The Rolling Stones: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Part Five - What Goes On

After a while, Keith reluctantly pulled out of the kiss. Keith looked at Ronnie for a moment before grabbing Ronnie's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, before leading him inside.
***
3 days until departure.

BEEP BEEP BEEP
Was the first sound Bill heard as he rubbed his eyes, adjusting to the once darkened bedroom now sunlit and warm, in the blink of an eye. Bill quickly turned off the alarm clock. "Ugh. Morning already?" Charlie groaned. "Yep!" Bill said, not affected by Charlie's drowsiness. "Ugh." "Come on, we have to go to the general store today. I'll make you some breakfast." Bill said as he gave Charlie a kiss. "Oh, alright." Charlie said, smiling slightly.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Ahhh what the hell!?" Keith croaked, annoyed by the alarm clock. Anger flowed through him as he saw the culprit responsible for the noise. As Ronnie woke up Keith picked up the clock and let out a disturbing shout before hurling it across the room with superhuman strength. The clock lay on the floor across the room, mutilated and no chance to be fixed. "Jesus, Keith!" Ronnie exclaimed. "Oh- sorry babe. I just got mad." Keith said, realizing what he had done. "It's okay. You'll have to get it fixed though." Ronnie said smiling. "Okay."
——
The sunlight streamed in through the kitchen window, shining on Bill as he cooked. Ronnie entered the kitchen. "Ello!" He said cheerfully as he turned that radio on. "Good morning." Bill replied as he continued cooking. "Keith would you not smoke in here please? It stinks up the house." Bill asked. "Oh come on." Keith grunted annoyed as he put out the cigarette in the ashtray. "Oh I love this song!" Ronnie exclaimed as he began to sing along to 'Golden Years'—a David Bowie tune. Keith and Ronnie began to sway to the beat, followed by Bill. They were ✨vibing✨ until someone spoiled their fun. "Would you shut that off?" Mick said grumpily. Keith and Ronnie shook their heads at Mick, which left Mick angry. "Oh come on Mick, let them have their fun." Charlie made an appearance. Mick groaned and sat at the kitchen table with Mick T across from him. The song ended, and Mick breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, breakfast!" Bill announced as everyone gathered in the dining room, Ronnie soon following after turning off the radio. They enjoyed their pancakes and coffee.
"Okay, I think we need to get going to the general store." Bill said. "I'll get the list." Charlie said, walking into the study. "Wait a moment guys, you're gonna need weapons in case there are zombies." Ronnie reminded them. "Oh yeah, Keith would you grab those?" Bill asked. "Sure." Keith replied, making his way to the basement. "Oh I need to get walkie-talkies." Bill remembered as he left the dining room. Bill, Charlie, and Keith all met back up in the dining room with different supplies. "Alright I got the list. You got the guns Keith?" Charlie asked as Bill passed out the walkie-talkies. "Yup." Keith replied, holding up the weapons. "Okay, you guys know how to use these, right?" Bill asked Ronnie and the Micks, motioning towards the walkie-talkies. "Yeah, I think so!" Ronnie answered. "Why don't we do a test, just to be sure." Bill said.
"Test." "Test." "Test." "Test." "Test." "EEE," Keith yelled, causing a massive wave of feedback to go through the walkie-talkies. Bill smacked his forehead as Ronnie and Keith laughed. "Come on, it was kinda funny!" Ronnie laughed. "Haha." Mick said, trying to hide his smile. "Alright, we better get going." Charlie said, making eye contact with Bill and Keith. "Okay, we'll see you later!" Keith hollered as they gathered up their gear. "Be careful!" Ronnie mused as they left.
——
"Which way?" Bill asked Charlie, motioning towards the split in the road. "Left." Charlie replied matter-o-factly. "How long till we get there? I'm bored." Keith said as he blew cigarette smoke out the open car window. "Soon." Charlie answered. "How soon?" "Soon, toddler." Bill said laughing. Charlie joined in. Keith glared at Bill angrily. Eventually they stopped laughing. "There it is! See, I told you we'd be here soon." Charlie said to Keith. "Finally!" Keith replied, ignoring Charlie's told-you-so. Bill pulled into the parking lot. "Alright, everyone got their weapons?" He asked. They nodded. They cautiously stepped out of the car, guns drawn. Around them were empty cars, bloodstains on some of them. The once clean and tidy general store is now damaged and abandoned. "Well, I guess we won't be needing this." Charlie said quietly, holding up a wad of cash. Bill chuckled quietly. As they entered the store, a foul smell hit them. Keith pinched his nose in disgust.
Bill told Charlie and Keith to split up and go down the aisles with their guns at the ready. Before they could split up, a zombie groaned and lunged at Keith. Keith luckily had quick reflexes as he shot the zombie in the head when it was mere inches from his face. Zombie blood splattered all over him. Everything was still for a moment. Frozen. Like a picture. Not a peaceful stillness, it was tense. Then a chorus of moans sounded from the back of the store and about 12 zombies came into view. The three began shooting them in the head, one by one, until they were dead, again. "Jesus!" Keith exclaimed, still processing what just happened.
"Well then," Bill said, trailing off. They just stood there, stunned.   After a moment they snapped back into action. "Alright then, let's get on this." Charlie said. They began to pick out items from the shelves, stocking up. The afternoon sun filtered through the broken windows, giving the store's interior an eerie glow.
"Hey guys. Are you there? Over." Mick T said through the walkie-talkie. beep "Yes, over." Bill replied. "When will you be back? The children are getting restless. Over." Mick T said, referring to Mick and Ronnie. Bill chuckled before answering; "We'll be back in 45 minutes. Over." beep. "Do we have everything we need?" Keith asked. "I think so." Charlie said, looking over the list. "Let's go then! I don't want to be here any longer." Keith said.
——
"We're home!" Keith called. The Micks and Ronnie came to the door. "I missed you." Ronnie said as he hugged Keith. "Me too." Keith replied, leaning in to give Ronnie a kiss. "Would you lovebirds get a room?" Charlie said annoyed. Mick laughed as the two went upstairs. "What did you guys get?" Mick T asked. "We'll show you. Bill, could you get the stuff out of the car?" "Sure." He replied, going back outside. "Alright, here we are." Bill said almost out of breath, putting a stack of boxes on the dining room table. Inside was a variety of survival items from dried fruit to bullet packets. "Wow, quite the variety!" Mick exclaimed, looking at the contents.
"Yeah. I'll put these boxes in the basement. We'll load them into the car in a few days." Bill said as he picked up the boxes, heading to the basement. "Nice." Mick T said. Bill came back. "Hey would you help me make dinner?" Bill asked Mick T. "Yeah!" Mick T said. The two went into the kitchen. Now it was just Mick and Charlie. "Wanna watch tv?" Mick asked. "Sure."
Things were calm now. Everyone was back together and glad, even though it had only been a few hours. Of course they were more worried about each other because of the zombies, but that was something they would have to get used to. And as the evening wore on, everyone savored each other's company.