Rid the People

Chapter 10

After Esme announced they had running water, they all took a glass from the kitchen cupboard and filled them up. They must have swilled back at least a pint each, all parched from such physical exhaustion. They had done so much in the space of a day. Cassidy needed to rest, but was unable to do so from the adrenaline that rippled through her.

Though they had running water, a miracle upon their doubts, it was stone cold. This meant that the gas wasn't working, and to dampen their hopes, neither was the electricity. Still, it was better than nothing. It was enough.

Dawn was creeping steadily upon them, merging every shadow as the surroundings cascaded into a dark spring blue. There was just enough light to see one another, the low, faded sun reflecting of the closed curtains of every room.

Cassidy went upstairs with reluctant steps, stumbling upon the black dress crumpled outside of Lizzie's door, untouched, though she wasn't sure if she could tell even if it wasn't. It was like there was a mental block; a black-squared cube, preventing her from thinking clearly. Time was foggy. It was as if she hadn't seen her mum for a year, their argument so distant now, the party so long ago. When in reality, it hadn't even been a week, and Cassidy struggled to accept this inner part of herself.

Was she slowly going insane? She continued to ask herself, over and over, until she could no longer play with the thought. If she wasn't, it was only a matter of time before pondering over the complexities of sanity drove her to become just that. Her dreaded fear of madness.

Cassidy gently opened the door to Lizzie's room, curving her neck to look into the darkening space, Everything was as they left it; the sheets a crumpled mess, created upon the mass of their panic, the beside table with her half-empty glass of water. The TV was blank, dead. Cassidy felt a clump in her throat, reflecting on the night Lizzie had turned it to standby mode, planning to watch a movie at some point the next day. It never happened. And now she was questioning if it ever will. That even if it would turn on, could she sit through an entire movie without looking over her shoulder?

She sat down on the edge of Lizzie's bed and welcomed the cushioned mattress, groaning quietly to herself. She slid her shoes off, wriggling her toes as they ached upon her movements. As she fell back, hitting the plushest surface she had felt in what seemed like forever, she fell completely limp. Her back was reclined, stretching away the painful strain that pulled on her muscles. She shut her eyes. She longed to drift away. She could have drifted away, if it wasn't for the rumbling in her stomach, the anxiety that was slowly creeping in from being alone, the quietness hanging over her like the shadow of someone looking down at her, watching her through the obscurity of the growing darkness.

She gave one more pull on her back, outstretching every limb she could, before sitting upright again. She was simply too unsettled to relax. Being away from everyone had made her fear her own company.

They were there. The Dead Stragglers. And they were coming to get her, stumbling with their bloody, flesh-wedged teeth, and their sunken grey eyes. Behind them was everyone Cassidy had ever loved - dead and floppy, completely lifeless.

She left her shoes at the end of Lizzie's bed and paced down the stairs. Her toes clicked upon the soft contact of the carpet, her ankles free from any restraint her trainers had hugged around them. She was relishing in the feeling of something that had never been a pleasure before. A strange feeling in itself.

She was met with Tobias and Lizzie, whom were engaging in conversation on the lime-green sofa. Their heads were leaning against the plush cushion, so still you could have sworn upon them being asleep, if it wasn't for their mouths moving, their hands waving in gesture every moment or so.