School Yard Apocalypse Book 1: Dead Flesh

Chapter 7: New people, New home

(((Thanks for reading! This chapter gets kind of grim towards the end but i hope you enjoy the drama anyway! :) Picture of Miles above <3)))

I was right. After trying and trying I still couldn't sleep last night. A few stumbling shadows walked by the windows and kept me scared of sleeping in case one got in. This all happened despite Miles making a guard system where one person would stay awake every hour on lookout. I should have just slept but I just couldn't. My instincts told me not to trust the lookout person in case they fell asleep. I thought this new found vigilance would be a good thing but it definitely wasn't always. I knew some of the others couldn't sleep either. We'd just have to get used to it. The apocalypse always made you feel so vulnerable.

Breakfast: Muesli bars and coffee. Madi was ecstatic when she found the coffee and started to boil some water. She loved coffee. I rolled my eyes at her excitement but took a sip of my own happily. 'What's the plan today Miles?' Dean asked.
'Well... I know things haven't gone so great the past few months...'
People's expressions fell in remembrance of everything that had occurred throughout the apocalypse. Miles quickly cleared his throat and continued to distract us. 'But I'd say that we are doing pretty well right now. We have tons of food, water and some new group members. Plus there is another thing we all forgot...' I raised an eyebrow and copied the other's confused expressions, 'merry Christmas everyone!' Miles finished. We started to look around at each other in surprise before a few smiles started to form. Is it really Christmas already? I thought, time moves fast in the apocalypse. 'So what are we going to do?' Sam asked curiously, 'we can't exactly buy each other presents...'
'Are you kidding, we have a bunch of stores filled with presents!' David joined the conversation excitedly.
'Would it mean as much if we just took them though? I mean... anyone can go and loot whatever they want, what's the point of presents?' Mitch pointed out.
'True...' I agreed.
'Aww come on guys, it's Christmas!' Tate and Dean agreed with David.
'Fine' Miles decided, 'though it's not much, we should all try to get each other something nice.'
'Should we have like a secret Santa or something?' Sam suggested.
'I guess so' Miles answered.
Xanna sighed in annoyance and got up. 'This is pointless. Christmas doesn't exist anymore! Some people don't even celebrate Christmas!' she complained.
'But you do Xanna' Madi added.
Xanna groaned and exited into the backroom. She slammed the door behind her, letting us know that she didn't want to be disturbed. 'So I guess Xanna is out' Miles commented. An awkward silence fell over the group for a while until Dean spoke up. 'I'll write down names and put them in something for us to pick out. Though Xanna is right and Christmas is kind of meaningless now, we still need a little fun now and then and I think this is a good idea.' No one seemed to argue and so Dean got to work. A few minutes later and he was done. He wrote everyone's name on ripped up pieces of whatever he could find with a marker he got from the counter and threw them into a flat cap that apparently Brooke insisted on getting on their last looting trip. We all picked out paper and unfolded them to see who we got. Darren the paper told me. A present for Darren. Really? Darren of all people? What am I supposed to get him? He didn't look very amused with his own paper as he bowed his head and sighed. In fact, Darren didn't look too happy about any of this. Sure it was kind of stupid, secret Santa? We were in high school and now in an apocalypse yet we were doing a secret Santa. But it was mainly just to take our minds off of everything else, to keep us sane in a way. Though yes it was stupid, it was a distraction. I seriously had no idea what to get for Darren though. What was I supposed to get a large high school boy whose only interests seemed to be sports and girls? A football? Where could I get one of those and where would he even use it? What if I made it into a weapon? Oh my God yes, this was perfect. It was decided. He played a lot of football and his only weapon right now seemed to be a rusty pocket knife. As I watched everyone open their paper I noticed different expressions. Some seemed neutral, others looked slightly annoyed but most people seemed quite happy with their picks. Mitch was one of those people smiling when he saw the name. 'So did anyone get themselves?' Miles asked. No one responded meaning that it must have been all good. 'Okay so we should get going. Group up again, I don't want anyone going out alone. We'll meet back here before lunch so if anyone goes missing before then, then you all know the drill.'