World of the Dead [REWRITING]

The cupboard protested with a loud high-pitched squeal as it was yanked open, making Quinn cringe. The kitchen smelled like rotting food and trash, not unlike all the others she had been in when she searched for food.

It had been a long three weeks. Or what she assumed was three weeks, she had a hard time keeping track. The weather had only worsened as winter edged closer; rain and cold wind constantly assaulted her and Kevin as they navigated the neighborhood as the scavenged to add more food to their dwindling supply. But there was barely any, either decaying or taken by other survivors. What they did manage to find was depressingly meager, and Quinn found her bag becoming lighter and lighter as each day passed. Going to bed hungry became a common occurrence.

Not that she slept much. Terror and hunger were great at keeping one awake.

She had thought about heading into the city, where all the stores were. But then she remembered all the infected roaming around, and how many dangerous people were probably there for the same reason, and quailed away from the idea. Which meant they were stuck searching the (hopefully) empty houses for anything that could keep them alive, if only for another day. 

It was dark inside the kitchen, making it hard to see what was inside the cabinets. The challenge was increased since the cupboard she was rooting through was almost too high up, forcing her to stand on tiptoes. While she could grab one of the few remaining chairs in the dining room, she thought she had heard noises from upstairs and didn't want to risk being noticed. So, she was forced to go by touch, moving her hand blindly around the cupboard.

As she was patting around, her fingers touched a mysterious sticky gunk, causing her to jerk her hand up instinctively. It didn't scare her away though, and she powered through until she bumped against a plastic bag. Pulling it out, it was a loaf of bread that was mostly mold by now. She scowled and tossed it aside, causing it to spill its fuzzy-white contents all over the floor as she opened more cupboards.

At first, she made sure to not make a mess when she broke into houses for food, always putting things back. Now she didn't give two fucks; whatever she didn't need usually ended up on the floor. It wasn't like it made the place look worse, with all the trash and gore covering the linoleum floor. 

Plus, the owners were probably dead or undead, so it didn't matter anyways.

To her relief, there was a single can of green beans. It was more than she had hoped for, since she had been preparing to tell Kevin that they'd be skipping dinner again. Things were bad enough between them as it was.

She had hoped that over time maybe he would have come to terms with things and be willing to, at the very least, talk to her about it. But he seemed to only become angrier and in denial about his parents' death as the days went by. Quinn often found him glaring at her, yet he refused to say a single word. Their communication had devolved into him shrugging, grunting, giving one-word answers, or straight up ignoring her. On several occasions she swore that she caught him staring in the direction of the high school or trying to sneak off. He always denied it, but she wondered if he was still thinking about trying to find his parents.

Even though she didn't think she'd find anything, she threw open the other cupboards. To her shock, she managed to find two vanilla protein bars. They looked to be unopened, which meant they wouldn't be moldy or have bugs. As she packed them away, she remembered that she hated the taste of vanilla. 

But pickiness was a luxury, and one she certainly couldn't afford right now.

She left the kitchen and thought that it would have looked pretty nice under normal circumstances. While she wished they could stay, the place was a wreak. All the windows had been smashed and the door was hanging off its hinges. Two of the rooms had awful smells coming from them as well which worried her.