Apocalypse [1]

Day 2- 00.05am

 “Hayley, Laura, come quickly!”

 Laura and Hayley exchanged a quick glance, scared of what they might be summoned for. They made their way quickly down the ladder, clumsily pulling on a pair of wellies by the door and heading outside, running awkwardly.

 “What is it? Zombies? Are we in danger?” Hayley babbled, fumbling for her screwdriver. Luke stood with his eyebrow raised next to Megan, who was hopping from leg to leg. She pushed past Hayley and Laura to get inside.

 “False alarm. It seems Megan was in need of a piddle,” Luke said dryly. Hayley sighed and rolled her eyes at her sister.

 “Why didn’t she just go? I’m sure you could have handled it for two minutes.”

 “She’s a degenerate,” Luke said simply, looking pointedly at Hayley. “It runs in the family, didn’t you know?”

 Giving Luke a hard glare, Hayley stomped moodily to the deckchairs, a tough task in a pair of over-large wellies.  Laura followed her, stifling a giggle. Luke quietly returned to the house to get some well-deserved sleep.

 Laura settled down next to Hayley. The moon was full and round, casting a dim light on their faces. They said nothing for a while, sleepiness still making their eyelids heavy. But Laura became aware around half an hour into the shift that something was wrong. She could hear rustles in the trees. There was no wind that night, and Hayley, after a multitude of yawns, had dozed off in the deckchair.  Laura was about to get up and investigate, when she felt hands on her shoulders.

 “Boo.”

 Laura screeched, jumping up and breathing heavily. Hayley stirred and awoke.

 “Laura, what the hell?!” she squawked, leaping up and brandishing her screwdriver. 

 Laura scowled at the figure in the darkness. Rori was grinning, his eyes lighting up.

 “That wasn’t funny. I thought you were a zombie,” Laura said.

 “Oh yes, because all zombies say ‘boo’,” Rori said with a roll of his eyes. He slipped into Laura’s deckchair and sat back with his hands behind his head in relaxation.  The sight reminded Laura of sitting on the beach with Fletcher on holiday.

 “Quite the expert, are you Rori?” Hayley said sarcastically, wiping sleep from her eyes.

 “What are you doing? This isn’t you shift,” Laura told him, smiling.

 “I couldn’t sleep,” Rori replied simply.

 Seeing that she wouldn’t be getting her seat back, Laura offered to make cups of tea all round. Rori smiled and thanked her as she went to make the drinks. Hayley yawned and stretched, her mouth gaping unattractively.

 “So Rori, tell me your troubles. What’s preventing you from your well-needed beauty sleep?”

 Rori sighed, suddenly looking much older than his youthful age. The jokey face he’d worn moments earlier had disappeared, and was replaced with a serious forlorn expression.

 “I just can’t stop thinking about how Gemma…died.”

 Hayley’s lips tightened. She wasn’t comfortable with talking about it. It was easier to carry on if it was ignored. Rori picked up on this and shook his head apologetically.

 “Sorry. I just needed someone to talk to about it, really. I feel really bad because I was meant to be keeping watch. I was watching, she just-”

 “Rori, it wasn’t your fault. If anything, it was hers. It was a stupid thing to do. In fact, no. It was all of our faults. We shouldn’t have let her go in the first place. But we’ve learned a lesson from it, haven’t we?”

 “Of course. But…I don’t know how long I can stand this for. It’s only been a day, and we’ve lost over half the people we know. Doesn’t that say something to you, Hayley? How long until it’s us?”

 Hayley couldn’t think of anything to say, so just mumbled, “Pessimist.”

 Rori snorted. “You could say that. Well, you’ve cheered me up a bit, at least.”

 “That’s my job,” Hayley smiled.

 “It’s strange thinking we’ve only known each other for a day. Well, technically. I’ve seen you about college, but I always thought you were a bit of a weirdo, if I’m honest.”

 Hayley looked hurt. “I am.  You haven’t changed your mind have you?”

 “Nope,” Rori said. “Not one bit.”  Hayley grinned in return.

 “Good.”

 Laura came out the house with the cups of tea. She handed one to Rori and sat on the ground, leaning against the chair legs.

 “Cheers?” she asked, holding up her mug.

 “Cheers,” Rori said dryly, and they clanked cups, waiting for the sun to rise again.

***

 Warren woke up with hair tickling his nose. Ginge’s soft breathing could barely be heard above the sound of Kerry snoring, but it still made Warren smile. The room was dark, but he could still make out the vibrant shades of auburn in Ginge’s hair, curly and wild in a beautifully natural way. He closed his eyes again, wondering if she felt the same as he did. For once, in a strange way, he felt content. Whilst the others mourned their friends and the new life they were to lead, Warren couldn’t help wondering whether he preferred this new world. Things had been difficult since his sister’s death. Having no friends made the whole thing worse, and he couldn’t help feeling lonely when his parents neglected him, constantly arguing as though Warren wasn’t there. Arguing or glaring silently at one another, blaming each other for his sister’s death.  In a strange way, living amongst the walking dead had become more appealing. And he had friends now. He had Ginge. He took one last look at her before closing his eyes, smiling secretly to himself, and getting some more sleep.