Don't Talk To Me | BOOK 3

forty

Riley Murphy

2048

We all gave each other questioning looks as the knocking continued.

The voice was louder now, demanding. 

Alex and Paxton stayed frozen at the door, daring each other to go down and check what it is.

"If we all went down together, they can't get all of us at once, right?" Alex whisper-shouted, looking back at us.

"How do we know it's multiple people? I only hear one voice." Levi argued, his voice shaken.

Paxton shook his head, "Everyone is going downstairs, now." 

He ignored out protests as we all stood up, arms linked as we made our way down the stairs, the floorboards creaking under our weight.

I could see a figure outlining the glass door.

Suddenly, the banging stopped and so did the yelling. We all froze, until it continued again.

We made it to the front door, where Alex's hand shot out to grasp the doorknob. He hesitated for a brief moment before he turned it. 

The knocking stopped, "So you are home." The voice outside said. It sounded feminine.

Alex pulled it open and I reached for my gun, ready for anything.

But I let go of it when I realised it was a young girl, probably 13-14.

She had blonde hair, deep-turned blue eyes and was wearing overalls with converse, a black bucket hat on her head.

Alex gave Paxton a look, "Um, hello?"

"Hi, my names Veronica." She grinned, showing us her teeth, I noticed a thick southern accent. She's definitely not Canadian.

"We don't want any cookies." Gage mumbled under his breath, Megan slapped him.

Dakota gripped my hand, moving closer to me as we tried to figure out what was going on.

"Hi Veronica, where did you come from?" Elle smiled, looking around the corners of the house.

"Over that way, we've come from Montreal." She grinned again.

"That's nice, who's we?" Elle questioned, "Me and my family! We're originally from Kentucky- hence the accent." She winked, "But we came here after you know, the world was infested by zombies."

I blinked, utterly confused, "How did you know where we lived?" Elle asked her.

Veronica shrugged, "Me and my Momma heard you guys a couple days ago. We thought it was zombies so we hid, but then realised that you guys had guns and stuff." Veronica looked around.

"Nice place, mind if I come inside?" She made a move to come in and we all shuffled backward, "Thats- not a great idea. Why don't we wait for you parents, yeah?" 

Veronica nodded, oblivious, "They told me to knock on your door and ask if if we could talk, but my parents are waiting up that hill."

"MOMMA, PAPA, YOU CAN COME DOWN!" Veronica shouted. I winced from the noise.

We stood awkwardly with the door open, waiting patiently and cautiously with the door open, "Can you just give us a second?" Elle asked. 

Veronica smiled, nodding.

Elle closed the door and breathed out, giving us wide eyes, "I know it's strange, but I don't have a bad feeling about this." 

They all looked to me and I shrugged, "I don't feel anything." 

"She is a little girl, what if she's telling the truth?" Dakota shrugged.

Suddenly, two more figures outline the glass in the door and I pointed, causing Elle to open the door.

A lady stood there, next to someone who I assumed was her husband. They smiled at us, looking tired.

"Hello, you must be Veronica's parents." Elle said shyly, standing in the door frame.

"I'm Quinn, and this is my boyfriend Will." 

Quinn held out her hand, Elle looked at it before shaking it quickly, "Excuse us for being a little hostile, a lot of stuff has happened over the last decade and we don't trust anybody." 

Quinn smiled, "No I totally understand. It must be weird to see new people when you've been stuck with your family for years." 

I stepped back, bringing Dakota back with me as we made way for Quinn, Will and Veronica to come inside. 

They looked around our house quickly before we introduced ourselves. I was skeptical I'll admit, but they seem genuine.

We sat down at the living room, the high ceiling making it feel formal as we piled onto the couches.

Quinn, Will and Veronica sat on one couch. Will's hand was on Quinn's knee and Veronica was sitting with her legs crossed, looking bored.

I sat on the single armchair, Dakota on my lap as we got comfortable, listening to what they had to say.

"We had Veronica during the outbreak so, we were all alone with a baby, no car, no house, you know how it is." Quinn said, her lip trembling. "So it was a relief when we stumble into this tiny town and find a gang of people who are fighting off zombies." Quinn said, looking at me, Gage and Alex. 

"I don't mean to sound like a creep but we followed you, to make sure our suspicions weren't wrong. And thankfully they weren't."

It wouldn't be the first time someone's followed us home, that's for sure. 

Quinn explained everything. How they were able to stay alive, growing up, they're home life. 

All 3 of them thick southern accents, and Will explained to us how they were born and raised in Kentucky so Veronica picked up on the accent when they were raising her.

"We've been searching for years. We practically toured around America trying to find survivors. So imagine our luck when we arrive in Canada just a week before we find actual people."

They chuckled and Elle smiled, gripping onto Paxton's elbow.

Weirdly enough, I don't have any bad feelings. Which is a good thing, obviously.

"If you don't mind me asking, how old are you all?" Quinn said.

Elle told them and they seemed shocked, "You all look so much younger than your ages! I'm impressed."

"Riley and Gage were actually raised during the outbreak."

Quinn turned to me, "So you're? How old?"

"I'm 20. Dakota's 19. Gage and Levi are both 18." I smiled, pointing to the silent boys who are sitting next to each other on the other couch.

"Guys, why don't you give us a little space, we'll call you if we need you, okay?" Alex said, nodding at us.

We nodded back, getting up as we took the stairs.

After I'd closed our bedroom door, I could just hear the chatter of voices.

Dakota flopped onto the bed, it squeaking a little as she yawned.

Gage sat crossed-legged on the dusty couch and Levi sprawled across it, his head on Gage's lap.

"What the hell just happened?" 

* * * 

what the hell did just happen?

;)