An hour had passed since Aiden fled his home. He moved carefully through the streets, doing his best to stay out of sight, but the fear he felt hadn't gone away. He had already seen too many bodies being eaten by Zeds. Gunshots echoed from far away, sirens wailed in the distance, and helicopters rumbled in the background. They were far from his location, which gave him a bit of relief. If they were far, that meant most of the infected were too.
Eventually, Aiden reached the house of someone he used to be friends with. He quietly entered Sheldon's yard through the front gate and looked around to make sure it was safe. As he made his way to the front door, he thought about knocking but decided against it. Making noise wasn't a good idea. That's when he noticed the door wasn't completely shut. It was slightly open.
With a light push, Aiden opened the door. The creak that followed worried him, so he quickly turned to check if anything had heard it. The street was still silent. No one was there. He took one last look around before facing the entrance to Sheldon's house again. As soon as he stepped inside, the power cut out. The house went dark. It reminded him of the blackout at his own home, but this time, he stayed calm. He glanced over his shoulder once more, just in case. No Zeds were nearby.
After taking a deep breath, Aiden walked further into the house, squinting as he tried to adjust to the dark. There were sounds coming from one of the rooms, like chewing mixed with wet tearing. Aiden followed the noise and whispered the only name that came to mind.
"Sheldon, is that you?"
Aiden's vision improved a little as he went down the hallway. When he got to the room where the sounds originated, he stopped at the doorway and looked inside. A phone lay on the floor, its flashlight still on. The light revealed something that terrified Aiden, leaving him unable to move.
"Sheldon…"
Sheldon was being devoured by his own father. What Aiden had been listening to was the sound of the feast. The Zed was hunched over Sheldon's mangled corpse, but its body remained angled toward the doorway where Aiden stood. After the Zed heard Aiden's faint voice, it noticed the boy's feet and slowly raised its blood-soaked face. Aiden stared back, his eyes wide in horror.
"No…"
The Zed rose to its feet, stepping over Sheldon's partially eaten remains. Realizing he was in danger, Aiden turned and ran as the infected man reached for him with a hand covered in blood.
"No!"
Since Aiden could barely see in the darkness, he had trouble spotting objects in his path. He tripped over a misplaced umbrella and fell, giving the pursuing Zed a chance to catch up. Scared, Aiden crawled away, but the Zed managed to grab his leg before he could get far. Desperate to break free, Aiden kicked the Zed in the face and pulled his leg from its grip. He rushed into the kitchen and accidentally stepped on a fallen knife holder, causing him to lose his balance and end up on the floor again. The Zed came closer, its arms stretching forward as Aiden began to panic.
"No! Help!"
Fortunately, the knives from the holder he tripped on were scattered around him. Just as the Zed climbed on top of him, Aiden's hand brushed against one of the blades. He took hold of it and frantically stabbed the Zed repeatedly, but the wild strikes along the side of its waist were not enough to stop it. The infected man leaned in, mouth wide open, ready to bite. At that moment, one of Aiden's thrusts hit the side of its neck, making it roll onto its side.
This time, Aiden was the one who got on top. He screamed as he drove the knife into its chest again and again, ultimately shoving the blade into its throat. Within seconds, the Zed was dead. His hands trembled, now smeared with black blood. When Aiden understood what he had done, he started to cry.
Regrettably, the noise from the struggle had already drawn another Zed. It wandered in through the front door, attracted by Aiden's cries. As soon as Aiden saw it, his fear immediately returned.
"No! No! Not again!"
Aiden was so terrified that he didn't even think about taking the knife he had used. He just ran, heading straight for the room where Sheldon's lifeless body still lay. He stopped for a second when he saw his friend's corpse. The dim light from the phone made the gruesome scene visible in the darkness.
But the new Zed was now only a short distance away, leaving Aiden no time to hesitate. He forced himself to step over Sheldon's remains, then hid in the nearby closet and closed its splintered wooden door. Covering his mouth with both hands, he tried to keep his heavy breathing quiet, but it was still loud enough to be heard outside the closet. The Zed couldn't see him, but it moved toward the sound.
Aiden squeezed his eyes shut to calm himself down, but it was too late. The Zed had found him. It started banging on the closet door, the wood cracking under the pressure. Feeling helpless and afraid, Aiden shouted at it to go away, but it kept going.
A piece of the door broke off and hit the floor in front of him. With part of the door gone, the infected man could finally see him. It reached for Aiden through the gap while the weak light from Sheldon's phone barely illuminated its body. Aiden screamed again, begging it to leave, but it did not listen. The boy backed up as far as he could until his back touched the wall. His face was wet with tears.
There was nowhere to go. The closet was too small. With each crack in the splintering wood, the Zed extended its hand farther inside until it was nearly able to touch Aiden's hair. The boy dropped to his knees and looked up at the infected man breaking through the door, sure that this would be his end.
Suddenly, a brighter light shined on the infected man, followed by a loud clang. Something had struck the Zed in the upper back. The Zed pulled its hand out of the closet and began to turn around, but a powerful blow to the head knocked it to the ground.
Aiden listened as the Zed was pummeled by a metallic object on the other side of the door. The assault continued until it stopped. Afterward, he heard more movement outside the closet, including what sounded like a blanket being dragged across the floor.
"Okay, girls, you can open your eyes now. As for whoever is in that closet, you're safe now."
The terrified boy slowly rose to his feet and placed his hand on the doorknob. He was just about to turn it when he froze, realizing he had no idea who might be waiting out there. "Wait, who… who are you?! What do you want?!"
"It's okay! The Zed is dead! You can come out now!" the man replied.
Aiden's grip on the doorknob tightened. He didn't fully trust the man on the other side of the door, but he knew staying in the closet wasn't any safer. If the man wanted to break in, he easily could. With a nervous swallow, Aiden reluctantly decided to open the door.
The moment the door creaked open, a beam of light hit Aiden's face, causing him to flinch. Right after that, he heard a girl speak.
"Aiden, is that you?"
That familiar voice belonged to Lydia Monroe, the girl Madison had wanted Aiden to befriend. She held her mother's phone, using its flashlight to light up the dark room.
Aiden blinked several times from the brightness. It did not take long for him to recognize the people in front of him. "Senator Monroe… Lydia? Julie? What are you doing here?"
Six people were gathered in the room, consisting of two young girls and their parents. Lydia's long blonde hair extended to her waist, while Julie's brown hair was tied in a ponytail. Both girls were still wearing their middle school uniforms. As for their parents, Julie's mother and father were dressed in work clothes from their family's auto repair shop, while Lydia's parents wore more formal clothing that suited the senator and his wife.
Although Aiden's question wasn't directed at him, Julie's father answered anyway. "We heard you scream and rushed to help. We didn't know who it was, of course, but we couldn't just leave someone to die."
Aiden turned his attention to Sheldon's body, now covered with a white blanket. It had probably been placed there to spare the girls from seeing what was underneath. He understood why. What he had witnessed was already enough to traumatize him.
After staring for a few more seconds, he looked at the group standing near the room's doorway again. "Julie's mom and dad? They're here too?" he wondered aloud.
Julie's parents glanced at each other, then at Lydia's parents. They seemed surprised.
"I understand you recognizing Logan here since he's a senator, but you recognize us too? Have we met?" Julie's father asked.
"No. I've seen you pick up your daughter at school," Aiden replied.
"Ah, so you attend the same school. What's your name?"
"Aiden. Didn't Lydia just mention it earlier?"
"Oh, right. Sorry, it went over my head. Well, Aiden, it's nice to meet you. My name is Dylan, Dylan Sandoval. My wife's name is Amanda, and you already know my daughter, Julie. As for the blonde ones over there---"
"No need to introduce us. We could do it ourselves," Logan interrupted, calmly adjusting his tie. "As you already know, Aiden, my name is Logan, Logan Monroe. As for my wife…"
"My name is Hayley. Nice to meet you."
There was an awkward silence once Hayley finished speaking. It came from the expectation that Lydia would introduce herself next.
Hayley looked at her daughter with a serious expression. "What are you waiting for? Introduce yourself."
"He already knows who I am," Lydia stated. "I doubt there is anyone at school who doesn't know who I am."
Aiden didn't bother to hide the irritation in his voice. "You're still as conceited as ever."
Lydia smiled proudly. "Oh, please. As my father often says, it's good to be confident. Otherwise, we'd end up like you. The only reason we know your name is because you went from being a good student to being the class clown. Even the teachers agree."
"You little---"
Hayley stopped them before they could start arguing. "Lydia, that's enough. That's no way to speak to your classmate."
Lydia sighed and reluctantly apologized. "Sorry."
Deciding not to dwell on Lydia's comment, Aiden turned to Julie, who hadn't said a word since they arrived. "Julie, right?"
Julie crossed her arms. From her perspective, Aiden was being ridiculous. "Don't act like you don't already know my name."
"I was just making sure. Are you still the top of the class?"
Julie wasn't sure if he genuinely didn't remember or was just trying to annoy her. "No. Lydia eventually beat my scores, remember? She became first, I was second, and you were third." Her eyes narrowed as she added, "Well, you were third before you started getting average scores. What happened? Did you stop studying?"
Aiden briefly glared at Lydia, then answered Julie with some frustration. "I'd rather not talk about it."
Curious about Aiden's circumstances, Julie's mother, Amanda, joined their conversation. "What about you? Where are your parents?"
Aiden's gaze shifted toward the white blanket covering Sheldon's body, blood already beginning to seep through the fabric. "They're… dead," he said quietly.
For several seconds, no one spoke. Even Lydia's confidence faltered, feeling a bit guilty over the argument she nearly caused earlier.
Not wanting to leave the young boy to fend for himself, Amanda offered him a choice. "It's dangerous to be alone right now. Would you like to come with us?"
Aiden glanced at each of them, meeting their eyes one after the other. Everyone awaited his answer, and after a thoughtful pause, he made his decision.
"Okay. I'll come with you."