Locked Away [10k Z Nation]

4

I was smooshed between Murphy and and Mack, but I was okay. I fact I was more than okay, I was freaking amazing! I was riding far, far away from that stupid treehouse and that stupid neighborhood.

"You have ten minutes to grab whatever you need," Warren told me after about 30 seconds of pure terror.
I felt the knot in my chest untie itself when I heard those words. I had to contain myself from taking the stairs 6 at a time as I ran up the stairs of my childhood home.

"You won't regret this!" I called down to them. They had made themselves at home in my kitchen and were awkwardly waiting for me to collect my things.

I looked at the wall that separated the stairs from the living room. The wall was chock full of pictures of me, my sisters, our parents, and relatives I had never even met before. Now, I couldn't see through the thick layer of dust that coated the whole wall, making it look quite sinister.

It struck me that this was the last time I would ever be in this house.

I thought about all the memories I hadn't dared touch when I was in that treehouse. The time my sister and I had slid down the stairs on pillows and I had broken my wrist on the way down.

The time my sister had a picnic themed birthday party and it got invaded by ants. God, I was scratching those bites for weeks.

I walked down the hall and saw the achingly familiar bedroom door.

I opened the door to my room to see it exactly the way it was when I left it.

Completely trashed.

"Look Cody, we aren't finished." He spat at me, his face was inches from mine.

"Stephen, stop." I cringed away from his glare

The last time he was this mad, was...never actually.

"Goddammit Cody! Stop telling me what to-" and with that, he grabbed the stool that sat next to my keyboard, and hurled it across the room.

I walked across the shreds of magazines and spilled nail polish to my closet. My mom used to tell me that I had the most interesting clothes in the world. God, I missed her so much. All of them.

I grabbed a small black backpack way back from when I used to be a cheerleader in middle school. I remember the only reason I even tried out was because my best friend was on the team. We actually advanced to State. And in the huge state of Texas, that's a pretty impressive accomplishment.

I grabbed a sweatshirt, two pairs of jeans, and a pair of tennis shoes that I prayed still fit.

I grabbed a tank top and Nike shorts from my closet, undergarments, and stuffed them under my arm as I made my way to the bathroom.

I had worn the same six outfits for the whole apocalypse, I was glad for the change. I was pretty dehydrated so I didn't have regular periods in the treehouse, but I brought some pads just in case.

Then I looked in the mirror.

Oh my God. I had changed so much over two years. I looked at my freckled face so see the baby fat from childhood gone. My hair wasn't much longer. Because it's curly, it grows painstakingly slow. It was maybe and inch or two longer. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed the hairspray. There was absolutely no use in throwing to brush it. Two years worth of knots were not going to come out very fast.

I decided that this was the only opportunity I was going to have for a while to take a shower. I started it up, and prayed it still worked. It didn't. I felt my heart sink to my stomach. A shower would've been so nice right about now. Or a year ago. Whatever works.

I grabbed a hair tie and slapped my hair up into a bumby, hair sprayed bun on the top of my head. I found my toothbrush and some toothpaste and scrubbed my mouth completely clean.
My tongue tingled at the much missed sensation of the toothpaste. I have missed you, old friend.

"Come on princess! Times up!" Murphy called from downstairs.

I spit into the sink and grabbed my bag.

Time to face the day. Or, you know...the apocalypse.

"I gotta pee..." Murphy whined and squirmed, knocking me aside quite a bit. I groaned internally but didn't say anything. I hated when people fidgeted, but no way was I gonna say anything.

Murphy fidgeted some more and his elbow caught my forearm, and I jerked away.

"Hey, that's enough." 10k's voice warned to Murphy from the seat behind us.

"We need to stop for fuel anyways, let's all get some fresh air." Warren pulled over into a gas station.

"I didn't know gas stations still worked." I said to Doc as Warren pulled out a credit card from her backpack.

"Nabbed this off a Z back in Louisiana. Believe it or not, these things still work," she explained to me as we liked out of the van.

10k and Cassandra leaned against the van and we're talking quietly. Cassandra's head shot up and her eyes locked with mine. I quickly glanced away. This time, my eyes met Addy's.

"How are you dealing with all this?" She asked. She wasn't quite being comforting, but she wasn't mean about it either. I found her very refreshing.

"I've been better," I laughed "But I'll be forever grateful to y'all for picking me up back in Texas."

We had been driving for about three days, so I gathered we weren't in the state anymore. Although you never know, the state is freaking huge.

Addy and I had walked away from the group and were gradually getting closer to the station. I could see a faded poster advertising free ice plastered on the window.

I looked back at the van to see a dark mass moving in the distance.

"Um, Addy-" I stuttered

"Z's coming in from the west!" Mack shouted from the top of the van, where he had been riding most of the trip.

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap.

"Get inside the station!" Addy shoved me towards the door. A new group of zombies was blocking us from the car.

I grabbed the door open and slammed it behind Addy, sliding a broomstick I between the handles to slow the things down. My heart was beating in my throat. The doors shook. More were gathering outside, knocking their heads against the glass...

I looked around in a panic for Addy. When finally I saw her black skinny jean clad legs dangling from the ceiling. She had climbed one of the snack shelves and pushed open a ceiling tile.
She was climbing up the vents!

"Cmon!" She yelled once she had pulled her legs up.

I couldn't do that! I couldn't even climb the rope in PE!

I ran over to the shelf and pushed myself up, my fingers almost slipping.
The door creaked again. I looked outside and the car was gone.

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap.

I grabbed onto the inside of the ceiling and hoisted my midriff into the vents.
It was dusty and smelled like death.
I coughed as Addy lifted me up under the arms and pulled me into the crawl space.

I wheezed a small thank you as I heard the broomstick shatter and the doors to the station swing open.

They were in the station.

-