~ 5 ~ On and Off the Road

The sun was setting and there was not a single house in sight. Just the plain grass surrounding the car and the road. Sofia's mother groaned as she turned on the headlights. "Is there a town near here? Driving at night isn't recommendable." Desirae looked around.

"Not for another 54 miles." A small house started to form in their vision. Desirae pointed at the house. "Isn't that a house? Maybe it's abandoned!" Sofia's mom drove into the grass next to the house and everyone exited the car.

"Hopefully, it's abandoned." Sofia's mom mumbled. "Although I doubt it with no zombies being around." The group walked to the house and Sofia's mother knocked on the door. The few seconds that felt like hours passed before a young woman opened the door.

The young woman had short light brown curly hair and dark brown eyes. She had fair skin and she was a bit short. She looked like she was in her twenties and she had blue jeans with a black shirt and pink designs. She looked confused at the group. "Yes?"

Sofia's mother walked closer to the woman, hesitating. "We would like to take refuge for the night here."

"What?" The woman stood tall, defensive, and alert.

Desirae quickly walked up to the woman. "Wait please! Have you seen the news? There's a zombie apocalypse going on right now. If we can just take shelter here for the night, we'll leave in the morning." The woman looked at each of the girls, as if analyzing them. "It's just us three teenagers, an adult and twin girls. We can defend ourselves, but it's not recommended to travel in the dark." Sofia watched as Desirae did her best to persuade the woman. The woman huffed then turned towards the house.

"Alex!" She called. Another young woman walked to the door. She had longer dark brown hair and brown eyes. She had a few pimples and long lashes. She was slightly taller than the other one and looked very tired.

"What is it, Katie?" The woman named Alex looked at the group and blinked, visibly confused. "Who are these people?" The girl named Katie looked at them.

Katie replied, "They would like to spend the night. With the apocalypse and all..." She trailed off.

Alex opened the door wider for the group and walked into the house. "Then please, come in." Katie smiled at them and moved away from the door, welcoming the group into the house. They walked in and sat on the oddly large sofa. The house was a normal 2 story house. The living room was a large one that had light blue wallpaper and light brown wooden floors. On the blue walls were various pictures of the women, accompanied by other people Sofia didn't recognize. The couches were black and organized to sit around a glass coffee table and the flat screen TV mounted high on the wall. On either side of the TV was an opening into the kitchen, that was also large. It had tan counters and a gray metallic fridge that shined in the light on the ceiling. On the walls were some larger cabinets for a variety of silverware and some small decorations. Alex emerged from the kitchen with a tray of cups filled with water. She gave the cups to the group. Sofia didn't even know that her mouth was dry. The group of girls quickly took in the water and watched the pair's every move. Alex smiled at them. "My name is Alex. Nice to meet you."

The girl named Katie waved. "Hello! I'm Katie, her wife!" The group all looked at them surprised. "Where are their rings?" Sofia thought.

Alex groaned and rolled her eyes. "We're not married. Long story short, I tolerated her in high school. I regret it immediately." Monica could not help but laugh as Katie tried to deny Alex's claims. They seemed nice to the group.

After talking for a bit, the pair led the group upstairs. There was a long blue and white decorated rug that spread throughout the entire hallway. There were five closed doors in the hallway: two on each side and one at the very end of the hallway. They all walked to the second door on the left. It was a normal bedroom. It had a queen-sized bed that was dressed in different shades of purple blankets and sheets. There was a small walk-in closet next to the door and a small TV in front of the bed. The walls were tan and had a painting of a small black cat. There was also a small window across the door that was slightly open. Seemed like an ordinary bedroom.

Katie smiled at them. "So we were thinking that three of you sleep here and the other three should sleep in the other room right across from here." The group all looked at each other, hesitant. "I get that you guys are hesitant to separate, but you came to us looking for shelter. We're giving it to you. I'm sure we all would rather stay together with those we trust, but do you think that there's enough room for all of you in one room?"

"She has a point." Sofia's mother said, almost sighing. She turned towards Desirae, Monica, and Sofia. "Girls, you take this room. I'll sleep with the twins." The girls smiled widely at the news. Alex then led them to the room across from the teenager girls. Before leaving, Sofia's mother reminded them, "Keep track of your stuff." Then she closed the door.

Katie mentioned, "If you need anything, I'm in one room and Alex is in the other. Which is which, you may ask? You just have to find out for yourself!"

Alex stepped in. "I'm in the room next to yours and Katie is across from me. The room at the end of the hall is the bathroom." Katie gasped at Alex. "Alright, see you in the morning. Sorry that you have to go through this." They watched, confused, as Alex and Katie walked away arguing.

Monica closed the door and sighed loudly. "That was so weird..."

"I know right?" Desirae commented. She sat at the foot of the bed and looked at Sofia. "Let me see your wounds again, Sofia." She sat next to Desirae and took off her shirt, exposing the makeshift bandages the twins created at the zombie infested town. Desirae gently unwrapped them and examined the wound on Sofia's back. Desirae hummed in acknowledgement and wrapped fresh bandages on it. "It's better than I thought." Sofia faced Desirae who smiled warmly at her. "It just needs to close, and you should be good. We can permanently stop putting on bandages by tomorrow night and let nature take its course if all goes well."

Sofia sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. It's almost suffocating wearing it."

Desirae chuckled at her friend and stood up. "I'm going to use the bathroom. Sofia, can you do me a favor and help Monica with her bandages?" Sofia looked at Desirae, taken back. "You guys might as well talk." With a smile, Desirae exited the room.

Sofia looked at Monica, who held an unknown expression on her face. Monica showed her arm to Sofia and looked into her best friend's eyes. "I can't change the bandages myself, you know." Monica smiled at Sofia, who quickly got to work and started untying the bandages. "Before you see it, I want you to know that I don't even know how it got like this. It really started bleeding after I beat the absolute hell out of that guy at the gas station." Monica scoffed.

Sofia has never seen her best friend so emotionless yet offensive. It honestly scared her a little. When she removed the bandages, there was a scar in an almost perfect straight line that had reopened and oozed out blood. There were red spots surrounding the reopened scar and it looked very infected. Sofia frowned at the sight. "Wasn't this scar from a surgery when you were a kid?" Sofia questioned. She started searching Desirae's bag for any medical supplies.

"Yeah, when I was younger, my father was always moving around, trying to run from my mom." Monica started to confess, no emotions in her eyes. "I never understand why, nor how she kept finding him. I always tried to run away as well, but she always found me too. Until one day, in middle school, I broke my arm playing some football and had to get an X-Ray. There, right next to my broken bone, was an active tracker my mother put in me." Sofia's eyes went wide. Monica faked smiled at Sofia, as if trying to calm her down. "They took it out right after my bones were fixed. That was only a few years ago."

Sofia took out a napkin and some fresh bandages and started working on her best friend. "So how did it get like this?"

Monica shook her head at herself. "This morning, my cat scratched me, and it left a small cut on the scar. When I was fighting with the guy, some blood got onto the cut and the scar. I didn't realize and left it alone until you were safe at the abandoned house. It got infected, unfortunately."

Sofia thought to herself. 'Doesn't that mean she might turn into a zombie?' Monica nudged Sofia out of her thoughts, Monica's signature smile returning. "Just don't die, Monica, okay?" Sofia reminded her. Monica laughed at the comment and nodded in response.

Desirae came back and looked at Monica's arm in disgust. "First of all, that's not how you wrap a bandage." Desirae almost immediately moved Sofia away from Monica and started wrapping the bandage. "Secondly, we need some medication and alcohol for this infection." Sofia looked at Monica, who had an unknown emotion hiding behind her smile. Sofia couldn't begin to understand what the emotion was, and quickly dismissed the sight.

After wrapping the bandages, the teenagers made as much room as possible for each other on the single queen-sized bed. With Monica in the middle and Desirae closest to the door, Sofia slept with many questions and concerns clouding her mind.

Sofia awoke to the sweet smell of bacon, eggs, and toast. For a moment, she had forgotten all about the apocalypse. Sofia took in the nice smell of food and opened her eyes to the cruel reality. The sun was shining slightly through the window and the wind was blowing roughly into the room, making it cold. She sat up, half asleep and looked around. The room was empty, no bags in sight, with the other side of the bed made. She assumed that her friends had already gone downstairs. She took this as an alarm to go downstairs.

Downstairs, everyone was feasting on breakfast. Their plates were filled with food and there was a small cup on water next to their plates. Sofia's stomach growled a little, gaining Katie's attention.

"Oh, the last one is up! Alex, get her some food." Alex looked at Katie for a moment while she smiled, then Alex sighed in defeat and got up, going to the kitchen. Katie got up and dragged Sofia with her to the kitchen. Alex had a small plastic plate in hand and a large spoon. Katie looked at Sofia. "Bacon, eggs, or toast?" Sofia honestly wanted all, but she couldn't bring herself to say it, for she was too embarrassed.

"I'll just give her all." Alex concluded and placed all three items into the plate. It looked so good. Sofia felt herself starting to drool and she quickly wiped it away. Alex gave the plate to Sofia and she dug into it. It was so good that even when she was full, she couldn't stop eating. Katie watched her in amusement while the rest talked among themselves. When Sofia finished, she looked at Katie as Alex took her plate and cup and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Good?" Katie asked. Sofia nodded, satisfied. "Good. My wife made it, you know. She's getting better at cooking breakfast. However, I'm worried about my kids." Kids?? "They drove to the store to get ingredients for dinner but hasn't returned. Becky and Jasmine." Alex came in.

She said, "They just visit occasionally. They're high school friends." Sofia nodded, understanding. Jennifer and Melanie ran around the house, giggling and playing. Everyone else relaxed in peace.

Sofia's mother stood up and pulled Alex to the side of the room. Sofia watched them, interested in the conversation. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes. Thank you so much for taking us in." Her mother smiled.

"Don't worry about it. You guys seem like good people anyways. I'm glad I can help." Alex looked back at Katie, thinking. "I was going to ask if we can come along, however, I don't think we'll be ready for the road." Alex looked at Sofia's mother. "We need to pack some food and get our weapons. Not to mention our good friends still haven't returned. The same with Katie's boyfriend." Sofia looked at Katie, who was laughing with the twins.

Suddenly there was a loud bang at the front door. Everyone jumped, surprised, and looked at the door. Alex looked out the window and cursed to herself. "Zombies everyone!" Alex ran upstairs while Katie started pushing one of the couches to block the door. Desirae and Sofia started to help while Monica began going gathering the bags together. Alex ran back in the room, holding two pistols. "Katie!" Alex yelled out, handing a pistol to Katie. "We'll need to use the balcony, right?" Katie nodded in agreement and loaded the pistol.

Katie instructed, serious, "Everyone go upstairs to Alex's bedroom and out the window. There's a balcony and some rope. Use the rope to climb down and escape." Everyone started running, picking up their things and some food. Sofia looked at Katie and Alex.

"What about you two?"

Alex pointed her gun at the door and looked at Sofia. "We'll be right behind you." Sofia nodded and followed everyone else. There, the window was open, and her mother was climbing out the window. There was a large clear balcony with a small circular table and two plastic chairs on either side of it, facing the view. On the floor was a pile of thick rope. Sofia's mother began tying the rope on the metal fence and then threw the rest of the rope off the balcony, watching it touch the grass. Sofia looked back to hear gunshots and footsteps running up the stairs. Katie and Alex ran into the room, blocking the door with their bodies. One by one, the group climbed down the balcony, including Katie and Alex.

After they all made it to the ground, the big group ran to the car and drove away from the now abandoned house. Katie and Alex were now part of the group. All Sofia could think about was, 'hopefully nothing will happen to us.'