Chapter 4 Companions

From afar I could already see that, the man with the intact soul was in trouble. In one hand he held a bag full of food, while he tried to defend said food from a horde of hungry soulless humans with a baseball bat in his other hand. Shoving away my scruples I drew my sax and hit at them with the blunt side of it. The pain made most of them scramble, for now there were easier ways to acquire food.

“Thanks. My name's Peter.” The man greeted, after we walked to an isolated area. “You are welcome. I am Oliver.” I replied, while inspecting our surroundings and picking up some seasoning, “ You probably should give up gathering food here, it will only get worse.”.

“Can't do that pal, I got 3 hungry mouths to feed.” he said while following me, “So, could you help me? Of course I will try to repay your kindness.”. That made me freeze in my movements. With a multitude of hygiene articles in a plastic bag in my hands I turned around and asked “There are more normal people? There are more that still have their soul?”.

“Don't know about the thing with the soul, at least not concerning my wife, but my family at least acts normal.” he replied. “ I could introduce you to a new and reliable food-source.” I said, judging that taking the depot for myself would be a waste, since the food would rot before I could consume it. “I am all ears.” he said and so I told him about the depot. He happily agreed and dumped the food to loose all potential followers and together we packed some everyday necessities.

We left the building and started walking towards his house. After passing another crossways I stop him and turn his attention to a pharmacy, it was a letdown that all we got was some first aid stuff and some medicine in the displays. The rest off the stuff was behind locks we couldn't open.

As we reached his home a red-haired woman came out of the building to greet her husband. I chuckle at the tasteless joke her husband made about her. She looked at me worriedly, while her husband summarized our encounter and my proposal. As he finishes, her expression brightens and she greets “Thanks for saving my husband Oliver, I am Sarah, nice to meet you.”. I replied with a nod, while I inspect the surroundings of their house, noting the garden shack.

The two went inside to prepare everything they need and prepare their children to move to the depot. In the meantime I checked the shack for some potential weapons. I found an axe and the rope off a swing.

I also checked the roads around the house to see if we could use their car, almost all the roads around the house were blocked, but luckily our way was free. I guess there wasn't much traffic in that direction when the storm hit.

As I return I see the young idyllic family in all its glory. The brown haired man, with an almost ageless face and average build, his red-haired and not so soulless women, that gave of a very robust vibe and their two energetic children. A boy and a girl.

As I saw them I wondered why this average looking family wasn't affected and so I asked whether they were involved in a dramatic incident in the past, with the notion it might be important included.

They replied that the father almost drowned when he was young and his wife almost died while giving birth to their twins.

As my curiosity is satisfied I tell them about my hypothesis that those that were close to death in the past weren't affected by the strange incident that befell the world. All the two did was nod, maybe they doubted my sanity after that, maybe they didn't want to believe my words.

Shrugging it off I gestured at them to get in the car. I got in the co-drivers seat to lead the way.

Our short drive was uneventful as most of the soulless still searched refugee in the shops and since night was falling, I guess they also went to sleep.

As we arrive we have to carry the children up towards the offices in the depot, since they fell asleep during the drive. Their mother made them a bed out of the couches we found there, while I prepared a meal for the three of us, the children already ate what was left in their home. Since I didn't want to start a fire now and the electricity was still working I used a cooking plate I found in the office kitchen and boiled some potatoes and made a porridge with some barley and milk I found in the fridge.

Paul in the meanwhile carried all the stuff they packed up the stairs and as he finished I helped him to barricade the two doors that led into the offices. We locked the doors and then used some boards we found and mortised them against the doors and the walls of the corridor. While doing that we also took care that we could remove them as fast as possible if the need arises.After eating and chatting about our former life a bit we went to sleep, using the sleeping bags we brought.

Recapping about what I talked about with them I made some plans, Peter formerly worked as a carpenter, which made him unbelievably useful if we had to flee the city or had to build some barricades. His wife worked in a market garden, which supplemented with her robust flair. If it came to the worst, the complete collapse of our civilisation, then we had at least someone who knew something about agriculture. That was really a lucky find or is it fate? And if it is, how do I fit in that picture? With that thoughts and a new found hope to survive what is to come I fell into a deep sleep.