Chapter One

"Zak, where are you?" Jamie shouted from the doorway. "Dinners ready."

There was no answer. Jamie smiled. Zak would be so busy playing with his friends he'd be oblivious to his calling. He was just about to go indoors when he heard the familiar sound of running and a figure stopped in the doorway: A small boy with green hair styled in spikes, wearing a red T Shirt which had once belonged to Jamie and was far too big for him, and a pair of jeans, which were the opposite to the T Shirt and fell just below his knees. His name was Zak, one of the youngest kids on the estate and certainly the most innocent.

"I thought you were out playing?" Jamie commented.

"You said dinner was ready so I came," Zak replied. Jamie smiled. He should have known Zak's ears would pick up that word, he may only have been young but he had the appetite of a teenager.

"Come on in then before it gets cold." Jamie smiled once again. "You go and eat, I'm going out. I'll be back soon."

"Are you going to your girlfriends?" Zak asked, a cheeky smile forming on his face.

"Yes, I'm going to my girlfriends," Jamie rolled his eyes. He had known Joelle since she had moved into the estate about two years before the virus had started. He had wished to be her girlfriend since then but still they remained 'just' friends. Still, he hadn't given up. He was determined that one day what Zak had said would be true.

Joelle was humming softly to herself as she lay on her bed reading a magazine. She didn't know why she carried on reading them. All they did was remind her of the old times. Every time she read one she thought of the people who had written it, and the fact they were never going to print another. She felt tears coming to her eyes and quickly wiped them away, she couldn't stand crying; it made her look like a wimp.  Just as she had stopped the tears from flowing there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said loudly. The door opened and Jamie wandered in. "Who let you in?" she said.

"I let myself in. Sorry." He blushed slightly.

"How did you get in?" she said, panicked.

"Er… Through the door."

"What?!" she shrieked. "I thought I locked it. Anyone could have wandered in!" With that she got to her feet and raced from the room. Jamie grinned, sighed and followed her down to the kitchen. By the time he arrived she had already locked the door securely with two locks and put a pan on the gas stove to boil some water.

"So what's gotten you so stressed out then?" Jamie asked.

"Don't be stupid, I don't get stressed."

"Oh come on!" he commented. "You almost jumped out of your skin when I said I'd come in through the door."

"OK," she admitted. "But don't tell Zak, I don't want him worrying. The scouts have seen someone suspicious hanging around the outside the estate. Watching people going in and out. I don't want him wandering in here and murdering me while I'm asleep or something!"

"If he's been hanging round for a while then why has no one gone and had a word with him?!" Jamie was beginning to get annoyed.

"None of us like fighting," she replied. "We don't want a war. As long as he's not doing anything to harm us then he's fine there for now."

"But you're scared. What right does this stranger have to force us to lock our doors? We've never had to before."

"Then we were careless weren't we? We shouldn't have kidded ourselves that we live in a perfect existence."

Jamie gave up arguing. There was no point trying to win against Joelle. She was strong and could keep going for days without giving in. So he changed the subject.

"Zak was asking about you today," he said suddenly.

"Awww bless him," she smiled. "What did he say?"

Jamie thought about it hard before speaking: "He wanted to know if you were my girlfriend."

"Ha ha!" she laughed. "And what did you tell him?"

"Nothing. I rolled my eyes at him," Jamie began to blush.

"Then you reacted perfectly. I mean, me and you, girlfriend and boyfriend?!" she laughed. "We've known each other far too long for that." Jamie felt his heart sink as the words came from her mouth. For so long he had hoped that there would some day be something between them, and now these hopes had been dashed.

"I'd better get back to Zak," he mumbled and left the house without another word.