I have spent days at this new community and I have already grown pretty close with Dom and his family. We really hit it off, we have so much in common. I guess you could say we were dating. I liked him a lot; enough to lose my virginity to. I decided that that's what I wanted.
And, so, we planned a romantic evening together. Dom said we should go somewhere outside of the community, and I knew the perfect place. We gathered up what we needed and I took him to the cottage that I spent a night in before coming here. It's going to happen tonight. I smiled to myself.
We made sure the place was secure then I lit a bunch of candles while Dom got us some wine. There was a fire in the fireplace. Everything was looking good. I had this excited but nervous feeling in my stomach.
"Here you are." Dom handed me a glass.
"Thank you." I smiled and took a sip. There was a brief pause.
"I like it here." He said. "The fire is nice. You did a good job."
I grinned from ear to ear. "Yeah, I am the fire whisperer." I bragged.
"Yes, you are." He laughed. Then we laughed together. "So, when do I get to meet your dad? And your group?"
His question caught me off guard. "Um…well, first, I need your dad and the others to agree with my deal. I think it's been long enough. I'd say we know each other pretty well." I smirked.
Dom let out a small laugh. "Yeah." Was all he said. I gave him a weird look. He looked like he wanted to say something else. I didn't know if I should address it or not so I just didn't. I nervously tapped my fingers together. Finally I heard him sigh. "I was going to wait to tell you this, but…" He trailed off. I gave him a curious look. "I wanna come back with you; regardless of what my dad decides." He paused and grabbed my hand. I was surprised at what he just said. "I want to be with you. There's nothing here for me anymore. I want to see new things, I want to meet new people. You coming into my life was right and it's the prefect time."
I felt like an idiot. I had no idea what to say. I didn't know if I should laugh or start crying? I mean…I liked the idea. I liked it a lot and I like Dom a lot. So, why was a acting like this?
"Do you like that idea?" He pressed.
I nodded. Then, I finally found my voice. "Yeah, I do. Sorry, I don't know what I was…" I trailed off. "That's a great idea and I'd like that."
"Really?" His eyes widened a little. "For real?"
"Yeah." I smiled.
"You don't know how happy you just made me." He smiled back.
I returned his smile. "Well, then…show me." He gave me a serious look. "The bedroom." I pointed. He gave me a look. I finished the rest of my wine and headed back there. I sat on the bed and nervously bit my lip while waiting for him. I hope this is right.
I looked over and saw Dom awkwardly standing there. "You have a condom, right?"
"Uh…" He stupidly patted his pockets.
My eyes widened. "You didn't bring a condom?"
"Just kidding." He smiled and pulled it out then sat on the bed next to me.
"You idiot." I smacked his arm and laughed. He laughed too then he kissed me. We started taking each other's clothes off while still kissing. He moved down and planted soft kisses down my neck. It was nice but…I wasn't feeling anything "there."
He moved in front of me and I slowly laid back on the bed. He kissed down my body. I still wasn't feeling it.
He looked up at me so I faked a lascivious smile so he wouldn't worry. He continued what he was doing and made his way back up. I suddenly had a thought and then I got an extremely uncomfortable feeling. "Wait, Dom, stop." I panicked.
"What? What's wrong?" He asked. He seemed surprised.
"Just…just get up." I said. He got off of me and I sat up quickly and moved to the edge of the bed with my feet touching the ground. For a minute, no one said anything.
"Did I do something wrong?" Dom finally asked. I could tell he was confused…but not as much as me.
"No." I shook my head. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just-I don't want this. I thought I did but I don't. I'm sorry." I grabbed my shirt and pants and quickly left the room.
I put my clothes on and went back out into the living room. I sadly sat there on the couch. I have no idea what just happened, but I got that weird, uncomfortable feeling and everything just stopped. I hope Dom isn't mad at me.
A few minutes later, Dom, fully dressed, joined me in the living room. I couldn't look at him. "What happened back there?" He finally said.
I shook my head. "I-I don't know. It just didn't…feel right."
"That's okay. You don't like me like that." I finally looked him and he was sadly staring at the ground.
"No. That's not it." I said. "I do like you…it's just…it's me. It has nothing to do with you. It's all me. I promise."
He looked up at me. "It's okay, really. You don't have to explain." He gave me a quick smile, which I returned.
I sighed and looked down. "I feel like a terrible person, but…could we just be friends?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that." We both smiled at each other. That feeling finally went away and it felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I knew I had made the right choice. I was able to relax.
"Thanks for being so understanding." I smiled. "But we shouldn't waste the evening. Let's drink this wine and have a good time."
"I can do that." Dom said. We both laughed again and it was like all that just happened was forgotten.
"Okay, would you rather have a dragon or any car you want?" Dom asked me.
I almost choked on my wine laughing. "What kind of question is that?"
"I don't know. I just thought of it." He laughed.
"Well, the dragon. Obviously."
"Same." He said. "Your turn."
"Okay." I thought for a minute. "Would you rather know that we are alone in the universe or know what happens after we die?"
"Oh, that's a hard one. I'm gonna say…what happens after we die."
"I'm going to have to agree with that."
"Yeah. I have a simple one. Would you rather have a girl or a boy?"
"A girl." I answered quickly.
He nodded. "I would want a boy, though, so I can teach him guys things."
"Guy things." I raised my eyebrows then laughed. "Would you rather go to the past or the future?"
"Definitely the past."
"Same." I finished my wine and poured another glass.
"Would you rather talk like Yoda or breathe like Darth Vader?"
I gave him a stupid look and he laughed. "Yoda."
"I'd rather breathe like Darth Vader."
"Why?" I gave him another stupid look.
"Because I can be creepy." Dom imitated the breathing. Then laughed.
"Of course." I rolled my eyes. "Would you rather have an extra leg or extra arm?"
"Uh, an extra leg." Dom answered. "I'd be really fast."
"…I would think it would get in the way." I raised my eyebrows. "I say arm. I could do more at once and beat someone's ass easier."
"Hell yeah." He said. "Would you rather be locked in a room with a bunch of spiders or snakes?"
"Spiders." I answered quickly.
"What?" He practically yelled.
I took a gulp of wine before reciprocating. "Snakes can kill you. Spiders don't bother me at all."
"Bro, I'm terrified of spiders! They're my phobia."
"Good to know." I smirked.
"Hey, no funny business now." He warned.
"Oh, shut up." We both laughed. "Would you rather be fluent in all languages or communicate with animals?"
"Definitely communicate with animals!"
"I know! Me too! That'd be awesome!"
"Would you rather never get sick or never get tired?"
"Oh, that's a different one. Hmm…" I thought for a minute. "I'm going to have to go with never get sick because I get sick a lot plus I'm already kind of an insomniac."
"Really?" Dom asked. "What's it like?"
I sipped my wine. "It sucks."
"I can imagine." There was a brief pause. "Would you rather die from hunger or dehydration?"
"Hunger."
"Really? I feel like you'd die so much slower."
I shrugged. "You would but…I hate the feeling of being dehydrated. Hunger doesn't bother me as much as it used to." I'm already anorexic too. Apparently.
"I'm gonna go with hunger."
I nodded. "Would you rather dance all your movements or sing everything you say?"
"Dance." Dom said. I laughed. "What? You don't think I can dance?"
"I didn't say that."
"I bet that's what you were thinking. I can dance!"
"Let's see some moves then."
He threw back his wine then stood up quickly. "Woohoo!" I cheered. He started dancing, he looked like a complete idiot. I laughed the whole time. He finally sat back down.
"What do ya think now?"
"Yeah. Great moves." I rolled my eyes and laughed.
"Well, what about you?"
I shook my head. "I am not dancing right now!"
"No, I mean…you didn't answer the question."
"Oh, right. I would sing everything I said."
"Can you sing?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty good actually. Not to brag or anything." There was a brief silence.
"Well, let's hear you sing then."
I smiled. "No. I haven't sang in a long time."
"Come on. It will be way more entertaining than this game. Plus, you made me dance so now I'm making you sing."
I let out a small laugh then looked at the floor then back at him. "You really wanna hear me sing?"
He nodded.
"…well, okay." I shrugged. I finished my wine while thinking of a song to sing. I thought of one and was about to start. I cleared my throat.
Suddenly, we heard a noise outside. We immediately stopped. "You heard that too, right?" I whispered. He nodded. I made a gesture for him to follow me. We gathered up our stuff and grabbed our weapons then went around to the back room. I looked out the window and saw a truck parked outside. "Is that one of yours?" I asked Dom. He shook his head. "Shit." I snapped. "We gotta get outta here."
We heard voices. There was more than just one person. They sounded like men. We heard them come into the house. "Go go." I said to Dom. We quietly walked down the back steps and around the side of the house. I thought we were safe. We heard a car door close and there was a man standing right there. He saw us. My eyes widened. Dom panicked, I guess, and shot him.
"No." I yell-whispered. We heard footsteps coming. "Run!" We both took off in the same direction. We hid behind another cottage. The men were outside now. They found their dead friend and were yelling stuff. I silently counted them; there were too many for us to handle alone. They piled into the truck and drove down the road.
"We gotta go." Dom said.
"Yeah, no shit." I said. "Listen, run. Okay? Just run and if we get separated, don't come looking for me. Get back to the camp. Got it?" He nodded. "Okay, go!" We both ran down the road. When we got to the bottom, we saw the truck to the left of us down the road. Dom went right and stayed on the road. I ran straight ahead into the woods. I saw the truck go in the direction Dom was headed. "Shit!" I yelled. I ran in that direction as well but stayed in the woods. I ended up down by the water. I walked across a bunch of big rocks instead of walking across the causeway. Maybe they won't see me down here. "Dom." I whispered. "Dom." I never got an answer.
I continued my way back to camp. It was getting dark now and I hadn't seen the truck the rest of the way down. I was now on the road before the camp. Hopefully, Dom made it back already. Suddenly, I heard a car behind me and my eyes widened. I spun around, it was them! I started sprinting down the road. I know they saw me. I ran into the woods and headed for the camp. What am I doing? I can't lead them back to camp! I scolded myself. It was too late, though. I was already outside. The truck stopped. They just sat there for a minute. I waited in anticipation to see what they were going to do. To my surprise, they drove away. I watched them drive all the way down the road. I even waited there for a while to see if they were coming back, they didn't. I hurriedly went back to camp.
Dom was there when I got inside. "Thank God." I said and we hugged. We finally let go of each other. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." He answered. "What about you? Did you run into those guys again?"
I debated on whether or not to tell him. I don't know why, but something told me not to tell him. "No." I shook my head. We were quiet for a minute.
"Look, I don't think we should tell anyone about what happened." Dom said. "Those guys will never find us. We're hidden by the trees. Let's just forget it even happened."
Something about it felt wrong but I just went along with Dom. I nodded. "Okay."
The next morning, Burke got us up early and said he wanted to call a meeting. He told me that he was going to go along with my plan. I got extremely excited. Finally! Everyone in the camp was supposed to report to the chapel. That's where they have their meetings because it's the biggest building here and everyone can fit inside. We would have just done this outside but it's raining.
Once everyone was there, Burke made his announcement. He and I were up front. "Listen, everyone," he started, "I've decided that…I want to give what Abby was talking about a try." I smiled at him then at everyone else. He continued. "There's more people out there. People that need our help. Maybe working together is the only true way for a future." He stopped. I thought I heard a strange noise outside while Burke was talking, but I just ignored it. "Abby, would you like to say anything?"
"You pretty much said it already." I said. "And you're right. There are people out there that need help and they can help us. We can expand and get things back to the way they were before all this, like I said before. We can do this and it WILL work. It's going to be hard but the more people the easier it will be. And we will have a bright future." i finished my speech. People started clapping. They actually applauded me! It made me feel pretty damn good. I spotted Dom in the crowd and he gave me a thumbs up. I smiled at him.
The applause died down. Burke and I shook hands. "You won't regret this. I know you're making the right decision."
He nodded then turned to the crowd. "So…now the work starts. Who would like to—
I heard a gunshot and Burke went down next to me. My eyes widened and I got down. People screamed and looked around in a panic. All of a sudden, there were gunshots all around me. People were screaming and trying to get out. There were men inside the building firing on everyone. Oh my God! I ran and slid underneath the pews. There were two dead bodies on the floor, I moved them on top of me so I was hidden and it just looked like two dead people. I was scared for my life.
I stayed like that until the gunfire and screaming died down. I heard the peoples' footsteps and knew they were leaving. I could hear things happening outside. They were shooting people in their homes that didn't come to the meeting, they were raiding the place. A tear slid down my cheek. This is really happening.
I decided that I was going to stay there until I heard nothing but silence. That idea was squashed when one of the bodies on me turned. I gasped. I was so worried about the men that I almost had forgotten about that! I stabbed it quickly in the head and threw it off me. I struggled to get up. Some of the people had already turned and noticed me. "Shit." I said out loud. I killed as many as I could. More and more were turning. I had to get out of there. Another one was coming right towards me, I was about to kill it but stopped when I realized it was Dom. I held him back and stared back at his lifeless eyes. I couldn't stop the tears that were falling. "I'm sorry." I said. Then, I put him down.
I snuck around when those people who attacked us were leaving. I watched them get into their vehicles outside the walls. My eyes widened as I saw the truck that was chasing me yesterday. I instantly felt sick to my stomach, I couldn't even swallow. It's all my fault. I thought. It's all my fault!
I walked around the whole camp trying to find survivors, there were none. They were all dead. All of them…gone.
I sat down in the middle of the street. This entire community is dead because of me. I'm the who found them, I'm the one those men were chasing, I'm the one that didn't tell anyone about them. If I never would have come here, if I never would have bothered them, then all these people would still be alive. It's all my fault.
I gathered up whatever supplies I could find, what those other people didn't take, and shoved it in my bag. I went to Dom's house, I just had to. I cried the whole time I was packing.
I was about to leave when something caught my eye. Dom's fishing gear. He taught me how to fish. I remembered that memory of us. It was only days ago but now it felt like forever. If I could just have yesterday back…but things don't work that way.
I walked around for a long time. I stopped in several houses and stores that I passed along the way. I found things. Nothing great but it was something. It was getting dark now. I would have to find a place to stay for the night. I walked around a little longer until I found a little neighborhood. I picked a house, made sure it was clear, then stayed inside.
I didn't eat, I didn't drink, I didn't do anything. I laid there thinking about this trip. How excited I was before I left and how happy I was after I found that community. We were going to trade and work together. We were going to build something. Things changed so fast. And it was my fault. It was a perfect illusion. This whole trip was a fail.
I thought about that cottage, the one I stayed at my first night and the one I almost lost my virginity in. I wanted my dad and the others to go there for a vacation. I did not feel the same way about it.
I went into the bathroom. I looked in the mirror and realized all the blood stains on my shirt. I took it off and threw it on the floor. I looked at my scars. I hated them. I also looked at how thin I still was. I didn't care this time, though. I didn't care about anything.
I think I'm ready to go home.
Wow :O That was a tough one, huh? It's amazing how fast things can change. And by just one little mistake! What did you guys think about it? Please review and let me know! :) Also, what do you think will happen with Abby? Do you think there is more trouble along the way or do you think she will get home safe? ;) Let me know!
