“Ryan?” Alex prompted again. “Maybe you could—?”
Nicole stopped him. “He’ll do it. Don’t worry.”
“Okay,” Alex said, sitting back. He looked into the fort. “I really do like your cat. I promise.”
Ryan smiled. Alex was certain the bell would be tied around the cat’s neck soon enough. Then they could follow the sound to find out where the cat had come from.
The cat stayed in the room for most of the day. Though he wandered in and out of the little fort a few times, he wouldn’t go much farther. Alex grew frustrated. His brilliant idea would be for nothing if the cat got used to them too soon. Though, he thought, the cat will have to go somewhere soon enough. Cats have to wander. All he had to do was wait.
He was not the only one. When David woke up, he questioned why Nicole and Alex were quietly staring at Ryan. When they told him, he did the same. Kaitlyn joined them soon afterwards, and eventually so did Hannah. Ryan didn’t seem to care; when he didn’t stare back, he simply ignored them. When boredom got the better of them, they went about their own tasks to fill the time. With the small amounts of food, and even fewer activities, Alex realized that time was one of the only things they had in abundance.
Later, he sought out David and found him in the workroom immersed in building new contraptions.
“What are you doing now?” Alex asked.
“The tables and office chair gave me lots of ideas for projects,” he said. “But I have to finish the the SPLITTER! first, now that I know how to build it.”
“What do you mean? I thought you had it all planned.”
“Yeah, I did. Originally, I wanted it to slice right through the mudmen ... though ... actually seeing that happen would make me lose my lunch, if not my mind. But now we know it just has to damage their heads. Maybe I should make it strong enough to take their heads right off, just to be safe.”
Alex could tell he was forgotten as David went into his own world, but as he turned to go, David mumbled, “I’ll have this done by the end of the day ... assuming nothing else unexpected happens.”
Alex walked into the hallway and could hear the girls’ voices from afar. Nicole had taken Kaitlyn and Hannah to the ground floor.
At first Alex had been surprised that the younger girl was okay with going down there, but he was starting to wonder which of the two girls was actually in charge of the other. Hannah seemed to be the smarter of the two. Plus, it was because of her that they were down there. Growing bored throughout the day, she asked if they had any board games. At first Nicole brushed her off.
Alex overheard her muttering, “Spoiled kid wants it all, now that she’s calmed down.”
But Kaitlyn spoke up. “If Hannah had some games, she’ll be more easily distracted, and less likely to be afraid and prone to screaming.”
“That makes sense,” Nicole admitted. “The same would go for everyone. I remember seeing a plastic bin filled with activities and craft supplies from summer camps. Don’t know if there are games, but there’s only one way to find out.” Hannah volunteered to go with her, so Kaitlyn—despite her apprehension—tagged along as well.
Since everyone else was busy, Alex walked back up the hallway to play with Shadow for a while. She had been locked in the room at the end of the hall all night. He had planned to sleep there with her, but had fallen asleep with everyone else while chatting into the night. He felt bad about it. She had stuck by his side, taking care of him and looking out for him since this whole thing started. He felt he had betrayed her.
The feeling faded when he opened the door and she leapt on him, licking his face and wagging her tail excitedly. After playing for a few minutes, she ran down the hall, whimpering. At first, he was worried—something was wrong. Something is out there! No, he recognized that whimper. She wanted to go outside: to run around, to get some fresh air. The smell of the room she had been locked in all night hit him, and he realized another reason she might want to go outside.
“You can’t,” he said, as he rubbed her head, looking down at the front door. “We can’t go outside. It’s too dangerous.”
The dog gave him a look she had used on him so many times before. He couldn’t say no to that look.
He sighed, went into the bedroom, and looked out the window. The dead mudmen were still stuck to the barricade—why didn’t we take them down? Are they the reason so many of them showed up yesterday? Other than the ones that were dead-dead from before—including one he realized they had killed on the way back with Kaitlyn and Hannah—there was no one anywhere near the building, living or otherwise. He thought about the situation for a moment as Shadow whimpered at his side.
“All right,” he decided. “We can go outside, but just for a minute.” Shadow, knowing the word ‘outside,’ ran in circles, excitedly. “But,” Alex added, “you’re going on a leash, so you can’t run away!” Again, the dog seemed to understand these words and had a sudden brief look of shame.
David was still busy screwing a bunch of boards together with the plans for his SPLITTER! (over the scratched-out name ‘SPLICER!’). Alex didn’t want a long explanation of exactly how the thing would work from his know-it-all friend, so he asked him for rope and was directed to the back corner where he found a six-foot length of nice, soft rope—a perfect, impromptu leash.
Downstairs, he saw the light from Nicole’s flashlight as she searched with the other girls. He pulled back the
