“You’re going to need like fifty rolls of duct tape to fix that entryway.” Yue called out from down the hallway where she had them covered with her rifle. She stayed long enough to make sure they weren’t hurt then turned to go back to take care of Bart. Drew and LeBron turned to continue unloading the truck and see what they needed to do to fix the front door.
“Be ready. We’re probably going to have company on the way after all that noise.” Drew told his brother as they hurried outside.
It turns out you can fit a lot of supplies into an Expedition Max. Even after leaving a lot of items in the vehicle because they were covered in some sort of disgusting goo, the pile they had covered most of the living room. Once they’d jogged back and forth what felt like a hundred times transferring everything from the truck to the bullet riddled foyer, they set themselves to trying to figure out how to seal off the front door.
They had the door hanging in the frame with duct tape all around it within a few minutes. They could no longer go in and out that way using the door but from the outside the house should look fairly normal. They talked it over and decided they should move the truck inside the garage and see if it made sense to put their supplies in the Hummer instead of leaving them in a big pile in the foyer. If they were in the Hummer and they had to leave fast at least they wouldn’t have to leave all their gear behind. It wasn’t like multiflavored tins of Vienna Sausages grew on trees.
They went out in the garage and started poking around looking for the keys to the Hummer. They were nowhere to be found in the garage, so they decided to move the truck inside then keep looking in the house for the keys. Before they just threw open the garage door Drew pulled a step ladder over and climbed up it to look out the dusty windows to make sure the coast was clear. The coast was not clear.
There were quite a few surgers milling around the driveway. He couldn’t even see the other side of the Expedition where for all he knew there were hundreds of the adrenalized cannibal psychos doing jumping jacks. He carefully climbed down off the ladder trying his best not to make any noise. Seeing LeBron looking over and obviously getting ready to ask him a question Drew put his finger to his lips to silence him. Motioning for LeBron to follow him Drew left the garage and walked back to the master bedroom.
Yue was sitting on the bed with her back to them holding their dads hand. Drew slid up next to her to let her know that they needed to leave. The house was getting surrounded by surgers which meant the crawlerz would swarm the place after the sun went down. They only had an hour to find the keys to the Hummer and bust out. Yue looked up at Drew then over at LeBron. Tears ran unashamedly down her face.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do.” She sobbed out.
Drew was completely lost. He did know she needed to be quiet though. There were way too many of the surgers around to be making noise. What was she sorry about?
LeBron put the pieces together faster than Drew. He’d been expecting this to happen even as he prayed with all his heart that it wouldn’t. He sat down on the bed beside Yue and put his hand over hers. They both sat their sadly with Drew slowly comprehending what was going on. Drew’s whole body fought against the evidence laid out in front of him. He looked at Yue then LeBron both of his siblings tearfully shaking their heads. Yue had tucked their dads face under the blanket so all he could see was a comforter with the vague shape of a body underneath it.
He moved the comforter back to expose his dads cold, pale face. Yue had closed his eyes, so he looked like he was sleeping. His skin was cold though. Drew pulled his hand back like he’d been shocked. It felt like he was dreaming. Like his body was being controlled by someone else. His grief overwhelmed him. First his mom then his dad. The people who’d taken him in and made him part of a family. He couldn’t take it. He fell down on his knees and sobbed along with his brother and sister.
The sound of the duct taped front door being torn out of the frame signaled the need to pause their grief unless they wanted this house to become the family crypt.
Chapter 27: A Dark Cloud
Drew stood up and calmly walked out of the room. Yue and LeBron followed behind him. They were all walking like robots. Drew came alive when the surgers came tearing through the house shrieking at him. Screaming in rage Drew shot down the first mentally deranged freak coming at him. Behind him LeBron and Yue fanned out to either side. Together they blew away the surgers who’d made it into the house. More were coming though. They were having to keep up a steady barrage just to keep the ones out who were busy trying to force their way into the home.
“We need to break through them and get to the truck!” Yue yelled. They all started pushing forward. Swapping out magazines as they drained them.
“What about dad!” LeBron suddenly stopped in place as he remembered they were leaving their dad lying in the bed. It didn’t seem right to just leave his body there.
“We’ll come back!” Drew yelled stepping around the piles of gear they’d so painstakingly removed from the Expedition earlier. Yue ran
