Volume I - Episode 50 Where: Melbourne, Australia When: 7 days after E-Day, 6:21 pm Jessica and Kim were still reeling from the revelation that there were people still living in Melbourne. Kim had spent the past week believing that only she and Jessica had survived the apocalypse of the 6th of August, 2010. Jessica had known of one other survivor - Michael Morgan - but now it appeared there were others as well. I wonder if anybody else is alive? Jessica thought. Our other friends? Or...my mum? Ken sat on the hood of the police car, explaining how he had met his companions. Nikki and Daniel stood on the far side of the car, looking on. "After everybody disappeared, I spent the weekend riding around the suburbs on my pushbike, looking for survivors." His voice was warm and pleasant, almost grandfatherly. "I didn't see a single living soul until I found Daniel on Sunday. That was a great moment for us. Both of us were desperate for company; and an added bonus for me is that Daniel can drive. That made the prospect of finding other survivors a lot less daunting. "We spent Sunday night at my house in Wantirna, and then on Monday we went looking for more survivors. Daniel had the great idea of getting a police car, so we could use the lights and siren to get peoples' attention. And it's a bloody good thing that he had that idea; otherwise we wouldn't have found young Nikki here." He threw Nikki a smile. She threw one back. "The poor little thing had been locked up in Knox Police Station since Thursday night. No food or water. Nothing. She was only supposed to be there for a few hours, but when everybody disappeared...there was nobody to let her out. It's a miracle really that we found her when we did." While Ken drew breath, Jessica looked over at Daniel. She didn't like the way he was staring at Kim. He made no effort to look away or hide his desire. He just stood there, staring, looking her up and down as if his very life depended on memorising her every bump and curve. In the old days - before the world ended - a guy who looked at a girl like that would end up with a drink splashed in his face. Or, at the very least, a cold glare or a sharp-witted insult or two until he looked away. But in the post-E-Day world, with only a handful of survivors and no law (despite the irony of a police car sitting just a couple of metres away), it was safer to remain silent and play it cool. "It was starting to get a bit crowded at my place," Ken continued. "So on Wednesday, Nikki had the idea of moving into the Bendelle Shopping Centre. We've been camping out in the bedding department at Myer ever since." "Living a shopping centre, huh?" Jessica remarked. "Better watch out for zombies." Ken laughed. "So, what about you two? What have you been up to since E-Day? Where are you living?" "We've just been, you know, looking after ourselves," Kim said, trying to position herself behind Ken to break the line of sight with Daniel. "Where have you been living?" Ken asked, matter-of-factly. "At my mum's house," Jessica said. "Oh? Where's that?" Ken asked. "Is it around here somewhere?" Jessica and Kim looked at each other warily. "It's...around." In the background, Daniel just kept staring. First published: Saturday, 18 June 2011