Chapter 32: One step at a time

(Ray)

"What now?" Ray asked as he stood up from the couch.

He rushed over to the main bedroom and pushed open the door. He found Leon sprawled on the floor with his head resting awkwardly against the mirrored wardrobe. His eyes were scrunched up tight. He took several deep breaths, mouth agape from the pain. He had changed into the clothes that Ray had lent him: A pair of grey shorts and a white shirt. Although, it looked like Leon was only wearing the shirt on one half of his body.

"Leon… what the hell? Why are you on the floor?" Ray asked in confusion.

"I… tried…to… ahh…" Leon replied, struggling to talk.

Ray shook his head and bent down next to him, "I'll help you up." He said.

"No… wait," he said, "Later. Just… give me a sec."

Ray stood up as Meghan crept up behind him. "Is—is he okay?" she asked with a hint of nervousness.

"I think so. It looks like he fell."

The door of the guestroom suddenly burst open and Rody came sprinting out. He noticed Ray and Meghan standing near the main bedroom and rushed over.

"I heard a scream." He said, "What happened?"

"Great," Ray said, "Now everybody's here."

"Why's Leon on the ground?" Rody asked, "And why is he wearing the shirt like that?"

Ray sighed, "Can you stand up, man?"

Leon paused for a while and then nodded. Ray clasped Rody on the shoulder and nudged his head in Leon's direction. They knelt down on either side of him and carefully helped him stand up. They guided him towards the bed and made him sit on the edge.

"Alright, now… tell us why we found you on the floor." Ray said.

"Ahh… I was putting on this shirt and wanted to get a better look at my injury in the mirror," Leon started. "I tried to turn my body so I could see it but I must've turned a bit too far. My chest suddenly exploded with pain causing my legs to cramp up and I ended up falling."

Ray squinted his eyes and clicked his teeth.

"That doesn't sound good. I think you may have a few bruised ribs. Worst case scenario, they're broken."

"Ahh, shit." Leon said softly.

"What's the treatment for a bruised rib?" Rody asked.

"No idea," Ray replied and turned towards Meghan. She shook her head.

"Sheesh, why aren't y'all just searching on Google?" Samantha asked as she pulled out her phone and walked towards them. "I can do it for you I suppose. But honestly, you have the entire internet at the palm of your hands and you're… wait, huh? What's going on? Why isn't my net working?"

Ray turned towards Samantha to see her frantically swipe up and down on her phone in a desperate attempt to get it to work.

"No, no, no, no… I'm not getting internet! Google isn't working. Instagram isn't working. Snapchat isn't working. TikTok…. NO!"

Samantha clutched her phone and wore an expression as if her whole life had been snatched away from her. Her eyes bulged in shock. Ray thought her open mouth looked like one of those cartoon trash bins that you found at a kid's amusement park. Although he found that image to be quite humorous, the fact that her internet was down was not a good sign.

"My phone's in my room." He said, "Momo, can you check if your internet is working?"

Meghan unlocked her phone and did as she was asked. She soon lifted her gaze back at him and said, "I don't have internet either."

Ray's forehead tensed. "Do you have cell coverage?"

Meghan shook her head.

"Fuck…" he said, pinching his eyebrows together. "It's too soon. How is that even possible? It's only been half a day. I don't understand what—"

Ray stopped speaking when he noticed his friends staring at him. They hadn't realized how much worse things had gotten for them. But seeing him go into a depressed rant, they started to show signs of despair. Ray clenched his teeth together and straightened himself. He went silent for a few moments and steadied his mind as best as he could.

After he felt composed enough, he looked at everyone in the room and spoke, "Um, let's all sit down and get comfortable. We need to discuss what we're going to do from here on out. I think it's important we understand the situation we're in and try to figure out what our next move should be."

His friends looked at each other and nodded slightly. Rody sat down on the side table while Samantha moved next to him and stood leaning against the wall. Meghan plopped down onto the floor and Leon remained seated on the bed. They all looked at him with bated breaths.

"Uhh—right..." Ray started, "Ahh, Leon. Let me get you some ice for your bruise first. It'll help. Put that shirt on properly in the meantime."

Ray turned heel and walked out of the main bedroom.

'Ah fuck,' he thought to himself as he made his way to the kitchen, 'Fuck! Without cell coverage, we can't call our parents. Mom said they were being moved to some other place but she didn't tell me where. And now I won't even find out because there's no way for her to contact me! What do I even do anymore?'

Ray banged his fist on the kitchen counter. The slight pain on the side of his hand helped him calm down. He shook his head in an attempt to shake away all the negative emotions he was feeling. Just as he used to do when he died multiple times to the same frustrating boss in Lost Soul: Eternal Conquest, Ray closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"One step at a time," he chanted to himself in a soft voice, "One step at a time. One step at a time..."

When he opened his eyes again, he felt much calmer than he was a few moments prior. He slid his hand from the kitchen counter and opened the freezer door. He peered inside the ice tray but it was empty. Ray clicked his teeth and scanned around for anything else that he could use. His eyes soon found a small bag of frozen peas. He reached in and pulled the bag out.

"This could work." he said, closing the freezer.

Ray wrapped a white and blue striped kitchen towel around the bag of peas and walked back to the main bedroom. Leon had now worn the shirt over both his shoulders. He hadn't buttoned it up all the way, owing to the fact that he would need to apply the ice onto his injury.

Ray tossed him the makeshift ice bag and sat down on the floor beside Meghan.

"Alright," he started, "now that we finally have some respite, let's discuss what each of us are planning to do next."

Ray looked around the room, none of his friends spoke up. They merely stared back at him with a blank expression.

"Uhh—okay, I guess I'll go first then." He said, "My parents and my brother went to get their next dose of the CoviPro vaccine. Momo's parents are with them too. But the last time we spoke to them, they told us that they were being moved elsewhere. My guess is that it's some quarantine zone or something. We don't know where that is. And seeing how none of us have cell service, I don't think we'll get to know anytime soon."

"We should just go to the hospital no?" Meghan said, "I mean, that's the last place our parents contacted us from. We might be able to find something once we reach there. Some kind of clue as to where they went. Hopefully it isn't overrun with Deathless like Prime is."

"Yeah, I think going to the hospital is our best option right now." Ray agreed, "So, our plan is pretty much the same as before. Get out of Prime and make it to the hospital in one piece. What about the rest of you?"

"My mother went out to buy stuff for the house." Samantha said, "I messaged her when we were in the car and told her not to come back to Prime. I even sent a pic that I took of those Deathers so she'd believe me."

"Has she seen the message?" Rody asked.

"Nope. But it definitely got sent. I also told her to go to Rachel's house instead. Ahh—that's a family friend of ours. She's an upcoming actress. Her place isn't too far from here."

"You know the way?" Ray asked.

Samantha tilted her head and looked up for a few seconds, "Kinda… Once I get on the road, it'll come to me."

"My folks are at my grandparents' place." Rody said, "I spoke to my mom earlier from my flat. They were planning on coming back right away but I convinced them to stay there. I guess I'll have to figure out how I'm going to get to them."

"How far is it from here?" Ray asked.

"About three hours." Rody replied.

Ray nodded, "Okay, let's see if we can find a vehicle for you take."

"Huh? You mean like steal one?" Rody asked.

"You're not seriously concerned about that when our lives are on the line, right? It's for you to get to where your parents are. You can worry about the ethics of your actions once you are safe in your grandparents' house."

Rody didn't respond but Ray understood that he wouldn't argue anymore.

"Or… if for some reason we can't find a car for you" Meghan started saying, "I can give you mine. Once Ray and I reach our parents that is."

Rody's eyes widened, "Oh wow, really?" he asked.

"Yeah, I don't think we will need it after that point." Meghan replied, "If you're okay traveling with us till then, you can have it. But let's keep that as a backup plan for now."

"Yeah, our first priority should be getting a new car." Ray said, "It's going to make everything a whole lot easier."

"If we manage that then I can drive Samantha to that Rachel's house." Rody said.

Ray nodded, "Sounds good. We'll do that. What about you Leon?"

Leon lowered his gaze to the floor and opened his mouth as if he was going to speak but closed it without uttering a sound. His face went pale and Ray could see his hands tremble slightly. He wore the expression of someone who had lost their purpose in life.

"I—I don't…" Leon stammered, shaking his head. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Ray asked, confused. "Don't you want to meet up with your folks?"

Leon didn't reply immediately. His breaths came out slow and uneven. He still wasn't meeting any of their eyes, he merely kept staring at the tiled floor beneath him. When he finally spoke, every word came out heavy and filled with grief.

"My parents are here." He said, "Only… they aren't… human… anymore."

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