Chapter 3: Restless Night

Jason sighed as he turned on his side, eyes falling on his bare walls. He was dead tired a few minutes ago, but now sleep wouldn’t come. He couldn’t understand why. He hasn’t been having trouble sleeping since the early days and now it’s like he’s one back to them.

Something in the back of his mind is keeping him from going to sleep.

It went on like that for a good half an hour. Twisting and turning multiple times, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in.

After a few more minutes he couldn’t take it anymore and he sat upright. He rubbed the side of his face as his eyes scanned across the room.

He stood up, eyes adjusting to the dark as he walked over to his desk and sat himself down. He might as well do something if he can’t sleep. He let his eyes wander over his desk and the shelves on the wall, the posters that his parents left up. Two photo frames caught his eye.

He picked up the first one, smiling as he thumbed over the picture of him and his brother. It was the day that they caught their first fish, without their father’s help. They were such little kids, he thought as he put the frame down before picking up the next one.

It was of him and his previous girlfriend, the one he left behind five years ago. He trailed his finger over her face, staring at her beautiful green eyes and curly brunette hair.

“Maybe we should catch up sometime, Lucy.” He whispered to himself before putting it down.

As he moved to go back to his bed he dragged his hands across the dress, accidentally pushing a lot of papers off the desk.

“Shit.” He grumbled underneath his breath, bending down and picking up the papers. He furrowed his brows as he found a photograph that he didn’t know still existed.

One of him, Lucy, his brother and Amy. He let the other papers go as he stood up, holding the photo with a frown on his face. It looked to be the night before he left. They spend the whole day at Coral Shore’s beach and then watched the sunset together. Watched as the sun said goodbye and the moon greeted them. It was where he spent his last moments before the army. Where he broke the news to Lucy. Where David proposed to Amy.

“It was also where Lucy said she never wanted to speak to me again or see my face.” Jason hummed with a sad smile, letting the photo flutter onto the desk.

He turned around, but instead of going for his bed he headed for the door, closing it softly behind him and silently making his way to the bathroom. If he knew his family, he knew that they didn’t take kindly to being woken up before they’re ready.

Once he was safely in the bathroom he turned on the tap and washed his face. The water was ice cold and refreshing, it got hot during the nights at Coral Shore. When he was done he grabbed a towel, drying his face.

A took a look in the mirror, squinting his eyes to see, but it was pitch black. With that he left the bathroom making his way back to his bedroom.

He never reached his bedroom.

The sound of metal hitting the ground caught his attention and when he took a look through the window he found someone stumbling away from fallen trash cans.

“Drunks.” He mumbled, closing the curtain. He couldn’t get far before he heard breaking glass. With a groan he turned around, ready to shout out the window for the drunk to go home, but when he looked out the window he found someone trying to break into their neighbor's house.

It was like Jason didn’t even think about it as he hurried down the hall, almost jumping down the stairs. He skidded into the kitchen, almost stumbling into his mother’s glass cupboard with how fast he was going. He grabbed the keys from the counter, hurriedly opening the sliding the door. He didn’t bother taking the stairs this time, jumping over the railing, off the deck and onto the ground.

Once he reached the wall separating the two homes, he gripped the top and heaved himself over. He dropped down onto all fours then stood up. As he made his way to the back door he noticed that the glass was broken and the culprit was already inside. As soon as he stepped onto the porch he heard screaming coming from inside.

Jason ignored the glass pieces scattered on the porch and the inside as he rushed through. His eyes widened as he noticed a trail of blood leading into the room he assumed was the living room. He quickly followed the trail and found a woman on the ground, drenched in blood.

Fuck, the intruder is probably armed. Jason thought.

He took a step forward, reaching for the woman,

Maybe she still had a pulse. It was wistful thinking, Jason knew this. He still had to try.

Before he could properly get a feel another scream took away his attention and he jumped up, following the noise as it got louder and louder. As he stepped into a messy hallway he found someone banging at the end of it against a door. The scream was coming from inside.

“Hey asshole!” Jason yelled, trying to get the person’s attention on him.

The banging stopped and for a few seconds the intruder just stood still, not moving an inch. Then they turned around and started stumbling forward.

Jason narrowed his eyes, taking a step forward himself as he tilted his head a little.

When he could finally see the intruder’s face a spark of fear ignited inside of him and sent a chill through his body.

It looked to be a man, but he had blood dripping out of his mouth, down his chin. His whole front was covered in blood, his arms and hands as well. His eyes were bloodshot and lifeless, in a sense.

The man, if you could call him that, only stumbled a few more times before a hideous shriek escaped his mouth and he started rushing towards Jason.

“Calm down before you get hurt.” Jason called, authority in his voice. He took a few steps back, but the man kept rushing, hissing as he came.

Jason realised the man wouldn’t listen and prepared himself. When the intruder was finally in front of him, Jason side-stepped and pushed him away with his shoulder. The man’s legs hit one of the chairs pushed against the wall and he went falling down.

Unfortunately Jason hadn’t calculated his strength and the man‘s head hit the small end table next to the chair. The force of the impact immediately broke his neck and the ‘crack’ sound echoed through the hallway.

“Shit.” Jason said as he stepped closer to the man. He confirmed that the man was indeed dead and punched one of the walls, groaning. He needed to be more careful.

The screaming brought him back to the real world and he slowly made his way to the back door. He gave a soft knock as the screaming died down.

“Anybody in here?’ he called, knocking once more, when no answer came he turned and looked at the dead man.

“It’s safe now, so you can come out.” He said softly, trying not to sound intimidating with his deep voice. When he still got no answer he put his ear against the door, trying to listen. Faint sobs emitted from the room and he sighed.

“No need to be scared. I’m Jason Warren I’m in the military.” Jason said, trying to coax whoever is inside to come out.

“Warren. You one of Richard’s sons?” The voice of a man came through the door.

Jason was surprised to hear his father’s name but answered nonetheless. “Yes, I’m his eldest. I saw someone breaking in and came to help.”

Silence followed and for a few seconds Jason thought nothing more would happen, but ten he heard the ‘click’ of a lock and the door slowly opened.

When the door was fully open he found a man standing with a shotgun in his hands, pointing it down the hall.

“Easy there mister.” Jason said softly, holding his hands up to show he was harmless. Or well, as harmless as he could be.

“I just had to make sure.” The man said, lowering the shotgun. He glared down the hall, eyes landing on the dead body before turning back to Jason. “My...uh…m-my wife...did you…?” his voice broke as he tried to put the sentence together but Jason understood.

Jason shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

The man’s sharp intake of breath didn’t shock Jason and he saw as the man struggled to keep himself together.

“The son of a bitch was bashing against the windows and when I came down to check what was happening he broke through the glass and fucking bit me.” The man was livid as he said this, eyes burning with fire. He lifted his right arm and showed Jason the bit on his bicep.

“Anyone else with you?” Jason asked, trying to see inside the room.

“My little girl, told her to hide in the closet to keep her safe.” The man said gesturing to somewhere inside the room.

Jason nodded, turning to stare at the body once more.

“I just don’t understand, we don’t have break-ins. Never.”

Before Jason could answer a car alarm went off, scaring both men. Jason rushed to a window inside the room, looking out into the streets. The street was full. Men, women, children were stumbling all around.

Jason narrowed his eyes, observing the behavior of the people. There was a small group gathered around a car, lights flashing.

Jason watched as one of their neighbor's stepped outside, probably to see what was going on. He got swarmed by almost a dozen of the ‘people’. He was screaming and Jason took a step back, something was wrong.

I need to get my family to safety. Nothing was more important to him.

“I need to go, will you be alright?” Jason asked, but he was already making his way out of the room.

“Yeah, yeah.” The man answered, his grip on the shotgun tightening.

“Stay inside and keep the lights off. The police will be taking care of this in no time. Also, get that checked out tomorrow.” Jason instructed.

The man nodded, smiling thankfully.

“Thank you Jason, my name’s Mathew.” Jason watched as Mathew stretched out his hand and with a smile he took it, giving it a firm shake.

“I’m just doing what’s right.” And with that Jason left, hurrying down the hall. He didn’t notice the soft breathing of the intruder. Just as Jason rounded the corner its eyes opened.

Jason jumped back over the fence, seeing a red glow coming from the streets.

He needed to get his family out and now.

He rushed inside, not caring to be silent anymore. Before heading upstairs he grabbed a flashlight that his dad always kept in the left cabinet in the living room. His footsteps sounded like thunder and he took the stairs two at a time.

He reached his parent’s first and rushed in, the door almost slamming against the wall.

“Dad!” Jason said urgently, voice echoing in the silent room.

Richard groaned as he moved around on the bed before realizing there was someone in the room. He sat up, eyes falling in his son and relieve coursing through his body.

“Jason? What are you doing?” He asked, reaching to turn on the small lamp.

“Shh, don’t turn that on.” Jason gestured towards the light and Richard let his hand slowly fall.

“What’s going on?” He asked, he swung his legs of the bed, slowly getting up.

“There isn’t much time. You need to be quiet but fast. Wake up mom and get a few days’ clothes. Wait in here while I wake David and Amy. I’ll come get you when I’m done.” Jason made to leave, turning around.

“Wait, what’s going on? Why do we ne-”

“Dad, trust me. We need to leave. Now.” Jason interrupted his dad, looking him in the eyes.

Richard slowly nodded as he took a step back. Understanding that whatever was happening was serious.

Jason gave one nod before he left the room, heading for his brother’s. He didn’t get very far before a hideous scream filled the air, making Jason stop dead in his tracks. His stomach dropped as he imagined something bad happening to his family. It wasn’t long before a gunshot followed and that had Jason moving again. He reached his brother’s room and threw the door open.