Paradise

6. Prime Time

Casey was awoken a few hours later to the sound of pots and pans being clanked together. She walked into the kitchen wondering what in the hell Andi was doing. "Are you hungry?" She asked.

"Not really," Casey responded. She watched as Andi got enough food out of the fridge to feed at least eight people. Casey got to thinking about the electricity and plumbing. "When do you think they're gonna turn the electricity off?"

Andi froze for a moment in her place opposite the counter from Casey. The thought must've never occurred to her. Andi never responded to her, instead mentally trying to figure out what she was going to do when that happens. There was no doubt it was coming. There was no one to manage the sewage or the power plants, so how would they keep running?

The twins walked in a second later, Ethan taking a seat next to Casey. Grayson opened the fridge and peered inside despite the large meal Andi had just made. Casey wasn't sure if Andi didn't care or just didn't notice.

"I was right. They were talking last night." Ethan whispered to Casey. Although Casey didn't reply, Ethan knows she heard him very clearly. He silently laughed to himself over the whole situation. The next time Casey was able to talk privately to Andi, she was going to slyly bring it up into their conversation.

The group all decided not to leave Andi's that day. None of them wanted to face what was out there again just yet. Andi had began covering the windows in blankets to preserve heat and black out the windows. When she ran out of blankets, she began to cover the rest in old newspaper. It wouldn't do much for blocking the light out when it's dark but it'll do for now. Casey's curiosity was growing more and more impatient as the day went on so as Andi was putting up the last of the news paper, Casey tried to get answers. "How'd you sleep last night?"

"Not that well," She replied, checking the tape to make sure it was gonna stay. "even though you guys are here, it still feels empty without my family."

Casey nodded, letting silence fall between them before she thought of another question to ask. "What do you think of the twins?"

Andi glanced Casey before looking back at the task on hand. "They're okay. Grayson seems like a nice guy - he just doesn't know how to react to the situation."

"Did you talk to him or something?" Casey asked, acting as if she didn't already know the answer.

"Yeah, we talked a little last night. He felt bad for pissing you off so much yesterday."

"I wasn't pissed off, I was just irritated." Casey clarified.

The rest of the day went by peacefully and Casey's anxiety levels were pretty low since the windows were covered. Since no television channels were actually playing anything, they opted for a movie. Ethan asked for it to be something positive and cheerful but Ayla put in Stand By Me. Although it wasn't exactly what Ethan asked for, none of the others complained.

They stayed in Andi's house for a few days, waiting to hear anything from their families. The messages or phone calls never came. Since Andi's parents rarely did any food shopping, they were starting to run low on food. Andi constructed a list of supplies and food with Casey that they needed to get. Most of the food consisted of canned and dried goods but when it came down to it, Casey knew they were just gonna grab what they saw and get the whole thing done with as fast as possible. The thought of being away from the house still makes them all very anxious.

"Do you think the store by your house will be too much?" Casey asked.

"Who knows what happened there or what we'll encounter there. I'd rather stick with something small and easier to find everything we need. We'll go to the gas station across the street from there and then possibly the one down the street." Andi explained. Andi knows a lot more about any of this stuff than Casey did, so she didn't question it.