text: [Themes: love & dating, post-apocalyptic, dystopia]
  
  The military would have to be be the last real remnants of actual civilization, there had to be some official force left.
  
  "I guess we're heading to the national guard base then." You tell Ashley as you start following your map.
  
  "Are you sure that's a good idea. Doesn't the army always kill the people trying to find them in the zombie movies and stuff."
  
  "I doubt that there actually going to be doing that. Though we can scout the place out first from afar if it'll make you feel safer about it." You assure.
  
  The walk to the national guard base is quiet as you and Ashley don't really have much to say. She keeps to herself while inspecting her gun that never seems to leave her hands. Perhaps that was a good thing.
  
  The whole city really gave you chilling vibes. With all the rusted and brown cars that littered the streets along with every other building being completely caved in. You never knew it could be this quiet, not even birds making up the background noise in the past were seen or heard.
  
  Upon seeing the Military outpost in the distance, you saw that some of the exterior seemed to be destroyed.
  
  "I see people over there!" Ashley exclaimed.
  
  Squinting harder you tried to make out anyone but to avail.
  
  "How many are there?"
  
  "There's two standing up on that wall, that's all I can really see from here."
  
  "What should we do, go up to them or keep watching them like you said." Ashley asks you.
  
  > go up to meet them
  They would probably find it really suspicious if they saw a couple of strangers watching them from a distance. The best thing to do was express your friendly intentions up front with them.
  
  "Alright Ashley, were going to meet them up front. Just do as so I do and maybe they won't be to hostile."
  
  It looked as if Ashley was ready to back out of this with how worried she looked, but nevertheless she followed right behind you.
  
  Once the guards had seen you, their weapons were instantly raised towards you. Yet they didn't shoot directly at you at first.
  
  "Halt!" One One the guards ordered as soon as you came to a good enough distance.
  
  "Raise your hands up slowly." You whisper to Ashley as the two of you you do so.
  
  There's a long pause between the guards and you as one of them had disseapered into the compound of the base while there others had their weapons trained at you.
  
  Once the guard finally came back, he started speaking to you.
  
  "What is it that you want?"
  
  "Were survivors from a bunker, we were seeing the the military was protecting people after everything that has happend."
  
  "I'm sorry to say that were not accepting any refugees, we have our own problems to deal with without having to look after stragglers. I would suggest for you to try to subways, that's where most of civilians hid during the fall of the bombs."
  
  "Thank you for the help." You say as you and Ashley start turning around.
  
  "Stay safe out there, were all on our own out here."
  
  > Subway
  Following the streets on the map, you and Ashley hugged the empty husks of demolished ruins as you made your way to the nearest subway station.
  
  "It's way to quiet, shouldn't there be some type of animals or something?" Ashley asks.
  
  "It's only been two weeks, I doubt well be seeing much out here."
  
  "Could you imagine if we were the last people on Earth, that would be weird." You find humor in the thoughts of Ashley, feeling like she spoke her mind quite a lot.
  
  The outside terminal of the subway station is surprisingly still standing, though the stairs leading into the pitch black abyss doesn't exactly give you to much enthusiasm.
  
  "Ladies first."
  
  Ashley gives you a scowl at your dark humor as you turn on your flashlight. Taking careful steps you make your way into the depths of the subway not knowing where it would lead you.
  
  The first thing that came into view were the ticket terminals and gates that lead to the actual subway. There were already immediate signs of people having been here with suitcases and clothes scattered about and remnants of makeshift tents and firepits visible to you.
  
  Whoever was here, it didn't seem like they were planning on staying long, most likely going deeper into the subways.
  
  Vaulting over the ticket gates, you and Ashley proceeded into the actual subway station as everything was still pitch black except for your flashlight giving only a beam of light through it all.
  
  "Is that light?" Ashley mutters pointing ahead.
  
  Turning off your flashlight for a second, you indeed see a hue of orange up ahead in where the subway station would be.
  
  "Get that gun ready." You whisper to Ashley as you get your own knife ready.
  
  Taking careful and quiet steps, you leave your flashlight off as you keep on following the hue of orange that gets brighter with each nearer step you take.
  
  When the firepit finally comes into view, you only see a single person wrapped in a green trench coat with a hoodie over their head overlooking the fire, their back facing the two of you.
  
  "Hello?" You call out.
  
  The person's head instantly jerks to look at you, as they instantly stand up with a assault rifle already in their hands, aimed towards you.
  
  "Don't step any fucking closer!"
  
  It was a female voice.
  
  Before you could say anything, Ashley was the first to speak up.
  
  "Woah, calm down we don't mean any trouble." She coaxed, putting her gun down.
  
  "Yeah, that's what the fuckers at the last station said before I had to escape through the tunnels. I'm not counting on my luck to be that high again."
  
  "Trust me, do we look like bad people to you."
  
  The logic that Ashley was using was probably going to get you both fucking killed, but you didn't want to intervene and make the girl nervous.
  
  The girl looked hesitant as the gun shaked a little in her arms.
  
  "Trust me, we've been living in a bunker since this all has started, you can come with us we have plenty of room." Ashley continued to coax as you hoped that it would be enough.
  
  The girl slowly put her gun down, but only into a resting position.
  
  "How long have you been down here?"
  
  "Since the bombs fell...I was hiding with my family four stations over until we got attacked by raiders a week earlier and I've been on the move ever since. This is the only station I've found abandoned so far." The girl carefully explained.
  
  This time it was you asked the next question.
  
  "Was there anywhere else that people may have gone when the bombs hit."
  
  "I wouldn't know, I heard rumors that a nuke had directly hit downtown Henderson, most of the subway tunnels leading there are all collapsed. I haven't even thought about going back to the surface since we first came down here, I've seen the burns of people who came down here too late."
  
  "Well I think its safe enough for us to go back up, the radiation should have died down since the day of the bombs. We only came down here to find any survivors." Ashley said to her.
  
  "Well then you better stop searching here, any other of the stations would have shot you on site by now, half of the tunnels are filled with raiders and the remaining stations are in high isolation to any outsiders." The girl warned as she started to put out the fire on the floor with her foot.
  
  "Come on Ashley let's get out of here. We got what we needed to know." You whisper to her as you start pulling her away from the girl.
  
  "Were not leaving her here on her own. She looks younger than I am." She hisses at you, breaking away from your grip.
  
  You really didn't need another mouth to feed, but it looked as if the girl was already collecting her belongings, ready to take up the offer that Ashley gave her earlier.
  
  "We don't have enough food Ashley." You whispered again into her ear.
  
  "Don't worry about food and water, I got you covered. I'm pretty good with my gun if we find any animals." The girl replied, seeming to have heard in on your conversation.
  
  "Well that settles it then, welcome to the team..."Ashley pauses.
  
  "Nicole, my name's Nicole."
  
  > A trio is a crowd
  "I guess we should head back to the bunker then, if we head any deeper into the city then were at risk at getting sick from the radiation." You say as you look around your surroundings.
  
  "Well we can atleast scavenge some stuff, some more food would also be nice." Ashley replied.
  
  "I agree, only a few people actually were brave enough to leave the subway when I was down there, some places should be left unlooted if we check them out I'm, pretty sure."
  
  Well you couldn't really argue with that logic.
  
  Two streets came to mind for your upcoming search.
  
  There was Burgess street, in which it was heavily commercialized zone with lot of stored that could contain valuable items.
  
  There was also Concord Avenue, in which led to the massive mall that everyone around town would always go, there were a lot of larger chain stores surrounding it so it would probably lead to better yields.
  
  > Concord Avenue
  You felt safe enough to head to the mall, with all of you armed, you could handle your own as long as you didn't get surprisingly overwhelmed.
  
  Since the street was wider, there were much more abandoned and ruined cars for the three of you to cover behind.
  
  Nicole was much more aware of her surroundings the you or Ashley which very much surprised her. You didn't want to ask her age, but she had to be like ninteen. Hopefully she was as good with that assault rifle then just intimidation.
  
  The mall could be seen from quite a distance away. To your total surprise, it still stood completely in tact. This gave you hope that the nuke didn't hit near here and you were still safe from epicenter radiation.
  
  "Are we really going go inside there, I mean someone else must have gotten the same idea as we have." Nicole says to you.
  
  "I mean it's either that or going home empty handed. There's also a movie theatre inside where we can scavenge all the candy and snacks that we can grab."
  
  "If you say so old man."
  
  Did you really look that old?
  
  > Into heaven
  The glass doors were blasted open unsprisingly.
  
  Entering through you saw that the interior of the mall seemed pretty normal besides dirty walls here and there.
  
  The stores next to the entrance looked to be completely ransacked. Though the farther you went in the more stock the stores seemed to have.
  
  "Fuck I could really use a new pair of clothes." Ashley moaned as she stretched her arms.
  
  "Well whatever it is you want, we do it together and we stay together. We don't know if anyone is here."
  
  "Trust me gramps, I'll spot anyone before they can even react."
  
  Alright now you were starting to get a little pissed.
  
  "Nicole, let's go and check to see if anyone looted old navy. I'm sure we can find something for you and me."
  
  "Thanks but no thanks, I'm fine with this coat."
  
  "Well at least come with me to help pick something out."
  
  It seemed as if Ashley had ignored everything you had just said five minutes earlier.
  
  Nicole finally seeme to give in as she let Ashley guide her to the department store in which she picked.
  
  You took the time to look around the surrounding stores a bit more, not straying to far away from where the girls were.
  
  Nothing seemed to be able to replace your knife, but you did exchange your sweatshirt for a new one.
  
  Thinking that enough time had went by, you went back to check up on the girls to see if they were fine.
  
  You spotted them in the back of store, Nicole being a lot more ethusastic with the clothes then she was in front of you as Ashley continued to hand her different ones.
  
  "Hey grab what you want and lets go check upstairs, I want to clear this place out before we get to comfortable here." You say to them.
  
  Nicole seems to return to her regular surface as soon as she notice you.
  
  Whatever.
  
  > Upstairs
  Yeah, there were defiantly people here.
  
  The escalators had been blocked off to a degree that it took quite a effort to scale over the barricades, though all three of you made it over.
  
  Once on your feet on the otherside Though, you instantly heard the sound of footsteps as you saw someone quicky running away from your further down into the mall.
  
  "Wait stop!" You yelled out to them.
  
  Nicole quickly yanked you back though as she pushed over some tables and made you, her and Ashley hide behind them.
  
  "There going to get their friends." She whispered to you, using the table as a stand for her rifle.
  
  "Well put your fucking gun down, they'll kill on sight if they see a gun like that."
  
  "I think living in that bunker of yours has made you pretty retarded. We can make a stand here with our guns and if worse comes to worse we can escape down the escalators.
  
  "Before you could respond, the sound of dozens of footsteps started to roar from where person had escaped. Nicole let out a curse as she prepared her gun.
  
  > stop her
  You lower her weapon sharply with your hand.
  
  "You're going to get us killed!"
  
  "Look who's fucking talking! Since I've joined you guys I've been having to wear the pants of the group. Just let me handle this old man."
  
  "I'm only fucking fourty-one!"
  
  You hear the clips and the cocks of guns ahead of you as you look forward away from Nicole.
  
  About ten men and women have guns drawn on a three of you.
  
  "Put down your weapons!" One of them orders.
  
  You quickly comply and so does Nicole, although whith much more reluctance.
  
  "What are you doing in our territory?"
  
  "Were travelers, we were looking for any survivors." Ashley answers.
  
  "Just shoot them Jake, they're probably cannibals, look how fat they are." One One the other guard says.
  
  "Nah cannibals are easy to spot, these guys probably just scavenged well."
  
  "Let Melissa decide Jake, she's the one wh-"
  
  "Shut the fuck up!" The leading guard yells at his accomplisses."
  
  "Nate, Adam, take their guns. Mary, help me escort them to Melissa, she'll be the one who handles them.
  
  The assigned guards nod as they're quick to work, with 'Mary' pointing her gun towards you and motioning for you to go on forward with Jake.
  
  > Normals
  The deeper you went, the more guards you saw. You thought this was a total militia state, that is until you reached the theatre.
  
  Numerous amounts of unarmed men, women and children stand about, minding to their own but giving your small group a glance once you passed them.
  
  It wasn't until you reached a room in which they kept a projector in which you were finally stopped in front of a large wooden desk.
  
  A intimidating woman looked at the three of you. Giving each of you a careful and analyzing glance.
  
  "Where'd you find these people?"
  
  "They managed to get to the second floor entrance when we were alerted of their presence."
  
  "How did they manage to get that far in, do tell me?"
  
  "Chris was on watch."
  
  The lady gave a loud sigh as she rubbed her forehead.
  
  "Put him back on ration duty, and try to priortize getting more men to work on the fortifications. You're dismissed."
  
  He gives a salute before taking his leave, leaving your group alone with the women and two other office guards.
  
  "So please tell me why exactly it is your here and where you've come from."
  
  Ashley was the one to speak up.
  
  "Me and my husband here were hiding out in a bunker when the bombs first hit. We only resurfaced recently and were trying to look for any survivors. We met her while searching the subways."
  
  Nicole leans over to whisper into your ear.
  
  "She's your wife?"
  
  You hush her as the lady takes in this information.
  
  "Well it's a good thing you got out of the subways, it's worse down there then it is up here from what I've heard."
  
  She stands up for a moment, taking a pause before speaking again.
  
  "The three of you seem genuine, of course we'll be watching over you for the next few days but you're more than welcome to stay if you can pull your weight."
  
  "If you decide to leave however, then you may keep your weapons. Though if you make us regret that decision then you'll be sure to regret it mark my words. But you have the freedom to choose either way."
  
  > Stay
  "I think were good on staying, I doubt well find anything better than this in longshot."
  
  "Well wait just a minute, don't think you can speak for me t-."
  
  Ashley stops Nicole from finishing while whispering into her ear.
  
  After a brief moment Nicole seems to give in and stays silent.
  
  "Very well, the three of you look strong and able so you'll make excellent additions to the scavengers or guards. I'll assign you something later, but for now take the day to relax and get acquainted with the residents here. Might as well get used to your new home."
  
  "Thank you for for all of this." Ashley says, bowing her head.
  
  "You can show your gratitude soon enough." The lady jokes with a smile.
  
  The three of you take your leave as all's said and done and go to explore the mall.
  
  > Epilogue
  You're instantly greeted by all the shelter inhabitants, it seems as if there hadn't been a new face around here for quite awhile.
  
  You and Ashley stick close to one another, though so does Nicole but more to Ashley.
  
  You're given a bunk room in a converted store in which you and Ashley decide to share, with Nicole being one curtain over.
  
  "You think we'll be fine here?" You ask Ashley as you get settled in your new bed.
  
  "You've done more than enough, I've trusted you completely ever since we first went into the shelter and since then you've proven yourself to know your shit. Don't worry about what Nicole says, she's actually secretly really happy that we found her in that Subway station, she didn't know what to do next until we showed up."
  
  "You know I can fucking hear you right?" Nicole yells lightly from the bedroom over.
  
  You and Ashley laugh as the two of you get in bed, ready to end the eventual day.
  
  You couldn't belive your luck to end up like this. You managed to keep you all safe upon getting here.
  
  Even if shit was to hit the fan soon, you would watch over Ashley and Nicole as best they could.
  
  and they would watch over you.