To her delight, she also found a box full of books and another filled with board games. It would keep them busy over the long days to come, and she lugged both boxes down into the living room. After dusting them down, she chose a book to read before bed and set up a game of Scrabble on the coffee table.
“I picked Scrabble, but we’ve got Monopoly, Uno, a deck of cards, and Clue to choose from,” Amy said.
“Scrabble is fine. I haven’t played it in years,” Alex said.
The rain was coming down hard, drumming on the roof with a constant beat. An occasional rumble of thunder vibrated through the air, and the wind whistled around the corners.
Amy smiled as she ran to fetch two blankets. One for her and another for Alex. He walked over with two plates piled high with fluffy pancakes and drizzled with golden syrup. Cups of hot cocoa put the finishing touches on their night, and Amy couldn’t contain her glee. “This is perfect. It reminds me of home.”
“Me too,” Alex said, making himself comfortable.
“These pancakes look delicious,” she said, digging in with her fork.
“I tried,” Alex said. “They won’t be as good as Mom’s, but I don’t think anything will ever be as good as hers.”
Amy nodded slowly as a stab of grief pierced her heart. “I miss her, Alex. Dad too.”
“I miss them too, Sis. More than I ever thought possible.”
“It happened so quickly, you know? I didn’t expect that. One day they were there, and the next, I was burying Mom in the backyard after Dad went missing.”
Alex gazed at Amy. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, Amy. It must have been terrible to deal with all of that on your own.”
Amy shrugged. “It wasn’t fun, but I knew you were coming, Alex, and that’s all that mattered. You’ll always have my back, won’t you?”
“Of course, Sis. Always.”
After they’d finished their food, they started on the Scrabble. Around them, the storm raged on while they spent the next few hours playing, laughing, and joking. To Amy, it felt like the old times when her brother still lived at home. A storm was always the perfect excuse for family time, and the Donahue’s rarely let it pass unnoticed. She could almost imagine her parents sitting with them, arguing over who’d won what.
Around nine, Amy got up to run to the bathroom. At the same time, the sound of a crash caused them both to freeze.
“What was that?” Amy asked, her heart bouncing in her chest like a jackrabbit.
“I don’t know,” Alex said, getting up. “It sounded like rocks falling over. Or bricks.”
“Almost like an avalanche,” Amy agreed.
“I’d best take a look,” Alex said, running to the nearest window. He opened the curtain by a crack but dropped it again. “I forgot that the windows are blacked-out.”
“It’s okay. I’ll go to the balcony,” Amy said.
She jogged up the stairs, taking an extra lamp with her to light the way. Outside the main bedroom door, she paused to set it to its lowest setting and placed it on the floor. Next, she went into the room and opened the sliding door, taking care not to make a sound. Whatever it was they’d heard earlier, she’d better be careful.
It was pitch dark outside, and the rain was still pouring down by the bucketful. Within seconds, Amy was soaked to the skin. She didn’t dare use a light and hoped she’d be able to see something in the gloom.
As she peered over the railing, a weird noise caught her attention. It was a mixture of sounds, a melody of shuffling, bumping, grinding, and groaning. It rose above the rain, loud enough for her to hear. It was almost like a herd of cattle being moved through a narrow corridor before being shipped off to slaughter.
Amy narrowed her eyes, desperate to catch a glimpse of what it was that had her on high alert. Behind her, Alex appeared and whispered in her ear. “Do you see anything?”
“It’s too dark,” she answered, keeping her voice low. “But can you hear that noise? Listen carefully.”
After a couple of seconds, Alex replied, “What is that?”
“I don’t know,” Amy admitted, looking down again. Her hands clutched the railing, and nervous tension ran down her spine.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning cracked above their heads with terrific force, causing them both to jump. Its bright light worked like a flash, illuminating everything within its radius for a fraction of a second.
Amy smothered a gasp, and her blood turned to ice. Right below them, hundreds of zombies milled about, their waxen features briefly lit by the lightning strike. They clawed at each other for space as more and more flooded into the small yard. A couple snarled at the heavens, reacting to the storm, and their eyes were like pools of darkness. Evil.
She fell backward, pushing Alex back into the house. With shaking hands, she closed and locked the sliding door. The action was pointless, but it made her feel as if she could shut out the danger.
“What is it?” Alex asked.
Amy shook her head, unable to form the words.
He shook her by the shoulders. “Amy, look at me! What did you see?”
Amy blinked and focused on Alex’s face. “Zombies. I saw zombies.”
“How many?”
“Lots of them. Lots and lots. They’re everywhere.”
“Damn it, how did they get in?” Alex cried. He stepped back with both hands in his hair, thinking. “The crash. They must’ve pushed over a wall.”
Amy swallowed. “How many would it take to do that?”
“Too many. It must be the horde from Fort Knox. Somehow, we missed them coming because of the storm.”
“The horde?” Amy said, her voice emerging as a high-pitched squeak. “What are we going to
