Everyone was thinking it, but no one wanted to say it---the apocalypse was coming.

It was hard to deny it with how the world had been going, but no one expected it to be this bad.

Rain was almost nonstop in the homestretch of the apocalypse's rise, which caused the small town you lived in to flood. Heavily. It was extremely hard to get around, but thankfully meant the zombies that horded the place also couldn't get around much.

And also thankfully, you and your best friend Terrence had been able to find a safe space amidst the chaos along with a small group of five other people. You earned your spot in the elevated bunker by being one of three scavengers. You, Terrence, and someone named Ari.

You and Terrence ran into Ari a few days after the initial chaos, asking to join. After a bit of arguing between you and your best friend, you allowed him to tag along.

And boy were you thankful. Ari, a monotone and somewhat unknown person, was extremely helpful in scavenging and surviving the apocalypse in general. You didn't know him well, hell---Terrence, who'd been against the man joining in the first place, had been bonding with him more. Not that you minded, of course, your main focus was surviving and keeping everyone else waiting in the bunker alive.

....Until today.

It'd been a normal day of wading through water and looking through abandoned stores for supplies---you three ended up getting extremely lucky and finding a myriad of helpful objects, clothes, and food.

After packing all of that in your heavy duty backpacks, you took off to go back to the bunker. Unfortunately for you specifically, you ended up needing to take a break and sit on a floating object to gain your bearings as you wrung out your clothes before hopping back into the flooded streets.

Terrence and Ari waded around nearby, chatting amongst each other before hearing your startled cry.

A zombie had been under the object you were sitting on like an aquatic predator, grabbing at your ankle before you'd even gotten yourself ready to get back into the water.

Terrence had tried to get to you quick enough, but wading through the water with the heaviest pack on his back would've taken too long.

Ari, however, was already there the moment he'd seen the zombie's hand around your ankle.

"Over here!!!" He called out to you, opening his arms out. You understood and managed to stomp the undead hand off of your ankle, scrambling to your feet and jumping into his arms. By that distance, the zombie would have zero time to catch up to either of you.

Ari caught you easily, surprisingly so, keeping his arms securely wrapped around you as he carried both you and your pack back to the bunker. Who knew the guy had a sleeper build.

You, however, were more shaken than you wanted to admit, holding onto him like a lifeline. He hadn't pointed out your silent trembling to you or anyone else, thank God.

Still, you wanted to thank him for the surprising save. Which is why you stayed up to go look for him at the bunker. It took you awhile, but you found Ari sitting at the front of the bunker.

"Oh, you," Ari idly observed as you sat somewhat near him.