Keith

He hadn’t heard anyone sneak up on him until it was too late. When the stranger spoke, Keith was startled and were about to grab his gun, when he realized it would have been useless, since it had no bullets in it, but also because the guy was pointing a gun at Keith’s head.
He was tall, slightly taller than Keith, by a few centimeters, and he had brown messy hair that was tied back into a tiny ponytail. His brown eyes were glaring at him, piercing and hard. He looked to be around Keith’s age which surprised Keith a little, but at the same time, not really.

He stared at the gun before he dared to look at the guy in his eyes, and raised his hands, making sure he wasn’t a threat.

“Get up,” the guy said, his voice hard. Keith got up from the ground, keeping his hands where the guy could see them.

“Are you alone?” he asked, his jaw tense. Keith wondered what he should say but decided that lying could get him into trouble, so he decided to be honest. If the guy was going to shoot him, he would probably have done so already.

“Yes,” he answered. The guy looked hesitant for a moment, then glanced at Keith’s body, like he was trying to see if he had any weapons on him, then his eyes met Keith’s before he took a step closer. Keith watched the gun as the guy started to feel up the side of Keith’s body, at the edge of his pants before he took a step back.

“Turn around,” he ordered. Keith did as he was told, trying to keep his breath steady as he turned his back at the guy. Then the guy touched his back, and Keith knew the guy felt the gun at the hem of his pants before the guy pulled up Keith’s shirt and pulled out the gun. A click sounded, and he knew he was checking for bullets, then he heard the gun hit the floor next to them.

“Is that the only weapon you have?” the guy asked and pulled Keith’s shoulder to make him turn around again. Keith nodded and he could see the guy chewing the inside of his cheek before he looked determined.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Keith.”

“And you are sure you are alone?” he asked. Keith nodded again and then watched the guy lower his gun and Keith felt like he could finally breathe. The guy put on the safety on his gun before hiding it behind his back and cocked his head as he watched Keith. “How did you find this place?” he asked Keith before he crossed his arms. Keith looked a little confused at the question, since he didn’t understand why that mattered.

“I found it while running away from a herd of zombies,” Keith answered. The guy raised an eyebrow at Keith then glanced at the front door, like he was thinking before his gaze returned to Keith.

“What kind?” he asked.

“Runners.”

The guy cursed a little before letting out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair. “At least tell me you got rid of them before crossing the wall, right?” he gave Keith a questioning look, yet he also looked annoyed, and Keith nodded.

“Lost them further down the road, but I wouldn’t want to step outside just yet, since they could still be around,” Keith explained, and the guy nodded. They stood in silence for a bit, Keith not knowing what to do, but he knew he had to be careful since he was the one without a weapon, and he didn’t know what the other guy would do if he felt threaten, even though he didn’t shoot Keith when he had the chance.

“What’s your name?” Keith asked. The guy looked at him for a moment, like he was wondering is he could answer before he spoke.

“Caz."

“Well Caz, do you have any food you can spare? Or maybe some water?” Keith asked, in hope that he did indeed have something, hell he even taken a fully moldy bread. It would be better than nothing. Caz frowned a little but sighed.

“I hope you like beans."

In one of the upstairs bedrooms, he could see Caz had been camping beside one side of the bed, with a clear view over the hallway and the front yard. By the window, Keith saw a sniper rifle and was honestly surprised by the sight of it. It looked like military stuff, which meant Caz had probably snatched from an either dead soldier or a zombie.

Caz was crouched down by one of the backpacks on the floor and went through it before he grabbed a can of baked beans and handed it to Keith. Keith looked at it a bit surprised but smiled as he took it. Then Caz dug out a burner stove used for camping and placed it over a metal tray and handed Keith a can opener.

“You can heat it up on the burner,” he said before digging through the backpack to find a fork. Keith was a bit surprised by what Caz had in his backpack and wondered if there was something in the house Keith could take with him, and if Caz had a can or two to spare, for when he left again.

“Thanks,” he said and opened the can before he turned on the gas burner and placed the can on top of the it, while he slowly made sure to stir the beans as it heated up. Keith didn’t like beans, but he didn’t care since all he needed was food, and he couldn’t afford being picky.

Caz had taken out a small package of peanuts and was eating from it while watching Keith before he picked up an unopen water bottle he then handed to Keith.

“This is the only water bottle I can offer you,” he said. Keith looked at it in surprised but nodded and smiled. He was grateful he could get something in his system again.

“Thanks, you are the first person I have met, who haven’t tried to kill me, or kick me out right away, that and actually share what they have” he said. The guy looked a bit taken aback but didn’t say anything as he glanced away. Keith kept stirring the beans, watching as it slowly got warm, and cracked open the water bottle.

The moment the water hit his tongue; he was chugging as much as he could without breathing. When he had half of the water left, he had to stop, panting a little as he slightly gasped for air. He knew he was thirsty, but he also knew he had to save the last of it if that was all he was going to get for the next few hours, maybe even days. He closed the cap on the bottle and turned off the burner as he was sure the beans were hot enough. He frowned as the can was to hot to hold, when he saw Caz hand him an oven mitt while trying to suppress a smirk. Keith took it and placed the can of beans onto the metal tray and let it stay there while he slowly ate the beans. The texture of the beans was disgusting, but his body was grateful for the food it was getting, that he ignored the texture and ate the food without any complain.

When he had finished the beans, he sat up against the wall, away from Caz but close enough so that they could speak.

“I guess you have been crashing here for some time?” Keith said while he took one more sip of his water before hiding it away in his backpack. Caz nodded as he crumbled the empty peanut bag.

“Two days actually,” he replied and started to pack his backpack, rearranging his things.

“Wow, and you have been alone here?” Keith asked. Caz glanced at him before returning his focus on his backpack.

“I’ve been alone for some time,” he replied. Keith glanced down, biting the inside of his cheek. He had been alone for some time too, at least a month, and the last time he met someone, they weren’t friendly, and he almost died if he hadn’t gotten away.

“Yeah, same here,” Keith replied. Caz stopped moving for a moment before he continued, and they sat in silence.

Keith had decided to sleep on the couch downstairs, but he decided to pull it into the hallway, away from nosy eyes. He didn’t want anyone to see him sleeping on the couch in case someone did decide to come and investigate the house. He also made sure to lock the door, as he didn’t want intruders being able to enter, like he could himself.

He had lit a candle, since the sun had set while they ate, and he couldn’t see anything, but he made sure to shield it as much as possible and blew it out when he decided to sleep. He had found a blanket so he didn’t have to pull out his sleeping bag, but he had decided to grab a few things from the kitchen, like a couple of forks, a can opener, a wine opener, not that he was sure what he was going to use it for, but he had made sure a cork was still stuck to the pointy end, and he thought about taking a sharp knife, or a meat hammer, but he thought that it was too difficult to carry.

The moment his head hit the couch, he could feel his eyes struggle to keep open and with food in his stomach for the first time in a long time, he felt tired, exhausted and he decided not to fight his body and closed his eyes, slipping off into dreamland.

---

He stayed in the house for two days, and while he stayed, he searched the house for things. He found a wooden bat and decided to hammer nails into it, to make it a better weapon, since he needed something to defend himself with. He had never played baseball, but he was sure it would be easier to hit zombies with a bat, then a small ball. As he hammered one last nail into the bat, Caz walked over to him with a canned of food, this time beans with tomato sauce. Keith had a feeling Caz hated beans just as must as himself, since he was mostly eating beans, while Caz was eating mini ravioli and dumplings with chicken. But Keith wasn’t going to complain, since he was just happy he was getting food, even if it was things he didn’t like.

“Thanks,” he said as Caz placed it on the wooden table. The can was warm, but he had let it cool down enough that it wasn’t burning when Keith touched it.

“How is it going?” Caz asked as he took a seat on the floor, next to the coffee table.

“Done, hopefully it will help against the zombies,” Keith grinned as he picked up the bat, feeling it in his hand.

“Good,” Caz said and took a bite of his mini ravioli. Keith noticed Caz wasn’t much of a talker, and Keith didn’t mind it, but it was awkward, sitting together, eating in silence, but Keith wasn’t sure what to say. He took a bite of his beans, grimaced a little but didn’t say anything as he ate it. Caz watched him then looked around the room, as he continued to eat. Keith sighed a little and looked around the house too.

It was a nice house, at least it had been, but without electricity it was dark as they had pulled the curtains closed, and they couldn’t use their tv, gaming consols or anything else, so it was a bit boring. They also had things like cars, motorcross, and skis, but they were all useless, as loud noises was something one should avoid and there wasn’t any snow for the skis.

They had a lot of expensive decorations, which seems useless now but was probably something that gave them pleasure back then. What Keith could use would be something he could bring with him, something that would help him survive, but surprisingly enough, they didn’t have much. At least he had gotten new clothes, even though they were slightly to large and not really his style, but he was happy to change his worn-out clothes, to something that didn’t have holes or were worn down. He sadly couldn’t use the shoes, as they were too small for his big feet, so he would have to survive with his worn-down sneakers. He also packed a blanket, some spare clothes and decided to grab some of their camping equipment that they had.

He had decided to pack a hammock, they past owner owned, which weighted like nothing, but he could use it in case he had to sleep high up in a tree, to avoid zombies or other humans. He had also decided to take their tiny first aid kid, which didn’t contain much but could still be useful, along with a handful of compressed towels, so small they almost looked like a washing tab.

They also had things like camping chairs, which he wished he could take with him, but it wasn’t necessary, or the nice big tent, but that was too difficult to set up and to heavy. What they did have, was a water filter that could be screw onto a water bladder and a normal plastic bottle, which could be useful if he ever got near a river. Then he could fill up the water bladder and run it through the filter to get rid of the worst bacteria. The water would still taste like dirt in some way, but it would be better than risking drinking something bad. Sadly they didn't have more then that one filter and he couldn't be sure it wasn't already too used to work properly. He also found a spork, which maybe wasn’t the best, but it was useful and light weight, along with a headlamp that could be charged.

Keith wasn’t the type to go hiking, but he knew enough from his friend back in college what was good to have and what wasn’t, and the people who used to own the house seemed to have a lot of knowledge about it too, which made it easier for Keith to find what he needed. He had hoped they had some food, those type where you just needed to pour hot water in the bag and stir it a few times, then you could eat it, but sadly that wasn’t something they had. Maybe he could find a store that did have it, then his food problems could be solved for a short while. 

Keith looked at Caz, who was scraping his fork along the bottom of the can, to get out the last ravioli. He didn’t know much about Caz beside he was quiet, liked to read books and had a stopwatch, which he used to see how much he had slept. He had no idea how old he really was, or how he ended up in the house. Had he been travelling with others, and something happened to them? Or had he been alone from the moment the apocalypse started? Keith wanted to ask but decided that it wasn’t really his place to ask. If Caz decided to share it on his own, then Keith wouldn’t mind listening, but he wasn’t even sure if they were going to travel together or not.

When they had finished eating, Caz got up and said goodnight, even though it wasn’t that dark out yet before he went upstairs. Keith was left alone and didn’t really mind as it helped him sleep better, but he did find it odd for Caz to join him for dinner, but it was also very nice.

Keith sat on the edge of the couch, the bat by the floor next to him so it would ready if he needed it, while he carved on a stick he found around the last place he rested. As a hobby he did woodcarving, not that he was any good at it. It was something he learned when he was in college, because he found it interesting but also because it helped him relax. Then it became something he enjoyed doing in the apocalypse, even though his knife is so worn out and chipped that it is actually more dangerous for him to use it, then it is useful, but he hadn’t had a chance to find a better knife yet.

When it became so dark, that he couldn’t see anything without having to use a candle, he decided to stop carving and packed it all away safely into the backpack. He lit up a candle, which had burned down so there was only one fifth left of it and would only last for an hour or two. It would be enough for Keith as he got ready for bed, which meant getting comfortable under the blanket. He couldn’t hear noises from upstairs which meant Caz was probably already asleep. It didn’t take long for Keith to feel tired enough to sleep so he blew out the candle and let himself get swallowed up by darkness.