Deserted

Chapter 4

"This is just like those old zombie movies...is this really happening?" Abby said quietly as the two walked through the woods to get to Amber's neighborhood.

"It is really happening...so we better come to terms with it, and make some smart decisions if we want to have a chance at survival." Amber responded coldly. Amber's eyes were constantly scanning their surroundings, the two girls were on edge as they walked from the distant gunshots, explosions and screams. In the distance they began to see houses through the trees, Amber's heart began gunning.

"Oh thank god, we're almost at my house. At the very least we can barricade ourselves in, I have plenty of food in there." Amber said quietly as the two hid behind a few trees and peeked around. When Amber couldn't see anyone, the two ran across a few backyards before they came to Amber's backyard. Amber pulled out her house key and stuck it into the lock of her back door, she twisted the knob and cracked the door to peek inside. No broken windows, no one bashed in the front door, no sign that anyone had been in there. Perfect.

Amber opened the door fully and shut it behind Abby after she entered. "Dad?! Are you here?!" Amber shouted up the stairs, only to be greeted by silence, and the muffled chaos from outside. She growled softly as a pit formed in her stomach. "Alright, I'm going upstairs to grab a few guns from my dad's room, I need you to start gathering food, anything canned or dried. I assume after a while, the military will be setting up 'safe zones' for civilians so we might have to take a trip." Abby nodded as Amber began climbing the stairs, she burst into her father's room. She stood there for a moment as she stared into the empty room, the realization finally setting in. She didn't allow her thoughts to corrode her mind, she shook her head and rushed into a kneeling position next to her father's bed. She reached under and pulled out a small metal lock box.

"Ah shit." She cursed under her breath as she recalled where the key to the box was. She stood back up and placed the box onto the bed, she then turned to her right and opened the second drawer in her father's nightstand and pulled out a small silver key. She unlocked the box and pulled out a black revolver, she opened the cylinder and growled slightly when she saw it was empty.

"Come one, dad. Where the hell do you keep your ammo?" She whispered to herself, her dad had told her all of this a while ago but she never thought to remember it because she never thought she would need to...her eyes drifted to the closet and a memory was stirred. She rushed to the closet and opened it, her eyes immediately fell on another small metal box on the shelf. Amber pulled it down and walked over to the bed and set it down. She opened it and saw 3 boxes of bullets for her revolver, she smiled slightly before picking them up. She carried the ammo and gun into her room and grabbed a backpack from her closet. She filled up the revolver's cylinder before putting the rest of the ammo into the backpack. She then stowed the gun into the back of her waistband before she began filling her bag with other necessities, clothes and underwear and such.

Amber zipped up her bag and slung it over her shoulder before she left her room and began walking downstairs. "Alright Abby, I got clothes and shit, as well as-" Amber was cut off when she reached the bottom of the stairs and looked into her living room. There was a guy behind Abby, holding his arm around her neck with a knife to her throat. Abby's eyes were wide in fear and her hands were up in front of her. Amber instinctively reached behind her and lifted her revolver, pointed at the guy's face. Amber's face softened slightly when she noticed that this guy looked to be around the same age as them.

"Drop the gun! Or I'll...I'll kill her!" The man shouted as he tightened his grip around Abby's neck. She whimpered softly as her eyes closed.

"Okay! Okay...let's just...relax, we're just trying to survive, same as you." Amber said as she lifted her hands, she slowly placed the revolver onto the ground before standing back up again, her hands still in full view. "Why are you doing this?" It appeared that Amber's question had confused the teen. He stammered a bit before he answered,

"I...I don't...know...I..." His voice was quiet now, the hand that was holding the knife was trembling.

"Look," Amber started as she walked slowly towards him, "I get it, you're scared, we're all scared. That doesn't mean that we have to go around threatening or killing each other. So please, just put down the knife, and we can talk...okay?" Amber's voice was calm and melodic to hopefully but the boys mind at ease. He began shaking more noticeably and his lip began trembling before he released Abby, who quickly got away from him and moved behind Amber. As the boy dropped to his knees and began softly sobbing, Amber moved closer to him again. "I'm gunna get that knife from you, okay?" Amber said gently, she knew how dangerous a broken person can be with a sharp object. The boy dropped the knife where it clattered against her hardwood floors. Amber gently moved it away before kneeling in front of him.

"I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't wanna hurt anyone, it's just...I got home and my whole family was dead, my mom and pop, my little sister...they were ripped apart." The boy said through his sobs. Amber turned around gently to look at Abby.

"Do me a favor and make some tea for..." Amber trailed off, hoping this boy would finish her sentence.

"Drew..." The boy finally answered. Amber smiled as Abby went into the kitchen to make the tea.

"Well, Drew. My name is Amber, and she's Abby. My house is very good in terms of security, we can hold up here until things die down a bit. I'm gonna turn on the news to see if they're able to tell us anything, you wanna sit on the couch?" Amber finished in a soft tone. Drew smiled weakly before he got onto his feet with Amber's help. He slowly moved to the couch and sat down as Amber turned on the TV. After flicking through a few channels, she got to an emergency broadcast.

"Attention citizens, this is not a test. The outbreak of this deadly and bizarre pathogen has been designated uncontrollable. We urge citizens to lock themselves in their homes unless absolutely necessary. If you must travel, bring a weapon or firearm. There will be safe zones set up by the U.S. military within the next few days. This message will now repeat."

Amber sighed, "Well, it seems like we will be holding up here for the next few days. We should be safer if we get to those safe zones that the military is setting up." Abby entered the room after that, with a small tray with three cups of tea on it.

"Hey...I'm sorry for holding my knife to your throat like that...I was panicking." Drew said quietly as he looked at Abby, who smiled softly.

"It's okay, I probably would've done the same thing if I was in your position." Abby responded confidently. "Besides, you seem like a quiet guy. I'm sure we will get along great." Abby finished with the smile still on her face.

"Well, that's enough introductions, it's time to fortify this place..." Amber said as she cracked her knuckles.