Chapter Six

Breaking and Entering

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Alan's P.O.V

I sat still in the cold chair, watching her chest rise and fall as she slept. Melody. She seemed so... different? Is that the right word? Different? There was something about her that I just couldn't put on my finger on. What would she have been like before all of this? A shy girl who was afraid of flying? No. There must have been more to her. If only it weren't for the circumstances I could have asked her for more information about herself. But a question like that would just seem stupid now. I broke my gaze away from Melody and glanced back at Robyn slouched on the table. Her drastic change of personality worried me. Then again a situation like this is more than likely to change someone.

I stood up from the chair silently and walked out of the small room. Zoey and Nick were curled up in their sleeping bags, sleeping soundly. How could any of them sleep? Did they not see what was out there? It's like a horror movie come true. I stepped into the darkness of the large room and listened intently. With each step the commotion from outside grew. I pressed on and stopped when I reached the door. The noise hadn't decreased in the slightest, if anything it had increased. I could imagine it clearly. Those deranged people, throwing themselves against the door mercilessly. What did they want from us? Our money? Our lives?

I pressed my hand against the door and shivered. I could feel the wood weakening under my fingertips. Surely they would have to stop soon. They needed to sleep sometime. I gasped as I heard an audible crunch from the door that echoed around the room. Sweat forming on my forehead, I leaned in closer, squinting my eyes in the darkness. A feeling of dread settled over me when I saw that what I feared was true. I traced the long crack in the wood with my finger and jumped back in fright when I heard a heart-stopping scream.

I turned my back on the door and pushed the crack to the furthest corner of my mind where I wouldn't have to dwell on it. My mind was focused solely on the scream. And the many other screams that continued to grind out from Melody's sleeping bag. I kneeled down next her and sighed in relief when I saw it was simply a nightmare. I gripped onto her shoulders and lightly shook her, trying to save her from whatever it was that was haunting her mind.

Her eyes sprang open and frantically began searching the darkness. "Shh, you're okay Mel, I've got you." I cooed, desperately trying to subdue her sobs. I hugged her to my chest and let her tears soak into the fabric of my shirt. I looked around and saw Zoey and Nick standing by the door, they breathed a sigh of relief in seeing that it was a false alarm and disappeared into the other room. Robyn had broken down into another round of silent cries. I attempted to comfort her earlier but she pushed me away with a string of curse words. I turned my attention back to Mel.

I rocked her back and forth like a mother would to her child and gently pat her back. After a few moments she quietened down and finally ran out of tears to shed. I couldn't help but feel relieved. I never knew how to act in situations like these, which always lead to me saying the wrong thing. Which always lead to a very awkward situation. She pulled away and looked up at me with a tear streamed face. "Sorry," she muttered in a voice so low I almost missed it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, afraid the answer would be yes. She scooted away and leaned her back against the wall. She shook her head and wiped the tears away. I blew out a large amount of air I didn't know I was holding in and lay down on the cold cement floor.

"What's happening?" She whispered. I leaned back up and looked at her. A expression of pure torture covered her face and left her looking like a hopeless child who was lost in the supermarket. I crossed my legs in front of me and closed my eyes.

"I don't know." I breathed, not wanting to have this discussion. Something my mother always told me rang in my ears. If you don't think about it, it won't bother you. And that's what I've been doing. Not thinking about it. It's what I do best, ignoring the problem. It's not the best way to face a situation but it works for me.

"Are we going to die?" She asked, her voice trembling with fear. Why did she have to ask me this? These questions are all the things I really didn't want to think about.

"I don't know," I answered. And it was the truth. I really didn't know. How could anyone know? Whatever it was that was happening outside is something that will go away eventually. Surely the government or the police or someone will fix everything.

"How long do you think we can stay here?" As soon as the words left her lips, the memory of the large crack in the wood sprung to the front of my mind. Panic settled over me as my hear beat quickened considerably. "What's wrong?" She asked, fear fleeing her voice and being replaced with worry.

"Shit!" I cursed, and sprang up from my sitting position, almost falling over in the process. I ran from the room, leaving Melody in confusion. There was no time for explanations, they would have to come later. If it wasn't already too late. I paced the darkness thoughtlessly, searching for any sign of possible intruders. I closed my eyes and listened intently. The pounding of the door still echoed through the room. I relaxed slightly, feeling consoled that they had yet to break through.

"What are you doing?"

I spun around and sighed when I saw it was only Melody. "What's wrong?" She asked, distress etched into every feature of her usual pretty face. I glanced around the large room, searching for a light switch but came up empty. Sighing in resignation, I grabbed hold of her arm and gentle pulled her over to the door, at the other end of the room. I watched her jaw drop as she traced the cracks in the wood the tips of her fingers.

"I don't think we can stay for very long." I thought aloud, almost having to shout over the commotion from outside. She shook her head and turned her back to the door.

"Jesus," she muttered, walking away from the door and slowly disappearing into the darkness. A part of me wanted to follow her, but that would just be plain foolish. Wait here. I have to wait here and make sure none of them break in. I leaned against the door, throwing my hands over my ears and trying to rid myself of the merciless cries from outside. How long has it been since we first got here? Hours? Maybe even a day? How long can they possible keep this up! They need to eat, and sleep don't they? Maybe all we have to do is play the waiting game, and wait for them to get bored and find someone else to hassle.

My brain buzzed with thoughts and ideas of what could be going on out there. As soon as one gets tired, it's replaced by another. That has to be what they're doing. It would be impossible for them to keep it up for this long with no breaks or anything. They're people, they still need to eat and sleep. It's only a matter of time. Maybe they're all just insane people, escaped from some asylum somewhere. What other explanation is there?

After what seemed like hours but in reality was probably only minutes, Melody returned with Nick by her side. His eyes widened considerably as a blanket of fear wrapped itself around him, leaving him frozen to the spot. "I told you this would happen god damn it! And you didn't even think to keep an eye on the door!?" I yelled, Melody flinched at the harshness of my voice but Nick seemed to be unmoved. His mind focused on the door. I stepped forward and shoved him back in rage. How the hell could he be surprised that this was happening? I told everyone this would happen!

His keys locked onto mine and flashed in anger. He stepped forward and pushed me back. I fell against the weakened door and gasped when a large chunk of the wood fell from the door and landed silently on the ground. Before I had time to react, several arms slithered threw the hole in the door and desperately tried to garb onto to something. Their arms flailed around psychotically, snapping more chunks of the wood off and widening the hole.

Nick smashed his large body against the door and shoved me to the ground. "Get to the back room!" He bellowed as he pressed all of his weight against the door. I jumped up off the ground and watched him wrestle with the door. "Get Zoey and get out of here!" He roared when he saw me watching him. I nodded and silently thanked him. I grabbed Melody's arm and ran forward through the dark room. I risked one last glance back and barely saw him surrounded by a group of people furiously attacking him. His roars of pain filled the room and sent shivers down my spine.

I threw Melody into the room a little roughly and slammed the door shut. Melody was on the ground sobbing relentlessly. Robyn was staring at me with wide horrified eyes and Zoey was crouched down in a corner rummaging threw a small cupboard. She pulled out a small red bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Where's Nick?" She asked, standing up and looking at each of us. Her eyes landed on me and I couldn't help but feel a sudden stab of guilt. I shook my head at her sadly.

Her eyes filled with tears but she wiped them away before they had time to shed. A blanket of silence fell over the four of us. I turned around and locked the door, praying that maybe they didn't know we were in here. After a few moments of agonizing silence, loud knocks and bangs surfaced from the other side of the door.

I turned around and pressed my back against the door. I wiped the sweat away from my face with the back of my hand d shivered in fear. Zoey walked over to a large stack of boxes and pushed them down with one swept of her arm. A ray of light flourished and lightened the entire room. I squinted my eyes and vaguely made out the shape of a small rectangular window. As my eyes adjusted to the light I realized that the window was open and just big enough for someone of Zoey's size to fit through.

I walked towards the window, feeling uncomfortable with leaving the door open but it was our only option. "Gimme a boost." Zoey state, pushing me down to the floor and stepping on my back. She climbed threw the window and vanished, after a few seconds she told us it was safe and that we should hurry. Robyn was at my side in an instant. She lifted herself up and claimed through easily, falling to the ground with an audible thud.

I swooped Melody up from the ground and cradled her in my arms for a few seconds. The warmth of her body consoled me and slowed my heartbeat considerably. I lifted her up to the window and watched her silently disappear.

"Hurry up!" Robyn's impatient yet hoarse and fragile voice yelled. I pulled myself up to the window and vaguely heard the door smash to the ground. I was halfway threw the window when a hand wrapped around my ankle and attempted to pull me in. I kicked my legs frantically until I felt the hand relinquish the hold it had on me. I pushed myself out the window and fell to the ground face-first. I stood up and clutched my nose, trying to still the blood now gushing out of it.

I leaned against the stone wall, finding it hard to keep my balance. I looked up and saw a tall skinny man stumbling around a few metres away from us, blocking us from exiting the small alleyway. I turned around and saw that everyone was staring at a large group of them, slowly advancing towards us.

Trapping us from leaving.

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Sorry I haven't uploaded in awhile, I had all my tests on.

Thanks for reading!