Knock On Wood

 "Holly, get up!"

I groaned and put a feather pillow over my ear to try and block out the sound my brother's annoying voice.

"Holly, now!"

Still, I didn't move. Brett grabbed my ankle, pulling me off the bed, and I landed on the floor of the hotel room, sheets still in my hand. The white walls of the room would have blinded me if the windows weren't boarded off, but there was no light filtering through the windows. The light switches didn't work, either. Nothing does anymore.

"That wasn't nice." I pouted, crossing my arms at him while jutting my bottom lip out in a pout.

He rolled his eyes at me before flipping his dark brown hair out of his face. "You've slept in long enough. It's 6AM, we have to go right now if we want to make it to Seattle before we get locked out."

“Why couldn't we just stay in Chicago?” I asked, standing up off the floor and digging through my suitcase for an outfit I could wear today.

“It's not safe.” Brett muttered, avoiding my gaze. A look of sadness crossed his face but he quickly covered it up again. Of course I knew the real reason Brett made us leave Chicago, even if he wouldn't admit it. And I won't talk about it, either. So we're both wrapped in our own minds, not talking about things that we probably should talk about. But who cares, right? We're all going to die, anyway.

I reluctantly stood up and walked to the bathroom, and slammed the door closed. I groaned while leaning over the white sink and wishing it would work so I could splash cold water in my face to try and wake myself up. I really wasn't a morning person, I never was. Even as a small child, I had never been good at waking up in the morning. Nothing had changed over seventeen years. You'd think being in the situation we're in, I'd have the good mind to wake up on time. But, really, I wouldn't call 6AM sleeping in. After about 10 minutes, there was a knock on the door. I stayed in my bathroom, not planning on leaving any time soon. Even though the walls were splattered with blood and it reeked of rotting flesh, I'd still rather be in here than with my brother. Brett wouldn't want to get up to answer it, he's too lazy to do anything, really. It makes me wonder about how he doesn't weigh more than he does. "I've got it!" Brett said sarcastically when I didn't leave the bathroom to open the door. “Well, that's a surprise., My mind said bitterly.

"Hello Brett, are you two ready to go?" I heard a voice ask through the bathroom door, and immediately recognized it as Mark.

"Well, if Holly would get out of the bathroom!" Brett yelled, raising his voice on 'Holly' to make sure I heard him. I rolled my eyes at this and threw open the bathroom door, throwing my carry-on bag on the floor in front of my brother and our visitor. Mark's long unshaven beard made him look much older than his true age, but I don't think he cared.

"I'm done. Don't have a fit." I spat at him.

Brett narrowed his eyes at me before looking back at Mark. "Sorry about her. She's crabby in the morning. We'll be down in 10 minutes." Mark nodded in response before telling us to hurry up, then left the room, leaving me and Brett alone again.

"Can we just go?" I muttered, pulling a mattered dark brown sweater over my head and zipping up my suitcase.

Brett rolled his eyes and picked up his own bag. I reached out for my suitcase, but he grabbed it before I could. "I've got it. Just get out." he muttered, holding the door open for me with his foot.

****

I got into the lobby and saw Brodie standing off to the side, reading a book that I didn't know the title of. The amount of books he'd read over the past few years was quite uncanny to me, especially because the world was falling apart. We could die any day, and he was reading, of all things.. His bushy red hair fell awkwardly in his face as he narrowed his eyes in focus at the small paperback in his hands. "Hey, Brodie," I sighed while I walked over to him and set my bag next to his.