As we stood face to face with what looked like an enormous fort, I looked at Luka in uncertainty. "Are you sure this is the place?"

Luka nodded his head. "Positive. I can smell a lot of humans here; the smell of perspiration is so overbearing that I'd—"

I shot my hand out to stop Luka's lips. "Okay yeah, I get it. Just spare me the details..."

As I pumped myself up, I gave Luka one last reassuring nod before I made my way towards the guard posted at the gate.

"Sorry, entry to outsiders is forbidden." The gruff-looking gentlemen said as he stiffened his posture.

I expected as much. You can't exactly let someone in without screening them first. "We're here on behalf of two other survivors. You might know them. They're Ryan and Cole—"

The guard pushed his rifle into my stomach. "Did I not make myself clear? Move it!"

Ack, how rude!

As I went to push the gun away, Luka crept up behind me and started growling at the guard. Geez, from sniffing to growling he's like a dog in the making. I swear I'll catch him digging holes next...

"You have information on Ryan and Cole?" A woman's voice asked with intrigue. Judging by the authority in her voice, I'm willing to bet she's the leader!

As we all shifted our heads to the side, we saw a woman staring at us coldly whilst smoking a cigarette. She looks like a real-life femme-fatale with that long-flowing golden hair! Or a mob wife depending on how you look at it...

"Don't make me repeat myself. Do you or don't you know what happened to those two clowns?" She inquired while taking a long drag from her cigarette.

"Uh, yes!" I answered eagerly. "But I don't feel comfortable discussing it out here." I continued as I shoved the gun the guard was pointing at me to the side.

"Very well, follow me then." She said as she strutted inside the base.

I stuck my tongue out cheekily at the guard before quickly catching up with the woman.

Alright, infiltrating the base was a success! I just hope Luka knows what he's doing from this point onwards.

Once we were taken inside a dull, white-tiled board room I hesitantly took a seat at the square table beside Luka.

"Spill it then. What happened?" She asked in a deadly serious tone.

"Well, they were generous enough to help us out of a tight pitch as they gave us a free ride." I started. "But unfortunately... we were ambushed by a pack of zombies on the middle of the road. They weren't as lucky as us in the end."

Luka stared blankly before deciding to contribute. "They were practically left disfigured when the zombies were done with them. It was really gross."

I gave Luka a light kick underneath the table. Not helping!

"I see..." the woman said as she rested her forehead on her hand. "If that's all then you should be on your way now."

Wait, she's really just going to kick us out like that? Talk about an ice queen... "Actually, if it wasn't too much trouble, we were hoping we could rest the night here." I said in the best pitiful voice I could muster up.

"We really don't have anywhere else to go!" I insisted with pleading hands.

The woman sat back in her seat and curled her lip into a slight smirk. "I fail to see how that's my problem." She said without an ounce of sympathy. "Sorry kiddo, but it's time that you hit the road. We can't afford to take in any more dead weight. I'm sure you can understand in this type of climate, right?"

This woman... we're not dead weight, we have plenty to offer. In fact, I just thought of something as I shoved my hands into my jacket pocket. "How about we negotiate?"

"Negotiate?" The woman asked dubiously while raising an eyebrow. Now's the perfect time to utilise that skill! It's been a long time in the making, so let's hope it pays off in the end!

"You guys are probably short on food, right? Well, how about we do a trade." I pulled out a packet of the instant meals I kept with me. "I'll hand over some of our food if you let us stay here. Sounds fair, right?"

The woman eyed the packet suspiciously before her face unexpectedly softened. "Deal."

Woah. That went smoother than I thought! As the woman guided us to an upstairs room near the back of the fortress, she opened the door wifey for us.

"If you need anything, just ask for Isla Valentine." She said as she took a puff from her cigarette.

"Oh, we didn't even tell you our names!" I said in embarrassment. "I'm Vana and that's Luka."

Isla stared blankly at us. "Didn't ask."

Ugh, she really is rude. As we made our way inside the room, I collapsed to the double bed in joy. "Finally. A real bed..."

As Luka peered out through the window's blinds, he then made his way towards the bed's headboard. Taking a hold of my chain he then tied me to it.

"HEY, HEY, HEY!" I angrily protested as I shot up with lightning speed. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Luka kissed the top of my head before smiling. "I have to get started on my plan. So just wait here until I get back, okay?"

Before I could protest even further, Luka quickly left the room. Geez, someone sure is moving fast. This must be a really important plan. I just wish he discussed it with me first...

As I lay there flat on the bed, a couple of hours had passed by. With no TV or even books to entertain myself, the time passed excruciatingly slowly.

It was only when a loud knocking could be heard on the door that I finally managed to snap out of the monotonous way of thinking. "W-Who is it?" I asked cautiously.

There was no response. Rather, only the sound of a key turning could be heard. Was it Luka? If so, then it's about time!

As I sat up to give Luka a piece of my mind, my heart jumped when I saw that it wasn't Luka. Instead, it was another familiar face.

"Nick?" I said teary-eyed.