Decay

Decay 3

        Eventually, the spine tingling experience of target practice ended. We each patted ourselves on our backs for our improving aims, and herded ourselves toward the living room to watch movies we'd all seen a million times. Within seconds of sitting down to relax, an echoing knock pounded on the front door. "What the hell? Who's that?" Katie asked. I shrugged. It was a stupid question to ask. Of course no one would know who was behind the door. It's not like we had supernatural abilities that allowed us to see through solid objects.

Seeing as no one else bothered to stand. I walked over to grab a machete resting on the end table before going to answer the door. As I grabbed the doorknob, I considered who might be on the other side. A killer? Another group of people threatening us to leave? An angel? Someone to come deliver news that the disease had miraculously ended? The thought made me chuckle. It was a silly but longed for dream. When I opened the door, there stood yet another man. As soon as I saw his shining face and platinum blond hair, I knew exactly who he was.

"Teddy?!" I happily screamed as I dropped the weapon, locking him in a tight hug. Before everyone started turning Teddy had been another close friend of mine. Freshman year of high school, he and his family packed up and decided to move a few states away. His mom had grown tired of the consistent scenery and thought a change was needed. Although he and I had been close for quite a while, he and Rand never gained the same level of friendship. They seemed to only tolerate each other for my sake. Having him randomly show here brought tears to my eyes. I'd thought that seeing anyone else I'd known ever again was just about impossible.

He gently hugged me back and stroked the back of my head as he held me, "Hey, shorty." He said. I patted him on the back and moved back to allow him to enter the house. Once he stepped foot through the doorway, everyone surrounded him asking a blaze of chaotic questions. Everyone but Rand, who stood back with a weary expression. Everyone's voices colliding at once began to give me a slight headache. I couldn't take the disorganization and hype of the girls surrounding Teddy.

"Would everyone kindly shut up?" I yelled at the frantic teens. The room then became completely silent. "This is Teddy," I said gesturing to his chest, "He is going to stay with us. I want everyone to be nice to him, if not you will directly deal with me, and I can assure you that will not be pleasant."

Rand shook her head, "Sara, we don't have any more rooms available. He'll have to sleep on the floor if we take him in."

"He can sleep on the couch." Maxine suggested.

"No, I won't make him do that. He is a guest so he will get a room. I'll sleep on the couch and Teddy can have my bedroom." I said.

Katie shook her head and spoke up, "Sara, you can bunk with me. I don't mind."

I grinned, "Seriously? Thank you, Katie. That's very kind of you."

Dray walked up to Teddy and extended a friendly hand, "Well, I'm Dray. Nice to meet you, Teddy Bear."

Teddy shook his hand as he smiled with a crooked grin. I knew he wasn't particularly fond of the nickname, but he wouldn't confront the situation any time soon. As everyone began introducing themselves, I took a seat on one of the bar stools and sharpened the blade of the machete I'd dropped earlier. After the introductions were made, we all started to head off to our rooms to get some sleep. No one seemed in the mood for more 'getting to know the new guy'. As everyone dragged themselves over to the stairs, I jumped in front of everyone, blocking them from proceeding, and quickly spoke up.

"Tomorrow will not be a 'do nothing' day. I know we just had 3 new people join us but we need to go hunting. The head zombie needs to be killed so that the virus will cease to exist. We can't keep waiting around, doing nothing. Get some rest. You'll all need it." I told the group.

Everyone crudely nodded their head, as I got out of their way. Many dragged their feet as they exhaustively climbed the steps. As I began to hear doors slam closed, I released the breath I hadn't noticed I'd been holding the entire time. I wasn't fond of so many people around me. I knew I'd get even more attached to them, and if anything horrible were to happen, I wasn't sure how I'd be able to cope. Every moment bonding with these people could be another moment of pain if they were attacked.

Katie hugged me, distracting me from my thoughts. She dragged me up the steps and pushed me onto my side of the bed. Neither of us bothered to change. There simply wasn't enough energy left to do such a minuscule task. "Night, Sara." She whispered as our eyes began to drift closed.

"Night, Katie." I replied before we quickly fell asleep.

Once again I was confronted by the nightmares and woke up in a startled panic. I examined Katie, making sure she was still asleep. Her blond hair matted, curled in a ball, with a slight dribble coming from the corner of her mouth made me grin. Silently getting up from the bed, I snuck downstairs and snuggled deep into the warm couch, and turned the T.v. on hoping to distract myself. About 5 minutes later, I heard more footsteps descending the steps and a familiar face appeared in the dimmed light of the television. Zena stood before me.

"Why are you up?" She asked as she sat down beside me on the sofa.

"Lately, I haven't been able to sleep well. I've been having extremely vivid nightmares of being attacked." I replied with a shudder.

She grabbed a thick blanket off of the back of the couch, wrapped it around her slim figure, and stared blankly at the television. We had no cable anymore so I had put in the Disney movie, Tangled. "You know, dreams are always trying to tell us something; even if it's not something we'd like to know."

I sighed, "That's awesome," My voice laced with sarcasm, "My dreams are telling me zombies are going to eat me and it is going to be extremely painful. Can't wait."

She giggled and lightly smacked my arm, "No, you weirdo. There are more to dreams than that. The meaning isn't ever completely clear."

At first I didn't reply, I just stared at the movie playing and so did Zena. "What would you suggest they are trying to tell me?" I asked.

She simply shrugged her dainty shoulders, "I'm not sure."

The movie was currently on the boat and lanterns scene. I wondered what it would be like to have a fairy tale life. Things would be much simpler. Instead, we were thrown into a grade A horror film. Unfortunately, this film would never end. When the movie finally finished, Zena sighed and rubbed her tired eyes. "Sara, if we are going hunting tomorrow you need to get some rest."

"I know, but so do you." I said, "Must be hard to sleep without all of your hot, band guy posters everywhere."

Zena took a moment to think about what I had said before we both ended up laughing. "Hell yeah it is! I don't get to stare at their godly faces all night! It sucks! But seriously, go to bed." She patted my arm.

I giggled, "Fine, but don't think that this means you are able to boss me around." I got up from the couch, then turned around to face her. She looked very tired. "Zena?"

"Yeah?" She asked as she yawned.

"Thanks for being there for me." I then quietly wandered back up to Katie's room and got into bed. Luckily, I didn't disturb Katie so she never woke up. Once again I fell asleep, but this time, I didn't have the nightmare. In fact, I had no dreams or nightmares what-so-ever. It was pure blackness, pure silence, and pure serenity. I wasn't sure that'd I'd ever have a night like that again.