Chapter Four - Meet and Greet
As we step into the garden, I notice a shed at the end.
"So you weren't joking about living in a shed, eh." Freddie snickers and looks to me.
"Looks can be deceiving, yeah. Just you see how big it is inside." We continue to walk until he stops me abruptly.
"Careful, we have traps laid out.." It's only then that I notice just how secure this seemingly available garden is. I see devices that look a lot like bear traps, and thin wires around the perimeter. I then see as we step closer, that there is a very tall and very see through metal fence with lines of barbed wire at the top.
"How did I not see this?"
"It's good, right? Any passer-by's will see nothing out of the ordinary, and it keeps the dead out. JJ actually installed some motion sensors and cameras around, so smile; you're on CCTV." A strained laugh escapes my mouth at the absurdity of this, but I suppose I'm not one to judge. I clearly have no idea the level of security that people have to install these days. My eyes continue to register the metal fence that circulates the shed, noting how high tech it is as Freddie approaches the gate. I see a comprehensive code lock and turn away to respect his privacy as he punches the digits. It jolts open and he pushes it further, offering me a smirk.
"Your humble abode awaits." He reaches out and takes the bags I am carrying, ushering me into the confines. He closes the gate door behind him and steps forward, balancing the bags with his own as he reaches to open the door of the shed, which flies open.
"What the fuck, Freddie? Who the hell is this?!"
"Katie, keep it down yeah, you don't want to attract attention. Let's just go inside-"
"Like fuck this bitch is coming inside."
"Katie-"
"No, you shut up, the lot of you!"
"For fuck sake." Freddie then pushes me forward, which in turn makes me collide with this wide eyed monster, forcing us into the residence. Freddie then moves forward, closing the shed door behind him, and he resumes conversation - yet I pay no attention. I look around the shed, not quite understanding how it can be this big when it looks rather small on the outside. I then feel someone push me backwards, and I groan, feeling the sharp pain in my shoulder.
"Katie, she's been in hospital, think you could ease up on her, yeah?"
"Like fuck I will. You can't just collect stray dogs off the street without talking to me first." Nice. I roll my eyes at her and continue to look around, not daring to speak, even though I really want to return the favour to this trolls face. Her brown hair cascades down her stern looking face, and for a fraction of a second I swear she looks like the girl from The Ring, you know, the one coming out of the TV.
"Oh whizzer, we have company! I'm Pandora, but you can call me Panda. I'm useless but that's okay, because we can have fun together, can't we! This is JJ, but you already know who he is, such a cutie pie! And Freddie, he's super-duper but won't surf and turf with anyone but Katie. And this is Katie, she's not always a bitch, but she does remind me of a cat, all meow and ra-ra, isn't that right Katie-boo? Oh, and Emily! She's Katie's twin and they're like totally identical in everything, isn't that right?" I look to this 'Panda', trying to understand the verbal diarrhea that's coming out of this person's mouth. She seems very childlike in how she represents herself. Her blonde hair is in scrunches, which further enforces just how young she looks, almost to the point of being naïve.
"Okay-dokey, let me show you around the shed!"
"Uhh, Panda."
"Oh. Am I getting ahead of myself?"
"Just a bit." I look to the girl who is Emily and then back to Panda, trying to comprehend everything still. I do a double take to Emily before my eyes fall back to Katie. They share a resemblance, but their features differ significantly. I feel their eyes look to me as I allow my gaze to drop to the floor, one pair seemingly compassionate while the other stares with nothing but contempt. I feel a gentle hand pat my shoulder, which makes me flinch slightly, more so because I don't like to be touched rather than the injury itself.
"Sorry.. Look, guys… I'm just, she woke up in hospital and has no idea what's going on. She needs us as much as we need her. Everyone just unpack everything that we've got, yeah. And before you say anything Katie, I got you some fucking hair dye, so pipe down with your attitude." I watch as Katie growls slightly, which causes me in turn to glare in retaliation. She moves away and walks past everyone else who stands there. I note how we must be standing in the very dim living room, as a couch is across from us. It's a rather spacious room, and it must have at least one connecting room because I then hear a door slam.
"I'll go check on her." The raspy sounding girl, Emily, says. She continues to look at me though, pondering something, before she smiles gently at me and leaves. I hear a soft click of the door in the distance indicating she has gone. I turn to my left see Panda near JJ in the kitchen area, and I only just register the kitchen now, which happens to merge with this room. JJ stands behind an isle and seems to be drinking something rather quickly.
"We're gonna run out of Mango juice at this rate, JJ."
"Yes well, this has expired anyway, so what's the point!"
"Jay."
"No, you've put our lives in danger by doing this, Freddie. No offense, Naomi, but… Oh sugar, this is too much." He then quickly leaves the room, followed by an apologetic looking Panda. Freddie exhales and moves the bags to where others are in the room.
"Are you hungry, thirsty?"
"No."
"Right." He stands there, looking somewhat disgruntled, twirling his thumbs and deciding on where to go from here.
"You should take a seat." He gestures towards the couch, which looks to be a right hand facing 4 seater corner sofa. I sit down slowly and turn back to him.
"Any fags?" Freddie laughs at this and fishes out a tin from his pocket.
"Stuff like that is running scarce these days.. But I have something better." He then produces a spliff, which makes me chuckle a bit.
"Well that'll do, I suppose." He smiles to me and lights it up, taking a shot before handing it to me. He then takes a seat down next to me, giving me some space, but sitting close enough to show that he is there. I take a drag and exhale slowly, allowing the chemicals to take effect.
"It's been too long."
"How long is too long?" I remain silent at his question, and return the spliff. He simply shrugs and takes another drag. We sit in silence for a while, with the occasional noise being made from one of the rooms: I'm guessing Katie is still pissed off with my presence.
"It's been like this for a couple months now. It just sort of happened. Don't really know how to explain it. One minute we were all going to college, the next it was fucking chaos. People screaming, falling, getting bit.. We managed to get out of there and just run; fuck knows why we ran here… My dad and sister were nowhere to be found inside the house, but.. Then…." He stops his story, the fag hanging from his fingers as it idly burns away. His face contorts.
"What?"
"I noticed something moving around in the garden.. It was him, but it wasn't him. He was just moving around, all sluggish and.. It was only when he faced me that I knew: he was one of them. No colour, no life, nothing.. I lost a dad that day."
"I'm sorry..."
"So yeah, it had to be done. Got all the shit we'd need and moved to the shed, it's always been my sanctuary really. Karen and dad, well.. They wanted the house, because… She was expecting... We made extensions on the shed, so I could live here with Katie, have our own place, you know?" His jaw clenches as he takes another drag.
"Could be an uncle, but I wouldn't know." My mouth switches nervously, not knowing what to say. I merely reach out and awkwardly pat his knee once. He nods slightly with a small smile, appreciating the gesture.
"So yeah, we've hid out here ever since. We tried going places, to see about everyone's families, you know? But none were there. Panda's mum, JJ's parents, Katie and Emily's parents and brother… All gone with no way of knowing whether they're alive or dead."
"So it just happened? No signs? Nothing mentioned in the news?" Freddie then extinguishes the last embers of the spliff and turns to me with a shrug.
"JJ tried to do some research to see how it came about, but all that was known were some isolated cases on TV about people randomly biting people. No answers, no reasons why or what exactly caused this to happen. Whether it's a virus or something, we have no idea. And trust me, JJ knows his stuff. This is just beyond anything possible." I exhale profoundly and lean back against the sofa, feeling rather tired all of a sudden.
"What we do know is that it takes a strike to the head for them to stop moving."
"How did you learn that?" He turns from me, his countenance hard.
"Had to start somewhere." I grimace at this, before noting a tear fall down his cheek, which he is quick to remove from his face.
"Look, why don't you take the couch for tonight, we'll sort out living arrangements tomorrow. We only have two rooms, the girls in one and us boys in the other.. They just need some time to come to terms, okay?" He then stands up and puts his tin away into his back pocket. He signals with his arms down the hallway.
"The door on the left is where I'll be, the door on the right is where the girls are and straight ahead at the very end is the toilet. Have to manually flush the toilet, but it does the trick. There's food in the cupboards if you want anything, but we prefer to ration and eat together. There's bottled water and other drinks around. There are some blankets just there; the couch should be big enough for you to sleep." He smirks at me and moves away.
"Just breathe and take everything in, yeah. We'll speak tomorrow; get your side of the story, and Naomi?" I stop from picking up the blankets to look at him.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry you had to wake up to this." He then turns and leaves the room, entering the bedroom he shares with JJ. I sit back and pull the blankets over me, adjusting the cushions to use as pillows. I lie there in the darkening room and will for my eyes to close, but they don't. The images from earlier today play over and over in my head, the way the girl snapped her teeth at me like I was food, the way the man just smashed his face through the glass door and the way the man had no arm and yet felt no pain. It's too much, but I feel myself drift to sleep, unable to fight this inevitable drowse.
My eyes crack open when for the millionth time I run through everything that has happened. I think a part of me was hoping it was just a dream, and that by forcing myself awake, I will forget all about the world that resides there in my dreams. But it's not, and I am met by the stillness of this dark room. I see a shadow move in front of me which causes me to sit up quickly.
"Hey, it's okay… It's just me. It's Emily. I'm sorry, I just…. I'm sorry for frightening you." She turns on a portable lamp, which lacks in power, but it's enough to expose the surroundings. I blink several times, adjusting before my eyes rest on the form of Emily, who sits at the other end of the worn cream sofa. She looks rather timid, sitting up straight with her hands to her lap. Her eyes dart from the floor to me before looking back down again, a faint blush corrupting her cheeks. I in turn scowl slightly.
"What do you want?" It's blunt, but it gets to the point. She looks up at me, taken aback momentarily by the disdain before she answers demurely.
"You were having a nightmare, I came to see if you were okay.."
"Well clearly I'm not, am I?" It's snarky, and my mother would be whining at me around about now to stop being so rude and grumpy, but she, along with Effy and Cook, are the reason as to why I am the way I am right now. As I look to Emily, I can see how she differs to her sister. She clearly has patience, and is empathetic, because she doesn't instantly respond with some ridiculous retort. Instead she sits there, just watching me and fiddling with her hands.
"I used to have them too, still do sometimes. Tea helps with that, I think we may actually still have some." She stands up and makes her way to the kitchen area. She reaches out and grabs a lighter, and turns to ignite a little portable gas stove that rests on the kitchen isle. I stand up and admire what is available, noting two more gas stoves and equipment beside it. She pours some water into a source pan, and puts it onto the stove. She swiftly turns around and walks to the cupboard to open it, looking up to the top shelf. She attempts to reach it, going on all tip toes and everything, but fails. She does this a few times before I get fed up with watching and casually walk on over and stand behind her, fetching the only thing on the shelf which is a rectangle tin. I pull it down and hand it to her, watching as she dips head and turns away from me. I swear I feel her shiver, but it's actually quite warm in here, at least it is for me.
"Thanks." She weakly offers and steps away, resuming her place at the island. She opens the tin to reveal half a dozen or so tea bags. She places one into a cup and turns to me.
"Do you like it with sugar and milk? We have white sugar, but the milk might be tricky.."
"I'll just have some sugar with it, then. Thanks." She smiles to me and turns away again, reaching for a pot which says 'sugar'. She brings out a spoon and dips it inside.
"How many?"
"A couple will do." I then move away from the kitchen and sit back down on the sofa, listening to the quiet sounds of water boiling and Emily shuffling around. I feel so tired, but I just can't sleep. I see the faces of the dead, and then the faces that I love, and I just can't understand how this world came to exist. It sounds like even if I were around to watch it happen, I would still not understand it, and because of that, I feel the beginnings of a migraine surface in my head.
"We have some medicine left, if you would like some? Also… if you have any injuries, we have a kit, so.. yeah." I lift my eyes to see Emily before me, holding a cup of tea. She gingerly walks toward me, her hands offering the beverage, I eventually accept.
"You can trust us. I know Katie can seem like a bitch on first appearance, but she's only defensive towards things that are unknown: it's just a coping mechanism. She isn't like that all the time."
"Sounds to me like you've had to explain that particular character trait about your sister on more than one occasion. Got it all rehearsed, eh." She exhales, sitting down at the exact spot she was at before. She tucks one of her legs underneath on the couch and makes herself comfortable. I take a hesitant sip of the tea, and note how it actually tastes quite nice. She notices this and smiles.
"It's caramel tea." I take another tentative sip, enjoying it now. It juxtaposes with the array of extravagant flavours my mum would put together, and occasionally, if lucky, get right.
"You can make soy or almond milk, you know… All you need is water." Emily looks to me with intrigue, her eyes so open, just watching me.
"Mum used to be big on making it, so.." I dip my eyes to the floor, trying to figure out why I chose to share that sort of information with her when I really don't want to talk about anything related to my family.
"That sounds nice. Maybe we can make some sometime..? We have almonds, so we could make that at least." I remain silent at her suggestion, and merely blow on the tea. After a long pause I look up to her.
"You're nothing like your sister, are you?" She looks to me rather curiously as I take a couple more sips before placing it down to cool. I move back to my position on the sofa and look directly at her.
"Panda, she said you're identical in everything.. But you're not."
"You're really good at deflecting, Naomi." I have the urge to ask how she knows my name, but I refrain, knowing quite well that she will pursue this conversation whether I like it or not.
"On second thought, maybe you two are more alike than I thought." I stand up to relieve some tension that's beginning to build inside of me. I'm not entirely sure why I am acting this way, and if anything, I'm the one behaving like this Katie bitch. I exhale softly as I stop pacing in the lounge, my back to her.
"It's okay to be upset, Naomi." I turn around at this, feeling fairly livid.
"Really? Geez, thanks. It's nice to know that I'm allowed to be upset."
"You're not alone, you know. We're here; we'll be here for you."
"I don't need you! I don't need any of you!"
"Then who do you need?"
"Wouldn't you like to know? That's why you're doing this, right? So you can watch me fall apart and reveal my life story to you? Well I won't. I don't have to tell you anything." She just sits there, her expression neutral, if not caring, which just aggravates me more.
"Seriously? What are you? Some sort of fucking Buddha? How can you be so calm? So bloody still when this world is fucking alien! Kids walking around like kids but they're not! And people with limbs missing, and blood and… I just.. How.. I… Jesus."
"You have no idea what I live with, Naomi. And I know nothing about the ordeal you've experienced. I'm trying to let you know that you don't have to be burdened with this. There are people here that will listen, support and care about you.. You don't have to go through this alone." She stands up, but does not move from the spot. She tries to look me in the eye, but she is smaller than me, and so is forced to look up slightly.
"But I understand, you have a lot of anger and frustration.. We'll be here when you decide to speak to us." She begins to move away from the lounge, but stops for a moment, lingering. She moves slightly as if to turn back around, but halts her action. Her back remains to me as she concludes.
"I'll be here for you, if you let me." And just like that, I'm left with these thoughts once again. Well, that and some seriously good caramel tea. Fuck my life.
Thanks for reading! I'll be sure to update sometime next week.