"So, who's in charge of your little faction?" Mr. Blair asks.
"We don't have a designated leader, but Matt was the most knowledgeable in the current situation, so we've been listening to him." Jessica answers.
Blair's face leaks with arrogance. Just the thought of this guy being within the same radius of me makes my bones cringe. I curse myself silently as the regret of being Blair's accomplice tears my mind apart.
Blair had colleagues that worked in some of the pharmacies around Spring Hollow, and instead of disposing of stuff such as oxycodone and rohypnol, Blair would make arrangements to collect it.
The problem was he couldn't sell it to anyone in the city because there was a high possibility someone would recognize him. That's when I came along. Blair knew my family was in a terrible spot financially, and he made me an offer to work with him. I'd collect it, make the sales, and in exchange of getting to keep seventy percent of the profit, Blair would take his thirty, and a small portion of the leftover drugs.
As he put it, "rohypnol is the quickest way to a girl's heart."
As much as I didn't want to fall into that life style, my family would have been evicted from the house. However, that's before I met Samantha. Once she came into my life, I was rethinking my life decisions.
That's when my eyes finally opened to what Blair truly was. One day, he had me meet him at the park. As we walked around, Blair mentioned Samantha and said that if I was going to spend time with Samantha, then she better be by my side at all times. Lest something awful would happen to her.
When I told him that I'd go to the police if he tried anything, Blair smiled. It was one of those prideful facial expressions like he didn't have to listen to me. The glistening lust that painted his eyes was absolutely sickening. Topped off with the thread of boastfulness that made me want to hit him.
"Go ahead. Nobody has paid attention to you since elementary school. Nor does anyone care if you're gone. It's sad to think that not even your own parents want you." He taunted.
No matter what I told the school or my dad, they wouldn't believe me. All they did was claim Mr. Blair was a 'good man' and he's the 'reason' the school's overall academic score went up. That pissed me off because what Blair said was true.
Nobody gave a damn about what I had to say. However, what kept him away from Samantha was how I bought a baseball bat and walked around with it when I was with her. I'd say that I was going to, or coming back from practice, and that I'd love to educate Blair on how to use a bat left-handed.
"So, Mr. Slater is leading this little ragtag band?"
"That's right." Jessica says.
"Good. Then we can discuss how all of you will be listening to me now." Mr. Blair states.
"What are you saying?" Eric asks.
"Well it's clear Mr. Slater is far too young and inexperienced to lead a group of survivors effectively. Seeing that he only saved six while I saved twenty-three."
"It would have been twenty-four if you didn't kick that boy to the shamblers." I snap.
"A noble sacrifice I was willing to make for the good of everyone."
"I had it under control." I stand up.
"Your inability to look after the entirety of the group almost cost us our lives." Blair fires back.
All of the people that Blair brought silently converse back and forth. Their whispers of me being a slinger and untrustworthy accumulates as a majority of them nod in unison. Blair is turning everyone against me.
"No! You are wrong! Matt would never do anything wrong to anyone!" Lauren shouts.
"Shut up! This doesn't concern you! Who's to say he won't bail on us when things get bad!?" A guy spits.
He's well-toned, but not buff. His blonde hair is rumpled up and matted with sweat. As big of a douchebag he truly is, he's right. I've been trying to bail, and I still am.
"No, fuck you! I have just as much say as anyone else on this bus!" Lauren shouts back.
The guy rears back and slaps Lauren so hard that saliva drizzles out of her mouth. She lands in the aisle and her head hits the floor with enough force to bust her lip. Her voice cracks as she grabs her red face. Tears leak from her eyes as she whimpers in between chocked sobs of pain.
"You got something else to say bitch!?" The blonde guy yells.
Nothing but hate pumps from my black heart. It travels up and feeds into my hands. I drive my fist into the side of the guy's cheek. The sound of his jaws and teeth scraping against each other echo throughout the bus. He slams up against the wall, and I unleash everything caged inside.
Some people are cheering while others yell for us to stop. I'm not stopping. This guy brought it upon himself when he hit a little eighth grader. I don't give a damn if it was open hand or not. He made Lauren bleed. Now I'm going to do the same to him.
I weave back and forth in between his blows and deliver solid hits to his rib cage and throat. Someone grabs hold of me and pulls me away. I throw an elbow back but another guy with black hair catches it and pulls me away.
The blonde I was beating up on gives a quick kick. His shoe brushes the side of my face and busts my lip. The taste of metallic rust fills my mouth. Saliva and blood swirl around and paint my teeth as I try to prevent spitting it out since it could potentially land on Jessica or Lauren.
"Oh, you son of a…" I swear.
Both of the men overpower and subdue me to the ground. The guy with black hair forces my left arm behind my back as the other pins my neck to the ground with his hands. The side of my face presses into the black rutted aisle as Blair crouches down. I glare back into his pride-soaked eyes. He's enjoying every second of this. Blair takes out a handkerchief and wipes the blood off the corner of my mouth.
"You see people? Matt's aggressive and unstable nature is only going to get us killed. That's not including how unreliable he is. An animal like this must be put on a leash. What do say you, Mr. Slater?"
I spit a wad of crimson out at Blair, but it doesn't travel far enough to touch him. The black hair guy cranks my arm and silences me. Muscles contract as far as they can, and the bone creaks as it reaches the breaking point. I squall out of the sudden burst of discomfort before he lowers it back to its original position. Any further, and he would have dislocated a shoulder or broken a bone.
"Leave Matt alone!" Lauren shouts as she runs over and hits the black-haired guy in the back.
"It appears the young one clearly needs to learn her place. Jack, show her some discipline." Blair snaps his fingers.
The blonde douchebag that hit Lauren grabs a hold and throws her into an empty bus seat. Lauren struggles to get up, but he grabs a handful of her hair and pins her down. Oh my God, he's going to beat her to death and Blair is going to make me watch.
"No! Let her go! Someone! Anyone! Help!" I shout as the guy holds Lauren down and raises a closed fist. Lauren screams and cries as she helplessly struggles against her attacker.
An arrow flies through the air and sticks into the arm of the guy trying to abuse Lauren. He grabs the fiberglass shaft and runs to the back of the bus. Lauren leaps up and runs behind Emily and Melissa.
The sound of steel rings as Eric strikes one of the men holding me down. The guy yelps and backs away as Eric rears back for another strike. "Get back!" Eric yells. The other guy barely dodges Eric's swipe as he leans back.
They scramble away behind Blair as Melissa helps me up. She quickly forms another arc as Emily and Jessica push me behind them. I stretch my arm and work the kinked muscles out. Spasms bubble to my shoulder, but it shouldn't be anything too serious. I still have full control and nothing feels restricted.
"That bow…Wait...You're that bitch that killed James!" Jack yells as he turns around and converses with another guy, "Back in the gym! That explosion that killed everyone before we bailed! That must have been Matt! Why else would she be trying to protect him?"
"Well Matt's been quite the naughty one. Killing your fellow friends and such. What do you think?" Blair asks.
All the people that traveled with him slap their seats and rally up. This is bad. Really bad. If something isn't done, everyone that came with me will be killed. They outnumber us three to one, and I didn't bring them out here to be killed by this scumbag.
"It appears the majority rules." Blair taunts.
"What do you want!?" Eric wants.
"Me? I don't want to get stabbed in the back, but since it appears Matt and Melissa went out of their way to kill members of my group, who's to say they won't kill us when our back is turned? However, I'm more than willing to accept everyone except Matt and Melissa."
"Then I guess I'll take my chances out there!" I yell as I walk to the front of the bus.
I don't care if the sun is fixing to set. If I stay on this bus any longer, a huge fight is going to break out and my group is going to be annihilated. If I leave though, then Eric, and the others can stay on the bus. Don't know how much good it's going to do since they don't have a plan, but it's obvious Blair has the upper hand.
Miss Fleming is trying to stay out of the affairs of what's going on. We nearly had a brawl back, and she just focuses on the road. It was probably the smartest thing for her to do. She needs to keep us from tipping over or crashing.
"Stop the bus." I say as I wipe drizzling blood from my lip.
"What?"
"I said stop the bus."
"Why?"
I hold up my hand and motion for her to listen, "Just…do it."
Miss Fleming sighs as she shifts down and stops, "I hope you know what you are doing."
"Of course, I don't. Fundamentals of my life."
"No Matt! You can't go by yourself!" Lauren yells.
"Of course not, you're going with him you little runt!" Blair says.
The guy that had me in a chicken wing hold grabs Lauren by the back of her neck and drags her to the front. She curses and thrashes around. He shoves her, and she trips over one of the seat legs. Her body bounces off of me as I prevent her from falling. Lauren regains her balance and makes an obscene gesture towards Blair and his group.
"Why you little…" Jack says.
Melissa draws her bow back, and he backs off with his hands thrown up in a submissive manner. "I ended several lives back at the school, and I won't hesitate to end you either."
I head down the bus stairs. Lauren follows as I look around and make sure it's safe. My house is only a couple blocks away. Judging by this district though, it has been evacuated. Hopefully this is the part of town that has little to no activity. Both shambler and human. I just hope my brother stayed at the house.
I sit down on the curb and look back at the bus. Emily walks down the same time Melissa does. Wait. Why is Emily coming? Don't tell me she would rather be around me than Blair. Not that there is an issue with that, I just figured it would be us three. Me, Melissa and Lauren. Now there's four.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
Emily tosses me a spear and my pack, "I'd rather take my chances with you than be on that bus." Eric follows her off the bus and takes a seat next to me.
"Come on Matt! Surely we can work something out!" Miss Fleming asks.
"I am not getting back on that bus!" I reply.
"I can forgive a lot of things Matt! All you have to do is beg!" Mr. Blair states as he pops his head out of a side window.
"Plea mercy from the likes of you!? I'd rather kiss a toilet seat!"
Lauren and Melissa giggle under their breath as Mr. Blair sighs; "Have it your way! Just hope Lauren isn't by herself if we find her!"
I stand and walk up to the side of the bus, "There's no system you can hide behind anymore Blair, and if you or anyone from your group ever touch Lauren like that again, it's not going to end well for you."
"Such a spiteful attitude! Hunting you down will be fun! I'll give you some time to prepare! Then we can settle this once and for all!"
"Bring it."
"Oh, I will!"
Laruen sputters as she points at a building that's on fire. Burning bodies within the apartment move and groan as they climb out of the busted windows. Smoke and char rise from their blackened flesh as they crawl towards us.
"Miss Fleming! Meet Eric and the others at the Riverside Grille on Court Street tomorrow around noon! Regroup there and find a way out of this hellhole!" I say as I pick up my spear up.
"What about you!?"
"Don't worry about me! Now get!" I say as we group up.
Miss Fleming nods and drives off. There is no time to see where she is going. We will see her and Jessica again tomorrow. The five of us run down the abandoned streets. Police and military barricades have been busted through and destroyed. Even some of the concrete barriers have been shot to pieces. Hundreds of bodies litter the streets. Men, women, and even children.
The ambient sound of fire crackling from buildings engulfed by raging flames, and the wind blowing the leaves around are the only audible thing. I'm guessing most of the people packed up and left after everything went to hell.
The district I live in has a very small population. Maybe one-hundred and fifty at the most. It would be a good place to hole up since it's next to the river. We have a couple kayaks in the garage.
If the river isn't contaminated, we could fish and have a constant supply of water until we got what we needed to head to the country side. That sounds like a lot better idea than finding a functional vehicle. We can just take the kayaks.
Wait, what about Melissa and Lauren? We only have two kayaks, and they are one seaters. I can't leave them alone. Adam won't allow it and Lauren will die for sure. Damnit! I didn't think this one through! Not to mention, Melissa stood up for me, and if it weren't for her, then Lauren and I would probably be dead.
"I'm headed home. Anyone that wants to go their own way are welcome to do so, but I have to get my brother." I say.
"What? And leave you and Lauren to this god forsaken wasteland? I don't think so." Emily states.
"Emily. Listen, you have a family too. I'm sure Eric can help you go find them."
"No Matt. You saved us back at the school. Not only that, we were hesitant to help you and Laruen back there. The least we can do is help you get your brother." She replies.
"About that…You see…My brother is pissed off at me. He ran me off with a shotgun this morning and threatened to shoot if I came back before I apologized to mom and dad, and because of the sudden chaos, I don't know where they are."
"Ah come on Matt. It can't be that bad!" Eric says as he pats my shoulder to try and bring me comfort.
"Oh it is that bad. When we get there, you all stay back. The end of the world brings out the worst in people and since our relationship is unstable at best, it would be smart if you all stay out of it." I say as we press on through the park that separates us from my home.
The base of the carousel is bent to the side and rotates all by itself as small gusts of wind push it in circles. A metallic creaking of some nearby swings pierce the silence as they sway back and forth. I look back at the shamblers that were following us but they have stopped. We must be out of their hearing range now. Thank God. I don't want them coming to the house.
The sun is about to disappear over the horizon. The streetlights pop and hiss as the bulb inside the lamp detect the falling darkness. A blue glow paints the concrete and asphalt below in giant round spots. Luckily, this part of the district still has some of its power intact.
The overall atmosphere is absolutely terrifying. I don't know what it's going to be like. Will the shamblers get stronger? Will they be able to run like they do in movies and video games? Are there hostile survivors in this district? All these questions race through my head and almost bring me into panic mode.
This is a lot to take in for just the first day. One mistake and I've killed us all. I take a deep breath and focus on the task at hand. First thing first. Getting my brother. I brought Melissa so Adam should forgive me.
Compared to all the houses in the district, mine doesn't look all that bad. The other ones have busted windows and collapsed roofing. Some have nearly burned down. I'm guessing Adam is home if my house is still standing. U loOt, I sHooT is written on the front of the brick house in bold black letters.
"Well, your family seems friendly." Emily says.
It's a fancy way for us Slaters to say hello." I tease as I dig out my house key and open the door.
I step to the side just to make sure if Adam is in the living room, he won't blow me back out the door. Something rattles as the door opens. Above are several tin cans hanging from strings suspended from the ceiling. Crafty boy. I'll give them that.
"Okay, all of you follow me. I don't know where Adam is, and he doesn't ask questions when he's mad." I say as I slip into the house and turn on the living room light. Nope. Adam's not there. If I had to take a guess, he is probably upstairs.
A blue glare reflects off the family photos hanging on the walls as the television in the kitchen flashes to another color. Eric shuts the door behind us and locks it.
"Hey four eyes! It's Matt! Where you at!?" I yell as I head upstairs.
There is no reply.
"Is he even here?" Emily asks.
"Oh, he's here. He's just ignoring me because I pissed him off this morning."
I continue up to the second story. At the end of the hallway is mom and dad's room. The lights are turned on, and a series of chairs and mattresses barricade the entrance.
"Adam!"
The sound of a muffled gunshot rings out, and the vase sitting on the end table next to me shatters. Glass and murky water scatter across the floor as I leap into my room. Eric and everyone else drop and hide halfway up the stair case. I motion for them to stay as I try to come up with a way to reason.
"Come on Adam, you can't be that mad!" I say as I ease to the door connecting my room to the storage room. Another bullet strikes the floor in front of the bathroom. Chunks of hardwood fly up as the bullet rips up part of a board.
"That's my ammo you're wasting asshole!" I yell back.
Eric and Emily work their way up to the top and use the corner piece of the wall and staircase as cover.
"Come on Adam! Your brother just wants to talk!" Emily yells.
"Well I've got nothing to say to that dipfuck!" Adam barks as he reloads the revolver.
Eric and Emily continue to distract Adam as I ease through the side room that will take me around to mom and dad's room. All of our food, water, weapons, and ammo are in this one room. It's all packed up like Adam was anticipating my return. I think he just needs a hug, but first I need to pacify him.
I poke my head out and put my hands up as he argues back and forth with Emily and Eric. He notices me out of the corner of his eye and takes aim. Adam presses the revolver up against a pillow to try and muffle the sound.
I force a smile, "Okay Adam, just put the gun down. Let's not do anything we might regret."
A puff of white dust from the drywall powders the front of my face as a bullet lands a couple inches from my hand. Intense fear takes hold as I shudder uncontrollably and dive back into the room.
"I'll kill you!"
Four more muffled rounds strike the wall, and the hammer clicks. I'm still alive somehow. I get up and run into the room. A shiny silver piece of metal flies through the air and connects with the side of my head.
A solid sound reverberates through my skull as I force myself to ignore the pain. Adam tries to tackle me to the ground but I catch him and slam him up against the wall. The four knuckles of my left hand drag across his face.
Thop!
Adam's glasses fly off his face and skid across the wooden floor. He grabs his cheek and staggers around as I flex my hand to ease the numbness eating at my knuckles. Hopefully that knocked some sense into him.
"Are you through playing games?"
"I'm the one playing games!?"
"Yeah! You're the one wasting ammo and throwing guns at people!" I state as I rub the area of my head the revolver bounced off.
Adam picks his glasses up and attempts to calm himself down. Although it doesn't appear to be working.
"But if you're in the mood for throwing stuff, could you throw something at Emily?" I ask.
"Why the hell is she here?"
"It certainly isn't because I'm a good person." I whisper.
"Well, I could have told you that." Adam replies.
"Alright everyone! Adam and I are done! It's safe!"
Everyone cautiously enters the room as Adam holds up his hands to symbolize that our fight is over. I escort Adam over to Melissa and introduce them. Although they have met in the past, they haven't really had a formal introduction.
"Melissa, this is my brother."
Adam shakes her hand, "Sorry about earlier. Our fights get a little rough around here."
She giggles, "Well no one got hurt, and that's all that matters."
Everyone shakes Adam's hand. Since he has been on the outside, he's going to have a better idea of what is going on. The television in the kitchen is still working, maybe he can catch us all up while we were trapped at the school.
"Do you have any idea what's happening right now? We have been left in the dark." Emily asks.
"Well this morning around eleven, the military rolled in. They didn't say why, but the soldiers were kicking in doors and taking people against their will on top of raiding the houses for food, ammo, guns, water and other types of supplies. Now I sure as hell wasn't going with them. Nor were those bastards taking our supplies, so I made sure everything was locked up and hidden before running around the neighborhood."
Adam picks up a fresh apple and fillets it with his hunting knife, "When they finally left, I came back and turned the tv and police scanner on. The media was saying that these things were rising up from the dead and killing people, and DOCA has declared martial law for the entire country. At that time being, there was about thirty-thousand confirmed deaths in Oklahoma alone, and about forty million worldwide as of this morning."
So, it's not just Spring Hollow or America. China, France, Britain, Mexico. Every country in the world is fighting with these shambler creatures. Adam cuts off a piece of apple and hands it to Lauren first. She snatches it out of his hand and gobbles it up.
The ecstasy of getting to actually eat comes over her as she holds her hand out again. Adam laughs and cuts her another piece off. She offers it to me, but I politely decline. Lauren innocently giggles and devours the slice.
"DOCA said that one bite is more than enough, and reanimation happens in under five minutes. It's spread through body fluids like blood and saliva. Getting clawed doesn't do anything though. Why? I don't know, but I overheard some soldiers talking about how headshots aren't enough to kill these things unless you're using a large caliber weapon. Only shots to the neck do the trick if you are using a small arm."
"Why is that?" Eric asks as he accepts a slice of apple.
"Theoretically, those contaminated develop tougher, scaly brains due to some kind of radiation passed from the carrier to the victim. Theoretically."
It's not a virus, or a fungus, or a bacterium, it's some kind of radiation spread through contamination rather than an infection. Radiation from what though? Doesn't radiation just kill the person?
"The only good thing is the radiation can't really stick to water due to its complex design, and the simplicity of H2O. The only reason it affects humans is because blood has a unique protein the radiation can bind to. Which means drinking from the river is perfectly safe as long as it's properly strained and boiled for other waterborne pathogens according to a major announcement from DOCA."
"Listen, we are meeting some people at the Riverside Grille tomorrow. Would you be interested in coming?" Emily asks.
"I might. Safety in numbers and all, but I'm not going out at night." Adam answers as he cuts the last piece of apple off and hands it to me.
"I agree. We should all get some rest." Eric says.
"Sounds good to me." Melissa says as she sits her bow on the ground and opens a can of peaches.
I pop the apple slice in my mouth. The sweet taste of natural sugar rolls around my jaws with each cycle. The flavor lingers in my mouth as it rolls down my throat and into my stomach. Food has never tasted so good.
I reach down and pick the AR-15 up, but Adam grabs the stock, "Whoa, hold up cowbo, where's the fire? What do you think you're doing?"
"Getting my rifle. You know, the one I gave mom the money to buy."
"I don't think so. If anyone's using the good ole Armalite Rifle, it's going to be me."
I roll my eyes and let him have it. Adam did keep our guns and supplies out of the hands of the military, and he did listen so I guess he can use it. For now. Adam picks up my lever action rifle and gives it to me.
I pick up a box of 30-30 rounds and load a shell into the side. The bullet slides into the rifle and disappears. I crank the lever and put a round in the chamber. Six, seven, eight… The gun can't hold any more bullets. I aim the barrel up and put my thumb on the hammer and ease it forward until it de-cocks.
"Did you get dad's special shotgun?" I ask.
"You mean the semi-auto that holds ten shells? No. I couldn't find the key to the safe, but I know it's hidden around here somewhere."
I get the little snub nose revolver Adam was shooting at me with and aim it at the ground. The release drops the cylinder, and it rolls to the side. I eject the empty shells, load five 357 rounds and stick it in the back of my pants.
When everyone goes to sleep tonight, I'll sneak out and see what the night is going to be like since this is what has become of society. I know a couple safe places to go if I get stuck between a rock, and a hard place. There are a couple convenience stores around the west side. If they haven't been completely raided, that would be a good place to look for supplies.
There wasn't too many shamblers around, and if the soldiers are suffering loss, then that means this place is a dead zone or there's a dead zone close by. I sling my backpack off and head into my room. Lauren is sitting at my desk and reading some of my comic books. The one she seems the most interested in is the one involving an apocalyptic setting.
The character is holding a sawed-off shotgun and sitting on the edge of a classic muscle car that's been plated with sheets of tin for armor. Metal spikes run down the spine of the vehicle, and the sun is disappearing behind the trees off in the distance. Issue number 7, Nightfall.
"This is pretty good! Do you have anymore?" Lauren asks as she flips to the next page.
"Issues one through six are in the bottom drawer." I say as I lay my rifle and revolver under my bed.
Lauren grabs the rest of the comics but something catches her attention. She reaches under the desk and grabs hold of a black magazine with a very particular name on the front cover. Her eyes light up as her face turns bright red. She giggles and flips to the next page.
"Hey Lauren, you shouldn't be reading that." I say as I pull my boots off.
She yanks the book out of reach and slides away from me. "Read? There's no words!" She flips to the next page, "My God, how would she even walk around with boobs that big? They'd be slapping me in the face if I was walking down stairs!"
"Get rid of that!"
"Then why's it in your room? Don't answer that. I know why it was in your room." Lauren teases.
She throws the black magazine over her shoulder and sits all the books on the ground. Something else catches her attention halfway down. Lauren grabs an object that looks like a book mark and pulls it out.
"Hey Matt, who's this?" Lauren asks as she holds up a small line of pictures from a photo booth. I don't remember that picture, but it's probably just one of me, and the family because I can see my outline in the photo.
She hands me the picture. It's me and Samantha when we went out for our first date. My mind locks up and I see that time play out as if it's happening now. Shortly after I foiled the mean girls attempt to bully her, she came over that Friday after school. I was planning on doing a sale come dusk.
Mom called me downstairs and there she stood. I was shocked to see her because I figured the thank you in the hallway was enough. Mom welcomed her in and Samantha asked if I wanted to go see a movie and eat with her afterwards.
I needed the money, but I couldn't say no. I went back upstairs and grabbed the last one-hundred dollar bill I had left. She offered to pay for everything, but I didn't feel comfortable making her pay for my ticket and food.
Instead, I bought our tickets and took her to a very nice riverfront restaurant when the movie was over. After that, we just walked around town and talked until it was time to take her home. I didn't have a penny left after that night, but it was worth every cent.
The way her blonde hair swayed in the torrents of wild wind looked like golden fire. I remember looking over, and the sight of her without her glasses took my breath away. Actually, it felt like getting hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. Unlike every other girl I'd ever known, she was the only one at the school that could captivate me.
On the way home, Samantha saw a photo booth inside a pharmacy. She offered to pay and I didn't object. She bought two strips of photos. Some were basic, some were silly, and the final one, she put her arms around me and kissed the side of my face. Before the flash, my face burst into flames and turned red.
"Was she your girlfriend?" Lauren asks.
I take a deep breath and relieve some of the emotional stress clogging my mind, "Yeah…"
"Oh. I wonder if she's okay."
"She's…" I choke on the word dead as the memories of her squirming on the ground flood my mind like a busted dam. Water leaks from my eyes as I press the photos into my forehead. Sudden gasps of pain fill my lungs and cause my chest to swell up. I fight to stay in control, but sorrow stabs me in the heart.
"I'm sorry Matt. I'll get going so you can be alone."
Lauren grabs the books and shuts the door. I lay down on the bed and hold the pictures close to my heart.
"I'm sorry Samantha." I sniffle as I close my puffy eyes and let the anesthesia of sleep transport me from this world temporarily…