Our days were the same for a about a week. We stayed at my house and just chilled. It hardly felt like an apocalypse was going on outside. It felt almost like old times with the three of us together like this. We played video games and board games. We watched movies. We slept for most of the time and snacked on the food in the house. Everyday, we would try our phones or the news station to see if we could contact someone or see what was happening. There wasn't a cable or a satellite signal so all we got was static.
The fact of not knowing was kind of eating at me. Maybe eating isn't the best word. I mean my parents are out there, but I don't know where. I don't know if they're roaming around like the occasional zombie we see out the windows or if they're holed up somewhere like we are. They could be dead or safe and sound. I don't know and that is shit, to be honest. They probably feel the same way about me.
"Yo Max!" Steve yelled from the loft. "We're about to start a game of Monopoly. You in?"
"Yeah!" I stood up from my bed and slid my phone into my pocket. I closed the door to my bedroom as I walked out. "I call the race car!"
"Already called it!" Ashley laughed. "Good luck next time, biyotch!"
******************************
The slow movement of the zombie was almost annoying. It's arms swung with each step it took, moving as it shifted weight. The head seemed to be leading it's body turning at each sound, making it's body turn as well. Black blood covered the clothes, seeping out from whatever wound the person was given while they were alive. I've also learned that the blood leaks out of their mouths, ears, and eyes. Must be part of the sickness beforehand. The worst part was probably the twitching. All over the body, spasms echoed over the skin. Almost in a chain reaction way. The head would twitch, then the shoulder, then the arm, then the hand. Even if the zombie moves at a very slow pace, the twitching shows that it can move quickly if needed. That's the evil part.
"Why do you keep watching them?" Ashley suddenly asked from behind me. I turned around to see her brushing out her wet hair. "Don't they freak you out?"
"I'm learning more about them, Ash." I said. "I mean. Don't you want to be ready if they come at you?"
Ashley wrinkled her nose. "Of course, but I don't want to stare them down and see their ugliness. I don't want more nightmares."
Fair point.
I closed the blinds and sat down properly on the couch. My eyes wandered around our little HQ. It was a fine set up of supplies in one corner, entertainment in the other, and sleeping arrangements at the other. The couches were used for sleeping as was a giant pallet along the wall between the cough and the corner. However, Ricky and Ashley often occupied that. I didn't sleep in my bed. I couldn't just stay alone in my room. Plus we had to stay together incase something bad happened.
Footsteps came from the stairs, as did the smell of pizza. Steve's smiling face was the first thing i saw. "Anyone want pizza rolls?"
"Breakfast of champions, my friend." I nod and scoop some onto my plate.
"So how much more pizza related food do we have?" Ashley asked as to took a bite of one.
Steve swallowed. "Well, we have pizza, pizza rolls, and pizza bites."
Ashley rolled her eyes and looked to me. "Your family is a bit obsessed. I see that hasn't changed."
"Hey. Hey. Hey." I point at her. "We like pizza and we embrace it. I never saw you complaining. You always had pizza in your mouth."
"Because that's all you had!"
"Eh." I wave my hand at her and eat another roll.
A ringing sound suddenly disturbed the air. We all just kind of looked at each other with confused expressions and mouths half-full of pizza. Another ring and we all reached for our phones.
"Not mine." We all said in unison.
"Then what the hell-" Ashley was stopped as I put my plate down on the coffee table and ran to my parent's room. That was the first time I had been in there since this all began, but I pushed that to the back of my mind. My eyes landed on the landline by my mom's vanity and holy crap that was where the sound was coming from. I forgot that was there.
I quickly answered it. "Hello?"
"Max?" There was static, but I could still hear her voice.
"Mom?" I choked out.
"Max?" She asked again. "Max! Can you hear me?"
I held the phone close to me ear. "Yes! Yes, Mom! I can hear you!"
"Oh thank god!" She breathed out. "I've been trying to call for days, but it's never gone through!"
"Where are you?"
"Your father and I are at a camp." She said. "We were on the road and got trapped in the middle of evacuation. We tried to come back for you, but they wouldn't let us. They said the school was a warzone!"
Evacuation? And they weren't wrong about that warzone speak.
"Where's the camp?"
"It's upstate." She said, the crackling getting louder. There was a yell behind her. "I can't talk for much longer. Just get on the bypass. Keep going North. Follow the cars. I love you so much sweetie."
"I love you-" There was a click. No more static. Silence. "...too."
Author's Note: Now we're getting somewhere, eh? Thanks for reading! Xoxoxo