Embrace The Madness: Cataclysm

4. Ghost town

[Day 2]
The time was 04:14, and no one could sleep. Everyone was weary and worn and tired, but none dared fall asleep, for they feared they wouldn't wake up. A few people, mainly Hadiza and the teens drifted off from time to time, but the nightmares they must have had were probably indescribable.
They were wrapped in dusty old blankets that Patrick found in a drawer.
Then the group started to talk again.

"So what's your names?" Patrick asked the three teens.

There was a moment of silence, as the oldest teen just gazed in Patrick's direction. Eventually, though, he said...

"I'm Oliver," he said, tapping his chest, "that's Dylan," he pointed to the injured teen, who was wheezing continuously, "and this is Marco," he placed a hand on the youngest teen, who was just about to drift off to sleep.
Patrick then turned to the old man, who had somehow managed to fall asleep, no point in waking him to ask his name, he thought.
He knew Hadiza.
His eyes landed on the young woman, who looked wide awake and fully alert.

"So-" his words were cut abruptly by the sound of glass smashing from outside.

The group rose like meerkats, wide eyed, their hairs rising.
Patrick rushed to the window, but only looked through a small crack, as to not draw attention to himself.
His eyes darted left and right, scanning the small road, his eyes landing on some bins.
Maybe a cat knocked a bottle of the bin or something, he thought.
But as he was just about to sit back down, he heard voices. Deep, male voices which sounded like bad news.

Five huge, gruff looking men in hoodies, jackets and bandanas came from around the corner, carrying torches, chains and metal pipes. Was this for defence or offence? Patrick didn't want to find out.
Had this all happened in one day? The world ended and people now roamed the streets looking for bloodshed?

The sound of a door unlocking made Patrick's head snap to his left. He saw a woman peer out of the door, followed by a boy and then the woman who made an attempt on Dylan's life.
They approached slowly, as if the group were wild animals. It was clear to Patrick that they too had saw the men outside, and were trying to make as little noise as possible.

"What do we do?" Asked Patrick to Kiara.

"I don't know," she replied, "I think it's best if we just stay quiet until they're gone."

As if it were lightning quick, the sound of a body dropping came from behind them. They both turned their heads to see Dylan had fallen and had started having muscle spasms. His body was jolting, his breath was short and raspy.

"Oh shit!" Patrick hissed, as he rushed to hold him down.

But the teen had calmed. Relieved, Patrick let out a quiet sigh, thinking he had dodged one hell of a bullet.
He leaned over to the teen, who was catching his breath on the floor.

"You alri-"

"We know you're in there!" Came a booming voice from outside, making Patrick's heart sink into his stomach.

He immediately felt sick, and was terrified of what was going to happen.

"Come on, we ain't gonna hurt you" another voice said.

"He's lying!" Another taunted, causing an uproar of laughter.

Patrick started to shiver, zombies were one thing, but people seemed a much bigger threat.

"I think I hear someone."

"Is it a girl?"

"Come on out, love!"

One of the men slowly approached the door, from what Patrick saw.

"Hang on..." one of them mumbled.

"I think she wants to give you a hug!"