Annihilate

“How’d you sleep?” Noah asked as the man entered the kitchen, he stretched and yawned.

“Pretty good. Thanks for lending the bed.”

“No problem. Having any pain?”

“No.” He replied. “Not really, just kinda sore. Thank you, for what you did.”

Noah smiled. “I couldn’t let you die…I’ve let too many people die.”

“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Noah. I’ll be on my way now.”

“Wait!” Noah jumped from the table and stopped him from opening the door. “Stay, please.”

“Really?” He sighed. “I don’t want to impose.”

“Yes really. It’ll be nice having someone around here to talk to. I’ve been talking to the walls for months now!”

He laughed. “Fine, I’ll stay. Oh and by the way…my name is Ryan.”

“Right. Forgot to ask. Nice to meet you, Ryan.” Noah held out his hand playfully.

“Nice to meet you too, Noah.”

The day started with a downpour of rain. The rainy season sure was rainy this year. Noah didn’t mind it much though, he enjoyed the dark clouds, the sound of rain dancing on the roof, and it also watered the garden so that was a plus as well. In the afternoon, Noah ran into Ryan sitting on the bench near the window looking out over the field, reading a book Noah had read many times now, it was his favorite out of all his collection. When night came, Ryan was making a beautifully smelling dinner. Noah hadn’t been that intrigued in a smell since his mother last cooked…which was a long time ago. Ryan greeted him with a smile and turned off the stove then dumped the contents of the pan onto two plates.

“Just some peppers from the garden and a deer I killed this morning.”

“It smells great, Ryan. I didn’t hear you go out.” Noah took a seat and stared in awe at the plate, finally there was someone that actually knew how to cook. It was nice to have a good meal for once.

“I went out super early, a little before sun rise. You were still asleep.” He smiled and forked the food in his mouth.

Noah shoveled a spoonful down his throat. “It’s great.” He said, his mouth still full. He swallowed hard and continued on. “Where’d you learn to cook?”

“My mom taught me. I’ve always had a passion for cooking. Ever since I was little.”

“Well, Ryan. I’m very lucky to have such a great chef in my presence.” Ryan blushed slightly at his compliment. “Want to watch a movie later? I have quite the collection.”

“Of course. Let’s say around ten. Meet in the living room. I’ll bring the popcorn.”

Noah finally felt whole again, the loneliness subsided and a new feeling emerged…happiness. “Sounds great!” He smiled.

“It’s a date then!” Ryan playfully winked and took their now empty plates over to the sink.

Noah stood in the bathroom nervously. He checked his teeth twice, tucked and untucked his hair behind his ears three times before coming to the conclusion that it looked decent tucked. He doused his body in a cologne he found when he was wandering the outskirts of town. Finally, he was ready to go. Downstairs, Ryan sat up the bluray player while the popcorn popped in the microwave. He fiddled with the buttons until the blue screen changed to the movie. He was surprised that Noah actually had one of his all time favorite movies “V For Vendetta.” He let the title screen play as he dumped the popcorn in a bowl and poured two glasses of wine he found while snooping through the cabinets. His stomach felt tight, butterflies zoomed around inside him. He pulled himself together and waited at the bottom of the stairs.

His eyes caught Ryan waiting at the bottom step. Noah felt warm inside, like he was at the ocean with his first love again. Ryan took his hand and walked him over to the couch. Noah admired his kindness; there wasn’t much of that in the world nowadays. V For Vendetta’s title screen played on a loop; he found it curious that Ryan picked out one of his favorite movies. He couldn’t get enough of it, he watched it over and over.

“You look nice.” Ryan said, sitting down next to Noah.

“Thanks. You do too. I love this movie by the way.”

He smiled wide, blushing slightly. “I used to watch it all the time.”

Ryan slid his hand close to Noah’s, his fingers gently traced across his palm. Noah’s face turned dark red, his purple bruises almost fading into the background. He wondered if this was too sudden, if everything was moving at breakneck speed. He just met Ryan not too long ago but his feelings grew for him each passing moment. Noah intertwined his fingers with Ryan’s. They both sat silent, staring into each other’s eyes. The butterflies in Ryan’s stomach grew as he inched closer to Noah. They sat face to face now, their lips only inches away. Ryan cupped Noah’s cheek. He didn’t mind all the bruises that dotted all across Noah’s face, or that his nose sat a little crooked. He admired his eyes, how they looked like the ocean during a storm, how his lips cracked and split, still managed to look perfect. He found everything about him magnificent and intoxicating.

The lights inside change from bright to a dim red. Their bodies quickly separate and they leap from the couch in a state of panic. The red lights could only mean one thing…the parameter has been breached. Ryan grabbed a rifle from the coat closet near the front door. He tossed another gun to Noah, he new his powers wouldn’t work against the mutations; they seemed to fail against things infected with the same strain. Noah peered out the living room window, watching two girls sprint across the yard, heading straight for the house. He gave Ryan a nod and the front door flew open, the girls making their way inside. The first to enter carried a shotgun, her tanktop blood soaked, jeans tore, and wore boots that looked like they’ve kicked a few heads in recently. The other girl was just a bit smaller but she held her rifle like a pro. He sweaty hair bobbed just above her shoulders and was soaked with sweat.

“Natalie.” The girl with the shotgun said as she tied back her long brown hair. “And that’s Sam. Get ready, cause a horde is coming.”

A monster dives through the living room window; it shatters into a million shards of glass. It tackles Noah to the ground and chews on the gun as he holds the freak back. Natalie runs through the broken glass, her boot meeting with the mutation’s face. It flies off of Noah and crashes into a bookshelf, knocking it to pieces. She holds it against the shelf with her foot and cocks the shotgun. The creature screams but she has no remorse. She blows its head into a million chunks, brain splattering all over the wall behind it. The front door bursts open, Ryan goes flying through the air and sliding across the floor. All hell is breaking lose in the house Noah grew up in, made his life in. Samantha grabs Ryan and pulls him off the floor then spins around and blasts a few holes into the creature’s head. Noah finally gathers himself and wipes the brains off his shirt. He looks out the window, three more mutations gather and head for the house. Natalie pushes him out of the way and cocks her shotgun, an empty shell falls to the floor, still smoking from the last expelled round. She fires out the window, scatter shot blowing away one of the monsters, filling it with large bleeding holes.

Samantha stands in the doorway, firing round after round, eventually killing the last two mutations. The lights flicker back to normal as Noah takes off upstairs. He tosses a bag on his bed and stuff it full of supplies then heads back downstairs. Ryan gathers his things on the kitchen table, he knew they couldn’t stay there anymore, they had to flee.

“Let’s go, more will be coming soon. They always do. You two are welcome to come with us.” Noah says, filling a few empty bottles full of water with his powers. The girls watch in amazement.

“We’ll come with you. That’s pretty damn awesome.” Natalie grabs one of the bottles of water as Noah hands it to her, she stuffs it deep in her bag.

The crew takes off, leaving the house behind. It was bittersweet. The only time Noah had left the house was when he went on scavenging runs. This felt painful to him, leaving everything behind. He knew he’d get over it eventually but right now it felt impossible. Ryan grabbed Noah’s hand and squeezed it tight. He felt his pain, he knew what Noah was going through and he wasn’t about to let him deal with it on his own.