Decay

Decay 2

       I woke up the next morning feeling the same as usual. Unnerved and tense. Running a hand through my hair, its length tangled around my fingers and knots restricted the flow. "Eww, I need to wash this." I thought to myself. Hopping out of bed, I made my way down to the hall to take a much needed shower. I had always enjoyed the clean feeling a shower gave you. It almost made things feel safe again; almost as if zombies didn't exists. Scrubbing at my skin and scalp, I washed away last night's sweat and terror. Finishing up, I brushed my hair and teeth before heading downstairs. All of the girls, except Maxine, were up and sitting around the table eating breakfast. The sweet smell of syrup greeting my nose.

"What's for breakfast?" I asked, sliding into the chair next to Rand.

Zena stood at the counter putting away dishes. She flipped her raven hair over her shoulder and smiled, "Depends on what you want."

Noticing the remnants of the girl's breakfasts and an extra piece left on a plate near Zena, I made my decision. "Waffles would be nice." I said, giving her puppy eyes.

"Wise choice."

Katie looked up from her food and leaned across the table to give me a high-five. "Yeah! That's what I'm having too. We're breakfast buddies!"

I awkwardly high-fived her as Zena sat a waffle in front of me. "Thank you, Zena." I said. She nodded in reply. Right then, Maxine came down the steps, wiping the clearly restless sleep she had from her eyes. Marching towards the extra waffles, she grabbed a plate and indulged in one.

"How'd you all sleep?" She asked. We echoed back with a chorus of 'fines' and 'greats'. Despite having heard them all snoring away last night, we all knew better than to believe our responses. Rarely did any of us get a full, restful night's sleep anymore. Between the constant fear, anxiety, and nightmares we all had, a good night's rest was almost an unattainable dream.

Rand arose and put her plate in the sink, "So what's the plan for today?"

"We should have a 'do nothing' day." Zena said.

I nodded, "Sounds like a good plan to me." All of us busted out laughing at that moment. Why we did so, the world may never know. I suppose that's what happens when friends are close together. Once we settled down, we talked about random subjects and made small talk, when the doorbell rang. Why would the doorbell ring? Zombies don't ring doorbells. I moved from the table with Rand behind me as I slowly opened the door. There stood two guys who were holding hands. The taller of the two with spiky black hair with red tips. The other with curling chocolate locks. The shorter released red's hand as red stuck his hand out in greeting.

"Hey!" He exclaimed whilst grabbing my own hand, "Zena radioed in and told us to join the breathing crowd." He said.

Zena pushed Rand and I out of the way, as she jumped on red tips. "DRAY!" She squealed. She then hugged the other boy, "ANDY! Oh my god! It is so good to see you guys."

"You know them?" I asked completely baffled by the situation.

She smiled, "Yeah, we go way back. Come in!" She said, dragging them inside. The boys entered the house and were dragged in a hurry towards the living room. Ushering the rest of us into the room, Zena made introductions informing me that red was a childhood friend of hers. Apparently after the virus began and people started to turn, Dray had left in a rush to save Andy. He'd begged Zena to stay behind and secure a safe place for when he brought Andy back.

Looking down at my hands, I pulled at the dry skin. "Did either of you find anyone? Any survivors?" I asked. A part of me was hopeful that there were more people than I thought still alive. I had this deep seeded hope that people all around the world were doing what we were doing now. The thought of being the last of the breathers around here pulled at my heart strings. I needed to find some sort of solace.

Andy frowned, "No. We haven't run into anyone. I'm not so sure there are many of us left anymore." A deep silence fell over us as we all held our breaths over the idea. The silence nagging, bragging how lonely and secluded we really were in this world.

Katie spoke up as the silence lingered on, "Well, at least there will finally be some hot people around here." She said, winking at the boys.

I shook my head, and mocked a hurt expression as I clutched my chest. "You mean I'm not hot enough for you?" I asked as everyone broke into a fit of laughter.

They both blushed as Andy patted Dray's hand, "Um ...thanks but um....we......we're-"

Dray cut him off, "We're happily together and don't plan on being apart."

"Oh well, that's...cool." Maxine said with wide eyes, as a silence fell back over us.

Zena grabbed the boy's hands, "I want to show you the rest of the house." She said before she dragged them out of the room.

I turned my attention to Maxine and Katie. "Could you guys go somewhere else for a moment?"

They nodded and left the room, "Do we let them stay? We only have one room left."

Rand nodded running a hand through her dark hair, "We can't kick them out, there are creatures that thrive off of killing them out there. What kind of people who we be if we let a breathing human leave us? Plus, we're not really in the position to turn down help. They'd probably be fine with sharing the room."

"Okay." I replied nodding. We made our way into the kitchen to find everyone crowded around the kitchen table. Everyone seemed content with our new guests. They all laughed and poked around at each other as if they'd all been friends for ages. It was nice seeing so many smiles.

Rand spoke up showing that she meant business, as she placed her hands on her hips. "Andy, Dray, you two are going to have to share a room if you are going to stay here. We hope that is okay."

Andy smirked, "Yeah, couldn't be better."

Dray nodded, "Very okay."

I rolled my eyes. People spoke over others and the girls asked so many questions that it was difficult to keep track of what they were asking. Maxine began to speak up, frowning. "What's your experience like? Can you guys handle yourselves against those creatures out there?"

They nodded, "We couldn't have survived this long without knowing how to use some weapons."

"Good point." She replied brushing offer her earlier concern. She's always been such a wise soul.

We spent the next couple of hours getting to know the guys more and heard stories from Zena about them. Seemed that these two weren't too light on their feet from the stories I heard. I soon found myself laughing and asking my own questions. When the story telling finally ended and around stomachs stopped hurting from the laughter; we decided target practice could pass the time. Grabbing weapons of choice, we practiced to strengthen our skills. Andy started talking about fencing so we grabbed some knives and swords and stabbed the targets, learning the best ways to strike. We were almost like a big family. A big, zombie killing, psychotic family.