Silence. You would have never thought there was such a pure form of it before the end. The kind of silence that surrounds you, consumes you, rings in your ears and lets you know that you are completely alone. And maybe you are alone. Maybe those sleeping next to you have died, leaving you to this world. Every day you've spent with them both before and after the end, maybe it doesn't matter anymore. Maybe the rest of the town, the rest of the state, the country, the continent; maybe they've all left you as well. Maybe that silence will hold you in its grasp forever, and you will never be able to get out.
Just maybe.
Ethan awoke, bleary eyed and sore, in the same place he had been for three months now. Well, three months and a day, right. He rolled over on his side and winced at the way his back ached. His arms pushed from under him, trying to force himself up from the gym mat he was using as a bed. Near the beginning, he and the others had dragged them in from the gym, along with any towels from the P.E lockers they could possibly find. The makeshift bedding was less than pleasant. He longed for a proper place to sleep, or a proper night of sleep, either would do him just as well as the other. He shrugged off the towels and looked around at the classroom they had now occupied. All of the desks and tables had been moved out to the gates and fences, in horrible hope that it would hold back the dead. It worked, for the most part, but there had been many losses in the process.
Two months ago, the room was full, his old teachers and classmates occupying the same space as he. It was definitely a lot warmer back then, so people could use less. But now, things were different. The other mats had been moved outside, part of the fences now. Everyone was gone. They had no need for them anymore. Maybe it was better, he just had to keep thinking that to himself.
He sat up all the way and looked around behind him. At the last remaining table indoors, he found his old English teacher, Ms. Lamont, opening a can of beans with a pocketknife. When she looked over, her face held the memory of a smile, but she herself did not smile. She set down the two items in her hands and spoke up in a weary way.
"Morning, we have some beans." Her voice hadn't been the same since the last other student, a girl named Kelly, died a week ago. It was as if she had given up on talking entirely, and was struggling to get the words out. Ethan stood and walked over, taking his can for himself. They sat in silence, eating. He was still trying to get used to the lack of noise, but it was getting difficult. When they finished, she walked over to the window and pulled down the blinds, peeking out to the view of the street on the other side of the fence. "Few." The words brushed off of her lips. If you hadn't been listening, it would have been easy to miss. Ethan nodded and gathered up his bat and the knife.
"We'll go check the walls. I have the athletic fields and the parking lots if you can go check the front?" Ethan asked, pulling his hair away from his face. Ms. Lamont tensed up, as if she was unsure, before nodding and grabbing her supplies as well. After a while. they were walking back down the hallways, and downstairs. The last set of stairs at the end of the building opened up to the outside, but were protected by a gate. They spent a few minutes checking the windows before unlocking it and heading out.
The early morning was spent by Ethan and Amberlin by simply walking around the fences and checking if anything had broken or been torn down. Ethan was well around to the back baseball field when he noticed a few desks had fallen over. He sighed and began to right them again, working as quietly as he could. They would be needing more zip-ties from the office to hold them to the gate. He hardly payed attention to the other side of the gate, which was simply a now abandoned business park parking lot.
