Age of the Dead

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I begin to walk up to the door Luke follows close behind me. When we finally get to the porch Luke pulls the door open. He lets me walk in first then himself and Brandon last. I step in and see a small shadow race across the hallway. I look back at Luke.

"Hello?" He shouts in the direction of the shadow. "It's Luke." Then I see a small head peek out from around the corner.

"Luke! You're alive!" It is Luke's little brother. I remember he rode our bus in elementary school. I can't quite remember his name, but Luke answers my question right when I think it.

"Come here Sammy." Luke says smiling. The little boy runs up and hugs Luke. Sammy looks over Luke's shoulder at me and Brandon.

"Who are they?" Sammy tries to whisper in Luke's ear. Though I can still hear him.

"This is Stephanie-" Luke says pointing over his shoulder to me, "and this is Brandon." Sam nods in a very welcoming way.

"Do you know where Daddy is?" Luke says in a very childish voice. Sam nods and walks up the stairs to the left of the doorway. Luke stands beside me waiting for Sammy's return.

"I was sure Sammy wouldn't have made it this long." Luke says to me.

"He is young." only about 9 or 10. Sammy comes running back down the stairs with a tall well built man that has the same hair and eye coloring as Luke they look pretty different besides that.

"Dad," Luke says. He is smiling and almost crying. They collide in a bear hug.

"I'm so happy you're safe." His dad says. His dad looks at Brandon and I the same way Luke's little brother did.

"Dad, this is Stephanie and this is Brandon. They are Luke's friends." Sammy says.

"Nice to meet you," Lukes dad shakes Brandon's hand. "Don't we know you?" He says to me.

"They both go to my school, you've probably seen her when you were helping or something." Luke says.

"Um, not to interrupt the reunion, but we have people waiting of us in the car and we still need to get their families." Brandon says.

"Yeah, We need to get you some supplies and food then we can go. We are not gonna be coming back for a LONG time I'll explain everything in the car." Luke says to his family. We collect some canned food and juice boxes they had in the cabinet. Then we walk out to the car. I realise we don't have any more room in the car so we'll have to pick one up at Julie's house which is only a little while away from Luke's. Mason lives across the street from Julie and I live in a house right outside the development. When I sit in the front seat Julie is sitting in the passenger seat and Luke is sitting in the middle row next to his dad, sammy is sitting on Luke's lap. I can hear Luke telling his dad about everything that happened in the last day, about our plans to go to the refugee camp-

"You know where I live right?" Julie asks cutting off my thoughts.

"Are you kidding? I've been there like a million times." I say even though I have only been there three times. She laughs. I make my way down the road a bit then pull over on the road next to her driveway. It doesn't matter where you park any more . There are no cars on the road any way. I get out of the car only taking Julie with me this time. I have more faith in her being able to kill if she needs to. Luke would never do that. We get out of the car and walk up her driveway going in her house through the garage. She puts her ear to the door leading into the house. Do you hear anything? I mouth. She shakes her head.

"I don't hear anything." She says. She turns the doorknob and walks in. "Mom?" She says to the open room. I see her cat dart across the room. "Gwen?" She begins to walk over to the kitchen.

"Do you think they would have gone somewhere?" I ask her. She shakes her head.

"They couldn't have just disappeared." I say trying to sound hopeful.

"Right, let's look up stairs. Maybe they're hiding or something." She says. I can tell she doesn't believe herself. I walk through the living room to the stairs and stop before going up to listen. I don't hear anything so I go up. Julie and I look through each room. Occasionally calling out for her little sister or her mom. Their dad always goes on business trips, this time he went to Kentucky. He was staying there for a few months and only left a week ago. I walk back down stairs behind Julie.

"We'll find them." I say. She ignores me. We walk back out to the car in silence. I get back into the cramped car. I hear Mason ask what happened. She says they weren't there and gets quiet again. Next stop, Masons house.   

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