ETTERATH. (Zombie Apocalypse Novel)

Six Day War

It's almost as if Reem had tuned it out.

There it goes again.

The doorbell.

Reem sighs as he leaves the pool of sweat that is his bed to slip into a red jacket. He zips it up and follows the lingering ringing of the doorbell.

Reem, using the advantage of the sunlight, didn't have to turn on the outside light or turn off the inside light so he wouldn't be detected and could lie about him not being home.

He quietly pushed the door of the peephole aside to stick his face up to it.

Holy shit.

His heart dropped after seeing a white-eyed, pale-skinned man, standing there, mouth open, dripping blood. He snapped his head away and dropped his eyes.

He gathered his thoughts before putting his face up to the peephole again.

A ginger man wearing a military uniform, dark glasses and a beige boonie with a patch of the flag of The United States on his right shoulder.

"Reem," JJ called out from the couch. "who is it?"

"Soldier." Reem mouthed as he cracked the door open.

"Hey, good morning," The soldier started. "my name is Sergeant Terrence Elliott, can I speak to the homeowner?"

Behind Terrence, Reem spotted the soldiers on the opposite side of the street, speaking through the front doors of the houses as Terrence was doing with him. "Uh... I-"

"You look a little young to own a house like this," Terrence said. "what're you, 20?"

"17," Reem answered. "my parents are-"

"Hey." JJ stood behind Reem.

"Sergeant Terrence Elliott. Are you above 18?" Terrence asked.

"I'm 18." JJ lied.

"Okay," Terrence slipped a clipboard and black ballpoint pen to JJ. "you can just fill that out. Any firearms or weapons?"

Reem shook his head. "No-"

"Quick question." JJ called out, looking up from the paper he began to quickly fill out.

"Yes." Terrence nodded.

"What the fuck is going on?" JJ asked.

Oh my god, JJ.

Reem slapped him on the shoulder. "Dude-"

"All that will be answered soon." Terrence replied. "I'll be outside at all times, any questions or concerns you have, you ask for me."

"Pretty dangerous out there, huh?" JJ fake chuckled. "A lot of shootings goin' on. Odd time for a national emergency if this isn't connected. Is it? Is it connected?"

"We can't say." Terrence answered. "Like I said, all will be answered soon."

"How soon are we talking?" JJ asked as he continued to fill out the form. "Like soon-soon? Or like when-Jesus-walks-the-earth-again-soon?"