The entire entrance to the building was blocked off. Cement, metal, glass, and even furnishings were layered up past the second floor. “Dad, I think we will need to climb through a window.”

Ricky rubbed his head and sighed as he looked at the devastation. He pictured this happening when there were more people around, and he could expect there to be millions of lives lost. Then again, there would be millions of lives lost either way now that he was thinking about it. Those who have evolved and those who had hidden away, not wanting to go outside. He wondered how many were at the top of these buildings. “Just pick one without anyone in it. I do not want you being called a monster or attacked by humans.”

“It’s fine. They can’t hurt me.” Desaray grinned. She was about to kick a window in when a thought came to mind. She looked up towards the floors above and yelled out: “Becky! Yu! Mike!” 

Up in the room that was missing a ceiling. Becky almost jumped in excitement when she heard Desaray’s voice. She ran to the window and looked down, and yelled out: “Desa! Huh? I could have sworn I heard her?”

Becky stared down at the rubble below and noticed that there was no one there. But Yu, who was lying in bed, reassured her she did not hear wrong. “She is on the other side of the building.”

Becky nodded and yelled out the window once more: “Desa, we are on the other side!”

Down below, Desaray heard Becky and grabbed her Father’s hand and pulled him along. The two quickly made their way around the building to see Becky half hanging out the window, looking down at them. “Becky!”

“Desa! You are safe!” Becky’s eyes shinned, seeing how Desaray looked unharmed.

“Yeah! And look!” Desaray raised her hand that was holding Her father’s and smiled brightly. “I found my Dad!”

“Good for you! Mr. Harris, I am glad you are okay….” Becky’s voice went small as she looked at Desaray expectantly, but Desaray shook her head. She had not checked to see if Becky’s family was home, and with how the entire top floor, along with her own floor, was sent flying, she was not sure. 

“Sorry, I did not have time to check….” Desaray lowered her head. She had been so excited that her own father was alive, and yet…. “I am sorry, Becky…”

“It’s fine…” Becky’s heart sank. She could yell out that Desaray was being selfish, but she knew it was not Desaray’s fault. She held back the tears forming in her eyes and forced a smile. “I had already expected the worse. You know my parents… they are too weak and snotty.”

“Becky….” Desaray did not know what to say. She bit her scaly lip before saying: “We will go look. We will search around to see if there are any signs of them.”

“Okay…” Becky nodded. She then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Come on up. Yu was hurt while trying to protect Mike. She is slowly healing, though. Should only be a few more hours before her Health is back to one hundred percent.”

“Okay, we will be there soon.” Desaray gave Becky a wave before she walked over to the patio door to one of the apartments and stepped through the broken glass. 

The entrance was a mess, but the further you went in, the more it still looked like someone’s home. She and Ricky made their way to the front door and opened it to see a clean hallway. “I wonder if anyone is still alive on this floor…”

“Even if they are, it is not our problem. We only need to worry about those we can trust.” Ricky replied. “We should not trust others at this time. While you may be of a higher level than most at this time, it is not safe to trust people we do not know.” 

“I know. But if I looked at everyone as an enemy, you can not make more friends later on, right? I would not have met Claire if I had attacked her, thinking she was a monster. And she was quite a nice person. Just someone who evolved into a zombie. I felt really bad for her, but she seemed to feel much better after we talked. Maybe when she evolves a few times, she might become something you can date.” Desaray teased while sticking her tongue out at her father. 

He snorted and waved her comment off. “Just be careful. Just because we have evolved, that does not mean the heart of evil still does not exist.”

“I know!” Desaray pressed her lips together as she bumped her father. “Let’s hurry up. I want to see what Mike evolves into.” 

“Alright. Let’s take the stairs.” Ricky and Desaray quickly ascended the stairs leading up. The sixth-floor door was blocked with rubble, so they had to climb over it and make their way to where Becky and the others were. When they arrived, Becky dived into Desaray and hugged her tightly. 

“I am so glad you are safe.” Becky had a feeling her parents either died during the light wave or disappeared altogether. While she had this gut feeling, she still wanted to look for them. But even with these feelings, she was very glad her best friend was alive and well even after what had happened.

“I am happy you are okay too. Sorry for not checking your apartment….” Desaray began explaining things. She explained how her father left her a letter that stated he would come back in the morning. Once Becky heard the details, she understood. She knew that if, by chance that if Desaray went to her floor to check on her apartment that there could have been a slim chance of her missing her father. 

Becky knew if that was her, she would have done the same. She would have stayed home and waited. Even if she could have left a note to her parents stating that she was going to check on the latter, there was no telling what might have happened. Wind, a monster, anything could make that letter fall off and get hidden one way or another. Even if something like that was one in a million chance, she would not have taken the risk. Then she would be the one apologizing to Desaray and not Desaray apologizing to her. But she still could not help but feel sad and scared. But she also felt reassured that she still had Desaray at her side. A person who was just as much family to her as her own parents.