Dan and Phil were making their way quietly back to 'their room', Phil trailing his fingers slowly along the wall. When they reached the door, the corpse was no longer there. "Norm must be getting rid of it" Dan murmured, before walking into the room. He glanced around the room, and turned to see Phil stood awkwardly in the door way, staring at him. Dan laughed awkwardly before reminding him "It's your…area you know? You can make yourself at home." Phil jumped slightly, and nodded, face flushed. He busied himself, looking through the boxes, and Dan watched him and tried to hide his amusement. After a few seconds Phil turned around and chucked something at Dan, which he attempted to catch one handed. Of course, he failed. For someone who had lost track of the number of dead he had killed, he was pretty uncoordinated.
He bent over and scooped the piece fabric from the floor quickly, glancing back up at Phil quickly. Their eyes caught, and Dan struggled to pull them away. He looked at the piece of fabric for a moment, before hearing Phil chuckle. "It's to clean your knife" he said, and Dan ducked his head, not wanting Phil to see the heat flooding his face. "Thanks" he murmured, before realising he would have to look up. He hated looking at the lumpy; tar like substances that he knew would coat his knife. He had looked at it once, and he didn't want to repeat the experience. He cleared his throat before staring into a corner as he cleaned his blade. He heard Phil's voice again, more quietly this time. "If you blush much more the dead might smell it" he joked, and Dan retorted quickly "Like I'm the only one whose blushing!". He laughed, trying to make it clear that he hadn't meant it. He had spent most of his life with Norm, and he was used to their snappy way of talking to each other. He had never really had the chance to 'socialise', considering most of the human population wanted to tear away his flesh. He glanced over at Phil, who stuck his tongue out at him teasingly. Dan grinned and mimicked him.
Norm walked in, wiping his hands on his top. He glanced over at them, and raised an eyebrow questioningly before shaking his head. Phil broke the silence after a few minutes by asking "You guys hungry? I have a food store further in the warehouse." Before they could answer he turned to leave, and Dan managed to grab his forearm. "You sure you should go on your own?" he asked, not thinking to conceal the worry in his voice. Phil nodded quickly, replying "I can kill the dead you know!". He grinned before continuing "Anyway, the place is empty." After a few seconds Dan nodded and released his arm. Phil left the room quickly, and Dan turned to face Norm.
Before he could say anything, Dan muttered "Shut up" and Norm just grinned in response. After a few minutes Phil was back, carrying three bread rolls and a single packet of crisps. He held them up triumphantly and told them "I found them behind some empty jars!". Dan grinned at him, and they all sat down in the centre of the room. Phil handed them both a roll, and opened the crisps, eyes glinting at the hiss of the escaping air. Dan started to pick at the bread, placing small pieces in his mouth, and Phil frowned at him. Dan looked at him questioningly, and in response Phil took the roll gently from him. He ripped it open, and slid a few crisps in before sandwiching the bread back together. He handed it back to him, grinning. Dan studied it for a few moments, and Phil finally said "you've really never had a crisp sandwich." Dan nodded his head, and before either of them could say anything else he closed his eyes and bit into it.
The satisfying crunch seemed to echo through the room, and the saltiness of crisps made his mouth water. He slowly opened his eyes, and Phil told him "it's better with butter, but I doubt there's any of that left in the whole damn world." Dan swallowed and exclaimed "That's amazing!". Norm chuckled and nudged him before joking "Better the fish bones, eh boy!".
Dan's eyes fluttered open, and he could already tell he should have woken up hours ago. He wanted to drift back into the warm world of sleep, wrap his duvet around him. Except it wasn't a duvet. That was too heavy to carry around. He was wrapped in a thin, threadbare blanket that his two your old self had dragged behind him that first time he'd had to run. He sighed, and pulled his rucksack towards him, slinging it over his back.
Norm had sworn to wake Dan up for his turn to watch after a few hours, but he hadn't . Dan wasn't surprised. He knew from experience that Norm would rather let him get a few extra hours sleep and be ready to run at any time. He would only wake Dan up when he worried he was going to fall asleep while watching. Dan made his way quietly round a pile of boxes, and he saw the frozen figure of Norm sat in the doorway. He coughed, not wanting to make the old man jump and attack him. He'd learnt that from past experience to. Norm spun around and growled "Goddammit boy, you move quieter every day." Dan sighed again and mumbled "Go to sleep Norm." The old man looked him up and down, and Dan automatically stood up a little straighter. Eventually he shrugged his shoulders and stood up slowly. Dan could imagine his bones creaking with age. He shook the thoughts out of his head.
"Fine" Norm mumbled, before disappearing into a corner. Dan settled himself down in the same position as Norm, his eyes rhythmically scanning up and down the corridor outside, his ears straining to hear anything approaching. He wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually he heard something. It was a muffled whining, punctuated by rough gagging noises. Dan's ears strained to hear where the noise was coming from, and realised that it was coming from behind a large pile of boxes towards the back of the room. He stood up slowly, and started to approach the pile, the noises slowing. Just as he was reaching the pile, Phil appeared from behind it. Dan turned quickly and walked back to the doorway, sitting down again. After a few seconds of silence, Dan heard muffled footsteps and felt Phil sit down next to him. He glanced over at him quickly, and then returned to scanning the corridor.
After a few minutes Phil asked quietly "Isn't it my time to watch?" Dan nodded his head. "Probably, but Norm's never one to stick to schedules. I don't think I've been watching that long. You can go back to sleep if you want." He glanced over at Phil again, and saw him shake his head. Phil asked curiously "Where'd you get the necklace?" before meeting Dan's eyes. Dan didn't know what he saw there, but he quickly said "You don't have to tell me. You know, if you don't want to." Dan took a deep breath before saying "my brother". He shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal, but his fingers had started to tremble. Phil nodded, not asking anymore.
After a while, Phil spoke quietly into the corridor, not looking at Dan. "I can't imagine what that must have been like. I guess I was lucky in a sense. I never got to escape with my family, or anyone close to me. Didn't have to see anyone close to me die until I was a lot older. My mum and dad worked at the research facility, the one that exploded. When I woke up that morning, they had left a note, saying they had to go to work early." Dan was staring at his face in awe, and saw the first tear trail quickly down his cheek from his already red rimmed eyes. Dan realised that was what he had heard earlier. This hadn't been the first time Phil had cried that night. "I was so happy. I was going to watch TV, eat loads of chocolate, invite my friends over for the day and try and watch some horror films or something. Then I saw it on the TV. Didn't realise it was the same facility they worked at. Everything started going crazy outside. I heard my neighbours screaming, so I ran up to my room. I looked out the window, saw the people running and screaming. My best friend lived at the bottom of my street, and I think I caught a glimpse of him being pulled through the crowd by his mum. Heard him screaming as he fell. He was trampled. Maybe I just imagined it. I hid in my toy box for ages, waiting, but they never came back. Eventually I had to run." They both fell silent, and eventually Phil whispered even more quietly "Sorry." Dan shook his head and replied "I'm sorry." He reached out slowly, not sure what he was doing. He took Phil's hand in his and squeezed it gently. A warm tingly feeling spread quickly from his hand through his body, and he find himself grinning into the darkness.
Now everybody awwwwww! :P So yeah, hope you guys enjoy the chapter, it's longer this time! Mainly because I'm off school today because I'm suffering from one of my famous drive-me-to-hospital-migraines! As always, the super awesome should be updating Monday, I'm looking forward to it! :D –Harrypottergleek97