Survive the Night

6

At breakfast, they split two of the sandwiches so that each person got one tiny square. Geo clicked his tongue in anger, but deep down he knew it was the only way. Breakfast was over in one bite. They all gulped down a glass of water and sat there quietly. They had discussed the plan together earlier. It made sense. At least, as much sense as a plan could make given the circumstances. They’d be closer to the fence if they went out the back, and less likely to get attacked by whatever it was that had taken Emily. They clung onto any hope at this point. They were starving and restless, each of them anguished by relapsing desires for home.

"So," Wendy said. "Why do you think this is happening now? Bleak and I have spent the night a bunch of times before. Why are there suddenly…"

No one knew.

"Maybe," Ashley contemplated, "we brought too many people with us."

"How many is too many?" Kevin mumbled.

"Maybe it's because of Halloween," Mike said, staring at his empty plate.

"But Bleak and I stayed here last Halloween." She turned to Bleak. "Right?"

Bleak nodded and his hoodie gathered forward a little.

"Why would this suddenly happen with us, then? With this group?" Wendy continued.

"Okay, I don't think it matters right now," Victoria said. "We're out of food. We have to find something to eat."

Victoria, Ashley, and Sasha hadn't found anything edible during their last search, but then, what did they expect to find in a house that had been abandoned for over a hundred years? Everything in the house was years over its expiration date, the fruits and vegetables had turned black. It was a wonder that this place had never even been cleaned out in all this time.

But food was out of the question. And that was why Victoria knew their only option was to flee.

They went to the sitting room and sat quietly for nearly half an hour. Victoria was silent, but her mind was picking up fragments of ideas, taping up a plan in her head. She fished out a notepad from the table and abducted a pen from a drawer underneath, then started to devise a plan with Ashley. Running through the backyard was their only shot. They sat a while drawing maps of the town as well as they could remember it, and estimated how far they'd have to run to jump the fence and reach civilization.

It was farther than they had hoped. About ninety yards.

***

"We'll take weapons," Victoria said from the kitchen, and they heard the clashing of knives fumbling in their cabinets before she emerged with two handfuls of sharp utensils. They each got one. Victoria carried a butcher's knife. Sasha's hands were trepid like an old motor behind the knife, and Victoria smiled at her. "I told you I won't let anything happen to you. We're going to make it."

"Wait up," Kevin said. He ran into the main hall, and in a moment he returned with the iron shovel and poker. He handed them to Mike and Geo.

They exited through the kitchen which led to the wraparound veranda and into the backyard. They could see the fence from where they stood, although a gathering fog was making it nearly invisible. The path seemed clear enough. No reason to wait any longer. The time to leave was now, before anything else insane occurred. Before anyone else died.

The grass danced in slow, rhythmic twists, and to Victoria the blades looked like ramp agents on a runway. They were the planes.

"Are you ready?" Victoria exhaled slowly.

"Let's get this over with," Kevin said, stiffening.

"On three," she said. The air was cold and the fence looked farther as each second passed.