Paul moves on them, his knives held high. I watch as he quickly dispatches them, their limp forms falling to the pavement with a wet thud. I realize how good he’s getting at this in only a few days. It makes me proud and sad at the same time. He shouldn’t have to do this, but I’m proud at how good he is. I’m proud that all those lonely afternoons, where he learned all these skills, these moves weren’t a waste.
When the last one falls, he turns back to me. His face is calm, but the calm doesn’t touch his eyes. They are burning, spreading a rabid blue flame through his soul before my eyes. He looks pained, sad. I follow his gaze, as he stares down at his victims. We leave the dead behind then, making our way down the street.
We come to the end of the long road, coming to a stop sign. I look around instinctively, but in my soul, I know there won’t be traffic to look for. This town is nearly dead. It makes me wonder how quickly the small towns will be wiped out by this. Will entire towns die off? Will entire families go extinct?
Paul turns right, so I follow behind him. We are on a wider street now, the houses bigger, grander. I jog to catch up with him. He’s turning his head all around, searching for something, for anything we can find. I wonder if he’s regretting giving our car away. What if we can’t find anything else to drive?
“We should find somewhere to sleep if we can’t find a car soon” he says suddenly, his voice coming out of the darkness like a storm. I look around then. Any of these houses would do. We are obviously in an upscale neighborhood. The houses are big, they are gated. We would be safe from infected.
He keeps walking, looking up every driveway. The thought strikes me then that all of these houses have garages, so what if we’ve already passed several options. I’m just about to voice my thoughts, when Paul speaks.
“There, come on. Hurry there are infected coming down the street, a lot of them” he whispers, before taking off toward a house on the corner. I race after him, my head turning in all directions, searching for the monsters. Just as we reach the gates, I see that around thirty of the infected are stumbling toward us. I swallow fearfully.
I turn to Paul then. That’s when I notice a light bobbing from the house. There’s someone home. I look between the light and the dead. Paul is knocking frantically on the metal fence. That’s when the light gets close enough for us to see the woman behind it. She is walking faster now, trying to get us inside in time, I hope.
“Get inside, hurry boys” the woman shouts, as the gate comes open. Paul pushes me inside, before entering the yard himself. The dead reach the gates, just as they clang shut. I see their rotting arms coming through the holes, their feral growls penetrating the night. Luckily, we were close. Paul would not have been able to take down all of them, not before they devoured us.
“Thank you so much. You saved us” I say, my stomach turning from the nerves of the close call. She nods, before waving us off. I can still hear the dead, trying to attack us through the gates, as she puts a hand on my arm. It calms me instantly. I close my eyes at the comfort.
“You two come inside, and I’ll make you something to drink” she offers, and I nearly melt into her kindness. I look at Paul who shrugs, before following the woman. I watch as she walks in front of me. She has dirty blonde hair, cropped to her shoulders. She is short, several inches shorter than Paul who is walking right beside her, as we near the front door.
“We’re sorry to bother you, we were just looking for some help. We lost our car earlier, and we’re supposed to be meeting our friends” I say, pacing just behind her and Paul. We finally reach the steps leading to the front porch, and I gape at how high they go.
“Well I have an extra car that you can take sweetheart. I’m leaving here and won’t be needing both of them. Let me make you something, and we can talk about it…” she says, walking up the stairs. I come to a stop at the last step. I’m looking at the porch directly now. It is covered with a high-ceilinged roof. There are several sets of lawn furniture. Two porch swings, an outdoor sectional, and several armchairs. They are all the same eggplant purple color.
“Thank you so much. You don’t know how much this means to us miss…” I begin, but I realize then that we don’t know her name. She just offered us her car, and we don’t even know what to call her. I step onto the porch then, as she turns to allow us entry.
I walk into her home, looking around as she closes the door behind us. The house is warm, soothing after how cold it was outside. I shiver at the change in temperature. It feels like the cold night has seeped down to my very bones, it’s an uncomfortable feeling. Paul comes in then, having left his knives outside.
“I was just making a pot of coffee, or would you prefer tea?” she asks. I would prefer tea, but I accept the coffee thankfully. Paul asks if he can just have some ice water, then she leaves us alone. I turn to him, my eyes searching his. He smiles at me. I look around, taking in the immaculate house before us.
“I’m Cindy by the way. Would you two like to clean up a little, while I make your coffee? My son’s room is the first bedroom on the right if you climb the stairs. He has a bathroom and some clothes that should fit you up there” she explains, waving us off.
I notice just how dirty we are then. I follow Paul wordlessly, as we make our way up the stairs. We find the room easy enough, and Paul begins to rummage through the closet. He comes out with an outfit that looks so incredibly like him I laugh aloud. He turns to look at me, then looks back at the clothes. He looks back at me, question marks in his eyes.
“It just looks like something you would have in your own closet” I say jokingly. He flashes me a grin, before heading into the bathroom. I follow him in. I look away, as he gets undressed for the shower. It reminds me of the hotel. He slips into the shower, so I look around the room. I’m just about to leave, when he speaks to me through the curtain.
“How have been? I mean, I know how you are now, but since we… How have you… been?” he asks me, his voice flat, almost sad. I look down at my feet, as tears collect in my eyes, making everything blurry. I try to answer, but my first try provides no sound. My words are caught in my throat, unable to get through the lump living there.
“I’ve been trying” I say simply. It’s true, I don’t want to lie to him, but I don’t need to provide the details, the fact that I cry myself to sleep every night, or how I have cancelled all my plans, locking myself away for months. He doesn’t need to know all of that. He doesn’t need the details that will only make him feel guilty for leaving me. I don’t want that because I deserved it. I deserved all the pain.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I ended things” he tells me. I hear the gasp in my own ears, so I’m not surprised, when he opens the curtain to peer out at me. The tears are rolling down my face now. He sees them there because his face drops. He continues to stare at me.
“Don’t be. You did it for a reason. You weren’t wrong Paul” I tell him. Finally, after all the times I played the victim, I voice my guilt. I know it was me, not him that ruined our love story. I did that. He should not be apologizing to me for ending things. I wouldn’t hate an apology for how cruel he was, but I deserved to be dumped. I deserved to be left behind.
“I know you were wrong, but when you told my sister about us, it got bad. I was so scared that she would tell my family. You outed me. You outed me, not because we were ready for that, but because she made you mad and you wanted to shock her, to hurt her.” He explains. I nod sadly.
“It didn’t happen like that, you know…” I tell him, looking away from his face. I hear him pull the curtain closed, as he goes back to his shower. I look at the floor, my hands balled into fists.
“…She came to me. She told me she had heard a rumor that I was telling people that me and you were dating. She called me a psycho. Paul, she threatened me and was trying to embarrass me. All I said was that I wasn’t a liar, then she put it together and freaked out. Then you took her side, and I wasn’t going to be silenced so I started telling people, in case th
e rumor of me lying got out there” I tell him. I can hear him moving around in the shower, but he does not speak at first. We sit in silence.
When he’s done in the shower, we switch places. I climb under the water, closing the curtain tightly. I begin to wash the blood from my hair. It feels nice to be clean. I’m just thinking that he left me alone, when he starts the conversation up again. I stop moving in the shower then. I freeze completely.
“I didn’t know that. I just heard that you were telling everyone, then you were messaging my sister repeatedly after we fought that day. I thought you were just spreading my secrets around and harassing my sister” he explains. I start washing again. Did we break up, did he break my heart over a misunderstanding? Can that be true?
“I’m sorry” he says again, but this time I don’t shut it down. I accept it, I hold onto the words. I let them flutter through my ears, down my throat and into my heart. I latch onto them like they are life support because the words now mean everything.
“I’m sorry too” I say, my voice a whisper, as I choke back tears. I rinse my hair and body out with water, before turning the water off. I grab the towel and open the curtain. He’s gone now. I’m alone in the bathroom. Alone with the lingering apologies.
I get dressed quickly, before heading downstairs to find them in the living room. The TV is on, and there are three cups of coffee there waiting. I grab ahold of mine.
I look over at Paul, but he doesn’t meet my gaze. His face is stony, as the TV comes on. I turn to look at the newscast. The setting looks different. It seems to be coming from the White House. It looks terrifying. I settle in for the update on what is happening.
“Hello citizens, neighbors. These last few days have been disastrous for our country. We are sad to report that we have lost President Kane. We are being told that a new president will not be chosen, due to the vast majority of Washington being dead. It is our understanding that the United States government has fallen.
It is being reported that this illness has engulfed more than half of the world. Reports of the infection have been reported across four continents now. The death toll is being reported to be nearing the one billion threshold. Marshall law is still under effect. Please do not get caught out after curfew because the military is under a lot of pressure to take down the infected, and people are being killed.
The military is said to be setting up quarantine cities, as a way of trying to contain the dead and infected individuals. As far as our country, the death toll is said to be around two-hundred-million dead, and about sixty million reported sick.
Please stay safe, stay safe, and God bless you all. This will be our last report. My only advice is to stick together, stay vigilant, and avoid big cities. Goodnight, America, may God be with you all” the announcement goes dark. I look over at Cindy and Paul. It’s so much worse than I thought it would be.
“You two should probably get going after you finish your drinks. I need to finish packing” she tells us suddenly.
“Where are you going to go?” I ask her, as tears flood my eyes. At least she isn’t giving up like Bill did.
“My husband died yesterday, which is why I have an extra car, but my boys are at college. I’m gonna go find them” she explains. I frown. Statistically, her sons are probably dead. From what the news was reporting that nearly eighty percent of the American population has died. The chances are very slim. I smile for her benefit though.
“Can’t you come with us though? You’d be much safer” I plead, but she shakes her head, her eyes closed sadly.
“No, I have to find my boys, but you can have my husband’s car, and I’m going to give you some things to defend yourselves. I want you two to survive” she explains, before leaving us alone. I’m about to talk to Paul again, when she comes back. Cindy hands Paul a pair of keys, a long shotgun, and three long swords. They remind me of the swords you see in medieval movies.
“These were my husband’s. He collected them for years. I think this should be enough to help you though. Take them” she offers, and Paul takes all the gifts.
*****
Thirty minutes later, we are pulling out of the garage, Cindy has already left us behind. I smile, as her car disappears around the corner. I really hope she finds her sons. I hope things work out for her. Paul pulls out of the gate, making sure it closes behind us.
Cindy told us that we can come back here anytime if we want. I look back one last time, as we leave the sanctuary behind. Paul pulls onto the shadowy street again. We need to get to Chase’s house, so I can get some sleep. Maybe Emily and the others will have made it by now. I hope so.
I’m really getting worried about them. They fill the corners of my mind, as we make our way through the dark empty streets of the small town around us. I have to assume they’re okay because the alternative is too much to bear.
TWENTY-FOUR
We continue to drive, navigating to the address that Chase gave us before we left. Paul has his eyes on the road, his lips parted slightly. I can tell something is bothering him, but I’m not brave enough to push him into talking. I know we had a moment, but I still don’t know exactly where we stand. I don’t know how he feels about me yet. He makes another turn, as we come into a new neighborhood.
He has to dodge a couple of the infected strolling hungrily through the shadowed street. He curses under his breath, biting his lip harder, as we drive past them. I look out the window, as they fall behind us. Their emaciated figures dissolve into darkness within seconds, leaving us alone once more.
“Are you… okay?” I ask him, my voice wavering in the darkness between us. I watch as he bites his lip again, his eyes darting across the road before us. I realize he isn’t going to answer me.
“Are we almost there?” I ask him, my voice changing. He seems to notice that I’ve changed because he finally looks over at me. His face is curious, question marks in his blue eyes.
“What did you say?” he says distractedly. I wonder what’s wrong
“I was just talking to you, and you weren’t… you… never mind” I say, a frown forming on my face. He looks at me again, his face blank with confusion, with curiosity. That makes me even more worried. Did he not hear me? What is wrong with him?
“Shit, I’m sorry. I was thinking about everything going on. What did you say?” he asks me. I relax. I was just overreacting again. Overreacting, as usual.
“I was just asking you if we were almost there?” I repeat, omitting the first question.
“We’ll be there in just a couple minutes actually. I have to turn up here onto his road” he says, pointing with his middle finger at the stop sign ahead of us. He pulls up to it, before stopping completely. We are bathed with the faint glow of the streetlamp above us. I look into his eyes, into his very core.
Paul leans in then, his face just inches from mine, his features clear as day. I take in his skin, shining in the darkness, his jawline; taken over by the ever-growing facial hair that drives me crazy. His lips slightly parted, resting in the almost pout he sports every day. His eyes, the shining blue eyes that haunt my dreams, the eyes that bring me to life.
He kisses me then, his lips finding mine in the space between us. I lean into the kiss, finding his lips serve to quench the thirst inside of me. We sit there, alone in our picturesque world, walled off from the dead, from the failing society around us, walled off from the world itself. He rests his right hand on the back of my neck, pushing me into him, filling the space between us with nothing but each other.
When we break apart, the sound of our world comes rushing back in a booming awakening. I look around, startled at our lapse in caution. Paul doesn’t speak then. He just pulls forward, driving us down the street. I look over at him, still breathless from the kiss that could change worlds, the kiss that could start wars.
I’m still out of breath, when he slides into a driveway. I look around and see that Chase’s new car is sitting beside us. The car is off, Chase nowhere to be found, so he must be
inside already. Paul parks the car, before turning back to face me. I have the urge to kiss him again. I know it may be wrong. I know I should be falling apart at the seams, but his kiss intoxicates me. It’s the perfect pain killer for what I’ve been through the last couple of days. He is perfect.
“What do you say we head inside?” he asks me, before leaning in for one more quick kiss. I decide that I need to clarify with him. I cannot afford to get my hopes up. Hope is a dangerous thing for someone like me, someone who gets so invested, but I am hopeful, as I reach for his hand.
He’s just stepping out of the car, when my hand finds his. He turns to look back at me, before seeing the expression on my face. He turns back into his seat and shuts the car door. I try to enjoy the oxygen, the weightless feeling in my stomach.
“I don’t wanna rush anything or overthink it. I want to be healthy, normal this time around, so I just wanted to ask you if this…” he says quickly, pointing from him to me; “…means that we are back… back together?” he finishes, his voice faster than a speeding train.
“Paul… I…” I begin, but just as I reach for his hand, Chase comes up to the car. I can see the smile, before the rest of the features of his face come into focus. I curse inwardly, wishing Chase had waited just another couple minutes. We are back together. The thought gives me butterflies.
“Are you guys coming in? Wait, what happened to your car Paul?” he asks, noticing our new ride. Paul launches into his story of the woman we met, the girls we saved, the dead we had to kill. Chase seems sad, as he takes in the details. The new story of more death. I can’t focus though. All I notice is that Emily’s car is still absent. I try to call her again, as they talk before me. No answer.
“Have you heard from them?” I ask Chase, interrupting their conversation. He shakes his head. I look out the window for a minute, letting them continue their conversation.
“I’m going to find them” I say, jumping from the car. They both chase after me, dragging me back.
We Are The Hunted (Book 1): We Are The Hunted Page 16