Broken

Chapter 3

It was day five. Cassie and me were lying in my parent's bed, trying to go to sleep. I peeked out the upstairs window. The people were relentless. They still banged on the windows. More were coming. We had to leave eventually. Food would run out soon. I heard Cassie stir.

"Beth?"

"What is it, Cassie?"

"Where are Mommy and Daddy and Andrew?"

I cringed and said nothing. Cassie got up and padded over to me and looked out the window.

"They're dead, aren't they? The bad people killed them."

"Yes, Cassie."

"What will we do?"

"I don't know."

Cassie took my hand. "I'm scared, Beth."

"I am too," I confessed. "But, Momma said to wait for help to come."

Cassie nodded. "The police?"

I remembered the bodies in the streets, and the police officers, obliterated.

"No. Just anyone who can help and isn't like them." I pointed outside.

Cassie nodded again. "Okay. I'm gonna go to bed now."

"Good night, Cassie."

"Good night, Beth."

She went and got back in the bed, leaving me at my post. The next morning, I opened the pantry door and saw almost nothing other than beans and pineapple. Day five was gonna be rough. I glance over at the front door. The wooden planks had held, but I wasn't sure how much longer they would. We had stayed quiet for this whole time, hoping they would give up and leave, thinking that there was no one here. But, that was not the case. More were gathering by the hour. I tiptoed back upstairs to Cassie, who was staring out the bedroom window. She looked back at me, upset.

"All the sirens stopped."

I ran over to the window. "What?! No! They couldn't have! We heard the police in the neighborhood next to us yesterday!"

"You mean that one?"

She pointed down to the ground outside. I saw two of the insane dragging a mutilated police officer towards our house. A couple of the other insane ran over, desperate for food. Over the course of the past five days, Cassie and I had noticed that the insane would work together. Like the two that brought the police officer to eat, they would work together to get what they needed. The insane were also deviously smart, like, it was scary. I had noticed four or five in the back yard cutting down trees and making a ladder. Eventually, we would have to leave, because they would either starve us out or take us. I couldn't find a gun, but even if I did, I don't think I could shoot any of them. They still looked... human.

The news had stopped. The emergency broadcast system didn't even play anymore. But, we had figured that out before we turned on the TV. On day two, there was this ginormous crash in the middle of the night. I had jumped out of bed, ready to defend myself and Cassie, who had shakily pointed her knife at the door. But, my eye caught flames in the distance. I saw the TV station was up in flames and the broadcasting tower was missing. Well, it had fallen on the Thompson's house, who lived across the street. That had freaked both me and Cassie out. It was crazy how quickly everything had fallen. I haven't seen a non-insane person since the day I got Cassie from school. Cassie hadn't asked about Momma or Dad or Andrew since that night. I hoped it would stay that way until I could come to terms with the fact that my dad was insane, my brother was dead, and my mom had met a horrible death.