In Darkness & Light

John pulled up in front of his old Victorian styled house which the family moved into a few years ago. I've spent a lot of time in John's house, since this is where they practice their songs. I would always watch them play and give them feedback. John pushed the button which made the bus doors open. John got off first, then Pat, then me, and then Garrett.

"Okay guys, know the plan?" Garrett asked. We all told him that we did.

John went up to the front door and opened it up. The place looked like it got robbed. All of the pictures on the walls and important things were taken. I guess John's family already left. John stayed silent as he walked away with Pat to go get guns from the basement. I followed Garrett upstairs to John's room. Once we walked in, I could definitely tell it was John's room, since I've never been up here before. It was messy as fuck; there were clothes thrown all around the floor and on his bed. His bed had one measly blanket on it, no sheets, and one pillow. I guess it was enough for John. Garrett and I started to go through his drawers and his closet to find some clean clothes. Garrett took out a bag from the bottom of John's closet. We both packed the tons of clothes we found. We packed thin shirts if it was hot out, and sweaters so if it was cold outside, we would be set. I didn't need to get any of his mother's clothing because I figured I could fit into John's clothes since he's so lanky. Garrett offered me his hand as we made our way downstairs. John and Pat were already in the kitchen, packing away boxes of food and bottles of water.

"There's containers of water in the garage if you two want to go pack them onto the bus," John said as he shoved a box of Twinkies in a plastic shopping bag.

Garrett was still holding onto my hand as we walked outside and went into the garage. There was a whole wall just stacked with containers of bottled water. They were packages of 32 bottles in each. We started to pick up the containers and lug them out to the bus. It was pretty hot outside for a April day. But, it's always hot in Arizona. After we packed on about ten packages of water, John and Pat met us on the bus. They were both carrying about ten bags filled with food. After they dropped off all the food in the back of the bus, the three of them went to go get the guns. I sat in the seat I did before, and I took out a granola bar from my bag and I started to eat it. The three of them came back, each carrying a few guns and a lot of ammunition. They put the guns in the middle of the bus. John sat back in the driver's seat, Garrett sat next to me, and Pat took his seat. John was just starting the bus when Garrett quickly shot up out of his seat.

"Wait!" He screamed, running off of the bus and back into the house. We all looked at each other, confused. He walked back out, carrying two acoustic guitars and a some drum sticks. He got back onto the bus and handed Pat the drum sticks. "We can have some fun and play some music, can't we?" He smiled.

Pat gave him a huge smile and he started to hit the sticks on the bus seat in front of him. "Let's play a song!" Pat shouted, seeming so excited like a boy on Christmas.

Garrett sat back down next to me after putting the other guitar in the back. John started to drive out of the drive way.

"What song should we do?" John asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

Garrett started to strum on the guitar. Pat started to drum on the seats. John started to sing. I knew this melody so well.

"I fell asleep last night, but I woke up too late. And everything I loved, I began to hate. I know I sound repetitive, cause I'm repeating myself. And I'm competitive. I want you all by yourself. And that alone is just the problem. I've got all these woes. I just can't solve them. If I could gather up the nerve, I'd put my feelings into words. And if I weren't so young, or stupid, or restless, I might be able to just soon forget this, just forget this. Please just forget me, while I'm out all alone on the east coast. And please don't forgive me, when you're home all alone and you need me most."

John was just about to start the next verse, but he abruptly stopped the bus. We all looked to see what he stopped for.

There was a group of survivors walking along the sidewalk. There was five people, and there were three guys and two girls. They were around our age. They were walking at a slow pace, probably because the temperature was in the 100s, and we had air conditioning on the bus. John looked back towards Garrett.

"Should we help them?" John asked. At this point the people were walking towards the bus. Garrett stood up, putting the guitar with the other one. He went to the seat behind Pat's, opening the window. The five of them walked up to the side of the bus Garrett was at.

"Please help us!" One of the girls begged. "We have no water or food."

Garrett studied them for a moment, each of them carefully.

"He's infected," Garrett said, pointing at one of the guys through the window. "He got bit under his shirt. I can see the blood and he's going pale."

"I'm not infected!" The guy shouted. "I'm pale because it's so hot out here and we have no water, and the blood is old from when we had to fight off a hoard of them. It's not my blood."

"Lift up your shirt," Garrett demanded. The boy stared at him, not following Garrett's order. "Lift up your shirt!" Garrett was shouting now.

The boy lifted up his shirt. The bite was disgusting. It was turning black from the dead skin, the virus was definitely infected into the boy. He quickly lifted it down. The group around him all stared at him. Garrett quickly jumped away from the seat, going into the back. He picked up a handgun, making sure it was loaded. At this point, the group was walking quickly away from the bus. Garrett walked back up to the front. He gave me a gentle look.

"Close your eyes, love. Put your hands over your ears," he whispered to me. I slowly closed my eyes, putting my hands over my ears. My hands didn't block the sound of the five gun shots, and the screams of the five people Garrett just killed.