Silence

Only the Beginning

     It hadn't even been a full two days and the predators were already killing. Justin knew this was only the beginning and maybe the beginning of the end. He wasn't about to lose all hope, he couldn't even think of letting his new friends down like that. 

     Noah motioned them out of the closet and had a group meeting of sorts. He pulled out a notebook and started writing, that was their only form of efficient communication. They made their own language to ensure their plans were kept secret, they called it Lumna. Lumna was the first word they created; meaning light. The language had elements of Spanish, English, and French but it was nothing like any of them. It was almost like an alien language that used squares, boxes, and "x"s. 

     After a few hours of practice, every member of Elite Four was fluent in Lumna. After establishing a language, they needed hand signals. Justin suggested they use standard military hand signals to make things easier. After an hour everyone had the hand signals memorized. It was like the pact was making their own civilization, they had a language and signals. It made them feel like a real team instead of being forced to work together. 

     Justin took a page of the notebook and wrote DECEMBER on top making a calendar to keep track of the days. His heart sunk when he saw Christmas, how would Christmas be like in Margaret River without him? What would his family do? Justin remembered the day he got the letter to play this game. October 1st. His little sister cried harder than anyone else. He felt homesick already, and everyone could tell. Even though he was quiet everyone felt the vide from him. Mattew wanted to comfort the boy, but couldn't say a word in fear he'll get them all killed. 

    Jen felt homesick too. She didn't live the most lavish and comfortable life but she preferred it that way. She was still getting her education even while pregnant and planned on finishing high school then eventually go to college. She had dreams of moving the united states and working for NASA as an AST, Aerospace flight System. A big goal for her, but what does she have to lose? 

     The team started to get back to reality and started to plan for their adventures outside the room. using Lumna, they plotted to loot the basement since no one had known there was one. Noah was one of the only runners to find the basement and that's where he found the parts to make the weapons. The plan was simple enough, Justin would stay with Jen while Mathew and Noah would go out and loot. The older men should come back before the sunset if everything went according to plan. 

     The redhead took the lead and grabbed his bag along with his makeshift axe, Noah following his lead and grabbing his homemade pepper spray. The two headed out closing the door quietly and dragging away the woman's remains that were left at their door. Justin grabbed the hair spray and lighter, he knew that he could never use it on someone other than a predator. Even then the teenager felt bad for having to use it. Jen grabbed the metal pipe and sat in the corner while Justin stood guard 4 feet from the door. 

     Justin looked around the room, there was a window on the back wall, a closet to the left, and the rest of the walls had shelves. This had to have been a storage room at one point, but now it was home to spiders and the occasional rat. The boy thought for a while and realized there has to be multiple bedrooms that were, most likely, more comfortable than this. He grabbed the notebook and wrote-- 

   he then pasted it to Jen. She read it and looked up at him, her eyes said no let's stay  but she nodded and handed the notebook back. Justin helped her up then lead her out of the storage unit. They made their way down the hall and used their hand signals frequently to ensure safety. Jen looked back and saw something, she didn't know what it was, the girl tapped Justin's shoulder and let him know. He panicked and kept her close. 

     Justin came across and larger door that leads to a staircase, they both took a few steps inside and closed the door behind them. They slowly walked up making sure to not make the old stair creak, which was nearly impossible. At the top, they discovered a large attic bedroom. It had one large bed in the center with two nightstands on each of the sides, a bookshelf that was empty, a fluffy rug, a writer's desk, and a 20-gallon fish tank with nothing in it besides fresh water. They were amazed with all the stuff in this room. This was like winning the lottery for them! Not wanting Noah and Mathew to get worried, the two walked back downstairs marking the door with a small orange post-it found on the desk. 

     Justin and Jen walked back to their room being extra cautious because of the unknown figure the girl spotted. They made it back 2 minutes before the two men and smiled about it, almost like a silent laugh. This made Noah and Mathew very confused until the teens unveiled what they found. The two men were mad at first since they didn't stay in the room, but eventually saw this as an opportunity to find a safer "home". They all agreed over dinner that they would move the following day seeing as it was already night; making it dangerous. In the meantime, everyone huddled into the closet while Mathew stood guard.