Day 3: Noah Fortifies the house

Noah stood at the front window, staring out at the empty yard that stretched before him. The wind had picked up in the past hour, rattling the loose boards along the side of the house. His eyes scanned the surrounding area—empty, eerie. The silence was always the worst part. That, and the gnawing feeling at the back of his mind that their little sanctuary wasn’t as safe as he’d hoped.

The planks on the windows, though functional, were hastily nailed in place, the nails sometimes bent from too many attempts at getting them just right. The back door was a joke, reinforced with a few scrap pieces of plywood he’d found in a nearby shed, but it didn’t inspire the kind of confidence he needed.

His mind raced as he went over his to-do list—there were more windows to board up, and the back fence needed a real fix, not just a quick patch.

With a frustrated sigh, Noah grabbed his hammer and headed to the backyard.