The Virus

Ten

I wake up as the lght is slowly creeping into the room and the sun rises. I'm in the same position I was seven hours ago. On top of Noah. After he kissed me, after I kissed him. It seems unreal to think of Noah like that. I couldn't complain. And I most definitely did not regret it in the slightest. I sit up and look at Noah, he was lying down peacefully, I can't bring myself to leave so I lay next to him. His rhythmic breathing in my ear, I sit there for over an hour. Apparently Noah dreams about me a lot. Every so often he murmurs my name and I hug myself to him as though I'm reassuring him that I'm here.

At around seven in the morning, I force myself to get up and dressed. I had a lot to get done and figured out today, I wanted to start giving some life to the bedrooms as well. Everyone is still asleep when I wake so I take the chance to have uninterrupted shower before busying myself with breakfast.

Later, everyone crawls into the kitchen with the smell of bacon. They give me lazy smiles as they sit down to eat, thanking me for the meal. I sit down with them and we all enjoy our meal together. We all participate in light conversation but I don't miss the frequent glances that Noah throws at me. He's not accusing me of anything, simply trying to read me. And I let him. Later, I have a talk with Alex and Solomon about they're bedrooms. They tell me they would like some paint on the walls and whatever curtains we may have collected, it would be easy enough to figure out. I enlist Jayden to help me, he didn't have anything else to do. 

Before I can start anything, I meet up with Solomon who had found some large plastic containers and was cleaning and filling them with water before storing them away, I reassure him he was doing a good job and meet with Mark to see if he had gotten to work, and he was busy messing with the fuel gauges of our truck. I had no idea how any of it worked, so I leave him to it. 

I meet Alex at the caretaker's shed afterwards, we were going to collect some large wooden planks that I had found to drill and tie them to the fence for protection. It's a slow process but we get to grips with it, carrying over a couple planks at a time before slowly securing them to the fence. I also planned to have some logs attached diagonally against the fence to stop any force from breaking down the fence, but that would be the last step. 

At midday, I collect Jayden and some equipment before getting ready to decorate the room. I had a good view of Alex from there, so I knew if he was doing anything wrong. The day felt productive and efficient, I was particularly glad about what we were getting done. 

Jayden moves the furniture away from the walls while I start on painting the first coat, it was a big room and it would take a while, but it would be worth it in the end.

After the first coat is on, we head downstairs for some lunch of nuts and dried fruit with a hearty protein bar, it was a good mix, it was filling and gave energy but also not wasteful. Once we are finished, I instruct Jayden to go and do the second coat of paint while I carry on with the fence, since Alex had a watch soon, we had to be continuously working. 

Alex is waiting for me when I get there, he talks me through what he's done and how far through he is before walking back up the path towards the tower for his scheduled watch. It's nice out here alone, quiet. There aren't many of the Roamers around so I don't have to listen to their incessant snarling, though frightening at first it has quickly become a nuisance when they are not a threat. 

At some point, I hear a distant noise, muted from here, but very audible. I stop for a second and listen, cautiously stepping away from the fence, it was probably the herd. I wasn't sure if they had a sense of smell, so I didn't want to be here when they passed through. If they were all trying to get through at once, they would be able to take down the fence and infest the entire place. 

I couldn't let that happen.  

I step a few paces away and pause, listening, when I realise the sound has stopped. They never stopped making noise unless they were killed. Again. The noise starts again but they're closer, and they are shouts, shouts of panic and fear. 

Sprinting across the grass towards the small lookout, I listen for what they are saying. Then I hear the snarls. I throw myself up the ladder, taking two at a time. There were three people running along the road, shouting and screaming for help. Behind, them was a group of Roamers, easily twenty. 

A man sees me and begins to scream at me, begging me for help. I wave him over urgently and he crashes into the fence below me in a hurry. He begins to beg, "Please! Please, help us, we need help," he pleads with me. 

His face was smeared with sweat and blood and he was breathing faster than anything should be able to. 

"Don't worry, I'll help you," I reassure him, I point to the other side of the school, "go to the far side. There's a gate." I tell him. He nods and runs off pulling the other two with him in a full out sprint. I climb down and follow, running back along the grass. I get there just before them and swing open the gate as they arrive. They pool in and I slam the gate shut securely behind them before anything else can get in. Without hesitating I pull out my knife and grab the man by neck. I hold him in a headlock and raise the knife to his throat.

"Who are you?" I ask calmly. The other two look at me in alarm. "Names." I say. I glance behind me and see Noah and Alex making their way over.

"I'm Stella." A girl speaks up. "This is Terry." She carries on. "And that", she points at the man I'm holding, "is my brother Jason." She says.

I nod. I soften my grip on the man but keep the knife in its place. "What are you doing here?" I ask.

The other man talks now. "We were all from the same area, about forty miles south of here. We've been surviving outside for the last few weeks. Moving a few miles at a time." He says. I nod. I let go of Jason and turn him around. I pull out my gun and aim it at the girl while I use a few plastic strips from my pocket as handcuffs. Alex and Noah arrive and give me questioning looks. "Just a precaution." I reassure them. I handcuff each of them, all of them allowing me too. I take all their weapons which isn't much. A few knives and one hand gun with only four bullets.

Noah, Alex and I walk them to the kitchens. We sit them down. Alex and Noah leave allowing me to do some questioning, we had to be careful about who we let in and know what their intentions were and if they were planning on staying if given the chance.

 I nod at them as they leave and turn to Stella, Jason and Terry. "Okay. Ages first." I say. 

"I'm nineteen. Jason's twenty one. And Terry is eighteen." Stella says. 

I nod. "Relationships?" I ask with no emotion in my tone.

"Me and Jason are siblings and we met Terry a few days after it happened. Seemed like a good guy so we all travelled together." Stella says. I see Terry chuckle slightly at this. 

"And do you have a leader?" I ask with an eyebrow raised. 

"Well not officially. As you can probably tell I do all the talking but Jason makes all the decisions." She replies. 

I nod. And Stella smiles at me.

"Okay. you seem okay. You thinking about staying?" I ask. 

"If you'll have us I guess. If not we'll be on our way." She says. 

I think for a moment. "You can stay. But just know Noah is our leader. My name is Ophelia. We're all about eighteen here. But age doesn't matter. You'll follow our rules. And respect our facilities. One mistake and you're out." I warn. Both the men nod at Stella and they all agree to stay. "We'll give your weapons back in a few days. You won't really need them around here anyway. Bedrooms are upstairs you'll take the one next Me and Noah, four doors down. I'll show you later. Showers in the changing rooms." I say they all listen intently.

I approach Stella. "Oh Stella, sanitary towels and tampons are in a drawer in the office. Help yourself." I say discreetly. She gives me a knowing smile and I return it. "There's six of us here already. Me, Noah and Alex who you've already met. Then there's Jayden, Mark and Solomon. They're all okay guys nothing to be afraid of. Come back here in about an hour I'll have some food ready for you and you can meet everyone." I say as they leave to shower and explore.

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New people!!

1089 words