Dead or Alive

11: Color in This Grey World

Nearly a month has passed since Xion has been bit. The mark on his arm has healed, but the nasty remains of a bite mark remains as a scar. It took a few weeks, but he is now up and moving around again, showing no signs of turning into a man-eating monster. The only thing that was concerning is that Xion's arm would still randomly twitch, it would happen randomly, not exactly having a pattern to it. That posed some difficulties to Xion as he began using his hand again, but he's learning to deal with it.

Not much has changed around their home. It is a bit of a mess, but there was nothing that could be really done about that. At some point Ravn and Leedo went to retrieve their stash from the opposing building and were able to board up all the windows on the first floor. They brought all of the other things to the highest floor for the group to use.

On the same wall as the door, many colors of paint decorate the old wallpaper. There were plenty of buckets of paint, so they decided whenever one of them was in the mood, they would just add paint to their mural. It really did liven up the place and give them something to do while being cooped up, away from the dangers of the outside world.

They also established a place on the roof to make controlled fires to cook food. An old tarp was used to protect the cement of the roof and keep the ashes in one place while pieces of wood were thrown in the middle. Cement blocks were dragged up the stairs to put in a circle around the wood, creating a mock campfire. Though they hardly use it, mainly because of the fear of drawing attention to themselves.

"Our food supply is getting low." Seoho sighed, falling into the place besides Ravn on the floor.

Each of the six have seemed to of claimed specific sleeping areas as their own, though any other time they lounged wherever was convenient. Ravn is almost always on the floor, he never sleeps on the sofa or mattress, instead in his little corner opposite of the door and under one of the windows. Xion always sleeps on the mattress, his personal things stored under the table besides it. Hwanwoong more often then not sleeps on the mattress, but on rough nights he sleeps besides the oldest. Keonhee and Seoho practically sleep on top of each other on the couch, unintentionally forcing Leedo into an uncomfortable position. So whenever Hwanwoong sleeps besides Ravn, Leedo sleeps on the mattress with Xion.

"Yeah, I've noticed." Ravn mutters, glancing over at their dwindling food stash on the shelves. "We'll have to go out again sooner than later."

"You think there's still places with food?" Seoho questions basically under his breath.

"There has to be, its only been a month." Ravn tries to reassure. "Plus that here are more zombies than people at this point, so I would think there has to be supplies somewhere for us to take."

The awkward atmosphere that once lied between Ravn and Seoho is gone now. Seoho has come to terms with everything that has happened, even regrets the way he acted towards his friend. Ravn no doubt has been the protector of the six, he puts himself in the most danger to ensure the safety of his friends, he is not a monster in any sense.

"You have a plan?" Seoho leaned his head against the wall, now watching the three youngest paint flowers on the wall somehow giggling even in this situation.

"Kind of." Ravn responded vaguely, following Seoho's gaze. "He's starting to use that hand again."

"Xion? Yeah, he acts like nothing even happened sometimes." Seoho recalled that day, shaking his head to try and force those images out of his head. "Soon enough he won't be phased by that twitching."

No sooner did Xion let out a exasperated sigh, throwing his head back. The cute little yellow flower he was trying to paint now has a green splatter going through it. He rinsed the brush off in the bucket of rain water they collected, leaving the brush and moving to sit on the couch besides a sleeping Leedo.