Fear the Roaming Dead

The Recreational Hall (chapter 22)

Blaise opened up the door to the new house. The porch had plants hanging down off the sides from pots. Fences over the porch and four windows with a door between each of the two. The walls were made of limestone and the door was solid dark oak wood. He opened it and took in a breath and smell of grilled cheese sandwiches.

His mouth drooled and he peered around the corner. Aaron and Sam had the gas oven on and were cooking some grilled cheese sandwiches over the oven. The skillet sizzled and popped and Aaron jumped back a few times.

The living room had a green couch and no TV. There was a place where a TV was once mounted, but it wasn't there anymore. The coffee table had a board game on it with Dex and Tinley sitting across from each other. Tinley eyed down Dex and laughed. "You suck at this game." she said. Blaise's movement caught her eye and she looked up at him. "Where have you been?" she asked with a tone. Blaise hesitated and smiled politely. "Fixing the barrack truck. Took a beating after running over multiple bodies." Blaise began walking to the stairs. He looked up them and then looked at Tinley and Dex over in the next room. "Are the rooms upstairs? If so, which one is mine?" he asked. Tinley hunched over and pointed up. "The room on the left is Dex and mine, the room further on the left is Sam and Aaron's. You can have the one on the right. If you don't mind, you get the small room because Dex needs more bed room and you are alone. So," she shrugged. "First come first serve?" Blaise chuckled. "Right. I'll take it." he said as he stepped up the wooden stairs.

Blaise turned right and opened up the white wooden door. He was instantly met with a nice candle smell. He couldn't pinpoint the exact scent but he knew it was pleasant. He looked over at the bed. It was a queen sized bed with black blankets over it with blue and white pillows on it. Blaise stripped off his blue jacket and plopped down onto the bed. He pressed his face against the pillows, rubbing motor oil onto them. He looked up and scoffed. "Dammit." he said lifting the pillow up. He took the blackened stained pillow sheet off and tossed it onto the floor.

Blaise sat up and stood. He walked to the built in bathroom the room had. He turned on the faucet and took a second to realize his situation. His hands felt cool after the graceful water fell between his fingers and palm. He exhaled in disbelief and smiled and gratitude. He turned the water to steaming hot and rinsed his face off. The motor oil came off easily with a little bit of counter soap. He dried off with a towel hanging next to the shower.

As Blaise walked out back to the room, he noticed something in the window. He didn't want to believe it, but he believed he saw a humanoid figure crouching in the window. The scary part was he was on the second floor. He jerked his head towards it and behold, a child was sitting in the window frame. The kid looked into the room and noticed Blaise. He gasped and looked toward the ground. He motioned for something and he jumped off the ledge.

Blaise sprinted towards the window and looked through it. He saw three kids on the ground. They held a rope and they all looked up at Blaise. All of them were boys looking to be in their early teens. They wore clean clothes and had well trimmed hair. One of them gave Blaise a thumbs up and they all scattered like roaches.

Blaise was frightened and confused. He backed up and headed out of the room. He sped walked towards the stairs and he heard talking from an unknown voice. He looked down the stairs and walked slowly.

Aaron was talking to someone on the other side of the door. Blaise looked over Aaron's shoulder at the person. He had white hair, a black long coat, black boots, grey button-up and an eye patch on their eye. The man glanced at Blaise but looked back at Aaron to resume the conversation they were having.

"Your name?" Aaron asked. "Kenneth Buckley. Everyone else calls me Ken. Now you answer my questions." Ken said. Aaron crossed his arms and nodded. "Fire away." he said. "What's your name and what are you doing here?" he asked firmly. "My name is Aaron. We are probably only here temporarily. We just need a place to stay until we can rebuild our home." Ken crossed his arms as well and looked at him up and down. "I want to meet all you guys." Ken said. Aaron stepped back. "Uh, sure," he pointed at Blaise. "This is Blaise Myers. He is the newest of us." Aaron paused for a bit and guided Ken inside the house. He pointed at the two people sitting at the coffee table eating grilled cheese sandwiches. "That is Dex, the one without a shirt, and that there is Tinley... the one with a shirt." "Well I hope she does!" Blaise yelled laughing.