I'm so sorry for not updating in forever! My school decided to take our computers for the summer. It was very last minute and annoying. It's been a few weeks but I have a new computer and I will be updating much more often! :)
"Where do you want to head to first?" Lewis asked. They were making their way carefully to a more popular part of town. Lewis came up with the brilliant idea of staying close to the beach, so that if any zombies came around Bella and Lewis could swim away. Bella wasn't looking forward to Lewis grabbing onto her tail, so hopefully it wouldn't come to that.
"Well we need food, water, and friends…" Bella thought out loud. "I think we should check our friend's houses first. Cleo's is close, isn't it?"
"Yeah…" Lewis said, lost in his thoughts. Bella understood how he was feeling. She was longing for Will almost painfully, the same way Lewis missed Cleo. But the thought of checking Will's boatshed made her anxious. What if they got there and found a body? Or worse, no one at all? But perhaps the most horrible outcome would be stumbling around the boatshed and coming across an infected Will.
Yes, Bella understood how Lewis was feeling.
"I think we should go to Cleo's, too." Lewis determined quickly. "If she's there then we will have an extra person to carry supplies. And we can check out Will's after."
"Okay." Bella gulped. Her and Lewis walked side-by-side along the beach for a couple more minutes. Her heart was racing constantly, like she was going to have a heart attack. Bella was not made to be on the alert for hours on end.
"Hey, Bella…" Lewis said, stopping. "There's something I didn't tell Rikki and Zane. About our trip."
"What?" Bella asked.
"There's another reason I wanted to come. Do you want me to explain now or later?" Lewis seemed to have difficulty with telling his secret.
"Now is fine." Bella answered. In a world like this, "later" wasn't a confirmation.
Lewis ran his hand through his hair, making it stick up in random places. "Well…I want to research this."
Bella gave him a confused look. His explanation wasn't very good.
"You know, the disease. I want to research it, find out exactly what's happening to the people around here. If I can locate exactly how humans are affected, maybe I can find a cure."
"Wow." Bella said, her blue eyes widening. Lewis' plan was ambitious, but it was far more progressive than just staying alive. If he were to succeed, thousands of people all over the country—or maybe the world, by now—would be saved. A bubble of hope rose up in her chest. If anyone could solve this, it was Lewis.
"But to research it, I will need some equipment. I have some things at my house, but others…" he shook his head and trailed off. "Let's just say we may have to do some breaking and entering to get the tools I'll need."
Bella nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. I'll help you. But first we have to do the stuff we're supposed to. And shouldn't we tell Rikki and Zane about it?"
"Yeah, I suppose so. If we have time we'll get some equipment from my house, meet up with Rikki and Zane, and then head to the nearest lab for the rest."
"Okay." Bella agreed. This sounded reasonable. She would hate to leave Rikki and Zane alone, wondering where she and Lewis were.
They walked along the beach for a few more minutes, the ocean ironically peaceful compared to their destroyed society. Cleo's house was nearly in sight, and Bella's heartbeat sped up. So did their walking pace.
Lewis started running. Despite the fact that he was extremely unathletic, he was much faster than Bella. She sprinted behind him, kicking up sand with her feet, the rest of the way to Cleo's house. Lewis came to an abrupt halt, causing Bella to crash into him from her momentum.
Lewis was solid like a rock, frozen in place. She regained her balance and turned to her friend's house. It had been abandoned, clearly. The front door had been broken down. Paint was chipping about three meters above the ground from where countless zombie fists had pounded against the wall. Several zombies staggered around outside the house, and through the windows Bella could spot a few more inside. Lewis nearly fell backwards in horror.
"Cleo." He whispered. Bella bit her lip, trying not to cry. They had to get out of here. She tugged on his arm and pulled him away from the awful scene.
Lewis collapsed and put his head in his hands. Bella wanted to do the same. To give up right now would be a blessing; surely it wasn't possible to deal with this level of grief? To think of her sweet best friend, dead or infected, was simply too much.
Yes, Bella understood what Lewis must be feeling right now. But the zombies around Cleo's house didn't care that he was traumatized. They smelled the two survivors and were slowly making their way towards them.
She grabbed his arm again and started dragging him away. Lewis wiped his face and stood up. Bella looked into his eyes and saw emptiness that terrified her even more than the approaching infected people. Lewis started running and Bella followed him. Any direction away from Cleo's house was the right direction to them.
A half-hour later, Bella's emotions finally got to her. She and Lewis sat down near the ocean to rest before checking out Will's boatshed. Being by the ocean reminded her of Cleo and all of the fun they'd had swimming. Cleo completed her trio-she knew there had been a trio before her, but there was a big gap missing nonetheless.
A few tears slipped out of her eyes, and soon she was sobbing. Lewis tried to comfort her, but could an empty soul comfort another empty soul? Bella didn't think so. Lewis was trying his best but there was no hope for Bella's friend or Lewis's love.
"I was going to propose to her." Lewis said sadly, tearing at the skin on his fingers. "Next month. I had a ring picked out and everything."
Bella sniffed and looked at Lewis's red eyes. He was crying, too. She reached out and held his hand, and they stayed that way for several minutes. It wasn't a romantic gesture; they both needed someone who wasn't there, and each other would have to do. They both gathered their composure and started trudging to the boatshed.
The pit of fear in her stomach was ever deepening as they approached Will's home. From what she could see, there were no zombies near it. However, there were dents in the door, like something had spent quite a bit of time pounding on it.
"Bella, look." Lewis said excitedly, pointing to the dock. "His boat's gone."
Bella nearly started crying again. But they would be tears of relief, not sadness. There was a good chance Will was out there somewhere, maybe camping out on Mako. He could be waiting for her there...
"He's on Mako, I know it!" she exclaimed happily. Then she stopped and remembered Cleo. How could she be celebrating when her best friend was gone? Not even Will's potential survival could fill the gaping hole where Cleo was supposed to be. Somehow Bella felt that she would never be whole again.
Lewis and Bella checked out Will's boatshed quickly for supplies. He had apparently taken anything useful with him on his boat, even his diving equipment. Lewis found a few scientific instruments that he wanted and then they checked out a few abandoned houses.
They found a good supply of food and a few bags to carry it in. Mostly they got canned goods and things that would last a long time. What they really needed to find now was water.
Lewis had an idea for that. He had come up with a system to de-salinate and purify water from the ocean. It involved Bella's power.
Bella could always feel it in her mind whether water was clean, salty, polluted or fresh. Saltwater felt heavier than freshwater, for example, and the little pollutants felt foreign. She used her power to turn a bucket of saltwater into jelly, and then forced the salt, dirt and toxins to the top of the bucket. Lewis scooped out the entire top layer of salty, polluted jelly and set it in the sand. Then they waited for the jelly to return to it's liquid form. Lewis tested the new water, and said it tasted fresh and clean. Bella carefully drank a little bit and then dried off her mouth before her tail could appear.
Lewis dumped out the bucket of water and they started walking to their meeting place with Rikki and Zane. It was a slow journey because they were both mentally and physically tired from the day's events. It was nearly dark. Rikki and Zane would be worried.
Bella truly couldn't wait to be reunited with her friends. But along with their successes they had to bring the worst news possible. Every time she thought about her friend Bella felt too weak to carry on.
And suddenly, Bella was sure that she would be too weak to survive these times. If Cleo couldn't, then Bella was as good as dead.
So there's a good example of irony in this chapter...my English teacher would be proud. Don't forget to leave a review! Xo
