Down the Road

Chapter 3

~~~~~~~~Chapter 3~~~~~~~~

By the time we had gotten to the front steps of my white, two story house, the sun was almost gone and the temperature began to quickly decline. Ben and I had joked and talked like we always used to, acting like there was no one in the world but us.

"Ok. I guess I'd better head home now." Ben runs a hand through his thick blonde hair, looking at his feet.

"Yeah. Thanks for taking me home." I smile.

"Anytime Monkey," He says, a nickname I had earned when we were younger and climbed trees together in the park. We stand awkwardly in the stretching silence. He opens his mouth to say something, then shuts it again.

"Bye." I turn and head up my steps, hiding the blush that was crawling up my cheeks.

"See ya tomorrow."

I walk up the stairs, but when I reach our dark brown front door I turn my head and watched him cross the road and heading north down the block, where he would take a right to reach his house. Once he rounds the corner I'm pulled out of my trance and I open the door with the slightest creak.

The sound of the TV enters my ears, and the scent of apple scented candles entered my nose, revealing that my mom was home. I can see shadows in the living room, giving away that my family was in the dining room, their conversations floating into my ears.

Our house was clean, cluttered and always full of commotion. The furniture was pretty well kept, and by no means new or modern. It was definitely a homey, rustic feel, like you were living in a cabin.

I kick my Pumas off underneath the coat rack by the door, and my socks slide over the wood floor and then rub onto the brown rug as I sit down in front of the TV, loosening the grip of my sweatshirt from my neck.

"Erin?" A male voice calls, followed by footsteps. Trevor's jet black haired head peeks from the doorway, a wide grin on his lips, revealing his white teeth. His laid back and playful personality had always kept matters light, like when our cat had died when I was 6. Or when our dad had fallen and broken his wrist when I was 12, and Trevor used to crack jokes all the time at him.

"Hey Trevor," I give him a small smile. He ruffles my hair, tangly from the wind, as he plops down beside me on the soft, fat brown couch. His brown eyes, almost concealing his pupil within their depth, seem to read through my soul.

"Everything ok?" He asks before glancing to the TV, where a football game is playing. He cranes his head down only slightly to stare earnestly into my eyes.

I let out a small sigh, my throat closing as I watch the pictures of the game flash across the screen. It's weird to think that to the west, a few hours away, none of the people have to worry about the epidemic. The military has done their best to keep out the infection and monitor the people. If only they had done it sooner. "A boy in our group got bit today."

My brother's eyes instantly soften. "Did you have to...you know?"

"Yeah." The response is curt and clipped, and my eyes start to water. My hands clench and unlench on my lap as I try to fight tears. It necomes harder to fight off tears as he wraps an arm around my shoulder, giving me a tight squeeze. The image of the two boys laying in the street burns in the back of my mind, and I know I will have nightmares for weeks.

"You're so strong, Erin." Trevor whispers. "You protected the other children and you had no other choice."

"But if I was faster, I could have saved them." I finally look at him, and I still have not grown used to the grim and somber look he has begun to wear with this hellish nightmare, his eyebrows crinkled closer together and his mouth turned downward.