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Chapter 15: It’s Everywhere

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The banging downstairs had stopped sometime in the night. At first, we thought maybe they’d lost interest, and moved on to another house. But the growling and shuffling sounds just beyond the barricade told a different story. They were still there—just waiting. Waiting for us to make a mistake.

It was just after dawn when I opened my eyes. I hadn’t really slept, not since the door downstairs gave way. The adrenaline had worn off, and my body felt like it had been hit by a truck. I sat up, careful not to wake Annie, who was curled up next to me on the floor, her breathing shallow but steady. Nash was still asleep, his head resting in her lap, clutching his tablet like it was the last piece of normalcy he had left.

Colt sat by the window, peering out through the small crack in the blinds. His face was pale, dark circles under his eyes, but his hands were steady. His bat lay across his lap, still stained with the blood of the infected from the night before. He hadn’t said much since we barricaded ourselves up here, but I could see the gears turning in his head, just like mine were.

“How we looking?” I asked, my voice low.

Colt didn’t turn, his eyes still scanning the street. “Quiet out there. Too quiet.”

I nodded, standing and stretching out the stiffness in my legs. “That’s usually a bad sign.”

He finally looked at me, the weight of everything that had happened in the last few days visible in his expression. “Are we going to make it, Dad?”

I wanted to give him an answer that would make it all go away, tell him everything was going to be fine, that help was on the way. But that would’ve been a lie, and he deserved better than that.

“I don’t know, son,” I admitted. “But we’re going to do everything we can to survive. That’s all we’ve got right now.”

Colt nodded, his jaw tightening as he looked back out the window. “There’s still no sign of anyone else. No cars, no people. Just... empty.”

That didn’t surprise me. From what I’d seen on the news before the power cut out, the government’s response was unraveling fast. The infected had spread quicker than anyone could’ve anticipated. Major cities had fallen first—New York, Chicago, Los Angeles. Then the smaller towns and suburbs, like ours, where the resources were thinner, and people weren’t prepared.

South Carolina was no exception. Charleston had been overrun within days. Summerville and Cane Bay were close behind, and the sporadic reports I’d heard made it clear there wasn’t much hope for containment. The National Guard had been deployed, but they were stretched too thin. Too many infected, too few soldiers. If there were any official rescue operations, they weren’t coming anywhere near us.

Annie stirred next to me, blinking awake. She looked around, disoriented for a moment before the reality of our situation came rushing back.

“Morning,” I said softly, brushing her hair out of her face. “You doing okay?”

She gave me a small nod, though the strain was written all over her. “As okay as we can be, I guess. What’s the plan?”

I sighed, running a hand over my face. “We can’t stay up here forever. Sooner or later, we’re going to need more food, water... we need to figure out if there’s anyone else still out there. Anyone who might be able to help.”

Annie glanced toward Nash, still sleeping, and then to Colt by the window. “You’re right,” she said quietly. “But how? We’re surrounded.”

I didn’t have an easy answer. The infected downstairs weren’t going anywhere, and going out the front door was suicide. We needed a way out that wouldn’t draw their attention. Something that would give us a chance to make it to the truck, or at least scope out the neighborhood.

“The attic,” I said after a moment of thinking. “If we can get up there, maybe we can get onto the roof, see what’s going on outside without exposing ourselves.”

Annie looked at me, unsure. “And then what? Even if we get out, where do we go?”

“We’ll figure it out,” I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. “We just need to take it one step at a time.”

I walked over to Colt and tapped him on the shoulder. “Get ready, we’re going to try something.”

He turned and raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. “What exactly?”

“The attic,” I said, nodding toward the ceiling. “If we can get onto the roof, we might be able to get a better look at what’s going on out there. See if there’s a clear path to the truck or to any of the other houses.”

Colt stood, his bat still in hand. “You sure that’s a good idea?”

I wasn’t sure of anything anymore, but sitting around wasn’t going to keep us alive. “It’s our best option right now.”

Annie gently woke Nash, who groggily sat up, his eyes puffy from a restless night of sleep. “Are we safe, Dad?” he asked, his voice soft.

“We’re safe for now,” I said, ruffling his hair. “But we’re going to check out a way to get out of here, okay? Stay close to your mom and Colt.”

I grabbed the flashlight and climbed onto a chair, pushing open the attic door. The ladder creaked as I pulled it down, and for a second, I froze, waiting to see if the noise had attracted any attention from the infected downstairs.

Nothing. At least, not yet.

“Okay, I’m going up,” I said, climbing into the attic. The air was stifling up there, filled with the musty smell of insulation and old Christmas decorations. I crawled toward the small window that faced the front of the house, carefully pulling it open. A faint breeze hit my face, bringing with it the scent of smoke and decay.

I poked my head out and scanned the street below. It was just like Colt had said—eerily quiet. No cars, no movement, just the occasional gust of wind rustling the leaves. The infected were still clustered near our front door, mindlessly pacing back and forth, waiting for us to make a move.

Across the street, I saw something that caught my eye. Movement. A shadow in one of the neighbor’s houses, barely visible through the broken window.

Someone was alive over there.

I pulled my head back inside and climbed down from the attic, my mind racing. “There’s someone across the street,” I said as I reached the bottom of the ladder.

Annie’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“I saw movement in the house. They’re holed up, just like us.”

Colt’s face lit up with a glimmer of hope. “Maybe they know something. Maybe they’ve got a plan.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But first, we need to figure out how to get across without drawing the infected right to us.”

Annie looked at me, worry etched in her features. “Frank, you’re not thinking about going over there, are you?”

“We don’t have a choice, Annie,” I said gently. “If we stay here, we’re sitting ducks. If they’re still alive, maybe we can work together, pool resources. It’s the only way we’re going to survive this.”

She didn’t like it, but she knew I was right.

“All right,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Just... be careful.”

I nodded, tightening my grip on the rifle. We were about to make a move, and if we played our cards right, it might just be the break we needed.

The world had changed overnight. But survival was in our blood. And today, we’d fight to hold on to it.