Climbing in through a window from outside, Mark makes his way onto a countertop in the dark. He stops moving, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark as he strains to listen. Hearing nothing in the room, he slowly makes his descent to the floor, turning back and closing the window behind him. Even as his eyes adjust, the darkness in the room hides the contents of the room. No moonlight bathes this side of the building, so Mark has to make due with the lack of sight. He moves slowly, wincing as the floorboards beneath his feet creak lightly under his weight.
He stops and holds his breath, once again listening. Still nothing, he releases the breath he was holding and continues a few more steps. After making sure he's most likely safe in here, he removes his backpack and retrieves his flashlight before putting his backpack back on. Clicking the light on, he can see he's staring straight into a wall. Sweeping the light across the room, he's still standing in the kitchen, with a door to his right. He walks to the door, pressing an ear against it just in case. Hearing nothing beyond the wood, he opens the door and slowly looks around with the help of the flashlight's weak beam.
He's standing in a living room, basic furniture decorate the room, with a few doors across from the kitchen and one to the left. Nothing looks broken as far as Mark can see. He turns back to the kitchen, contemplating looking for supplies. Deciding it's worth it, he goes back and opens the cabinets, finding them surprisingly stocked with various snacks as well as baby formula. He grabs as much as he can fit in his backpack and continues through the apartment. He leaves the nearest door, assuming it leads out into the halls of the overall building and the next door opens to a small bathroom. Finding nothing really useful, he moves on.
The next room seems to be a child's bedroom, given the small twin sized bed and the toybox nearby. Nothing looks disturbed, Mark observes sadly. Another family that never made it home. Maybe they were able to survive somewhere else. I hope so. He continues to the next, the final room. As he expected, it's another bedroom, with a queen sized bed, perfectly made with a dresser to the right, and a baby crib against the left wall with a little white dresser next to it. Just a house no one was able to come home to. He turns back, about to leave when he hears something strange. He stops and looks around, a metallic thumping, seemingly coming from all around.
He walks back into the kitchen, and he sees a vent above the stove. He stares at it, that's definitely where the noise is coming from. He draws his knife, just in case something unseemly comes at him from within it. Mark jumps back when he sees a face behind the vent. He shines his flashlight at the vent and a familiar voice groans, "Don't shoot, we're not infected!"
Mark's stunned, dumbfounded, "Ken?!"
Ken blinks as Mark lowers the flashlight, "Mark? Holy shit, man! What luck?! Dude, can you unscrew the grate here so we can get out?"
"We?" Mark walks over to the stove and Ken nods, "Yeah, Nate's right behind me."
Mark looks, reaching up to use his knife to unscrew the screws holding the vent face together. At least Ken and Nate were together, that makes Mark feel so much better. Now they can all get back to their friends together. It takes a few minutes, but once he gets the vent cover off, Mark steps back a few steps, "There's a stove right under you, so be careful."
Ken just grins, pushing himself forward and reaching down. Mark shakes his head, "I should probably help you, before you hurt yourself."
Ken chuckles and Mark steps up a step, reaching and grasping Ken by the arms. Ken shimmies himself forward and Mark grunts lightly, holding up Ken's weight for the most part. After a few moments of this, Mark finally helps Ken out of the vent. They both fall to the floor as Ken gets himself out, but neither man is particularly hurt. Ken jumps up, dusting himself off before helping Mark up and turning back to the vent, "Okay, Nate, come on, man."
Mark stands and shines his flashlight back towards the vent. He sees Nate lying with his chin propped on his palm, just staring at them with amusement, "You're so dumb."
Ken chuckles, "Come on, let's get you out and we can go back to others and you can take a nap."
"Bribing me with a nap will not make this any less your fault." Nate grumbles, slowly pulling himself forward.
Ken laughs softly, "In my defense, dude, I saved your life."
Nate rolls his eyes, pushing himself forward again. Mark smiles lightly. He's glad his friends can still be themselves through all of this. Ken and Mark help Nate get out of the vent, being careful of not letting him fall. Once Nate's on his feet, Ken turns to Mark, "So, let's get back to the others."
Mark nods, leading the way. They leave the apartment, stepping out into the hallway. There's quite a few Infected in the hallway, but most of them are at the far end, trying to get into a room, the very room Ken and Nate escaped from. Ken ushers Mark and Nate ahead and follows after. They make it back to the room with no resistance, Mark knocking on the door as quietly as he can, whispering harshly, "Guys, it's us, let us in!"
The door opens and the three hurry inside. Felix closes the door behind them, "Glad you finally made it, we were getting worried."
"You guys okay?" Jack asks, walking over, he and Felix are shining their flashlights on their friends.
"We're okay." Mark assures, "Are you?"
"Yeah, we're good." Jack replies.
"How's the baby?" Ken asks.
"Oli's sleeping." Jack says, "He's doing just fine. The horde's in town, though, so we'll probably have to hunker down for a bit."
"We'll be okay," Ken nods, "Play it safe, and we'll be fine."
"I brought some supplies," Mark smiles lightly, "So, we should be okay for a little while longer."
Jack nods, and Felix sighs, "Guess we won't be going anywhere for now."
Ken pats him on the shoulder, "We'll be okay."
Felix just nods, walking back over to the couch and sitting down. Ken sits with him and Nate waves as he makes his way to the bedroom to take the much deserved nap he was promised. Jack smiles softly at Mark, "I'm glad you guys made it back all right."
Mark smiles back, "Me, too."
YOU ARE READING
Those Who Survive
Fanfiction{Book Three of the Apocalypse Series} In a world where the dead roam the land, it's up to those who've survived to make something for themselves, or give in to the world and become another infected in the horde. As time goes on, the infection contin...
