Dead as Time

Chapter 9-Alyssa

The walk back to my house was surprisingly not awkward. After hearing the scream and looking around for where it came from, we almost completely forgot about what had happened at the market. We started making up stories for what we going to tell Jim for why it took so long. I blush every time I think about it. When Michael looks over he knows why I'm blushing and smiles. We're gonna die eventually anyways so why not do it now? I thought to myself.

We get to my house and Jim is waiting outside. "There y'all heathens are. I been waiting for years. Though y'all may have died or somethin" Jim yells from his lawn chair. "Yeah sorry, we heard a little girl scream so we were looking for where it came from" I shout back at him. He gives me a suspicious look and doesn't reply.

Unloading groceries into the house felt like we were normal people. It felt good for a change. While I was putting the boxes of crackers into the cabinet I could feel Michael's eyes. I look back and he smiles at me and takes a bite of his apple. I smile back at him. Michael and I talked about a lot of other things on our way back. Like dating for instance, yeah we're kinda dating now, but I guess it doesn't really matter because the world is ending right? But might as well have fun before it does. That night after dinner he slept in my make-shift queen, me putting Maggie and I's beds together, not on the couch. Jim slept in my parents bed and the man that hit me in the head sleeps on the couch.

The fact that I can wake up and not know if I'll live to see the sunset or not scares me. The fact that I'm strapped at all times scares me. The fact that I can't go places alone scares me. This place I used to call home, no longer feels like home. It's a distant place I used to call home and now I just call temporary safety.

No texts from Abbey all day kills me. Not knowing if she's safe or not is horrible. She's so stubborn. I hope she's okay and she makes it here safe. Every time I cry, Michael is there for me. He told me he's jealous because he never had siblings so close. I feel bad for him.

Lunch goes by fast and then we're doing work to protect the house again. We put up walls of reinforcement. After the walls are up, Jim sits us down and tries to be a good samaritan. "Okay folks, we need help. We need more protection. We need to be good people and go out and save some survivors" he says flat out. Everyone thinks for a minute, not able to respond. "But what about supplies? We don't have enough for more families" Michael states. "He's got a point. What are we supposed to feed everyone? We barely have enough for ourselves" I also add in, only because I'd agree with him about anything, and it's true. Jim sighs "We'll get more. Look it's the good thing to do" Michael and I sit back and nod. Jim tells us the plan, then Michael and I pack and are on our way to Glennwood Drive.

Once at Glennwood Drive we start breaking into houses. A lot of doors weren't even locked, some were even open. In the first few houses there was nothing. When we got to the fourth house we only spent five minutes looking because a small family was hiding in the upstairs bathroom. The family consisted of a dad, 45, named David white, a mom, 43, named Melissa White, and a son, 17, named Andrew White. I felt bad for staring at Andrew while we were explaining why we were there. Michael looked at him with hate in his eyes.

Another family found was a small family consisting of a dad, 36, named Christopher Martinez, a mom, 30, named Ashley Martinez, a daughter, 10, named Chelsea Martinez, and a son, 2, named Chase Martinez. The only other people on Glennwood Drive, was a couple, Emily and Rob, who was out and about when it started and took refuge in one of the empty house. They have a daughter named Alex that was at the house at the time everything started. They say they live in Elk Hills, a small subdivision about an hour away from our house.

When we were done collecting families from Glennwood, we decide to head home. Getting everyone inside was complicated but we made it work. "Well looky here" Jim says walking over to the new additions to the family. All of the new additions introduce themselves and then we figure out sleeping arrangements, which didn't take too long. We ate, we cleaned up, and then I found myself checking my phone for the fourth time today. Nothing from Abbey. I felt sick to my stomach. She's completely fine, I tell myself. Falling asleep in Michael's arm made it all the better.