midst of death

Chapter Five

~Alex~

I slowly sat down on the bed. My head was spinning, and it seemed like my world was falling apart. There was absolutely no way that this was what I'm thinking of. They can't be them.

This couldn't be happening. They couldn't be them, not from the school. Maybe they were just doppelgangers, or maybe I was finally losing my mind. It seemed utterly impossible that they would stumble upon us here, of all places. I just couldn't believe that this was happening. The thought of them being there was unnerving, considering we haven't seen many guys, or anyone for that matter, since the apocalypse started.

The boys' presence in the house really made me uncomfortable. I wasn't sure if we could trust them, or if they trusted us. I almost blasted off one of their heads when they startled me, and I was sure that they wouldn't trust me with guns now.

I was so afraid for Phyllicia though. She wouldn't be able to tell me verbally if they were planning on hurting us. I knew that we had been in high school before the outbreak, but who knew what could've changed in the past few years. It was difficult to associate anything with post-apocalyptic life.

I sat beside Phyllicia, watching her steady breathing with my stomach doing random flips. I wasn't sure if I could leave her up here with the boys downstairs. They might figure out a way to distract me and hurt her. Or I may be worrying for absolutely no reason... But who knew? I had to be ready for anything.

I laid a gun by her head, that way if she needed to protect herself she had a weapon. I closed the door quietly and stalked down the stairs. I silently shoved a tiny gun in the back of my jeans, letting it settle against the small of my back. It felt oddly natural there, and it was thoroughly hidden so they wouldn't see it. I yanked my shirt down over it in one solid movement just as I walked into the kitchen. Phyllicia and I had already raided it, and the two boys were sitting in the counter, talking quietly with their heads close together. I slipped in quietly and padded over to where they were, but not too close. Their heads snapped up when my hand slipped off the counter and I almost fell. The one boy, the one I hadn't had my gun at his head, jumped off the counter to run over and catch me before I could manage to fall onto my butt.

His touch, though expected, startled me and I tried to jerk out of his grip. His light blue eyes were on me, with concern and recognition laced throughout them. His light brown hair fell into his eyes, and I felt the odd urge to reach over and brush it out of those eyes. We looked at each other for a moment, and then I realized that he was still touching me and I freed myself without incident. He asked in a calm, somewhat deep voice, "Are you okay?"

The past crashed onto me in a torrent like waves. I was so sure that I knew him, and it slowly came to me. This was Chance, and his friend was Tony. They had both helped Phyllicia and me escape the high school after it was breached. And I had almost killed them in a bout of fright.

Tony was leaning against the counter now, and he looked at me with a knowing look in his eyes. He nodded his head in my direction and said coolly, "Hey, Alex." He watched the shock overtake the emotion in my face, and he smirked. "Oh, so little Alex still remembers me."

My eyes grew wider, and I thought that I was going to pop open at the seams. I felt so overwhelmed right now that my head was spinning. Chance looked concerned again, and he glanced at Tony and said quickly, "Knock it off, you're overwhelming her. She hasn't seen us in years." He looked back at me and said slowly, "Put your had between your legs, it'll help with the sick feeling."

Following what he said, I placed my head between my knees, and kept that position for a little while. When I felt better I lifted my head up and rested it against the wall with my eyes closed, and tried to breathe deeply. I felt like I was being ran over by a truck, my emotions were so high. How was it even possible to meet up with long lost high school peers? After the zombie apocalypse, no less. This couldn't be happening, this was just too absurd. But I couldn't shake the feeling that this was all a dream.

I opened my eyes a little bit, and I found Chance looking at me with a weird expression on his face. I made a face and wondered aloud, "Why are you looking at me that way?"

He looked away awkwardly and just mumbled, "I remember you, that's all."

I smiled a faint smile, wishing that this hadn't surprised me as much as it did. I slid up on my butt a little bit, allowing the gun to dig into my skin as a little reminder that I had some backup plan in case something went wrong. It comforted me knowing that I had it just in case.

I pondered about what we going to do now. Two boys were with us, and I couldn't decide if we could trust them after all this time. It kind of worried me, but we could also use the extra protection. I was guessing that we would have to talk about what they wanted to do. I didn't have a clue what they would want to do after finding us. They looked like they had been searching for us, but it was nearly impossible to find anyone these days. They were all either dead or in hiding. No one would be looking for anyone.

I remembered Chance just barely. All I really remembered was that he was really smart in school (like that mattered much now), was nice and funny. He must have really good survival instincts too, because not many people have lasted this long. I'm still trying to figure out how I myself lasted, because back before the outbreak, I had no street smarts at all, so it was surprising to see me alive today. I was betting it was those zombie killing games that I played before the apocalypse had started.

He looked like he knew what he was doing, he had clean clothes and he had decent sneakers that would keep up for a while. While he looked like he was the model for a post-apocalyptic wardrobe, I looked like a typical girl that Hollywood often portrayed in their zombie movies. I had ratty, disgusting clothes. My jeans were ripped and they were falling apart literally at the seams. My shirt was ripped, hanging off of one shoulder, and the print was fading. I had found a Breaking Benjamin T-shirt in a drawer at one house that looked like a celebrity had lived in, and I wouldn't doubt that it was one of the ex band mates.

My hair was pulled up and my bangs were hanging in my eyes, hiding them from the boys. I already felt exposed, and I didn't know what to say or do now. I slowly stood up, hoping that my balance wasn't affected by my shock. I gripped the counter top and pulled myself up onto my feet. The boys were looking at me, and I felt self-conscience, so I covered myself with a cabinet door, pretending I was looking for something. I quickly closed the door and stared at them. "Why are you staring at me?" I asked, wishing the piercing gazes would cease. I felt as though they were trying to figure out what my soul looked like.

They looked at each other, and I felt like something was up, so I leaned against the fridge and felt the gun dig into my skin. Chance looked at me and stepped forward a step. I tried to step further back, but the fridge and the wall were in my way. Chance saw my hesitation and quickly corrected himself. I breathed an internal sigh of relief. He looked at me and said, "There's a lot to catch up on, isn't there, Alex?"

I looked at him in those beautiful blue eyes, and I slowly said, "Let me change my clothes first, then we'll talk."