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5. Santi; Rianita

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The door to the room opened, and sure enough, an undead dressed in a T-shirt from a legendary band with his face destroyed and his skull exposed attacked me. I reflexively threw myself to the right, causing the corpse to fall to the floor. Before I had time to lock the body in the room, he pulled one of my legs, making my body drop, and the knife slipped from my grasp. I tried to free myself as hard as I could until the hand that was pulling my leg fell off the undead's body. I quickly grabbed the knife on the left side when the corpse wanted to reach my leg again with its other hand.

I stuck the knife right into the top of his head, making the rotten body die instantly. It took a while for my breathing to return to normal, but not my stomach. Food that should have reached the small intestine was forced to fall out on the floor, looking at the hands that were loose on the corpse's body. Apart from that, the rotten smell that wafts in this damp house adds to the feeling of intense nausea.

My body felt weak. Even when reaching the backpack's contents, I don't feel strong anymore. My eyes wandered, looking at the hole in the house's ceiling. The sound of the undead outside this house can no longer be heard; maybe they got another bait, I don't know. I tried to roll to my left side and grabbed the rusty second-floor railing to support my body weight. I looked downstairs from where I stood now; it was even worse. All the furniture is very messy; I'm sure this house was a house that was a robbery.

Staggering, I went down the steps one by one, which was slippery because of the rain, with some moss growing. I faintly heard a sound from the kitchen. I paused momentarily to strain my ears; it wasn't a growl but something like wood scraping. I crept towards the kitchen, which was opposite the stairs. The sound disappeared and was replaced by the sound of dripping water coming out of the kitchen sink tap with very dirty furniture.

I saw a large brown cupboard decorated with several scratches. The rubbing sound appeared again. Could it be a rat? I don't know. Even if there were humans inside, it would be impossible for anyone to survive the living corpses that had been living in this house. Or it would be impossible for a human to survive as long as this disaster lasts without food. Maybe it was stupid, but if I didn't open the cupboard's contents, I would never know whether it was an animal or an undead.

While getting into a stance, my left hand opened the large cupboard door. My eyes widened to see a girl slumped in them. I stepped back momentarily to ensure he wasn't undead and raised my knife. However, he turned around with a sad look and very dry lips.

"Help...please..." her voice was so soft and hoarse.

It's not a corpse, San! My inner voice screamed to encourage me to help the girl.

"Okay, at least it's not a corpse this time," I muttered, then knelt to take out the contents of my backpack.

I gave her a bottle of mineral water. She gulped quickly like a human who hadn't seen water for a long time. I gave her the second bottle, but she still drank quickly. It was the third bottle before she looked at me momentarily with glazed eyes.

"How did you get in here?" she asked with a frown.

"I came from the second floor; your stairs outside really helped me," I answered. "On the outside, Jakarta is complete chaos."

"Did you meet my brother?"

I was silent momentarily to digest the girl's question, and then I understood what she meant.

"He's dead."

"But he's alive."

"But now it's dead; I've killed him," I said, making the girl's face change.

It was already eight o'clock in the evening in the living room of a girl named Rianita. Armed with candles, we sat in the room, hugging our knees. Rianita looked fresher after eating several packets of bread I stocked. Now, the girl looked at me with her face still in shock after seeing her brother's body lying on the floor above. She was also surprised by what I told her about how crazy things were outside and how I killed the undead.

"Is the world ending?" Rianita asked in a half-whisper. She was still afraid that loud noises would invite the undead to her house.

I shrugged my shoulders, looking at the swaying candle flame. "I'd rather this be just a dream than the world you mentioned."

She tightened her arms around her thin knees. I could hear her sobbing, but no tears came out. If it's like this, I think she might be unable to survive out there.

"What happened in your house?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Two weeks ago, this house was robbed. Several unknown people kidnaped Dad and Mom, my brother told me to hide in the cupboard. I remember hearing gunshots and..."

Rianita did not continue her sentence, her shoulders shook with suppressed sobs. I stood up and sat next to her. As a fellow woman of the same age, I know how Rianita feels. But time cannot be turned back. What we have to do is survive until the end of this disaster, who knows how long.

"Have you ever heard of the green zone?" I asked her.

Rianita nodded while rubbing her two cheeks, which were not wet. "This zone where there are no disasters, right?"

I nodded in agreement. "We're going there; your parents could be there when the government evacuates residents."

"They're not the government, San. They're more like pirates who don't know how to treat humans. My parents were beaten and kicked like animals," she said with teary eyes. "Besides, not all residents can be evacuated, considering the green zone has boundaries, San. Don't you know that everyone with O blood can enter freely?"

My eyebrows knit together; what joke is this? Blood O? Even the undead cannot determine which human blood type to survive, but why would sane humans carry out unreasonable natural selection?

"Why?"

Rianita's eyes narrowed. "This news emerged during a factory leak demonstration. Didn't you know?"

I chuckled. "I was one of those protesters, of course I didn't know."

Rianita nodded in understanding. "The news is still confusing; I heard that the government is carrying out acts of extortion against those with blood type O."

"Why would they do that?"

Rianita shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, but what is clear is that we have to go there to find the truth."

We both chose to travel early, at three in the morning, to be precise. This time, I got a pair of Rianita's expensive branded sneakers. The room I searched yesterday turned out to be his room. I even had to apologize for taking some T-shirts and bras without permission. The girl didn't mind. Instead, she thanked me for saving her life.

Before leaving, I found a bow. Rianita said that it belonged to her brother. I asked permission to bring the bow. Rianita agreed that we had to survive until we reached the green zone safely. The girl carried two knives around her slender waist. She looks more like Lara Croft than me, just wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Spongebob.

"Where did you get all this stuff?" I asked, so amazed by the expensive objects she had.

"I'm a big fan of the film Tomb Rider," she said, chuckling and tying her straight hair up high. "Dad bought it for my birthday last year."

She grabbed the cell phone lying under the mattress with a cracked screen. The silver object was not alive, making the owner chuckle in annoyance.

"All communication devices are dead," I said, making Rianita turn around and open her mouth in surprise.

"Since when?"

I shook my head not knowing. "I forget."

We finally left the house and looked around. Now and then, we jog to take cover behind a car or a wall, which is exactly what I did before. I read the street sign that showed us we were on Jalan Raya Pondok Gede with rows of houses that had the same fate as Rianita's. Cars, motorbikes, and other facilities appear scattered as if they are no longer valuable. This city has become a completely dead city. There is no more life after the demonstrations and the virus. People are also invisible except those who died and came back to life—a mindless corpse with animal-like desires.

The cold air pierced my skin even though I wore Rianita's hoodie jacket. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a group of people before we turned onto Pengairan Street. I pulled Rianita's body to hide in an abandoned public transportation. We ducked low while praying not to be caught by the sound.

"Hei, I've looked for residents who are safe, there aren't any, Dude," said someone in a bass tone. It's possible that the person's position was not far from the public transportation where we were hiding. "Everyone died like carrion."

"Bringing undead is useless, Jang," complained another person. "Not everyone can survive in the present. Why are they looking for more people anyway? After all, many things in the green zone could also be an experiment."

Rianita and I looked at each other with a million questions. Are they one of the people Rianita meant? What kind of experiment are they conducting? Why is it so easy for the government to make decisions about our lives as a people?

"Never mind, let's look elsewhere. Let's cross this area, Jang," ordered another man to his friend.

Then I heard the sound of a car engine starting; I tried to peek out the window of this bus while holding my breath. I vaguely felt like I knew that car, but I couldn't remember for some reason. My eyes caught the letters and numbers written on the red car plate.

It is a red car with scratches, plate B 1200 KV.

The car moved away until the sound disappeared; Rianita and I got up from our previous position. Rianita looked at me and said,

"That's the car that carries my father and mother, San," she said softly but firmly with eyes full of anger.

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