I burst through the main doors of Viola’s building. I’d run the two blocks to her house without stopping and my heart was pumping so hard I thought it might burst out of my chest. My breathlessness took the stairs out of the equation, so I repetitively mashed the call button for the elevator, as though that would make it arrive faster. I sneaked glances at the riots going on outside while I waited. After the longest 15 seconds ever, the doors creaked open and, relieved to find it empty, I stepped inside and hit the button for Viola’s floor. I bent over, trying to catch my breath as the doors closed and the lift ascended. My throat felt tight and my stomach was twisted with nausea, punishment for not keeping up with my CrossFit classes. The elevator juddered to a halt and a ‘ding’ announced my arrival at floor 4. I straightened up as the doors opened and stepped out into the hallway. Viola’s door was right in front of the lift, but a figure caught my eye by her neighbour’s apartment.

Miles had lived next to Vi for a few years now. They’d always gotten on well and been good neighbours to each other. As an extension of that, Miles and I were on pretty good terms. On any other day, I would have called out a greeting to him, but today something stopped me. He was fumbling with his door, his movements clunky and irregular. I swallowed my discomfort down.
“Miles?” I called out, softly. He froze at the sound of my voice, and began turning painfully slowly. He was pale, his fringe clinging to his forehead with sweat and his hands jittering.
“Are you ok?” I asked, warily. He didn’t answer, just stared at me with vacant eyes. My uneasiness outweighed my concern, so I began edging towards Viola’s door. His eyes followed me as beads of sweat dripped down his temples. I knocked impatiently, never letting my eyes leave him. Viola thankfully responded quickly. She cracked the door and, upon seeing my face, sighed with relief and pulled me in.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked, closing the door tightly behind me and putting the chain on.
“Is Miles ok?” I shot back, completely ignoring her question.
She shrugged, “I haven’t seen him.”
“What about outside? Have you seen the streets?”
“Couldn’t miss it,” she replied, looking me up and down. “Jesus, you walk here or something?”
“Something like that. It’s fucking crazy out there, Vi,” I murmured, as I shook my head in disbelief.
“Hey, language!” she scolded, nodding her head towards the kids who were settled in front of the TV watching cartoons. “Come over to the kitchen.”
I followed her over and leaned against the counter as she put a pot of coffee on.
“So you never answered me,” she began, grabbing two mugs from the cupboard. “What are you doing here? Have you lost it?”
“I was making sure you were ok. We need to get out of here, Vi, it’s too dangerous to stay,” I warned, grabbing her arm. She shrugged me off.
“The news says to stay inside,” she replied, pouring our coffees. I grabbed my cup as soon as she was done.
“Have you seen it out there? We need to get out of the city,” I retorted, pouring some cream into my coffee.
“It’s like that all over the globe, haven’t you seen?” she questioned, then met my shrug with a groan. “I forgot you don’t own a TV, you weird hippy.”
“Hey,” I protested, raising an eyebrow, “sorry I don’t want to rot my brain.”
The kids giggled softly at the cartoon, drawing our attention to them. Hallie was sat cross legged on the couch with Esther snuggled in her lap.
“Don’t you want them safe?” I pressed, returning my gaze to Viola. She sighed, her eyes dropping to the floor as she fidgeted with her mug and nodded.
“Any idea where to go?” she asked, finally. I shrugged.
“My place is quiet, and well-stocked,” I offered. She thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“Come and help me pack up then.”

It’s hard to keep track of time when you’re being held captive with a bag over your head. How long had I been here? Minutes? Hours? I had no idea when anyone was coming back for me, or even if anyone was coming back for me. Oh God, they wouldn’t leave me tied to a chair to starve to death, would they? Or worse, for a biter to find me? I wondered where Hallie was. Was she tied up as well? Was she as terrified as I was? I thought about calling out to her, but I didn’t fancy facing the wrath of Shadows, who would surely appear if I acted out. Apparently, just the thought of it had summoned someone though, as feet tramped heavily up the stairs and into the room I was in. I heard the person set something down on the table and then, very gently, the bag was lifted from my head.

I blinked furiously as my eyes adjusted. There was a tray with a wash basin and a bowl set on the table, a candle beside it illuminating the room very dimly.
A chair was placed in front of my own, and a young man took his place in it. His piercing green eyes were by far his most prominent feature.
“Ugh, how many of you fuckers are there?” I asked, wearily.
He chuckled before answering, “Five.” He picked up the wash basin and set it in his lap. Wringing the sponge out, he dabbed at my face. I tried to flinch away from him.
“Are you sore?” he asked, dunking the sponge back in the water. I eyed him, trying to figure his character out.
“My feet,” I replied, cautiously. He gave me a faint smile as he loosened the ropes around my ankles and immediately set to unlacing my boots. Despite his gentle easing, I winced as they came off, revealing my bandaged feet.
“May I?” he gestured at the fabric wrapped around my feet. I gave him a small nod, before squeezing my eyes shut. He carefully unwound the bandages. The closer he got to my skin, the more they clung. He used the warm water to soak them so he could peel them off gently but it was still fucking agony.
“You walk lots?” he asked, softly.
“Every day,” I replied, grimacing as he pulled the remainder of the first bandage off.
“These are some pretty gnarly blisters.”
“Yep,” I said, drawing my breath in sharply as he let water run over my wounds. He tried to be delicate, but there was no way that this would ever be anything less than hell. He sponged my weeping sores gently, apologising every time I gasped or flinched. When he was done, he set my foot down and then got to work on the other one.
“Sorry,” he murmured for the hundredth time, finally done with his excruciating work. “You need to rest, let them heal. They look painful,” he said, giving me a sympathetic look.
“Understatement,” I grunted, still trying to recover from the experience.
“Are you hungry? I brought food for you as well,” he motioned to the bowl on the table.
“You gonna feed me like a baby?” I asked, an eyebrow raised. He smiled sheepishly and nodded. I chewed at my lip, wondering how much more humiliating this experience could get. I was starving though, so in the end I relented.

Beans and rice never tasted so good, and the green eyed man was being as sensitive as he could be about spoon feeding an adult. I realised that I was so hungry for real food that I didn’t care how it was delivered.
“So what’s your name?” he asked, loading up the spoon.
“Marina.”
“Pretty,” he mused, his green eyes sparkling a little. “I’m Zach.”
I nodded as he fed me a spoonful.
“So you’ve already met Shadows, and Jimmy,” he counted on his fingers, “ and there’s also Brian and Johnny downstairs.” So, the lanky, messy haired guy was Jimmy.
“Are you guys raiders or something?” I asked, swallowing down my mouthful.
“No way,” he chuckled, “I mean, we’re good at surviving and looting supplies but that’s about it. How about yourself? What’s your story? I’m intrigued.”
“There’s not much to tell,” I replied, quietly, looking away. When I looked back, his green puppy eyes were drilling into me, begging me to sate his curiosity. For some reason, I found myself obliging him.
“I started out in Odessa with my sister and her two children. We drove as far as her car could get us and then we started walking. I lost my sister, and her youngest,” I paused, willing away the painful memory. “I took her eldest on as my own and we’ve been walking ever since. We’ve met people along the way, but never stuck with anyone long. I worked out soon enough that we were somehow better off going it alone.”
“I get that. Something about the end of the world causes people to descend into madness,” he joked, lightly.
“Just a little,” I smiled in return. “Well, we got wind of an army check point in Washington, a safe place, so that’s where I’ve been trying to get us to.”
“So, from Odessa? You’ve been walking from Odessa?” Zach asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, didn’t you see my blisters?” I quipped, looking down at my beaten up feet.
“You’ve spent the last 2 years walking across the United States?” he clarified, still incredulous.
“Pretty much,” I shrugged. “We’ve not had much else to do.”
“You know that checkpoint doesn’t exist though, right?” he asked, quietly, focusing on plunging the spoon into the bowl to avoid my gaze.
“Shadows did inform me,” I replied, sharply, stinging at the memory of his cruel words.
Zach finally looked back up at me, “So where will you go now?”
“Nowhere while I’m tied to a fucking chair,” I responded, dryly.
He let out a hearty laugh, “Alright, I’ll give you that one. I can’t help you with it though. Not yet.”
“You can help me with something else,” I tested, watching his reaction.
“And what might that be?” he asked, wearily.
“My niece,” I pleaded, “is she ok?”
“Yes,” he replied, relaxing. “She’s fine. She’s in the next room.”
“When are you going to let us go?” I pressed, desperate to see her.
He looked away, uncomfortable with the way my questioning was going, “Shadows calls the shots here.”

Shortly after he’d finished feeding me, he departed. He had the good grace to leave me blindfoldless and with a candle though. I was grateful to have my sight back, it gave me a sense of orientation back. I inspected every nook and cranny of the room to pass the time until I was sure that I’d been temporarily forgotten. Having my strongest sense back emboldened me, and I worked on quietly turning my chair on the spot. Zach had left my ankles untied and I was determined to make use of the advantage. I was going to make a break for it. I kept half an eye on the stairs, but no one appeared to be listening out for me. My confidence and brazenness grew with each second, and I began shuffling the chair out onto the landing. I just needed to see Hallie, make sure she really was alive and well. It was a slow and agonising journey, my exposed blisters sending spikes of pain up my legs every time I pressed my feet into the floor; but I persevered, my desperation to see Hallie far outweighing any hurt I could endure. I kept scooting along, close to my destination now. I was so focused on reaching the door to Hallie’s room that I completely missed the footsteps approaching behind me.

“For fuck’s sake.”
I froze for a second in panic, before deciding that the best course of action was to run – or go as fast as I could, at least. I frantically began shuffling the chair towards the door as the footsteps neared me. There was a burst of maniacal laughter behind me.
“Oh man, just stop. You look fucking hilarious,” the words came between gasps. I was pretty close to the door now, and the big flaw in my master plan became apparent. I had no hands free for the handle anyway. Idiot. I felt stupid, and the laughter behind me only seemed to get louder. It was pretty infectious, and I felt a reluctant smile forming at the corners of my mouth at the ridiculousness of my situation. The steps rounded me and Jimmy appeared before me. The look on my face set him off cackling again.
“Now that was entertainment,” he snorted, “Wanna do it again? Just let me get snacks before the next screening.”
I tried not to smile, but every time I realised how silly I must have looked my mouth twitched upwards. Jimmy eventually reigned himself in, wiping his eyes.
“Come on,” he said, picking my chair up bridal style with ease. He carried me the short distance back to the room I’d originally been in and set me down. My smile had completely left my face now I was back where I started.
“Please let me see her,” I pleaded with him. He pursed his lips.
“I can’t,” he replied, reluctantly, before promising, “I’ll take you to see her in the morning.”
“Why not now?” I whined, desperation bleeding into my voice.
“You both have to stay like this until we know you’re not infected. Or worse, being followed,” he answered, matter-of-factly.
“Do I fucking look infected?” I retorted. I was tired of this bullshit. My body ached, my wrists stung as they rubbed against the rope and I wanted to see Hallie so bad it hurt.
“Not yet, but you could be trying to tear us all apart by morning,” he shrugged. “Or leading a group to us. Look, what’s a few more hours? Just wait it out.”
He set about securing my ankles to the chair again. I didn’t know how trustworthy any of them were, but I had to hope that his claims were truthful. It wasn’t like I had any other option right now.

Notes