Stay the Night - Harry Lewis & Chris Dixon

Chapter 3: foam pillow

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-Erica's POV-
"It's pretty, isn't it?" Chris asks leaning on the railing beside me. The sun is setting in front of us over the water, "It's crazy how even in this chaos the world is still beautiful to look at," he says taking the words right out of my mouth.

"You should get some sleep," I tell him as I stand up straight turning to go inside, "We don't want Harry to yell at us again for staying up late," I joke. He gives me an amused smile before standing up. Kyleigh is already setting up the makeshift beds. Of course, we picked the one apartment without beds to break into. We were lucky to find a sleeping bag in the closet though. Kyleigh refused to take it but we forced her since she was on watch last night.

"It's freezing in here," Harry says rubbing his hands together, "defrost me in the morning," he grins, sitting down on a box. It turns out it was hollow as he crashed down. We all stare at him with wide eyes as the bang alerts everything in a thirty-mile radius we are here.

"Why are you so loud?" Chris whisper yells. Harry tries to downplay it when we hear banging on the front door. Kyleigh grabs the gun out from her waistband, "There's a fire exit," Chris points out as Kyleigh stays fixed on the door. I grab my backpack off the floor and shove everything back inside. Before walking to the window I manage to wiggle a blanket to hang from the back. I run over and struggle to get the window open so Harry runs his knife along the paint-covered windowsill. He helps me push and it flies open. He gets out first and helps me out as he makes sure it's sturdy.

"Guys, come on," I tell them as Chris motions for Kyleigh to go first. Harry lets me ahead as I slowly descend the icy stairs. I jump when a walker slams into a window from a floor below. When we get to the street we are totally in the open. Our breath is floating away from us as we run down the street looking for anything. Chris manages to push open a hardware store door. The door barely opens from something blocking it from the inside. He walks in with his flashlight and shines it around to check if it's clear. Harry blocks Kyleigh and me from moving as he checks a door to the left.

Chris yells clear after a couple of minutes followed by Harry saying it back, "Fucking hell. That was a real adrenaline booster," I mumble catching my breath.

"I'm sad I left the sleeping bag," Kyleigh frowns as Harry stands there with his hands in his pockets. When he sees the three of us glaring at him he apologizes for being an idiot.

"You guys should try to get some sleep. I'll be on watch. Maybe I can find shit in the office," he says as Chris and Kyleigh push a shelf in front of the door. I take my bag off and put it on the ground as a pillow. We only have one blanket between the three of us.

"I can stay up with Harry. You two get some sleep," I tell them as I place the blanket down.

"I have another one," Kyleigh says revealing the blanket from her bag, "And I will gladly let you two share since I was supposed to have the sleeping bag anyways," she says as Chris laughs. I glance over at him and see him stretching.

I bend down and hear Chris say my name. I look up and see him holding up a foam square, "We could at least use a good pillow," he smiles. I nod my head and sit on the ground pulling my legs to my chest.

"What's our plan for tomorrow?" I ask as Harry comes back into the main room. He sits down in front of us and leans on a workbench, "I don't think it's worth going to popular areas. It's too risky," I point out.

"We need the supplies though. Or at least a good place to set up camp," Chris says.

Kyleigh leans her head on her knees as the four of us sit in the almost pitch-black store. The moon is shining through providing the smallest amount of light, "We can talk about it tomorrow. We need rest," Kyleigh says with a yawn. I lay down resting in the foam padding trying not to think of where we are right now.

"You comfy?" Chris whispers as I nod my head, "You're shivering," he says as his arm wraps around my waist. I can't bring myself to say something as he pulls me closer to his body. His hand makes my entire body heat up but not in the at he intended. The only thing I can focus on is the evening out of his breathing.

I don't remember falling asleep. But the next thing I know the sun is blinding me through the crack in the window, "don't you two look comfy," Harry says through a yawn. I turn my head and realize I'm practically on top of Chris. I quickly get off of him and to my feet as the three of them all laugh. My cheeks go pink so I turn around pretending to pack my bag back up.

"How was last night?" I ask Harry trying to change the subject. Chris is adjusting his sweatshirt when I turn back around.

"It was quiet for the most part," he tells us as he grabs Kyleigh's bag and puts it on his back. She looks at him confused before he passes her the map.

"I was thinking we could maybe go to the touristy areas of London. We want to find survivors right?" Harry says.

"It's way too dangerous. That's where everyone died when it first started," I tell him.

"Yeah, but I think it's our best bet for supplies. No one would be dumb enough to go there so we should," he says as Chris starts laughing.

"In some weird way he could be right," Chris says as Kyleigh calls them insane.

"If I die from this I'm going to haunt you guys forever," I threaten as Harry puts his sunglasses over his eyes.

"Ooo how would we know it's you?" Chris asks to mess with me. He walks over to the shelf and pushes it out of the way for us, before walking out, "It feels like negative ten," he whispers as I tighten my coat.

"We should use today to look for warmth," I tell them.

"She's right," Kyleigh agrees.

The guys look at us before sighing in agreement, "We should find a shopping center or something. They are bound to have new coats and blankets," Chris says.

"I would kill for gloves," Kyleigh says making us nod in agreement. Hopefully, we can find what we're looking for. I don't know how much longer we can make it like this.