Rocky shifted in bed beside her, rolling uncomfortably on top of her leg.
“Get off, dog,” she mumbled. Not yet wanting to open her eyes, she reached for Rocky, pushing ineffectively at his meaty head. “Dude, come on!”
Rocky sighed and rolled back the other way, farting nosily.
“Jesus Christ,” Raven exclaimed, sitting up and scrambling out of bed. Rocky’s farts were legendary and she was sure in the right circumstances they could melt plastic.
Her thermal bottoms were rucked sideways and she straightened them and pulled on a hoodie. The temperature had dropped in the last couple of days. The rain continued to drizzle, making for very green grass and brilliant flowers. It was quite beautiful but rather cold, highs only reaching the low fifties.
“We better get out of here before winter really sets in,” Raven muttered grumpily.
“Hey, sis?” Henry hollered from downstairs. “Come check this out.”
“What the hell is he doing up this early,” she murmured. “Come on Rocky.”
He pushed past her, bounding through the open door. Raven grabbed the doorjamb to keep her balance and slipped into her goose down slipper. She shivered and hoped that her brother, since he was up so damn, early, had the forethought to start a fire.
“Hey Rocky,” Henry’s voice floated to her. “Where’s Raven?”
“I’m coming,” she hollered grumpily. Raven had never been much of a morning person and the goddamn sun wasn’t even up yet. It had to be before seven.
She trudged downstairs, past her brother, who was sitting on his knees by the coffee table and into the kitchen.
“Hey,” Henry said. “Where’re you going?” His voice was excited.
She saw a vivid image of him as a little boy, running around the house and clutching a brand-new toy train. It had bright red paint and shiny silver wheels that looked like metal but weren’t.
Raven snorted, mood lightening. “It’s too early,” said without turning around. “I’m making some coffee.”
Henry chuckled and sat at the kitchen table. He had a large square box with him. He set it down with a thud.
Raven glanced at him with a perplexed look then set the coffee to percolate. Stifling a yawn, she turned to her brother. He was beaming at her and gesturing at the thing in front of him.
It was an old Motorola Transistor radio with two small knobs on either side of a long dial strip that showed the station. The radio was made of brown plastic. It had cracks running up the side.
“That’s cool,” Raven said, coffee in hand. She passed an empty cup to her brother and he rose to fill it.
“Yeah,” he answered, adding some powdered milk. “I thought that since the TV is useless for information, if I got this working we could find out what the fuck is going on out there.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Raven responded. She was feeling a little lost without the daily news; never thought she’d miss it so much. She sipped her coffee. “Did you get it working?”
“Yup,” Henry answered, beaming. He held up an empty package of D batteries. “I found these in bag one,” he grinned more broadly at that.
Raven knew her special type of organization was a source of amusement for her brother. She sipped her coffee and smiled into the cup. The caffeine was doing its job and her humor had returned. She waved her hand in the air, telling him to continue.
“I just replaced the batteries and voilà we’ve got contact.” Henry switched the radio on in a blast of static that made Raven cringe.
“Sorry,” her brother said, turning the volume down.
Rocky barked from the living room. He’d discovered the old rug in front of the fire pretty quickly. Already chewing on the corner but that was all right. Raven didn’t think Henry would mind and the rug was rather threadbare. He met Raven’s eye and lay his head back down sleepily.
Lucky dog, she thought, draining her coffee and rising for another cup. “Here we go,” Henry spoke. He sat hunched in front of the radio, messing with the dials.
A man’s voice filled the kitchen, speaking low and urgently. Henry turned the volume up a tad and leaned in to listen.
Reports continue to come in of this impossible new virus. The dead walk the streets and our government is doing zip about it! The voice was emphatic. Call in at 817-566-3939 if you are still out there. This radio host is feeling rather isolated. I have been ensconced in the station for the last few weeks, securely locked in. I’m running everything myself so forgive me if things aren’t as smooth as usual. Static crackled, blocking out something the radio host said. It cleared and his voice returned. Call in and bring me some human contact!
“Did you bring your cell?” Raven asked, glancing at Henry. She had never owned a cell phone, which was a joke among her friends to be sure. Raven had just never seen the need for someone to be able to get a hold of her all the time. They could call the house and leave a message; she would get back to them when she had time.
Henry’s face fell. “No,” he answered sighing. “I was in kind of a rush and forgot it.” He frowned. “I know right where I left it. I can see it sitting on my dresser.” Henry sighed. “I even plugged it in!” he added, gesticulating into the air.
Raven snorted. “Fat lot of good that’ll do us.” They were quiet for a while, sipping coffee and listening to the radio guy prattle on. He was talking about the same kind of things they’d seen. People sick with fever turning on loved ones and attacking them. There were always bite marks found on the undead.
Holy shit, the man blurted in the middle of his
