Red at Day

I wake up in my pillow sleeping bag thing. I recall last night's events. We drove into Prince George, British Columbia and found an unlocked house. We checked out the house from top to bottom and set everything up. The windows are blocked, doors locked and everyone easily fell asleep. But before we went to bed, we took care of Curt. Curt was already passed out from blood loss so we tied a rope around his neck and tied him to a pole in the basement. On the second floor are two small bedrooms. James is a decent guy and we didn't want him to sleep alone so he slept with the single ladies. Rose and Reed took the bedroom next to us. On the first floor is the master's bedroom. Carter and Angel have taken that room while Bruce and Paris keep watch in the living room. The living room and kitchen are small and connected so it won't be hard to tell if Curt gets, well, zombie-like.
I open the blanket curtain and see the sun is blazing outside.
“What time is it?” asks Kasmira. I look at Jackie and reply “Before twelve.” Jackie always sleeps late. I sigh and lay back down in my bed. I feel exhausted from last night and I'm sore all over. I haven been running around lately from all this zombie nonsense but last night I was pushing myself. Not only that but my body aches from all the zombies grabbing at me and my head is pounding from everyone grabbing at my hair. The gun shots still ring in my ears. I can't believe something like this would actually happen in real life. I mean, sure, I've been dealing with it for a while but now I just think I'm way over my head. If the military couldn't even turn on their own system, how should I be able to? Plus, once we get there, how will we even know how to turn it back on? No one can live in this zombie filled world, and no one has the power to stop it. No one has the will to kill themselves so do we just live at the mercy of the zombies? I curl into a fetal position and take all of this in.
“Did you fall asleep again?” asks Kasmira after a long silence.
“No.” I reply.
“Well when you sleep, you curl up like that.”
“It's comfortable.”
“Are you okay?”
“Fine.” Kasmira pauses then says “Okay but if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here.”
“Thanks.” If I let them know how I feel, they'll get nervous too. I can't let my doubts affect my friends.
“Hey, Annabelle, do you think it's okay to change?” Jackie whispers.
“Change?” I ask sleepily.
“Yeah, it's time to get ready for the day but James is in here.”
“Is he asleep?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I see no problem in changing.” I get up and the other girls start getting ready too. They open their backpacks and take out new clothes. I scratch my head and stand up to join them. Gross, my hair is greasy. I hope we make it to a decent shower soon. This house doesn't have an electrical water heater. I grab a pair or shorts and my black spaghetti-strapped shirt.
“Guys, we should head to another Walmart soon. We're running out of razors, we need winter jackets considering it's cold up north, new panties and bras would be nice.” I whisper, stripping off my shirt and pajama bottoms.
“We can just go to Victoria Secret.” whispers Jackie “We can afford the good stuff now.” The girls snicker. Victoria's Secret has the best bras and they fit like they were made for you specific boobs.
“I could use a good bra. I've had this crappy one since the apocalypse started and I didn't think I'd need bras or panties at Walmart.” Jackie complains. The girls point at Jackie and nod. We all did that and are regretting this disgusting choice.
“Lets not go to a mall or anything, though. I don't know what would be hiding in that.” I reply putting my shorts on.
“So... did I wake up at the wrong time?”
We look over and see James wide awake. There isn't a face in the room that isn't blushing. We all struggle to put our clothes on and James cover's his eyes.
“Sorry about that.” we tremble once fully clothed.
“No, it's fine.” James replies. The girls walk downstairs, red in the face, while we let James change by himself. There is a low grunting noise that can be heard at the bottom of the stairs.
“We did tie him up, didn't we?” asks Honey.
“I think so.” I reply. I didn't think I'd need any weapons so I go in front of everyone. I quietly make my way down and the others follow. I peek my head out of the stairway and look around. To my right is the dirty kitchen and to my left is the living room. The kitchen is clear but the living room is a different story.
“There are other people here, guys! Chop the morning wood another time!” I yell. I know Bruce wouldn't mind continuing, but at least Paris has the decency to tell him to stop. We sit on the stairs and wait for the pair to cover themselves. Rose and Reed come out of their room dressed and ready.
“Don't go in there.” I mutter. “I think we can handle that.” Reed replies. He walks downstairs and walks into the kitchen, ignoring Paris and Bruce. I hear the fridge open and Reed asks “Do we have any food in here or did the last family forget to clean out the fridge?”
“Considering there's mold on everything?” Rose replies, meeting Reed in the kitchen.
After a moment or two Bruce announces that he and Paris are fully clothed. We continue downstairs and everyone else evacuates their rooms.
“So what are we going to do about breakfast?” Reed asks.
“Eat.” Paris replies. Reed gives Paris a look that says “I didn't ask for this.”
“What about...” Honey asks, motioning to the basement.
“Why don't we just hang him and use him as a zombie pinata? We're going to have to kill him anyway.” Carter answers. We all look at him surprised. That's actually not such a bad idea.
With a conveniently placed baseball bat that was hidden in the child's room, we use this for our pinata smashing. The boys wrap another rope around Curt's waist and hang him up on the ceiling of the basement. They keep the rope around his neck in case his bottom half falls off and we need to keep him up. Of course it was tough considering the whole time he kept trying to eat our faces. We place a pillow over Kasmira's head and spin her around three times. Kasmira walks towards Curt, stumbling over her own feet. She swings the bat like a crazy woman. When Kasmira reaches Curt, she hits him hard in the stomach. A loud snap was heard upon contact. Kasmira takes two more swings at Curt then we call her off. James walks up to Curt and feels his chest.
“She not only bruised it but she broke three ribs!” He announces. Everyone cheers and Rose goes up for her turn. We spin her around three times and she begins hitting Curt immediately. She ended up breaking his arm. James breaks his leg, Honey breaks his collar bone, Jackie turns his insides into pudding, Angel makes a tear in his stomach, Bruce has his pelvis hanging on by his spine, Paris knocks the pelvis off, Reed breaks the other collar bone, Carter turns Curt into Nearly Headless Nick and I decapitate him. The last piece of business is who will kill Curt's head? Sure, we took his head off of his body, but the brain is still active and his head is still growling. He's trying to twist around while he snaps at anything that comes near. Paris walks up to the struggling head and pierces her knife into his forehead.
“That was fun.” She announces. Some of us smirk, others cringe, some high five each other.
We load the car quickly and kill any zombie that comes with our knifes.
“We really need to upgrade our weapons.” Bruce says, looking at his shot gun. I clench my heart with my hand and half smile.
“Yeah, we'll go get some new ones now. Lets go to an outlet or something.” I reply.
“You okay?” Carter asks, slipping his arm over my shoulder. I nod my head and get into the back of Carter's car. I decided to leave my jeep behind. All of our supplies will be stored in the back of Bruce's van towards the seats. Reed and Rose are going to chill towards the doors in the back of the van while Bruce drives and Paris sits in the passenger's seat. Since the Jeep is gone Jackie sits in the back of Carter's car too with Angel in the passenger's seat. Honey and Kasmira sit in James' car, alternating who sits in the passenger's seat.
We make it to the outlet but it's surrounded with zombies.
“Guys, I think we should try and get into the back.” I say into the walkie-talkie.
“We don't have a key, though.” Bruce reply.
“If only you could see my eyes roll. Jackie is good with a bobby pin. I thought you would have know that.”
“Why don't you worry about getting us into the gun store?” Paris mutters. I sigh and say “I am but first can we go to Victoria’s Secret? We're all in desperate need of some panties and a bra would be nice.”
“No, I want a new weapon!”
“Paris, you need to chill! You're forgetting that the gun you have now is Annabelle's parent's! By doing this, you're hurting her!” Jackie yells into the walkie-talkie. Jackie and Paris begin one of their famous fights. My chest hurts. Jackie's right but saying the words hurts. I miss my parents. I miss all the nice things they did for me and I miss my little bro, even if he was the biggest pain ever. Mom and dad died trying to protect me and they died because they couldn't kill their only son, Jasper. I miss them so much and I know I'll never see them again. I hold my locket once more. I think I'm about to cry. My friends are arguing, my family's dead and I'm not a fit leader for this group. We're all going to die in this zombie apocalypse and there's no way we can save the rest of the living humans. Carter steals the microphone from Jackie and hollers into it “Stop arguing! Both of you are making Annabelle upset! Paris, you are taking her way too much for grated and Jackie, it's great that you're defending her but you're making it worse. Now we're going to the gun store first and then Victoria Secret!” He immediately turns off the walkie-talkie afterward.
Jackie takes a bobby pin out of her hair. She kneels on the ground and puts it in the door lock.
“How long will this take?” Paris asks.
“As long as I need to.” Jackie huffs. All the zombies are walking around inside the outlet so if we sneak into the stores from the outside, everything should be okay, right? This decision shouldn't fail me as a leader once more. Jackie unlocks the door and I go in first. It's dark inside but I don't turn on the lights. If I do then the zombies outside would see us.
“Leave the door open encase we need an exit.” I whisper. The door will also make extra light for us. I squint my eyes and look around. It looks like we're in the very back of the store where everything is stored. The doors that lead to the rest of the store are shut.
“Think we can risk turning the lights on?” Rose asks.
“Yeah, look for a switch.” I say, feeling the wall.
“Or.” Bruce says, pulling a chain from the ceiling “we could turn on this small light bulb.” The light is dim but we can see everything in the back. There are boxes stocked up on shelves all around the walls.
“Guys, look for the weapons you want but keep the ones I gave you with you until we get to the cars. Then just give them back in case we need them later.” I say.
Paris has already taken a liking to the bows and arrows. She takes all of the bows out of their boxes and tries to figure out which one she likes more. There are metal, wooden, and mechanical. There are also bow styles. She immediately pushes away trainer and compound bows. Paris likes the length of the long bow but likes the style of the Mongolian.
“Honey, why don't you take the recurve and I'll take the long bow?” Bruce asks. Paris nods and tries to pick out what she wants it to look like. In the end she chooses a black metal recurve bow and Bruce takes a wooden long bow. They both take a black leather quiver and fill it with at least twenty metal arrows each. It's a great choice they made, actually. They can re-use their ammo and never run out.
Carter looks at all the guns. He's always excited to be around all this weapons. He's looking for what kind of weapon Angel should have. To him, girls with guns are hot! Immediately an AR-15 Rifle catches his eye. It's pink and has a hello kitty sticker on it.
“Oh man, Angel, remember when we were all joking about the hello kitty gang?” Carter laughs.
“You still remember that?” Angel giggles.
“Yeah! Do you want this? You would look so cute with it!”
“Sure.” Angel takes the gun and slides through the strap. She goes in search for ammo while Carter continues looking.
“Angel, what about this?” Carter asks, holding up a Mac 10 pistol.
“I don't think that would suit you.” Angel replies.
“No, for you!”
“You should be looking for yourself.” Angel giggles and takes the gun, looking it up and down. She can tell Carter loves her with these guns and how could she say no to him? She giggles and says “Sure, let me find the ammo for these two while you search for yourself.” Carter nods and begins his search. He finds a M-16 rifle and takes it, along with a whole bunch of ammo. He also finds a glock 9mm pistol. He takes it and slides it into the back of his pants.
“Reed, look at this gun!” Rose enthuses, holding up a Remington 1863 revolver.
“Hey, cool!” Reed replies.
“Right? I think I want this. I mean, I have my own gun but this one is, like, from those old cowboy movies.”
“Are you sure they are?”
“Well, no but I'll still feel like one.” Reed pets her head and and says “Then take that one. Later I'll show you something you can ride, Cowgirl.” Rose laughs and searches for ammo. Reed looks around but doesn't find anything he really likes.
“Hey, James, do you know anything about guns?” Reed asks.
“Not really but what do you need help with?” James replies, looking at a large ax. He's wanted a battle ax forever but he has to choose which one he wants. Sure, it'll be heavy as hell and touch to wield at first but he'll just have to work hard. James' heart beats after looking at all the battle ax's stacked on top of each other. Oh yeah, Reed.
“Dude, are you even listening? Whatever, I'll ask Carter.” Reed grunts. James looks through the battle axes. He sighs, liking the double sided ones more. There's one that really catches Jame's eye.
“Do they actually have these?!” James thinks. He holds up a battle ax that looks exactly like the one from Skyrim. It's heavy so James positions himself to hold it easier. Jame's heart pounds at the masterpiece hes holding. Not only is this a real battle ax but it's a real battle ax from his favorite game. James remembers staying up until four in the morning playing Skyrim with Joe and Dakoda. James sighs, missing his friends and the fun times they had together. Sure, everyone here is his friend but he misses being able to hang with the guys. Carter and Reed are more Annabelle's friends. This apocalypse, as fun as it is, sucks. James misses his buds. In honor of his friends, and this sweet video game, James decides to keep the Skyrim battle ax.
“Carter, do you know any easy guns? I don't want something complicated or heavy. I just want a gun.” Reed asks.
“Try a bersa thunder 380 pistol. If you don't like the look just come back.” Carter replies, grabbing as much ammo as his arms can carry. Reed goes in search of this so called easy gun. How does Carter know so much about guns? Sure, he's been preparing his whole life for this zombie apocalypse but knowing a bunch of different types of guns? Reed finds a silver metal bersa thunder 380 pistol.
“I guess this is easy?” Reed thinks. He just takes the gun and finds the appropriate ammo. He's not picky at all. Plus the name sounds way too cool.
Kasmira just looks around having no idea what she wants. She's pretty cool with the gun she has now.
“Kasmira, over here!” Jackie whispers. Kasmira follows Jackie to the door.
“Jackie, I don't think we should be over here.” Kasmira whispers.
“Don't worry about it. How about we go out and check everything out? We'll crawl around so the zombies can't see us.” Jackie replies. Kasmira groans “Why can't we check in here?”
“There's more stuff out there!”
“...Okay...”
Jackie opens the door a crack and slips out the smallest she can fit. Kasmira does the same and they crawl towards the windows. They sit underneath the windows and shutter at all the moans.
“See anything you like?” Jackie asks. Kasmira looks around. She's completely nervous and doesn't know what she wants.
“Look on the counter.” Jackie says, pointing at her desired object. Kasmira looks over and sees a long sword with a beautiful sheath. It's black with red roses climbing towards the tsuba. We crawl towards it and Jackie takes it down.
“It's beautiful.” Jackie remarks. The tsuba is made of black gold and is decorated with dark roses. She takes the sword out of it's sheath and the blade is black. Not only that but usually a katana has one sharp end. This katana has two sharp ends. Jackie holds her breath as she looks at the sword. She runs her fingers up and down the blade careful not to slice herself.
“It was sharpened before it was abandoned.” she whispers “Do you think everything I need is in the back?”
“What would you need?”
“Things to sharpen, hold and clean the sword.”
“I don't see why not.” Jackie smiles and says “I want this. I am so much better with swords than guns anyway.”
“What about Annabelle?” Kasmira asks.
“Annabelle knows I'm better with swords too. She's seen me beat a guy up with a wooden pole before all this shit happened.”
“You have?”
“Yeah, Annabelle hit him with a metal bat. In all fairness, he was being a jerk. He only hung out with me because he wanted to spend time with Annabelle. He use to legit stalk her.” Jackie sighs.
“Who was it?” Kasmira asks.
“Do you remember Annabelle and I talking about Jamin?”
“No.” Kasmira frowns and looks at the ground.
“Hey, you don't have to worry. No one even wants to remember him. If you don't we're jealous. The last time any of us talked to him, Annabelle said she had a boyfriend.”
“Who did she say he was?”
“Well, Jamin's not too bright so he believed her when she said her secret boyfriend was Devon Bostick.”
“She said she was dating him?!”
“Yes! You know as well as everyone that he is Annabelle's celebrity crush! I bet she'd still fan girl over him. Even now!” Both girls giggle and Kasmira looks up. She sees something she actually likes. On the wall is a white pistol covered with pink and white roses.
“That's the cutest gun I've ever seen.” Kasmira mumbles. Jackie looks at the gun and quickly agrees.
“Lets get it and get out of here.” Jackie announces. Kasmira nods and crawls over to the gun. Without being seen by the zombies she takes the gun. The two crawl back into the storage room and lock the door behind them.
“Where the hell were you guys?” I yell.
“Chill, we were getting weapons.” Jackie replies. Jackie walks around, looking for some sharpening tools and something that will let her katana attach to her belt. That thing's a holster, right? Jackie finds the told she needs and a black leather holster. Now she needs a belt.
“Annabelle, do you think Victoria Secret sells belts?” Jackie asks.
“I don't think so? Look, it was dangerous to sneak out like that! What if you were seen?!” I continue.
“But we weren't.” I huff and walk away.