Chapter 2: Charlotte
The sound of a person breathing next to me, who I had just realized was there, stopped at the sound of my voice. After a few seconds, a relieved sigh reverberated off the walls of the cave, breaking the silence. The voice that followed was one that I would recognize anywhere; deep, but still gentle like a seventeen-year-old's should be.
"Amber? Was that you?" Despite my immense relief to hear that voice, it hadn't told me what I needed to hear. I tried to sit up, but my head spun violently and I fell back down. Laying on my back, I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head. After a moment, I felt like I was able to talk.
"Where is Charlotte?" I clarified, a little louder this time. Riley's following reply did not answer my question.
"Oh, Amber, honey, you're awake." Footsteps came towards me as I grit my teeth. I was actually getting kind of pissed. Why wouldn't he answer me?
"Where," I asked, opening my eyes again. Riley seemed to understand me this time.
"She'll be back in a little while, don't worry," he said. I sighed. At least she was safe. I struggled to get up again, wanting to see Riley. This time, his arms supported my back when I fell and slowly eased me into a sitting position. I turned to look at his face.
I was blown away by the beauty of it, as I always was. His hair was short and bleach-blonde, crowning his perfect face. His eyes were green emeralds, his nose straight, with soft lips curved into a gentle smile. My heart stopped beating at the sight of it, and then started up again at twice the speed. Every time I looked at him, it always felt like the first.
His face, however beautiful, could not hold my attention for long. I was curious; where was I? How long had I been out? I looked around. I was, as I had thought, in a large cave. There was a small makeshift firepit in the center and two cots near the far wall. I frowned. Why wasn't I on a cot? Next to the cots, an entire side of the cave was open to a misty green forest made thick vegetation.
My head spun dizzyingly at the sight of it all.
"Where?" was all I could force from my lips.
"Somewhere in Vermont," he answered, "I can't give you a specific town though, sorry." I thought that over for a second. Vermont. Huh. Last time I remembered we had been in New Hampshire. Had they carried me all that way? Wow, that was impressive.
"S'all right." I mumbled. He laughed a bright, care free sound. I remembered how much I loved that laugh.
"It is quite nice, isn't it?" He asked as he propped me up on the wall. Too tired to talk, I nodded closing my eyes. I felt terrible.
"Why?" I wondered aloud. Misinterpreting my question he answered,
"We wouldn't just leave you there, Ams." I shook my head and opened my eyes.
"What a headache." I moaned.
"Yeah." Answered Riley. "The wanderer hit you pretty bad. You have no idea how sorry I am that I wasn't there to help you. But Charlotte's arm…there was so much blood she was about to pass out and I can't carry both of you…" A crease was forming between his eyebrows, as it always did when he was worried. I silenced him by putting a feeble finger on his lips.
"I'm glad you saved Charlotte. You can't be everywhere at once. You shouldn't blame yourself." I said. He shook his head and said,
"Seeing you there, lying helpless… it nearly killed me." His voice broke at the end.
"And Charlotte?" I asked. His eyes turned soft.
"She's fine. Her arm is in a sling right now but she'll be able to use it again soon. She worries about you though." My poor baby. She was sad and it was all my fault.
Suddenly, the trees outside shook. Riley stood up.
"Charlotte?" He asked.
The girl who stepped out of the trees was everything I needed to see right now. She was almost nine years old, with shoulder length brown hair and brilliant hazel eyes. Her right arm was cradled in a sling. My Charlotte. I sat up on my elbows to see her better. Her response was to drop the wood I realized she had been carrying and run to my side.
She was not my daughter, she was my niece. Obviously, at age 17, I was way too young to mother a nine-year-old. My older brother had been her father before he had been taken over by the infection last year. When we had realized what had happened, Riley and I had taken Charlotte and run.
She threw her good arm around my neck, crying, "Amber!" and nuzzled her face in my hair.
"Hey, sweetie." I said. We embraced like this for a few seconds, then I pulled her away softly and put my hands on her shoulders, smiling.
"Don't hurt your arm, honey." I said. She pouted adorably.
"I'm fine, Berba. Don't bet worked up about it." She replied, using her special nickname for me. I inspected her damaged arm more closely. It was bandaged up in scraps of slightly bloodstained white fabric and was slung up in a crude sling made of what I guessed was part of a bed sheet. It didn't look infected, thank God, but she shouldn't push her luck. Which reminded me...
"What were you doing outside?" My question made her blush. It was Riley who answered.
"A squirrel made off with some of our chocolate, and apparently she felt the need to gather more firewood." He gestured absentmindedly towards the little makeshift firepit. Nobody felt the need to answer, so we just sat in rejoicing silence for a while. I absentmindedly stroked Charlotte's hair. It was so like her to chase a small animal for chocolate. I stared at Riley, and he gazed back. All three of us were sitting on the cave floor, immersed in our thoughts. I sighed, completely content with the moment.
Sometimes I wondered if it was all a test, just to see if Riley and my relationship could last past the end of humanity. We had lost so much, but we had managed to keep each other. Well, if anything it had made it stronger. Still, I wished this wasn't real.
The half-dead epidemic (or, as Riley called it, the zombie flu) was something straight out of a horror flick. It turned its victims into sickly, sallow-faced, grey-skinned corpses with large, bruise-like shadows under their hard grey eyes. Its strength was its speed. One day, there was a subtitle in the city regional about an unexplained disappearance of some crazy old man, and then overnight the entire city had turned into a seemingly desert ghost town.
The first big hit had been Chicago. Of course, we had all heard the stories on the news; small towns, unrecognizable names like Aurora and Bonfield, disappearing into thin air. But that had been Illinois, and we were in Connecticut. Chicago had been different. We had friend with family in Chicago, links to big businesses. It was a name everybody knew. My own mother had been there on business when the city had collapsed.
Some had been too dumbfounded to run while the epidemic raged on. Next came St. Paul, then Denver, then Albuquerque and Salem. Flights out of California were reaching record numbers. We all lived in fear that we would be next. Nobody had expected the next hit at all: Washington D.C.
The government collapsed. The president and more than half of the congressmen had been turned into bloodthirsty monsters, then infected their hometowns. The disease spread like acid rain, with drops scattering all over the remaining half of the country, burning holes and enlarging them until the entire country was either grey or hiding.
Now, the undead roamed the streets in big cities, which they rarely left. They seemed uncomfortable, frightened even, to leave the towering grey skyscrapers in favor of the unbroken skyline of the wild. Well, at least that was good for us. All we had to do was stick to the woods. Sometimes there were stragglers, though, those who gave up their fear of the wild to satiate their wild thirst.
We had met one recently, which was the reason for my unconsciousness. When they wandered, they met humans. When they met humans, they got violent. People got hurt. Usually, though, they stuck to their land and we stuck to what was left of ours. Riley, Charlotte and I had relocated to the mountains after we had realized the zombies' aversion to wildlife.
I shook my head. When I died, whoever's up there has a lot of explaining to do. Not that I intended on leaving anytime soon…
*******
It was dark outside the cave now. Charlotte had fallen asleep, and Riley and I were sitting together at the mouth of the cave, looking up at the stars. His arm was around me, my head leaning on his shoulder. He lightly stroked my cheek with his thumb. It felt so natural, us being together, like nature had intended it to be that way. Hugged to his side, I felt like a part of me I hadn't known was missing had fallen into place, completing me.
"What are you thinking about?" he whispered, trying not to wake Charlotte.
"I was just thinking about how we're the last people on earth." I answered. He smiled.
"And how do you feel outlived humanity?" he asked jokingly. I shrugged and answered,
"It doesn't matter much, as long as I get to keep you." I turned my head to peck his cheek, but he surprised me with a full-on kiss. I threw my arms around his neck, and his slid down to my waist. When we broke apart, we were both gasping for air. I was on his lap, my arms still around his neck. He hugged me tightly to his chest, so close that I could count his heartbeats.
"And you?" I breathed.
"I'd take you over humanity any day." He said. With that, he kissed me again, softer this time, but still enough to get my pulse racing. I buried my face in his chest and took in a deep breath.
"I missed this." He murmured, running his fingers through my hair. Reunion was sweet in the air. I never wanted to let him go. The fact that we were the last couple on earth meant nothing. We were alone. Charlotte was asleep, and nobody was ever going to bother us. I rested my chin on his shoulder. We belonged to each other; it was as simple as that. I would never let him go. My thoughts were betrayed by a yawn.
"You're tired." He stated. I shook my head, but yawned again.
"Sleep," he whispered. "Dream happy dreams, and when you wake I will be here, and we will be together again." I smiled and laid my head on his chest. That did sound nice. With a final yawn, I let the beat of his heart lull me into unconsciousness.
(P.S.- I am looking for the perfect tile. The one I have now doesn't really fit. PLEASE r&r if you have a suggestion. I am currently on the eighth chapter, but am a slow typer. Thank you for reading, I hope you are enjoying it!)
