Embrace The Madness: Cataclysm

5. Plan of action

[Day 2]
On top of the abandoned charity shop, the remaining group sat, waiting for the four's return.
Marco sat with Hadiza on a couple of boxes, she was teaching him how to properly tie a bandage to pass the time.

"...and so when you have fully covered the arm, you tuck the remainder of the bandage under the elbow," she made the wrapping motions around her arm, "or you can use a pin, that is if they found any."

She looked outside the window with deep concern on her face.

"They've been gone for a while" she said.

"Maybe they ran off, I wouldn't blame 'em" the old man suggested from the shadows.

Dylan, the injured teen, groaned loudly, as Hadiza shot daggers at the old man with her fierce eyes. He quickly quietened down.

The two strangers who were with Kiara were now sitting amongst the group, though they seemed equally reserved as before.

Minutes felt like hours in the small confines of the room. Marco was tapping his feet in boredom, staring up at the ceiling. His eyes wandered around the ceiling, seeing a square on the ceiling that didn't match.

"That's a roof hatch" the old man stated.

"What's it for?" Marco asked out of genuine curiosity.

"They say the man who oversaw the builders in the area was paranoid as hell, he made sure that every building had a ladder to the roof in case of a fire."

"Who's 'they'?" Marco asked.

"You know... builders"

The group chuckled for a while before breaking into more silence.
Marco looked over to see Hadiza gazing at a picture.

"Who's that?" Marco asked, pointing towards Hadiza's phone, which had a fleeting battery.

There was a pause.

"My nephew," she stated blissfully, "he's all I got left in this world."

The picture showed a handsome, well built man with smooth, dark skin, with pitch black dreadlocks. He wore Black sunglasses, paired with a blinding white toothy grin.
He was wearing a tight grey shirt which showed off his muscles, and had his arms crossed, leaning against a beige wall with a green bush to his right.
From the background, showing a bright city with a deep, blue sea, Marco distinguished that it was somewhere in the Caribbean.

"Kingston," she said, "2017, his 34th birthday." She smiled while she observed the picture, holding back tears.

"What's his n-" Marco drifted off, he thought he heard something in the distance.

It was clear from the others that they had also heard the fire alarm blare from the distance. Hadiza quickly returned to the window, and through the crack, could see the four dashing for their lives. She had only seen such speed at the olympics.

"It's them!" She exclaimed, "quick! Open the door!"

The old man shuffled over to the door and frantically undid all of the locks on the door, pulling the chain, twisting the knobs and opening the door ajar.

Hadiza watched the group rapidly approaching the building, then hearing the loud footsteps rising the staircase.
Kiara was the first to enter, being the fastest, followed by Oliver, the young woman and Patrick, who was particularly worn out.
He raised the plastic bags as the old man did the locks again.

"We.. got... food" he said, through deep breaths.

Hadiza peered out the window yet again, there were no zombies in sight. Relieved, she turned to greet Patrick with a smile, before her gaze locked on to the young woman, who looked pale as snow, her eyes frozen, staring down at her feet.