“Guys, I get that you two want to jump each other, if you want, I can cover watch as you go bunk up in the supply closet or something.” Liam teases, and my cheeks flame red again.
“I mean, at least we would be able to clean the space after.”
I faceplant into my hands and we all laugh together, it rings through the halls. Liam hands the sharpener to me and shows me how to use it. After a few moments, I am doing it well, and Liam leaves me too it. He leans back against the wall with a sigh, and Xavier looks to him with an eyebrow raised questioningly.
“Just a lot on my mind.”
“I think that’s the common consensus. A week ago, I would be dreading walking through these halls, but now we are here. Protecting this building and trying to survive.” Xavier muses, and Liam agrees.
“We will never graduate.” I say, and the two of them turn to me. “What? It’s just something that will never happen as society is collapsing around us.”
“I suppose you are right, unless somehow we get past this chaos in the next hundred years. Probably won’t have paying jobs, or a white picket fence…” Xavier trails off.
“We are getting a bit down now, and I would rather not traverse those thoughts right now.” Liam says, and then goes back to playing with a coin in his hands.
“How you are feeling about our plans?” Xavier asks, and the corner of Liam’s mouth tilts up.
“They seem pretty solid. I am just glad to be back in working condition, and my foot seems to have healed up perfectly fine. I also appreciate your faith in my electricity skills, after all I only learned about solar panels two days ago and how they work. In a twenty-minute lecture, but I am glad your Dad gave me those books, Geneva, those solar panels should work for years if we can keep maintenance up.”
“I just hope between you and me we can get that freezer working in the basement. Even if my infected idea never works out it would be good frozen food storage.”
“Sooner rather than later we should get some farm animals. It won’t be ideal, but we could at least become self sustaining. I wonder if any of the farms around us still have some, a few chickens at the very least.” I say, and Xavier claps his hands excitedly at the mention of chickens. “I never understood your obsession with the feathered creatures.”
“Can I have chicken duty if we find some?”
“I mean, you are probably the only one that knows how to take care of them. But part of raising chickens will be some will be for food eventually.”
“No.”
I stare at him blankly and notice the resolve in his eyes. “Alright, sure. Well during the breakfast gathering today we shall propose the idea.”
“We could use the gardening shed out back as a coop, I am sure between Anthony and I we can convert it. The gardens are fenced in anyways, so it would be good.”
“I want to immediately say I want no part of this chicken idea; the little devils are annoying and incarnate versions of Satan’s pets.” Liam mumbled, and Xavier looks at him, wide-eyed.
“Jesus, were you bullied by chickens as a child?”
“Maybe I have a bad farm memory from when I was a kid.” He turns away, and Xavier laughs.
“It’s okay, we will save you from the big, bad chickens.” I reassure, and he glares at me.
As we are teasing Liam, Xavier’s watch beeps. He gets up with a stretch and I follow, Liam last. We go to the back-watching area to see James passed out against Anthony’s shoulder, who shrugs gently with one shoulder.
“I felt bad, he has been working hard all day.” Anthony explains, before gently shaking James awake.
“What? Oh, oh my god, I am so sorry. I can’t believe I fell asleep!” James immediately starts apologizing, and Anthony leads him off to the cafeteria, laughing.
I yawn, and Xavier turns to me.
“Do you want to go sleep for a bit, we still have about two hours before people will start getting up?” He offers, and I think about it for a bit.
“Maybe, I mean, yea I totally do.” I get up, and Liam assumes my chair. “I’ll see you guys in a bit.”
“Have sweet dreams, love.” Xavier winks, and I roll my eyes.
Sonji and Lynx are leaned together as I creep past, Lynx’s head against Sonji’s shoulder as they talk quietly. My foot lands against something crunchy and they jump apart, and turn quickly to see me, and I wave apologetically. Lynx stomps over to me and I back into the wall. Even though I tower over her by at least half a foot, I feel small and in danger.
“You. Will. Not. Say. Anything.”
I shake my head with alarm as Sonji comes up behind Lynx and pulls her away, her cheeks a bright pink.
“I will not judge you two, I swear. Neither will any of the group, we are all open to who you like.” I defend, and Sonji and Lynx look relieved.
“Our parents didn’t know because they were all extremely close minded, and our school made fun of everyone different. So, we kept us a secret, but Sonji and I have been together for almost a year now. You swear no one will make fun of us?” Lynx answers. “Because I can handle being made fun of, but if anyone does it to Sonji I will feed them piece by piece to the next infected, starting from the pieces you don’t need to live.”
“Lynx, no. I believe her.” Sonji puts a hand on her shoulder, and Lynx steps back towards her.
“Everyone here will treat you just the same. Xavier and I are both bisexual, we came out a few years ago to them and have dated our own genders, they treat us just the same.” I say, and Sonji gives a huge grin.
“That’s amazing, it will be so nice not hiding from everyone.”
“We would prefer telling the others on our own time. Of course, you can tell Xavier but that’s it.” Lynx tells me, and I nod solemnly.
“Of course. That is not a problem. Anyways I am going to go sleep some more, so enjoy your alone time. Tomorrow you can pick a room upstairs to be your own if you’d like. It doesn’t seem to be too crazy here, so I am going to propose our own sleeping quarters tomorrow.” I conclude, and they nod.
A smile stretches across my face as the two of them resume their current position. I walk into the darkened room and make my way across to my bed, the sounds of snoring echoing. The blankets are spread everywhere, and I let my sweater drop to the floor. The sheets wrap me up comfortingly as I lay down and am asleep within minutes.
Chapter 38
The smell of coffee awakens me, and I throw the blankets off me, wiping the sleep from my eyes. I run my tongue over my lips, making them moist and the lip rings clink against my teeth. My socks are at the end of the bed, kicked off as I usually do. I slip them on and walk to the kitchen. Mugs are lined up beside the sink, and I grab one and make some tea. Avyanna walks up beside me with a pot of boiling water.
“Morning hun! How are you?” She asks and fills my cup with hot water.
“Sleepy, but I have to give my thanks to Xavier and Liam for taking my shift on the second watch. How are you? Do you want some help with food today, we keep leaving you too it?” I offer, and Avyanna shakes her head.
“I enjoy making food, I will let you know if I want to trade out. Anthony has already pulled me aside to help with barriers, so I get my breaks.” She smiles, and then walks off to where Quiyl is filling cups.
The table starts to fill as people wake up and come get food, Xavier waving at me from where he is sitting beside Sonji. Lynx is sitting next to Sonji, digging into a plate of pancakes happily, a large smile showing on her face. Xavier pulls the chair out for me and I sit, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
“Morning my love, thank you, I feel really refreshed.” I grab my knife and fork and begin cutting into the soft dough.
“No problem, Liam and I had some good bro-time.” He playfully says, and I laugh.
“You two made out, didn’t you?” I tease, and he smirks.
“I never kiss and tell.” He turns back to his pancakes, and Sonji laughs.
“Talking about our bro-time, are we?” Liam comes
up and takes a seat beside me, and we all burst out laughing. “Did I say something funny?”
“You two had a lot of fun, didn’t you?” I say between laughing, and he raises an eyebrow.
“We had a good time, got some things off our chests and cleared some things up.”
Sonji has her forehead against the table, her shoulders shaking, and Lynx is full out belly laughing. Violet comes over with Idris in tow and sits beside us, looking at us with questioning looks.
“Have you all finally snapped or did Avyanna stick something in these pancakes?” Violet asks as she pokes her stack of food with a fork.
“Just some bad jokes that the ladies think are funny, I wouldn’t worry.” Xavier answers, and goes back to eating his breakfast.
“Alright, almost everyone has gathered food then we shall have a meeting again.” Idris observes, and as he finishes saying this the last few sit down.
We continue to eat, and small talk is exchanged, Violet and Idris whispering to themselves. As I am about halfway done my food, Idris taps his glass with a knife, and we turn our attention to him.
“So, we are on day six of the end of the world, how is everyone?” He asks, and a few give their responses. “That’s good, so we are continuing our fortifications today. Anthony and James approached me earlier and we have started to plan our perimeter barricades. We think that bypassing the raiding today is a good idea and getting a good headway on our fencing. Anthony has some plans for gates as well, for the school driveway, so no more infected can just come wandering in.”
“There is some fencing left over outside the school, from who knows how long ago. If Liam can join us I think we can get a good gate put together.” Anthony says, and Liam nods.
“Geneva came up with a good idea last night, and I think once we get that perimeter secured it would be good us to start designating some sleeping quarters. Another idea once we finish this barrier is that we go to some farms and gather some livestock. If we want to become a sustainable colony we need some food that will keep us going.” Xavier adds, and Violet notes that on a clipboard she pulled out of somewhere.
“Also, Sonji and I have something to say.” Lynx announces, the loudest voice I have ever heard from her.
Everyone turns, surprised at Lynx’s loud tone as well.
“Sonji and I are together, and we just wanted to let everyone know.” Lynx says and holds up Sonji’s hand clasped in her own.
Everyone smiles and holds thumbs up, and I see Lynx and Sonji’s faces relax, and a smile breaks across my face. Xavier nudges me, and then whispers in my ear.
“Did you know?”
“I walked in on them cuddling last night and nearly got my head taken off.” I respond, and he looks concerned. “Lynx pinned me against a wall until I convinced her that we weren’t the judging type. They are super adorable.”
“We do appreciate openness and feel free to express affection to each other, just not too much.” Idris chuckles, with a pointed look in Xavier and I’s direction. “Just keep it with clothes on unless it is behind closed doors.”
“We did nothing, stop accusing us!” Xavier defends, and most of the others roll their eyes.
“How long do you think a fully, reinforced barrier around our property is going to take?” Idris asks Anthony, swiftly moving past the other topic.
“With the twelve of us, excluding Quiyl until she heals…at least a week if we work all day, every day.”
“What if we do a raiding party but instead of focusing on material items we look for recruits?” Dainan asks, and Idris places his hand on his chin.
“It’s definitely a good idea for the future, but I don’t think we should right now. We need to focus on getting this place secure. I commend the idea for more hands, but I think that we should get some structure happening to our days. So, I say we get the gate up today then begin to plan this fence idea. Anthony, I nominate you to head up this idea, as you know the most about this sort of thing, everyone agrees?”
Anthony nods his head and we agree, then Violet writes on her board some more.
“Avyanna and Quiyl have agreed to keep doing kitchen duties but will trade out occasionally. Everyone remembers we do have to pitch in to keep this ship afloat. Violet and Geneva are heading up the farming duties until further notice, as of right now it is just waiting for the seeds to grow. That will take a while, and if anything goes chaotic I am sure we will know. Xavier and Sonji, are you two good to keep learning medical stuff?”
“The nurse’s office is full of helpful textbooks so sounds good, I appreciate having someone else to help.” Xavier responds, and Sonji claps her hands excitedly.
“More learning, I would love too!” She squeals, and Lynx smiles at her affectionately.
“Lynx, I don’t know enough about your skill set but what do you want to do?” Idris asks, and Lynx thinks for a moment.
“I think I will start clearing out some classrooms and help with the medical stuff when I can. It never hurts to have multiply skillsets.”
“Sounds good. So, Lee, Idris, Dainan, and occasionally Lynx shall continue to work on the classrooms. We had most of the second floor done yesterday so all that’s left is the third. Now a few days ago Geneva proposed an interesting idea and I want to see how you all feel.”
I look at him, confused.
“At the end of the day we will have a lot of left-over tables and chairs. Now, most of the classrooms have removable screens, we could start tossing desks outside for a team to breakdown and use for the fence reinforcement too. Plus, some of the table legs could be used to bury in a single line around the walls if we have enough.”
“That’s an awesome idea, a deterrent from them breaking down our walls.” James compliments. “Can we get a piece of paper, so Anthony can start working out some calculations?”
“Luckily yesterday as we were cleaning out some offices, Idris and I found the schools plans with measurements on them so hopefully this makes it easier.” Violet tossed some papers on the table.
“Thanks Vi, this should make it super easy.” Anthony says, and he gets up to move to another table.
Him and James spread the plans on the table, and Liam follows. Liam pulls some paper, a pencil case and a calculator out of his school bag. They begin to mutter among themselves as they figure things out. Xavier and I gather plates and bring them to the kitchen, starting on the washing up with Violet helping. Sonji and Lynx disappear to start bringing medical textbooks, and everyone else splits up to their duties. Avyanna organizes the kitchen as we finish cleaning, then Xavier gives me a kiss on the cheek.
“Have fun with your plants dear, I am going to clean Quiyl’s cut and then begin studying up. Who knew that I would be studying during the apocalypse in my school, funny.” He chuckles, and walks off to the corner with Quiyl, making small talk.
Violet and I hang our dishrags on the rack and then head to the greenhouse. Violet grabs her clipboard off the wall and I laugh.
“What?” She asks, grabbing then pen from behind her ear.
“Nerd.” I stick my tongue out at her, and she laughs.
Chapter 38
“The tomatoes are already poking out, that’s exciting! One-centimeter shoots are showing above the soil on all samples except number five and number seven. Neither are showing signs of shoots.” I rattle off as I check the plants, Violet writing everything down.
We routinely check the others, and then check water and chemical levels. All is done with a practiced ease as we had taken horticulture all the way through high school, its where we first met. I smile, and Violet notices.
“What’s on your mind dear?”
“Just thinking about how if our horticulture teacher never paired us up I don’t know if we would have started talking.” I reminisce, and she nods.
“To be honest, you looked a lot different back then. Long blonde hair, significantly less piercings.” She laughed. “But so, did I. Also, long hair, but brown instead, and a lot shyer.”
I flip my hair back dramatically and Violet laughs, placing her clipboard back on the nail on the wall. We walk back into the classroom, and I begin to pull down some horticulture textbooks. We check a few grow times on some of our plants, and mentally note them down. Violet snaps her fingers, and I watch as she walks over to the teacher’s computer.
“Think we can guess the password? I bet that there is a lot of database information stored on here.”
I get up with a scrape of the chair and look around the desk, getting down on my hands and knees and finding a post-it notes stuck to the bottom of the desk. I remove it and hand it to Violet, who types it into the computer, and gives a little ‘woohoo’. The computer flickers to life and us high five. As we are looking through some files a knock sounds at the door.
“Ladies, Idris has asked me to see if you have finished the observations.” Dainan says as he steps in the door, looking at to where we are hunched over the computer.
“We are done for now, but Violet and I are poking around the databases stored on the school’s cloud. You will never guess some of the things we have found.” I answer, and he laughs.
“Anyways, are we needed for anything?” Violet asks, locking the computer and sticking the post it notes to the computer screen.
“Yea, Anthony and crew have figured out everything that is needed for the fence and just want to do a rundown with you all.”
Violet and I walk over to the door and follow Dainan down the hall, and we end up at the front hall. Anthony, James, Lee and Liam are discussing some final things and writing on a very beat up sheet of paper, with Quiyl helping transcribe it onto a clean page. Xavier and Idris wander over to us, each hugging their respective girlfriends. Sonji and Lynx are sitting against the wall, and Avyanna is looking over Anthony’s shoulder.
“Okay is everyone here?” Anthony finishes, and then gives the piece of paper to James. “Awesome. Okay, so we have figured out that if we pace this out, it is going to take about two weeks. My initial idea of those gym floor pieces being able to cover a wall and a half was incorrect, its looking to only be about a wall’s worth. Geneva’s idea has some merit; we think with the average number of tables per room we will be able to cover another wall with those. So, that leaves two walls, and we are hoping that the gravel pit will have enough blocks. Now, the issue is going to be transporting the blocks over here, and I think that trailer you guys picked up will come in handy. I am thinking we get the first two walls fortified, our top priorities are going to be the back and road facing walls. While we were planning this out Dainan discovered a truck that is parked in the auto shop, and we can get it running again. All in all, we will be taking shifts of six to get these walls built, Quiyl is going to sit this one out, no exceptions.”
Friends Against The World (Book 1): Bite Me Page 16
