Zombies

VI

{Another Brief Note}

{Hey Everybody! I am so honored to tell you that Zombies has well over 100 reads!The feedback has been fabulous, and I love reading your comments! Also, I'm on break right now, so I may be able to get up two chapters a week, rather than a new chapter every Saturday. Keep it up guys!}

Ashley:

“Ashley? Ryan?” A voice echoed from downstairs. “Upstairs Mitch!” I cried, still pressed against the wall at knife point. The desperate tone in my voice must have brought him running faster than Ryan must have intended, and he set the knife to his side, and backed off before Mitch got into the room. I ran to him, and hugged him tightly. “What-”  He began, shocked by sudden embrace. “I dunno man. I guess she’s taking the whole ‘end of the world’ thing pretty bad.” Ryan shrugged nonchalantly. Liar. If Ryan had one good quality, he was a decent actor. I pulled away, and fought off a tear of relief. “We didn’t find him.” I reported, pulling myself together. “O-okay. Let’s go see if his neighbor is camping out next door.” Mitch replied, calmly leading me out of the room. I wanted to scream. There was a traitor among us, but everyone seemed to be blind to it. 

We got Louise and Jerome from the car, and we all walked next door. Ryan’s knife seemed to linger uncomfortably close to my neck. “Do we knock, or barge in?” Louise asked. “Barge in!” “Knock.” Ryan and Mitch answered at the same time. They looked at each other with small glares. “We might be alive and well prepared for invaders. Its smart to show respect to someone like that,” Mitch explained. “No, we show who’s in charge. Also, if we stay outside for two long, we’re gonna get mauled to death.” Ryan snapped back. I wrinkled my face in disbelief. American morals were so backwards. “We’re knocking!” Mitch retorted. By the time to dispute had reach this point, we were in the neighbor’s porch. “I’ll knock.” I volunteered, stepping forward and gently knocking. We waited  for a couple moments, but there was no reply. “One more try!” I quickly announced before Ryan could barge in. I knocked once more, and to our surprise, the door open barely. “Hello?” A husky voice asked from behind the door. “Hello sir! I’m Jerome, your neighbor’s nephew, could we please come in?” Jerome spoke up. There was an uncertain pause. “Are you armed?” the voice finally responded. It sounded older and masculine. “Only with kitchen knives, and other very basic tools.” Jerome replied. “Lay down your weapons. All of them, then you may come in.” Louise, Jerome, and I lie down our knives, but Mitch clung to his, uncertainly, and Ryan did the same. They both concealed their knives. “Okay, we’re unarmed now. Please let us in.” Jerome replied again. The door opened fully, revealing a middle aged man in a leather jacket. He held a rifle in his hands, and had a belt of blades. “Well, get in.” He responded, impatiently. We all filed in, and he closed the door behind us, then barricaded it. I felt trapped, and sunk into the middle of the group. “Welcome to the fortress. I’m Jack, or Red Hawk, as you may hear me be called over the radio. Who are you, and how did you find me?” He introduced us. “Like I said, I’m your neighbor’s nephew. We’ve met once before.” Jerome replied. Jack looked over him precisely. “Mm, I suppose you do look familiar. And the rest of you?” he asked cautiously. “These are my friends. Louise, my girlfriend, Mitch, Ashley, and Ryan. We decided that you would be our best hope.” Jerome continued. “I’m surprised you’ve made it this far. I’d expect some young kids like you five to be the first to die. Congratulations, you’ve outlived a good 45% of the East Coast, or as far as we know. Come on downstairs, I’ll show you what a real base looks like.” Jack led us to a stairwell that was guarded by two men. “‘ese are my boys. Either them or my nephews will be here keeping watch.” He bragged. “Why didn’t they answer the door?” Ryan interrupted. Jack looked at him with amusement. “How often is someone gonna politely knock during the apocalypse? They were so confused they had to get Chief Red Hawk.” He smiled, pointing his thumbs at himself. He led us down the stairs to a concrete basement. There was a row of nine bunk beds lining three fourths of the walls, and some extra blankets and pillows set up into makeshift bedding on the floor. Between each bunk bed was a power generator. There was also two extra rooms; a guest room and a full bathroom. The bedroom held all the weapons and food. There was an abundance of people, but most were men. Only a handful of women sat together near some bunk beds. “Sir, have you seen my uncle?” Jerome asked. “Yeah I have. He came over the day of. After a couple hours, he said he wanted to help. So I sent him out with my daughter to go try to find some resources, but they never came back. I assume they’re dead.” He said grimly. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear about your loss.” Jerome responded, very sadly. Jack smiled slyly. “It’s alright, my boy. Enjoy your stay. I have some business I need to attend to.” He then went back up the stairwell. “Do you think he’s doing the same thing the government was doing?” I asked nervously. “No. I trust Mr. Jack.” Jerome smiled sideways at me.