming back. Looks like he has good news for us."He said quickly, looking at the others in the room. Right, Scott went on an expedition, not that I expected him to come back at all.

"Bullshit. Scott never has anything good to say." I told him, crossing my arms. Kenny let out a small chuckle. He was about to say something, when we heard loud talking from the table everyone was sat at. We looked at each other, and started walking to them.
"Did you even notice he was gone?" He whispered to me. I smiled slightly and kept walking.

Scott was surrounded by the others in the cafeteria, wanting to hear what he had to say. Once he made sure that everyone was sat, he started talking.
"So... it looks like the zombies have died down."
There was a moment of silence, then Craig raised his hand.
"Are you saying that it's safe to go out?"
"No, of course not! It's always dangerous!!"
Tweek cut him off, with his high pitched voice.
Wendy placed her hand on Tweek's shoulder, as to calm him down.
"Let him finish."
Silence came again, Scott nodded at Wendy.
"I even went out the supermarket zone and downtown. There were like six zombies in the whole town."

Everyone looked at him, then looked at each other.

"We could go out together and get a lot of resources."
Clyde joined in, looking at Bebe and Wendy for approval.
"Are you crazy?! W-we're all going to die!!!"
Tweek screamed again. In response Craig passed him some candy. I'm not sure of how that was supposed to work. 

Scott took a picture out of his pocket, which made everyone quiet down. He placed the picture on the table.
"I also found this where Stan's old house was, I think there are other survivors in town"
The picture showed my old house, but now it had a cement wall, a whole remote controlled gate and barbed wire. Everyone stared at the picture in shock, we thought everyone had left. Tolkien took the picture and looked at it from closer.
"Well, the zombies have died down, we should go there and see what's up."
Everyone looked at each other and nodded in silence. The only one who wasn't convinced yet was Tweek, who looked incredibly nervous, and was fidgeting with the candy wrapper.
"But... what if those other survivors are bad people?"

I didn't want to admit it, but he wasn't wrong. This far into a zombie apocalypse, people become hungry, they get tired. Humanity becomes a far concept, as desperation overcomes it. In other words, cannibalism is a thing now. We've seen it. 

"We can't know that. They could be nice people. And as I see it, they have way more resources than us. I think the whole remote controlled gate proves it." Wendy spoke logically, with her arms crossed and calm attitude. 

Tolkien exhaled and got up, looking at Tweek.
"If you're scared to go, then you're more than welcome to stay here. I'm going."

Everyone seemed to agree with him. And how to blame them, it could have been a golden opportunity. As silence filled the room, more people got up and went back into small groups. 

In the end, we decided to leave the school and explore the town, or what remained of it. We went to the supermarket, visited our old houses and retrieved objects and important things for us.

I stopped at Kyle's house.

The door probably got pried open, it could have been early survivors looking for resources. Everything was still the same. Obviously, the wallpaper was worn down, and all the furniture got ruined by termites. I didn't dare step in the kitchen, since i didn't have proper equipment and only the Lord knows what the hell had been growing in there. All the houses were robbed of anything edible at this point, but Kyle's house had a moldy smell surrounding the kitchen. Maybe some terrible food remained inside the cabinets, since his mom was known for keeping the most awful and gut-twisting snacks for any occasion. I smiled, not even starvation from an apocalypse could get someone to eat those.

I wasn't sure why, but i felt a wave of nervousness coming through me, my brain was telling me to not go up the stairs. Maybe I was scared to find Kyle's rotting body in his room.

After all, what happened to him was still unknown to us. 

I still gained up courage and decided to go up the squeaky stairs, making sure to not touch any walls. The hallway looked way smaller than I remembered. There was a terrible smell, but not the rotten meat kind of smell, it was just mold. I took a quick look in his parent's bedroom and in the bathroom, but there was nothing interesting in there. Ike's room was inaccessible, it looked like the roof collapsed. There was only one room left. His room.

I turned around and faced the door frame to Kyle's room. The door was completely open, but my mind was trying its hardest to blur out anything that was behind the wooden frame. I took a step inside, and was surprised to see that room again. The first thing I noticed was that his bed was moved next to the door, as if it was used to block it shut at some point. His drawers were in the same position, everything was empty. Even his superhero costume was taken away. I took another step forward and almost tripped on a baseball bat. I looked at it, an eerie feeling grew louder every second.

Was it used for defense?

I kicked the bat away and watched it as it rolled away. 

Did Kyle have to fight?

It stopped.

I have to get out of here.

I ran down the stairs and out the door, my heart beating rapidly. I didn't run that much, but I was out of breath. I still had no idea of what happened to him. 

There was still the possibility that he got bitten and turned into a zombie.

I closed the door and placed a sturdy metal object in front of it, to avoid any more people walking in and stealing things. I had to meet with the others soon, in front of my old house. 

I arrived first. I didn't stand directly in front of the gate, but I positioned so that I could still see the others if they came. I leaned on a wall and just stood there with my thoughts. I didn't know what to think about after visiting Kyle's house, or even if it was safe to just stand right there in plain sight for any zombie or thief... or even cannibal at this point. But I felt so overwhelmed and decided to not go anywhere, and just try to think, at least imagine what could have happened to Kyle. I let my mind wander...

"Dude, imagine. A zombie apocalypse. What would you do?"
I asked Kyle. We were having a sleepover at my house, it was now pretty late, around two in the morning. Usually this late at night we let our minds run wild, imagining the weirdest scenarios. I was laying on my back on the floor, staring at the ceiling. He took a while to answer.
"I'd probably be the first to kill myself, honestly. In any kind of apocalypse, not only a zombie one." He looked at me. "I think it's the most logical thing to do. It's better to die right away than trying hard to survive and inevitably fail."
I laughed at him. I found his answer really silly then.
"That's dumb. I would beat the shit out of every zombie and become like... a king. Even the mayor and Mr. Garrison will bow to me."
Kyle threw a pillow on my face, making me sit up and throw it back to him. 

I came back to reality and the present, when I spotted Wendy and Bebe in the distance. I showed myself to them and they waved at me, reaching me in no time.

"We went back to our houses, but everything was stolen."
Bebe looked at Wendy, who nodded and crossed her arms. Apparently the other survivors took everything, clothes and furniture included. 

The others reached us after a while. Tweek and Craig were the first, then Clyde, Scott and Tolkien found Kenny along the way and came together. We faced the house, my old house, and wondered for a bit who was going to try and get the attention of whoever was on the other side of the gate. In the end, we decided that since it was my house, I had to do it. 

I sighed and looked at the big gate in front of me. It made me realize how big the brick wall really was. It didn't extend on the road, but it did sideways and probably behind, also engulfing Cartman's house and the backyards. The moment I touched the gate I received a light electric shock and a few cameras pointed right at me. I took a few step back, the others behind me got into defensive positions. To our surprise, the gate opened slowly, and a tall figure appeared behind it. 

I had to wait for the entire gate to open to see her face clearly, but it didn't take long. We didn't recognize her, but she invited all of us to come in. We looked at each other for a moment, not really sure if it was okay to trust her like that. She waited for us to make our choice and closed the gate behind us when we decided to walk in anyway.

As soon as the gate closed, the woman ran to me. I panicked for a split second, since I didn't recognize her yet. She hugged me for a long time, then she placed her hands on my shoulders and looked at me.

"Stan! I'm glad you're here. You grew up." She smiled at me, a smile that was familiar to me. Her hands left my shoulders, she moved her head to the side and looked at everyone. "You all grew up well, I'm happy to see that."
That's when Kenny recognized her.
"Wait... Are you Ms. Royce? The school counselor?" Kenny pointed at her with a surprised expression. She nodded and an imaginary bell rang loud inside our heads. She took Mr. Mackey's place as the school counselor after the first invasion. 

"It's Lain Royce for you now." She winked at us, then she moved aside and showed us the door. "Let's join up our groups, I'll make you meet the others." Lain opened the door for us and led us inside.

The house was a lot bigger now, since she joined mine and Cartman's. There were now five bedrooms, each with three beds inside and a bathroom in every room. The living rooms became a single room, with a large table on the side, chairs everywhere, a big couch and my old TV in front of it. My house's kitchen became a storage room, Cartman's was left like it was. Also, I heard they expanded the basement, but we weren't allowed to see it.

After the big but quick tour, Lain divided us to give us rooms. Clyde, Tolkien and Craig, Tweek and Scott, Wendy and Bebe, Me and Kenny. 

Everyone was okay with this room plan, so they walked in their rooms and left their stuff in there. The rooms were simple, square shaped. One side was covered by the bathroom, the other three sides had a bed, with the headboard attached to the wall. This space management divided the bedroom into four smaller squares, making sure everyone had their own, equal space. 

As soon as I walked in my room I noticed that we weren't alone. The third side of the room had someone's things laying around: a carpet under the bed, a calendar on the wall, multiple posters, a mirror and some sticky notes attached next to the mirror. There was also a notebook on the bed.

"I swear to God if he's a nerd..." Kenny and I almost spoke together, we looked at each other and smiled. 
"Do you think it's a nerd?" I asked him.
"Of course, look at that! Who the fuck keeps a notebook during an apocalypse? I bet it's like a secret diary where he keeps all his insecurities and dark thoughts... or some shit like that." He laughed and got closer to his side of the room. "And sticky notes? Please. It can only be a nerd."

I sat on my bed a laughed along with him.
"Dude, don't touch his stuff, he will get mad and tell the teacher!" I smiled and he walked back to his side of the room.
"Yeah? I'll steal his lunch money and shove him into a locker."
We joked and mocked the poor nerd for a while, until someone knocked on the door. I opened it and it was Lain.

"Hi, boys! How do you like your new room?" She smiled and leaned on the door frame. 
"It's okay, but who is this dork you paired us up with?" Kenny got up from his bed and pointed at the third side of the bedroom. Lain laughed and shook her head.
"Okay, first: he's on expedition, he should be back soon. And second: he's not a dork, he's actually really smart and responsible."
Kenny rolled his eyes.
"Third: I'm pretty sure you guys already know him." Lain continued, looking at us with a big smile.

Me and Kenny looked at each other. I'm pretty sure we had the same thoughts.

We already know him? Could it be someone from our class?

Lain turned us down.
"Hold on, don't get your hopes up. It's probably not who you're thinking about."
We looked away, silently nodding. She was right, lowering our expectations was going to save us disappointment and sadness in the future.

She stayed with us for a little longer. We spoke about the past and remembered some crazy things that happened to her since moving to South Park.

"Didn't you have a younger sister in our class?" I asked her. My memories after the first invasion were a little blurry.
"Yeah, Katie." She stared at the floor for a moment. She looked... sad? No, not sad, she was conflicted. "All I can tell you is that she's fine, but you can't meet her." Lain raised her gaze again. Curiosity was getting the best of me, and I wanted to ask why, but I already knew that if I did, I wasn't going to get any answer.

She stayed with us for a while, then she had to go downstairs to cook dinner. I turned to look at Kenny.
"What do you think happened to Katie?" I asked him. He looked away to think.
"Dunno, dude. It could be that maybe she was kidnapped, or she escaped with our parents." He shrugged and laid on the bed. "Anyway, you heard her. It's none of our business."
I nodded and followed his actions, laying on the bed as well and finally getting some relaxed rest, trusting more than anything the sturdy brick wall and the gate.

Chapter Text

It had been two weeks since we started living inside Lain's "fortress". We got used to the life in there quickly. First wake up call at seven in the morning. We were allowed to sleep in, but there were consequences, like washing the dishes or doing the laundry. Everyone had to do their share of housework, as Lain insisted on having always a clean house, to reduce the chance of illness.

A week earlier, a group came back from the expedition, Lain called it the A team. It was made up of mostly adults and some teenagers. I recognized a few of them: a couple of teachers from our school and some sixth graders who grew up and were now whiny adults in their twenties. Lain told us they were supposed to be the team that fought back zombies and overall handled heavy work. Really made me wonder what the B team was going to look like, if THEY were supposed to have the hardest job.

The daily tasks with them became way easier, i just slept in all day while they did our chores, and they wouldn't even bother me or the others, since we were the youngest. Obviously, after a few days of doing so, Lain yelled at us. She was furious, understanding our point of view,but still furious at our actions.

"You can't just do nothing all day! And you can't even overuse other's pity to your liking."
She told me and Kenny, with her arms crossed. She made us both sit on my bed, while she was standing in front of us. She looked really tall from this perspective. 
"It's not pity, it's kindness. And we were taught to always accept kindness."
Kenny commented her words with a smug tone, which only helped making her even angrier.
"No, it's not kindness, it's pity. They feel bad for you because you're poor little kids who had to live by themselves all of a sudden. Or, at least, that's what they think." Lain used a voice tone that seemed directed to our pride, which was effective, since Kenny got really defensive. He didn't say anything, but you could tell by his angry and hurt expression. He was about to say something, as soon as he inhaled to be able to speak, Lain pierced him with her angry gaze, that was enough to make him shut up. 

A few seconds passed, she looked at me, then back to Kenny. She made sure we didn't have anything else to say. Not like we could ever argue back to her, her presence held so much authority that it felt like having my angry mom in front of me again. Lain nodded at us and walked to the door, opening it slowly.
"The B team will be back in a couple of hours, clean your room." She stormed off, looking as busy as always. Me and Kenny looked at each other.

The B team? 

It was obvious our roommate was part of the B team, and after Lain's words we got our confirmation. We got up from our beds and started tidying up our room, being always careful to not touch our roommate's stuff. We were mean, but we respected that guy's privacy, even though he was a dork. Our room wasn't that messy, so when we were done, not even an hour had passed. I decided to go out and spend some time around the house.

As soon as I left my room and closed the door behind me, I saw Lain and a few of the others sat at the dining table. When it wasn't time to eat, the table was used for pretty much everything, mostly to just sit down and talk with a lot of people that wouldn't fit on the couch. I walked down the stairs and joined the conversation. It was just Lain showing Wendy, Tweek and Tolkien the safety measures to take in case of an internal infection inside the house. It was necessary for only one person per room to know them, and they were chosen because they seemed the best leaders out of everyone in their rooms. I sat next to Wendy, they acknowledged my presence but didn't interrupt the lesson, Lain just nodded at me and moved the small whiteboard further back, so that I could see it too.
"If an infected enters the house, you'll hear an alarm ring two times, it's loud as fuck, you can't possibly miss it." She pointed at a small black box set up on the ceiling. "All you have to do is call your roommates to you and lock yourselves up inside, I'll be the one to deal with the infected."

She spoke for a while, after the meeting, everyone went back to their tasks or their rooms. I was about to leave too, but Lain stopped me and handed me a piece of paper with a list written on it.

Five alarm rings, a team is back from expedition;
Four alarm rings, immediate meeting;
Three alarm rings, human spotted outside the wall;
Two alarm rings, immediate lock down;
One alarm ring, invasion.

"Your roommate already knows these, but it won't hurt you to learn safety precautions." She showed me a cheeky smile, as if she finally caught me being responsible. "Did you clean your room? It won't be long until the B team comes back." I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, it's clean. That nerd won't get triggered by our mess, he can study physics with no problems." I answered with a cold tone. I didn't know why, but I already hated that guy, I hated him and how much Lain showered him with praise and worried about his well being. 

I spent the rest of the day around the house, looking around the place and exploring every little corner. I didn't feel like going back to my room, since at some point I felt sick of staying in there and laying on that bed. I didn't know where Kenny was either, but he most likely left as well. I visited the other's rooms, as expected, no one was in their rooms, except for Tweek and Craig, who squeezed themselves into the same bed to take a nap together. 

The last place that was left to visit was the basement. I knew I wasn't allowed down there, for some reason, but I really wanted to see it. I remember Cartman's basement really well because that was the place where we used to play, it was our superhero squad's headquarters, our gaming room, meeting room and so on, not to mention the many sleepovers we had down there. It made me emotional for a moment, I started remembering my childhood and everything I did in that house. 

Me, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman, we were like the protagonists, the four of us against the world. I sighed, it was so corny but it was the truth. The four of us where inseparable, we did everything together, they really felt like brothers to me. And I needed them, since my sister was a complete bitch to me. They were always there for me whenever my dad would yell at me of make me feel bad, they helped me with my drinking problem and through my parents' death. I wasn't always a nice friend to them, but they never left my side, no matter what. 

But with time, everything changes, and so did we. I left my dad's weed farm and went back to South Park to live with my mom, Kenny stopped getting in dangerous situations as if he was immortal, and started protecting Karen like a real superhero; Kyle and Cartman went missing. They went missing respectively during the second and first invasion. We thought Cartman probably hid himself somewhere all alone, knowing his selfishness. As for Kyle, we knew he was still home when the second invasion started. 

I shook my head and placed everything back in the right mental drawers, coming back to reality. I was facing the door to the basement, it used to have a lock, but it was removed for some reason.

Why did Lain remove the lock if we're still not allowed down here?

I thought as I gently opened the door. The stairs down looked the same as they always did, but everything was repainted, to give it a fresher look. I walked down the stairs and was immediately caught by surprise. The basement was definitely expanded, since it was now twice the size it was before. It had a big hallway and two rooms in front of each other that looked exactly the same. I got close to the left one and tried to open it, or at least peek inside, but it was closed shut. 

I turned to the right side one, but as soon as I touched the handle, the door flew open and hit me on the nose. I fell on the floor for the impact and because it scared me, I didn't expect the door to open so quickly, and I didn't expect anyone to be inside. Lain left the door handle, which closed automatically, and kneeled down to help me.
"Stan! Are you okay?" She stared at me with a worried look.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine, sorry." I told her while I got up. She helped me to get back on my feet, then as soon as she made sure I was fine, her voice tone changed drastically.
"What were you doing down here? I told you the basement was off limits, I thought I made myself clear." She placed her hands on her hips and leaned her head to the side. I looked away nervously, I really had no excuse to be down there.
"I was exploring! And I noticed... the door was open..." I told her, with my voice lowering with each word. She sighed and placed a hand on my back, guiding me to the stairs. She was really forgiving, nothing ever made her angry. 

She followed me all the way up the stairs, to make sure i really left. She then closed the door behind her, locked it and put the keys inside her cardigan's pocket. Before going back to my room, I turned around to face Lain, who looked at me and waited for me to speak.
"What was inside that room? Do you sleep in there?" I asked her, fidgeting with my jacket. Lain thought about it for a moment.
"No, I sleep in the other one." She simply told me. It was like she didn't really want to give out too much information about the basement. She noticed I wasn't going to leave with just that, so she felt like she had to add something else.
"The room I was in is like... How do I put it...?" She thought about it to find the right words to explain it. "Well, it has the camera monitors, works as a weapon vault and it's also our last line of defense. If everything goes to shit, we have that room to keep us safe." She counted each use on her fingers, there were probably a lot more uses to that room, but I felt like her answer was enough. However, there was still something that bothered me.
"Then... shouldn't it be open? Why do you keep it locked?" I pointed out, thinking I had found some kind of flaw in her reasoning, but she was quick to answer with a smile, as if she was expecting a question like this from me.
"It works as a weapon vault." She repeated to me "It can't be accessible to everyone. A situation like a zombie apocalypse isn't easy, you might never know who breaks under the stress. And the moment someone loses it, who's going to stop them from sneaking in, stealing weapons and killing everyone?" She asked me, her voice tone getting serious on the last part. Her words made sense, but it didn't stop me from feeling uneasy about it. She placed a hand on my shoulder and walked away. 

How was she so sure she wouldn't be the one to break? 

How did everyone else live carefree in that house, knowing she was the only one to have access to an indefinite amount of weapons?

We didn't even know what kind of weapons we were talking about, was it firearms? Close range weapons? She had this difference of power over everyone, and they all seemed to be okay with it. I remembered Lain like a trustworthy woman, who was always ready to help others, she was someone you could always count on. Everyone loved and respected her, and there I was, unable to wrap my head around it. I stopped thinking about it and went back to my room. 

I found Kenny laying on his bed, reading something. I looked at whatever he was reading with surprise, I never thought he could read.
"I'm reading the nerd's diary." He told me, holding the notebook high enough so that I could see the cover.
"What?! Didn't we decide to not touch any of his stuff?" I took it out of his hands, and placed it carefully on the bed, where we found it. Kenny laughed out loud, sitting up.
"Aw, come on... I only gave it a quick read, he won't even notice it." Kenny was so careless it honestly made me wonder if he even  really cared about his life. I sighed and sat on my bed. Kenny was a dumb ass, but he was also greatly observant, he immediately figured out I was feeling uneasy, because of the conversation I had with Lain.
"Did something happen? You look like ass." He pointed out, it was his way of worrying about me.
"Do you ever feel like everyone trusts someone a little too blindly, but you just can't feel the same way about them because something is off? Like, you talk to them but you just know they're hiding something?" I told him without pausing, he looked at me with a blank expression.
"That's... oddly specific. Are you talking about Lain?" He asked me, while he got up and sat next to me.
"Yeah, I don't know... I just can't trust her, I don't know how you do that." I crossed my arms, hoping Kenny would agree with me.
"When she used to be at our school she was sweet, understanding, caring... She'd go the extra mile just to help people, it's only natural to trust her." He replied, hinting back to the three years we spent with her after the First invasion. "I have great respect for her, since I was one of the regulars at the counselor's office." He continued. He never denied visiting her and he didn't care what others thought of him, with that attitude he helped other kids admitting they needed help. I shook my head.
"But that was just her doing her job." I added to his words, pointing out the obvious. Kenny rolled his eyes and scoffed.
"I think it went further than that. It wasn't only her job, she genuinely wanted to help us. She always took the first step and was always happy whenever we'd make any kind of progress." He smiled while talking about it, even though it felt like he was holding back something he wanted to say. I shrugged and stopped talking, realizing it was useless to keep talking to him about it, since he was a sucker for Lain.

I was about to tell him about the weird "weapon" conversation I had with her, when suddenly we heard a loud alarm go off five times. I panicked a bit until i took out of my pocket the piece of paper Lain handed me earlier that day. 

Five alarm rings, a team is back from expedition.

I felt relieved like never before, I thought we were going to die for a moment. I grabbed Kenny and we both left the room, going downstairs where everyone had already reunited. It looked like they all wanted to greet the B team. I sat on the couch, since I didn't really care about it, but I still wanted to be present. Lain walked trough the door, followed by a couple of people. It was a smaller team, but it looked consistent. The first few people were adults I had never met before, then a familiar face walked in. 

It took me a while to recognize him, he kept his hair the same and got way taller, but he still looked like an idiot. Blonde hair, a scar on his left eye and blue on his outfit to match his natural colors. It was Butters Stotch, a guy that was really close to us for some reason. We didn't hate him, but we always wondered why he chose to stay with us, since we weren't exactly the calmest people. The moment he saw Kenny he recognized him immediately, he ran to him and hugged him, almost crying a bit.

"I can't believe you're alive!" He told Kenny, as he held him tight. They smiled at each other, which made me get up to say hi too. I didn't know why, but I felt a bit disappointed. I wasn't sure of what to expect, but it wasn't Butters. 
"So you're the nerd in our room?" I told with an ironic tone. He looked at me with a confused smile.
"No, Lain told me I'm with Tweek and Scott." He corrected me, leaving Kenny's arms. "Oh, I know who your roommate is, it's-"

He was cut off by someone running through the door. 

"STAN!?" Hearing my name being screamed like that, i turned around immediately. Curly red hair, green eyes, freckles all over his face... there was no doubt. 

I felt my feet glued to floor, I was speechless. I recognized him immediately, it would have been impossible to forget him. He did the same, he just stared at me with a shocked expression, not sure of what to do next. He didn't run to me like Butters did, he walked slowly, while looking at me. 
"Kyle...?" I said, almost whispering. I felt afraid to say his name, even though he was right in front of me. The moment he heard me, he embraced me in a warm hug, not letting me say anything. 

I could feel everyone's eyes pointed right at us, but for the first time ever, I didn't let it bother me.

Chapter Text

Kyle was back, and everything was nice again. I never thought I could feel something like happiness again, and although it was probably true, I was feeling something disguised as happiness. An untrue ecstasy, but not necessarily false. 

Me, Kyle, Kenny and Butters all decided to go up to our room, to hang out for a bit and spend some time together. Kyle sat on my bed, next to me with his legs crossed, while Kenny and Butters sat next to each other. They looked closer than ever, even though they just reunited. 

Kyle turned his head to his side of the room, laughing softly.
"I don't believe none of you touched anything, especially you, Kenny. You always shove your hands everywhere." He said, looking at Kenny and raising an eyebrow. His voice definitely got deeper during our time apart. While he felt like a different person, he remained the same grumpy, old Kyle to me.
"Wooow, you think this low of your friend? I'm hurt." Kenny jestingly placed a hand over his chest, acting out a dramatic heartbreak. He laid down on the bed, bringing down Butters with him. "By the way, I read your secret diary." He continued, using Butters as his human shield.
"It's not a secret diary, you idiot. It's to keep track of my expeditions." He raised his voice at him, getting really defensive. 
"Why do you need to keep track? It's not like you forget how many expeditions you went on." I told him, turning my head around to face him. He calmed down immediately.
"When we go out, we don't just get resources. My job is counting roughly how many zombies there are around, checking the air quality, looking around to see if the town had any visitors, and so on." He got up to pick up his notebook from his bed and flipped through a few pages. "Anything can be good information to predict and prevent a new zombie outbreak." He continued. Kenny emerged from the shadows, even though he was still hidden behind Butters.
"Why? Do you think there will be a third invasion?" He asked Kyle. With that, and how his expression changed after hearing the question, the atmosphere in the room got heavier. He took a few seconds to answer.
"It's unlikely, but not impossible, so we have to always be alert." That is all he told us. It felt like he was weighing each word, making sure not to slip. Me and Kenny gave each other a look that spoke a million words.

"Anyway, where did you guys end up during the invasion?" Butters tried easing the tension and it worked, since the mood got lighter and we ended up forgetting about Kyle's ominous words. Kyle threw the notebook on his bed and walked back to mine, sitting down again.
"We locked ourselves up inside the school, we didn't have any other choice." I replied, Kenny nodded in agreement. It was true, no one could ever forget that feeling, a mix of fear, despair and sadness. Being away from home during a moment like that was possibly the most heart wrenching feeling anyone could ever experience. All I could remember about that was the sudden fire alarm, the police siren, ambulances everywhere, people crying and the principal telling us to not leave the building under any circumstance. 

"We were all at school that morning, where the hell were you guys?" Kenny asked back, remarking on the fact that they were the only absent people at school that day.
"I was grounded, I couldn't leave, not even for school." Butters answered first with a steady tone, he was still convinced that his parents constantly grounding him was normal. "I hid for a while with my parents, until we decided to leave with the rest of the adults." He continued, sitting up. 
"We met Lain on the way and she told us that getting on the road was suicide, that's when I decided to run away and hide with her." He finished his story, looking rather happy to have left his parents. 
"So, basically you're the last one who saw the parents alive." I told him cautiously, making sure to not say anything too creepy. I was the one with the dead parents, after all. Butters thought about it for a second, then he pointed at Kenny.
"The only one I didn't see was his mom, I'm not sure if she was there at all." He marked, with the most neutral voice as ever. For what it was worth, he was still a complete idiot. I wasn't sure of what Kenny felt for the entire time when he just chose to stay quiet. The room died again, the pressure was doubled just by his words. How could he always have the worst timing possible for news like that? Kyle jumped into the conversation, clearing his throat to make some noise and break the silence. 
"Well, there were surely a lot of people, it must have been impossible to see everyone! His mom probably fell behind and you didn't see her... Come on, it's Carol McCormick we're talking about." He tried fixing Butters's mistake, even though his theories didn't hold up well. It would have been impossible not to see her bright red hair, even in a thick crowd. Kenny figured it out right away, he silently got up and stormed off, followed by Butters.

Me and Kyle stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. We both had something we wanted to say, but we couldn't bring ourselves to say it. 
"So she's dead?" I asked first. Kyle moved his gaze to the floor.
"I wouldn't be surprised if his dad left her and the kids behind. I'm sure Kevin was with him because I saw them too, but his mom and Karen were nowhere to be seen." He sighed, looking at Kenny's empty bed.
"You think he'd have the balls to leave them behind?" I gasped. I knew his dad wasn't a good person and he never actually loved his wife, but leaving them to die sounded a little extreme.
"What can I tell you? I'm sure they didn't leave together." He cut me off, sounding like he didn't want anything to do with the situation.  Silence filled the room. It wasn't some kind of awkward silence, we were in each other's company, and it felt great. During our years apart, I had forgotten the way the smell of honey would fill any room he was in. He got up from my bed and walked to his, picking up his notebook and sliding it under his bed.
"So it is a secret diary." I held back a laugh, watching as he raised his head to look at me. 
"So funny, Stan. Jesus, I forgot how insufferable you are." He shook his head, smiling.
"You're Jewish, you don't believe in Jesus." I mocked him, not expecting him to throw a shoe in my direction. It didn't hit me, though it landed near the bed with a loud noise. I picked it up and was about to throw it back at him, without missing on purpose, when I heard Lain's voice call me from outside the room. 
"Stan, it's your turn to cook dinner!" She knocked on the door two times and left. Kyle stood in the middle of the room, looking in my direction with a surprised expression.
"When did you learn to cook?" He asked me, clearly about to make fun of me.
"I didn't. It's my first time cooking." I fired back, getting up from the bed nonchalantly. 
"WHAT?" He screamed in surprise. I ignored him and left, and he followed immediately.

"You can't cook, you'll fucking poison us!" He ran down the stairs, talking to my back. I stopped in the middle of the staircase and turned my head around, smiling.
"Did you become stupid with time or did a zombie hit you on the head? Of course, I learned how to cook." I told him, rolling my eyes. He closed his mouth and stared at me with an embarrassed smile. I laughed and walked to the kitchen, he was right behind me. 

I looked at the menu for that night and almost cheered out loud, I got lucky. Kyle moved in front of the fridge, to look at it too. In utter disbelief, he sighed, grabbing the magnetic board to look at it from closer. 
"Vegetable soup? Seriously?!" He placed the board back on the fridge. "This is completely rigged, I always get the hardest dishes." He crossed his arms, shaking his head in disdain. I laughed and started cooking, following the recipe book Lain left for us on the kitchen counter, while Kyle sat on a stool, close to me.

After that, the room fell into complete silence, it was a relaxing moment. In a zombie apocalypse, moments like that were extremely rare, especially in the safety of an everything-proof home like Lain's.

"Do you want to know what happened to me?" Kyle broke the silence once again. I couldn't see his face, since he was sitting behind me, but his voice which normally sounds soft and delicate turned serious and it almost had a scolding tone. I didn't turn around as I was busy cutting vegetables into small pieces.
"I remember you stayed home that day." I recalled, getting an approving sound from Kyle. "We came to check on you as soon as they let us go, where were you?" I turned my head around, glancing at him with the corner of my eye. He waited until I turned back around.
"When you came to check on me, I was at home." He stated calmly, which made me stop dicing the onions. I was about to exclaim something when he raised his hand to silence me, I just nodded and returned to the cutting board. 
"I saw you and the others but couldn't say anything or show myself." He crossed his arms, having no problem exposing his side of the story "I stayed home because I woke up late, and when I did wake up, both of my parents were zombies." He said that last sentence with a distant tone. I felt a sudden rush of sadness, as my mind started racing. My intuition was right: he did have to fight, the baseball bat on the floor of his room was there to prove it. 

"I didn't know where Ike was- Hell, I didn't even know if he was still human. I grabbed the first weapon I could find, moved my bed in front of the door, and waited there in complete silence. I didn't want to see my parents in that state, and I didn't even want to fight them." His eyes narrowed. It felt like he didn't really want to talk about it, but was speaking almost automatically. I didn't dare say anything, the last thing I wanted was to interrupt his line of thought.
"I don't remember how much time passed, but Lain came to save me. She... got rid of my parents and helped me get out." He started fidgeting with the band-aids on his fingers, finally making me understand why he had them in the first place. 
"What happened to Ike?" I asked sheepishly. I was waiting for the vegetables to cook, so I turned around and leaned on the stove. Kyle lowered his gaze, making me regret ever asking that question. 
"I forgot. It's like my mind completely removed everything I saw after I stepped out of my room." He replied and sighed, finally leaving his fingers alone. I didn't know what to tell him, I just stared at the floor tiles. Silence filled the room, the only sound was me pouring water into the pot. 

"When someone lives a traumatic event, their minds try to forget it. It's like it works hard to remove those bad memories and restore a happy brain." 

These words from Lain often popped into my head, words she would tell me after my parents died. Despite everything, she never quite sat right with me; I always suspected there was something behind that accepting smile. I didn't like school counseling, so she would invite me to her house, where she lived alone with Katie, her younger sister, which only made me think how unnecessarily big that house was for just the two of them. During the therapy sessions, Katie would always close herself inside her room; Lain told me it was because she didn't want anyone to hear what I had to say, even though I would have been much more comfortable speaking with her sister. I never trusted Lain, as she always wanted to know too much about my parents, asking far too many questions about their deaths. I was only ten then, and my brain had completely deleted anything related to the incident, making it impossible to remember even if I wanted to.

"There is also something else I think you should know." Kyle said with a slightly lower tone of voice, which quickly grabbed my attention. "I-" He started speaking, but Lain walked into the kitchen with Kenny and Butters, making Kyle stop talking as soon as he heard their footsteps. A wave of nervousness came over me, why did he stop? I returned to the pot and started stirring the broth, kind of unsure of what to do. Lain just glanced at my back and shrugged, taking out a utensil from the drawer right next to me.
"Did we interrupt your gossip session?" She said loudly as we both jumped in our places, we didn't expect her to comment on our sudden silence. "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm going to steal Kyle in a bit." She announced, leaving the room.

"I... um... Anyway, where did Cartman go?" Kyle asked as I returned to earth and realized I had been staring at the pot for two whole minutes.
"Cartman? Didn't he disappear after the First invasion?" I recalled and Kyle nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, we all thought he got somewhere safe, but he never showed up, right?" Kyle added, his gaze returned to normal, or whatever seemed closer to it. Talking about the past was now strictly prohibited for me.
"Nope, we didn't hear from him, not even once." Kenny joined in, shaking his head. Kyle sighed and got up from his seat.
"I don't think he's dead, honestly. Eric Cartman doesn't die." He said with a rather disgusted tone in his voice, it was like it was hard even for him to admit it. 
"I think so too. I mean, knowing him, he probably found some safe shelter. Luck has always been by his side." Butters added, confirming what we all thought: his selfishness wasn't going to make him die that easily. Even though we all resented him, we couldn't deny his ability to manipulate others to always have his way.

Lain showed up again to pick up Kyle, but couldn't hold back from hearing our conversation.
"Eric Cartman? Didn't he die?" She told us without paying much attention. Our reaction was more than normal: we stared at her with a confused face. Seeing that, she quickly stopped what she was doing to look back at us.
"Oh... I...I'm sorry...?" She panicked for a few seconds, as we realized she wasn't joking. Butters was a little slower than the rest of us, screaming "WHAT?" as soon as he understood what we just heard.
"What do you mean he died?!" Kyle exclaimed. He hated Cartman with his whole essence but he looked just as shocked as the rest of us.
"Yeah... we found his body inside his bunker about a year ago, I thought you guys knew..." She informed us, keeping her head low. She delivered news like that in the worst way possible, and we were supposed to not freak out. We just looked at each other, figuring out how we were supposed to actually act. None of us were sad about it; instead, we were all surprised, as we never thought that Cartman could die. 
"How did he die?" Kenny asked her, it was the most normal thing he could have said.
"The bunker blew up, so we're thinking fire and a gas leak." She told us, trying to make it sound as simple as possible. We all accepted it, he could have been dumb enough to not notice a gas leak and play with fire inside a bunker. But still, it was incredible that someone like Cartman died because of his stupid ideas; usually, he was the one to fix our problems with that wild imagination of his. I thought at least Kenny was going to tear up a bit since they were closest, but he didn't move at all. It was obvious he was feeling upset, but he didn't show it in his face.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." He whispered to me, smiling sheepishly. Only then I realized I was basically staring at him. "I'm going to bed, don't call me for dinner." He raised his voice to make sure everyone was listening, then he turned around and left. In some way, I was feeling bad for him; on the same day, he found out that his mom and his childhood friend were dead. How to blame him, anyone in his situation would have gone right to bed, wishing for the day to just end faster.

Lain followed his figure with her eyes until she could, then she sighed and scratched her neck.
"I'm so sorry about this, I didn't know." She apologized again and again, Kyle had to grab her arm to make her stop.
"It's fine." he dragged her outside "We've got shit to do, hurry up." He waved us goodbye with his free hand.

Only me and Butters were left inside the kitchen. He didn't face me, he just kept looking in their direction.
"This is so suspicious, who knows what they do in there." He said, not breaking eye contact with the wall. In the meantime, I was praying for the vegetable soup, hoping I didn't somehow overcook it.
"Where?" I asked him, not really expecting anything serious from him.
"In the basement. Every time we come back from an expedition, they go down there and have secret meetings. I tell you, they're plotting something against us!" He screamed at me, slamming his hand on the stool Kyle had sat at earlier.
"Secret meetings?" I glanced at him, trying to catch what he was talking about.
"Yes! Every time they're talking and I walk in front of the door they just stop and kick me out." He complained, crossing his hands. "Honestly, it pisses me off. It's like they're teaming up and leaving all of us behind." He continued. The same thought crossed my mind too, but I decided to trust Kyle; whatever was happening inside that room was none of my business and I didn't even want to know. I trusted Kyle with my whole heart, and I knew that if it was something bad, he would have told me.

If they're hiding, there's a reason.

Chapter Text

Butter's words really stuck with me. Knowing I wasn't the only one who felt distrust towards Lain gave me a sense of security, even if it was just Butters.

I left him with the pot and went around the house to call everyone for dinner, as we always ate together at the same time. I had chosen to trust Kyle and wasn't going to go back on my word, but I was really curious about what was going on in the basement. Lain called him specifically and they went together down there, it would have been weird even if Butters hadn't said anything.

After the expeditions, they both go to the basement and talk. 

Suddenly, Kyle's words from earlier popped into my mind: "Anything can be good information to predict and prevent a new zombie outbreak." Maybe they were just trying to figure out important things, like the possibility of a third invasion. No one wants to see more zombies, especially after what we all went through during the first two invasions.

But still, why Kyle out of all people? 

I approached the basement door and gently pushed it open, following its creaky movements with my hand. As I descended the stairs, I could hear faint voices—Kyle and Lain, most likely. Moving slowly, I made my way to the door and tried to listen in as the voices became clearer.
"Well, that's dumb. There's no way I'm doing that," Kyle's voice echoed loudly through the door.
"I understand," Lain spoke with her mature but still gentle voice, "but it could be useful—"
"Lain, I could die. It's basically suicide!" he screamed at her, unable to stress it enough. "I don't care about the research; I need to preserve myself. I'll do anything to help, but going directly to the site is stupid and dangerous," he continued without giving her space to debate. She just sighed in response. A few seconds passed.
"Whatever, we'll talk about this another time," she said firmly.
"Stan should be done cooking; we have to go," he told her, as it sounded like he got up on his feet and started walking to the door. I panicked and knocked a few times. The room went silent immediately.

"Uh... Lain and Kyle? Dinner is ready," I announced to the door. A moment later, Kyle opened the door and walked out, Lain following and closing the door behind her. Once again, I couldn't even peek at what was inside the room.

As expected, walking to the table was incredibly embarrassing, they were both silent and no one said a word, the only sound I could hear was the squeaking of the wooden stairs and the door opening. I wasn't sure if they realized I had overheard part of their argument, but they didn't hide their resentment. Kyle, in particular, wore an expression just like the one he had when he fought with Cartman. I felt uneasy, especially with all that pressure in the air. 

After eating, we all went to our rooms to prepare for bed. I finally reunited with Kenny after not seeing him for a while; he had gone to bed after hearing about Cartman's death. Kyle went to the bathroom to wash up first.
"Kenny, how do you feel? Why didn't you come down to eat?" I asked, sitting on his bed beside him as he lay facing the wall.
"I wasn't hungry," he replied, barely moving. His voice implied he wasn't feeling well at all.
"Stop being emo, you bitch," I said, trying to move him with my hand on his shoulder, but he didn't budge. "I saw you with Butters earlier. Did you hang out together?" I changed the subject to a lighter one, hoping to distract him from the bad news.
"We were catching up. Then he started talking about conspiracy theories involving Lain; he sounded batshit crazy." Kenny shifted his position, lying on his back.
"What kind of conspiracy theories?" I asked, knowing how irritable he got whenever someone talked behind Lain's back.
"Dunno, some shit like she's hiding something from us, or even that she has something to do with the whole zombie thing." He said, looking at me, perhaps hoping I had something to say about that.
"That sounds crazy. Didn't Lain save him from certain death?" I added, recalling what Butters had told us when we were catching up together.
"Yeah, that's why I don't get it. Like, dude, she saved and welcomed you into her house, be grateful." He said, looking away. He knew I shared the same kind of distrust, but I would never think something like that about her. It was clear as day that she was hiding something, but she wasn't the kind of person to ruin everyone for her own interests. 

"You're not talking shit about me, are you?" Kyle came out of the bathroom, wearing his pajama pants and nothing on top, showing off his slim figure with a hint of abs.
"Heyyy, looking good!" Kenny sat up, whistling at him.
"I know right?" Kyle giggled, flexing his biceps. There was barely anything, but who was I to ruin a man's dreams? I got up to go to the bathroom, but Kenny ran past me.
"I gotta go!" He yelled, locking himself in. "My tummy hurts!" He screamed through the door.
"Well, of course, you haven't eaten shit!" I screamed back, throwing a shoe at the wall and making a loud thud.

"Is it just me, or has he gotten more talkative?" Kyle asked, his gaze fixed on the door.

"What do you mean?" I asked, sitting back down on Kenny's bed.
"He used to be much quieter when we were little," Kyle said, turning to face me while still standing. "I mean, I don't remember him talking so much," he continued, looking away.
"I don't know, I haven't noticed much change, honestly."
"Well, you didn't meet him after five years of complete silence," Kyle pointed out. I shrugged and decided to lie on the bed, completely ignoring how mad Kenny would be about it later. Kyle got comfortable too, sitting on his bed with his knees in front of his chest. He pulled out his notebook and a pen, then flipped through the pages and started writing something.

"Kenny actually stopped talking to us after the second invasion," I said, staring at the ceiling. Kyle raised his head and looked at me in disbelief.

"What?"
"He wouldn't speak to anyone. He'd just stay in his room all day," I replied, recalling the early days after locking ourselves inside the school. Everything was uncertain; people were going out and dying, and there was no prospect for the near future. "He wouldn't speak to me either. I even had to bring food to him, but he refused to eat most of the time. He would only accept a proper meal every three days or so."
"And... how long did you have to wait for him to talk again?" Kyle asked, clearly surprised.
"It took him a year and a big fight," I told him, then sat up. "It was just me yelling at him, but you get it."
"Right. And what did you tell him?" Kyle picked up his pen again and started fidgeting with it.

I had gone into his room to bring him dinner which he refused to eat, as usual.
"You know, Red asked us if we can get rid of you. She says you're a waste of space and resources and it would be better if we kicked you out. Do you seriously want to show her she's right? Why don't you get up and prove to us that you're still here?" Kenny didn't even flinch after all that, I took a deep breath.
"It's been a year, Kenny. A whole ass year went by."  He was lying on his bed staring at the wall like he had been for the past year.
"You need to snap out of this. You're grieving people that are probably still alive, and that's fucking stupid. Think about your parents— no, think about Karen. Do you think she'd like seeing you wasting away in your room while she's struggling to survive? We're all struggling, by the way. You know what makes me mad the most? You're possibly the only one whose family is still alive, but you're too busy wallowing in your own misery to see that. You're not the only one who's scared. You're not the only one who's hurting. But you have a choice. You can either stay here and rot, or you can get up and start living again. I know it's hard and I know you're scared, but staying in here isn't doing good to anyone, especially not you." I started pacing back and forth in front of his bed.
"Honestly, in this state you're as good as dead." I stopped. "We need you alive, I can't lose another one. You need to be strong, or everything will be worthless. You still have the chance to see your family again, why aren't you fighting for it? Why haven't you gone out on an expedition yet to see if you can find them? You still have hope, fucking hold onto it and go look for your sister!"

Kyle exhaled and smiled with a resigned look on his face.

"And he trusted you because you're the one with dead parents?" he asked, and I nodded.
"Can you guess what his first words were?"
"He thanked you?" Kyle tilted his head.
"They were 'Stan, fuck you,'" I said, smiling. "I couldn't even be mad at him; he spoke after a year."
Kyle laughed, shaking his head. Then he picked up his notebook and reopened it to an empty page, ready to write.
"I can't believe it, though—Kenny shutting down like that?" He stopped, clearly struggling to wrap his head around it.
"Everyone was surprised. I mean, we knew he'd have a hard time, but no one was prepared for that." I told him, almost whispering. If Kenny heard me talking about it, he was going to decapitate me for sure.
"So even a wild animal like him can crumble under pressure." Kyle joked, a little too loudly. His timing was impeccable, as the door swung open just then and Kenny walked out.

"Who the fuck are you calling a wild animal?" Kenny demanded, standing with his hand on the door handle and pointing his index finger at Kyle. Kyle's eyes widened for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Wha— We're not talking about you. The world doesn't revolve around you, you know." Kyle shot back, his tone dripping with sass.

"I know what you are." Kenny replied cryptically, making the "keeping an eye on you" gesture before turning and walking to his bed. Kyle stared at him, completely baffled, then shrugged and went back to writing in his notebook.
"Get up, lazy ass." Kenny said, punching me in the stomach. I jolted upright, startled by the sudden impact.
"What the fuck?!" I exclaimed, pressing a hand against the spot where he hit me. Kenny pointed to the bathroom door and then tilted his head toward it, clearly signaling me to get out.
"Kill yourself." I said, flipping him off as I walked to the bathroom and slammed the door behind me. He definitely knew what I had said to Kyle and was clearly not happy about it.

Still, I felt a bit relieved that Kyle now knew about it. He was always the most level-headed of us, so maybe he could talk to Kenny and help him come to terms with things. I knew Kenny's shutdown was a mix of worry and sadness since he was facing the harsh reality of probably never seeing his family again. The town's situation didn't help either—they were struggling and barely had anything to offer, so even if help did come, the McCormick family would have been at the bottom of the list. The main reason I hoped Kyle could help was that Kenny now knew his mom and little sister were probably dead. Butters had told us he hadn't seen them when all the adults escaped South Park, and I was sure that news hit Kenny hard, even if he didn't show it. He was trying to be the strong person I asked him to be.

When I came out of the bathroom, both Kyle and Kenny were asleep, in the soft glow of a dim light. I glanced at their peaceful faces and smiled faintly, wondering when I'd last seen them like this. Kyle had fallen asleep with his notebook and pen still clutched in his hand, so I carefully set them on the floor beside his bed. Kenny seemed to be okay, but the air was a bit chilly, so I gently draped the light bedcovers over him. After switching off the light, I settled into my own bed and soon drifted off to sleep, feeling a sense of calm.

The next day went pretty well. We had fun doing the usual everyday stuff, but the best part was doing it together. I wasn't sure if the company made everything better, but washing dishes with Butters turned out to be quite an experience. I did most of the work while he got stuck on the same plate for twenty minutes, absorbed in his theories. Honestly, his storytelling was so captivating that I started to believe him; he had a knack for it. He should've been selling products on TV, not fighting zombies. Later, I helped around the house with various tasks. I wanted to watch something on TV, but Tweek and Craig were watching some taped replicas of "Red Racer," Craig's favorite show. I enjoyed spending time with them, but they had started acting more like a pair of lovebirds than an awkward couple, which made me feel like I had to hold the candle for them; third wheeling wasn't for me.

Instead, I went to the kitchen to grab some snacks when I heard strange sounds coming from the storage room. The door was closed and the light was off, but I could swear I heard something. As I got closer, the sounds grew louder; it was like people talking, mixed with giggling and whispering. I opened the door and found Wendy, Bebe, Tolkien, and Clyde sitting on the ground, illuminated only by a flashlight Wendy was holding.
"Fuck, Stan, you scared us." Clyde pressed his hand on his chest, as if he was trying to send back a heart attack. 
"I'm sorry—? Wait no, actually, what the fuck are you doing?" I asked, stepping in and closing the door behind me.
"We're telling ghost stories, it's fun." Wendy said, holding the flashlight under her face, casting eerie shadows on her features.
"Ooh, can I join?" I asked, pointing at the floor. Bebe nodded and made space for me, ensuring we still formed a circle. This was something we used to do a lot during the second invasion, even though we were all traumatized and grown up. One thing that really struck me was that zombies never appeared in any of our stories. It was like our minds had completely warded off the term from our fun activities, a small act of rebellion against our harsh reality. Sure, it was ghost stories, but it was really anything even remotely scary; for example, once Kenny told us about a homeless man dressed up as a fairy that would go around the ruins of SoDoSoPa asking anyone—even grown adults—if they wanted to see a magic trick. No one knows what the trick was since everyone obviously declined the offer.

"So, I was about to tell a story that is actually true, and I'm sure someone else in here might have seen the same thing." Wendy started telling her story, holding the flashlight still. 
"This happened on multiple occasions during our lockdown inside the school, always at night and always while Stan and Kenny were out on an expedition." Wendy kept talking and quickly directed the beam towards me, then pointed it back at herself.
"Wait, what do I have to do with this?" I asked her, interrupting her storytelling.
"This isn't about you," Wendy said with a shrug. "It just so happens that it always happened when you and Kenny were out. It's not my fault." The harsh light made her silky black hair shine, and I thought if I were her, I'd make sure the light was always on me. She waited for me to stop talking before continuing with her story.

"As I was saying," Wendy continued, her voice growing more dramatic, "on random nights when you two were out on expeditions, a shadow has been seen. It moves through the gate and heads to the playground, carrying something in its hands. I've never been able to catch it, but every morning, right in that spot, there's an empty basket. The shadow disappears immediately, and the basket is gone by the following night." She had a knack for telling spooky stories; her tone was perfectly suited for creating an eerie atmosphere.
"Wait, you saw that too?" Bebe asked, sounding surprised, while Clyde gasped in shock.
"I saw it too, but I thought I was dreaming." Tolkien admitted, sounding a bit scared himself. 
"This is dumb. Have you tried taking the basket?" I asked, trying to sound uninterested but unable to hide my curiosity.
"I did at first," Wendy replied calmly. "But there's always a new one. I even tried marking it, and it’s always the same basket, unless you take it."
"What kind of basket is it?" Clyde asked, unable to hide his curiosity either.
"A wooden basket. You know— like the ones they use in movies when they abandon a newborn in front of someone's door." Wendy tried giving her best example, getting a nod from everyone in response.

I was about to say something when the door suddenly swung open, startling all of us. It was just Lain, who turned on the light and looked down at us with a puzzled expression.
"What the fuck? This place is for storage, not for cult meetings. get the hell out of here." She told us, holding the door open for us. We quickly got up and walked out one by one, avoiding her gaze. 
"We were just telling ghost stories. There’s no need to ruin all the fun." I said, speaking up as the others remained silent.
"I'm not trying to ruin anything, I'm just trying to keep you safe. And ghost stories in a storage room don’t sound too pleasant." She replied, giving me a gentle slap on the back of my neck. I left with the others and went back to my room. Why was she always everywhere? 

I couldn’t stop thinking about Wendy’s story. Who was the shadow, and what was in the basket? Three of them had seen it, so it certainly wasn’t a hoax. The school gate was huge, and a tall fence surrounded the entire perimeter of the building. There was no way someone could easily go over it. 

And most importantly, why did the shadow only appear when Kenny and I were out on an expedition?

The world outside had changed so much, but this new mystery added another layer of uncertainty. I was trying to brush it off, but the eerie feeling wasn't going away. I hoped that whatever was behind the shadow would become clearer soon, but deep down, I knew that finding the answers might have been more unsettling than the questions themselves.