Followed by death

Chapter 4

Ryan's POV

I sighed as I stood out the front of a decrypt house. The grass was a yellowing green, and the front porch was littered with cobwebs. Loose, broken furniture was strewn loosely out the front of it.

"Tch, this place looks like a dilapidated old shack already," I grumbled, slinging my bag tightly over my shoulder as I waded through the mass of decaying grass.

The front porch was in shambles. The wooden scaffolding was rotting beneath my feet, but it had been doing that for years, anyway.

"Home sweet home," I grumbled darkly, placing a hand on one of the support beams, then hosting a leg onto the porch. It creaked loudly under my weight, and I frowned a little.

"This house is useless for any type of defence," I grumbled, then moved towards the steel-framed front door.

My heart seized in my chest for a moment as my hand hovered above the doorknob. Did I want to do this? What if they were all... I mean... what if I'd come out here too late? What if it'd all been for nothing? What if I'd wasted my time coming here, hoping my family might still be here?

Oh well. At least I could loot the place, right?

I looked over my shoulder at the empty street, with the clouds hanging heavily above it. I frowned. Was it going to rain?

I shook my head, and turned back to the door, then placed my hand on the door. Now wasn't the time to be getting distracted!

That was when I'd realised the door was already open. It was just a crack, but it was enough. Enough to scare me to death.

I pushed the door open and it creaked loudly. My heart jumped in my chest and I flinched, then stood silently for a moment, listening intently. I strained my ears, hoping to hear some kind of movement. Thankfully, there wasn't any.

I stepped inside, and flicked on the light switch beside the front door, hoping to illuminate the house. The power was out, though, so it was a wasted effort.

It was only the early afternoon at the moment, but the house was far too dark during the day to see anything. All of the curtains were closed, making it look far later in the day than it actually was.

I looked to the left, and saw that all of our important documents were still packed in boxes. We'd always had them there, in case of an emergency. Obviously the end of the world didn't require documents, so they'd left without them. If they'd left at all, which I doubted.

The car was still under the carport. If they'd left, they wouldn't have walked. So they were still home, right?

I looked up the hallway beside all of the books, and saw it was clear, then walked slowly up the hallway, being as quiet as I could. It was better to be safe than sorry, even if it took longer that way.

When I saw that there weren't any of them lunging out of the hallway at me, I turned, and walked into my bedroom, which was beside the front door.

I looked at the two beds in the room, and another mattress on the floor, and I frowned a little. I wasn't sure if I missed this, or if I loathed having to share a room with my two sisters. I turned to face the cupboard, then opened it, and found one of Jessica's solar torches, along with a stash of double A batteries, and a handful of notes in a piggy bank. I doubted I'd need the money, but you never know.

I smiled a little as I grabbed my fingerless gloves off one of the shelves, and slid them onto my hands. God, I missed these things. They were a Christmas present from a friend, but during summer they were too hot to wear. I'd done them a lot of damage a few times, too, but I always managed to sew them back up.