The Virus

Eleven

When I wake up. I'm alone. I look around quietly and nobody is there. I lay back down on my side and snooze slightly. Remaining half asleep. I am awoken slightly by the door opening. I slowly open my eyes and see Noah. He isn't scary but he has power in his body. Overall he's a relatively good looking guy, getting quite a few girls back at school. Though he was always more quiet than his outgoing friends and didn't jump girlfriend to girlfriend like them. I always respected him for that. He wasn't a womaniser and didn't want to be one. When he's properly dressed I get up and face him.

I give him a quick smile and he gives me a slightly cheeky one back. I stop for a minute deliberating what to do. And without thinking jump on him. I land on his back catching him off guard. 

"Ophey!" He screams before we go crashing to the floor. We land in an entangled heap. I face him and smile again. He plants a kiss on my lips and I freeze. "What?" He asks confused.

"What is this?" I ask.

He looks at me. "Two people who have fallen onto each other." He replies.

I roll my eyes. "No. What is this?" I motion in at the two of us lying together on the floor.

"Well what do you want it to be?" He asks.

I lean away from him. "I don't know. I've never really thought of you like that." I say.

"Really?" He exclaims.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "You did?" I ask questioningly.

"Uhm. Well. Uh. I... just... uh." He mumbles.

I laugh. "Maybe we should stay friends for now. It's not a great time to get into anything complicated. If the opportunity arises and we're both okay with it. Then we'll do it." I say quietly. He nods but I can see a glint of disappointment in his eyes. I feel bad but I'm not ready for something like that.

Later that day I finish Alex and Solomon's room, Jayden had done a good job of the second coat and he helped me with drilling the curtain rails into the wall. It looked a lot nicer than before. I clean everything up and move it all back to its original places. 

Stella, Terry and Jason seemed to already fitting in here. Apparently Terry had done a course on electrical stuff and was convinced we could get CCTV back up and running. Jason knew a lot about weapons because of his father who had been a marine for years. And Stella was just as helpful. She didn't need to be asked and got things done. Being the only two girls we were already quite close and got along.

I make my way downstairs and smell something. I walk into the kitchen and see Noah triumphantly pulling out a strange looking loaf of bread from the oven. I stare at him. He puts it down and I run over and hug him as congratulation. But the hug becomes awkward quickly and I step away from him clearing my throat. We both look down as blood rushes to our cheeks. Our embarrassment is interrupted by Marks gasps. He looks at the bread in awe. 

"I finally figured out a way to do it. It's not the nicest bread in the world but it will go well with some peanut butter in the morning." He shrugs not hiding the grin on his face.

"How about we have some grilled cheese for dinner and then we can figure out some pancakes or something else for later." I suggest. Marks eyes light up even more and I chuckle.

Later, we all sit around enjoying grilled cheese before Mark and Noah get up to start on some pancake batter. All of us sit in the kitchen talking and laughing like the world isn't ending. "Stella?" I ask distractedly.

"Yeah." She replies, looking up.

"I was just wondering. When you were out there did you come across any other survivors?" I ask.

"A couple. But they were few and far between and most of them were barely hanging on. At one point we tried to join a few people to make a group. But we were too loud and got spotted easily. Most of us died." She says sadly.

I give her a comforting smile. "I think they're probably happier." I say. She nods. They finish preparing the pancakes and begin to cook them. Everybody begins getting excited as the treat comes closer and close.

That night I lay in my own bed. Noah was doing his watch and wouldn't be back for an hour at least. With more people we had less watches. We'd actually shortened the shifts from three hours to two now. So that people who had shifts at night didn't lose too much sleep. And with nine people in our group now, we only had a shift every eighteen hours.

Hours later, after Noah had come back. I finally fall asleep.

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