“You ever wonder if there was more. I mean. Than just this?” Gregory asked.

Melody slid a lighted cigarette into her mouth as she stared up the stars. She smiled as she folded her hands behind her head and she wriggled her bare toes as she stared up at the heavens.

“I don’t know. Maybe.” She said.

Gregory sighed. He gazed up at the stars and he folded his arms across his chest.

“I mean. There just has to be more.” He said.

He sat up and he looked at Melody.

“Don’t you ever wonder about that?” he asked.

“Not really. I kind of just enjoy my own version of reality.” Melody said.

Gregory scratched at his arm as he stared in Melody’s face.

Melody pressed the cigarette between her lips as she looked up at the sky.

Gregory smiled and he nodded his head.

“I like that. Your own version of reality.” He said.

Gregory rose to his feet. He took a step forward and he stretched his limbs with a loud sigh. He raised his arms over his head and he tilted his body to the side.

“The stars are pretty though.” Melody said.

Gregory folded his arms across his chest as he gazed out at the rooftops of the houses around him.

He looked at the dark slats beneath his bare feet and he took a few
steps forward.

Melody sat up and she looked at Gregory.

“Careful. Don’t fall off like last time. You might break your neck.” Melody said.

“I’ll be careful.” He said.

Gregory moved forward and he paused a few inches from the edge of the roof.

He stared at the ground below before he let out a sigh and looked up at the sky.

“There has to be more than this. There just has to be. You can’t just look up at the sky, see all of those stars and not feel your own insignificance.” Gregory said.

“I just see stars. Some of them even twinkle.” Melody said with a laugh.

Gregory turned around in a circle as he looked up at the sky.

“Those are the ones that are dying.” He said.

“Stars die?” Melody asked.

“Yeah. Unfortunately.” Gregory said.

“Next time we come up we should bring your telescope. The sky is clear enough for us to see some of the constellations.” Melody said.

“Yeah. It’s so beautiful. Pity we won’t be able to travel to the stars. See other planets and stuff.” Gregory said.

“We might.” Melody said.

Gregory turned to Melody and he laughed.

“I mean actually leaving this planet and going to another. Without the use of psychotropic drugs.” He said.

Melody laughed as she pulled a joint and a handful of pills out of her front pocket.

Gregory turned from Melody. He took a deep breath of cool night air as he gazed at the rooftops around him.

He looked up at the sky and he closed his eyes for a brief moment.

“There just has to be something else. Something else besides this. More than this.” Gregory said.

Gregory opened his eyes and he lowered his gaze to the street below.

He stared at the hundreds of rotting dead people that staggered through the streets beneath him.

The sounds of low screams and grunts filled the air as the creatures hobbled along the streets below.

Some of the putrefying people stood motionless in the street and stared up at him. And others walked aimlessly through the vacated boulevards and side streets.

“There has to be something else. More than just the waiting.” Gregory said.

Melody sat up.

She grabbed the small machine gun that lay on the roof at her side before she pulled the cigarette from her mouth. She extinguished the lighted cigarette and she slid it into her front pocket.

She turned to her brother and she smiled at him.

“Come on. Mom made pancakes for dinner again.” Melody said.

Gregory turned from the undead beneath him and he smiled at his sister before he moved from the edge of the roof.

Amanda Lawrence Auverigne is a reclusive college student who writes short fiction in her spare time. A few of her stories have been published. She resides in the faded splendor of a crumbling century old mansion with a roommate who is rarely seen during daylight hours.