The garage door groaned as it rolled up, spilling them out into the night. The air was damp and cool, heavy with the smell of rust and wet concrete. Darkness had swallowed the streets; the last strip of daylight had bled away hours ago. The three of them—Liam, Mel, Cas—paused on the threshold, uncertain which direction offered safety. Their shadows clung long and sharp to the broken asphalt.
Eddie was the first to move. His voice was low, hoarse but firm enough to cut the silence.
"M-my p-p-place isn't f-far. You ....w-won't fin-d-d ...bet-t-t-ter shelter o-out there."
They looked at one another, a silent vote passing between them. No one offered a better plan. No one even knew where to go. So they followed him. The three didn't know the area quite well, it was obvious.
Moments later the four of them left that garage. The three strangers looked at the city with fear and a deep pain.... of the happy past and this ruined present.
The streets were a graveyard of houses and shops, their windows broken out, their walls mottled with mildew. Streetlamps stood crooked like skeletons, lifeless and gray. A Every step seemed too loud. They weren't used to this deafening silence. It felt so wrong, so scary... to live in that soundless place... to live ALONE in a place like that.
Halfway down a ruined block, Eddie slowed his slow steps, motioning with a tilt of his chin. His voice still ugly.
"Need t-to... grab s-something."
Cas tensed. "Grab what?"
"M-m-my bag," Eddie replied simply. "L-l-left it... i-in the p-park."
Liam's jaw tightened, suspicion flickering in his eyes, but he didn't argue. Mel kept quiet... too quiet for a girl her kind.
They followed him down a side street, past the husk of a grocery store, until the outline of the small park appeared—a warped swing set creaking in the wind, grass grown gray and disgusting by time.
There, near a toppled bench and a drift of leaves, was Eddie's pack. He leaned like an old broken man and crouched, brushing the old bag clean. He checked it... something was missing... her sister's necklace... he panicked... cold sweat on his temple... he turned left and right... fortunately found it a meter away. He grabed it... pressing it to his chest and let out a shuddering breath. He wore it... couldn't let the necklace get lost again... it was the only thing left of her... the only thing left of those happy times.
He slinging the bag onto his shoulder with a practiced motion. The sight was strangely human, almost ordinary, but the night pressed in too thick for comfort. That smell... it was time to leave, they all thought.
So they didn't linger. From the park they wound back through the neighborhood until Eddie stopped before a narrow row house with some boarded windows. The front door was reinforced with steel bars, scratched but still intact. He slid a key from his pocket, unlocking it quickly, and ushered them inside.
The interior smelled faintly of dust and old wood, but it was warmer than the streets. Eddie bolted the door, then reached for a heavy metal shutter mounted just inside the frame. With a harsh metallic rattle, he pulled it down, sealing the entrance in a cocoon of iron. One by one, he checked the windows, dropping the rusted shutters until no trace of the outside remained.
For the first time in a while, the others let themselves breathe. The three let themselves to feel at ease... but only for a brief moment.
The kitchen was cramped but intact—linoleum peeling in the corners, a table pressed against the wall. They settled around it, the four of them, their shadows pooled together under the single bare bulb that buzzed overhead. The silence was thick. They looked at one another but didn't speak. Water dripped somewhere in the pipes, steady as a clock.
Cas was the one who finally broke. He leaned forward, his voice casual in tone but sharp at the edges.
"So... How old are you, Eddie?"
He knew the question was absurd... who would cared about age in the period when even time has stopped?
Eddie blinked, surprised at the question after so much quiet. His hand rested on the strap of his bag, as if anchoring himself.
"Twenty, p-perhaps" he said. His voice was calm, almost indifferent... he didn't cared how old he was... did it matter at all? For Eddie, ages was only a reminder of ther time he spent lost and terrified alone in that haunted house of his... a place he couldn't call it HOME anymore... without his family, he had no more home. He knew that well... that's why he had find to her, Edna. Although he knew it was too late to search... he had this silly hope. Even if she was dead, he had to know... he was way too tired of living in the shadows of that dark life forced on him.
Cas tapped his fingers against the table, as though the rhythm might stir words out of him. Finally, he tried.
"So… you're twenty, huh? Don't really look it. Not that it matters now, I guess." He let out a half-laugh, nervous, glancing at Eddie across the flame. "What's a birthday anymore, right?"
Eddie's shoulders hunched as though the attention itself were weight. His reply came slow, cracked, halting.
"D-didn't… c-count them. Not after. I… I don't know."
Cas nodded quickly, filling the gap before it could swallow them all. "Yeah, makes sense. I stopped thinking about mine too. No candles, no cake—unless you count stale rations." He stopped himself, realizing he was spiraling into nothing, and rubbed the back of his neck. "So, uh… what did you do? Before? You know. Normal days."
Eddie shifted, his hands clasped tightly in his lap. His lips parted, closed again, then finally shaped words.
"I… stayed here...studying medical." Then he smiled to himself "Helped Edna her homeworks time to time... That was… whole." His voice barely audible as her said the last part."
The silence returned, thicker. Cas swallowed, leaned forward a little, and tried again. "Sounds like you took care of her."
Eddie's voice cracked on the answer. "O-opposite. She… she was more than me. Smarter. Braver. Like..she was...the elder one. If… if anyone could still b-be alive out there, it's her."
Melissa's eyes narrowed, her arms folding. "Or she's not. And you're just clinging to a ghost."
Eddie flinched, though he didn't raise his eyes. His words stuttered out like broken glass. "I… I waited. Four years. Talking to… n-no one. Just waiting. If she came back, I'd b-be here. That was… all I could do..until now. ".
Cas opened his mouth, closed it again, glanced helplessly at the table. His usual chatter caught in his throat. For once, he had no quick way to lighten the sting.
Eddie drew a shaky breath. His gaze flicked up, uncertain. "Wh-what about you?" The words were awkward, almost foreign on his tongue. "H-how… d-did you meet?"
Cas blinked, then gave a crooked smile, as if surprised to be asked. "Us? Well…" He exhaled, searching for a place to begin. "There were camps. You know, before things got too bad. They said it was safe—bring in the healthy, keep out the sick. Big fences, armed guards, all that. For a while, it worked.".
Melissa's voice slid in, sharper, cutting his hesitation. "Until someone decided rules didn't matter.".
Cas glanced at her, then back at Eddie. "A boy… snuck out. Wanted to see his mother. She was sick. The guards said no, but… he went anyway. And she'd already turned." He rubbed his hands together, restless. "He came back just fine... or we thought. And then it spread."
Melissa's mouth pressed thin. "By the time anyone realized, it was too late. Panic. Screaming. Everyone running. Everyone falling." She leaned back, shadow splitting across her face. "That's why it's just us now... probably. ".
Eddie's eyes widened, his mouth parting as if to speak, but the sound broke before forming. He looked from Cas to Melissa, then down again. "Y-you s-stayed together?"
"Yeah," Cas said, softer now. He shrugged, forcing a faint smile. "Not like we wanted... Guess we're too stubborn to split."
Liam, silent until then, shifted at last. His eyes were on Eddie, calm but unblinking. He said nothing, yet the weight of his gaze pressed more than any words could. But finally a very faint smile ghosted across his handsome yet tired features.
Mel stood up abruptly. " I think we all need some rest... you, have blankets?".
Eddie noded, stood up from the old wooden chair and after some minutes, he came back with 4 worn ones.
"We can s-sleep, it's warmer and...s-safer. The bedrooms upstairs are small." Eddie said.
with that, Liam and Cas moved the table and chairs aside... then with an strange awkwardness, they all lied in a circle on the wooden cracky kitchen floor...
The candle sputtered. Their shadows stretched long across the walls, bent and trembling, as if listening to the shallow breaths... The house... or rather the ghost of it listened to their soft yet restless exhales like it would be the last time... like it knew that there was no way back there... that the house will be empty, dark and haunted by silence... at last... and it was true.