Living in a Dead World
Chapter 1:
The Way it is Now
(AN- who is an idiot? This guy! Imma be posting this, along with three other new stories. Aren't I stupid? Like writing suicide XD. I hope you enjoy this story, I have high plans for it. Please review!)
Jasper's POV:
"This sucks!" I yell to my brother upstairs whenever my dim light source decides that now is a great time to randomly shut off. I shake the lantern in my hand, and it slowly lights back to life. Fumbling through the drawers in the basement I look for a bulb to replace the broken one two floors above me. Climbing back up the concrete staircase I lean against the door listening for any suspicious noises on the other side. Then, feeling confident that there isn't any threat on the other side of it, I fling it open, then close it firmly, locking all of the locks with haste. Then I throw myself up the stairs to the top floor, then slam that door. Being on the bottom freaks me out, much less the basement. Locking the locks on the upstairs door, I hold the lantern out and hand the bulb to Humphrey.
"Thanks Bro." He screws it in the appropriate spot in the celing light and it illuminates the entire room. "We are back in buisness Jasper!" Jasper is the name my mom gave me, because it reminded her of home back in Jasper. I click off my lantern, feeling more relieved now that I can see the entire area around me. The mass of guns and ammunition piled next to the four large, glassless windows on each side. The walls for rooms have all been knocked down, makin upstairs one giant room. The freezer, next to all our kitchen appliances, is packed full with meat and ice. My good friend Harley sits on the floor, playing with the dust that has collected there. I can safely assume that he might be bored. Lilly sits on the bed with her legs crossed as she scribbles in her diary. Her older sister Kate watches out of the window, her favorite pistol resting in her left hand. She moves a flood light back and forth, scanning the horizon. She then picks up the light and checks the last side for her shift, then shuts off the light completely. According to the rule of the house, house meaning the five underage kids from three separate households that have not died yet, this procedure must take place every hour, and last five minutes on each side. So basically we all get a shift every five hours, so sleep is limited but important.
Our house rests on an open field, perfect for long range visibility. And for the fifty minutes at a time one side isn't watched risks an intruder. But you have to admit it, the intruders aren't that fast. It would take them two whole hours to stumble from the farthest gun range to the house. And even if they were to get that far, what are they going to do? Set off a few sensors waking us all up? Thump against the brick walls with their cold arms and groan? But despite all this, I always want to put as much distance as possible from me and any one of those walking death, because they are still very dangerous. Whenever my brother issued the 'No going out alone' rule, he didn't have to tell me twice. But it is better here than it could have been. As my brother said, "Be thankfull we live in a small town, where there wasn't much people to begin with. Places like New York City and Los Angeles, you can forget it. So many of those things shuffling around you'd get swarmed in a heartbeat. But all it takes is one, and you can die." Warning our crew about the potential danger he said this to all of us. I wasn't that necessary though, because we all witnessed what happened to our parents when this all went down, and the apocalypse started.
I look around at everyone here. Ever since it started three months ago and we got our system going, everyone is calm. No more tears for lost ones, no more panic at the sight of the dead. In three months this experience has hardened us, made us stronger. Not what I thought things would look like looking back from the past. I thought there would be no leisure time. No comfort whatsoever. As of right now we are livin the total opposite. Not that I'm complaining, I love how we don't struggle as much. But there is a side of me that sits back and looks at this scenario with dissapointment. Ever since I found out that that risen dead can't run, climb, or swim things are safer, but slightly boring. Not one of them has a tongue that can streatch, grab, and pull someone in. But the greater side of me loves this boredom, because that side would rather boredom than risking death at every corner.
But my thirst for thrill we be nourished Tommorow, when we are all going to take a trip to the closest store and grab as much as we can at one time in our wagon. Thanks to the fact that we grew up on a farm we have horses, which pull a large chariot our dad insisted on buying. He wanted it for 'bragging rights' and showing it off to the 'neighbors'. The only neighbors in a five mile radius was Lilly's family. But because of that whimsical desire from our ol' dad, we now have quicker transportation than on foot. Why can't we just drive a car? Because we need all the gas we can get for other, more practical things for our survival. And besides, the roaring of the engine can draw those suckers in, and we really don't want to have to deal with extra ones.
"Get some sleep while your shift." My brother tells us. "You need that rest for Tommorow, when we raid another store."
Lilly pulls the covers over her, and I climb in after her. She smiles and wraps her arms around me, which she has done more and more recently. i don know if it is due to the appocalypse going on, or if she is actually starting to have some likin toward me. Kate and Humphrey climb into a bed together, and Harley gets his own.
I drift off to sleep, dreaming about Tommorow. Dreaming about victory as we get supplies and kill zombies.
