Zombsania

Part 1.8

FEBRUARY THE 11th:
DAY 10:

Matt, while humble and knowledgeable, had the personality of a joker. The way he blended his long, clever words with humor was an amazing sight, leaving Cara and I in fits of laughter. I didn't think I would ever laugh like that again. I didn't even think that I would laugh at all after the outbreak, yet there we were, sitting round the unlit fireplace in plush chairs, hiccups of laughter escaping our bodies. I tried my best to pretend like nothing had happened; my family were still alive, I hadn't killed two people, and Luca was just a close friend who I had known for a long time. But no matter how much I tried to ignore reality it still nagged at me in the back of my mind.

Matts laughter came to a slow stop,"so real talk, okay? How did you two come to meet that lame ass over there?" He pointed to Luca who was perched in an arm chair with gold studs. His careless body language and black ripped jeans were an unsettling contrast to the expensive furniture.
"Well Cara and I went to the same school but we only met after this all happened, and we were staying at the petrol station together," I began. "So, weird things started happening. I mean even weirder that what they already were. A guy came into our petrol station every night to draw a map on our wall. And guess who it was? I ended up catching him and he told us we had to come with him to turn the power on. He seemed to know what he was doing so we stayed with him."
Reese shook his head, making a hyena-like noise that was between a laugh and a sigh,"so he's still breaking and entering."
"Reese!" Matt scolded. I looked over at Luca in confusion expecting to see his cheeks burning from embarrassment, him shuffling uncomfortably in his chair,  fiddling with the rips in his jeans. However, he did neither of these. His body still laid across the chair nonchalantly, he stared at Reese dead in the eye. While his expression was somewhat relaxed, gentle even, his sharp eyes were enough to make someone end a war. Hazel, demanding, threatening eyes, that would never be the first to back down. Reese's fingers dug into the plush arm of the chair, holding Luca's gaze before leaving to grab snacks for everyone. No matter how intimidated I felt in the presence of Reese, he was no match for Luca.

The imprints of his fingers on the chair stayed long after he had left the room.

The room remained quiet, as though no one even knew what to say. The only conversation that could be heard was between the multiple clocks ticking thought the house.

Matt, clearly on the less powerful side, shuffled in his chair. I could already see that he was someone who didn't like conflict, much like me. His lanky fingers ran through his golden locks as his uncomfortable laugh turned into a sigh.
"Uh... Yeah, well Reese hasn't been taking it very well. He's changed... A lot since the last time you would have seen him, Luca."
Luca shrugged, "seems like he's the same arrogant jerk to me."
Matt let out a laugh. It wasn't one of his extravagant laughs that left everyone in the room feeling as though they are rising like bubbles, it was a defeated puff of air that only bothered to come out of his nose. Perhaps he put on the happy-go-lucky, joker mask for his brother to see only. Matt looked poisoned in his thoughts. Perhaps, this is the first time since the outbreak that he has been allowed to let out his true feelings.
"He's really not himself though. Y'know he absolutely trashed dads office a few nights ago. When I went in there to stop him he just wouldn't put down the golf club. And he had those angry tears. I feel like a bad brother. I was scared that he would hit me, so I just ran and left him in the room. I didn't even comfort him. When he came out about an hour later I just pretended it never happened. Ah fuck... we didn't realise how good we had it before this."
He gave a final smile, trying to emit positivity as his full stop, but I could see the shine in his eyes with the reflection of the fireplace. Matt stood up abruptly," anyway, we better get the beds ready."

Matt lead us upstairs. The house was an old skeleton that had been renovated to a modern masterpiece, yet still lined with antique decorations. The bedroom I slept in was the smallest. I't had a sloping roof, a single bed, a desk, chair, lamp, and side table ( yet no wardrobe.) Overall it was a cute room, but as I stared through the door listening to the footsteps pacing back and forth, Matts story of Reese acting violently with a golf club haunted my mind. For it was he who paced the hallway without meaning within the early hours of the morning.