Dead Love | Michael Clifford

four.

The following morning I wake up to barking. I look around to find Chip looking out the "window", watching something.
"What is it, boy?" I ask, walking over to look out. As far as I can see, there aren't any zombies outside so I don't know what he's barking at.
I pet his head and he calms down. Kyra's not in my bed so I assume she either made it peacefully through the night or already got up. The sun is up over the horizon already so I walk out into the main room.
"Morning," Kyra hugs me and I hug her back. She's eating the bread I brought back yesterday.
"Is that still good?" I ask as she gnaws on it.
"Even if it was stale, you know I'd still eat it," she laughs and I agree. I grab three Oreos from the inventory room and come back out to find that Amanda and Jas have come into the room.
Kyra finishes her piece of bread and goes off to get weapons. She comes back with Amanda's guns and a quiver full of arrows, a recurve bow, a crossbow, and a small knife.
"Be safe," I call as they grab the backpacks.
Amanda nods and smiles before they leave.
"Shall we get to work?" Jas asks as Sydney flies onto her shoulder from where he had been on the table.
"Yeah," I reply.
We go down to the first of 10 storage rooms. I think we'll get to organising about 5 of them today, but tomorrow Jas goes hunting with Amanda so Kyra and I will finish up the job.
The first room has the musical things in it, which we just tidy up a little. In the next room there's the couch/bed, two mattresses, and a large assortment of clothes.
We go through the clothes and take out the ones that will be way too small, which we can use for other purposes. Then we take the ones that will fit us and bring them upstairs to the main room. I help Jas push the couch against the wall and we leave the other mattresses in the corner.
The third room has at least ten blankets which we take up and pile next to the clothes. It also has the recliner which we decide to leave in there and five board games which will serve as useful to occupy us during dull moments. We stack those on the shelf in that room.
Suddenly there are quick footsteps on the staircase.
"Jas! Lijy!" Amanda's voice shouts.
"Is it an attack?" Jasmyn asks as the other girl runs into the doorway.
"No. But you gotta come see what it is," Amanda says.
I follow them up the stairs and to the door leading outside. Amanda leads Jas and me around to the side of our hideout. I slow down when I see Kyra standing awkwardly next to four very tall boys.
"Hi," the shortest of them says. He has long, curly hair that's being held away from his face in a ponytail. He has a bandana tied around his head as well.
"Hi," Jasmyn responds. "Who might you be?"
"I'm Ashton," the one who spoke before introduces himself. "This is Luke, Calum, and Michael.
Luke appears to be the tallest. His blonde hair sticks up and is shorter on the sides. He's holding a longbow and has a quiver on his back.
Calum has super dark brown hair and eyes to match. His skin is more tan than the rest and he has a slingshot in his back pocket.
Michael has an eyebrow piercing and green/grey eyes. He has a sword in a hanging at his side and a long piece of fabric tied around his head. His hair is an unnatural shade of bright red.
They're all carrying heavy-looking backpacks.
"Nice to meet you," Jas shakes Ashton's hand and he smiles at her, revealing two deep dimples. "May I ask why you're here?"
"We were camped out a couple miles away but our place got invaded," he explains. "We were looking for a new place to stay."
"Well, there's an abandoned grocery store about thirty minutes that way," Amanda says, eyeing Calum with a frown. He frowns back.
Jas elbows Amanda lightly.
"She didn't mean that," Jas smiles. "Can we have a minute?"
Ashton nods and the four of us girls walk back around the corner.
"Are we gonna let them stay with us?" I ask first. They all look at me and I shrug. "We were all thinking it."
"Well... They kinda don't have much of a chance, you guys have all seen how little there is around us," Jas says.
"I don't like the Asian one," Amanda scoffs. "I don't think we should let them stay."
"Jasmyn has a point," Kyra mumbles quietly.
"All in favour of letting them stay," Jas raises her hand. I raise mine as well and so does Kyra.
"Fine, but don't expect me to make friends with them," Amanda goes back inside.
The rest of us walk back over to the boys.
"Well... There's really not much else around here where you guys could stay... We've found a place pretty much away from the zombies and away from everything else," Jas tells them. Ashton frowns. "But, we have plenty of room in our place and, if you trust us enough, we'll let you stay with us."
"We'd love to accept your offer, but-"
"What she's saying is that you're gonna die if you keep wandering around," Kyra butts in.
"Well... If you insist," Ashton agrees.
"Oh, by the way, I'm Jasmyn, this is Lijy and this is Kyra," I wave when she says my name. "And the one who has gone inside is Amanda."
"Come on, I'll show you around and how things work," Kyra leads us all inside.
When we come in, Chip starts barking at the four strangers. Kyra picks him up but he keeps barking.
"This is Chip," she says. "He doesn't bite anything except zombies and noses if you let him."
Ashton smiles and pets his head which he seems to like. Kyra sets him back down.
"Jasmyn's bird is named Sydney. Amanda has a dog named Lucy and Lijy has a cat named Buyo," she explains. Buyo meows from under the table at the mention of his name.
I bend down and he walks out towards me.
"This is our 'main' room, and that's what we call the inventory room. It has things like food, weapons, medical care, and other necessities. And this door leads to other rooms that were originally some type of storage. Those four doors in that hallway thing lead to our bedrooms."
Jas comes out of her room bird-less.
"We have three extra things to sleep on... I'll give up my bed if one of you doesn't mind sleeping in a room with me," she explains.
"No, Jas, whoever wants to can sleep in my room. I'll sleep with Kyra," I speak for the first time in front of the boys.
"That works too," she shrugs.
"I'll sleep in her room," Michael volunteers, raising his hand. I catch myself looking at him for a bit too long on accident and look away shyly.
"Okay. Kyra, continue on with your tour," Jas goes back into her room.
Kyra opens the door and leads them downstairs to the rooms.
I go into my room and try to make it look nice. I get out my journal, then look for a hiding place for it.
Dammit, nothing.
"Lijy?" Kyra calls.
I shove it back into its place and join the people again.
"What?" I ask, slightly annoyed.
"Do you mind telling them about how we do things? I have to take Chip out."
"Sure," I put on a smile as she leaves with the small white dog. "So, umm... Jasmyn is kind of our leader, she's the smartest out of us and she was really close with our... Old leader. Amanda is the hunter, almost every day one of us goes out hunting with her. And by 'hunting' I mean looking for things that could be useful."
I pause to make sure they're listening.
"So far Jasmyn sounds like Ashton and Amanda sounds like me," Luke points out.
"Maybe you'll get along then," I smile. "Kyra is in charge of the weapons, she's like really good at using any kind of weapon."
"That's my job in our group," Calum says.
"And then there's me, the nurse lady."
"Nurse lady?" Michael asks, confused.
"Medical person, caretaker, healthcare companion," I explain. "I know how to use 'modern' medicine but also remedial herbs."
They all "ohh" and I nod. I notice that they don't point out it's Michael's job too which leads me to wonder what he does.
"So, uhh... We should get your beds ready," I decide.
They all agree and I grab six of the blankets. We go downstairs and pass the sink on the way.
"Oh, this is our sink. It actually works," I demonstrate by turning on the water for a second. "We use the water for drinking and sometimes cleaning ourselves. Amanda always gets to wash up first since she goes out hunting almost every day."
I lead them to their rooms and together we move the two mattresses into the third room Jasmyn and I had cleaned.
"Jas and I were working on taking stuff out and rearranging these rooms so we only have a couple that are really available. You guys will have a better choice tomorrow when Kyra and I work on the job," I say, taking off the pillows from the couch. I pull out the bed part and then spread a sheet on top of it. I place another, folded blanket near the end.
Then I do the same with the other two mattresses which are both in the other room. I go into the 6th room which I remember seeing pillows in. I grab three and put one on each sleeping quarter.
"Good," I brush my hands together jokingly. We all head upstairs and I hand the guys who are staying downstairs each a tea light candle and some strike anywhere matches.
"Just don't burn the house down," I warn.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Luke smiles, showing off his dimples.
"Well, it's too close to feeding time to do much," I sigh, sitting on top of the table.
"What do you guys normally do to pass time?" Calum asks.
"Sit around. Kyra plays with Chip, sometimes I draw, Amanda sleeps, Jas likes to go on walks a lot," I list, kicking my legs. "Oooh! We have those board games now!"
I tell them to wait there and then go down to grab one. There's Monopoly, Clue, The Game of Life, Scrabble, and Sorry.
I grab Clue and bring it back up.
"This is one of Amanda's favourites. Besides Monopoly which we have but I don't like it that much," I ramble.
We all sit around the table and start to play the game.
Halfway through, Amanda decides to come out of her room.
"Hey, we're playing Clue, wanna join?" I call to her. She shrugs and I can tell she's trying not to seem excited. Finally she agrees and we play until everyone gets hungry.
I lead the boys to the inventory room to look for food.
They all pick different cans of food and I grab two granola bars. The other girls join us to eat.
"So, how much have you guys moved around?" Ashton asks, aiming the question towards Kyra.
"Three times," she answers. "This is our fourth dwelling."
"It's a really nice place too," he nods, looking around.
"What are your full names?" I ask just to keep the conversation going.
"Ashton Fletcher Irwin."
"Calum Thomas Hood."
"Lucas Robert Hemmings."
"Michael Gordon Clifford."
"What about you guys?" Luke asks.
We all answer and I decide to leave out my two extra middle names just to sound cooler.
"Woah, you guys have really unique names," Michael says, surprised.
Everyone finishes eating and we feed our pets whatever we don't eat, as usual.
"Okay... Tomorrow we have to start a new way of doing things," Jasmyn announces. "It's not safe for anyone to go out alone ever. So, Amanda and I go hunting tomorrow... Who of you four wants to go?"
"Luke and I will," Ashton says. "He's the hunter out of us."
"Okay. The rest of everyone is staying here then. Lijy and Kyra are going to be cleaning out the rest of the rooms downstairs, you two can help if you'd like. Otherwise, you can... Do whatever, really. Just don't sabotage our hideout or we'll kick you out."
"We don't really have anywhere else to go, so I don't think any of us intend to do that," Calum points out.
"Okay, good," Jas claps her hands together once. "You are dismissed."
"I'm gonna clean myself so you guys might want to go to your rooms and not watch me," Amanda says, getting up from the table. The three boys staying downstairs all go down to their rooms for the night and Amanda goes down to the sink.
I go to my room to get anything I might need and Michael follows behind me.
"So, uh... How do you like it here?" I ask, opening the top drawer on my dresser.
"It's a lot nicer than the last place we stayed," he says, sitting down on the bed.
"How many places have you stayed at?" I keep the conversation going.
"Around 8. We don't have the best of luck," he chuckles from behind me.
"That's a lot," I raise my eyebrows to myself as I grab the last thing I need.
"Umm... Who's Jareth?" Michael asks out of nowhere. My heart instantly speeds up at the mention of his name and I spin around to face him. He's got my journal open on his lap.
I march over to him and grab it, shutting it quickly.
"I have a better question," I spit, frustrated with him. "The world is ending and we all could be killed any day. So where the fuck did you find the time and supplies to dye your hair?!"
I grab my few possessions and leave without bothering to look back at him. I walk to Kyra's room and pass Buyo on the way, who's going towards my room. He meows at me before continuing on through the door which is cracked open.
Kyra isn't in her room, meaning she's probably washing up at the sink. I lay on her mattress and pull the blanket over me, wanting to cry badly. But I can't let myself do that, so I just lay there.
Chip comes into the room first, followed by Kyra whose hair is wet. She lays down by me and we cuddle up together, Chip laying on the opposite side of her.
I close my eyes after a while and fall asleep quickly.