Rey and I were in the same grade, but only shared one class together last year—Physics. I remember exchanging brief words with him a few times. Because he was often teased for being a science geek, he was always slinking off to the back of the room, or taking his lunch somewhere else to find his own space. He's someone who is super quiet and never gets attention.

Now that people are shooting him questions, he's out of his shell and basking in the limelight.

Maddie explains to us that Rey's father is working in the military, so he, along with another teacher, had gone to his home to retrieve a radio telephone which has a signal that travels over long distances. He had received it on one of his birthdays and never used it before until now.

Apparently, it works.

They have contacted his father, who works in the military and assures us that help is on the way. The glimmer of hope spurs us on to prepare us for the nights ahead. Everybody scampers to the gym showers or runs home, hoping to use the remaining daylight hours to find their families. However, they are told to travel in pairs and regroup back in school before the sun sets. Otherwise, stay locked indoors when night falls.

Three days. Three teachers. Seventeen students. All we've to do now is to survive for three days on our own. At least we've a merfolk on our side.

In the art studio, I carry one of the school's old banners that I've found in the cabinet and spread it across the table. Flipping it onto the white, unprinted side, I dip a paintbrush in red and draw across it.

S. O. S.

I feel the urge to move and make myself useful. To fight for my survival. To find a way out of this madness.

As for Zarius, he's always following me around. He stares at my work and I don't miss the way his nose sniffs once in the air.

"What are you doing? Are you drawing with...blood?" He grabs my wrists and draws me towards him, checking for visible wounds. "Are you hurt? But it does not smell like your scent. It is rather foul-smelling."

"Relax. It's not mine. It's just paint." I show him by holding up the midsection of the banner and blowing on it to dry the paint. "I thought that if a rescue party is coming, we ought to make a sign for them to locate us. Something that's easily seen. If this can also inform other survivors out there that we're all alive here, they might join us. It's killing two birds with a stone."

He nods in agreement. "Good plan. But where are you putting this?"

"Back on the wall on the highest floor of this building. I'll need your help."

"And I'll gladly offer it."

He sounds so sincere, so accommodating, that I can't help but feel indebted to him for many things that he has done for me. "Zarius. Aren't I holding you back from your...search?"

He steps closer to me and lifts my chin, quickening my heart pulse. "Look at me," he tells me, and I do. His bright aquamarine eyes capture mine, and I can't look away. "You're most definitely not. I'm here because I want to. I'm not leaving without you."

He wants to take me and Mom back to the merfolk society. Away from the humans.

I swallow hard. "What if–"

What if I don't want to leave? What if I want to stay with the humans? With Maddie?

I drop the subject. Looking away, I gather the biggest white papers I can find and scribble words on it with a red marker. For these, I'm intending to stick them up at the storefronts or lamp poles the next time we head out to the streets.

For the entire time, I can feel Zarius's confused gaze glue to my face, clearly wondering what is wrong with me. I continue working just to avoid his gaze, and thankfully, he doesn't question me either.

"'Rescue party arriving in...' What's the date today again?" I mumble to myself. With all the events that have happened and the tragic loss of my phone, I've lost track of the number of days that have passed.

"A rescue party will arrive at Old Orchard Beach High School soon. We welcome all survivors to gather there.

If you miss this message, stay in the light."

By the time I've gotten to my ninth sheet, Maddie pops her head in first, before slipping through the door. She has taken some time to clean herself up. Her hair pulls back into a tight ponytail and she's carrying an ax and a rucksack, looking all ready to leave the school's grounds.

She glances at my work, lifting the top paper to get a closer look at it. Of course, she understands my intention right away. "This is great work, Delia. Today is the 10th of October, in case you've forgotten. I found my phone in the office earlier."

"There's still no signal?"

"Nope," she sighs. She holds out her cookie jar and shakes once, the same one which I took when I hid under her desk a week ago. There are half of the cookies left. "Want one? It's not that bad yet."

I take up on her offer and grab not just one, but two cookies. As I chomp on them, Maddie offers the jar to Zarius too. "How about you?"

He bends down to get a closer look, squinting at the inside. "What is that?" he murmurs. "It looks like a flat, hardened excrete–"

I slap a hand over his mouth just as Maddie narrows her eyes at him. She gives him a stink-eye and slams the lid back onto the cookie jar. "I guess none for you then. What's your name? Cookie Hater?"

"Zarius."

"How old are you? You don't seem like a minor. Did you go to university before—?" She sweeps her hand in the air. "—all this stuff happened?"

Zarius gives her an inscrutable stare, and that's my cue to step in. "He's not from this town," I answer on his behalf. "He came here to visit his grandparents. And he's turning twenty-three this year. Right, Zarius?"

I nudge his side, and he clears his throat. "Yes."

Maddie shoots us a strange look, her eyes flickering back and forth between me and him. She readjusts her bag and waves me over. "Come on, Delia. We gotta go. We still have a couple of hours before the sun sets. If we're planning to return before that, we need to leave now."

Nodding my head, I grab my backpack, my dagger and the banner. We head for the highest floor to put up the SOS banner before leaving school. Zarius continues to trail after us, or rather, after me.

Maddie tosses a look over her shoulder, frowning. "He's coming home with us too?"

"Yeah, I guess."

She leans towards me, her voice dropping a couple of octaves lower. Her tone drips with suspicion. "He's weird, Delia. Don't get close to him. Ever since the supermarket, you realize he keeps staring at you, don't you?" she points out.

My cheeks grow warm, but I dismiss her concern with a short laugh. I'm positively certain Zarius can hear us perfectly well with his hypersensitive hearing.

"Chill, Maddie. He's really not the bad boy that you think he is. He's only following me because he feels comfortable with me, especially after the past few days of the ordeal that we've been through. This entire town is foreign to him."

But she's not completely convinced by my words. "I've lived ten years longer than you do. You don't think I know what boys are thinking? I've been through college and seen enough. And cookies! How can he not like them?"

Yeap, she's definitely holding a grudge against him for insulting her home-made cookies. "You make the World's Best Cookies, cousin. Trust me. It's just that some people have a more peculiar taste bud. Don't take him to heart."

Maddie huffs and swings her flashlight by the strap to her wrist. "I guess it's better that we aren't traveling alone," she agrees.

I grin, but my smile doesn't last long. Out on the streets, we see the remains of human bodies; flaccid limbs and decaying skin. What used to be a bustling Old Orchard Beach filled with tourists has now changed into an abandoned ghost town. The residual chill from the storm still tinges the air, mixed with forlorn desolation.

Our shoes crunch heavily against the loose stones and detritus on the road. Silence lapses between the three of us. Maddie has gone all quiet, but I suspect that's because she is worried about what she will find at her house.

I reach for her hand and give it a light squeeze, and she returns a grateful look. Behind us, Zarius follows closely like he's our bodyguard, silently taking in the destruction of this town.

After walking for nearly thirty minutes, the familiar front gate of Maddie's home comes into view. It's a sunny two-storey house with my aunt's favorite rose garden and fruit trees which are now completely ruined.

The sight is devastating, and my throat tightens with sadness. I can picture my younger self running across the yard and playing with their golden retriever, Kiki. Now, that memory becomes more than just a childhood memory. It's the reminder of how we can no longer return to our old lives.

We make our way up the porch, only to find the door unlocked. With trepidation, Maddie takes a deep breath before pushing it open. We head down the hallway slowly and carefully until she suddenly stops and I almost run into her back. Her body completely goes still to something in the living room that we can't see.

"Maddie?" I whisper softly, gripping her arm. "What's wrong?"

She doesn't respond to me, but her next reaction gives me the answer to the question that I wish I've not asked.

Falling to her knees, she lets out a heartbreaking wail.