Author's Note: Videos for characters canon and original, can be found on my Youtube channel via the link on my profile.
Day 23
Before
Alice stood on tip-toe, making the plastic crate tip precariously, her hand instinctively flying upwards and grabbing the sill for support. She held her breath for a moment, watching the last rays of the sun struggle through the gaps between the planks of the boarded up window, before letting go of the sill and leaping to the ground. It was a ritual she performed every evening without fail, twenty-three evenings to be exact, ever since the world had fallen and the army had quartered her family and their fellow survivors in the basement of an office building.
Braid swinging, she set off back to the makeshift cubicle that she shared with her family, long limbs moving with a clumsy grace. Lost in thought, she didn't see Abram until it was too late, colliding with him at full force.
"Whoa!" Abram exclaimed, steadying her, his other hand holding his storm lantern aloft, the amber light flickering over her face. "Where's the fire, kid?"
Alice blinked up at him. "Sorry," she said dazedly, "I wasn't thinking."
"You mean you weren't looking," Abram corrected her, amused despite himself. He had been a schoolteacher before the end of the world, only to become separated from his boyfriend during the ensuing chaos, never to see him again. After falling in with the group, Abram had set aside his grief and assumed responsibility for the children's education, determined to establish a sense of normalcy for them despite their tenuous existence, and Alice was his star pupil despite her occasional falls from grace.
"True," Alice mused, face thoughtful.
"C'mon then, kid," Abram said, steering her on, "it's getting late." He escorted her to the main living area, setting the storm lantern down atop the metal table some of the other members of the group were gathered around, its scarred surface littered with half empty tins and dirty cutlery.
"Did you put the 'NO ENTRY' sign up?" Liz asked, her wavy blonde hair falling across her face as she leant over the table and picked up the communal radio, its bright red façade cutting an incongruous note amidst their grim surroundings.
"Yeah," Abram said abruptly, not looking at Liz. There had been an awkward interlude two nights ago when she'd slipped into his cubicle, intent on seducing him, having mistaken their friendly banter for flirting. He had rejected her firmly but gently, giving no reason other than he wasn't interested. Liz had shrugged it off, but he still felt uneasy around her, sensing that underneath her apparent equanimity, she resented being rebuffed. But he refused to explain his rejection of her advances, believing that no meant no regardless of his romantic preferences.
Liz glanced at the others, dark brows drawing together. "Well, just a heads-up," she warned, startling Abram, "Jean's complaining about her crowbar going missing, seems to think you took it."
"I certainly don't have it."
"Well, the team are going on a run tomorrow," Liz said, shaking her hair back, "Matias is leading, so I'll ask him to keep an eye out for another crowbar."
"Sure," Abram said disinterestedly, watching Alice instead as she wandered over to one of the pillars. The number 23 had been chalked on it in large white figures, proudly celebrating their survival. But to Alice it just meant another day of exile, damning them to the darkness.
"You don't sound too enthusiastic," Liz remarked as she cranked the radio lever round, her change of tone making Abram glance sharply at her.
"Well, Matias doesn't seem capable of clearing a table when asked," Abram said coolly, gesturing to the abandoned tins and cutlery, "never mind leading a run responsibly."
"Point taken," Liz said abruptly, putting the radio down. "But I don't exactly see you rushing to volunteer to go out on runs."
"Hey, I pull my weight in here."
"But not out there," Liz said smartly, switching the radio on, filling the air with static. Abram shook his head, before turning on his heel and heading back to his cubicle. Liz watched him go before turning her attention back to the radio, tilting her head to the side, brow furrowing. A recorded message was filtering through in fits and starts, the woman's voice almost overwhelmed by static, distorting her words.
Attention. This is an emergency evacuation order…
"How's it going, kid?" Liz asked as Alice wandered back over, eying the radio doubtfully.
The Army has secured downtown Baltimore…
"Same old, same old," Alice said, leaning against the table.
Remain calm and follow the instructions of emergency personnel…
"What are you reading now?"
Proceed with caution… Watch for downed power lines…
"Little Women."
If you have found shelter outside the city, stay where you are and await further instruction…
"Good stuff," Liz said distractedly, flinching as sirens began to wail, intermingling with the cries of the dead wandering outside. "I wish the Army would quit with that shit," she snapped, pushing the hair out of her eyes, "every fucking night they let loose and for what? It just riles the deadies up even more."
"Sound attracts the dead," Alice said, straightening up. "Thought the Army would have figured that out by now."
"Rule Number One oh One, huh?"
Alice nodded before turning and wandering over to her family's cubicle, drawing aside the tattered tartan curtain, revealing her father and little sister huddled on the mattress, Lydia clutching her Jellycat rabbit to her chest. "Hey," she said, quickly quelling the flash of jealousy that flared through her at the sight of them sitting together, old habits dying hard with difficulty. Once she had been the apple of her father's eye, but then Lydia had come along, a surprise nobody had foreseen and everything had changed, Lydia becoming their father's favourite.
"Hey there, Ali-Bali," Frank said, brow furrowing, "everything alright?"
"Yeah," Alice lied, tracing a pattern in the dust with the toe of her trainer.
Frank studied her before letting the lie go. "You seen your mother anywhere?" he then asked uneasily, glancing past Alice. "She said she was going to find some extra blankets from the stores, but that was an hour or so ago."
"I don't know," Alice said, shrugging her shoulders, "she's probably talking to people."
"Hmmm," Frank said, scrunching up his eyes, "your mother's many things but a social butterfly she ain't." Alice just shrugged her shoulders again, making Frank study her more closely. "Caleb brought over some Sweet Valley High books for you," he then said carefully, "he said Sara had promised to lend you them."
A dull flush spread across Alice's sallow skin. "She's a fast reader," she said evasively as she sat down on the edge of the mattress, averting her face as she did, "faster than me even."
"Well, Caleb's a good kid," Frank said, smoothing down Lydia's dark hair, "but he's a boy shouldering a man's burden."
"What else is he supposed to do?" Alice flared up. "His parents are missing, probably dead, and he's got two sisters to provide for. Nobody's going to hold his hand for him."
"Don't take that tone with me, Alice."
"I just did."
Frank looked at her for a long moment. "Jeesh," he then said, exhaling sharply. "You're having the terrible teens early, aren't you?"
"Well, it's true what I said about Caleb," Alice retorted, face flushing again, "he had to step up, and he did."
"Who had to step up what?" Deborah said as she came into the cubicle, shoving the curtain aside, startling them all.
"We were just talking, Ma," Alice said quickly, avoiding her mother's accusing eyes.
"Talkin' about who exactly?"
"Caleb," Lydia said innocently, finally speaking up, making Alice glare at her.
"You hangin' around that boy, again, Alice?" Deborah said, rounding on her. "What did I say to you about stayin' away from that family?"
"Caleb just brought over some books," Frank interjected. "He didn't mean any harm."
"Well, you can take them right back," Deborah said, rounding on her husband this time, "I don't want him sniffin' around my daughter."
"C'mon, Debbie," Frank cajoled, drawing Lydia to him, "it isn't like that. He's just being friendly, that's all."
"Is that the way of it, missie?" Deborah fired at Alice, who just hunched her shoulders, mouth mutinous. "Is his passion platonic, pure?"
"Hey, even at the end of the world, the kid needs friends," Frank said, frowning, "so just let it drop, okay?"
Deborah just looked at him, her pale eyes strangely amused. "Fine, Frank," she then said sweetly, too sweetly, making Frank shrink into himself, "whatever you say, Frank."
Frank looked away. "Did – did you get the blankets, then?" he said, changing the subject, his hand smoothing down Lydia's dark hair again.
"Well, I went to the stores, and there were no spare blankets," Deborah said, her tone still acidly saccharine, "as you can obviously tell by my empty hands, but Belinda says the team are doin' a run tomorrow. She's gonna ask them to keep an eye out."
"That's good, then," Frank said weakly, cringing as a couple went past, arguing loudly, their raised voices bordering on shouting.
"Keep your cheers down, Romeo and Juliet," Deborah bellowed after them, making the man glare at her over his shoulder before dragging his wife away. "I swear to God, I'm gonna lose it in here," she complained, impatiently pushing her hennaed hair out of her face. "Twenty-three days. Twenty-three goddamn days!"
"We know, Ma," Alice snapped. "We can count , y'know."
"Well, it's nice to know at least one of my daughters isn't an imbecile," Deborah said with a scathing look at Lydia, who struggled with her schooling, before and after the end of the world.
Frank just glanced down at the ground, Lydia leaning her head against his chest, still clutching her Jellycat rabbit for comfort.
"Lay off Ladybug," Alice said tiredly, getting to her feet. "She's just a stupid baby."
"Stupid bein' the operative word."
Alice rolled her eyes. "Were you a genius at five, Ma?" she said, ducking as Deborah made to cuff her around the ear.
"Enough of your smart mouth," Deborah snapped, glancing around her, becoming distracted. "Can you lot not at least keep this dump tidy or do I have to do everythin' myself?" she spat, making Frank flinch. "Look at the state of the place!"
Alice slid unseen out of the cubicle as her mother ranted on, ignoring the concerned looks of the others as she moved, her mother's voice fading into background noise. Everything she knew may have ended, but nothing had changed, not really.
Need a place to hide, but I can't find one near
Wanna feel alive, outside I can fight my fear...