Post-Apocalyptic Story - Title TBD
CHAPTER 4 - THE NEIGHBORS
*EDITING PHASE*
They had spent the first night glued to the TV, news websites, and every social media platform that hadn’t crashed by the influx of traffic. Facebook had become a regurgitation for everything on cable news & the major networks seemed to be getting much of their information from Facebook, so it became a 5 minute delay of the news cycling around them like a tornado.
Randomly there would be an “expert” come on camera from a remote location & tell us all the tips they had for survival. The most notable of all was the one guy in full camouflage telling everyone how stupid they were for living in population centers & how he was the only one who would survive. No survival tips, only berating what he called the soon to be dead sheep. Karma had it out for this winner though when the sound of his bay windows crashing in morphed his condescending tone to shrills of fear. There were 4 bodies falling in through the window when he fell back in his chair & the broadcast flashed to the dumbfounded newscasters trying to find the words transition away from what they just watched.
It seemed like the primary news team had taken a break across most of the channels around 2AM & the two of them debated getting some sleep too, before unanimously agreeing sleep wouldn’t greet them if they tried to catch it. Instead, they changed their mind toward survival tips, and decided to do their own research in the form of watching all the zombie movies they had in their collection.
By the time they noticed the sun coming up, they had finished 4 movies & repacked their emergency “go” bags 10 times. Their hiking gear gave them a sense of comfort by now, filled to the brim with everything that rose to the level of “essentials only.” The bags were a bit heavier than desired, so they’d already been parsed back a couple times. Logic held that they’d be dropping some items, which equated to weight, as they consumed their food & water, so fuck it, better to be more prepared than not prepared enough.
Jim made yet another pot of coffee as the overnight marathon was starting to leave him feeling fatigued, while Eve had made her way to the window and pulled back the blackout curtains preventing them from seeing the parking lot overnight. They both had peeked out a few times in the dark to see if there was anything noteworthy, but they feared too much about giving away their position to any potential threats, forcing them to keep the lights off all night.
There were a couple more a few more signs of people being in the small community now: luggage was strewn about at the bottom of one staircase, seemingly from people rushing to load their belongings and deciding those weren’t worth the time to pick them up… A couple cars were being used to block off another stairwell directly across the small grass area in the center of the parking lot, in the same way Jim used the dumpsters… but the most surprising thing was seeing her neighbor out walking their dog. Eve had talked to this particular neighbor a few times just so she could say high to her adorable elder pug, so she knew the owner didn’t have the strongest grasp on reality. Out of concern more for the dog, Eve stepped through the sliding door from her living room onto the balcony to warn them in case they weren’t aware. Eve’s unwillingness to yell made it hard to get the old lady’s attention, yet she was successful in the end. Through her most unique charades game challenge, they conveyed they were both aware of the danger and the dog finished their business then ran back toward their building beside hers ahead of her owner. The dog’s owner chased after the dog & into their 1st story condo.
Eve’s animated recreation of a zombie attack had also managed to catch the attention the neighbor across the way. When Eve’s eyes traced back across the buildings, she saw someone step out onto their balcony and wave wildly with both arms. Eve excitedly waved back when she saw an arm reach to him from inside & pulled him back to the dark. Eve dropped to her stomach as fast as her heart sank, thinking she saw someone just die, but she kept an eye on the balcony where he just was. Eve’s held breathe released when the man stepped back out with a large piece of cardboard and a marker, which he used to share their numbers & Facebook details. A woman’s head was barely noticeable hiding behind the edge of the sliding door’s frame.
Desperate for support, the two flew to their phones and reached out to the new couple across the parking lot. It took about 20 minutes before a response text came through, introducing themselves as Brian and Julia. It turned out that Brian was home from college for the holidays & brought his girlfriend, Julia to visit the parents. The parents were off doing errands and hadn’t returned home yet. The group mostly exchanged their plans despite them all being clueless.
Eve’s phone chimed to a text once more, but this time it was the neighbor who shared a wall with them, Zack, “Did you two do all the damn cans? Are you home?” The load on the phone networks must have been decreasing as they heard a string of cans start to jingle in the stairwell just outside their door. Looking through the peephole, Eve saw Zack pass in front of their door. She swung it open, catching Zack by surprise and he spun toward her, brandishing a metal spike, about 2 feet long, with dried blood coating the point. The dried mud on his shaved head stood in contrast to his darker skin. As she looked closer, the mud and blood covered his clothing too… he must have had a rougher night than them.
“Holy shit! Are you OK!?!? Did they get you!?” Eve said half hiding behind the door to her disheveled 5’10” neighbor.
“Not sure how, but yeah, I’m ok. It’s fucking crazy out there!”
Eve held herself back from hugging him due to the ‘ick’ factor covering him & instead took him by the hand to pull him into their place.
They all had a drink in hand at the dining room table while Zack recounted his story of getting home from his friends’ house. Accidents had blocked the roads, so his car became useless after 2 blocks. He finished his beer & asked for another as he told of the teenage boy who wouldn’t stop following him. It got physical & when Zack fought back, he just kept coming. It was self-defense. It also wasn’t the last of the night. One caught him by surprise & fell on him, sending them both tumbling into a ditch, which is where he got covered & mud & found the metal spike he was now wielding.
One more drink filled them all as they talked about their survival plans and decided to accompany Zack next door so he could shower in peace & gather supplies too.
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Zack had been in their condo multiples times now in the last two years. Ever since the vaccines came out, he started throwing board game nights with a small group. Since he hadn’t met the new neighbors, who moved in at the very beginning of lockdown, he decided to be neighborly and invite them as well to get to know each other.
Since they lived next door to one another, they were often the last ones to leave Zack’s parties & Eve’s impulse control goes out the window when she’s had too much to drink. The boys often teased Eve over this fact when she suggests drinking games over other family friendly options; however, that is usually what happened at the end of the nights.
It was during one of these late drunken nights that Jim and Eve started sharing stories of their adventures at the swinger’s clubs. Zack wasn’t kept wondering long if there was intent behind these stories when Eve’s hand landed on his inner thigh. That night was the first time the three of them played together & have since invited each other over multiple times to avoid the covid blues.
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The sex scene for this chapter has already been written, but will only be available in the published e-book.