The sunlight comes slithering in, illuminating my face in golden shades of rosy pink. My eyes flutter open and I slowly crawl out of the warm bed, I yawn tiredly but as I walk into the kitchen I smile excitedly. The aroma of toast and Jam fills the air and I inhale deeply, my Mum lays a plate of breakfast on the table and I raise an eyebrow suspiciously.
"Where did you find that?" I ask warily. She looks up quickly and smiles when she sees my dishevelled figure, her eyes gleaming in the early morning light.
"I found it in the freezer, France was still in production long after Britain went down so the date wasn't as bad as the food back home, and the inhabitants were clever enough to freeze it on top of that," she laughs and I shrug appreciatively.
I sit down at the breakfast bar and take a bite out of my toast happily, I groan at the flavour and everyone around me chuckles causing me to blush slightly. I stare around the room absentmindedly but soon snap to attention, a frown creasing my forehead.
"Mum?" I ask over the rumbling talk of the others.
"Yes love?" she replies and I shiver at her word choice.
"Where's Sophie and Elijah?" I ask, concerned. She lets out a chuckle and waves her hand in a relaxed manner, dismissing my anxiety.
"Oh they just went up to the roof," she says and then adds when she sees my expression, "you can access it from this apartment and it is completely secure, I know you looked after her for so long but we're here now," she states and gestures at my Dad sat next to her, I narrow my eyes at her, unable to bite my tongue.
"The reason I looked after her for so long is because you weren't there to do it," I say sarcastically and rise from my chair. It screeches on the tiled floor and Maria grimaces at the sharpness next to me, quickly sending an apologetic smile at her I walk towards the door.
"Madeline? Leave them be," my Dad frowns and I shoot daggers back at him.
"Oh yeah, just like you left us be when the apocalypse started, right?" I say and then clap my hands in front of me sharply. "Look how well that worked out," I add and he just purses his lips tightly.
I quickly pull on some clean clothes before making my way to the staircase that leads to the sun garden above us, a breeze trickles down and blows my hair into a curtain around my face which I bat away quickly. I climb silently up the stairs and emerge out into the warm glow of heat, immediately hearing mumbled voices from the other side of the roof and walk over noisily.
I see Soph and Eli sat side by side on a faded white bench and I crouch down behind some flower pots noiselessly, straining to peer around them. Their conversation wafts over to me and I raise an eyebrow, surprise flickering across my features.
"Look, Soph, I know you're a strong and independent woman but I promised your sister something and I can't break it," Eli explains and Sophie crosses her arms, eyeing him suspiciously.
"You shouldn't agree to anything my sister says because most likely it's nonsense!" she laughs and I huff in irritation. Eli chuckles along with her and then slowly places a hand on her shoulder gently, I tilt my head at the intriguing chatter, careful not to tip over the china plant pot beside me.
"There's also another reason, I promised Madeline to protect you for the rest of my life but I want to do that anyway," he says barely loud enough for me to hear, "Sophie, I think I love you."
As soon as the words are out of his mouth I gape and let out a low breath, crossing my arms in a huff of annoyance. Sophie's mouth opens and closes and Eli speaks up again, "Will you be my girlfriend?" he asks quickly and I almost choke on the air. I quieten myself rapidly and study Soph's face for signs of fear or unhappiness but there's only one thing- love.
"Yes," the words are out of Sophie's mouth so quick I almost don't hear them, I shake my head but it's no use. It's done, irreversible as of now.
I trudge back downstairs quietly, the stairs creaking beneath my heavy footsteps. As I sulk into the kitchen grumpily everyone raises an eyebrow in question of my attitude, I plonk myself down on a beanbag next to the huge windows and fold my arms tightly over my chest.
"What's wrong Madeline?" Maria asks and I just sigh automatically, running my fingers through my hair before I respond. Footsteps pad down the stairs and I smirk as Sophie and Eli walk down, hand in hand.
"Why don't you ask them?" I smile and see their faces redden.
"I can explain-" Eli's starts but his feeble attempt at words, however, are cut off. Everyone stares behind me in horror as the windows shatter, glass exploding into the room and knocking me to my feet. My heart thunders against my ribs and I cover my head with my hands defensively as the glass rains down on me.
My thoughts spiral frantically to the infected but, through the twinkling of shattering glass, confusion flashes across my thoughts. Our apartment sits so high above the ground, so far out of reach from their decaying bodies, it would be impossible for them to reach us- especially from the exterior of the building. My pulse quickens and I gasp in disorientation, there's no way that was the infected.
YOU ARE READING
Revenge of the Dead
HorrorBOOK TWO I can feel them getting closer. Their screeches haunting me at night, telling me to drop dead. I've never listened to them before. But it's different now. You can't save some people, but I'll fight to the death to save humanity. What's m...
