"This has to be a joke," Mark sniffed, looking away.

"I hope it is," Emily replied, her arms folded, a scowl heavily etched onto her face. This isn't fair! She wanted to cry. Anyone but him!

She imagined whoever was above, chuckling to Himself. 

Emily breathed out though her teeth. Avoiding his gaze. She looked to the door, blinking away tears. I don't think I'll be able to make it to five weeks. 

Horror flashed across her mind; the nights spent alone, shadows chasing her in the dark, the deadly, exhausting taste of hunger. The taste of dirty water, the prick of loneliness. It comes rushing back in a phantom wave. 

"Look, uh, maybe we should start again," Mark offered.

I got this far, I can't go back empty-handed. Emily thinks to herself, quietly breathing out.

She nods, in almost an admission of defeat. He holds out a hand.

"I'm Mark,"

"Emily," Emily's voice was hoarse. 

"Do you live in the city?"

"Rural North-West, you?"

"On the downtown side,"

"Oh... nice... What's your favourite colour?"

"Really?" Mark did his best not to laugh.

"Look... I-I'm trying,"

"Okay, ok, uh, green,"

"What kind?"

"I don't know, green is kind of cool,"

"Okay,"

"You?"

Emily pauses for a little bit. They're standing across from one another. How much time did they have together? Was it fifteen minutes? Some time at least before they had to move back outside and move into their cabin together? She wasn't sure.

And the question at hand!

"Blue," She breathed out.

"Do you ever get sick of the sky?"

"Not that kind of blue," Emily rolled her eyes, "the blue of my little pool at home when it isn't filled with algae,"

"Does that happen often?"

"Yeah when I'm out,"

"Doing what?"

"Hunting,"

"Oh,"

Emily bit her lip, looking away. Maybe I shouldn't have said that so soon. Now he probably thinks I'm a crazy prepper.

"When my family travelled," Emily's throat swells, her eyes prickle. Not now, I need to focus on building a relationship, "we went to this awesome beach in New Caledonia... The sand was white, the sky this brilliant blue... The water was truly something else. The water, that perfect, clearness. That's the kind of blue that's my favourite colour,"

"That's really cool," Mark replies. But there's no interest in his voice, his words kind of fall... Flat. Maybe he's here for the same reason as her- to collect a cheque and leave. Emily wants to snort. Good on the government for picking a pair that would both screw one another over.  

Emily sighs.

"What?"

"Nothing," She dismisses.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing it's okay, I'm just sighing," Emily's words are curt and edged with venom. She looks to Mark, narrowing her eyes. He raises both hands in a sign of peace.

Back to Square One.

"What's your family like?" She swallows, hoping to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

"Distant," Mark breathes out. 

"Alive?" Emily murmured.

Mark bit down a response, "How about we go outside?"

"Yeah, okay, that works," Emily whispered.

"How do you feel about this whole thing?" Mark's words were tentative.

"I don't know," She whispered. Couples were hanging out. The two of them silently picked up their cabin papers. Between them was a single card for the door. 

To keep us together at all times I guess, Emily bit back the commentary.

"Is that all?" Mark raised an eyebrow.

Emily simply had an overnight bag in her hand. She raised a defiant chin and sniffed.

"Do I need anything else?"

Mark pulled up a suitcase. It was the size of a family bag. Emily looked to him and then back to the suitcase. Additionally, he slung a backpack over his shoulder.

"Well, I would've expected a little more for a... girl,"

Emily's eyes narrowed, huffing she brushed past him, card in hand, "I'm more than just a girl, thank you,"

Mark rolled his eyes before jogging after her. "That you are! I was just expecting... more,"

Emily breaks into a sprint, her sturdy bag following after her. Her blonde hair bouncing wildly. Mark pursed his lips, surveyed the scene around him to see if there were any attendees to help him and then rushed after her. 

Emily easily reached the cabin first. A quick swipe of the door and she was inside. 

It was a beautiful spot, she couldn't deny that. Like the rest of the retreat, it was composed mostly of wooden elements. The light streamed in from a window on almost every side. A bathroom tucked away to Emily's right. Not much privacy to be found. 

She pursed her lips at that. 

A king-size bed took up most of the room, a tv across from it. Out on the balcony, Emily could spot the picturesque beauty of the valley and beyond, only interrupted by a thin line of trees. Out on the balcony, a loveseat curled, overlooking the view. 

It's not too bad, she thought to herself fondly. She tossed her bags onto the loveseat, looking down over the balcony. There was a slight drop, not too dangerous, but high enough to keep the average person from attempting to scale down. 

The wind breathed past her, a sigh against her cheeks. 

Compared to a lot of people in the world, she had it incredibly lucky. Food, a great place to stay, a friend or two. That was much more than most could make claim to. Tears pricked at her eyes. 

But she also had a barren farm to return to, a stomach that may not always be full, and a fiancee, sorry, companion, that seemed to be the scum of the earth.

Marriage is two people giving a 100%, Emily repeated the old mantra in her head, I just need to know when to let it go. 

A deep breath in, one out. 

I don't think I can do this, a little nagging voice cried at the back of her head.

"Shut up," Emily hissed, seizing the balcony rail and the beam that ran vertical. A hand on each, she swung her leg over. Now she was on the other side. 

To anyone watching, she probably looked like she was about to jump. Emily huffed at the thought. There'd been some times when I'd come close. She thought contemplatively. But the sudden death of her family had thrown her so far left-field that she often couldn't afford to think about those things. I had to survive instead.

Carefully, she let her right foot drift- finding the crossbeam to let her down. Slowly, she left her weight transfer to the foot, taking it hand by hand. And then-.

A jump. 

She hit the ground softly, sliding slightly in the damp leaves. 

Nice, Emily grinned to herself, breaking into a sprint. 

//

A long wait- the last few days have been hectic- setting up live streams for people, meeting old friends before we all get forcefully isolated, prepping for the apocalypse. 

Today we bought twelve chicks- they're chirping in the box next to me. With our other chicks that were born a few weeks ago and our regular chickens, we'll have about thirty-four in total. Mum only wants twenty laying chickens a day- this means our family is fed and then we can sell or trade or eat them if we need be. Sounds archaic, I know, but that's the like of living on a farm.

Today, we'll also be having five sheep arriving- one of them is a ram so looking forwards to that. In a few months, we'll have a dairy cow! I'm pretty excited for that. Eggs, fruit and veg (that we're growing), milk, meat etc. 

Still working to solar power but hey, we'll see.

Australia just reached 1000 infections...

Time to go and feed the baby chicks.