Hey guys, hope you're all doing well. Here is the next chapter. I got it done early this time so I thought I'd let ya have it now it's ready.
Enjoy
Guest Reviews:
Anon
Whoa, this is a twist. I thought for sure that Max would be the one getting impaled. Though, I suppose it makes sense since Chloe's always come close to dying before.
Ah, but wait a moment, it'll be winter soon, and then Max would- OH. I see now what you're up to. ;) See you in the next chapter
SURPRISE! Yeah, I decided early on that it would be Chloe, since she can't not get injured for more than five seconds (damn it Chloe), it fits better with the whole LIS plot. Also, I thought it'd be good to mix it up a bit. Oh winter… glad you're catching on to what I'm planning. Somebody's gonna get messed up. Thanks for reading and reviewing.
A lurking fan
Are you gonna put some amberprice for the left behind portion of the game?
All of your LiS stories are amazing, and keep up the great work.
I wouldn't miss the opportunity to include more ships, believe me. I ship it all (well all the f/f pairings/polyamory anyway) I'm always up for some Amberprice. Any fictional lesbians I am so down for. Thanks, I really appreciate that. I'm glad you like them, it makes me so happy to hear that. :) I will indeed keep it up. Thank you for reading and reviewing.
Chloe's POV
'Priceless, come on. I'm not going to wait around for you to get your ass up here forever.'
I climb onto the roof. Rachel sits on the edge, looking out over Arcadia.
'I'm coming, give me a second.'
I finally manage to reach her, perching myself on the edge of the tiles beside her. She smirks at me.
'Glad you could finally join me.'
She hands me a beer, which I take and begin to consume. The sun is beginning to make its decent in the sky, casting a red haze over the area.
'Damn. It's really pretty up here.'
I stare out into the distance, birds circling in the fiery sky, a gently breeze caressing my skin, the tall trees in the forest swaying. Rachel takes a sip of her beer.
'Priceless…'
I glance over at her.
'Yeah?'
She runs her finger along the rim of her bottle, refusing to look at me.
'It's good to be here… with you.'
Her statement causes my eyes to widen in shock. Rachel never says shit like that. Not that I'm complaining. Recently, she seems to have been a bit more open about things emotionally. She's just like me, finding it difficult to say all the mushy shit. I offer her a cheeky grin.
'You getting all sentimental on me?'
Rachel rolls her eyes, pushing my shoulder playfully.
'You wish. That is the last time I say anything remotely nice to you.'
I laugh.
'Sorry. I was just a bit shocked.'
Rachel shakes her head, smiling.
'Don't get used to it.'
I feel a small content smile forming on my lips. Life is good right now… well as good as it can be. For the first time in a while, I feel happy. I've been through enough shit that I deserve a little bit of good karma. I feel an arm around my shoulder. Rachel presses her face close to mine.
'Say Cheese.'
…
I am woken from my dream by a groaning sound and something biting at my neck, teeth nipping at my skin. My eyes spring open in fear. I push whatever is on me onto the floor and grab my knife from under my pillow, ready to strike. I am not prepared for the sight I see before me. Laying there on the floor is a girl with long blonde hair and hazel eyes, which sparkle with mischief. She laughs in delight.
'Rachel?'
She beams at me. I lower my knife, staring at her in disbelief.
'You should have seen your face.'
I reach up and touch my neck. It's wet where Rachel chomped down on it. I think she actually left light teeth marks. I wipe away the saliva with my hand, rubbing my hand on my leg to clean it.
'Ew, you got your slobber all over me.'
She gets up, brushing herself off and winks at me.
'Wouldn't be the first time.'
I roll my eyes at her.
What the hell is she even doing here?
'I haven't even seen you in, I don't even know how long.'
Rachel smiles awkwardly, swing her arms gently back and forth.
'Forty five days. Well, forty six technically. Shall I give you the juicy gossip?'
She's acting as if nothing happened. As if she didn't just up and leave one day without me. As if I'll forgive her immediately for abandoning me.
'I thought… I thought you were dead.'
She shrugs.
'Gotta try harder than that to kill me.'
She reaches around her neck and takes off a necklace. She passes it to me. I take it from her and inspect it. The chain has three bullets on it. The one in the middle has Rachel's name scratched into it along with a number. I run my fingers over the indentations.
She actually became a firefly.
'This is so fucking cool.'
I pass it back to her and she puts it back around her neck, fumbling around with the catch.
'I know, right?'
Once she has finally re-attached the necklace, she scans the area. Her eyes focus on a small corkboard hanging on a peeling off-white wall. There is not much on there, mostly scribbles and graffiti I drew on as a rebellion. There is a single slightly worn, stained and yellowing polaroid of two girls taken before the outbreak. One has long blonde hair, the other with short slightly faded blue hair. Rachel unpins it from the board, staring down at it. A fond smile forms on her lips. She holds up the polaroid for me to see.
'Priceless, you are such a sentimental sap.'
I walk over to her, snatching the polaroid back violently, glaring at her.
'I am when people just up and leave without telling me.'
Rachel looks down at her feet and sighs.
'Chloe, for what it's worth… I'm sorry. I know I fucked up, but…'
Rachel glances out of the window, rain pelting down onto it, causing a light tapping sound to fill the air.
'Look, let's just get out of this place and we can talk more. I don't think either of us want me to get caught in this place.'
She grabs my pants from the floor and throws them at me.
'Now, I know you're happy to see me and all, but put some pants on.'
I shake my head, suppressing a smile.
As pissed as I am about her bailing on me, I am glad she's back.
I put on my pants, grab my bag and walk over to the smeared window.
'Let's bust this bad boy open and bail.'
…
We scramble through a nearby window, narrowly escaping detection. Rachel pants heavily, putting her hands on her knees, exhaling deeply.
'That was close.'
I struggle to get my breathing under control.
'Yeah.'
There is hardly any light here, apart from that cast by passing vehicles on the main street, making it hard to see. I switch on my flashlight, illuminating the space before me. Rachel turns on hers and starts making shadow animals on the wall.
Of course she would goof off and do this.
I amble over to her, pushing her arm playfully.
'How old are you?'
Rachel gives me an unimpressed look, her arms crossed, shaking her head at my lack of enthusiasm for her shadow puppet show.
'That place has turned you into such a downer. Lighten up, girl. I know we don't have the booze and drugs to keep us going, but we can still goof around and have fun.'
I don't remember ever seeing Rachel sober. This will be a novelty.
I sigh, scratching my head.
'Yeah, sorry. I'm just a bit on edge.'
She offers me a sad smile.
'I hear that.'
We make our way through the hopefully abandoned mall. Windows and doors are boarded up. Blood smears stain the walls and floor. Graffiti covers the walls, spreading messages of hope and doom in equal measure. Water drips down from the cracks in the ceiling, puddles of water forming on the floor. As we walk across them, splashes reverberate off of the walls in this deserted place.
'So… what have you been up to while I was away?'
Rachel's voice cuts through the silence, a voice I have missed hearing so much. A voice that has told me so many things, argued with me, called out my name in so many different ways, laughed at my crappy jokes, told me everything would be fine…. I shove my hands in my pockets.
'Well, I've just been doing what I always do.'
Rachel smirks at me, her eyes lighting up with amusement.
'What? Looking for trouble?'
'Hey! I don't always look for trouble.'
Rachel lets out a small laugh.
'Uh-huh.'
She has a point. I do go out of my way to find adventure. It's not always my fault though. Rachel got us into trouble more times than I can count. In fact, she is definitely more trouble than me.
I kick a small loose piece of rubble. It skims across the floor, causing water to splash as it moves. The sounds reverberate around the area.
'I nearly got our water guns back.'
Rachel turns to me, a small impressed smile on her face, one eyebrow raised in amazement.
'You serious?'
I nod.
'Yeah. But I my ass got caught. Had to scrub toilets for two weeks.'
She laughs.
'You need to work on your thief skills, Priceless.'
'I'd like to see you try.'
'Maybe I will. Show the amateurs how it's done.'
We continue through the spookily silent mall, nothing but the sounds of our own footsteps to break it and the occasional teasing comment. Rachel stops abruptly. I almost collide into her, but manage to stop just in time.
'Hey. Do you think you could tell me when you're going to stop next time?'
She bends down ignoring me, and picks something up. She presents it to me with a huge grin. It's a bottle. Rachel shakes it to see if there is anything inside, beaming when she hears a sloshing sound. There is still some liquid inside.
'We are in luck. Can I borrow that knife of yours?'
She holds out her hand expectantly. I relinquish my knife, which Rachel proceeds to use to prises the top off the bottle. It comes off with a quiet popping sound. She smiles at me victoriously and raises the bottle into the air proudly.
'Bottoms up.'
She takes a huge swig from the bottle, her face contorting in disgust as she does.
'Tastes a bit like piss, but it'll do.'
She thrusts the bottle my way. I snatch it and chug some of the liquid. It burns my throat, causing me to cough violently. Rachel chuckles at me, giving me a pat on the back to ease the coughing. I finally manage to get myself composed again, wiping the liquid from my chin.
'You were right. This is some nasty ass shit.'
Rachel shrugs.
'Beggars can't be choosers.'
I put the top back on the bottle and bring it along with us.
Never know when you might need a drink, especially in this fucked up world. It's enough to drive anyone to alcoholism… not that there is much to be had.
We amble down the dilapidated corridor, shops lined up on both sides. Bashed up store signs, shattered glass and abandoned possessions litter the stone floor. Rachel stops abruptly. In front of us is a huge mountain of rubble blocking our path. Several metal pipes stick out of the twisted mess. Rachel and I grab one, pulling it up with all our might, resting it on a large piece of loose concrete. A small gap reveals itself, leading to the other side of the impenetrable wall of debris. Rachel motions towards it, a cheeky grin on her face.
'Ladies first.'
I roll my eyes at her.
'I am so gonna beat your ass.'
I get down on my hands and knees, ready to make the journey to the other side. Just as I am about to start crawling through, the whole thing collapses. We both back up quickly, narrowly avoiding getting crushed. The way forward is now blocked off with no way to re-open it. Rachel glances at me.
'So much for the easy way. Let's find another way round.'
Both of us wander around, trying to find an opening. I jiggle the handles of doors, with little success. All of the windows for the shops are boarded up tight. I try to prise one of them open with my knife, but it doesn't work. One of the doors to our right has a small smashed out window at the top.
I bet one of us could fit through it.
I spin around, trying to find Rachel. Once I spot her, I shout over.
'Rach!'
She stops what she is doing and comes up behind me.
'Yeah?'
I point to the window. Rachel follows my finger, smiling when she finally spot the window.
'Look at you, a real life detective.'
Rachel walks up to the door, peering up at the window.
'Care to give me a hand?'
'Sidekick at your service.'
I form a cradle with my hands and stand near the door. Rachel puts her foot in it and I boost her up. She climbs through. After a moment, the door opens slightly, but Rachel is nowhere to be seen. I cautiously enter the store, looking around to find her.
Where is…?
'BLAAHHHRRRR!'
I jump, my heart feeling as if it'll beat out of my chest. Rachel stands there with a scary clown mask on her face. She lifts it up, giving me a cheeky grin. I push her, nearly making her trip over and fall on her ass.
'You are such a dick.'
She smirks at me, her eyes dancing with amusement.
'I scared you good, huh?'
She always does this, no matter what the circumstances. I should be used to it by now. Even now when the whole world is fucked, she still finds the time and energy to prank me.
I cross my arms, giving her a defiant glare.
'No way. Chloe Price never gets scared.'
Rachel looks unconvinced by my defence.
'Oh, come on, Priceless. You were pissing your pants.'
I was a bit scared, who wouldn't be in a place like this in the middle of a zombie apocalypse? There is no way I'm giving her the satisfaction of knowing that though.
'Shut up. You're just so luck I didn't mistake you for a zombie and stab you. I still might if you don't drop it.'
Rachel holds up her hand in defeat, but I have no doubt she will bring this up at a later date. We wander around the derelict store, which is decked out in Halloween stuff. No-one needs Halloween decorations anymore, not now that everything has gone to shit. There is very little space for fun in this new cruel world. On the shelves are several masks. I grab the one closest to me, which happens to be a werewolf.
Rachel and I always loved Halloween. We used to dress up and just stroll around Arcadia as if we owned the place. We definitely scared the shit out of some drunk arseholes once or twice.
I shove it on my head, trying not to breathe through my nose.
Mask always smell so gross. I can never keep them on for longer than a few minutes.
I turn back to Rachel, scrunching my hands up to look like claws.
'That's such an improvement.'
'Ouch. Good to see you're as brutal as ever. You really take no prisoners, do you?'
Rachel giggles.
'I'm joking. It does look badass. Now roar for me, Priceless.'
I take a deep breath, mustering up my inner wolf.
'ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!'
Rachel beams at me.
'Damn, Priceless. Let that animalistic instinct take over. I'm liking this wild side of you.'
As I take off the mask, Rachel cowers in fear. I throw the mask at her as hard as I can and flip her off. Something catches my eye. I go over to a small skull sitting on a purple cushion. Behind it is a cardboard display.
Skeleseer
Ask Skeleseer a question… and shake for your Fortune!
I pick up the skull, turning it over in my hands to inspect it.
Huh?
'Is Rachel ever going to stop being a complete asswipe?'
'I heard that!'
I shake the skull vigorously and twist it over to see the answer.
I feel it in my bones
'Oh, hey there is hope for you yet.'
I place the skull back on the cushion and continue to walk around, taking in all the amazing decorations. All going to waste now. Priorities have changed. I can't see Rachel anywhere.
Where has she…?
A coffin propped up against one of the walls in front of me bursts open, Rachel comes out of it, her arms out-stretched towards me.
'I vant to suck your blood.'
She sneaks up to me, her teeth bared. I join in on her goofing around, trembling in fear, my eyes wide, my voice high pitched and wavering, my hand posed dramatically on my forehead.
'Oh no. Whatever am I going to do? I am just some poor defenceless girl. How could I possibly protect myself against this ravenous villain? Somebody save me.'
She keeps coming. I back up away from her, getting out of her reach. My back hits a display cabinet. My face strains from trying not to laugh.
I had missed this. Just being able to fuck around, even with everything going on now.
Rachel advances, her hand covering her teeth, stalking me. I cower in mock fear, covering my face with my hands. She takes them away from my face, pinning them against the display case, staring deeply into my eyes. She leans in and runs her tongue along part of my neck, causing me to shiver involuntarily. She glance up at me, giving me a lop-sided grin.
'Now, young lady, I am very thirsty, may I partake?'
I swallow.
This suddenly turned from a joke to… something completely different.
'I promise, I won't hurt you… unless you want me to of course.'
She winks. My words are stuck in my throat. Even after all this time, she still has her claws in me… or maybe teeth in this context. Rachel takes my silence as a sign to continue. She places her lips on my neck, gently kissing it. The contact is too much to handle right now. She knows my vulnerable spots. I move my neck to expose more to her. Her teeth gently graze my skin, causing me to shiver. Her teeth gently nip at my neck, teasing my skin between her teeth. A small content sigh passes from my lips. She peppers kisses all across my neck, focusing on where my pulse lies. She bites harder gently sucking. I try to release myself from her clutches, move my hands and just… Rachel lets go and pulls back, giving me a smug grin.
'Come on. Let's get moving.'
I stand there stunned for a moment. She walks over to the door, turning back to me.
'Are you coming?'
I shake my head to bring myself back.
'Yeah…'
What was all that about?
We exit through another door onto the first floor. A path circles around the shops, overlooking the ground floor. Railing lines the path. Rachel stands over near some of the railing, leaning over it a bit to get a better view. Her eyes focus on something down below. She spins around to face me, an impish smile on her lips.
'Priceless, I got a great idea.'
She holds a brick in her hands.
What is she planning? Dare I ask?
I go over to her, slightly nervous about what she has planned. I am all up for doing crazy shit, but Rachel always pushes the boundaries of crazy.
'See those cars down there?'
She points to the busted up cars on the ground floor.
'Yeah.'
'Red one's yours. I'll be blue. We throw bricks. Whoever breaks all the windows to their car wins and gets to ask the loser a question, one they have to answer no matter how embarrassing or invasive.'
She always finds a way to break stuff. Most people would not want to draw attention to themselves in this position… but I won't back down from a challenge.
'You are so destructive, I guess that's why I like you so much. I'm in.'
She passes me a loose brick, which I take with glee.
'On three… three!'
I throw my brick, shattering the back windscreen. I race around, picking up bricks and lobbing them at my car. After a few minutes, I hail victorious. I throw my hands in the air.
'Yes! Brick. Fucking. Master!'
My shout echoes around the empty mall. Rachel shakes her head.
'You got lucky, Priceless.'
I rub my hands together.
'Sure. Whatever you say. Anyway, question time.'
Rachel nods.
'Well, I did say I would, so shoot.'
So many questions I want to ask… but I only get one. One chance to find out what the hell is going on in her head, to get some answers and explanations as to why she acted the way she did.
I sigh, running a hand through my short blonde hair.
'Um… ok. Why did you leave without telling me?'
Rachel looks down at her feet, mumbling slightly.
'Priceless, I was in a weird space. For what it's worth, I didn't tell anyone.'
I don't care if she told anyone else… why didn't she tell me?
My voice comes out less confident than usual. I sound like a scared lost child… I guess I kind of am. My fingers tap nervously against my leg.
'But… I wasn't just anyone. Was I?'
Rachel continues not to meet my gaze.
'No. That's what made leaving hard.'
If it was hard to leave me, why would you?
My eyes start to sting a bit from the tears welling up. I swipe at them violently, refusing to let them fall.
'Why didn't you take me with you?'
Rachel strides off, turning back to face me briefly.
'I said one question. I answered it. We have to keep moving.'
I sigh and follow her. We walk in silence down dark dingy corridors.
Still no answers… only more questions.
Rachel suddenly stop. There are some wires and levers on the wall. I assume it's the power switch.
'So, turns out this place still has power. They just flip the circuit breaker. All we have to do is flip it back. Care to do the honours?'
She steps aside. I place my hand on the switch.
'Hella yes. Let there be…'
I flip the switch and the lights turn on. We both continue down the corridor to the end. Rachel puts her hand on the metal double door, ready to move on to whatever comes next.
'Wait….'
She pauses, turning her head towards me, her eyes questioning me. I run my fingers through my hair.
'I get what you are trying to do, and… I'm really glad you're not dead. I mean, I'm glad we're back together and…'
Rachel sighs, staring at me intently.
'I didn't mean it. What I said before I left… I didn't mean it. I was a complete bitch to you and… I'm sorry.'
'And you call me a sap?'
Rachel laughs.
'Bitch, you started it.'
'That I did.'
The tension from before lifts. We still have things to discuss, but this is a step in the right direction. Rachel turns to me.
'You ready?'
'Totally.'
We both push the doors open. As we do, I gasp. There is a small carousel in the middle of the space. It's all lit up and ready to go.
'Are you fucking kidding me?'
'Nope. Go get on.'
I eagerly climb on one of the horses. Rachel presses a button and the carousel starts up. It begins to spin. Rachel hops onto the ride and climbs on a horse beside me. Music gently begins to play, echoing in the empty space. I haven't been on one of these in ages. I hit my legs against my horse impatiently.
'Can't this thing go any faster?'
Rachel laughs at me.
'Priceless, just enjoy it.'
I always speed off ahead, not taking too many moments just to sit back and relax. It's a bad habit of mine. I just keep pressing ahead and regret not having spent more time enjoying the ride.
'Sorry. I am.'
'Good.'
After a few minutes, the ride comes to a stop.
'That was fun while it lasted.'
We get off. Rachel beams at me.
'I got something else.'
She rummages around in her bag and produces a small tattered book. She clears her throat, flicking through the pages. She stops and starts to read.
'What did the triangle say to the circle?'
I try to get a closer look at the cover of the book.
'Is that what I think it is?'
Rachel grins mischievously at me.
'You're so pointless.'
My lips turn upwards into a huge toothy grin.
'You found another pun book?'
Rachel nods and continues to read.
'What did the cannibal get when he showed up to the party late?'
I stroke my chin, trying to guess the pun.
'Umm…'
After a moment I give up.
'A cold shoulder.'
I haven't laughed this much since… since before she left. We take it in turns to read out puns. Some of them are so bad, but then isn't that kind of the point of puns. Rachel passes the book to me. I scan the page and pick out a pun.
'What's a pirate's favourite letter?'
'Oh, I know this one. Rrrr.'
I shake my head.
'Nope. 'Tis the C!'
Rachel doubles over laughing. Once we exhaust this source of entertainment, I place it in my bag and we continue to search around. Rachel grabs my arm, dragging me off.
'Hey Chloe, that photo booth over there is on. Let's check it out!'
We race over and get in, closing the curtain. We get positioned and I press the button to start.
Choose a theme
Love, Friends, Cool
Rachel turns to me.
'I shall leave this decision in your capable hands.'
Oh man. Which one? I mean… I don't know what Rachel and I are or where we stand. Does she…?
Rachel presses a button. I look over to her. She shrugs.
'You were taking too long.'
I inspect at the screen and see that Rachel picked the love theme.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
I swallow, trying to put on a teasing voice to hide the nerves and excitement I am feeling due to her choice.
'You trying to woo me, Rachel?'
Rachel places a hand on my knee, smiling coyly.
'Oh, I don't have to try.'
I laugh nervously at her words, turning my face away to hide the blush I am sure is forming on my cheeks.
It's times like this when I'm not sure whether she is joking or not.
A few seconds, silly poses and flashes later, we are nearly done. Rachel pulls me in close to her, her arm wrapped around me.
'Get your ass over here Priceless. We are gonna have one nice photo.'
I feel my cheeks burn, my heart rate increases. Just before the flash goes off, Rachel kisses my cheek. The pictures appear on screen. They look great, but then anything Rachel poses in looks great.
Share on Facebook?
'I wonder if it would actually work. Not that anyone will see of course. Still, for old time's sakes.'
Rachel jabs the button.
Print?
'Uh… yes.'
She hits another button. The screen begins to load, then cuts out.
Printer out of order. Retry?
'Oh hell no.'
I mash the button. The screen dies. I hit it in frustration… my answer to everything.
'Fuck you screen!'
Rachel grabs hold of my arm and pulls me out of the booth.
'Come on. Let's get out of here.'
Is she trying to make everything right by doing this? Is she feeling guilty because she left without saying anything? Or…
I pull back on her pulling.
'Wait…'
Rachel stops, turning to me with curiosity.
'Why are you doing all this?'
She lets go of my arm, her brow furrowed in confusion.
'What do you mean?'
I am enjoying myself, but I have to know.
I glance down at the floor, my eyes trained on my black boots.
'Is this like some penance kind of thing for leaving?'
Rachel shakes her head.
'No. I just wanted to come back and…I have something to tell you.'
My head snaps up at her words.
'What?'
Rachel worries her lip between her teeth, a hint of uncertainty and worry in her hazel eyes. Her confliction also shows in her body language. She has closed up, her arms crossed, her shoulders slightly hunched over. She looks off into the distance, avoiding my gaze.
'I'm…transferring.'
The words hit me, stab me like a knife. My heart feels as if it is being ripped out of my chest and torn into a thousand tiny pieces. Her words hang in the air, not registering with me.
She came back to tell me she is leaving for good?
'…'
At my silence, Rachel sighs.
'I'm supposed to be moving out from here today and…'
I don't give her a chance to finish. I run.
'Chloe!'
I keep running.
No fucking way. She just thought she'd try to get some forgiveness before she leaves again. Fuck that.
I am tackled to the floor, a pain entering my arm as I land on it. I go to get up, but Rachel presses all her weight on me. I lay on my back, trying to struggle away from her, get away from the one person who has hurt me so many times. No more.
'Leave me the fuck alone!'
I attempt to throw her off, but this just makes her grip on tighter. She really is much stronger than she looks. Her eyes beg me to listen.
'Chloe, I'm not finished yet.'
My voice begins to escalate out of control, louder and louder, releasing all this pent up rage and betrayal I have been bottling up ever since she left me.
'I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear that you are going to fucking leave me forever. I'm sick and fucking tired of people abandoning me. First my dad… now you are doing it again. I AM DONE! YOU HEAR ME?! FUCKING DONE!'
The silence is pierced by my shouts. Rachel gives me the most heart-breaking look I have ever seen someone give. Her grip on my arms loosens, but I don't try to get away. Her eyes pin me to the spot.
'Chloe… I'm not going back.'
The anger inside me begins to dissipate, turning into confusion.
'What? You just said…'
She stares at me, her hazel eyes pleading with me, begging me to believe her. They show me everything she is feeling right now, unlike before. She isn't trying to hide anything now, she is laying all her cards on the table. Her hand finds mine, gently playing with it. I don't stop her.
'I came to find you to tell you that… I'm running away. I realised that I made a huge fucking mistake leaving you. The biggest one of my life. That's saying a lot since I have fucked up so many times, you should know that. The fireflies aren't all they are cracked up to be and I… I missed you.'
I am speechless. Yet another time she has confused me. She offers me a small smile, her long blonde hair slightly dishevelled from our struggle.
'Priceless… will you come with me? I'm done dicking around and running away from committing to things… committing to you. I know I've been an arsehole and given you so many mixed messages, let you down so many times... I didn't realise how much you meant to me until I left. It made me feel like shit, I guess it was way worse for you.'
She closes her eyes, sighing and gathering her thoughts. Her eyes flicker open, uncertain yet determined.
'I choose you… if you'll have me.'
Words don't come. This is the most sincere and vulnerable I have ever seen her. Her guard is completely down now. I reach up to touch her cheek, tears slowly beginning to fall from my eyes.
'Don't go.'
That is all she needs. She reaches down and kisses me tenderly, the gentlest kiss I have ever received. Her tear fall onto my face, mingling with mine. As they run down my face, I feel the warmth they leave as they fall, taste the saltiness of them on my lips. I put everything into that one kiss, trying to make her see how I feel. I grab onto her shirt, pulling her closer, as close as possible.
I need her to function. The entire time she was MIA, I felt terrible. I couldn't sleep properly without her there to chase away the nightmare. I lay awake every night, wishing that if I closed my eyes, I would wake up and find out that her leaving had just been a terrible nightmare. It never was.
Rachel breaks away gently, looking down at me, her eyes slightly puffy from crying.
'Chloe…I…'
Her sentence hangs in the air unfinished. A loud bashing and groaning interrupts us.
'Shit! Infected! We need to run, now!'
She gets up off of me, hoisting me up and we run. I glance back. I don't even know how many there are. I count at least five before I focus my attention back on running.
'Fuck. There are so many of them.'
Rachel grabs onto my hand and pulls me along as we run for our lives.
'Just… keep running. We can't let them get to us… not now.'
We race upstairs, bash through doors, dodge their clutches, jump over gaps and barriers that stand in our way, the way to our freedom, to our new life… the life I have been waiting to have for so long. Rachel points up to an open window, uneven, precariously balanced scaffolding leads up to it.
'Through here.'
She scrambles up to the top. I am close behind her. Just as I am about to reach the top, the scaffolding gives underneath me. I fall to the floor on my back, landing in a puddle, the water splashing around me.
'Chloe!'
'I'm ok…'
An infected lunges at me, teeth biting the air, their body pinning me down. I try to desperately to push it off, but it continues to try to get me.
'Get the fuck off of me!'
The body slumps, a gunshot rings through the air, blood spiralling from its head. I push the body off of me, scrambling back. Rachel stands there, her gun in her slightly shaking hand. She is tackled to the floor by another infected. They skid along the slippery wet floor a good foot or so. She struggles against it as it bares its rotted teeth, ready to rip and tear. I get to my feet, running up to it and stab it several times, finally grabbing it by the head and slitting it's throat, red blood spurting from the wound. It collapses to the floor, making gurgling noises and writhing as death finally claims it. Rachel back up until she hits a small wall. She pants heavily, eyes wide with fear from the close encounter.
'I think…I think we got them all.'
Take that fuckers. You can't have us.
Rachel begins to smile at me, but it fades very quickly, replaced with utter despair. Her voice wavers.
'Chloe… your… your arm.'
I look down at my right arm and my heart stops. Blood runs down my forearm from the freshly made bite mark that now sits there, marking my skin. I brush away the blood for it only to be replaced by more oozing from the wound. I frantically wipe at it, trying to make it go away… but it doesn't.
'No, no, no, no…'
My throat begins to close up, it's getting hard to breath. I look over to Rachel, desperately wishing that she will burst out into laughter, telling me this is all a big joke. She doesn't. All she does is lift up her left hand. A small bite mark drips with lines of red blood. They run down from her hand to her wrist, dripping down her arm onto the floor.
This isn't happening… no fucking way is this real.
I place my head in my hands, trying to wake up from this fucking awful nightmare. It has to be a nightmare…. When I open my eyes, I am still here, still bitten.
'FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!'
I kick and hit everything and anything in sight. I smash all that is breakable. I grab a pipe from the floor and bash it against those things I can't break myself. Hot tears of frustration pour from my cheeks, spilling onto the floor. Rachel just sits there in silence as I lose it, not reacting at all. I throw the pipe as far as I can and slump down beside her, my head resting in my hands.
'What the fuck are we gonna do? It's not fair. Why is this world so intent on fucking me over?'
I clench my fists. Rachel's left hand finds mine, gently teasing it open and holds it tight.
'I know. It's not fair, but it never is…'
Rachel looks down at the gun in her right hand. She turns to me, her eyes downcast, her voice low and defeated.
'The way I see it, we have two options… one, we take the easy way out.'
She waves the gun in the air a bit to demonstrate her point, as if it's not clear enough already. She places her gun on the floor at her feet.
'I don't like this one.'
I wipe my eyes on my arm.
'Me neither.'
She pauses for a moment before continuing.
'Two, we wait it out. Fight it.'
Fight? We don't have anything left to fight for. We've been bitten and we are going to suffer a fate worse than death… what's the point in fighting the inevitable?
'Fight for what?'
Rachel squeeze my hand tighter, gazing deeply into my eyes.
'There are a million ways we should've died before today. And a million ways we can die before tomorrow. But we fight… for every second we get to spend with each other. Whether its two minutes… or two days…. We don't give that up. I don't want to give that up. My vote… let's just wait it out. You know we can… be all poetic and shit and just lose our minds together.'
I rest my forehead against hers.
'What's option three?'
Rachel sighs, giving me a quick kiss. She puts her arm around me, resting her head against mine… waiting for the end.
Oh the next chapters going to be fun…not. Those of you who have played the game know what's coming.
See you guys next time.
