"What the hell was that?" McKenzie asked, eyes wide.
"It came from outside," Naviere said, glancing toward the window.
"No shit, Sherlock," Reigan muttered, her tone dry.
Naviere shot her an annoyed look, but Reigan only smirked.
"Should we check it out?" Artesia asked.
"Uh, probably not?" said Archie, but, as usual, no one listened to her.
The group tiptoed out of the room and into the hallway. Anastasia led the way—by default, though no one needed to mention that. As they approached the door, the noise grew louder. When they reached it, Anastasia tried to peek through the peephole. Just as she was about to, the doorbell rang with a jarring ding-dong, startling everyone.
Artesia collided with McKenzie's leg, who, in turn, tried to steady herself by grabbing Naviere. Naviere crashed into Reigan, who stumbled and bumped into Anastasia. In the end, only Archie remained unscathed.
"Damn, the perks of being tall," she muttered, arms crossed.
The group recovered from the mishap when they heard a series of knocks on the door. Anastasia quickly stood up and opened it, having completely forgotten to check the peephole in all the confusion.
Standing on the doorstep were three familiar faces: Roselyn, Jayde, and Ayden.
"Heya!" Roselyn greeted, her tone awkward—a stark contrast to her usual confidence.
"Oh! I didn't know everyone was here! Hey, guys!" Roselyn flashed a toothy smile, but Naviere wasn't fooled.
"Wow. She's lying through her teeth," Naviere whispered under her breath.
From the back, Archie raised an eyebrow at her. Naviere continued, "Our shoes are literally outside. Unless she's blind, how could she not know—"
Before she could finish, McKenzie jabbed her in the stomach, silencing her.
Naviere shot her a sideways look as McKenzie's pointed glare did its job.
"What's going on, Lyn?" Anastasia asked, redirecting the focus.
"Well, uh..." Roselyn hesitated, glancing between the group. "We were outside when the emergency alert went off and then saw the horde of... well, zombies. So we ran in, but now we can't find the keys."
"Can we get the spare key?" Jayde asked with an awkward smile.
"Uh, yeah. Sure. Give me a minute." Anastasia rushed inside to fetch it. The others exchanged uncertain glances.
To break the awkward silence, Roselyn asked, "So, what were you guys doing?"
"We were heading to Rei's place to get her siblings," Archie replied.
"All of you together?" Ayden asked, his voice full of disbelief.
"No... Just me, Rei, and Nav," McKenzie said quickly.
"But that's dangerous!" Ayden exclaimed, his eyes widening.
"What else are we supposed to do?" Naviere said, on the verge of rolling her eyes. The constant drama was starting to annoy her.
A moment of silence followed until Anastasia returned, holding the spare key.
"Finally found it! Sorry to keep you waiting," she said, handing it to the triplets. Jayde took it from her with a smile.
"Thanks, Ana."
That definitely didn't make Anastasia turn bright red or anything.
As the triplets made their way toward their apartment, Ayden turned around and called out,
"If you're going, at least take something to protect yourselves and..."
"And...?" Reigan asked, impatiently.
"And I'll come too," Ayden said, his tone firm, like no one could change his mind.
Everyone paused, looking between one another. In the end, they agreed it would be better if Ayden came along.
"Oh God... are we in a shitty rom-com or something?" Naviere muttered under her breath.
Only her friends heard her, and they struggled to stifle their laughter.
"Anyway, weapons are a good idea," Archie said, trying to steer the conversation back to seriousness.
"But is it dangerous enough for weapons?" McKenzie asked, still unsure.
"Better safe than sorry, right?" Artesia shrugged.
Roselyn, smiling brightly, piped up,
"Then we'll help with the weapons!"
She was practically beaming, as if pleased by the opportunity. Her brothers nodded in agreement.
"Why are they so happy about making weapons? Weirdos!" Naviere grumbled.
"What do you have against the triplets, Nav?" Reigan asked, glancing at her.
By then, the group had already gone ahead to the triplets' apartment to start gathering materials, leaving Naviere and Reigan behind to inform their siblings about the change of plans.
"I don't know, they just give me a really bad feeling," Naviere admitted, looking a bit dejected.
"Are you sure it's not just the weird situation we're in?" Reigan raised an eyebrow at her.
"Maybe," Naviere replied with a sigh as they walked toward the apartment.
"Hey, wait up!" Reigan called, jogging to catch up.
Naviere looked at her, raising an eyebrow. Reigan smirked.
"Shitty rom-com, huh?"
"It's so obvious he's trying to hit on her. He should just confess instead of beating around the bush... and his brother too. It's super annoying to watch."
"Understandable," Reigan nodded in agreement.
Naviere smirked, feeling a little better. "I know, right?"
They entered the apartment, only to be greeted by a chorus of noise. The others had already gotten started on their weapons, though they weren't exactly getting much done. The sound of hammering and clanging filled the room.
Naviere raised an eyebrow at the scene. Archie was holding an axe, testing its weight, while Artesia had an actual frying pan in her hands. Kenzie had a bunch of knives scattered around, eyeing them like she was about to go full-on assassin mode. Meanwhile, Anastasia was holding a broomstick, clearly thinking about how she could turn it into something more... pointy.
Then there was Ayden, who seemed oddly proud of himself as he stood with a metal door in one hand.
"Found this lying around," he said, grinning like he'd just discovered a treasure chest.
How one finds a metal door lying around is far beyond Naviere's understanding.
But the highlight, of course, was Reigan. She had found a yoyo when they walked in and now held it in her hands along with a metal bob and some metal strings, staring at it like it held the secrets of the universe. Naviere almost laughed at the sight, wondering where she had even gotten the metal bob from, but then she saw something that made her forget the weirdness for a moment.
A plain, old baseball bat.
It was sitting in the corner, just waiting to be picked up. Naviere's eyes lit up. She rushed over and grabbed it, already scanning the area for anything she could use to make it a little more... dangerous.
"Naviere, what are you—?" Reigan started to ask, but Naviere was already picking up nails and a hammer, her excitement barely contained.
"I'm making it more fun," she grinned, slamming the nails into the bat with a satisfying thwack.
Ayden raised an eyebrow as he watched her. "Well, at least someone knows how to do something productive."
"Shut up, Ayden," Naviere shot back without looking at him, focusing on her work. The sound of the hammer hitting the nails made her forget all the tension she had been feeling earlier. It was weirdly therapeutic.
Reigan, on the other hand, was still fiddling with her yoyo, but it wasn't long before she started adding the metal strings and bob, tying it in a way that looked more like a weapon than a toy.
"I think I've got this figured out," she said, swinging it around with a grin.
As Jayden came in from the hallway, shotgun in hand, he gave a short laugh at the scene.
"Guess we're not exactly going for subtlety, huh?"
"I could be subtle if I wanted," Naviere said, glancing up with a smirk. "I just like my toys to be a little more... interesting."
Jayden shrugged.
"My parents' room was the only place with a decent weapon. Figured I'd go with that."
McKenzie nodded approvingly.
"Good call," she said, though her attention was still mostly on the knives she was meticulously organizing.
"Honestly, Jayden, if the zombies are too close for a shotgun, we're already screwed," Archie said with a chuckle, though she didn't sound like she was joking.
"Yeah, true," Jayden replied with a smirk, adjusting the shotgun on his shoulder. "But I like my chances with this thing."
With Jayden now holding the shotgun like it was Excalibur, the group almost looked... prepared. They weren't exactly building anything revolutionary, but at least they were ready for whatever was coming. Hopefully.
And despite everything—despite the chaos, the nerves, and the weird vibe from the triplets—Naviere couldn't help but feel a little bit of relief. She wasn't alone in this. Even if she didn't exactly trust the triplets, at least they were all in it together now.
"Alright, how does this look?" Naviere said, holding up the bat with the nails sticking out of it.
Reigan, who had been standing idly by, now looked impressed.
"That looks... pretty solid."
Naviere beamed at her, clearly pleased with the work she'd done. She swung the bat around experimentally.
"Oh yeah. This will do just fine."
Despite everything—the zombies outside and the looming uncertainty—Naviere felt a sense of camaraderie with her friends. They had a plan, however ridiculous it was, and at least for now, that was enough.
"Okay, everyone ready?" Anastasia asked, holding up her spear with a determined expression.
Everyone gave a small nod or grunt in agreement. Even the triplets were surprisingly engaged, despite the weirdness of the situation.
"We're as ready as we'll ever be," McKenzie said, sounding serious.
Reigan, meanwhile, threw a glance at Naviere.
"You okay with your bat, Naviere?"
Naviere nodded, a mischievous grin on her face.
"Oh yeah, this is definitely going to do some damage."
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