The Dead Zone

May 2, 2016 Part I

I woke up with my head pounding. Every part of my body was sore and stiff. Out the window, all I glimpsed was darkness, meaning it was too early to get out of bed. I groaned and rolled over, shoving my face into the pillows. There was a noise to the right of me, and I froze. A hundred things went through my mind in a second, before I slowly turned my head to face the sound. Caleb was there, sitting in the chair next to my bed. Staring at me.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" I shouted, yanking the blankets up over myself.

He narrowed his eyes before answering. "Just looking for a bandage. I cut my finger."

"Lana's first aid kit had bandages. You didn't need to come into a closed room."

"Couldn't find it," he shrugged. "Figured your bathroom might have one."

I glared at him, not believing it for a second. "If that's true, why are you still sitting here? And where's my dog?"

"Your dog wanted to go outside. And I saw how beautiful you look when you sleep and couldn't help but stare." His voice was still raspy and cracked several times. That, combined with the words, made chills run down my spine. There was something not right about Caleb, I just couldn't figure out what yet.

"Please stay out of my bedroom," I said, trying to keep my voice even. He rose out of the chair, and made his way out without saying a word. I decided to keep the encounter to myself, to avoid raising more suspicions with the others. Caleb had been through a lot, maybe he was just stressed out... or something. Whatever it was, I would probably find out soon enough. Besides, I figured, if he was a murderer I'd be dead right now. I scratched my arm absently and tried to shake the strange encounter out of my mind.

My thoughts started wandering to the events at the grocery store, once again. I found myself unable to remember much of what had happened. Everything was clear up until when I was checking out the solar panels alone, and I heard a noise. I could no longer properly recall what happened right after that.

After a few more minutes of thinking, I forced myself to get out of bed. My stomach was rumbling, and I wanted to make sure everybody else was alright, especially Zephyr. I looked out my window, hoping to see him. Sure enough, he was laying in the grass a few feet away, a low growl emitting from his throat, which I could just hear through the slightly open window. It was still dark out, but the sun was just starting to rise, creating a faint glow on the horizon.

Sighing, I hobbled off toward the kitchen. No one was there or in the living room, but the guest bedroom door was still shut. Nick and Lana were probably still sleeping, but I wasn't sure where the two older men and Caleb were. Zephyr was now waiting outside the door to be let inside. As soon as the screen door was opened, he rushed in and began sniffing away at me, seeming to check if I was okay. I patted his head, and he wandered further into the house, satisfied that nothing had happened while he was stuck outside.

Thinking about what to make for breakfast, I followed him inside. Pancakes and bacon sounded good. Thankfully, I had sufficient clean dishes to cook with. I didn't necessarily cook very well, but it wasn't bad. The scent of bacon filled the air as it sizzled in a frying pan, while the pancakes turned golden brown in another. The sound of people waking up came from the guest room. If there was one way to wake up Nick, it was food. Not five minutes later, he wandered out, rubbing his eyes.

"Something sure smells good," he said.

"Of course it does," I replied with a grin. "Don't you know I'm the best chef around?"

"Sure," he responded with good humor. "Just like I hate bacon. Can't stand the stuff." I laughed, knowing how much he worshipped the strips of meat. He had once made himself a giant BLT, using nearly an entire package of bacon, three pieces of lettuce, and two slices of tomato. Oh, and there was the dab of mayonnaise, which, according to him, "balanced the whole thing out." When it came time to actually eating it, he could barely fit it in his mouth; but he looked like he was in heaven. On the other hand, I loved chicken. Rotisserie chicken, fried chicken, salad with chicken in it... It was all delicious.