Ep3

A few days pass. I haven"t really done much lately. Just eat, sleep and talk with Judy. I"ve tried to get to know the others but some, like Zion and Eugene don"t want to know me. It"s tiring. It"s about my eighth day here and I still know barely anything about them. Sheesh.

I wake up to Sunlight hitting my face. I lie there for a minute, enjoying its warmth before getting up. I take a drink from my water bottle and I set off to explore. I remember Harry"s warning and I steer clear of the middle school building. Instead I walk along hallways and up stairs until I reach the rooftop. It"s still early morning and the Sun is still rising. I find a comfy spot next to a wall and plug in my earbuds. My little music player starts pumping out music and I allow myself to smile. I dig through my bag and pull out my solar charger and it starts charging, almost immediately. I sit up there on the roof, taking in the view for ages. It"s so peaceful up here. I"m glad I found this spot. You can"t even tell it"s the apocalypse. I let out a laugh at the thought of that. The apocalypse. Geez, when did I get so dark?

My hands begin to tap along to the beat of the song. What I wouldn"t do for a guitar! Music has always been my passion. Writing songs, playing instruments. I stare down at my bag and I can see the little bottle of pills. No. I don"t need them. I can be strong. I will make it through. I can do this. I"m strong. And I have Judy. I"m not alone anymore. I"m safe. I"m ok.

Suddenly my earbuds are pulled out of my ears. I spin around and see Eugene staring down at me. "G"day." He mocks my accent. "Yeah, hi." I roll my eyes and reach out for my music. "Can I have that back?" He grins at me and sits down next to me. "Depends on what your listening to." He puts in one earbud and offers me the other. I allow myself a smile, not wanting to overstep my boundaries. I accept his offer and choose a song. I scroll through my list of songs and choose "Side to Side" by Ariana Grande. Eugene starts laughing.

"What"s so funny?" I ask. He grins at me. "This is the exact type of music I thought you"d listen to." I can"t help it, but I laugh to. "Ok then. You choose." I hand him the player and he goes through my list of music. "Geez, your taste in music sucks." I respond by sticking my tongue out at him. He looks for a bit and finally chooses a song. "I really like this one. It"s by a small artist on YouTube. She"s really good but she"s also pretty secretive. Won"t even show her face in videos." I wait for him to press play and try to hide my shock when I hear the song. It"s my song.

For a few years I wrote songs. After awhile I started recording and producing my own music. I have over a hundred thousand subscribers on YouTube and I"m really starting to get noticed. I had completely forgotten this song was on here. It was my most popular song, with over a million views! But the fact that Eugene knew my music...I must be better the I thought!

Eugene doesn"t seem to notice my shock. He closes his eyes and keeps talking. "I think she"s Aussie, like you. Isn"t she amazing? I really like her music. It"s so unique! It"s upbeat and happy, yet slow and calm. It really puts an image into your head of what they"re singing about." I laugh at him. "I"ve never really thought like that before. I guess it does put a picture in you." We sit in silence for a few more minutes, listening to my voice play. I wonder how he hasn"t put two and two together. I remember how he looked like he had heard of me before, when I first introduced myself to Harry. I had said my name in my videos before. Just not my last name. I guess the chances of running into an Aussie girl called Charlotte that sounds like your idol are pretty slim.

After another ten or so more minutes of this, we decide to head down for breakfast. We walk into 1-C and I take a seat next to Judy. "Hey! I was wondering where you ran off to!" Judy and I keep up the small talk for awhile until Sue joins us. We start joking around and soon enough we"re all on the ground choking in laughter. Hailey shyly comes over and Harry and Ethan join us to. Lawrence talks to Scarlett then sits down with us to. I found out a lot more about these people while talking to them. It turns out they lived in the middle school building with a lot more people until the zombies broke in. They were the only ones who made it out alive.

"Oh my...I"m so sorry." I don"t know what to say. How are they coping with all this? I decide to change the subject. "So how old are you guys?" Ethan answers this question. "All of us except Hailey, Judy, Jay and Eugene are eighteen. The others are seventeen. You?" It"s weird to see him talk. He seemed pretty quiet. Maybe he"s just shy. "I knew we were about the same age! I"m seventeen to!" Ethan smiles at me and I feel happy. Maybe I can fit in here. As Judy starts telling a story, I sit back and snack on a peanut butter sandwich. I finish it quickly and I get up to get seconds like some of the others are doing. I find an unopened tub of vegemite from my pack (Like the others would eat it) and I start making a vegemite sandwich. "You spread it thinly, right?" Lawrence is next to me, speaking with his kind voice. "Yup! Otherwise it"s too salty!"

While I make my sandwich, Lawrence explains some of the rules. It"s pretty basic stuff. No stealing food, no going outside unless you"re on patrol or out on a hunt. Patrols are what they sound like. Walking around with a partner and reporting any suspicious activity or zombies. Hunts are when they go out for food. "We go out on patrols every night. Nightwatches are only occasionally. Usually twice a week. You stay up for the whole night so just a heads up for that." Lawrence continues explaining more until I know all I need to.

After that there"s nothing much to do, so everyone kind of wanders off. Judy goes back to our room to take a nap and I decide to explore. I walk around the second storey of the building where all our rooms are along with 1-C until I get bored. I decide to go see if there"s a music room or maybe a storage closet with some pencils or paint. I"m going up the stairs to the top storey, when I run into Ethan. He raises his eyebrows quizzically, as if to ask what I"m doing. "Hey, I was going to go look for some art supplies. Want to come with me?" Ethan looks surprised that I"m looking for art supplies but nods his head.

We turn and begin our climb up the stairs. I start talking to Ethan about my idea. What I could do with paint. The different patterns, colours everything that was possible. He seemed to like it and offered to help. We walked for a bit longer until we reached a storage room. I pushed on the door and crashed into the room. As I lay on the ground, I can hear Ethan laughing behind me. I roll on to my back and start laughing to. It"s actually pretty funny. "I was expecting it to be locked." I admit. Still laughing Ethan reaches down and pulls me from the mess. I take a minute to look around and I"m excited by what I see. Rows upon rows of different art supplies. Oil paints, acrylic paint, water colours. Canvases, brushes, crayons, pencils, colouring pencils. "Bloody hell. That"s a lot of paint." I mutter. "Bloody what?" Ethan is looking at me confused. "Never mind."

Ethan and I begin the long journey back to my classroom, our arms carrying a box each, full of art supplies. "Why do you want to paint this place?" His question takes me by surprise. Why do I want to paint this place? "I don"t have an answer for you. I"m not quite sure myself to be honest. I think I just want it to look less...depressing." Ethan gives a dry laugh. "Depressing is a good way to put it." We carry my supplies all the way to my room, being careful not to disturb Judy. As I sit down, I realise how tired I am. I yawn, stretching out. I hadn"t had much sleep last night either. Ethan looks up at me. "You look tired. Did you sleep at all last night?" I must admit, I"m surprised at his concern. Everyone seems to be worried about me here. I don"t want them to be. It"s better if they"re not. "I got some. I might take a nap after lunch though." "Take one now. I"ll go." And with that Ethan turned and walked out of the room.

Bored, I plopped myself down next to Judy. I stretch out on the floor and close my eyes. I"m so exhausted. I feel myself drifting off into sleep. That"s when the dreams begin. Dark things, nightmares. Running from zombies as they chase after my friends and family only to have them become zombies themselves. Getting pinned as a zombie tries to rip my face off, switching between people I know. The worst one I had was watching people walk away from me. Just from their backs I could tell who they were. Judy, Mum, Dad, Daisy (My little sister), even Harry, Zion, Ethan, Eugene and Lawrence. All I could hear was Scarlett laughing and saying, "I knew she was infected!" BANG!

I woke up, soaked in sweat. Bang! Someone was at the door, knocking as hard as they could. Shakily I stood up. "Just a minute!" I called out. Judy woke up. "What"s going on?" she asked. I ignored her and opened the door and behind her stood Scarlett. She smiled at me creepily. "I"m hungry." She said. "So?" Her eyes slanted angrily. "Get me food. Or there"ll be no chance of us being friends."

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***