I slowly open my eyes to the mostly dark house. I noticed that I had a pillow and a blanket now, which I know I didn't have before I went to sleep.

I sit up on the couch with a bit of pain in my neck.

'Well, it was what was expected. If I didn't have that pillow, I was going to be in a world of pain…..'

I cracked my neck because of the dit of pain I still had and stood up from the couch. I went towards the kitchen and flipped up the light switch.

*Flip*

The light didn't come on…

"I guess the power got shut down finally, yet it was working last night….." 

I turned the light switch back off so we weren't wasting energy, just in case. I made my way toward the sink to see if we still had clean, running water.

I flipped on the water to turn it hot, but….

"We don't have water either…." I whispered to myself. 

I hear someone coming down the steps, so I turn around to see who it is.

It was Kayla.

Kayla is around 5'6 and has medium-length brown hair with hazel eyes. She has a bit of a round face with a curved body, chocolate colored skin, and wide hips.

I met her when Michelle brought her home to meet me and our mom. She was about 18 then, so it's been about 4 years since I met her. She's 22 now.

Even though I have known her for a long while, I never really spent time with her personally. Which might become a problem sooner or later.

"Hey, Kay, did you just wake up?" I glanced at her face and outfit. She looked like she had just gotten done fighting a bear and just barely made it.

She nodded towards me and yawned. She continued her way down the steps and made it to the floor.

"Yeah, and your sister is up too. My mom is still upstairs getting ready to come down and see what we should do today."

"Alright, I got some ideas to tell y'all about, too. I'm gonna check the situation outside to get more of an idea about our surroundings." 

She nodded, "Alright," and went to sit on the couch, covering herself with the cover that I had slept with.

I walk towards the window to take a peek outside. I open the curtains to see a somewhat clear street.

'I only see five zombies and a slime…. Surprisingly, we survived a giant horde of monsters like that…'

I turn around to Kayla and say, "I'm going to check the backyard, just in case."

"'Kay", she put her head down on the pillow that I had and closed her eyes. I walked past her to go to the back door. 

I slowly opened the door and looked around. 

I didn't see any monsters or creatures of the sort.

I came back inside the house and closed the door behind me. I heard someone coming downstairs when I came closer to the steps.

Michelle and Casey had just come down.

"Hey, Elle, I checked for any of those monsters in the front and the back of the house. I saw five zombies and a slime in the front, none in the back. I don't know about the sides of the house, but I think we're good so far."

She nodded and tilted her head, thinking about something.

Michelle, my older sister, and 22, like Kayla. She has long black hair, dark brown eyes, and caramel skin. She's about 5'8, taller than Kayla, close to my height. She has quite a curvy figure, wide hips, snatched waist, and some…. ‘milkers’. I hear her compliment herself all the time because of it.

One thing that I love and hate about my sister is that she is family-oriented. I love it because she is protective of me, and I can tell that she loves me because of that. I hate it because she never really considers herself, never focuses on herself, but focuses on others 

So I make sure she is okay. 

We watch each other's backs, it's always been that way.

I study her as she walks and sits down next to Kayla, laying her head on her shoulder.

'Her eyes are….. baggy and red. Like she didn't get a wink of sleep and was crying? I'll ask her about it later.'

Casey went to sit on the kitchen stool while I was in my own headspace.

Casey looked around and then looked toward us.

"I have a plan."

Casey looked toward us with a determined look on her face.

"What is it?", I asked.

"Before the power and service lines went out, I called the police, and I checked the news to see what we should do. The police already knew about what was happening and pretty much hung up on me, saying, 'We know ma'am, we are taking care of it.' and ended the call. However, when I checked the news, I heard that they were bringing the people they saved to the mall and were going to make it a safe point."

"You're saying we should go there?", Michelle said while sitting up on Kayla's shoulder. 

"Yeah", she responded.

'I'm betting all of my money that it's already destroyed. That safe point wouldn't last with them saving people and some of them being bitten or something.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I would’ve lost all of my money the week after that…..