One Night

03 • Day 2

Mikayla Marks • May 2, 2019

Mikayla Marks laid in a stranger's bed, unable to fall asleep. It's currently three in the morning — the start of a new day. The occasional scream, gunshot, or siren, was able to be heard from outside of the large apartment building.

After hearing every gunshot, the tears kept coming, and they refused to stop.

After every scream, Mickey remembered the same bloodcurdling scream coming from her mother's mouth as her neighbor tore into her neck.

She remembers how her younger brother ran out the back door of their childhood home, never to be seen again.

She remembers when her father tried to stop the attack, and that's when she couldn't stand to watch anymore.

She remembers being so terrified, that she abandoned her parents. She left them to die.

She did that.

Instead of helping them, she ran.

She ran, and she didn't look back.

She remembers collapsing in that alleyway, she remembers hiding.

That's what she did — she hid. She hid like a coward.

Mickey slowly sat up, feeling a weight in her chest. It hurts. She left the man's bedroom, and slowly retraced her steps, to his living room. The man, Jimin, is on his couch, staring at the screen of his laptop. The lights are dimmed, as if he doesn't want anyone knowing anyone is in here.

It was as if he sensed the young girl in the same room, because he looked up at her with an eyebrow raised. "You're still up?" he questioned her, while she stood awkwardly.

Jimin has an accent, but she can't quite pinpoint where it's from. You can definitely tell that English wasn't his first language.

Mickey rubbed her brown eyes as she approached the couch. "I-I couldn't sleep," she confessed, yawning.

As Mickey neared the sofa, Jimin shut his laptop, not allowing her to see the screen. He tapped the couch beside him, motioning for her to take a seat. She sat beside him, not looking at him, but she could feel his eyes burning through her.

Mickey stared at the blank TV screen in front of her. "I'm scared," she whispered.

Jimin continued to look at Mickey. "I know," he responded. "Are you hungry? I have food in the kitchen," he told her, attempting to change the subject.

Mickey looked over at Jimin, gently shaking her head. "After seeing what I've seen, I can honestly say that, no, I'm not hungry," she told him.

Jimin gently nodded, looking away from her. The two of them sat in awkward silence for a bit, before he finally spoke again. "What were you doing in that alley?" he questioned, thoughtfully lifting his eyebrows as he looked at her again.

Tears fought to escape Mickey's eyes as soon as he asked the question. "I don't...I don't know," she told him. "I was hiding."

Jimin reached over and playfully nudged her. "You don't have to cry, kid," he told her.

Mickey shook her head, palming her eyes. "That's easy for you to say," she slurred out. "You seem to be in shock, you aren't reacting to anything that's happening. People are dying," she pointed out, looking at him again.

Jimin gently nodded. "I know," he replied.

"I mean, that's awful," she mumbled. Her heartbeat sped up as she leaned back against the couch. "People are eating each other."

Jimin gently shrugged. "Well, technically they're dead," he corrected the girl.

Mickey's heart clenched after hearing his words. The sound of human flesh being tore from her mother's throat echoed through her head.

Before Mickey could respond, the sound of helicopters flew over them. Jimin slowly rose to his feet, flinching as he did. He carefully stepped closer to the window near the couch. He has a slight limp, which Mickey noticed.

"Are-Are you okay?" Mickey quietly asked, also standing up, and following him over to the window.

Jimin pulled the curtain back and peaked outside. Light from outside of the window lit up his face. "I'm fine, it was just a small cut from the accident," he told her, brushing it off.

Mickey lowered herself down, to his left leg. She found a small hole in his jeans, where some blood has stained the fabric. She carefully pulled the jean material back, and found a small cut, which he hasn't tended to.

Mickey looked up at him, clearly worried about his injury. "This needs to be cleaned," she quietly told him.

Jimin gave her a weird look as she stayed in her new position — knelt down in front of him, eye level with his crotch.

Jimin snapped from his gaze and took a step back, accidentally bumping a table. "I-I'll go do that," he stuttered, clearly flustered. "Stay here, okay? Don't open the door for anyone," he muttered, walking away without another word, then she heard the bathroom door shut.

Mickey rose to her feet, and let her curiosity get the best of her. She slightly pulled the curtain back, and was faced with the city she grew up in.

It's chaotic.

Mickey quickly pulled the curtain shut, then she turned towards the sofa. Her eyes locked onto the laptop on the couch cushion. She heard the shower flip on from the bathroom, so that means the man will be a while. She quickly sat down and grabbed the laptop. She placed it on her lap and opened it, expecting a locked screen, but she, instead, got a strange screen made up of green letters and a black background.

Mickey lowered her eyebrows as she tried to understand the thousands of letters all jumbled together. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the screen went black.

"What...?" Mickey whispered. She hit the space bar key, which woke up the screen. It's unlocked, and is showing a lake for a wallpaper.

That was weird.

Mickey opened a web browser, and was immediately bombarded with news stories from across the globe. The UK, Canada, Mexico, Africa, Asia, etc., all have thousands, and thousands of reports of the outbreak. As she typed in Los Angeles, California, the internet went out, which caused a large black X to pop up. Mickey sighed, defeated. She slowly shut the laptop, and tossed it aside.

As Mickey waited for the man to return, she heard shouting from out in the hall, along with banging at another door. "Help me! Help me, please!" a woman screamed. "Please! They're coming!" she shouted. The voice got closer, and closer, until the banging came to the door to Jimin's apartment. "Hello!? Please open the door! I need help! Please!" the woman screamed.

Mickey slowly rose to her feet, and approached the locked door. The banging continued, and crying was able to be heard from right outside. As Mickey neared the door, the bathroom door flung open.

Jimin rounded the corner, soaking wet from his shower. His chest is damp, and he has a towel covering his lower half. "Don't you dare open that door," the man warned her. Mickey stopped dead in her tracks, and she slowly looked back at him, clearly worried.

"Help me! Please!? I know you're in there!" the woman shouted, banging on the apartment door.

Mickey became frantic. "Sh-She needs our help!" she whispered to Jimin.

Jimin stared at Mickey with daggers in his eyes. "Just because I saved your ass, doesn't mean I'm going to take pity on everyone I come across," he told her a bit too harshly. "For all we know, she could be infected. We are not opening that door, Mikayla," he sternly spoke.

A scream came from outside in the hallway, then the woman started running. Mickey swallowed hard after hearing another scream, this one was worse than the one before.

Jimin stepped closer to Mickey, watching her. "Do you trust me?" he questioned.

Mickey looked at the door, feeling guilty that the woman who was begging for help, is now dead. "No," she answered, not looking at him. Her voice is quiet and shaky.

Jimin chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, that's a total lie," he pointed out. "If you didn't trust me, you wouldn't have come with me. You wouldn't be locked inside of an apartment with me. You trust me, so trust me when I say that opening that door for anyone, is a bad idea," he finished.

Mickey gently nodded. "Okay," she quietly replied. She glanced up to him, immediately skipping past his bare chest and the towel loosely covering his lower half. "C-Can I take a shower?" she asked him.

Jimin nodded, stepping aside. "Yeah," he responded. "Some of my ex-girlfriend's clothes are in my bedroom, so help yourself to anything that fits," he told her, and with that, he turned and walked back down the hall.

•••

After showering, Mickey quickly ran across the hall with a towel wrapped around her body, hoping the man in the living room didn't see her.

Mickey approached his closet, then she opened it. The majority of the things hanging in here, are suits. She quickly shut it, and walked to his dresser. She pulled several drawers open, before she found one with T-shirts in it. She grabbed a white V-neck T- shirt, then she went on the search for female pants.

Eventually, Mickey found a drawer with leggings in it. She grabbed a black pair, then she quickly got dressed. She quickly exited the bedroom, and read the clock hanging in the kitchen.

It's four AM.

Jimin is at the counter, doing something on his strange laptop. He didn't even look up at Mickey. His eyes stayed focused on the screen, as if it was sucking him up.

Mickey walked into the living area. She carefully examined the large setup where his television is, finding hundreds of movies. As her fingers trailed across each title, she could feel his eyes settle on her once more. After reading each movie title, Mickey found her favorite one.

The Little Mermaid.

A smile formed on Mickey's face as she pulled it off of the shelf. She looked at the movie case for a moment, then she turned to face the man in the kitchen. "Can I watch this?" she asked, holding the movie case up. A smile stretched across her face, which caused Jimin to smile a little bit as well.

Jimin's eyes shifted to the case, and it took him a moment to comprehend what she was asking of him. "Yeah," he responded. He looked away from her, back to his laptop.

Mickey turned, and placed the movie into the DVD player. She, then, returned to the couch, where she sat down and grabbed the remote. After watching the same previews as always, she pressed play on her favorite movie, not knowing that it'll be the last one she watches for a long, long time.

•••

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please vote, comment, and add to your reading list for future updates!

S. C. Keener

07/03/19