The Awake

Home Sweet Home(Finalized)

About 25 minutes later, we pulled into my subdivision. My stomach dropped when I saw a red "X" on the front doors of the houses we passed. In the back of the subdivision, my driveway extended towards a large home. Ben, who had driven almost perfectly, parked next to my grandpa's corvette. I was the first out of the van and into the house.

"Hello?! Mom, I'm home!" I yelled as I burst through the front door. My heart stopped when I saw my stepfather on the floor. My heart sank to my feet. The others entered and we shut the door. Cailey was the first into the living room, behind me. Members of my family littered the floor.

"Oh my gosh!" She said looking at one of my little sisters lying on the floor. I started to feel weak in the knees and wanted to cry. They had gotten to my family before we did. I didn't know what to do. Zach placed a hand on my shoulder and tried to comfort me.

"I'm sorry, Drayton. They must've got here earlier.. At least they're still alive," Ben said from behind me.

"I know..." I said clearing my throat. I wiped my eyes and sighed. Elizabeth gave me a quick hug before the group split and looked around the living room.

"You have a beautiful home, Drayton," Cailey said politely. She looked at the pictures in frames on each wall.

"You guys are some of the first to see it," I said back. I never had friends over. Most of the time, I would rather be anywhere but home. I didn't have a bad family, I just would rather be alone. Having time to yourself is hard in a house of eight people. As much as I hated it, I wish I could hear the noise of my family just one more time. For a minute, I stood around and thought hard. When Ben saw me staring blankly he nudged me and broke my train of thought.

"What should we do?" Ben asked me. I focused and remembered what I was going to do.

"We should just lay low for a while. I'm sure we have enough food for the five of us," I said to them. Usually my mom would go shopping and bring home enough food for a platoon. Luckily she had went the day before so there was a good amount of food still. " l want to clean up the house and make it look empty so no one looks in and finds us.

"I think we should go back to the school and see if anyone needs help," Elizabeth suggested. She seemed uneasy at the thought of others having to be alone.

"What if another soldier is there? He'll try to kill us just like the other guy." Ben said referring to the soldier who attacked him. Elizabeth shyly lowered her head. She just didn't want anyone to be afraid and alone. Cailey put her hand on her back and smiled at her.

"We'll go back eventually, for sure. But I think we should wait until we have to," Cailey said to her.

"I guess.." Elizabeth agreed. After we talked I had them help me move my family. One by one we carried each member to their rooms. First my little sisters and my mother. We put them all in my parents room, side by side. My grandparents were already in their room so moving them wasn't as hard. We laid them on their bed and covered them. I carried my sister Madison down to her room in the basement and put her on her bed. I wish I could hear her call me names right about now.. My stepdad was last. He was the biggest and took most of us to get him into the room with my mom. We laid him on the floor beside the bed with a pillow under his head. I closed and picked their rooms and returned to the living room with my friends. We were tired and hungry.

"I'm going to assign you guys rooms so we can rest." I said walking up the staircase in the living room. They quietly acknowledged me and followed. My house had three guest rooms. I let Ben have the first upstairs bedroom, with the balcony. I thought he would like the view like I did.

"I'll come back later, Ben. If you need something let me know," I said after approaching the bedroom door.

"Alright, I'll try to get comfortable," Ben replied with a weak smile. He entered the room and shut the door softly behind him. Cailey, Elizabeth, and Zach followed me down the hall to the next guest room. I gave Zach this bedroom because it was right above the kitchen. Without a doubt, I knew Zach would be uncontrollably hungry soon.