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Hattie McDaniel And The Helicopter Boy

"Hey kid."

"Leave me alone, Dale."

The man ignored my bitter tone, sitting down beside me at the fire. "I'm sorry. I do care about Glenn, you know I do. But I care about you, too. I can't let you run off and get hurt doing something like that." He insisted, an air of worry coming from his words.

I kept my eyes on the flames licking the dust, determination evident in them."I've been in the city before, I know I can do it. Glenn didn't leave me behind so how could I?"

I wasn't sure how long I've been alone. A week? More? Less? All things considered, it could've been worse. I had a decent set up here. The apartment was small but it was just me anyway, I had more food than I could handle, and I hadn't even gone through all the boxes yet- canned beans, bottles of water, enough aspirin to knock a grown man out.

BANG! BANG!

Of course, the neighbours could be better. If that's what you would call them. They always waited outside the door, banging and stumbling down the empty hall. They knew I was in here, they tried to get in every day.

Three days? Four? It could've been three weeks for all I knew, but it didn't feel like long since I got trapped in here. I think all the food came from the corner store downstairs, I had seen it on my way up. Maybe the people who owned it lived here once upon a time. I hadn't found anyone in the bedrooms or the bathroom, not even a body.

I didn't even mean to come in here in the first place. I was just looking for an empty room to sleep in and then I ran into the dead outside. If I didn't lock myself in here I would've been dead by now. One of them, like so many hundreds of others.

I opened my third box of crackers and took one out- very dry. The crunch seemed to echo around the whole building and that's when I noticed it. The silence. What happened to my delightful neighbours?

A creak of a door shattered the still air and I watched as it opened just a few feet away. I was pretty sure the dead couldn't do that.

It was a man. Average height, young, Asian, wearing a back pack and holding a knife. His dark hair was covered by a cap, which shielded his face from the natural light. He glanced around the room with the knife held high, slowly scanning the area for danger. When he eventually saw me, he screamed a little bit. A sort of surprised yelp.

"So-Sorry, I just didn't expect anyone to be in here. Um...hi." He stuttered, standing up from his crouched stance. He seemed sort of nervous. Of me?

"Are you gonna hurt me?" I asked bluntly, chewing the cracker crumbs in my mouth. Was he real? I knew it hadn't been long but the mind does funny things to a person when they're alone.

"Hurt you? No why-why would I hurt you?" He frowned, tugging the cap off his head. The black hair stuck up in entertaining ways, like he had just been electrocuted.

I shrugged casually, my fingers brushing my own weapon. It was a small knife, probably not even a good defender against someone bigger than myself. "I don't know. Maybe you want my food. Maybe you want to stay here." I accused, my eyes narrowed.

He started stepping closer, shutting the door and putting the knife away. "I-I don't wanna hurt you, I had no idea someone was even still here. Are you alone?" He raised his arms to show he was defenceless, convincing me to put my blade down. He looked too kind to hurt someone, too jittery.

"Yes. You can't take my food." I rushed out, glancing at the collection of boxes in the corner.

"No, no...that's okay. Listen, kid. I'm from a camp, okay, it's not far from here, it's just outside the city. You said you're alone? There's people there, kids, families. It's a nice place." He smiled lightly, his eyes pleading.