The tension inside the house hit an all-time high. All members of the group were staring at Jonathan and Eve, no one daring to breathe too heavily.

Jonathan and Eve were staring daggers at each other.

'' If you do that... I'll not give you water anymore!'' Jonathan cried out. Seeing as this didn't change Eve's mind, he tried another trick, '' How about this, the next time I go out, I will search for a product that you especially want!''

' I'm a genius! Now she will accept and I'll finally win this thing!''

Eve acted like she didn't hear and attacked Jonathan, '' NOOOOO!''

With that move, Eve won the game of WAR. She looked smug, '' I win.''

Jonathan sighed, '' Yeah, yeah. Congratulations.''

Eve won 3 games in a row. The game was a good distraction for the group as 3 hours or so passed.

Jonathan got up and went to the kitchen to eat something. Nathan hesitated but followed him.

Arriving in the kitchen, Jonathan took a drink of water. He saw Nathan coming. The man stopped next to him, then Jonathan asked, "What is it?

''I made mistakes, not only once, but several times. I know I don't deserve your trust, but please trust me one last time.''

Jonathan sighed, "You are an adult and I am at best an adolescent. If I could, I would pass the 'leadership' to you in a second. But do you know why I can't do that?''

Nathan asked, '' Why?''

''Because you are not ready. Hell, I'm not ready for what we're going through. Do you think I enjoyed killing Jane, Franklin... and your zombified parents? I didn't enjoy it one bit.''

''But if I hadn't done that, can you imagine what would have happened?''

Nathan started to imagine what could have happened. His parents could have attacked him, Eve, Nathanael, Samantha

Nathan already knew that he had done something wrong, or rather that he had not done it. But thinking about the consequences of what could have happened... Nathan was frozen with shock.

Jonathan noticed that Nathan understood, "At the end of the day it is normal to hesitate when you don't know what to do. But in our current situation, you can NOT hesitate!''

''After all, I can also make mistakes in the future, mistakes that can kill people. But if those mistakes keep the people I care about alive, I would make as many mistakes as necessary.''

'' The end of the world has come, and whoever adapts quickly has a better chance of living... What you've been through is traumatic, but,'' Jonathan pated Nathan on the shoulder, '' I will try and trust you. I'll ask Nathanael to pass the gun to you. Please help me maintain everyone's safety.''

Jonathan then went back to the living room. Before he left, he said to Nathan, ''Remember, if you ever come across a situation where you don't know what to do, just think what I would've done!''

Jonathan laughed and left. Nathan also laughed a bit, ' He's right... I can't hesitate anymore!'

Nathan, after the talk-no-Jutsu, was ready to face the end of the world. What will come out of it, no one knows.

----

Jonathan arrived at the living room and sat on the sofa. He casually took out his cell phone to look at the news.

Samantha noticed that,'' You still use your phone...?''

Jonathan tilts his head, '' Of course, I do. The internet is still working, and we can still recharge it.''

Everyone looked like they had seen a ghost. Eve, Samantha, Nathanael, and Nathan rushed to get their phones.

Jonathan was dumbfounded, ' They didn't use their phone this whole time!?'

Mind you, almost 3 weeks have passed since the world ended. Jonathan was bored even with him using his cellphone, imagine not using that.

Jonathan ignored that and continued surfing the web. ' I don't know how long the internet can last, so I'll use it for as long as I can.'

First, Jonathan checked his messages, to see if his parents sent anything. ' No news about them...'

Then, he downloaded all music he could think of. ' For future generations.'

Jonathan wasn't that dumb, so he made precautions in case he lost the phone. He also downloaded a lot of other things and put them safely in the inventory.

The rest of the group returned to the living room and used their phone, '' What should we even look for?'' Eve said.

'' Just use like you used before the world ended. We don't know for how long the internet will function.'' Jonathan said.

For the next hour, the living room was in silence. The group used the internet to see the state of the world and was silent throughout. They saw a lot of horrible things.

Eve sighed, '' I search a lot of sites that said the army is still strong. They passed some locations and told people to go there.''

'' I highly doubt the army is still around. And if it is, it will not be that strong. Maybe it's a trap.''

'' A trap? What are you talking about?'' Nathanael asked.

Jonathan sighed, ' They still don't listen or learn.'

'' Look, what do you think is the biggest problem with the world right now?'' Jonathan asked.

'' Food.'' Eve was the first one to answer.

'' Water, fuel...''

'' Guns?''

'' The zombies?''

Jonathan shook his head, '' All of them are troubles, but with enough time, we could fix them. The principal problem is humans.''

Nathan was confused, '' Can you explain?''

'' Ok, listen carefully. People are unpredictable, they don't follow rules. A zombie can be killed if you know how to fight against it, but a human? They fight back with everything they have if they think they could die.''

'' They would do anything and everything to stay alive. Dignity and pride are nothing right now.''

'' Now imagine our group right now. We didn't have food or water. We found a house with others people inside, but they didn't open the door or talk to us. But we somehow found out they had a lot of resources, food, and water.''

'' What would you do in that situation?''

The group went silent. '' We would ask to trade?''

Jonathan shook his head, '' We had nothing with us.''

'' We plead with them?''

'' We could do that, but they could ask, hmm, '' Jonathan hesitated to speak, but did nonetheless, '' for favors from Eve and Samantha.''

Nathan and Samantha paled instantly, while Eve and Nathanael understood the implication.

'' Then we leave?'' Nathanael was getting out of options.

'' If we leave, we would die of starvation soon after... Now, what's the last option?'' Jonathan asked.

'' ... We attack, kill them and get their stuff?'' Eve said in a whisper.

Jonathan nodded, '' Unfortunately, yes. Thank God we are not in that situation as of now, but others groups might not be so lucky. Imagine if the people I saw before found our house and wanted to see inside.''

'' Eve already told us what she would do if this happened, but it's better if all of us are ready to do what it takes to survive. We can't blindly trust every human we meet from now on. We have to be more careful of them than of zombies.''

Jonathan saw they were thinking about what they discussed, so he lay on the sofa, '' I'll take a nap now. Remember, that group of people I encountered is near, so close all doors and don't use lights tonight.''

A few minutes later, Jonathan finally managed to sleep.

----

Again, what woke up Jonathan was the sound of tires screeching. Even though he was sleepy, he knew right away what that sound meant. He sighed and got up from the couch, 'In the end, they arrived.'

Looking around in the living room, only Jonathan and Nathanael were there. Jonathan rushed upstairs, only to find everyone midway. '' What's that noise?'' Nathan asked.

'' The same people I saw looting the other houses. They arrived.'' Jonathan said, and he saw everyone tensing up.

'' Relax and stay hidden. Maybe they won't enter the house and leave as soon as possible.'' Jonathan tried to calm everyone.

'' You believe they could just leave without entering?'' Eve asked.

Jonathan gave her a small smile and shook his head, '' No way. They will definitively enter here. We just need to hide.''

The group nodded, and Nathanael asked, '' Where do we hide though?''

''Anywhere here. The bottom floor is horrible to hide, so our best chance of hiding successfully is up here.''

Eve suddenly shouted, '' Oh my God! We forgot about our car!''

When Eve said that, Jonathan remembered he told them to pack the car to the brim with things, '' SHIT!''

This means that those people would inevitably search the entire house in hopes to found more stuff.

Jonathan looked at Nathan, '' See? Even I make mistakes.''

'' What now?''

Jonathan was thinking, ' If I was them and found a car like that, I would search everything. The storage room will be found, and we will lose a lot of food... I can't see any other way besides fighting and killing them. But are they ready?'

Looking at his group, Jonathan doubted they were ready to stain their hand with blood. ' But they had to.'

The storage room Jonathan was talking about was literally an entire room just for supplies. The amount Jonathan found was enough for Samantha to use an entire room.

Jonathan thought they might've hidden the room before, but now he was certain those people would find it

Sighing, Jonathan said, '' We have 2 options. We can let them take our resources and hope that they wouldn't find us, but we will need to look for more supplies later. Or we fight.''

The entire group went quiet. Nathan was the one to ask Jonathan, '' What do you think?''

''To be honest, I don't know. For my part, I don't really care about people who try to steal my things. I'm ready to do whatever it takes to survive. Are you ready to take someone's life to survive?

The group stayed in silence, but Nathan didn't look like he would hesitate to kill anyone who entered their house.

Jonathan knew the group outside wouldn't wait for them to be ready, '' Now, what will you decide?''

----

'' Are you sure this is a good idea? A horde is right behind us and we got enough already. We can just leave.'' One of the members of the group tried to rationalize with the Leader, who shook his head.

'' No! I have a feeling we will strike gold if we continue searching this area. The zombies still are far away, so we have plenty of time to loot!''

The thugs sighed, '' Ok, ok. Your call.''

Their groups searched the area until finally, they came across one particular house. It had a fence, meaning someone lived there recently or is inside right now. Just like always, they entered the garage first.

' Bang.'

After destroying the garage door, what they saw there made the jaws of the entire group drop, '' Jackpot!''

A car filled with so many supplies it was absurd. The same thug that talked with the boss said, '' With this many supplies and the fence, there must be people inside the house right?''

The entire group stopped on their track. The boss gritted his teeth, '' It doesn't matter! Think about your sister we left behind! With the supplies inside this car, we don't have to worry about food for months!''

The thug remembered his sister and gritted his teeth. He was the one who broke into the car. It set the alarm, but they didn't care if the owner heard it.

With all supplies taken to both their car, the boss of the group stopped in front of the house.

'' Boss, what are you doing?''

'' If the car is like that, imagine how much more stuff they have inside their house.'' The Boss said.

The group could see the amount of time they would preserve if there was more supply. One of them said, '' But boss, there could be people inside!''

'' And?... To feed our group, I'm prepared to do anything! Are you?'' The Boss screamed at his group.

The entire group stopped at the entrance of the house. They had 7 people and 2 cars with them. '' Are you guys ready?''

The group nodded.

'' Good! Now, lets us enter!''

The group of thugs didn't know, but the house they were about to enter was that of Samantha.

-------

They destroyed the door and entered the house. It didn't look like anyone was there, but the group proceeded with caution. But they didn't care much about maintaining the place, so they broke several things, like lamps and pots.

Their group searched and destroyed the ground floor but found nothing. The Boss then ordered them to search upstairs, '' Let's search upstairs!''

The boss was leading the group. They reached upstairs and started to search the rooms. It didn't take long for them to find one filled with supplies, '' Boss! Look at what I found!''

The boss rushed to the scene and couldn't believe what he was seeing. '' This... is amazing!''

With this much food, the group didn't have to worry about their children starving.

'' Take everything to the car and let us go! The horde might be near.''

The group grabbed everything in the room and went to their car. But when they arrived downstairs, there were people.

The only thing that came to the boss's mind was, ' Shit!'

The other group consisted of 4 people, with 2 children in the mix. ' A boy and a girl and a man and a woman... maybe a family?'

When the boss saw this setup, he relaxed almost instantly, ' We have 7 people on our side and we have a gun. They only have knives, from what I could see.'

The boss looked at the woman more closely, ' Now that I look at her, she's a beauty...'

The group clashed with their eyes. Nathan took the initiative, '' Who are you and what are you doing at my home!?''

The boss snickered when he saw Nathan, ' He's trembling... maybe we can have some fun before going home.'

'' I stole all your food from the car and took everything you had in the room upstairs.''

Nathan looked shocked, '' How could you! This is for me and my family!''

'' Buddy, I don't know if you heard but the world kind of ended. Those rules of the old society don't matter anymore. Now, who has the gun,'' The boss showed them the gun he had in his waist,'' wins!''

Nathan stood in front of Samantha and the kids, '' ... Just take our things and leave.''

The boss shook his head, '' No!''

Nathan clutched the knife in his hand, '' What do you mean no!?''

'' I will not leave. You see, at first, I would've left without problems, but your appearance pissed me off. Now, your wife will play with my man for a while, then we will leave. Perhaps we will let you all live as well!''

Nathan looked shocked, ''Can I ask why are you doing this?''

'' Because I can!'' The Boss looked pleased with himself.

Nathan was silent, '' I see... a shame. Jonathan, you can go ahead. We heard enough.''

The Boss wanted to ask who Jonathan was but before that, he heard something from behind. The sound was muffled but the boss recognized it, ' A gun!'

---

Jonathan killed 6 of the 7 men but left the boss alive. He shot him in the leg though.

After doing all that and taking the gun away from the boss, Jonathan was curious, '' You had everything you wanted, why do that? It's the sensation of power?''

The boss smiled a little, '' Again, it's just because I can. Now, finish this.''

Jonathan aimed the gun at the boss, but Nathan interrupted, '' Wait!''

Nathan aprrochead the scene, '' Let me do it!''

Jonathan raised his eyebrows but said nothing. He silently passed the pistol to Nathan.

'' Thank you!'' Nathan them aimed at the boss head, '' Not so powerfull without your gun, right?''

The Boss laughed maniacally, '' Never would've thought I would die to people like you. Just a reminder, there's a horde coming. If you leave now, maybe you can escape it.''

As the Boss was saying that, he took out a knife without anyone noticing. Taking advantage of the fact that Nathan was distracted by the news he told them, the boss stabbed forward.

'' NATHAN! WATCH OUT!'' Jonathan screamed but it was too late.

Just as Nathan was stabbed, he also shot the boss in the head. After that, everyone came to help Nathan.

'' Put pressure on the wound!''

Jonathan used his limited knowledge in medicine to see if Nathan could survive this, ' It was in the center of the belly... if it missed the organs maybe he has a chance. And to make things worse, there's a horde coming.'

While Samantha stayed with Nathan, tending his wound, Jonathan got out of the house to see if the horde was near. As soon as he opened the door, he saw at least 40 zombies in the area, and they noticed him, '' SHIT!''

Jonathan closed the door in a hurry and called Nathanael, '' NATHANAEL! WE NEED TO BARRICADE ALL THE DOORS RIGHT NOW! THE HORDE IS ALREADY HERE!''

Nathanael, who was helping Samantha and Eve tend to his father, rushed to close all doors.

It didn't take look for the zombies to pounce on the door. ' The door is holding but I don't know for how long...'

Jonathan abandoned the ground floor and went upstairs, with Nathanael right behind him.

'' Take him to one of the rooms.'' Jonathan helped everyone carry Nathan to a room.

'' Nathanael, take this.'' Jonathan passed the gun with the silencer to Nathanael, '' If the zombies break the door, scream as loud as you can. I'll try to save your father.''

Nathanael, who didn't have the time to process what had just happened, took the gun with the silencer, '' Please, save my father.''

Jonathan nodded and Nathanael went outside the room. Now only Eve, Samantha, and Jonathan were taking care of Nathan. The two girls were crying though, ' I don't think they'll help that much in this state.'

'Let's see what we dealing with.' Jonathan already knew where the stab was, but he wasn't the extent of the injury.

Jonathan took Nathan's shirt off and noted that there was too much blood already. ' Damn it! He lost too much blood.'

Knowing the situation wasn't good, Jonathan still did the best he could to save Nathan.

Nathan coughed blood and spoke for the first time since he was stabbed, '' Enough, Jonathan. I know best the condition of my body... at least I have time to say goodbye to my family.''

Jonathan ignored Nathan and still tried to think of a solution, ' Maybe we can transfer blood? But how? I can buy things at the SHOP but I don't know how to do it! Maybe, if we are lucky, I can just sew the wound and he could heal on his own...'

'' - han! Jonathan!''

Jonathan came back to his senses when he noticed Eve was calling him, '' What it is?''

Eve was crying but she was holding strong, '' My dad asked you to call Nathanael.''

Jonathan was about to decline, but he knew Nathan was dying, ' Even if I had the knowledge, the skill, and the time to tend to his wound, I don't know if he would've survived this...'

After getting out of the room, Jonathan called out to Nathanael, '' Nathanael! Your father wants to talk with you.''

Nathanael was looking downstairs, but when he heard Jonathan shouting, he rushed there, '' Is he okay!?''

Jonathan shook his head, '' See for yourself.'' He then patted Nathanael on the shoulder, '' Be strong!''

After that, Nathanael entered the room, while Jonathan watched downstairs. The zombies were still pounding on the door, ' The door will not hold much longer... What a fucking mess!'

Jonathan was blaming himself again, ' Why did I pass the gun to Nathan!? Why!?'

Jonathan knew that Nathan was trying to prove himself to him and to his family, but it had backfired, ' GODfuckingDAMNIT!'

While Jonathan was regretting his decision, Eve called out to him, '' Jonathan... my dad wants to speak with you.''

After saying that, she along with Nathanael and Samantha, left the room.

Only Jonathan and Nathan were in the location. Jonathan sighed, '' ... I'm sorry.''

Nathan gave a slight smile, '' For what? For trusting me for the third time, even though I didn't deserve it? To be honest, after what happened with my parents and especially with Jane, I was feeling like a failure. No, I wasn't feeling, I was a failure.''

'' But when we were in the kitchen today, you trusted me one more time, even though I didn't deserve it. So I wanted to be someone who deserved to have this chance. And I did. At the end of the day, I killed the man who was trying to abuse my wife. That's good enough for me.''

'' Of course, I wasn't planning on dying, but shit happens all the time, especially now at the end of the world.''

Nathan was getting paler, '' I want you to promise something.''

'' What is is?'' Jonathan asked.

'' Protect my family. Please.''

'' Nathan, I -''

'' Listen, if there's anyone that I can trust for the safety of my family is you. Even though you're barely a teenager, you took the lead so many times I lost count. If there's anyone I know who can survive this, it's you, Jonathan.''

''You can make mistakes? Of course, you can.''

'' But you still did something. It is better than doing nothing... I beg you, please protect them.'' Nathan was getting weaker and weaker.

Jonathan knew he only had seconds left, so he promised, '' I promise you I'll do my best to make sure they survive.''

Nathan smiled, '' That's good enough. Thank you for everything and I'm sorry...''

Jonathan noted that Nathan took his last breath. He closed Nathan's eyes and looked at the now dead man, ' ... Another person who died because I wasn't fast enough... I hate this feeling!'

Regarding the promise with Nathan, Jonathan would already protect Samantha, Eve, and Nathanael. This only made him more sure of it.

Jonathan got out of the room and noticed the rest of the group was at the door. Jonathan sighed, '' He's gone. Say your goodbyes and we regroup later. We need to think of a plan to escape the house.''

The situation was bad for the group. The house was surrounded and they only have 2 guns. One was with Nathanael and the other with Jonathan.

When Samantha and her children heard Nathan died, they started to cry even harder.

Eve rushed to the room. Jonathan was going to check the door again when he heard Eve shout, '' FATHER! I thought you died!''

Jonathan stopped in his tracks. Immediately, he ran to the room with a gun in hand. When he entered the room, ' Nathan' was getting closer to Eve.

'' EVE, GET OUT OF THE WAY!''

Bang, Bang

When Eve heard the shout, she ducked and managed to avoid the bullets and the zombie. But Jonathan missed the mark and hit the neck and the shoulder.

Worse than that, the gun he used didn't have a silencer, so the zombies got more agitated.

Nathanael and Samantha entered the room and noticed the situation, '' How could he be a zombie!? He wasn't bitten!''

'' I don't know!'' Regardless, Jonathan approached the zombified Nathan with ease. He aimed at his head, '' I'm sorry about this.''

BANG.

Finally, Nathan died for real this time.

Jonathan was about to say something, when he heard a ' CLASH', from downstairs.

Nathanael rushed out of the room and screamed the zombies entered the house!

The only thing in Jonathan's mind was, 'FUCK!'