The Awake

The Construction Site

This time I woke up because of a large crashing sound. Me and Aaron both jumped up and stumbled out of my room and up the stairs. I threw the basement door open and tried to find where the sound had come from. The sound was Zach. He had fallen down the stairs, again. Now that everyone was up because of Zach, we all sat in the living room planning out the new day.

"The supplies you guys brought back from the gas station will keep us stocked for about two or three weeks. So you don't have to go anywhere. But we could do some work around the house now that we have six people. Ben, do you have any ideas for fortifying the house even more? There are no bad Ideas, right?" Cailey asked.

"Yeah, I got some ideas. We could build a really big fence around the house." Ben said.

"We could dig a mote!!" Aaron interrupted. We all looked at him.

"I guess there are bad ideas" Cailey corrected herself.

"Moving on. Ben, Aaron, Zach, and I can build this fence but we need plywood. A house is being built down the road so we can get plywood there. But it'll be too heavy to take it by hand. We need to pick it up with the minivan." I said.

"But what if they spot us?" Zach protested.

"We'll just have to risk it." I said. "While we're gone, Cailey can watch the house. Aaron, You can either stay here or come with us to get the wood. If you stay, you and Elizabeth can go to the neighbors' houses and try to find some supplies."

"I'll stay to help Elizabeth." He answered. We all had our jobs. So we didn't waste any time. Me, Ben, and Zach got into Mr. Allison's Minivan and pulled out of the drive way. It was only a 5 minute drive to the construction site. When we got there, Ben backed in next to a large pile of plywood and opened the trunk. Me and Zach hopped out and started shoving as much of the plywood as we could fit into the trunk. Once there was only room for us left in the minivan, we closed the trunk and started walking towards the open car door.

"Stop where you are!!! Put your hands on your head and get on your knees!!!" A voice Yelled from behind us. Me and Zach did as we were instructed and got on our knees. "You, get out of the vehicle!!!" The man yelled at Ben. Ben did what he was suppose to and was thrown right next to us. We faced the man and tried to stay still. The man was wearing the same kind of uniform that the man that attacked them at the school. The man was pointing an assault rifle at us. He reached for his radio at pressed a button on the side.

"I got three sleep walkers here. Send an immediate backup unit. Over." He said into the radio. As he looked at us, someone shorter than the man crept up behind him. The person was inches away from the soldier when they pulled out a knife. They pulled their arm back, then lodged the knife into the man's arm. The man howled in pain and turned away from us to face his attacker. The man struck the person in the face with the stock of his gun, and the person collapsed to the ground in front of us. For some reason this filled me with a strange rage. This rage went straight to my head and I lost control. While he was turned towards his attacker, I stood up and pulled my revolver from one of the belt loops at my waist. I aimed it at the back of his head and pulled the trigger twice. blood splattered on my shirt and the side of our minivan as the man fell to the ground. Once he was fallen, I still felt the rage. I aimed the revolver at the man's body and shot four more times until my revolver was empty. I lowered the gun and fell to my knees.

"Drayton, are you okay?" Ben asked from behind me. I weakly nodded. The rage was completely gone, just like that. I crawled over to our savior and pulled the ski mask from their head. From the mask fell long, light blonde hair. It was Emilie. A girl from school. She had saved us. Emilie had a huge bruise on her left cheek and her lip was bleeding. She was knocked out cold by the man's gun.

"We need to get her somewhere safer than here." I said to my friends. During all the commotion, Zach had already looted the man and The man's Truck. Ben threw out some of the wood we had collected and made room for the new loot and Emilie. We had to be fast. Backup was on the way. I picked up Emilie and got us into the van. I had Emilie propped up in my lap, along with her knife. My head throbbed with pain for some reason. I tried to ignore it while I waited for Ben and Zach. Then, when we were all in, Ben slammed on the gas, and we were out of there. My mind was so full of confusion that we were home before I could process any of it.

"Cailey!!!" I yelled jumping out of the car. Cailey came rushing out and saw Emilie in my arms.

"Oh my god!! What happened!?!" Cailey asked wiping the blood from Emilie's lip and chin as I rushed into the house.

"Just get her some ice to put on this bruise!" I yelled as I laid her down on the couch. I was so concerned about Emilie, that I realized I had completely forgotten to help Ben and Zach unload the minivan. I left Emilie with Cailey and ran out to help them but they were already finished by the time I got there.

"I'm so sorry, guys" I said breathing heavily.

"It's alright. We're all still alive so we're good." Zach said carrying his new loot into the house. Knowing that they weren't upset with me, I ran back to Emilie's side.

"Are Aaron and Elizabeth back yet?" I asked Cailey.

"No they should be on their way back by now." Caily said, holding a towel full of ice to Emilie's bruise. Just then, Aaron and Elizabeth walked in the door. They dropped all the loot they had been carrying to the floor and came to help.

About two hours later, I was the only one still at Emilie's side when she woke up.

"Hello?" she asked wincing at the pain of her cheek.

"Emilie, its me Drayton. We took you back to my house. You just got knocked out. You'll be okay." I said trying to comfort her.

"I need to go back home" she said trying to sit up but the pain held her back.

"Just relax. It's okay now." I said. I stroked her head until she was calm again. She shut her eyes and relaxed. I held Cailey's towel to the left side of her face. The ice had helped with the bruise on her cheek.

" Would you like something to eat?" I asked her softly.

"Yes, please." She whispered.

"Do you want a sandwich or some soup?" I asked her quietly.

"A sandwich, please." She sweetly replied. I removed the towel from her cheek and set it on the ground, next to the couch. Standing up, I turned to go to the kitchen. I entered, expecting to see someone in the room, but quickly realized I was alone. I opened the refrigerator and grabbed cheese and some meat. setting them on the counter, I grabbed a plate and the bread. Carefully, I made the sandwich and placed it on the plate. I returned to Emilie with her sandwich and handed it to her.

"Thank you." She said smiling. I helped her sit up so she could eat. She ate her food and looked around the room for the first time since she had been conscious.

"I'll give you a tour when you're feeling better." I said to her.

"Big house." She stated looking at around the large living room. Just then, Zach entered the room. He threw me the bottle of painkillers he had got from a dead soldier. I gave Emilie two and she swallowed them both. Later, when she assured us that she was capable of doing so, Elizabeth and Cailey walked Emilie up to their room. Just like we did Aaron, we offered Emilie a place to stay until she recovered and she gratefully accepted.

"I need a shower." I told the others, as I looked down at my bloody clothes. I went upstairs and showered. For some reason, my headache kept getting worse ever since I felt that strange, burning rage. Afterwards, I said goodnight to everyone and went downstairs, to my room. I was thinking about the rage, I felt when I saw the man strike Emilie. The man. The man I had Murdered. Then the nightmares returned once again. Then all was quiet.