(Carly's POV)
Carly watches as the top of the cracked window in the door begins to shine. She slowly shuffles over, watching as the light begins to grow. Her gaze softens, and she grasps the necklace she keeps in her pocket. She would wear it around her neck, but that's too risky. "Safe," she whispers.
She glances back at the sleeping bodies behind her. In their makeshift shelter, they all were clustered together. She now has to resist the urge to leap onto them and force them into a hug. She knows that any moment could be their last.
She sees her brother sleeping as far as he could away from the guns. He was clumsy with them, and never really could use a weapon well. Still, he has been one of the more helpful ones of the group with his crafting, and that was something to consider.
She sees Sam and Freddie entangled together. Maybe a year or so ago, that would have been a strange sight to see. Not anymore, though. It was a growing thing, something that had started before this whole dilemma. Their legs were completely entwined and Sam's head was resting on his chest. If they woke up and saw each other in this position, no longer would they be horrified or have a slap-off.
Gibby was curled up, his back to Spencer's, but Carly knew that out of everyone, he was the most awake. Even more than her, and she was on watch. She knew he was thinking of the one he didn't find once it all started, and where she could be now.
Well, it was time for Gibby's watch, anyhow. She nudges him slightly. "Gib—"
"I know, I know." He responds. Carly watches as he shifts upward. He brushes some dust out of his muzzy hair. He blinks up at Carly. "So, sunrise, huh?"
"We're well stocked…" Carly says in her own defense. "And we didn't get back until a few hours ago. You guys deserved the rest."
Gibby just shrugs.
Carly settles down beside Spencer and closes her eyes. But sleep doesn't come. It hasn't for a while, no matter how long she stays awake. She presses against her brother, craving the human companionship she has been deprived of for weeks.
She pulls out her necklace and gently picks it up and lets it fall onto the smooth, cold, hard floor. Gibby swings his head around, in watch mode, and Carly nods to tell him that it's alright. She stops playing with it.
She desperately wills sleep to come, but still, it doesn't. She wants to do something productive, but there's nothing to do. Not until the rest wake up.
A sudden flapping noise yanks Carly out of her thoughts. She leaps up, sees that Gibby has done the same, and stare at the door. She sees that a bird has fluttered inside, and relief threatens to overcome her.
But it's enough to wake the other three up. Freddie leaps up, gripping Sam even tighter as his wide eyes search the room. This movement wakes Sam up as well and her free arm searches around for a gun. And then Spencer yanks awake, his mouth opened and ready to scream. Carly immediately stands on her knees and presses the sleeve of her jacket to his mouth, trying to make him stay silent.
"Shh!" Carly says to everyone. "It's just a bird!"
Sam doesn't look entirely convinced, but Freddie nudges her and points to the cracked window. It was a small bird, probably a sparrow, and it was pecking against the window, trying to get inside.
"Can birds carry the disease?" Sam asks, staring at the bird as if it was one of the infected.
"I doubt a zombie can get a hold of one." Spencer says, moving Carly's arm away from his mouth.
"Well, that's a pleasant way to wake up." Freddie says rustily, still not moving away from Sam. "Well, what now?"
Carly pulls her bag over and digs into the contents. "Might as well eat something."
Sam stares at the bag with a pained look. "What I would do for bacon…" She looks over at Freddie and says, "I remember how I used to complain because breakfast places only give out two strips of bacon. Now, I'd lick bacon grease off the freaking ground."
"Nice." Carly rolls her eyes and searches in the bag. "Peanut butter?"
They all nod earnestly.
Carly pulls out the jar and a pack of saltine crackers. She opens the pack, breathing in the material good smell (something that they have been away from) and slowly adds on tiny dapples of peanut butter on five crackers. After she hands everyone one, she slowly nibbles on hers.
Spencer takes out a rubber band and closes the top of the saltine cracker package with it. "We should probably save these," He advises. "They last awhile, and they're easy to eat, and—"
That was, of course, when another sound interrupted him. A loud thumping noise that makes all of them jump. Carly whips her head around and sees something else clawing at the window.
And it wasn't a bird.
Flashback:
A week before It begins (Sam's POV)
Sam presses a pillow against her chest as she watches TV, alone, in Carly's house. Sure, no one was home, but that never stops Sam.
She rolls her eyes as Totally Terri does some other generic joke that would have any five year old chuckling their head off.
"Hi, what's your name?" Totally Terri asks some new guy.
"I'm Jake." The guy replies.
Cue laugh track.
Rolling her eyes, Sam mutters to herself, "C'mon, when's Girly Cow gonna be on?"
A knock sounds on the door. Freddie storms in and says, "Hurry! Turn on the news!"
"Why?" Sam complains. "Girly Cow's almost on."
"Sam, you have to see this!" Freddie grips the remote and turns on the news. Sam shoves his shoulder.
"I was watching—"
"Shh!" This usually would have earned Freddie a royal fizzbin, but the headline on the news distracted Sam out of her actions.
The headline read in big letters, THREATS FROM RUSSIA. Sam's eyebrows rise as the news girl begins to speak.
"Tom, there's been talk about a new way of warship in Russia." The girl says. "According to the letters we have gotten, they are making some kind of…virus."
"Virus?" Sam echoes.
"What kind of virus?" Tom asks. "What is the government releasing?"
"The president is releasing actual copies of the letters we have received. He is planning to stop all immigration from anywhere in Asia. But that isn't all." The girl says to the camera, her eyes round with terror.
"What, then?" Tom asks.
"We have, erm, we have reason to believe that the virus may already be in this country." She says softly. "Why else would Russia tell us? Unless our fate is already sealed."
Sam knows that Freddie was staring at her reaction. She was gripping the pillow tighter and tighter as she watches this. She shakes it off. "Come on," She says. "It's all bluff. The virus isn't here yet, and it won't be."
"How can you say that?" Freddie gaps. "This is serious!"
"I know that!" Sam snaps. "But no one is sick or anything. And it'll be easy to make antibiotics."
"Sam, antibiotics are for bacterial infections. Not for viruses." Freddie says softly.
"Then they can make a vaccine."
"A vaccine is only good if they aren't sick yet." Freddie points out.
Sam grips his wrists and stares at him intensely, feeling a mix of fear and anger crawl up her spine. "No one will get sick!"
Freddie glances down at where their hands meet, then back up to Sam's eyes. "Still. I just thought you should know."
Sam lets go of Freddie's wrists and crosses her legs over the table. "Trust me," Sam says. "It's all just hype. It's like the Swine Flu, or things like that. It gets so feared, and then boom. It's never a big deal." She looks back at Freddie. "We have nothing to worry about."
(A/N: Nothing against Russia XD I just needed a country that makes this virus.)