Chapter 10:

BECA POV

10 months and 8 days since it all started

When we finished talking about my problems, the sky was dark already.
It was definitely after midnight.

"Now, you have to tell me about you and Stacie" I smirked at Aubrey, who immediately blushed.

"There's not much to say…"

"Evasive…"

"I don't know where to start…"

"Just tell me what you want for me to know. I'm your friend Bree, I'm here just to listen to whatever you wanna say"

"It's not that I don't want to speak about it with you. It's just…It's complicated…"

"Isn't it always?"

We slid in a comforting silence.

"I have a crush on her"

"Not a surprise"

When she looked at me I made a reassuring smile.

"I told her it was annoying me, her flirting I mean. When she told me it was just the way she was I told her that the thing that bothered me was not her flirting with me, but her flirting with the others too."

"Oh" I just said. It was quite a confession what she said to the brunette.

"Yeah 'oh'. That was Stacie's reaction too. But then…Then she apologized. And I was confused because we were not together, she didn't have to apologize. She told me I get her nervous when we are alone. That her flirting with me is different than what she does with the others. She said that I make her feel like she is more than just a, and I quote, hot chick…"

She looked down, suddenly shy about her memories.

"Are you like a thing now?"

It a legitimate question, isn't it?

"No, we're not"

"Why?"

"It's com-"

"Complicated, I know" I finished her sentence.

It was not like I didn't understand; it was just that I knew life was short and love was a privilege: if a person could have shared it with someone, then they should have pursued it.

A yawn escaped the blonde's mouth when we slipped into silence again.

"Go to sleep Bree…I'm happy you told me all of that" I smiled.

"Aren't you going to sleep too?"

"I'm not really sleepy you know. I think I'm going to wait the sunrise. It's always beautiful"

"I can see it with you…" another yawn.

"No, you will not. You're tired and you need energy"

She sighed.

"Please, try to sleep. It was a really exhausting day for you, both for your body and your mind. We need you focused and with all your strength"

"I promise I will…if I start feeling weary"

She smiled softly at me and shaking my hand a little to reassure me my decision was ok, she aimed for her tent.

I didn't know how much time passed since Aubrey went to bed, but I was starting feeling dizzy, maybe for the exertion of the day.

I decided that in the state I was in, I couldn't be really useful at watch so I called CR to replace me.

However, before going to bed, I thought a visit to the tent where we placed Virginia was a good idea.
I knew there couldn't be anyone because we decided nobody could sleep near her: she was a threat; we made that mistake once, there was no reason to do it twice. However, Chloe didn't know the story of my father and Sheila so it took us several minutes to convince her she couldn't stay with her cousin.

From outside the tent, I could hear no sound. Virginia was not moving, either as a walker or as a person.

I came in and I wrinkled my nose at the iron smell the air was impregnated with.

Seeing the girl in the state she was made me feel even guiltier, if it was possible.
"I'm really sorry Vivy…" I started talking.

I didn't know if she could hear me, but I felt like I had to speak to her anyway.

"I'm sorry you had to go throw this. I failed my group; I failed Chloe; I failed YOU. You didn't deserve this. You didn't deserve this world we're in. You deserved a great life, with your parents, full of happiness, and love. I'm sorry I did this to you" I looked at her cut leg.

"I hope you'll wake up. I don't hope you'll forgive me. I don't deserve that. I just hope you'll smile at Chlo and your brother" I smiled a little thinking about the first time I saw her smiling when we entered the house and she saw her cousin.

"I hope you'll make Chloe smile again" and when I said that, I gently moved a lock of her dark-blonde hair from her forehead.
I kept my hand on it, creating little circles with my thumb, trying to soothe whatever pain she certainly was feeling.

She wheezed, and I froze.

Is she awakening?

The wheezes became more frequent and she even started to move a little.
A hand, the foot, an arm…

"Virginia?" I whispered.

I didn't have my sword with me, but I had a dagger.
It would have been enough for a hit in the head.

Even if she's a walker, if you kill her, Chloe will hate you forever.
Well, she hates you already so…
Maybe it's best if you go call Aubrey, now!

While I was thinking that, Virginia's eyes opened.
Slowly, so slowly it was a torture, but I was finally able to see them:
I saw amazing brown eyes looking at me.

"You are you…" I whispered, going back at circling her forehead with my thumb.

The girl tried to speak, but no sound escaped her mouth.

Her throat must be dry.

"Virginia…"
when her eyes stopped looking around and paused on me, I continued:
"You're all right. You're safe. I know you must be thirsty, but I don't have water here with me so I have to go outside and go take it for you. I'm also going to call a doctor, so she can visit you. I know it's all overwhelming, but you're ok. You're going to be fine"

I didn't even wait for her to give me a sign of acknowledgment.
I was starting to have problems breathing and I preferred going out to take good air.
My sight became blurred and I fell on my knees.

Am I having a panic attack?
Why? She's ok.

CR had to notice me because I found her near me, calling me.

"…Aubrey" I was able to say in between gasps.

I could read the concern in the black girl's eyes.

"Go…C-c-call…Bree…" the blonde's name came out of my mouth as an exhalation.

My chest burns so much…
It was all I could think about while waiting.

"Beca?!" Aubrey's voice made me open my eyes which I didn't even notice I closed.

Breathlessly I pointed out Virginia's tent, repeating her name to make Aubrey understand she had to go in there.
But the blonde kept turning her head from me to the tent, without moving a muscle towards it.

"Go…V-Vi-vy…"

It damn burns!

I didn't even notice that in addition to Aubrey, Chloe had come.
The redhead went out the tent, hurrying towards the blonde and me.

"She's awake!" Chloe just said.

"What?" the blonde asked her.

"Vivy! She's awake. She's alive. She has drifted to sleep again, but she is alive. She's not a walker!"

While she was saying that I could finally see the smile I so much wanted to see again. That smile that reached her eyes too, making them glowing a bit.
I didn't even care that Chloe wasn't worried about me.
I was not worried about me neither.

"Chlo, I can't leave Beca's side. If you say she has woken up and then she closed her eyes too there's nothing I can do more. Just…put a wet hanky on her forehead. If you don't want to go to sleep again, stay near her, but I think she will not wake up before noon…"
Said that, she returned her attention to me.

A slick layer of sweat started covering my body.
All the talks around me were like they were spoken far away from me.

I closed my eyes trying to even out my breaths, focusing on them.

I couldn't hear Aubrey perfectly, but her calming voice was having a positive effect on me.

I opened my eyes.
When did I close 'em?
What is it with me not keeping my eyes open?

The view around me had changed;
I was not under the sky anymore: I was in the bus.
They had made room for me between all our stuffs: the place was already a mess but in need to make space for me in a hurry, they piled things up even messier.

My body hurt.
When I tried to move, my muscles ached.
But I tried to sit anyway: I did not survive till now without fighting pain after all.
My head started spinning.
I had to steady myself grabbing on to a part of the seat still at sight.
I could feel my throat burning, so I searched for a bottle of water.
When I found it, maybe left near me by someone, I guzzled down the entire bottle.

"You're awake, finally" I heard CR's voice.

"You scared me out there you know?" she said smiling at me.

"What happened?" I asked with effort.
"You tell me girl!"
I sighed.
I don't know.

"How much did I sleep?"
"A day. We were hoping you would have slept more, but a day can do for now…"
"Yeah…Maybe it's because of that that my head hurts so much. It's like I crashed it into a wall, jeez!" I smiled at CR, to make her understand I was fine nevertheless.

"We are going to have lunch. Jesse and Benji went fishing. Are you hungry?" and she came near me trying to help me stand.

"Hell yeah! I can eat you whole!" we laughed at that and we headed for where the group was reunited.

The fresh air benefited me.

At the time we arrived between the others, my head was almost ok.

I was greeted with hellos and pats on the shoulders. That instead, didn't benefit me too much.
But I smiled at all of them, covering my pain: they were worried about me, and they were happy to know I was ok.

I was going to sit down when I saw a glimpse of red on the other side of the campfire we circled.
Near Chloe was Virginia.
I didn't think. I didn't even noticed I was starting to aim towards them.
I outflanked Stacie who was talking with Aubrey; I passed throw Benji who was making a magic trick entertaining Timothy.

"Virginia…" I said softly when I was near the two girls, but not too much to scare them.

Again, brown eyes looked into mine.

But, before I could even say something other the little girl's name, Chloe put herself between me and her.

"Don't take another step" she coldly said.

I looked at her confused.

"What did you say?" I kept my voice low, gritting my teeth.

"You don't touch her. You don't come near her. You don't speak to her." her eyes on fire.

"What's all of this about?!" I half screamed this time, earning the attention of all the people around us.

"You don't even look at her!" she kept saying.

"Wh-" I was going to speak when I was interrupted.

"Chloe?" I heard Aubrey's voice coming from behind me.

"Aubrey, don't! Even better, take Beca with you and go away from us."

I couldn't believe what the redhead was saying.

"It's not my fucking fault Chloe!"

"I don't care what you think! Leave us alone!"

"You must be kiddin'!"

All the blood was going to my brain.

That was definitely not healthy for me since I recovered just minutes before.

"Beca" Aubrey's firm voice startled me.
I looked at her and I could see she was furious too:
"Let's go"

"No!"

"BECA! I said let's go!" she grabbed my arm.

I was carried away without the possibility to say something else.

I knew I scared Timothy with the shouts.
When Chloe threatened me about going near her and Virginia, she didn't say anything about the boy.
Her attention was constantly on Vivy, so it was easy for me approaching Timothy without another scene.

So, after eating, I approached Timothy, who was still being entertained by Benji, under a tree.

"Ehi guys…" I said, obtaining their attention.

"Ehi Beca. You made us worried yesterday" Benji greeted me with one of his clumsy smiles.
When Jesse and I broke up, he didn't blame me.
Of course, he was on Jesse's side but he never hated me for hurting his friend.
I didn't know if it was for lack of true friendship or for lack of knowledge about friendship.
However, I was glad he kept saying hello to me and having brief conversations when we met in the hallway.

"Sometimes even badass people like me have to rest, unfortunately" I smirked at Timothy.

"I'm happy you're fine now. Ehm…I need to go talk to Jesse so…Have a nice day. Bye little boy" he ruffled Timothy's hair.

I smiled at Benji and I smiled even wider when I saw Timothy trying to sort his hair like before.
"Ehi buddy…"
I didn't know if I could make another step towards him and close the gap between us.
I knew children were a hard nut to crack, and if his cousin was mad at me, maybe he was mad too.

But, my worries were all swept away by his actions:
he literally threw himself towards me, embracing me by my hips and making me almost stumble backward.

"I'm sorry for the scene before…" I apologized, caressing his head.

"I just wanted to apologize with your sister…for what happened…but…well, can you do me a favor?"

He nodded.

"Can you say sorry for me to your sister?" I looked straight into his eyes.

At his nod, I smirked at him, a smirk he mirrored.

AN:
I'm having a writer's block, if I can be considered a writer.
I hope I will be able to update the next chapter in time.
However, I'm not going to drop out this story because I'm really grateful to all of you who read it, even the ones who don't review.
See you soon! :D