Amelia

"Thank you for letting us stay here, and thank you for dinner." I began grabbing the dirty dishes off of the table to help clean up.

Emma watched me before a soft smile made its way on her face, "Of course, you don't need to help clean up, I've got it."

"Please, it's the least I can do." We shared a smile, and she handed me the plates reluctantly.

A knock at the door came, and Matt moved from the table to answer it. Emma leaned against the counter as she watched me wash the dishes, "Between you and me, Ryan never brings up girls to me, he knows how curious I get. So, you two must be good friends for him to do that..."

My heart was thumping in my chest, and my cheeks turned hot, "We went to high school together, we just haven't spoken much until New Years."

She sighed softly without letting the smile leave, "Well, I was excited to meet you to say the least- even if you are just a friend. It's just a shame it was under these circumstances."

"I agree." I smiled back. Her light eyes reminded me of Ryan.

"Amelia," I turned to Matt, as a man and a pregnant woman followed him in, "this is Elmer. Elmer, this is Amelia."

I dried my hands off and shook his hand, Matt continued, "And this is his wife Linda. Elmer's a close friend, and they'll be staying with us until this all blows over."

I nodded, and gave them a smile. Let's hope this was all some huge hoax, because I couldn't imagine what a pregnancy would be like in the middle of this.

"Have you heard about New York City?" Elmer asked, removing his coat, and helping his wife remove hers.

"No, what's going on?" Matt questioned, grabbing his seat at the table again.

"Cuomo just issued a state of emergency for New York City. They called the national guard in and everything. The whole island is on lockdown. People are saying the government might call martial law." Elmer rose his eyebrows as he told us all.

When none of us responded, he added, "Check it out for yourself." He nodded us to the living room, and we followed. Emma placed a gentle hand on my back as we entered the living room. Matt turned on the TV, and flipped to the news.

"Martial law has officially been declared as air force units are deployed over a locked-in Manhattan." The news anchor spoke.

"Sometimes, I hate to say I'm right." Elmer muttered, staring at the news.

"Riots have broken out, and rooftop units are being used to control the masses." The anchorman paused, giving a chance for his female counterpart to add, "Authorities say if you discover an unconscious body, do not attempt to give medical assistance or approach within five meters. Report the incident immediately and remove yourself from the area. The government has also issued a curfew for the following areas -"

I dropped my gaze from the TV, and began moving back to the kitchen. Was this actually happening?

"Are you okay, hon?" Emma asked quietly.

I nodded faintly, "It's just a lot to take in at once."

She nodded, "I understand. None of it feels real."

"Do you mind if I take some food up to Chloe? She hasn't been feeling well." I asked, grabbing the food from the table and bringing it to the counter.

"No of course not! She needs some fuel too." We shared a smile. I liked Emma's genuine kindness, and the way she spoke so softly.

I made my way to the room Chloe and I are sharing, and knocked on the door softly, "How are you feeling?" I asked quietly.

Chloe groaned as she shifted in bed, "Worse. Everything hurts so much," She glanced at the tray in my hand, "I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure? You should try-"

Chloe's phone rang and she grunted louder, "Tell Jason to stop calling me!"

I set the tray down on the nightstand before picking up Chloe's phone, "Hello?"

"Mel! Where are you guys? I've been at your house knocking for twenty minutes." He sounded exhausted.

I looked at Chloe as I thought, "We're not there."

"No duh! Where are you, and where's Chloe? I need to speak to her." He was getting impatient, I could hear it. I took a deep breath. I couldn't just tell him we were at Ryan's parents' house. If they were only expecting me at first, then accommodated Chloe, how would they feel about Jason just showing up?

I bit my lip at how stressed and worried he sounded, "I don't know if I can tell you."

There was a long pause of silence, building the suspense, "Are you serious, Mel?"

"We're visiting someone, I can't just invite you over."

"Whatever, Mel."

Before I could think of anything else to say to diffuse him, he hung up.

"Well, he was pissed." I mumbled.

"Good." Chloe muttered, wincing as she sat up, "He shouldn't have made me feel worse than I do."

"I'm sure he didn't mean to."

"Whatever." She turned her head slowly to shake her head. She looked to the nightstand, before glancing at my hands, "Can you get me a drink, please?"

"Sure."

As I made my way back downstairs, I heard a familiar voice, making my heart beat faster, "All the flights were canceled, I had to go to a base near Oakland." Ryan explained.

"They let you in?" I heard Matt ask as I slowly stepped into the kitchen. Emma smiled at me, and Matt gave me a nod. They stood by a phone, and I gave a tight smile. Why did I think he was here already?

"Thanks to Tristan, yeah." Ryan replied.

I pointed to a cup in the cupboard, asking for permission, and Emma nodded. I began filling it up with water while she spoke, "Well, maybe you should stay at the base and we can stay at the house. Maybe we can wait this out." Emma suggested.

"Staying at the base would be much safer than trying to come back here. At least there you'd have weapons and a good defense." Matt added.

"No," Ryan spoke quickly, he paused, taking a deep breath, "I've thought about it, but I want to get back home. I'm of better use if I'm over there."

"You're not going to be of any use if you're dead." Matt retorted.

Ryan took a long pause before answering, "I... just want to make sure Mel is safe and okay."

"She's okay, hon. We'll take good care of her, you know that." Emma smiled at me, and I returned it.

"I know, mom, but I need to see her. I need to make sure she's okay." Ryan's honesty made butterflies fly around my stomach.

Emma turned to the phone, her eyes lighting up a bit, before meeting mine again. There's that excitement she mentioned whenever Ryan brings up girls. I chuckled softly.

"I'm going to try to get a flight into Tobyhanna since they need to reload supplies anyway, and hopefully from there Tristan can help me pick you guys up." Ryan continued.

"Are you saying the house isn't the safest place to bunker down?" Matt asked.

"I don't know, dad, I'd rather be safe than sorry." Ryan whispered into the line.

I still couldn't believe this was happening. Classes were canceled, people were getting really sick, and apparently people were turning into zombies.

"If it comes down to it, we can meet you up there. You don't have to be traveling all that way."

"Is Mel there? Can I speak to her?" My eyes shot to the phone this time, at Ryan's question.

"She's right here, I'll put her on." Emma called, grabbing the phone. She took it off speaker before handing it to me.

"Thank you," I smiled, carrying the phone with me as I took the cup of water back to Chloe, "Hey."

He sighed deeply, "It's so good to hear you. How's everything going so far?"

"Good, definitely less awkward than I'd thought it'd be." We both chuckled lightly.

"My mom hasn't started interrogating you?"

"I'm not sure." I smiled when I heard his laugh. I didn't know it would calm me this much to talk like everything was normal again. Last night we were on the phone for hours, and I don't think we would've guessed this was how the day would go.

"Have you seen the news?" Ryan asked casually.

"Yeah, it's pretty scary, with all the curfews and lockdowns."

"Have you spoken to your family?"

I stopped in my tracks, "No, I haven't even thought about it. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I should at least call to tell them about the curfews and stuff."

"You definitely should call them. So, everything is fine?" Ryan asked as I entered the room. Chloe was missing from the bed, but I didn't have a chance to get worried. I could hear her hurling whatever she had left from the bathroom.

"Crap." I muttered.

"What's wrong?"

"Chloe's not holding down any food." I ran a hand through my hair, before recalling where we were, "Sorry, I keep cutting you off." I sighed, moving towards the bed. I'll help Chloe after I finish the call.

"It's fine, I just want to make sure you're doing good."

"I'm good. I just wish you were here." I whispered, playing with the edge of the bedsheets.

"I wish I was there too, Mel." He whispered, and my heart fluttered, "I can't wait to see you." The honesty in his voice made me smile.

"I can't wait to see you too." I sighed again, "I need a hug. A long hug."

He chuckled at that, "I'll hug you as soon as I see you, for as long as you want." I could hear someone calling out names and times from the other end, "I'll talk to you soon, stay safe."

"You too, Ryan." I waited for him to hang up the line, feeling relieved just from talking to Ryan.

I set the water cup on the counter, and went back down to give the phone back to Emma and Matt. "He said he'll call back soon."

"I'm sure he will." Emma grinned, making me blush.

A knock brought all of our attention to the front door. Matt stood up, and walked over cautiously. I checked the time. Who would be coming over at ten o'clock?

Matt opened the door, "Jason?"