Felix rushed into the kitchen, humming softly as he grabbed extra plates and forks.
The warm sll of white sauce pasta filled the air, mingling with the faint aroma of soap and damp clothes from Ivy and Silas’s quick showers.
When he returned, everyone was already seated. Helena smiled, placing a hand on Ivy’s shoulder as Victor served the pasta evenly across the table.
Helena reached over, brushing a few strands of Ivy’s damp hair away from her face. "You’ll never eat alone in this house again," she promised quietly.
For a mont, silence reigned... the kind that held warmth rather than awkwardness.
The family began to eat slowly, savoring every bite. The white sauce was slightly watery, but after months of scavenged rations and tasteless als, it tasted heavenly.
"Waouh! Quel délice! (Wow! How delicious.)" Felix murmured in French.
Even Ivy closed her mouth to savor the juicy yet soft taste. Her appetite soared, and she finished three plates of pasta.
Felix had made more than 2 packets of pasta, and hence, even when everyone ate 3 plates, Ember’s share remained.
After lunch, a wave of fatigue washed over Ivy. In the past few days, she hardly took any rest because of the growing desperation in her heart, and now that she had reunited with her family mbers, she decided to sleep a bit.
The Nightbane family sensed it too; hence, Helena said softly, "We have prepared a room for you, go and rest."
Ivy’s lips curved into a huge smile, and she nodded. Helena then led Ivy away.
Silas wanted to follow her, but Victor, Felix, and Kael ford a human wall.
"We need to talk." They said simultaneously, their voice caused Silas to tense, and he stared at them with a deep gaze, "Please go ahead."
.............
Darkness.
The imnse darkness returned in Ivy’s vision, making her heart tighten instinctively. Her heart started to thud loudly against her chest, while her breathing turned rapid.
"Ivy, co and have dinner. We have scavenged a few energy drinks. Why don’t you try it?" Ember’s gentle voice was laced with encouragent, and Ivy realized that she was dreaming of the exact mont things started to get ugly.
She felt her body moving instinctively, and a cup of energy drink was brought near her lips.
The sll of the drink was sharp and chemical, but Ivy still took a sip. It burned down her throat, bitter and tallic, and she almost coughed it out.
"It’s... awful," Ivy muttered, her lips twisting slightly.
Ember chuckled softly, though her voice carried exhaustion. "Yeah, but it’s the last one I found in the old vending machine near the ruins. You need the energy more than I do."
Ivy heard herself say. "No, you should drink it. You work more than I do."
"Ivy, listen to your big sister." Ember’s reassuring voice ignited a wave of dread in her heart.
After Ivy finished up the awful drink, a wave of dizziness washed over her, and she muttered in a dazed voice, "I don’t feel well."
Helena’s and Victor’s concerned voices, coupled with Ember’s alert voice, echoed, "What happened? Oh my god! She is burning with fever! She needs dicine imdiately!"
"Sh*t! Even the nearest base from here is 5 km away!" Victor muttered.
"Let see if there’s any extra dicine I have..." Helena’s gentle voice was trembling, and Ivy heard the sound of scuffling. Soon she heard Helena’s delighted voice.
"I have it! Let’s feed it to her!"
But as the tablet touched her tongue, the world around Ivy began to distort.
The warmth of her family’s voices twisted into echoes... fading, then returning with strange distortions.
"Fever is going down..."
"Let’s go to the nearby base..."
"It’s too much risk; those doctors might report our location."
The words overlapped, sharp, distant, and terrifyingly hollow.
Her body felt unbearably heavy.
A cold sweat broke out across her forehead. Her heart pounded in her chest like a frantic drum, and her eyelids fluttered helplessly.
At last, she heard her father’s and mother’s serious voices.
"Ember, you watch over Ivy; we will go and ask for help from Helena’s brother."
’Don’t go... I will get well... stay behind... Ember is the one who is in real danger...’ Ivy muttered in her heart weakly, but no one heard her unsaid words.
The sound of fading footsteps increased the despair in Ivy’s heart.
"Sis, don’t worry, I am here! I will take care of you!" Ember’s soothing cold hand touched her burning forehead, and Ivy almost cried.
’Ember... please run away! Please... I beg you...’ Ivy’s choked sob beca heartwrenching as cold tears stread down from the corner of her eyes.
Soon, the ground started to vibrate, and Ember hugged Ivy. Her murmur sounded near Ivy’s ears: "What’s this sound?"
"Sh*t! It’s a zombie horde!" Ember’s voice sounded a bit scared and alert. "Little sis, we will hide. This wave of zombies is too much, and I can’t deal with them on my own. We just need to wait for our father and mother to return, and with their support, everything will be good. So please be calm and don’t get scared, alright?"
They were camping in an abandoned factory, and Ember imdiately took Ivy and hid behind a cardboard box. To make sure that the zombies didn’t notice their location, she even sared so of the zombie blood around their area.
Once the preparation was done, Ember covered herself and Ivy with cardboard.
Thud! Thud!
Through the narrow slit of the cardboard, Ember could see shadows staggering across the floor... greenish, hunched forms with twitching limbs and open jaws.
Their guttural growls scraped against Ivy’s sanity like nails on tal.
For her everything was just pitch black.
One of the zombies stopped re feet away from their hiding spot. Its head tilted slightly, sniffing the air.
Ember’s grip on the crowbar tightened.
The creature bent closer, its rotten face now only a few inches from the cardboard’s edge.
Then it turned to leave, but due to a misstep, its foot accidentally moved the cardboard, exposing Ember and Ivy’s location.
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