The Rising: Selected Scenes from the End of the World

“I don’t know, but they aren’t here. Let’s check the house across the street, the one with the gardens. Maybe we’ll have better luck there.”

And then they were gone. Allison lay there shivering, afraid to come out. She must have fallen asleep after that. She wondered how long it had been. Could they still be out there? Maybe the zombies were playing a trick on her. Maybe they’d known she was hiding in the trunk, and they were upstairs waiting. Allison squeezed her legs together. She had to go to the bathroom—really, really bad. And she couldn’t stay inside this trunk much longer, either. It smelled like mothballs. She listened carefully, but the only sound she heard was her own breathing. Her parents had always called Allison their

“little spitfire,” and while she wasn’t sure what it meant, she understood what it implied. It meant not being afraid.

So she did her best to be brave.

Slowly, carefully, Allison opened the lid and peeked out through the crack. The basement was empty.

She climbed out of the trunk and collapsed to the floor. Her legs felt rubbery and weak. She lay there panting, until they felt better. Then she climbed the stairs, put her ear to the door, and listened. The house was quiet.

“Shannon…” Allison bit her lip and tried not to cry.There were no zombies in the living room or kitchen. Allison glanced out the window into the backyard, and shuddered, remembering what they’d seen last night. Then something occurred to her. It was daylight outside. When they’d first seen the zombies, it had been getting dark. Now it was morning again, which meant she’d slept all night inside the trunk.

Allison began to get a bad feeling inside—her parents were never coming home, and the zombies had eaten her sister. She pushed the tears away, trying to be a spitfire, trying to be brave, the way they’d want her to. She wondered what to do next. Should she call 911? Go next door to the neighbor’s house? Or just wait? What if the zombies came back?

While she was trying to decide, she heard a noise from upstairs—a soft, muffled thump.

Allison froze.

The sound was repeated, louder this time. Before she could move, she heard the hiss of a closet door sliding back on its track. Allison couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like it was coming from her and Shannon’s bedroom.

She tried to call out, but her mouth was dry, and she could only whisper.

“Shannon?”

Thump…Thump…Thump…

Footsteps.

Allison licked her lips and took a deep breath. She opened a kitchen drawer and took out one of her mother’s steak knives. Her heart pounded in her chest.

The bedroom door creaked open, and the footsteps crept down the hall. Her eyes glued to the stairs, Allison slowly backed towards the front door.

“Hello?” a voice called out, small and afraid. Allison whimpered. “S-Shannon?”

“Allison? Is that you?”

Allison’s spirits soared. Her sister was alive! She ran to the bottom of the stairs. Shannon stepped out into the light, saw her, and began to cry. The two girls rushed to each other and embraced, crying and shaking.

“I thought the zombies got you,” Allison sobbed.

“I thought you were dead.”

“I thought they got you, too. I hid upstairs, in the closet. I must have fallen asleep. What about you?”

“I hid in Daddy’s old trunk, down in the basement. I fell asleep, too.”

They straightened up and wiped their eyes. Allison grinned. “I’ve really got to pee.”

“Me, too,” Shannon laughed. “Oldest goes first.”

Allison scampered up the stairs behind her. “Not fair!”

When they were finished, Allison asked, “What do we do now?”

Shannon thought about it for a moment. “Let’s get all the food and water we can carry, and some books and games, and we’ll go hide in our clubhouse.”

“But won’t the zombies find us there?”

Shannon shook her head. “How could they? It’s a secret. We’re the only ones that know about it.”

They made their preparations, and then, when they were done, the two sisters walked hand-inhand down the secret street. The sun climbed high into the sky and shined down upon them. Then they disappeared into the shadows of the woods, to a good, secret place, where neither light nor darkness could find them.

LAST CHANCE

FOR LA CHANCE

The Rising

Day Five

Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Baltimore, Maryland

Jamie La Chance groaned amidst the chaos.

“What do you mean the flight was cancelled?”

He slammed his palm down on the counter in frustration. “This is the third time you people have done this! It’s ridiculous!”

The girl behind the counter bit her lip and stared at the computer monitor, refusing to meet his eye.

“All flights have been grounded, sir. Nationwide—by order of the President. Nobody can fly right now.”

“But I’ve been here all night! I have to get home—back to California…”

“There’s nothing I can do, sir. I’m sorry.”