Melia and I decide to start with Blaise. He is on crutches now. His wound is healing very well. We take him into a room that has been prepared for this purpose. I start by examining his eyes with the torch. Then I check his wound and the rest of his body. Melia comes out. I promise her that this is the last time I have to see him naked. I am much more embarrassed than he is. He takes it very well and teases me to make me feel comfortable. Nothing suspicious about his body.

He is allowed to get dressed. Mélia comes in. We explain to him that we are going to play loud music and light up strobes. He has to point out five times where Melia is in the room. Afterwards, with the help of cards, we will ask him thinking questions. He has to answer. During the whole test I will aim a gun at him, in case he attacks.

The test begins. The room is a giant disco. Blaise passes the test with flying colours. He even laughs at Melia's choice of music and distinguishes between the questions she wrote and mine. Visual and cognitive test correct. Blaise is declared healthy. We give him a huge hug. The poor guy. We've been sticking him for a fortnight without him complaining in the least.

He is going to help us for the next part with his friends. I explain to him the rotten marks to look for on the body. I have pictures taken by the doctor. I lend him a magnifying glass and ask him to do the examination for the next guys. It will be less painful if it's a guy who sees them naked, unless he prefers me to rinse my eye out on other males.... He chuckles and agrees without a second thought, more for my embarrassment than for the modesty of the other guys.

I go to pick up Damien. I proceed to the eye check. This time it's Blaise who's examining. It's his turn to see his naked friend. I tie Damien's wrist to a bar on the wall and then turn around with my gun. I hear them chatting and laughing, making dirty jokes. Damien is declared a non-suspect. I turn round to see him still in his boxers. I scold Blaise who laughs at my blush. Damien gets dressed again, hilarious.

We start the test. Teasingly, the music is a mixture of everything he hates. Boys-band and love songs. If he doesn't get mad about it, he's either sane or deaf. Blaise snickers in the corner, Damien too. He knows that the songs are specially dedicated to him, chosen by me. I make him repeat a ridiculous choreography, justifying myself on the coherence and coordination. He keeps the rhythm until Mélia and Blaise start laughing. He understands my mischief and forgives me with a smile. Like Blaise, he passes his visual and cognitive test with flying colours. Thibault and his father also pass. All the boys in fact.

So here we are, two girls with ten guys. I present the farmhouse and its functioning to everyone. The complete visit makes them shout with joy. Everyone is given a role and a room. Our friends surround my room and Mélia's room. The boys see that the food production and supply is sustainable. They have enough to last at least a year, if not more, if they manage well. I outline the tasks to be done. We divide the work between us. The teacher is in charge. The final decisions remain my responsibility and that of Mélia. We have confidence in him and it will take some of the pressure off us. He is the oldest, the most educated. I know that he will obey me and Melia. It will be easier for the others to take orders from a mature man than from girls. I'm getting better at diplomacy.

Survival means dividing up the work and responsibilities. Mélia will always be with someone she trusts. Blaise, Thibaut, the teacher; Alex or Maltez. The same goes for me. Mélia will assist the teacher in the daily management of the farm. I will be in charge of showing the surroundings and strategic points, as well as all the unsecured outdoor work. Damien will be my partner. Until Blaise is fully recovered. Thibaut and Alex will stay at the farmhouse.

The first outdoor mission is rather easy. I only take Damien, the electrician and another guy with me. I'll take them to the supermarket and to the DIY and furniture shops. I'm also going to make them spot the nearby strategic points. I take the opportunity to check the traps near the farmhouse and those in the town, which are all empty. This is encouraging, unless the bacteria has mutated. Damien gently scolds me for my pessimism. Our shopping is so extensive that we have to steal a van again.

The electrician who is with us today takes the wheel of our stolen truck, along with the second guy. Damien and I stay in the pick-up. We take the opportunity to bicker happily. I have a great time alone with him. We arrive covered in glitter that I have slyly taken from the supermarket to send to Damien at the first opportunity. That is, an hour later in the pick-up on the way back. He doesn't even want to kill me and asks Mélia what she thinks of her new look. He takes my perfidious attack with humour. The pink glitter suits him.

On the trip back, I did manage to find out that the boys don't know what happened to the rest of the group. They were separated when the war broke out. The basketball players had gone to a match in a distant city. Sarah was with Fleur, Lilou and Naya. Damien hopes they are alive. Naya is tough like me. She won't let herself die. She will protect the girls. He is hopeful. I'm not saying anything.

Richard was more than prepared. We had a bad encounter. Melia and I were lucky to be alive. Survival is sometimes also about luck. As soon as the war started, Damien and the boys tried to reach Richard's farmhouse. The only place that seemed hospitable to them. They lost people on the way. Mostly because of belligerent humans. Damien shook my hand and then fell silent, immersed in painful memories. I held his hand for a long time, until I reached the farmhouse.

On the way back to the mas, I learn that some of the boys would like to start building a real swimming pool. The farmhouse belongs to Mélia and me to them. We agree, on condition that we do little each day. The priority must be to cultivate and breed in order to ensure food production. Self-sufficiency to the maximum. One of the boys was a keen amateur gardener. He agreed to manage the vegetable garden and greenhouse with Alex whose father was a farmer. Alex has some basic knowledge that will be useful. In addition, he likes to work the land. Mélia gave him an advice book on how to manage the surrounding fields and orchards. With all that Papinou has taught us, we should be able to manage. Chickens and pigs are easy enough to look after. The horses are a bit more complicated. With twelve of us, we should be able to manage.

A six-month ellipse

Half a year since the boys arrived. The repairs and miscellaneous work have progressed very well. The morale of all is rising daily. We allow ourselves moments of quiet and futile joy, such as a fight in the pool. OK it wasn't nice to turn Damien's floating mattress over. But it was so tempting. I couldn't resist such an opportunity. He couldn't even get his revenge. Thibaut, Blaise and some of the other guys stepped in to protect me. It was Mélia who took care of me with a water gun.

The boys enjoy barbecuing. We manage our food stocks. The inventory of the farm and the surrounding shops showed us our surplus. We do not deprive ourselves. We plant and store as much as possible, in case our numbers increase. The warehouses and cold rooms of the supermarket and the restaurants or food shops in town are full to the brim.

While hunting, I injured a gander. It will not be able to fly anymore. We decided to treat him and keep him. After the quarantine period, he joined the geese. Pretty goslings are repopulating our barnyard. Some wild ducks and other migratory birds are back on the river. Small mammals like rabbits and squirrels are returning to the forest. They are healthy. This is encouraging.

Thanks to the manpower, our exploration perimeter reaches two hundred and fifty kilometres. The fifty kilometres around the farmhouse are healthy or almost healthy, less than one trap per month. Between fifty and one hundred and fifty kilometres, the threat is light, one creature per week, animals only. Between one hundred and fifty kilometres, the threat is significant, about ten creatures per week with at least two humanoids per month. Beyond that, absolute danger, traps full to the brim with humanoids, presence of bellicose humans. We keep a low profile. What reassures me is that rat poison continues to be effective.

We need wood. Lots of it. There's a sawmill near King's a couple of hundred kilometres away. One of the guys knows how to drive a trailer. So I take him and Damien on the weekly survey of the town's traps. This time the traps are only half full, no humanoids. I don't want to be too optimistic. A drop in catches means a drop in contaminations, a possible return to a less dangerous life. We are few in number. Surveying such a large territory will soon become difficult.

On the outskirts of the sawmill, we redouble our vigilance. Here, there is no music or spotlight to cover us and scare the creatures away. Killer sniffs and listens. Damien and I stay in shooting position while the guy loads and starts a trailer. We hastily build a trap on an open corner. The place is isolated, close to a fallow area and full of hiding places. If we don't catch anything humanoid here, then it will be very encouraging. I sigh. The two boys are optimistic. I'm much less so.

I've seen so many people die. I've had to kill to survive. I am afraid we are the last humans. I climb up alongside my beloved partner. We go home. As he drives, I let myself look outside dreamily for once. It's a sunny day outside. The danger is almost non-existent. I enjoy the calm. I fall asleep on Damien's shoulder without realizing it. I wake up the next morning in my bed without understanding everything. Melia was asleep when we got home. Everyone but Damien and the trucker were asleep.