Ruled by the Undead

Chapter Sixteen(:

*Mac's POV*

"Alright, how's this?" Delilah says, holding up a shirt.

"It's fabulous. Now can I just put something on so we can leave?" I say, getting irritable.

"Okay, okay. I wouldn't wanna keep you away from Braedan." She says, wiggling her eyebrows. I shoot her a look.

"Why does it matter what I wear, anyway?" I ask.

"What?!" She dramatically gasps. "Fashion always matters." She says in a prissy-girl voice that makes us both giggle.

"Even in an apocalypse?"

"Even in an apocalypse."

She picks out an outfit for me and puts my hair in a fishtail braid. We head downstairs and find Braedan playing with dolls with Julie on the floor. We watch until he sees us and his face gets bright red.

"She begged me to!" He says, defending himself.

"Sure Braedan, lets just go with that." Delilah says, laughing.

"Who's this?" Dad asks, walking out of his bedroom. Apparently he just woke up.

"Dad this is Braedan, he's going to help me with school." I say as casually as I can manage.

"Nice to meet you, sir." Braedan says.

"Can we go now?" I ask them. They nod and we head on our way.

++

"This is the Grade D room." Braedan says, opening the door. It's a tiny room with different styles of desks crammed together. I don't know what this building was used for before all this but whatever it was, it's small. We got here early so he could show me around, and I can't even picture how they would pack it full of kids.

"It's...small." I say with a giggle.

"Yeah. This was the only building they could spare. We're lucky we even have a school." He tells me.

"Oh." I mutter. I don't even see why we need a school to be honest.

"So, Mackenzie, tell me about yourself." He leans on one of the desks.

"Uhh.." I don't know where to start. "What do you want to know?" I ask.

He pauses a moment to think. "What's your favorite color?"

"Blue. What's yours?" I laugh.

"Blue." He smiles.

"How'd you and Delilah become friends? I ask, curious.

"Well we were some of the only kids here in the early days, and instantly became best friends." he tells me.

"That's nice." I say, smiling.

"So tell me about your family." He says.

I gulp.

"Um...." I'm sweating and I can't breathe. My mom...my brother...what do I say?

"Hey, are you okay?" he stands up and gently touches my arm, a worried expression on his face.

"Y-yes. I stammer. He relaxes a little.

"What happened?"

"My family..." I trail off. "Can we not talk about that?"

"Oh, of course." He's obviously confused.

"I'm sorry it's just...sorry."

"No worries," He assures, "School's going to start soon. Do you want to sit?"