KAT'S POV
The knocking on the door almost sounds foreign. It's been so long since people have stopped knocking, instead breaking down doors and windows to grab what they want. I expect that more than I expect somebody to simply knock on my door, like they're still a civilized human being. The dead start to walk, and within two weeks everything starts to crumble. Jesus. The CDC claims to be working on a cure, but by the time they actually find one, it'll be too late. And besides, what's the probability that they'll swoop in and clean up the streets of Annapolis, Maryland in time? Doubtful.
My footsteps echo on the wooden stairs as I descend to the bottom floor, where the knocking has intensified. I aim my father's shotgun at the door, waiting for the people behind it to kick it in any second now. Honestly i'm surprised that the frosted windows on both sides of the door remain intact. I hear muffled words. Yelling, I realize. Should I open the door? It could be somebody that needs help, but at the same time it could be a whole group of thugs trying to lure me into opening the door.
"Don't!" My dad whispers, standing off to the side in his pajamas, which consist of a plain white top and plad PJ pants. "Those could be dangerous people!"
"They could need help!" I whisper back. "And I have this, remember." I nod to my shotgun.
"You don't even know how to use that damn thing!"
"So? How hard can it be?"
"Maybe they'll just go away! We need to conserve resources Kathrine!" Dad reaches for his shotgun, but I monuver it out of his reach.
"We need to at least try to help them! We're not bad people!"
I rest my hand on the door knob. Well, here goes nothing. I take a deep breath and open the door. Outside, I see three people looking panicked and flustered. The leader of the small group is a tall black man with short dreadlocks, wearing baggy jeans and a Baltimore Ravens jersey. Flanking his sides are two black women who appear to be sisters. Both have the same big blue eyes, the same sleek black hair falling past their shoulders, the same curvature of their frowns planted on their faces. Both are wearing loose fitting shirts with cheetah print and skinny jeans.
They all raise their hands when they see my shotgun. All three of them appear to be weaponless, but the man could easily be hiding anything under his jersey or behind his back.
"We-we don't mean any trouble, ma'am. We just need somewhere to crash. Our apartment building was, well, overrun." The black man says calmly, pointing to a pillar of smoke in the distance. "I'm Isaac. These are my sisters, Veronica and Vanessa."
"You armed?" In the distance, gunfire erupts, but i'm used to it by this point. The government keeps telling everybody everything will be alright, but I think everybody knows this is the end.
"I got a machete and a pistol on my belt." Isaac replies.
"I gotta knife." Veronica says, popping her bubble gum loudly.
"I need to hold onto them, and you guys can spend a couple nights here." I lower my shotgun. "I'm Kathrine Hughes, but everybody calls me Kat. This is my dad, Dave." I pull dad into the doorframe, and he waves reluctantly. A strained "Hello" escapes past his fake smile.
"Nice to meet you, Kat and Dave Hughes." Isaac extends his hand. I shake it with great caution, but he doesn't try to pull anything. His grasp is soft, nothing like I expect. He pulls a machete out of his belt, along with a pistol and hand them both to me. Veronica pulls her knife out of her boot and gives that to me as well.
"Well, c'mon in. You guys hungry?"
"Yes ma'am." Isaac replies, smiling a smile with bright white teeth. All three of them walk in slowly, checking out their new surroundings. If they were to show up a couple weeks ago, I would have gladly let them stay here until they could move back into their apartment. Times are changing, though, and I have to be cautious. No more get togethers with new neighbors or making friends.
"The dining room's over there." I say, pointing to the left, where the white carpeting turns into hardwood floor. "We'll be having lunch in a little bit. The living room is just past the dining room, if you want to wait there. Watch some news or whatever. We have Netflix." I'm surprised that we even still have electricity, but Dad says that it'll probably go out soon.
"I think we'll do that then." Isaac says. "Do you want us to take off our shoes?"
I'm taken aback by his peculiar question. "Yeah. Just set 'em by the door I guess. Don't wanna scratch the hardwood floor." I throw on a smile for effect. It works. The three of them slip out of their boots, walking around the corner to the dining room. A couple seconds later, I hear the TV turn on.
"What do you think you're doing? We're not running some kind of hotel here!" Dad grumbles, dragging me by my arm halfway up the stairs. I pull away.
"They needed help! And besides, they seem like nice people! Isaac asked if they should take off their shoes. Who does that anymore? Huh? We have their weapons, it'll be alright! Anything fishy happens, and we'll kick them out. Okay?"
"Has it crossed your mind that they might be lulling us into a false sense of safety? Lay low and strike when we don't expect it?"
"Well, I-" When my Dad starts to rant, he rants long and hard.
"It's not like how it was anymore. People are changing. People aren't staying dead, and the government is falling apart. Have you not seen the footage from Houston? Madison? New York? Atlanta? It's getting worse everyday, and we can't just start letting people into OUR home just because they need help! Open your eyes! The whole world needs help!"
"Dad, please, just let them stay for one night? I'll stay up and watch them. If anything happens i'll call the cops."
"The cops have much bigger problems right now." Dad sighs. "Fine, one night. However, if I see any sign of trouble, they leave immediately. Deal?"
"Deal." I hand him the weapons, which he puts in his room.
When we return downstairs, Isaac and his sisters are sitting on our big L shaped couch, watching one of the many 24/7 news broadcasts. Dad stays in the dining room, preparing sandwiches for everybody. I sit down on the empty side of the couch, kicking my feet up on the arm rest, resting my shotgun on the floor next to me.
"Man, it's getting worse out there everyday." Vanessa or Veronica, I can't tell, remarks.
"I hope Dad's okay." The other sister says.
"Where is he? Your dad?" I ask.
"Oh, he's somewhere around Macon, Georgia. Haven't heard from him in a while." Isaac says, eyes still focused on the broadcast on TV. A debate between a couple nameless senators is going on, interjected with shots of dead hordes moving through streets all over the United States. Those things look pretty nasty, even when the news station blurs out the bad parts. A couple more gunshots echo in the distance.
"It's just insane, don't you think? People coming back from the dead and all." I say, shaking my head as the people on TV spew conspiracy theories.
"Yeah, I know...I just wonder how it started. I mean, it has to be some kind of virus or something." Isaac says.
"Maybe it's airborne." One of the sisters chimes in.
"Could be, Vanessa, but then wouldn't we all get sick?"
"Who knows."
"Somebody must." Veronica says.
I feel my phone vibrating before it starts to ring. By the time I pull it out of my jeans, a stanza of Pokerface is already finished. A picture of my best friend Courtney and I from out trip to Florida last summer shows on the screen.
"Hey!" I say, putting the phone up to my ear.
"Hi Kat." Courtney sounds sad, completely unlike her usual happy, outgoing self. I pick up on it immediately.
"What's going on? Everything okay?"
"Well, not really...do you mind if I come over? Crash at your place for a while?"
"Of course, Court! Whatever you need. Do you wanna talk about what happened?"
"When I get to your place. I'll be there in like 20 minutes okay? Bye." When I end the conversation, I realize that the conversation in the room has died down.
"Who was that?" Dad asks, carrying in a tray loaded with sandwiches and plates. Isaac and his sisters each grab a plate and a sandwich.
"Courtney. She's coming over." I say as I grab a plate myself. Dad nods, heading back into the kitchen. He returns a few moments later with chips and drinks. I move my legs so he can sit down. Everybody but Dad focuses on the TV. He plays around with his food, casting glances towards our guests every couple seconds.
"How about we turn something else on?" I ask happily.
"Please. This is depressing." Vanessa says, handing me the remote. I turn on Netflix, probably the only way to watch TV without getting reminded of the shitstorm that's happening all over the country. After some debate, we settle on watching Silver Linings Playbook. The sandwiches are gobbled up quickly, and the overall mood goes from tense to relaxed over the course of the movie. It turns out that Vanessa is a huge, huge, huge Jennifer Lawrence fan, so we end up watching The Hunger Games immediately following Silver Linings Playbook. When we're done with the movie, it's dark out.
Dad gets up, stretching his back and legs. Oh, the perks of being old. He makes his nightly runs around the house, locking all of the windows and turning off all of the lights. He starts pushing some of the cabinets and dressers in front of the windows as well, struggling to move them by himself. Isaac sees this, wordlessly walking over and helping him finish.
A couple casual knocks on the door jars everybody out of the relaxed mood. Isaac pushes Dad back a couple feet, peering out of the frosted glass window.
"A young woman with a couple bags. Doesn't have any weapons as far as I can see." He reports.
"Is she blonde?" I ask, realizing who it is.
"Yeah."
"That would be Courtney, my friend." I awkwardly rush towards the door, handing Dad his shotgun. Courtney's face lights up when I open the door.
"Kat! Oh my god, I was afraid something happened!" She drops her bags and pulls me into a hug. She's dressed in a light North Face coat and jeans, but she still feels frigid cold.
"Girl you're cold! Get in here!" I pull her inside, grabbing some of her bags. "Have you been outside all day? You were supposed to be here hours ago."
"Yeah, I got in a little trouble down at the stupid gas station. There were these huge freaking lines at the gas stalls, so I parked and went inside to get some stuff. When I came back out, my car was gone!" Courtney shrugs off her coat, placing it on the coat hanger. Her blonde hair falls in greasy tangles down to her shoulders.
"You walked all the way here?"
"Had to. Nobody would fucking give me a ride."
"Oh my god, do you know how dangerous that is with all those things out there? Why didn't you call?" If i'd have known Courtney had to walk halfway across town when it's bordering on complete anarchy, woah, I wouldn't have let that happen. It's scary out there.
"Didn't have any service. Stupid towers were down or something. And these guys kept following me, so I had to run around the block a couple times to loose them." She sighs. "I didn't even have time to take a shower today."
"Oh you poor thing." I rub her shoulder.
"Wait, you said some guys followed you?" Isaac implores.
"Yeah, three guys in all black. I'm sorry, but I don't think I know you..."
"I'm Isaac. Are you sure they didn't follow you here?" Isaac sounds worried, and I understand why now.
"I don't think so, why?"
"Dad, put something in front of the door." I say. Isaac goes to help him right away.
"Wait, you think they could still be around here somewhere?" Courtney asks.
"Just being cautious." I say. "Why don't we get some of your stuff upstairs?"
Dad and Isaac end up pushing the dining room table in front of the door, setting it up on its side so it also covers the frosted windows on either side. I help get Courtney situated in one of the guest rooms upstairs. Once i'm done with that, I show Vanessa and Veronica to their room. Isaac opts to sleep on the couch, in case anything happens.
"You better watch him." Dad tells me sternly, handing me his shotgun.
"I will." Dad glances at me one last time before he goes upstairs. I sit halfway up the stairs, in position to watch the door and hear if Isaac decides to do anything funny. I doubt it though. He seems like a genuinely nice guy.
Nothing happens within the first hour, so I resort to playing on my phone. I don't remember falling asleep, but I must have, because I nearly fall down the stairs when i'm jolted awake by the sound of breaking glass.