Mike watched with a feeling of slight worry that he cleverly masked behind one of his trademark grins as he watched Molly and Nick ascend the stairs. It wasn't that difficult, it seemed; Molly was probably helping herself out more than she realized, as Nick didn't seem to be having any trouble helping her around. Either way, Mike just wanted her back in his arms again. Then he'd know for sure how well she was doing.
The food scavenger hunt had proved satisfactory (Cheetos!) and it looked that despite the whole "End of the World" thing, they were all at least going to eat well. The rest of the group who had participated in the hunt, and the two that had not, were already in the master bedroom, waiting for Nick's next instructions, probably. Mike wondered briefly how Chad and Ashley would react to the fact that there was some random person running around in a house across the street.
The pair arrived at the top of the stairs, and Nick gave a nod of greeting, as he passed Molly to Mike; she clung to her boyfriend gladly, also smiling slightly, "May I sleep now?" she asked, obviously ready to black out at any moment.
Mike glanced up at Nick, waiting for his reply; Nick nodded again, "Yeah... I want you both to get some rest in that room right there," he pointed at one of the rooms that had previously belonged to one of Ashley's cousins, "Just get some sleep. It doesn't look like we'll be going anywhere for a bit, so go ahead and get comfortable." Nick finished, remotely, as if not entirely there. Mike realized that his friend must have absolutely loads of things on his mind.
"Okay," Mike said, leading Molly into the room that Nick had pointed at; the second bedroom door down the hall on the left, as Nick followed silently down the lengthy hall.
"Oh," Mike remembered, turning his head slightly to glance at Nick as he and Molly were just about to enter the bedroom, "Could you be a dear and grab me that bag of Cheetos? That'd be awesome."
Nick nodded, "Yeah... Two seconds," he said, glancing up and spotting Chad in the master bedroom. Nick turned back to Mike and Molly, nodded once, and quickly made his way to where Chad stood, half in and half out of sight in the master bedroom, waiting patiently for Nick to cross the few feet between them and inform him of any new updates.
Mike watched with detached interest as he held Molly tightly to him, as Nick made it the short distance to Chad and the two exchanged mild-mannered greetings, as though meeting by complete surprise in a park or other public place, before they left view completely, discussing what could only be more bad news that the T.V. was probably force-feeding the world. It was impressive that with at least two thirds of the populace of world now "zombified" or whatever it could be called, that the news was still around, giving reports, telling of impending doom, and other such things. All in a day's work.
Mike sighed inwardly, forcing the truth of all matters that now had any importance from his mind; they were all too depressing, and he didn't particularly feel like confronting them at this moment. All he wanted to do, was get his girlfriend some sleep, maybe get himself some, and just try to forget the world for a few moments.
Molly was nearly asleep on her feet, when Mike directed her, as if she were a robot merely accepting the most basic of orders, to the bedroom that Nick had assigned them.
Mike had been to early in his assessment that it was one of Ashley's cousin's rooms; he had forgotten completely that this room was, in fact, the guest bedroom. Painted with relaxing earthly tones, and neatly furnished, it felt more at home than a motel or hotel room, but less so than someone's actual bedroom. In other words, it was a perfect detachment from emotion, and would be a good place to relax. Mike helped Molly to the queen sized double bed, placed neatly in the far corner of the room. And he helped her remove the holster for the Glock 17, pulled the covers back, and helped her slide beneath them.
She was asleep almost instantly. She was most beautiful when she was asleep, Mike noted for the thousandth time, as he quickly found himself staring at her.
Though she was already perfect while awake, she seemed even more so as she slept, oblivious to everything around her. Which was a good thing, Mike realized, as most things around them right now were the most terrifying things the planet had ever known.
Mike placed the holstered Glock 17 on the bedside table where a digital clock beamed red numbers into the world, and where a basic, unlit lamp sat silently, waiting to be used. He then pulled the 870 shotgun from his back, propped it against the same table, pulled the Colt .45 from it's respective holster on his belt, checked the safety, and re-holstered it without a second thought.
No way in hell was he ever to be completely unarmed. No way, would he ever be separated from a firearm from now on. Especially with the thing that mattered most to him sleeping mere inches away.
Mike sighed to himself again, as he crawled around Molly onto the bed, and took the spot farther from the door. He didn't get under the covers. He didn't need to.
He shut his eyes, and tried to let to world become as oblivious to him, as he would like to be to it.
-----------------------------------------
"So? What's new?" Chad asked Nick eagerly as he approached, Mike watching with slight interest in the background.
Nick looked hagged, the weight of the undead world perched precariously on his shoulders was how Chad imagined his best friend must feel.
"Couple things new," Nick reported, not fully showing that he knew Chad was there.
The two walked side by side several feet into the room, where Tracy and Ashley sat side by side on the bed, their attention absorbed by the T.V., and Ali, who sat on the floor as far from everyone as possible.
No one was talking.
Nick changed that, suddenly pulling himself back into reality, and becoming the leader once again.
"Alright, Ashley and Chad..." Nick started, everyone looked at Nick when he spoke. Even Tracy and Ali, who weren't addressed, and already knew what was going on anyway, "When we were downstairs, I saw someone in one of the houses across the street. I don't know if it was a person or not."
There was scarcely a pause before Chad shrugged, "So? Why does it even matter?"
"If it's a person we need to help them!" Tracy said, with a look of surprise at Chad's nonchalant remark.
"And if it's one of them, we need to not," Nick added simply.
"So, what do you want to do about it," Chad asked, looking as unconcerned about the whole thing as possible.
It was Nick's turn to shrug, "I don't know... Maybe I'll go over and check. Or maybe if we have to leave here we'll swing by there first. It really doesn't matter yet. I just wanted everyone to know everything I know."
"Fair enough." Chad muttered.
Nick nodded his agreement, "Anyway. There's not a whole lot else we can do. We're just gonna hang tight here. We have enough stuff to live here for a bit, so that's what I think we're gonna do."
Nick trailed off, thinking, "Oh, Mike and Molly are asleep in one of the rooms. You're all welcome to pick a room yourselves and get some rest."
"Here's fine, thank you," Ashley said, glancing back at the T.V. seemingly determined to not leave the device for even a moment.
"Yeah," Tracy agreed, "Here'll work." The two girls were dead-set to stay together.
"Alright..." Nick said, "I'll be in one of the rooms myself. If anything changes--" he gestured to the T.V., "--let me know."
Nick whirled around, remembering, and spotted the row of grocery bags. He made his way there, and began searching through them.
Chad watched him curiously, as Ashley and Tracy remained silent watching the T.V., and Ali remained even more silent in the far corner of the room, lost in her own world.
With a small grin of satisfaction, Nick extracted the package of Cheetos from one of the brown bags, and he quickly turned to leave, catching Chad's inquisitive eye as he did so.
"It was a request," Nick muttered.
"Ah," Chad replied, glancing back at the T.V.; the news was not at all good, "Hey, I think I'll join ya in a couple minutes, if that's alright."
"Yeah... I'll be in one of the bedrooms. I'll be fine by myself, and I'm sure Ali will be fine in here," Nick said, cutting off what he assumed (correctly) would've been a protest from Chad.
"Okay, man. Whatever," Chad said, "See ya in a couple."
Nick nodded, and left the room. it didn't take him long to reach the bedroom where Molly and Mike were, as he pushed the door the rest of the way open.
At first glance, it appeared as though both Molly and Mike were sound asleep, and Nick decided to not give any kind of verbal greeting; best to just leave them alone. They needed rest, as did everyone else here, in Nick's opinion.
Nick slowly made his way into the bedroom, noticing the black vest full of magazines for the M4 and the M4 itself; how the weight he was unused to just a few hours ago had now become like a part of him. He noticed almost at once the Glock 17 (now in Molly's possession) and the 870 shotgun (of course Mike's) sitting and leaning on the bedside table along with a digital clock that was angled so Nick couldn't see the time. Nick deposited the half empty (half-full?) bag of Cheetos on the table next to the holstered Glock. He then took one last look at his apparently sleeping companions, and turned to leave.
He had gotten a few paces, just to the threshold of the door, when a voice behind him muttered a sleepy "Thanks."
Nick knew instantly it was Mike, has he turned his head to face his friend. Mike, looking not sleepy but ready to sleep, grinned his thanks, as he carefully reached over his sound asleep girlfriend and plucked the bag from the table. Nick then noticed that Mike had kept the Colt .45 firmly attached to his belt, something Nick vastly approved of.
Nick nodded back, "You're welcome," he kept his voice only several noticed above a whisper, as Mike was doing the same. The sound of their voices in the quite room; in the quiet world around them, sounded much louder than they really were.
"Close the door, would you?" Mike asked, resting his head back on the pillow.
Nick just nodded back as he slowly, and very quietly, closed the door with a slight 'snap'.
----------------
I have only a
few more chapters to go before stuff'll REALLY start happening.
Thanks for being so patient.
Oh, we just hit the one year
anniversary of this story a few days back!