Chapter 6: Home Sweet Home
Bailey and Chris barely made it through the door in one piece. She had scrambled to help him and by that time, they had nearly gotten tackled by a muerto. They slammed the door shut right before it grabbed them and she immediately locked the door, flinching as each bang against the door rung out in the silent house.
Carefully, she slipped underneath Chris's arm again and pulled him toward the couch, being mindful of his leg but still trying to move quickly.
"Stay here a second," she said, letting go of him and then rushing to her and her sibling's shared bedroom.
"Ale! Sam! Wake up, there's muertos outside!" she whisper-shouted, moving to Sam's side and shaking him vigorously. Without giving either of them a chance to respond, she rushed into her parent's room. "Mama, papa! Muertos! A whole herd of them!"
Her papa was the quickest to wake and mama soon followed. Sam appeared in the doorway and another loud bang reached her ears. Everyone moved so quickly that she couldn't make out who was who. Following after them, she stopped int he doorway of the living room, watching as her papa poked around and look through the blinds.
"Close all the curtains and turn the lights off! Sam and Ale, barricade the doors. Vamos!" papa commanded.
A sudden bark made her nearly jump out of her skin and Bruno came charging into the room, growling and snarling at the door where the bangs got louder.
"Bruno, shh!" Bailey hushed, bending down and clamping his mouth shut. "Shh, it's okay, you need to stay quiet."
Her fingers gently stroked the side of his face and he let out a whine before sitting down and leaning into her. She continued to pet him and soothe him as everyone else scurried around the house to try and secure it. Ale and Sam pushed in a large dresser and pressed it up against the door. Papa and mama closed all of the curtains and flipped the light switch off. She nearly tripped over the couch, but within moments, a small match lit up the corner.
Mama lit a small candle in the corner of the room, giving a small glow bright enough for them to at least see where they were.
"They'll still be able to see the light. We need to block up the windows as much as possible," Sam instructed. "Get every sheet, every blanket, anything that can block the light."
Bailey couldn't help but admire how great of a leader her eldest brother was. He always seemed to know what to do and how to take command, even moreso than her papa.
All of them split up to start in a different room and she started with her own, ripping the sheets and blankets off the mattresses and folding them up into a ball in her arm. Once the room was clear, she brought the pile back into the living room. Papa stayed near the door, peering out the window next to it to try and see the status of the herd surrounding them.
Alejandro started to tie the blankets from the curtain rod, using the heaviest ones for a more effective coverage. Bruno settled down anxiously on the couch across from Chris. His eyes were still alert and he kept an eye on each of them, but it was easy to tell he was nervous.
"It is not looking good out there," Papa murmured, pulling away from the door.
"What do we do?" Mama asked, the anxiety evident in her voice.
"Nothing. We sit and wait for it to pass," Sam murmured.
Loud screaming from the chickens outside caused her to wince and she settled down on the floor, biting her lip and trying not to focus on the cries of their main food source as they were ripped to bits. That would be a major problem moving forward when they were trying to eat.
Bruno let out a whine and hopped off the couch, starting to pace back and forth across the room. Chris gently patted the side of his leg to get the dog's attention and when he came over, he started to pet him softly to try and soothe him. There wasn't much Chris could even do with his leg, but he did seem like he wanted to help somehow.
Papa and Ale went to go and get the weapons and all of them hunkered down in the living room. The muertos banging on the door soon ceased, but their loud growls and bodies scraping and bumping against the house didn't stop. None of them said a word to each other in fear of alerting the dead somehow. Every minute was uneasy and nerve wracking and not once did she get comfortable. She wasn't sure how long everything ran smoothly, but one second everything was fine and the next it wasn't.
The blaring alarm clock that was in abuelo's old room started to go off. They used it when he was still alive to monitor when they needed to give him his pills in the middle of the night, and it seemed mama and papa had forgotten to turn it off.
Papa was the first one to jump to his feet and in the process, knocking over a lamp on the side table next to the couch. Bruno started to bark and the candle in the corner of the room fell over along with the lamp, spilling flames all over the carpet. Her mama shouted a few curses and breaking glass followed.
Papa slammed their bedroom door shut, his eyes wide and panicked. "Get your things! Vamos!"
She didn't hesitate to sprint to her room along with her brothers. Her shaking hands struggled to grab a bit of everything - her clothes and a few other personal belongings. Bruno kept nudging her leg and barking madly. Everything was happening all at once and she didn't realize how heavily and quickly she was breathing until her vision began to spin. She grabbed onto the back of Sam's shirt, stumbling after him with her things thrown in a small bag. He was saying something but she couldn't quite understand, all of the events going on making her unable to focus.
In the living room, papa and mama were moving the furniture out of the way of the door while Chris struggled to stand with the makeshift crutches he had. More windows snapped under the weight of all the muertos and she let out a shaky gasp as her heart thumped so quickly she couldn't determine one beat from the next.
With one final shove, all the furniture was moved and papa kicked hte door open with her shotgun in his hands. Any muertos that were by the door were immediately pulverized and she winced as splatters of blood coated papa.
"Bailey, go!" Alejandro shouted.
Mama and papa were already sprinting for the truck and Bruno bounded outside, snapping at anything that got too close. Sam had lifted Chris into his arms and Ale put a hand on her shoulder to get her to go. It was like her legs had frozen in place again as soon as she saw the white eyes of the monsters trying to get them and she couldn't move. Abuelo had been just like one of them. Coming toward her, snapping his rotten teeth, arms outstretched...
One of them reached toward her, but Alejandro kicked it out of the way, and the next thing she knew she was being lifted over his shoulder. The shock still settled in her stomach, but she became more aware as he galloped to the truck and hauled her into the bed of it. Bruno's wet nose brushed across her neck, but her gaze stayed firmly locked onto the house, which was not only becoming overrun by muertos, but also exploding in flames. Her childhood vacation place, abuelo and abuela's home - gone. Just like that.
Her hair marred the view for a moment as papa hit the gas and they zoomed down the twisting driveway. Alejandro held a firm grip on her arm as they soared over bumps and tore around turns. Everything was gone.
Bailey settled down into Ale's lap, curling her head against his chest and staring blankly ahead as the scenery changed with each second. Now she had a moment to breathe and actually process everything. It flashed in her mind, getting faster and faster until it shut down and a numb feeling spread through her veins. She felt Alejandro nudging her, but she didn't respond - she just couldn't.
She remained clutched onto her brother for a long period of time until the truck finally came to a halt. He gently pushed her to the side and for the first time the whole ride, she stirred. Bruno licked her arm and her eyes slowly latched onto her papa as he got out of the truck. Without hesitation, he engulfed each of them in a hug, followed by mama. Her first instinct was to cry, but she couldn't muster up the tears. Numb all over. That's all she was.
"We need to find somewhere to go," Sam said, standing. "We can't stay here. It's not safe."
"Where do we go?" Mama asked, her voice quivering with unshed tears.
"Ale, Sam...were there any places you found when you were out looking for supplies?" Papa questioned.
"I might remember a place," Sam said with a nod. "At the edge of town, a small pub that's usually overlooked. Probably good enough to hunker down until we get our bearings."
There wasn't any time or reason to argue. Sam got into the driver's seat and papa came into the bed with them. Bailey hung onto the edge as they started to move again, trying to process once more everything that was happening. They were going to stay somewhere else, somewhere that wasn't abuelo's house. Why couldn't she get over this? It was just a house, right?
She tried to collect herself, push herself out of her head. In the end, it was only one thing that seemed to wake her up.
The lightest touch on her arm snapped her eyes right open. It was a minuscule touch, something that barely brushed her skin, but it felt both searing and cool at the same time. Her head jerked to the side to see Chris's fingertips ghosting along her forearm and his chocolate eyes caught hers.
"Hey," he murmured, peeling his fingers away, though something about the mixed temperature of his touch made her want it to stay. "Are you alright?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, and she shut it.
"Not...not really the right thing to ask, sorry... I...I know you're not. I'm sorry, Bailey. I truly am. I..know it's not really what you want to hear but...it's going to be okay."
Her eyebrows knitted together and she looked at him in disbelief. How was everything going to be okay? He was still injured, the house was gone, and both abuelo and abuela were dead. It was likely they would die too, on the run like this, trying to hunker down where ever they got the chance.
"Bailey...there's something I learned from you. I know we've...we've only known each other for a short amount of time but..." He drew in a deep breath. "When you saved me that day...I thought something was wrong with you. I've done things...had thoughts...that I'm ashamed of. I didn't want to die but...I didn't think I was worth saving either."
She gave him a curious look and folded her hands on her lap.
"But you...you wanted to save me either way. You didn't have to...and...in that moment, I thought I was going to die but...it wasn't the end. Everything seemed bad but...it fixed itself. Through you. So...even though it seems bad...it will work out. I didn't believe that could happen but...you showed me it could."
"How..how could I have...? I didn't do anything I just...," she stuttered, completely taken aback.
"That's...just the way you are, Bailey. You're...that type of person. Not everyone is that way. And it showed me...showed me something different than I had before," he said, eyes flickering down in embarrassment for a moment before he looked back at her.
"I...t-thanks, I suppose. I didn't...I well...thank you, Chris," she murmured sincerely, her chocolate eyes entranced by his own.
Chris gave a small smile and touched her shoulder in reassurance. Maybe he was correct. Maybe things would work out. Though she couldn't exactly believe it right now, those words he uttered stuck in her mind. She could keep them for when she really did believe them.
As they drove, the wind whipped her hair back, cooling her flushed face. It was still dark out by the time they reached the pub, though she could see the slight glitter of light beaming over the sky.
Sam was right, this place seemed to be so deserted and overlookable that it was likely a good place to stay. Peeling letters adorned the slab of white wood that held up the sign and the windows were all boarded up, probably long before the end of the world.
Carefully, she peeled herself out from the bed of the truck and stood, looking upwards at it as papa, Ale, and Sam went inside to make sure it was clear. Chris stood stationary in the bed of the truck, as he would need help to get down. None of them said a word and Bruno stood guard right by her side, keeping watch. A few steady exhales and Sam popped his head out, holding her shotgun in one hand and the door with the other, announcing three little words.
"Home sweet home."
A/N: It's been ages and I'm sorry! School has kept me busy and the semester ended a few weeks ago but then Christmas stuff kept me just as busy! No matter, I finally got it up! It's a bit on the short side, but I thought it would be a good place to end it instead of continuing on and I wanted to get something up anyway. I hope you guys liked this chapter and I'm hoping to get them out a lot more quickly. Thanks for being awesome readers!
