Chapter 3 Right where you are

"What was that?" Emily asked again.

Aggressive grumbling noises could be heard outside. The pounding on the door increased.

Melissa crawled to the door and looked through the peephole. There were at least twenty of those sick-looking people at the door, acting both angry and hungry at the same time.

Melissa panicked.

"Em, they're here. They want to get us."

"Over there! There's more of them," Emily lamented as she pointed towards the back door. Glancing in the direction of Emily's pointed finger, Melissa saw more of the creatures. They looked into the house through the transparent glass sliding door. They had wicked smiles on their faces as they beckoned to the girls to let them in. Thankfully, the door was locked from within. Melissa sighed in relief as she expressed silent gratitude to her mother who made it a point of duty to ensure that the door was always locked when everyone was inside the house. One of the creatures had a huge stone and slammed it against the glass door. This caused a tiny crack. The door was made from triple-tempered glass, which makes it resistant to breakage. The creature tried continuously, throwing the big stone with a force that increased with each throw.

He finally had his first breakthrough as he made a powerful throw which brought small chunks of glass crumbling to the floor.

Emily and Melissa were scared stiff. They knew they had to leave the house immediately, as those sick people were desperate. Now that they knew that the sliding door's glass could break, the number of sick people trying to break the glass suddenly increased. Luckily for the girls, the now broken part of the glass door was not wide enough for an adult's arm to go through.

"We need to leave now! If those things get a chance to come inside, we are dead meat," Melissa warned.

"Where would we go? We don't know what is out there. What if we come across those things and they attack us?" queried Emily.

"They will attack us if we stay. You saw what happened to the girl I tried to help. We will get bitten and become like them." Melissa explained.

Emily seemed to be convinced by the explanation and followed Melissa up the stairs. "I need to live to see the end of this,' she thought. "I don't want to turn into a zompire."

"Zompires!" Emily exclaimed.

"What?" Melissa stopped abruptly at the entrance to her room.

It was as though a bulb was lit in Emily's mind.

"Those things are zompires! They are trying to wipe out the human race and increase their population."

Melissa's face crumpled in confusion. This was no time to bring up theories. She picked up her backpack, emptied the contents on her bed, and went ahead to do the same with Emily's backpack.

Emily continued to ramble on and on about how zompires are a mixed breed of vampires and zompires; how a biologist hundred centuries ago had postulated their existence, and predicted that they would take over the world from humans one day.

Melissa only listened half-heartedly as she picked a blanket, insect repellent cream, sunscreen cream, some light clothes, two cardigans, two baseball caps, sunshades, and a few other items that she thought would be necessary, and could be stuffed into her backpack.

"Physically, they move and walk about like zompires, but their bite infects their victim to become like them; just like vampires. That's how they got the name 'Zompire'," Emily went on and on.

"Hmm-mmm," Melissa kept saying as Emily moved around the room talking about her supposition. Realizing Melissa wasn't paying attention to what she was saying, Emily complained more than asked, 'Are you even listening, Mel?

"No, I'm not! I'm trying to get us ready to leave this house; I could use your help," Melissa snapped.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so scared," Emily whined.

"The more reason why we should leave for a safe place," Melissa said curtly.

Emily wanted to ask where the safe place was and how to ascertain that any place was safe at all. But she knew to keep those questions to herself as Melissa was not in a good mood. Quietly, Emily picked up her backpack and walked toward Melissa's closet. She started to scrutinize the clothes.

"No, Em. I've picked all the necessary clothing items. Food, water, and a few things from the first aid box will go in that bag."

"Here, take this. Let's go." Melissa handed the filled bag to Emily and took the empty one.

They tip-toed down the stairs like thieves in the night, Melissa leading the way. At the foot of the stairs, Melissa crouched, looking left and right to make sure they were not seen by the zompires. She wasn't yet sure that she was ready to accept that those creatures were zompires but calling them that will do in the meantime.

She moved quickly into the kitchen and hid beside the huge grey refrigerator. After scanning around, she beckoned Emily to join her. Melissa placed the bag on the table and filled it with canned foods that would not need to be cooked, a few bottles of water, and some medicines and Band-Aids from the medicine box. Emily kept guard, looking to ensure that the zompires at the front and back entrances hadn't found their way in.

"What do we do now, how do we get past the zompires?" Emily asked, looking puzzled.

"There is an underground passage beneath the basement. I don't know where it leads, but it should serve as a perfect escape route," responded Melissa.

She sounded like an adult, like she had been through this situation before, and knew exactly what she was doing. Emily had no choice but to follow Melissa's lead. She still was unable to get through to anyone on the phone. Melissa had warned her earlier to conserve the phone's battery.

Melissa climbed her two-year-old sister's high chair and moved her hand back and forth on the wall cabinet, searching for the key to the basement. Another shattering of glass by the zompires made her jump and almost lose her balance. Thanks to Emily who held the high chair in place.

Finally, her roaming hand felt cold metal.

"I've found it!"

She sounded excited but didn't raise her voice to avoid being heard by the zompires.

Incoherent sounds came from the living room. The girls froze. Emily peeped. Two zompires had found their way in through the glass door. They had managed to break the glass enough to create space for them to pass through. Emily communicated this to Melissa using her hands and eyes.

Melissa hurriedly jumped down from the chair, grabbed the bag, and headed towards the locked basement door all within two seconds. She fumbled with the key as she tried to insert it into the keyhole. Just then, one of the zompires appeared at the kitchen door. The girls screamed in horror.