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9. Santi; Trapped

Rianita stepped forward like a hero to face the living corpse, still wearing a red supermarket uniform that was worn and torn. She kicked the corpse until several items on the shelf fell, making a loud noise. In the next second, he managed to stab the knife right into the undead's forehead and then looked at the twins with an arrogant gaze. I groaned as I closed the door again and propped it up against the cashier's desk with the twins' help.

After finishing, the two men with identical faces sat on the floor. I opened the bag to take out the medicine I got at the supermarket a few days ago. I also gave two packs of sandwiches to them just to fill their stomachs after being chased by the living corpse. Rianita didn't help me; she went back to sorting some food we thought we could eat for the next trip.

"Where are you guys from?" I asked the twins. "Wait, I still can't tell you apart."

The two curly-haired men laughed with the same facial expressions. One showed an irregularly shaped birthmark on his right arm, which turned into a small mole just above his left eyebrow.

"I'm Banyu," he said. "The one with the birthmark and mole is me."

Squinting my eyes. "You can't see it from a distance, Nyu. I often get the wrong name if I have twin friends like you."

Banyu chuckled. "You'll get used to it after a while. Here's the red medicine."

"No need, I'll just treat you guys," I said, then rubbed the red medicine on their knees.

"So, where are you from? Eh, but I don't know your name yet," said Bayu. I think the one named Bayu is calmer than Banyu.

"I'm Santi from Malang," I said.

"Oh, why can you come here?" said Banyu, grabbing the gauze and pouring the red medicine.

"I want to register to study at Indonesian University. You guys?"

"We evacuated; Surabaya has become a ghost city. I thought it was different here, but it's much worse," said Bayu. "Eh, never mind, let me plaster it myself. Thanks, San."

"You came here with the train?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. They both nodded.

"Jatinegara Station was more like a cemetery; living corpses surrounded us. Many people didn't survive; they were like fast food when the train we were on stopped there." Banyu explained while occasionally shaking his head. "Sometimes I'm still confused about where this virus came from."

Before I answered, Rianita sat down on my right side while closing the zipper of her bag, which was full of food, and I couldn't stop thinking. She looked at the twins while saying,

"This virus is still a mystery even though it initially spread from livestock we have been eating. We also cannot accuse the government carelessly, but they also deserve to be protested when this epidemic cannot be resolved properly; in fact, it is getting worse with many people dying. ."

"But how can they live again?" Bayu asked.

Rianita shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, maybe the effect of the virus plus the factory leak which polluted the main river in Jabodetabek, maybe also because this virus reactivates dead body cells but not brain cells."

"You're smart, too," I praised.

Rianita laughed. "I know because my Brother once said that."

"Where's your brother?" asked Banyu.

"Dead," said Rianita, making the twins silent.

The four of us continued our journey to find a safe place to sleep. I felt so tired from continuously shooting arrows, especially my shoulders. For a moment, I remembered the bow that stuck in the undead's head and forgot to take it back. Now that I only have five bows left on my back, I think I have to save these bows to get to the green zone. I took two patches from the bag and attached them to both shoulders. The warm feeling that turned hot spread through every layer of the deltoid muscle, making me relax. I miss soaking in warm water or bathing with a body scrub if it's like this. Unfortunately, at times like this, that is impossible unless a place is truly safe from the undead.

"How do we go via the toll road?" suggested Bayu, who was walking behind me.

"Is it safe?" I asked.

"I think it's safer than walking without knowing which direction," said Rianita.

The four of us saw a sign that said SMP 23 Bekasi City, and immediately, we were greeted by three people brandishing knives as if they had succeeded in trapping a group of thieves. The four of us raised our hands in the air not to die today, at least today; who knows tomorrow? The woman with shoulder-length hair looked at me sharply and said,

"Hand over your weapons and bags!" she exclaimed.

"We don't mean to take this place, okay," I said, scared. "We'll leave, but don't take our things."

"Give it up, or our bullets will penetrate your brains," she said in a tone of emphasis.

The four of us glanced at each other. What Bayu said on the street came true, and I even heard Rianita cursing and blaming Bayu.

"I'm sure we're not the only ones who survived the green zone, San," said Bayu while sipping a mineral bottle. "What if someone wants to rob you?"

"Yes, just hand it over," said Rianita casually.

"You wanna die?" Banyu snapped.

"We have to defend what we have. You guys can fight, right?" I asked.

"Still doubting us?" Banyu looked at me while raising his thick eyebrows.

"Didn't realize you almost died from that living corpse," Rianita sneered. "Use a pretense of doubt, so be doubtful!"

I glanced at Bayu on my right, nodded very slowly, took off my backpack, and threw it in front of the woman.

"Your weapon," said the woman, pointing to the bow on my back with her chin.

I groaned, removed my bow from my back, and threw it quite hard on the ground.

"Bob, take it, Bob!" the woman ordered to the man with a shaved head that glistened in the sun.

When the man was about to grab our things, Bayu immediately lunged at him and landed a punch in the solar plexus. The sound of gunshots deafened my eardrums as the hot bullets almost hit me. Not having fired the second bullet, the gun was easily snatched by Banyu, who was taller than the woman. However, Banyu received a fatal kick right in the genitals from the woman's long leg, causing the gun Banyu was holding to slip from his grasp.

"Bastard!" cursed Banyu in pain.

I grabbed the gun, which was lying not far from me, but the woman's hand grabbed my hair, making me scream in pain. I elbowed her straight into her chest and then hit her jaw while kicking the gun further away from us. I took out a knife from my trouser pocket and pointed it right at the woman's smooth neck.

"Hand over your knife, or I'll shoot your friend."

I glanced out of the corner of my right eye. Rianita seemed to be having difficulty breathing when the oval-faced man squeezed Rianita's neck with his left arm while his right hand held a gun to my head. I glanced at the other side; the twins had paralyzed the bald man, but they also couldn't fight back when my life was on the edge. With just a slight mistake, maybe the man on my right wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on his gun.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Isn't that clear enough?" said the woman. "We want all your things. If you obey, this will be easier."

"Damn it!" Banyu exclaimed with emotion.

"Shut up!" exclaimed the oval-faced man, glaring at the twins.

"Just hand it over, San," asked Rianita while coughing. His face was red because he was almost out of breath.

I was in a dilemma; giving away the supplies in the bag would be the same as committing suicide, not to mention the only weapons we had were a few kitchen knives and a bow. It's a far cry from three adults who have a gun out of nowhere. I glanced at Bayu, who was looking at me meaningfully. He implied that I would choose Rianita's life or the food and medicine bag.

If I give this item, will the lives of the four of us still be saved?

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