Hammers and Strings

"I'm not leaving." William leaned against my door. "I hope you know that." I rolled my eyes. My crazy ex-boyfriend won't leave me alone. Think it's time to call the cops. "Lex, I just want to talk to you about this."

"There's nothing to talk about." I closed my eyes. "If you're going to stay, sleep on the couch or something." I couldn't believe that he didn't want to just go home. All I was going to do was ignore him while he attempted to make amends. "Goodnight, crazy ex-boyfriend."

"Goodnight, Lexi." He closed the door slowly.

Next morning, I woke up and washed my face. I walked into my kitchen to see William peering into my refrigerator. "You don't have anything in here aside from beer." He made a face. "Lex, you don't even drink that much. Correction: You can't drink that much." Actually, I'd been drinking quite a lot lately. Three beers don't do a thing to me anymore.

I grabbed a beer. He pried it out of my hand. "Hey! What I do is none of your business!" He stuck it back into the fridge and picked up the bottle of Bailey's on the counter. He studied the expiration date.

"This isn't the one I gave you a month ago." William squinted at me. "Lex, when have you started drinking excessively?" He opened the fridge door again to check for any types of food. "You don't have anything in here. The only thing that isn't beer is...mustard. Do you eat mustard for breakfast?" He shook the bottle of French's mustard in my face.

"I eat waffles for breakfast, if you must know. They're in the freezer." I reached for the Bailey's, but William's fast. He grabbed the bottle. He wagged a finger in my face.

"I want you to go to the grocery store and buy some real food. Don't come back until you do."

"Why don't you just go back to your apartment?"

He smiled. "Because I don't want to."

I rolled my eyes and snatched my keys from the table. I shut the door and locked it, and then sprinted down the stairs. I hopped onto my black motorcycle and cruised my way over to the grocery store. Hmm. Strange. No one's outside today. No kids playing in the park, no parents driving around on Sunday afternoon. I shrugged my shoulders and took my helmet off, walking up to the grocery store. I tried to push the door open...

But it was locked.

I shook the door, knocking, shouting. I peered into the store, and no one was there. A few of the lights were on, but it seemed pretty empty. I squinted, knocking again. Hopefully someone was in there.

After five minutes, I gave up, hopped back onto my motorcycle, and went back to the apartment complex. After running up seven flights of stairs and returning home with nothing, William was staring at the television. "Hey, Lex, come here and watch this."

I crossed my arms. "How about you just tell me what's going on? Was there some bargain sale at the Walmart just outside of town?"

"No..." He motioned for me to come over. I glanced at the screen and winced.

"What the hell is that?"

William cringed as the zombies started attacking a man in the streets. Started to eat him alive. We heard screaming through the speakers. "Zombies, Lex." He looked over at me with a concerned look on his face. "Like the things from Resident Evil. Those kinds of zombies." He stood up. "We have to stay inside. We can't leave this place."

I picked up the cordless phone on my coffee table. I dialed Butcher's phone number and hoped he would pick up. The line was busy. I rolled my eyes and attempted to call Sisky. Line was busy. I didn't even attempt to call Carden.

That's when I realized something.

I changed the television from the cable box to the X-Box. "What are you doing?" William asked, standing up. "Lexi, we have to keep watching the news! They could tell us what to do! We could be saved!"

"Oh, shut up." I put the headset on and hoped my friends were still playing.