Vanessa let Darnell guide her to her parent’s room since she couldn’t bear to keep her eyes open anymore. She didn’t want to continue viewing the sickening sight of her home. She sat on the floor, next to her parent’s bed, cradling herself. Darnell made himself busy on his phone. Darnell suddenly spoke to her, “I got a hold of Michael and Alicia.”

“You did?” Vanessa replied lowly, still saddened by the events that had previously transpired.

“Yeah, but judging from what Alicia is saying, it doesn’t seem like they have much time.”

“You’re going to help them?” Vanessa's eyes widened in shock, fearing the answer to the question.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Darnell put his phone in his pocket, “They’d help us wouldn’t they?”

“Are you going to leave me here?”

“Not if you come with me.”

“Oh…” Vanessa lowered her head. She couldn’t go out there. She couldn’t see those things again. She didn’t want to feel the weight of that fear again. Pressuring her. Pushing her down. Until she was helpless.

Darnell kneeled down next to her, and spoke calmly with his hand rubbing her back, “I won’t force you to come with me. If you choose to stay, I promise I’ll come back for you.”

Vanessa looked him in the eyes, “You will?”

“Absolutely. But, what I can’t promise... is that you’ll be safe while I’m gone. I can’t protect you if you stay here, Vanessa.”

Vanessa gazed at Darnell for a moment, then down at the floor. She pondered. She really wanted to stay with him. Darnell had a glow that provided her comfort. If he left, Vanessa would feel that darkness creep up on her again. She wanted to follow him. Vanessa wanted to stay with Darnell. She tried to open her mouth to express those feelings. But it was like her lips were sealed shut. Her own body wouldn’t obey her, just like always. Vanessa turned to Darnell again, sending a silent plea for help through the silver beads of her eyes.

Darnell slowly reached for her hands to hold them. He whispered, “Blink twice if you want to come with, blink once for no.”

Vanessa’s heart jumped with joy. She blinked twice.

The two wasted no time. Vanessa had to close her eyes as Darnell guided her through the house. She couldn’t bear to witness the aftermath of what happened in her own living room. They went out the back door into Vanessa’s backyard.

“You can open your eyes now,” Darnell whispered to her.

Vanessa gradually cracked open her eyes to the view of her backyard. There was nothing extraordinary about it. There was a minimalist patio occupied by a single grill. The rest was just unkept grass and fallen leaves from the trees overarching the yard.

“So what do we-” Vanessa spoke but was cut off by Darnell’s hand being placed over her mouth before she could finish.

Darnell motioned for her to lower her voice.

“What do we do?” she leaned in whispering this time.

“We should’ve discussed this in the house…” Darnell muttered under his breath, then turned to Vanessa, “We’re gonna hop through the backyards until we reach Michael’s place.”

He pointed at the fence across from them, “I already know what direction his house is in, this should be the least risky route. You up for it?”

Vanessa nodded her head.

“Aight let’s go.”

The two crept through Vanessa’s backyard, trying to avoid crunching as many dead leaves as possible. Once they reached the fence, Darnell stood next to the fence and cupped his hands. Vanessa stepped onto his hand and Darnell effortlessly boosted her to the top of the fence. Vanessa made it over with ease. Once she sat on top of the fence, she looked around her neighbor’s backyard. No signs of life, at least that she could see. Before she even realized it, Darnell had scaled the fence and was quietly dropping to the ground. He helped Vanessa get down slowly to prevent her from hurting herself.

The two looked around the yard, and gradually made their way to the backyard to their left. Vanessa had never pictured herself sneaking into someone’s backyard before. She was creeping through someone else's property without their permission. And after the near death experience, everything felt so surreal. The almost dying part was definitely not a pleasant memory, but she did start to feel exhilarated. Especially while following Darnell.

They repeated the same process for every fence they reached. Vanessa had lost count of how many backyards they’d broken into by now. Luckily, Darnell was doing most of the work so she wasn’t feeling too exhausted.

They reached another fence, but Darnell suddenly motioned for Vanessa to stop. She froze immediately. Darnell slowly crept towards the fence and tried to peer through a crack. Vanessa's heart began to pound. Not like before, this was a warning of what was to come. Darnell peered through for a solid minute. Vanessa awaiting his next move. She dreaded what he was going to tell her.

Darnell turned to Vanessa and put up two fingers. Two. There were at least two of those same monsters that had attacked her on the other side of the fence. Vanessa's heart began to pound even harder. No. She couldn’t go through that again. She couldn’t bear to face that overwhelming fear. Vanessa couldn’t rip her eyes away from the flimsy wooden barrier. It was all that stood between her and death. There had to be another way around right?

Not to Darnell. In the midst of Vanessa’s panic, Darnell had already jumped over the fence. She noticed just in time to see his body disappear behind the fence.

“No!” she suddenly shouted without thinking. She immediately covered her mouth, flinched, then ran to the fence. Just after hearing the crash of Darnell’s feet on the other side, the sounds of groaning and croaking could be heard. Rampant stomps occurred in a matter of moments. Vanessa’s mind painted a thousand pictures of what could possibly be occurring. There was a swing of a metal object, a bang, a thud. More rampant footsteps. Vanessa tried to look through the crack. All she could make out were random blurs, nothing defining. Then another swing and a crack, followed by a screech. The screech was abruptly silenced by another bang, then a thud. Silence.

Vanessa had no idea what to expect to see on the other side. From what Vanessa understood, those things were ferocious. And they outnumbered Darnell. But she had to look. She had to know if Darnell was okay. Suddenly, the fence shook violently. And swooping over the top came the only person who could make the darkness in Vanessa’s heart vanish. Darnell. He dropped to the ground and dusted himself off. Before he could even finish he was assaulted by Vanessa who wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tighter than a lion holding down a gazelle.

Darnell, caught by surprise, recoiled from the affection. He grabbed her by the arms and slowly pulled her away so he could look her in the eye. He whispered softly, “I told you, I’d protect you.”

Vanessa nodded in agreement.

They resumed their progress with Darnell boosting Vanessa over the fence. Vanessa hadn’t even realized what still awaited her on the other side. As soon as she got over, the horrific actions of what took place were revealed to her. There were two bodies. Sprawled out on the ground in pools of blood. The nearest one to the fence was on her right. It’s head had a gaping crater that could only be caused by a blunt object. To her left and a bit further away, the other body had a similar injury, but it’s left arm took a severe blow as well. Vanessa was still taking in the sight when Darnell hopped over. He helped her down again. The longer Vanessa stared at the dead bodies, the more sick she felt. She never got to witness them as “monsters.” Darnell guided her away from the bodies. Vanessa continued to stare at them as the distance widened. Those things didn’t even look like monsters when they were dead. They looked like normal people. Normal people who had been brutally murdered in their own backyard. She had no idea why these thoughts were running through her mind. Vanessa decided to distract herself from it.

She looked at Darnell and asked, “What do you think is happening?”

Without stopping, Darnell responded, “I know just as much as you Vanessa.” He stood next to the next fence and cupped his hands again.

“Do you think it’s only here in Houston?” she stepped onto his hand and he lifted her up again.

“Like I said, I know just as much as you.” Darnell launched himself over the fence.

After sticking the landing, he continued to speak as he helped Vanessa down, “What I do know, is that our friends need help.”

Vanessa nodded.

Darnell pointed to the street that was on the other side of the house from the backyard they were in, “Michael’s house is that way.”

“We have to cross the street?” Vanessa fretted.

“No… we have to cross the street fast.” Darnell smiled, attempting to lift her spirits. Judging from the look in her eyes, it didn’t work. He cleared his throat, “As long as we don’t make too much noise, we shouldn’t run into too much trouble.”

“You promise?”

“Promise.”

Vanessa’s eyes narrowed towards the direction of the street, with a nod she assured herself, “Okay. Let’s do it.”

The two treaded along the side of the house to the fence facing the street. Just before Vanessa stepped into Darnell’s hand, he whispered, “Once we’re out, we gotta go aight?”

Vanessa nodded again. Darnell lifted Vanessa to the top of the fence like he’d done before. This time though, Darnell moved much swifter than all the other times. Before Vanessa had fully situated herself at the top, Darnell was already swinging over. Vanessa wasn’t sure how, but despite his speed, he made no noise at all. As soon as he was done, he lifted Vanessa off the fence from her legs then placed her on the ground. He wasn’t kidding when he said they had to go because he immediately darted towards the street and looked around. There were signs of break-ins down the entire street. All they had to do was cross from one side to the other. The street was relatively clear of life. There was an overabundance of greenery, with trees overhanging the street creating a decent shadow. Darnell turned to Vanessa and gave her a nod, signifying that the coast was clear. The two ran down the street together. Darnell ran behind Vanessa to make sure she wouldn’t fall behind. As soon as they reached the next house, Darnell stopped and tried to listen for any noise. Nothing. The two hopped over and kept moving.

Alicia was reaching her tipping point with Michael. Michael had been reacting incredibly sluggish to everything that had happened up to this point. There was a horde of cannibalistic, deranged men trying to feast on the flesh of anything walking, and the only thing protecting Michael and Alicia was a makeshift barrier. And Alicia felt like she was the only one trying to survive. She put her back to the barrier and tried to push into it, giving them more time for help to arrive. She had to yell at Michael before he contributed to the effort.

“Jesus, Michael, you’re going to get us both killed like this!” Alicia shouted at Michael, as their bodies shook back and forth from the onslaught on the door.

“What do you want me to do? Everything keeps happening so fast!” Michael retorted.

“I want you to act like you’re not seven years old!”

“I’m sorry, okay! I- I can’t think… There’s no way this is real right?”

“It’s as real as the burning in my legs trying to keep this door closed!”

The two grunted, pushing with all their might. They had no idea how long they’d been holding this door closed by now.

“I want to kill them. I want to kill all of them.” Michael said sternly.

“And how will you do it Michael? With a textbook?”

“I don’t care. I just want all of them to die.” he choked on his words as he spoke.

Alicia looked over at Michael and tears were streaming down his face. Remembering what transpired not even ten minutes earlier, he had every right to feel that way. She knew if she saw someone she cared about be attacked like that, she’d want revenge too. But those emotions would get them killed. She had to discourage it as much as possible.

“You think those are the terrorists from the alert?” Alicia gritted.

“Probably. Another reason they deserve to die.” Michael responded.

“If they are, then that means help is on the way, right?”

“I guess so.”

“So then someone else will take care of ‘em, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Then let’s hold out until then, Michael!”

“Fine. Let’s hold out.”

Suddenly, the entire barrier slid forward, nearly sweeping Michael and Alicia off of their feet. The two panicked as their butts nearly hit the floor, but they both managed to catch themselves. They jumped up to push the barrier again, but it was too late. One of the men outside had just enough time to shove their arm through the door. Alicia yelled at Michael, “Push the barrier!” He listened to her, and with his heart racing and his legs already burning, he willed himself to push the barrier with all his might. Alicia hurriedly grabbed a textbook off the floor and slammed it into the man’s hand as hard as she could. It faltered, but it didn’t give up. She tried again. Nothing this time. “C’mon!” she yelled at it, and threw the book at the hand. She didn’t wait to see if it would have an effect, instead she grabbed one of their pencils and attempted to stab it. Alicia barely made a scratch. She looked around the room, there weren’t many options left. Michael grunted, implying that she should hurry. That did not help her panic in the slightest.

Her eyes darted all over the room, hoping that some tool would just magically appear to save them. But there was nothing. At some point, her eyes weren’t even searching anymore, they were just scurrying around like wild rabbits in a prairie. There was another creak of the door and the barrier altogether. Alicia spun around and now one of the mens’ arms was fully through the door up to his shoulder.

The man screeched and roared as he continued to force his way in. Michael screamed, “Alicia!”

“I know!” Alicia shouted.

“RAAAHH,” the man boomed.

DINK, the window went. The window? Alicia turned to the window of Michael’s room, and outside was Darnell, waving in. All of her uncertainty of what to do next was flushed away. She immediately ran over to the window, unlocked it, and swung it wide open for Darnell to jump in. Without even a second wasted, Darnell dashed through the room with determination in his eyes and a wrench in his hand. He immediately charged the man in the crack of the door and shoved the wrench directly into his face. With a loud crack, the man went flying back far enough for the door to be completely shut again.

Michael immediately collapsed to the floor, gasping for air. Darnell looked back and forth between them with his eyes still narrowed, “Are yall okay?” he said sternly. As Darnell finished his sentence, he was ambushed by a tight hug from Alicia. “Oh my god, thank you!” she cried, pressing her face into his chest. Darnell put his arm around Alicia’s waist, responding, “Yeah, yeah, it’s no problem.” He gently pulled her away so he could help up Michael.

“C’mon we g-” Darnell was interrupted by a giant bang on the door that caught all of their attention. Then continued, “Yeah we gotta go.”

The three moved to the window to escape. Darnell and Michael let Alicia go first. She poked her head out of the window and there was a ladder stretching up to it. At the bottom of the ladder was Vanessa waving her down. One by one, they all climbed out of the window, with Darnell being the last. Darnell shut the window on his way out and climbed down to the ground with the rest of them.

“Thank you guys so much,” Michael said, still catching his breath.

“Now where are we going?” said Vanessa.

Darnell pointed behind them towards Michael’s backyard, signifying they needed to get out of sight first. The four of them jumped over the fence without any difficulty. After getting behind cover, Michael and Alicia started to relax, but their rest was cut off the moment it began.

“Now we head to Tristan’s.” Darnell commanded them. He began walking over to the far side of the backyard.

“Wait, Tristan is in danger too?” Michael called out to Darnell.

Darnell spun around with his finger on his lips, his eyebrows were narrowed.

“Oh-” Michael realized his mistake. None of them moved for a minute. A long minute. Then Darnell signaled the coast was clear. They all huddled together so they could lower their voices.

“Are the terrorists on Tristan’s side of the neighborhood too?” whispered Alicia.

“Those ain’t terrorists.” Darnell replied.

“So… there’s no terrorist attack?” Michael went.

“I wish that’s all it was.” Darnell shook his head, swinging his wrench in a spiral.

Michael and Alicia looked at each other, both with confusion and worry in their faces, then back to Darnell. “So what is it?” Alicia said.

Darnell looked both of them in the eye, then stated, “Pretty sure it’s the apocalypse.”