Chapter 89 - Exiting Loshin

Suzie continued to stare at him but Mark noticed her body flinch a bit hearing him. She slowly hugged herself tightly and brought her knees closer to herself. So he continued, "Remember what you always used to say to me. 'We need to fight the deepest fears inside ourselves to truly be free in this world.' these are the same words you said to me. And I am saying it back to you right now." 

"Please try to face the harsh reality and break away from the things that are binding you. If you will not face it now, you will probably not be able to face it ever again. Remember the things which happened to you and crush it with your hands. Defeat the fear that is installed in you."

"Don't be afraid that it will fail, as long as you believe that you will win, I am sure you will. Even if you do not win, remember I am always there for you and will save you no matter what." Trying to ease her. 

After hearing him out, Suzie's body shook a lot. Her arms were now tighter and her nails were digging into her flesh. Mark stood up and went to her. Seeing him come slower, she shook more. It looked like she was scared of him. He slowly sat beside her and he could see the seat slowly forming. 

Mark exhaled and hugged her with a smile on his face. He was trying to be as comfortable as possible to her. He slowly patted her back when her body wouldn't stop shaking. He felt incredibly sad seeing her shaking because of him, but it was important. Her body slowly calmed down when he continued to pay her back and remain the same. 

"Don't be scared, Suzie. Remember what I said. You have it in yourself and I trust you completely that you will be able to get over the hurdle on your own." Slowly whispering to her. 

Suzie slowly lost strength in her body and slept in his arms. He slowly placed her on the bed and covered her with the blanket before sitting on the chair once again. He continued to look at Suzie and could only sigh as he remembered the Suzie he knew. 

The Suzie he knew was someone who helped him when he was the weakest and most lost ever. She was the most cheerful girl he ever saw after his sister. Remembering about her sister brought sadness and a cold feeling into him. 

The first time he met Suzie was during the national examination for university. She was his bench mate during the exams. After that, consequently, both of them joined the same university. They quickly became friends and when life went downhill, many people left him. But she was always there trying to cheer him up with her mentality together with Kevin. 

He wanted to see Suzie back. The Suzie which always had a smile on her face, even when things got tough. He noticed Suzie stopped shaking and so he once again slowly said, "Think about it, Suzie. Think about what we just talked about now. This is the only way you can become normal again. Now go back to sleep, we will have to travel longer tomorrow." And stood up.

Suzie slowly went inside the blanket like he asked and closed her eyes to sleep. Mark looked at her for a few seconds before going back and sitting on his chair. He didn't feel sleepy, so he took out his gun and started doing some maintenance for it. 

As Mark was doing his own stiff, David was helping out with the preparations for tomorrow. They started by assigning the places to people. They brought out all the people who parked their cars in the hospital and arranged the old people into them. The young and adults were arranged into the trucks.

David was mainly helping with the food. He noticed the amount of food they had and it would only come for a single day if they eat meagerly. That should be enough for them to reach the military camp by then. 

They set all the food into the truck, neatly arranging it. Like this, David continued to help the people and came back to his room at 3 in the morning. He would only have 3 hours of sleep. Mark already went to sleep by then. He entered his bed and closed his eyes. 

The next day, Mark was the first to wake up. He looked out the window and noticed the sun was rising up. The clock showed it was 6:30. He stood up and woke up Suzie first. After waking her up, he slowly woke up David. 

David had dark circles and looked exhausted. Mark sighed as he knew he did not sleep at all the previous night and probably stayed up to help them. The three took a quick shower and got ready. They ate some simple breakfast and took their bags. Exiting their room, they made their way down. 

Once they reached the lobby, they noticed people going outside in lines. The police and volunteers were maintaining order and showing them into the trucks. As they went out of the lobby, they noticed the mayor and Baren looking at everyone. Both of them were visibly tired. 

The mayor noticed them coming and forced a smile out of her tired face. She said, "Good to see you are awake. I was thinking of sending someone." 

David smiled and said, "It's alright. Are all your preparations done?" looking at the long queue of people getting into the trucks. 

Baren nodded and said, "Yes, we will move out in another 30 minutes." 

David nodded and before he replied, they heard Mark, "David, let's go. It is already 7." showing his clocks. He already made Suzie sit inside and was waiting for David to finish his work. David nodded and said goodbye to the group and went towards the jeep. 

Mark got behind the wheel as David sat beside him. Mark looked at David and said, "Take a nap. There probably won't be many zombies on the highway." David nodded and slowly leaned on the window and closed his eyes. 

Mark backed the jeep and drove out of the hospital premise. He slowly drove through the streets looking out for any unexpected zombie hordes on the streets.