Gray Dawn

David continued what he was doing, but Rob followed his voice into the hallway. Turning to the left he went down the small hallway and found him in one of the bedrooms. He was standing in the middle looking at the walls. The room no doubt had been a girl’s room for the walls had been painted pink. There were dolls on the bed and posters of some boy bands too. “What do think happened to them?” Garett asked not even turning to look at his friend. He kept his gaze fixed on the items in the room. His voice was somber and distant, like his gaze. “Who?” Rob asked with a puzzled look on his face. His eyes were looking around. He wasn’t sure if Garett was talking about something in the room, or if he was talking about someone. He started to wonder if maybe Garett knew the people who lived here. If so, why didn’t he mention that earlier? “The family that lived here, I mean are they alive, somewhere safe, or are they dead and their bodies are somewhere outside rotting?” Garett had become full of emotion suddenly. The room, the house, they had reminded him of his home. These emotions caused him to wonder about his own family and their outcome. Are they alive or are they dead? Rob kind of just walked around looking at some things on the girl’s dresser, not knowing what to say. About that time David showed up, standing at the doorway. “What’s going on?” “Garett’s wondering about what happened to the family that lived here?” Rob explained catching him up. “Dude, stop worrying about that and come on, I got us a safe route to use. Let’s just get out and go.” David offered, turning to leave the room, but Garett didn’t budge. This really annoyed him big time because he just wanted to leave. Who cares what happened to the people he thought to himself. The only thing he cared about was not ending up like most in this town, dead. “Think about it for a moment, who’s left around here? Are we all that are left?” Garett said as he moved around the room. “How many people have we seen on our trip? When was the last time we saw someone alive? It’s been days.” The two boys remained silent for a moment, while they stared at the room. David was just getting more impatient while Rob remained quiet pondering the situation. He was starting to realize that Garett’s feelings about this family were maybe really about his own. That maybe he feared that they didn’t make it. And that was something Rob could understand, he knew what it was like to lose a close family member. His older brother had died unexpectedly just a couple years ago from a heart attack caused by a rare heart condition. Yes, Rob knew better than most what those feelings are like. He could sympathize with his best friend. He took a couple of steps forward and said, “Hey I might not know what happened to this family and I’m not going to guess. What I do know is this. That we’re not alone we have each other and you have at least your two brothers with you right now. That has to count for something. And don’t forget the shots we heard coming from the tower.” Pointing in that direction, he continued, “That’s proof that we’re not alone, that there is hope. That people are surviving.” Garett looked back at Rob, right into his eyes, “But for how long? How do we know how far this attack has spread?” “We don’t.” Rob replied with a serious voice. “So do you want to do give up?” “Heck no, I don’t want to give up.” Garett‘s voice was getting louder and his tone was becoming more upset. “I’m just saying how is it that we have made it this far and so many haven’t? How long can we keep this up before we lose someone or all of us? Can you answer me that?” Rob and David were at a loss for words. David just stood there in the same spot, while Rob walked over to a window and looked out for a moment. Thinking to himself he whispered under his breath, “Football.” “What?” David asked, still confused. He started to wonder what was wrong with Rob now. He spoke up louder, “Football.” He turned around. “In football when a team makes it to the super bowl do you think they sit around and wonder why them and not someone else?” His voice was full of excitement and a smile appeared on his face. “No! They’re happy they’ve made it and think about what they’ve done right to get there and to keep doing that. And we all know that making it to the super bowl is a mixture of hard work and sometimes just chance, but when they have the opportunity they don’t sit back, but they seize it and take hold of it.” He reached out and grabbed Garett’s shirt collar and pulled on it with both hands. Garett was looking at his friend face to face, his expression blank. “So you’re saying that a massive attack on mankind by killer geese is like going to the super bowl?” he asked, raising one of his eyebrows. Rob’s face still had a big smile on it. “Yeah, think about it. We should be happy we’ve made it this far and remember we have each other. That’s what has gotten us here. This is why we need to continue to work together and to be smart. We do that, and we’ll make it.” Garett was smiling now. “You know me man. You know how to speak my language.” Rob was always good at being on the same wave length as him. That’s one of the main reasons they got along so well. David was starting to get fidgety. He was rolling his eyes to the whole scene that had taken place before him. “Can we get out of here now or do we have to braid each other’s hair and do our nails?” he said with disgust in his voice. “I feel like I’ve been watching the lifetime channel. He then turned to leave.