Eternal Darkness - Book One ✔

Chapter Two

We made it to the cluster of houses and they all looked, not surprisingly, completely abandoned. They were all lined in a neat little row on both sides of a street. They alternated between being one-story and two-story homes.

A rusted red bicycle lay on the withered grass in front of one of the houses. I tried to ignore the back-story as to why it was just lying there, who'd used it last, as we walked by, but it was hard. All these people, ordinary people, who were just minding their own lives like any other had to up and flee unless they wanted to take their chances and become living take-out. 

The house next-door to the one where the bicycle laid in front had the front door creaking on its hinges, moving slightly in the almost non-existent breeze. 

Dennis picked a normal looking house across from the ones I'd been looking at and went up the cemented pathway to the front door. He pried it open with ease, picking the rusted lock and stepped inside.

"Looks all clear, guys," he said calmly, and Johan and I followed him into the house.

We stood in a long hallway with several doors on our right. The walls were painted a soft yellow with several paintings hanging side by side on each wall. I kept my eyes off the family portraits. At the end of the hall an open arch led into what appeared to be the kitchen and dining area. It was there we went in first.

"Make sure all cabinets are checked completely," Dennis instructed, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"No kidding, I thought I would just use my nose to find the food," I retorted, sarcasm hitched into every word as I opened the first set of drawers, revealing absolutely nothing but dust. I sighed. At least it wasn't one of the larger houses.

For the next few minutes, nothing could be heard besides the opening and closing of cabinets and drawers, but we found next to nothing of use.

Johan found a pair of rusted scissors that could barely be pulled apart, and he threw them on the floor in exasperation. I opened the large double doors that led to the built-in pantry, but all that was left was a woven bread basket and more empty shelves. I sighed and my stomach decided to make its hungry presence known. I patted it and closed the doors, turning to look at the two guys who had been watching. I shook my head and with no words, left the kitchen.

Over the first few months we'd spent together, Dennis, Johan and I had quickly come up with a plan on how to scavenge a house the fastest. For starters, we would all three go thoroughly through the kitchen, seeing as that was the place where food was most likely stashed. After the kitchen was searched, we would move separately into the rooms, checking under every bed, every creaking floorboard, ceiling vents and everywhere else that looked promising. One time I found a box of dried fruit hidden well up in an air duct. It had been the first time I'd ever tasted dried pieces of apple and apricot. I preferred the apple.

I walked with slightly heavier steps back into the hallway and across to the row of closed doors. I opened one; it was a bathroom, stripped bare except from the actual toilet and shower stall. The dust covered mirror above the sink was cracked in several places. I stepped closer and glanced into it, barely recognizing the person reflected back at me; the girl's face was covered in grime, her brown eyes slightly set back in her skull, a clear sign of a malnourished life. Lips cracked from dehydration and her shoulder length brown hair fell flat against the sides of her face.  

I touched the bones clearly visible just below my neck and looked back up to connect with the ghostly figure in the mirror. Her clothes hung to her skinny body, dirty and caked in sweat and blood from this morning. Had it really not been longer than that? It already seemed days ago that I'd been down in that basement of the school, fighting with that thing to save my life.