[No one can hear me or see me except the one who activated the system and has the watch attached to their wrist.]
So that explained it. Now that he thought of it, he indeed looked stupid muttering words to no one. No wonder she thought he was one of those monsters.
He ran his hand through his hair nervously, trying to come up with a believable response. "Ahh.... You see, I was just talking to myself," Kia began, trying to sound nonchalant. "It's a habit of mine. Sort of like a thinking out loud thing, you know?"
"Like Whiskers?" She asked.
"Whiskers? Who is Whiskers?"
"My friend Whiskers. Papa said she's not real, but I can hear her talking to me all the time. Like right now she's telling me to be careful," Sophie continued, with an almost dreamy look in her eyes. "She says she doesn't know if we can trust you."
Kia raised an eyebrow. So she's talking about an imaginary friend. How could he be stuck with a weird one?
"Whiskers sounds like a pretty smart friend. You should take her advice. You should never trust anyone," he said, slowly lowering his head. "It would only cause you trouble." He said with sadness in his voice.
"What is your name?" He asked, leaning his back against the door. The growls and
crashes coming from behind the door had reduced. Which couldn't only mean the zombies had given up.
The little girl stared at Kia for a few more seconds before speaking. "Sophie," she mumbled, her voice barely audible.
Kia cleared his throat, staring back at the little girl, not knowing what else to say. It felt awkward talking to a child. "How… how old are you?" He said, adjusting his posture so he could sit properly.
The little girl slowly raised both her hands in the air.
One, two, three, four, five, six.
She had six fingers pointed out.
"Six," Kia said, and she nodded in response. Kia almost scoffed. In further disbelief. What was a six-year-old doing out all alone? "Where are your parents?" He asked.
Her fingers slowly dropped to her side, and so did her head, as sadness once again filled her eyes. She pouted her lips and gently lifted her head back up, this time she wasn't looking at Kia, instead, she was looking at the window.
"Papa," she mouthed as tears filled her eyes, dropping down her cheek.
Kia looked confused, his brow knitted together. His gaze followed where she was pointing at. Behold, he was staring at the figure of a man pacing back and forth outside the window.
"The monsters got him," she added.
His back was faced against them, his clothes tattered and covered in blood as if sensing them, he turned directly to face the window and was staring at them with blood dripping down his eyes.
His head twitched, and his body cracked followed by a loud growl as he began sprinting towards the window. Fortunately, there was a metal barrier protecting the window. His body slammed hard against the barrier, if it was a normal human, it would have hurt like crazy and enough to stop them, but this was no human, and zombies could feel no pain.
It began forcing its hands through the small gaps of the metal barrier. It physically couldn't pass through, as the gaps were too small to fit the body of a whole human, but by the loud sound it was making, it was attracting more zombies to that window, and with enough force, they could break it.
Rushing up to his feet, Kia picked up a tablecloth and placed it over the window to block the view. He took two steps back with his hand stretched forward and heart beating wildly, waiting for the unexpected, but just as seen in movies, it immediately went silent. If they couldn't see, they couldn't attack.
But they were still drawn to sound, and almost immediately the sound of Sofia's gentle sobs could be heard from across the room.
The growls became louder. Kia's eyes widened, he rushed towards her using his right hand to cover her mouth.
"Shh!!" He whispered. "Don't make a sound or they will break in."
"Papa," Sofia repeated, her face turning pink. She was a child, after all. What could Kia have expected?
He quickly picked her up into his arms and stepped out of the living room, walking down a small hallway into another room.
It must be Mr. Robert's room, Kia thought as he took in his surroundings, the scent of Mr. Robert's cologne still lingering in the air. The windows were closed, thankfully, with curtains providing extra concealment.
He carefully placed Sofia on the bed and got up. "I know you're scared. But you can't keep loudly sobbing like that," he said, his voice laced with frustration, and he ran his hand through his hair.
Sophie's lower lip trembled as she nodded. "Do you know where your parents are?" She asked suddenly, grabbing onto Kia's hand.
The question was unexpected, and Kia's fingers froze mid-air, and his jaw clenched, anger flashing in his eyes. "They are gone," he snapped and pulled his hand away from her tiny grip.
"But…" she whispered, more tears fighting their way through her eyes.
He scanned the room for potential threats. Thankfully, there was nothing to be worried about.
"I think we will be safe here for now," he said.
Sophie didn't respond, her face crumpled, and she turned away, her tiny body wracked with quiet sobs. Kia felt a lump rise in his throat as he watched her, and his hand tightened into a fist.
"We need to stay here until the coast is clear," he said. "I'll keep watch."
With that, he walked out of the room, and as soon as he shut the door, he collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest tightly.
"Don't fücking shed a tear," he whispered to himself. "No one worth my tears, so don't you fucking start now," Kia finished, his voice barely audible but rough with unused tears amidst the silence of the room.
He clenched his jaw, forcing back the flood of emotions threatening to overwhelm him. Rising to his feet, he took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "System," he called out to the voice from his watch.
[Yes Kia?]
"Tell me all I need to know."