Breaking The Glue

A New Life

I wake up to nothing but the dark ceiling above me. I groan, getting up into a sitting position and stretch out my arms. I look over at my brother Ethan, who's back is turned away from me, asleep on the opposite side of the room. I unzip my sleeping bag and get up, and walk over to the boarded up window me and my brother boarded a long time ago to keep out cranks. I peek through one tiny hole we didn't board up on purpose to keep watch, and look outside. Burnt buildings stare back at me from left to right, objects liter the ground from broken pieces of structures, to household items. Melted cars lay on their sides, or upside down, some of them don't even look like cars anymore.
I move away from the boarded window to the door of the cellar room we live in, and quietly step out carefully so I don't wake my brother.  I move swiftly down the long hallway to the side door that leads out to the scorched world beyond. A little bit after our parents died, me and my brother were in search of some new shelter. While we were searching we found this restaurant that was not too destroyed from the sun flares. We discovered a hidden side door, right from the main doors, and walked down a hallway to find a cellar room that was not damaged in any way at all. We decided to call it our home, boarded up the one window, and we've been here ever since.
I step outside to the smell of burnt rubber, and the hot sun shining down on my bare arms. The heat is almost unbearable so I step back a ways, engulfing myself into the shade that was made by the leaning buildings. It's been about 2 years since Ethan and I's parents died. I could almost remember it like it was yesterday:

{2 years earlier}
"Ethan be careful." I whisper to him as our diseased infected parents walk in small, slow circles around us. They cackle, their purplish-blue tongues running over their blue lips, and their veiny hands twitch at their sides. Both of their heads are completely bald from pulling out their own hair. Brushes and bumps cover their entire bodies, and their cloths torn. "You always were our bad children." Our dad spoke, with such a snarl to his voice it gave me shivers that crawled up my spine. "Your older sister, such an angel, But then you." My dad lifts up his trembling finger and points it directly at my brother. "You killed her." "Dad." Both my parent's heads snap my direction, with smirks glued to their faces. I take a deep breath before speaking. "Ethan did not kill Lucy, she was infected with the flare and died in her sleep, remember?" Our mom screeches something awful, and lunges herself to me, pinning me against the wall. "No it was you who killed her! Your such a traitor, killing our daughter."
Tears filled my eyes, threatening to fall at any given moment. She grabs a hold of my neck with her left hand, and begins to squeeze which makes me gag. "You did this! This is all your doing, just admit it!" I look out of the corner of my eye to see Ethan with his gun in his hands, aiming it right at our mom. His hands are trembling and tears are streaming down his face. "L-Let her go mom." He says almost in a whisper. She ignores him, and continues to squeeze my neck harder. Black dots start to form, clouding my vision, and the world gets blurry. That's when I hear the familiar sound of a gun shot firing my way, and the tightness around my neck dissipates. I fall to the ground and start coughing and throwing up everything in me until there's nothing left, and my vision slowly but surely starts coming into focus again. I look back up to see Ethan towering over me, tears spilling down his cheeks landing in mini puddles beside me. I follow his eyes to what lays in front of me, my mom's lifeless body.

"I'm so sorry Daniella." My brother sobs into his hands. "She-she w-was about to k-kill you!" I scramble back up onto my feet, and embrace my brother into a hug, and start to sob. "She would of wanted us to Ethan." I sniff. "But I can't believe she's gone!" I shout the last part, sobbing louder now. Ethan pulls away from the hug, takes my hand and pulls me backwards. I turn to the source of where his eyes are staring at, our dad. His head is peeking out from a corner he probably went to go hide at when he heard the gun shot. There was something off about him though, he almost looked, sane. "Ethan, Daniella, it's me." He spoke in a calm voice, a voice I haven't heard him speak in a very, long time. He comes staggering out from behind the corner, but doesn't make it too far before he collapses to his knees, sighing. He looks from me, then to the gun I had picked up off the ground in my hands.
"Daniella, I need you to put me out of my misery. I'm not gonna be sane like this for long so could you, please just do it now. Do it before I reach the gone." I turn to look at Ethan, who is in a fetal position, tears streaming down his face again. I turn back to my dad to see that he is crying too, and my lip quivers. "Dad, I-I can't do this to you!" "Then do it for yourself, do it for Ethan." My dad says, gritting his teeth to try and control the temper that is now starting to come back. "I'm dangerous Daniella, you have to protect  yourselves. Don't worry about me, I'll be ok." I drop down onto my knees, and a tear starts rolling down my cheek. I crawl over to our dad, not caring whether he snaps or not, and I give him a hug. Surprisingly he hugs back, but quickly pulls away scared he'll snap. "B-But I'll never see y-you again." I sniff. Tears fill my dad's eyes again, but none fall. "You will, someday and I promise that. We will all reunite again and be a happy family, and have Lucy back too. But for right now I'll be in here." He gently taps his index finger on my heart. "You will always have the warm fuzzy memories. Be safe my little princess, and I love you guys." "I love you too daddy." I sob, and the tears officially flood down my face. I could see the madness returning in my dads eyes and fear strikes me just then.
"Now just sho- agh! Daniella just get this over with!" My dad screams still gritting his teeth, his hands are now pressed against the sides of his head. I quickly face the gun towards my dad's forehead, prepared to shoot. "I love you daddy!" I yell one last time, before a bullet flies through the air straight into my dad's head. I look at both of my parents lifeless bodies on the ground, and that's when I realized what had just happened. My mom was dead, and I had just shot my father.

"No!" I scream at no one in particular. I cradle my head in my hands and sob as loud as I can, not caring if I draw attention to a crank nearby. Our parents are dead, it's just me and my brother now and I have no idea what to do. I hear my brother's footsteps from behind, and I sense him drop to the ground beside me. "I'm so sorry Ethan!" I sob into my hands. "I'm s-sorry their gone!" I look up from my hands to see my brother's red, tear stained face. He doesn't say anything, he only pulls me into a hug and I cry into his shoulder. We sit there, sobbing into each other arms for what seems like an eternity. It's only us now, and have we to make it for our parents sake.

{Present Day}
I open the door back into the cellar room and head towards the spot where my brother is peacefully asleep. "Ethan!" I whisper as I shake his shoulder. "Ethan, wake up! Come on we have to go." My brother's eyes blink open. "Ugh but I don't wanna." He groans, rolling onto his back. "Ethan!" I lightly tap the side of his cheek and he finally sits up. "We have to find something to eat back in the kitchen, so come on." Ethan lets out one last groan before standing up, and following me back into the kitchen.
Ever since the sun flares, there hasn't been much in the way of food, but as I said earlier this restaurant wasn't that affected by it. So we've been using the kitchen supplies to cook up at least a can of soup, stale or not, it's all we have. I scan the pantries as Ethan searches through the cabinets, I find nothing. "Daniella!" Ethan shouts, I turn around to face him. "Did you find something?" I ask. Ethan nods, showing me a can of chicken noodle soup he had found from inside the bottom cabinet. "Ok great, toss it here." Ethan tosses me the can and I pour it into the saucer, and turn the burner on.

After the soup is warmed up, me and Ethan each grab a spoon and begin digging in. "We're running out of food." I say in between bites, "We need to go out looking for more soon. Even though there's barley any left, we have to try and find something." Ethan nods and opens his mouth to speak, when a large screech sounds from outside.
I look back at Ethan who has got up from his chair, his eyes wide with fear. "Shit! They usually never come this way, what the heck?" I run out of the kitchen and into the cellar room, going right for the window. I peek through the hole of the boarded window once more, but this time it isn't quit and empty. About two feet away, coming out of broken building windows, are twenty or so cranks. And they are heading straight for this window.