Z 2134

Tommy, Morgan, and Daniel all seemed to genuinely like him. They thought he was interesting, seemed interested in what he had to say, and laughed at most of his jokes.
    Still, even with new friends around, nothing replaced the familiar comfort of the people who really knew you — family.
    “Holy crap!” Tommy cried, “Check out the black-haired bitch!”
    “Don’t call her a bitch,” Daniel said. “You’ll get us in trouble.”
    Everyone turned to the screen as it showed a slow-mo replay of the girl with black hair dropping from the tree and launching her heel hard into a lone zombie’s chest. The zombie hit the ground, screaming as the girl smashed her heel repeatedly into his face.
    Morgan leaned into Adam’s ear and whispered. “Hey, Adam, let’s hit the mess hall. There’s something we wanna show you.”
    Adam shook his head, then turned to Morgan and met his blue eyes. “I don’t want to leave the hall,” he said. “I don’t want to miss what happens with Ana.”
    “You kidding, man?” Morgan ran his hand through his curly blond ringlets. “They’re going to rebroadcast this shit a billion fucking times!” His voice hit the air with a whispered hiss, low enough that none of them could possibly get in trouble for his dirty mouth.
    Daniel said, “Nothing ever happens the first day, not after the Halo anyway, and we’ll only be gone for a minute or two.”
    Tommy’s hand fell on Adam’s back. “Come on,” he said. “You don’t want us to do this without you. Trust me, it might even make you forget about what’s happening to your sister on the outside.”
    After another two minutes of pressure, and the creeping fear that he might lose his only friends in the world, Adam finally agreed, then stood and followed Tommy, Morgan, and Daniel out of the TV hall, then down the long hallway toward the mess hall, which they reached in less than a minute — but walked right by as if they were never aiming for it at all.
    “I thought we were going to the mess hall,” Adam said.
    Daniel said, “Nah, we’re going somewhere cooler.”
    Morgan grinned. “Patience,” he said. “We’ll get there.”
    Adam swallowed, suddenly nervous and wishing he were somewhere else. They walked for another minute until they reached a section of the hallway, far farther then Adam had ever been. The area was roped off for repairs, with a black plastic curtain hanging behind the rope, running from ceiling to floor. A sheet of parchment was stapled to the black plastic with the single word “repair” written in all caps.
    “Where are we?” Adam wondered out loud.
    “Don’t worry about it,” Morgan said, parting the plastic, then ducking behind it. Tommy followed, then Daniel, with Adam taking tentative steps at the rear.
    “We’re not supposed to be here,” Adam said, shaking his head as he stepped past the curtain and then through an open doorway.
    Morgan was first to laugh, but Tommy and Daniel were both only one breath behind. “Don’t be such a bitty baby bitch,” he said through a cackle of laughter.
    “Yeah,” Daniel agreed. “Live a little. You can’t obey all the rules all the time.”
    Adam kept quiet as they crept through a darkened room, filled with a ton of heavy-looking furniture, all of it draped in filthy, dust-covered sheets. Adam wasn’t sure whose room it had been, but it seemed as if it had been there forever, and it had been just as long since anyone had occupied it. Adam wasn’t even aware that there were living areas on the same floor as the TV hall.
    They crossed the shadow-filled obstacle course and found a quiet stairwell on the farthest side. Adam hedged, falling a step back where the dark shadows grew darker.
    Morgan laughed, louder than before, then said, “Peas or grapefruits?”
    “What?” Adam twisted his grin, trying to figure out what Morgan was trying to say without looking scared.
    “Peas or grapefruits?”
    Adam said, “What?” again, as he slowly realized what he thought they were saying. He took a second to chew the probability in his head, since being wrong meant laughing, and always at his expense.
    What if they’re not talking about my testicles?
    “Grapefruits,” Adam said.
    Morgan grinned, said, “All right then, let’s go,” and waved his arm forward, stepping into the dark stairwell. Daniel and Tommy followed, with Adam another three steps behind.
    A new surprise waited one floor below — another room just like the one above.
    Jayla was