Wildfire - A Fanfiction

Chapter Five

When she awoke, Kami was asleep on the loveseat. She heard movement behind her and looked over the couch. Alex was shuffling through cupboards in the kitchen. He glanced over at her.

"Oh good, you're finally awake."

Groggily, she rubbed her eyes, "What time is it?"

Alex looked at his watch. "About 10:20. You slept about 20 hours straight. I was getting worried. Well, more worried." He gestured vaguely.

"What about Kami?"

"She should be getting up soon. We were up all afternoon, but she took the night watch so I got up early."

Georgia shook her head in wonder. "What were you doing all this time?"

"What, without you?" He shrugged. "Not much, honestly. Mostly played cards and snooped. Messed with this radio." He tapped a red radio that was sitting on the counter. "Tried to ignore the zombie armageddon outside. We still aren't sure how you were able to sleep through Jon's occasional zombie hunt upstairs." He turned around and opened the refrigerator, "I was checking the kitchen, and there's still some milk left and some normal groceries, but they won't last too long. Jon told me he has more MREs stocked up in the garage."

Georgia rolled off the couch and stretched, mindful not to put too much weight on her leg. "Any breakfast?"

"We've got whole-grain cereal, eggs, and instant coffee. How's that?"

Georgia sat at the bar. "Coffee? Yes please."

There was a sudden loud crack. Georgia and Alex tensed, but he soon relaxed. "Just Jon picking off some zombies that got too close to the driveway." He put a plate of steaming scrambled eggs beside Georgia's water bottle and a cup of coffee.

"How could I ever sleep through that?" Georgia stared at the ceiling, then began to shovel food into her mouth. "What do you think of this guy?"

Another crack. This time it made Kami shoot up off the couch. Her shoulders went slack when she saw Georgia and Alex sitting in the kitchen. "Good morning."

"Mornin'," Georgia said around a mouthful of food. Alex set out another plate of eggs.

They ate in relative peace, except for the occasional gunshot. Finally, Alex switched on the radio, changing channels to avoid the static.

"Do you think this is happening everywhere?" Kami asked.

Georgia regarded her, her dark hair illuminated by thin stripes of light from the boarded-up windows. "Maybe. What if no one knows what's actually happening? Anything that can make someone go rabid like this can't be simple."

Kami put down her fork. "But aren't there scientists? They have to know something."

"What scientists exactly?"

"I don't know, but somebody has to know how this happened. What's the matter with all these people, and why didn't the same thing happen to us?" She scowled at the ceiling. "Shouldn't there be something on the radio about it?"

At that moment the buzzing of the radio turned into intelligible words.

"Guys, quiet," Alex leaned closer to the radio.

This is an Emergency Announcement. Stay indoors at risk of imminent threat to life. Contain any suspected contagion. Infected individuals may have a short period of intense sneezing before severe seizures, followed by violent rabies-like symptoms. If within thirty miles, make your way to the nearest military base. This is an Emergency Announcement. Stay indoors at risk of imminent threat to life. Contain any suspected contagion. Infected individuals may have a short period of intense sneezing before severe seizures, followed by violent rabies-like symptoms. If within thirty miles, make your way to the nearest military base. This is an Emergency Annou-

Alex turned down the volume.

Georgia noticed that there hadn't been a gunshot for about ten minutes, and wasn't entirely surprised when she heard Jon's heavy footsteps going down the stairs.

He entered the front room and silently acknowledged them. Alex held out a plate, "I have the rest of the eggs here if you want them." Jon took it.

He ate at the dining room table, facing the others. "How is your leg?" He asked Georgia.

"Fine, thank you. Thanks for helping us out."

"Have you heard anything on that radio?"

"Yeah," Georgia admitted, "nothing too groundbreaking. We don't know the area, is there a military base near here?"

"Not anywhere that I know of."

"Oh."

Weeks passed.

Every morning Jon could join the others downstairs and eat a light breakfast of rationed food while they listened intently to the radio. After a few days, the emergency announcement stopped playing, replaced by faceless experts talking about the infection and the cities it swept through. One day a scientist spoke about a possible theory to keep one's sanity if they turned, but it didn't hold Georgia's interest for long. If any of them turned, chances of staying sane probably weren't very high.

For most of the day, there were survivalist lessons broadcasted. Kami would take a notebook and a pen and write all she could about finding clean water and starting fires and hunting. They would look over those notes together in the evening, but Georgia knew most of it already, wistfully thinking of the summers she spent camping with her older brother all those years ago.

The first time someone on the radio spoke about radios was on the tenth day of their siege. They all were glued to the radio until the broadcast ended late in the afternoon. The idea that there were still people out there surviving together made Georgia ache for escape. But they still didn't know what was out there just beyond the fence. So for weeks, their entire world was the one they made inside that house.

They mostly stayed in the front rooms of the house, going outside only to collect water from rain barrels. Georgia reorganized their supplies over and over again, taking inventory every day on a small notepad while Jon ducked into the garage for hours at a time or went upstairs to pick off any zombies that got too close to the property.

He usually stayed upstairs for most of the day, but sometimes he came downstairs to join in a game of poker. Georgia was getting pretty good, but Alex was better than all of them. When they were bored of that, they would try to do pushups or sleep, or just lay on the floor and stare at the ceiling for hours at a time. Georgia's leg was as good as new before very long, and she often spent several hours just pacing. Alex would watch wearily, but neither he nor Kami would ever say anything. They were all itching to get out.

On day twenty-nine, Jon came downstairs with goggles and a green bandana. He held a crowbar and a hunting knife at his waist and marched over to Georgia and the others while they munched on the last box of cracker crumbs for breakfast.

They all stared. "What are you doing?" asked Kami, leaning away from him.

"I'm going out."

They watched, stunned, as he walked towards the back door. "Wait, you can't!" Georgia said.

He ignored her protests. "Close the door behind me, would you?" He undid the bolt and the bar that sat in the doorframe and quickly ducked outside. Alex rushed forward to lock it up again, and they all ran upstairs to a window to watch.

The few zombies on the street could smell Jon approaching, and reached for him through the fence. Effortlessly he sliced through flesh, cutting tendons and leaving arms hanging limply.

One zombie was much faster than the others and easily climbed over the fence. Before it jumped down, Jon backed up into the yard and held back the crowbar. When it ran at him, Jon whipped down his arm, slamming on the zombie's head like a club. It crumbled in the middle of the lawn.

Jon bent down, a knee pressing on the zombie's back. Georgia stumbled back from the window as Jon pulled out his knife again. She gagged.

Alex grabbed her arm. "Let's go downstairs. We can play cards or something."

Georgia nodded, a bit pale. She looked back.

Kami was turned away from the window, grimacing. "I'll try to keep an eye on him," she took a breath and turned around again. "See he doesn't get himself killed and all."