Ashley had somewhat recovered. Relatively at least. Complete recovery of the shock mixed with a view of pointless existence would take much, much more time to be accomplished. For now, though, Ashley was perfectly happy (again, a relative term) with her recovery thus far. Not ten minutes ago, she had wept in Chad's arms-- a boy she had just met-- and that had done a great deal to ease her feelings. It's healthy, right? Ashley thought; to cry as such. She had read somewhere long ago that crying actually made you feel better. She didn't know how it all worked, but she did assume that it was a correct theory. She did feel better, that much was sure, just not nearly as much as she would have liked. In fact, it had occurred to her, that in order to feel completely better, she would have to wake up from this dream right now. That would certainly do the trick. Problem was, with each passing moment, it became more and more apparent that dreaming this all up was wishful thinking. The dead had come back to life. As impossible as it seemed, it had happened. No dream, no hallucination, just pure fact. And now Ashley had to deal with it. And crying certainly helped, if only somewhat. But even then, even if it helped, Ashley had forced herself to get a grip. She had to remain strong, right? That's how people survived things like this, by not letting feelings of woe overtake them. Not to mention the small fact she didn't want to be so exposed to some guy she had just met. Talk about bad first impressions.
Somehow dignity had remained miraculously intact throughout the day.
Now Ashley refocused her attention from her introspective self to the world of Apocalypse entertainment: the news. She hadn't moved from her spot in the foot of the bed since she had arrived in the room. Chad had ventured down the hall to check the backyard for any of those... things. At least that was what he had said. He had made two such trips already, and this was his third. He wouldn't spend more than a few minutes in the room, looking nervously out the window, before becoming really jumpy and wanting to check the backyard to clarify their safety in this house. A house that had belonged to family. Her family. It hurt too much to really desire thinking about.
They were all dead. Her aunt and uncle for sure; their remains unceremoniously tucked into some back corner of the house's kitchen where they had both perished. Her cousins... who could really say? Odds were they were just as dead (or undead) as most other people who had inhabited the world just a short time ago.
And her immediate family? Same story. MIA. Dead or worse.
Ashley noticed with mild annoyance that she had once again delved into her own negative thoughts and she chastised herself silently for it. Time to wake up and enter the nightmare of the real world, she thought, turning to stare at the T.V. and forcing her full attention to it.
Same old, same old. Nothing new there, estimated human population counter (abbreviated EHP on the T.V. screen) was ticking ever steadily down. With every passing moment there were less and less humans left on the planet. And along with that, there were more and more of... them.
Ashley mentally gave some kudos to the men and women still running these pointless news broadcasts. Didn't they have family or a home to go to? Were they simply going to wait around to die while informing the world of its own impending doom?
What a way to go. Still, they were only trying to help, and that had to be respected.
Ashley heard a sound, and quickly spun her head, shaking her cropped blond hair out of her face as she did, and a frustrated looking Chad bounded into the room.
"Still ain't any out there, either," he reported looking baffled, "I just don't get it... You'd think they'd be all over the fuckin' place."
Ashley simply shrugged and turned back to the T.V.
"Anything good on?" Chad asked, hoping for a cheery effect.
"What the fuck do you think?", Ashley fired back, glaring at him.
Chad thought about it for a moment, then shrugged it off, understanding the reasons and motivations behind Ashley's outburst, "Just asking."
He realized it wouldn't do anyone any good to help start some kind of argument.
The fact that Chad didn't take the bait and retort something back softened Ashley. She sighed, "I'm sorry... It's just this whole thing..."
"Hey, no problem, man," Chad cut her off, "It's understandable. Really... I just wish I knew where the hell those fuckers got off to."
"What, the zombies, or the rest of our group?" Ashley asked, Tracy and the others coming to mind.
"Both," Chad replied, suddenly thinking of Nick, Mike and the other three downstairs at that very moment, "Yeah... where the fuck are they..?" He asked quietly, mainly speaking to himself. How long could it possibly take to make sure the house was secure?
Chad was just about to consider venturing downstairs to check on everyone's progress, when muffled thumps on the stairs, barely audible, announced that someone was coming.
Chad heard it, Ashley did not; she was far to morbidly enthralled in the end of the world playing out on television.
"Someone's coming," Chad said.
"Kay," Ashley replied, glancing up.
Chad peaked his head around the door, just to make sure it was someone friendly, and Mike suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs down the hallway. He held at least four or five brown paper bags in his hands, and he nodded his head in greeting while flashing a huge grin, as he quickly approached Chad.
What's up, dude?" the big teen asked, "Any news?"
"On what?" Chad asked.
"On anything, I guess," Mike shrugged, "Oh, anything unfriendly running around out there?" he gestured to the window.
"No, nothin'. You believe that?" Chad replied.
"No I don't," Mike said, looking genuinely surprised, "That's fuckin' bizarre."
"Yeah it is," Chad said, as Tracy and Ali filed past the him and Mike as they too entered the room, Uh, what's in the bags..?" Chad asked as Mike moved to drop off the bags next to where Tracy and Ali were putting theirs (next to the side of the bed) and the larger teen turned back to Chad, smiling broader than ever, "It's dinner!... and snack... and probably breakfast.
"Awesome," Chad said, realizing that he could probably do with something to eat. And also wondering where Nick and Molly had gotten off to.
"Be right back," Mike said, answering Chad's question by leaving the room and quickly making his way to the top of the stairs, "Get my girlfriend up here, ya bastard," he said to what had to be Nick and Molly who were apparently still downstairs.
Chad turned back to the three girls who already occupied the room: Tracy was now sitting next to Ashley on the bed and the two were conversing in whispers. Ali, on the other hand, was sitting in the corner of the room, farthest from everything, with her legs pulled up tight against her body, eyes closed, MP5 resting on the floor beside her.
Nothing interesting here, Chad thought turning back to Mike who had been joined by Nick, who was giving considerable help to Molly as she staggered, clutching on to him tightly.
Nick handed the Molly responsibility to Mike, who accepted it gladly, taking his girlfriend in his arms, as Nick pointed to one of the bedrooms, directing where he wanted them. Mike and Molly disappeared into the bedroom, and Nick noticed that Chad was staring at him.
Nick gave a small wave, as he approached, "Anything new?"
"Yeah, I keep getting asked that, and believe it or not, there is nothing new happening here or anywhere else as far as I can tell," Chad replied, "Your end?"
"We got food. Dig in," Nick gestured to the paper bags, "Oh, Chad, Ashley, pay attention... There's someone across the street in one of the houses. We don't know if it's human or not, but I'm sure there's someone over there."
"Well, fuck! What're we gonna do about it?" Chad asked, wondering what this group could possibly do about it. Mount a rescue operation, perhaps? Then again, what could they possibly do?
"No idea. Just keep an eye on it, that's all," Nick replied, looking worn.
"Who spotted this?" Chad questioned his best friend eagerly.
"Uh, that was me," Nick replied, "It was there, and then it was gone. It looked like a person, that's all I really know."
"Shit... Well, I'll keep any eye on it, man."
Nick nodded his thanks, "Anything else moving out there?"
Chad shook his head, "No, man. Not one goddamn thing."
"That's so strange," Nick said absent-midendly.
"Yeah, I know, dude," Chad said, playing with the M1 on his back slightly, moving it into a more comfortable position, "So... what now?.."
The three girls, who had paid close attention (Ali slightly less) to the entire conversation between the pair of friends really paid attention now. Everyone obviously wanted to know what would happen to them next.
"Plan is, we get something to eat, keep an eye on the T.V. and the house across the street, get some sleep, and see if any of this bullshit has gotten better by tomorrow... As of now, all we're doing is waiting. I'm hoping the military will be able to sort this shit out and restore a semblance of order. We have enough right here to survive for a bit, but as of now it's just a siege. We wait; see if it improves. If it doesn't, I don't even know what... Anyway, Molly and Mike or down the hall, and they're getting some rest, I suggest you all do the same."
Nick stepped over to the grocery bags, and dug through them for a few moments, before pulling out an open bag of Cheetos and heading to the door.
"Mike requested these," he said simply, leaving the room.
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Righto. Just so y'all know, they'll be out of the house and on the run again two to four chapters from now, and that's when it really starts getting exciting. I'm impressed you people haven't gotten completely bored...
Anyway, 'til next time!