Replanted Remastered

Good Morning

Alice set their journal down, pushing aside the sharpies messily strewn across their bedside table. Their ink-stained fingers smudged the pages, but they didn't particularly mind. The journal was old and messy anyway. They glanced out the window - the weather was overcast, as it had been for the past few days.

"..Am I gonna bother with getting dressed today?" Alice asked Sweetpea. They sat up to look at him- only then noticing that he wasn't in his flowerpot. "..Sweetpea?"

No response. The entire house was silent. Confused, Alice quietly got up from their bed, walking over to Sweetpea's empty pot. A small trail of loose soil was dragged in a straight line from the pot down to the small plant-door next to Alice's bedroom door.

"Of course he had to go and make a mess," Alice muttered to themself as they got dressed. "-If he went out in the middle of the night to shoot at the newspaper zombies again, I swear." they watched themself in the mirror as they dragged a comb through their white, cloud-like curls. They stuck their favorite hairclip - a green, star-shaped clip - in at the left side of their afro. They would look halfway presentable if not for the large black ink smudge on their cheek, which they disregarded. They'd wash their face after they found Sweetpea.

Alice unlocked their door and stepped out into the dim hallway, immediately noticing something was off. The door to Markus's room was open. Now, Alice knew their brother well- and they knew that he hadn't left his room in weeks.. why would he leave now?

"Markus?" Alice called out into the house, not really expecting an answer. They tiptoed into Markus's room, holding their nose before the putrid smell of weeks-old teenage boy sweat could hit their nostrils. His room was a mess, and Markus himself was nowhere to be seen.

As they stepped out of Markus's room, they spotted Sweetpea scampering up the stairs to greet them. "Oh, hey buddy!" Alice said, reaching down to give Sweetpea a mini high-five. "Have you seen Markus?"

Upon hearing the name, Sweetpea recoiled a bit. He turned around and climbed down the stairs, with Alice following slowly behind him. "Mom and Stella must be ecstatic, eh? Markus hasn't been out of his room in ages!"

Sweetpea shrugged off their statement as the two reached the bottom of the stairs, entering the main hallway. The pair entered the kitchen, though Alice's mother's usual cheery whistling didn't greet them. The kitchen, like the rest of the house, was deserted. A cupboard had been knocked open, leaving pots and pans strewn about the kitchen, but aside from them- the kitchen had no signs of being used.

"Huh? Mom's always up super early.. where is she?" Alice asked. Sweetpea simply shrugged, having no real way to respond verbally. "..Maybe she's just talking with Markus in another room or something, she must be excited to see him again, right?"

Alice searched the house, slowly growing more and more worried as they progressed through room after room of emptiness. Stella's room, their mother's bedroom; everywhere they checked, there was not a soul to be found. The silence was deafening.

"Where haven't we checked?" Alice asked. An air of panic hung in their voice as they spoke. Sweetpea tugged on their ankle, leading them to the entryway. "No, Sweetpea. Mom says I'm not allowed in there, it's too dangerous. Too close to outside," Sweetpea narrowed his eyes at them and stopped tugging. "If mom and Stella are outside, they'll come in soon enough. Maybe the zombies got up early this morning, or something,"

Sweetpea let go of Alice's ankle and scampered down into the basement. He hopped up on the tiny couch in front of the family's old box TV.

"Oh, you wanna watch a movie while we wait for mom?" Alice asked. Sweetpea nodded and rapidly patted the spot on the couch next to him. Alice sat down next to him and leafed through their old superhero DVDs.

"Okay.. do you wanna watch Sunshine girl Revolution or Firebolt: Revenge of Mr. Mysterious?" Alice asked. Sweetpea put a leaf to his chin, then pointed at the latter DVD. "Yeah, you're right. Firebolt is bad, but it's funny bad, unlike that awful movie adaptation of Sunshine Girl,"

The movie was a fine distraction from their worries, but Firebolt just seemed less funny than usual, that morning. The dialogue and awful editing were still laughably terrible, though Alice couldn't find themself laughing at even their favorite parts.

"Well, that wasted an hour," Alice muttered as the credits were rolling. "I'm just.. worried, I guess,"

Sweetpea got up, tugging on Alice's leg once more. They sighed and followed him; the entryway was the only room they hadn't searched, after all.

"Mom n' Stella are probably just out gardening, and Mom'll get mad if she sees me.. in here."

The front door was wide open, seemingly clawed through. Blood spattered the doorway, leading to the grass outside. One of their sister's shoes was abandoned on the lawn, as well as a blood-stained gardening glove left on the welcome mat.

"Mom? Stella?" Alice called out. They rushed outside, their blood running cold. Sweetpea stayed in front of them protectively as they looked around outside. Dead plant stems and empty wall-nut shells lined the lawn. There wasn't a soul - human nor zombie - in sight. The grey clouds hung heavy in the sky above them.

Alice wordlessly hurried back inside and shut the door, though the lock on it seemed to be broken. They shoved a table against the door to keep it shut. Their heart was left strangled in their chest as they eaned against the wall, sliding down until they were sitting on the floor. "..Sweetpea, we're- we've got- we've got each other," they stuttered. "We've still g-got each other,"

Sweetpea silently reached up to wipe away their tears. He curled up in their lap, wiping his own beady eyes with the edge of Alice's pale blue shirt.

- Wednesday, May 5th, 2022. Alice was here.

It's quiet. Now I know why. It's my job to keep myself safe, now.