Apocalypse Mentis

The More the Merrier

Hannah rushed inside to wake Alice but she just groaned and swiped at her to leave her alone. Hannah growled and felt around the dark room until she found a flashlight. She stepped out of the building and turned it on. After gathering the courage, she slowly started creeping over to where the noise was coming from. She walked slowly, in fear of who, or what, she might see. The closer she got, the more scared she felt. At this point, her hands were shaking out of control. When she was finally outside the building that was the source of the noise, she swore she heard voices, two to be exact. Two girls, both spoke with British accents, were arguing, but she didn't know what they were arguing about.

She took a deep breath and burst in. She shined her light her light on the two girls and they froze like deer in headlights. "Hello?" Hannah asked, her voice shaky and quiet. The two girls looked at her, but they could only see her silhouette due to the bright light. Hannah studied the girls, the older one, who looked about 16, was taller and had short brunette hair, and the younger, who looked about Hannah's age so 14, was short and had shoulder-length dirty blonde hair. When Hannah saw the younger girl, she felt something weird inside her and her heart skipped a beat. After a minute of awkward silence, that felt like forever, the older girl spoke up. "Who's there?" She asked, her voice had a firm tone to it with a hint of fear.

Before Hannah could speak, Alice had apparently woken up and came over to see what all the noise was about. She came up behind Hannah and put her hand on her back. Not knowing she was coming, Hannah jumped and dropped her flashlight, which turned off when it hit the ground. "Alice! Don't scare me like that!" Hannah scolded and got down on one knee to find the flashlight. She searched around the floor until she found it and she turned it back on. After she had grasped it in her hand, she turned it on and the whole room was filled with light. This time, the two girls could see Hannah and now Alice. Hannah looked up at the two girls and smiled.

The younger one lightly blushed and gave a small, shy, but very cute, smile back. Hannah stood and cleared her throat, "My name's Hannah, and this is Alice. Pleased to meet you." Alice leaned up against the wall and waved. The older one smiled and spoke for the two "The name's Gaby, and my little sis here is named Tori." Tori smiled and gave a shy wave. Alice stepped forward and held out her hand to Gaby "Nice to meet you two! We have a whole group together and we would totally love you two to join us. Currently, we're on our way to my secret hideout in the forest. Everyone is back at camp sleeping but I'm sure they'd love to meet you in the morning!" She looked back at the building where the group was sleeping and then back at the two girls. "So, I should probably go check on them but Hannah, you stay here and talk to these two girls, get to know them, and help them with anything they may need before joining us." Alice smiled at all of them before turning and walking out. "And then there were three." Hannah mumbled under her breath.

"Do you guys have anything here that you need help gathering?" Hannah asked and looked around the old building. The building they were in used to be a travel agency place where you could come and book a vacation but, they were going out of business due to all the online places now where you could book a vacation. There were a few desks with binders and old, rundown computers on them with chairs on each side. The tile floor was covered in dust and glass. Both big windows in the front were smashed and the old wooden door was just barely hanging on. Hannah stood there, surveying the mess while Tori and Gaby gathered their stuff. They had two suitcases, one each, and Tori had a small purse slung around her shoulder.

Gaby looked at Hannah, who was lost in thought, like usual, and she loudly cleared her throat to get her attention. Hannah shook and looked at the two girls who were standing there, waiting. "Sorry, I get lost in thought often. So, are you guys ready?" Tori nodded but Gaby spoke "Yup, all set!" Hannah smiled "Awesome! Let's go then, shall we?" Hannah turned and started walking out. Tori stood there, staring at Hannah as she walked out. Gaby noticed this and nudged her with her elbow and smirked "So, you think she's cute, don't you?". Tori's features were dusted with a light pink as she started walking ahead "No, and we're not talking about this with her so close." She whisper yelled at her.

Gaby laughed, "It's so obvious you like her, but whatever you say sis!" She ran to catch up with her sister and Hannah, who were walking next to each other, making small chat. Hannah told her about the group and their experiences and their mental illnesses. She listened and nodded and gave the occasional apology. Gaby smirked at her little sister and Hannah walking together and talking, she could definitely see what was going on here.

         They finally get to the shelter and Hannah peers in first to check if anyone is up. Everyone is fast asleep, so Hannah looks back at the girls and motions them to follow her in. When they walk in, Alice wakes up and when she see's the two girls, she shoots up. "Who are they?," She yells, waking everyone up. "What's going on Hannah? I thought Claire was the last addition to the group! We don't have enough supplies or anything like that for them!" Hannah crosses her arms across her chest "Alice calm down! I found them alone in one of the buildings over there," she points to the building where she found them ", they needed help so invited them to come with us!" Hannah looked around the room and noticed something, or someone missing "Wait a second, where is Claire?" Alice looked over to where Claire was sleeping and noticed she was gone. "Huh, I didn't even notice. Have any of you?" Alice asks the rest of the group who slowly are waking up and getting up. "What's going on?" Manny asks sleepily. "Claire is missing." Alice responds "I'm not sure where she is. Should we go looking for her?" Shane adds. Madi, while holding her cats, nods in agreement.

That's when, they heard a scream and a gunshot. Manny jumps and clings on to Shane, while Tori runs and hides behind Hannah, who shot around when she heard it. All of them froze, it not only sounded close, but that scream, sounded like Claire. Alice quickly gets to her feet and walks over to the door. She peers out and looks over to the side. About 30 feet away, Claire's body is on the ground, lifeless and limp, a pool of blood around her. Alice gasps and ducks back in, her eyes wide. "What is it? What's going on? What did you see?" Madi asks, the rest add in their question about what she saw. "C-Claire, is, she's uh-" impatiently Gaby says "Go on, what is Claire?" Alice responds with one word that makes them all gasp "Dead." .