In the dead of the night, a loud thundering roar is heard from outside. It rattles the entire house, shaking the interior inside, causing me to open my eyes hastily. Only to be greeted by the pure darkness and the heavy breathing of Luke who's beside me, who's somehow still sleeping through that horrible violent tremor equivalent to an earthquake. My head still pulsates with a vengeance, causing me to tear up a little, forcing me to stay awake.
My head hurts, I can't stop this on my own, I need to ask Carlos if there's any pills left from when Rebecca had the flu months ago.
That thought slipped my mind last night while we were eating. Hopefully I can catch whatever I have in time before I get really sick and slow our group down, or else we'll be here longer than we planned.
Once again the destructive thundering noise rumbles overtop of the cabin, Luke stirs around beside me; still not waking up. The lightning strikes a tree nearby outside causing it to fall over and sizzle in the down pouring rain.
That's not good.
My heart pounds again, Carlos was onto something when he said 'the calm before the storm.' It's like a hurricane out there.
It's still dark outside, meaning I most likely got a couple hours of sleep before the pain came back and that violent thunder. The wind is still as strong as it was when we all went to bed too. The room is silent, except for a steady deep breathing and the lump of blankets moving right beside me.
'l will protect you, Clem...'
That sentence alone echoes through my mind constantly. Clinging onto each word he said, and how he pronounced it.
I feel a small, tiny smile spread across my face.
He said a lot to me last night, Nick too. I'm starting to think this is more than what it seems…
The rain hits the cabin with enough force to chip away the wood, there's a leak in here somewhere because I can hear the water dripping in a corner in this room.
Nick sometimes gives me a hard time. He tries not to, that's easy to tell. But it still happens. Once in a blue moon he'll freak out and find a problem somewhere in the group, but Luke told me that's just who he is and he can't help it so I shouldn't worry too much.
My head suddenly splits in pain again, even when there's no light it's still affected by something, causing my temples to pulsate even harder and my sinuses to swell up again.
I knew it... It's the flu. I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Just make it stop!
I lay there sprawled out in total silence and darkness, eventually my eyes grow used to the dark and I can see vaguely around the silent room.
The table that's against the window and has a bunch of stuffed animals piled on top of it, and a busted lamp that's on the floor. The ceiling is a little bit slanted on my side of the wall where the bed is so I know the leak isn't anywhere along this wall.
The water drips again, it sounds like it's in the corner beside the doorway that leads into the hallway but I can't be too sure.
Luke shifts his weight around on the bed and mumbles a few words to himself before the steady, continuous deep breathing begins again.
I hope Carlos is up. He knows where everything is.
I peer over Luke's heaving body to see if Nick's still here on the floor, the pile of blankets on the wooden, cold floor seem to have been moved around, the pillows are also spread across the area. Obviously Nick isn't here anymore.
I sigh.
I don't see him where he slept; maybe he got up a while ago and is drinking again…
Sometimes, on rare occasions when Nick can't sleep, we usually find him 'drunk' the next morning. Sometimes Luke joins him, which bothers me a little to be honest… But at least he's more mature about it than Nick is.
Confused and curious, I crawl gently over Luke's body to get to the other side of the bed, scurrying across him and stepping down onto the wooden, cold floor.
I feel dizzy, extremely dizzy...
Suddenly, my legs try to give out from beneath me. I stumble around a bit to try to regain balance before steadying myself against the wall. The water drips once more and I can feel a small puddle of water by my feet. I guess I found out where the leak is.
That was close; if I fall Luke will definitely come running like he always does.
My brain continuously sends bone shattering pains throughout my head. The pressure builds up a little behind my eyes, making me want to claw them out if my sockets.
If I can just make it downstairs to the kitchen; or the bathroom even.
Slowly, I begin to walk quietly out of the room, holding onto the walls around me for balance. I look over my shoulder to make sure Luke is still sleeping, which he is.
I smile to myself, gazing at him for a couple more seconds.
I wonder what time it is, I know it's still roughly the same time we all went to bed at...
I poke my head out, looking into the hallway seeing all of the doors are shut; I guess no one else is up yet; which is odd considering Carlos said there would be always one person up every hour or so.
I deeply sigh, trying not to wake anyone up, even though someone should be up.
Great, how am I going to get the pills now if Carlos is still sleeping?
My head continues to pulsate, every muscle in my body is screaming at me to go back to the bed, cuddle Luke and sleep for a few days. I don't think Carlos would want to be here in the cabin for too long anyways, so I couldn't, no matter how tempting that sounds right now…
We've only stayed in the cabin for a couple months actually, after we dealt with Caver and escaped we backtracked here to come up with a new plan. Carlos says heading north is our only option and to avoid majorly populated cities. The only question is; how far north are we going to travel?
The steps creak extremely loud as I hold onto the railing for dear life and slowly descend into the eerie, darkened room. The lightning flashes outside, only enough to illuminate some of the room between the cracked boards on the windows.
How come no one's on watch..?
I half expected whoever's supposed to be on watch to turn around the corner and scare me, which luckily didn't happen, or else I would have punched them in an act of self-defense; really hard too.
The wind hurls itself against the cabin, the eerie; hallow sound the wind makes rasps against the windows, while the rain and thunder emphasize it even more.
My bare feet tingle a little on the freezing cold floor. I look around the room, flailing my arms and lightly touching things to get a good feel of my surroundings considering the blinding flash from the lightning disorientates my vision a little.
Damn that window's boarded up good. I guess I shouldn't complain; we'd all be dead if it wasn't.
Silence lingers in the darkness of the living room. I'm still having a hard time deciding if that's a good thing or not.
There's no snarling… That's a good sign, I hope.
I relax a little, my head still kills me but I need to find those pills or it might get worse.
Suddenly, a loud crash is heard from the kitchen, as if someone knocked a spoon or a fork off the edge of the table and it landed on the floor. Whatever it is, it clearly got my attention now.
I should've never left the room… Why did I leave the room?
My heart races inside my chest, I can feel my heart pulsing throughout my body, and the adrenaline kicking in.
I need those pills...
I creep closer and closer to the wooden door that's closed shut leading towards the kitchen. There's a faded orange light emitting from under it too. A nagging feeling keeps bugging me about entering the room, but I need to know if there are pills in there first.
Maybe I can take who- or, what- ever is in there by surprise… Yeah, that's what I'll do.
I smirk a little, feeling around one of the bookshelves and finding a nice sharp letter opener, just my luck.
Perfect.
I smirk.
My eyes focus back to the shut door. I'm amazed Carlos didn't wake up from that, he's a light sleeper.
Okay Clem, all you have to do is just reach for the door slowly, open it up and go for the head…
My fingers shake a little, usually I'm not nervous, but since its dark and I feel like utter shit, whoever it is might have the upper advantage.
My fingers lightly grasp the doorknob, my body screams at me not to open this door due to not knowing what's inside but I need to, in case the pills are in the kitchen.
Okay… Now all I have left to do is-
The doorknob suddenly jolts free from my loose grip, sending me jumping back a little and the door swings fully open.
Shit...!
My heart pounds heavily, I fumble the letter opener a little, holding it steadily I look upwards meeting the worried eyes of Nick, who's holding an old candle and a steak knife in the other hand.
Oh thank god...
"Nick, you scared me!" I sigh of relief, lowering my letter opener while he lowers his knife, moving a few steps back to let me through the door.
"Shit you scared me too, what the Hell are you doing up this late?" His blue eyes return to the normal shade they usually are, and he faintly smiles, moving towards me, but questioning my face.
Why is he looking at me like that...?
"I could ask you the same thing..." I cross my arms, trying to ignore the splitting pain that's been haunting me all day.
It's kind of suspicious as to why he's up so late... Especially, since he fell asleep before the both of us.
I notice another bottle of alcohol half empty on the kitchen table, and some crumpled pieces of paper lying around. What's he up to? I wonder.
Now that the adrenaline wore off, my legs feel very weak and shaky. This isn't good; maybe I should call it quits and go back to bed.
Just as I'm about to move to the chair my vision starts to slowly turn black, giving me enough time to realize what's happening.
Shit... I'm not going to make it to the chair, am I?
My hands automatically latch onto Nick's arm to stabilize me before I almost fall again. He looks at me oddly.
"I'm sorry, I-" I began, the room spins around a couple times confusing my brain greatly.
"No, problem, I guess…?" He hesitates, looking at me oddly before helping me towards the table and helping me sit down as well.
His eyes linger over me, and the hand with the knife slowly sets it aside on the table, while he places the candle down next to it, taking the letter opener from my fingers before I accidentally stab myself.
My eyes keep trying to refocus due to the candlelight, which creates even more of a headache for me.
I can't keep looking around the room, I feel sick... Please don't puke...
My head hits the table before Nick can even ask what the Hell's going on; he just stands there confused, before sitting down beside me.
Thunder roars overhead, rattling the bottle of alcohol on the table along with the plates and utensils inside the cupboards and drawers.
"Shit, Luke was right about the storm…" Nick mutters angrily, I guess he still hates him even after what Kenny said to them.
Hopefully this stops the tunnel vision...
My heart rate continues to pound furiously, I can feel myself just getting ready to vomit almost. My body burns up quite a bit too, my fever must've spiked…
"Clem...? Can I get you anything?" Nick notices that I'm not responding a whole lot like I usually do.
Now's my chance…
"Painkillers..." I hoarsely mutter, gripping my head while the pain retaliates again.
I'll need to go to bed after this…
He looks at me funnily, raising an eyebrow while taking another swig.
"Why the fuck do you need painkillers? I'd offer you a drink but you're too young."
Poking my head up a little I glare at him, there's no way I'll ever touch a bottle of that shit.
"My head hurts…"
I raise my head slowly to look him in the eye. His eyes widen, shocked a little at the fact that I'm still awake.
What's the matter? It's not that bad is it...?
"Okay, just relax I'll find some, then I'll take you to bed. Clem you're really pale..." He stands up immediately, opening one of the cupboards and taking out a bottle of pills and pouring me a glass of water, and starts heading back towards me.
Thank god...
He hands me them carefully. I bring the pills to my mouth, and take a huge swig of water.
My head still throbs, but the pills are to be expected to work within a few minutes; hopefully.
The candlelight reflects our shadows against the wall sitting down in the chairs; the glow also lets me see the growing concern surprisingly on Nick's face.
"So, what are you doing out here this late?" He starts over, keeping his voice quiet so we don't wake people up, or distract any Lurkers.
I just said why…
"I- I needed something for this headache." I look down at the candle flame, the pain's starting to lessen already, I can't believe it's working that fast.
Nick smirks.
"Well, you've been taken care of, get some sleep."
"The pills need to work first, dumbass..." I smile a little; he looks at me, amused.
He sighs, holding back a small, faint grin.
"Yeah, got me there didn't you?"
The rain pounds against the visible glass, and damp wood outside. Thunder rumbles in the distance while the lightning flashes in, illuminating everything's shadows against the wall with ours.
My eyes glance to the papers on the opposite end of the table; Nick catches my gaze and tenses up a little.
"So, what's so important about those papers-"
"Nothing. Don't worry about it." He quickly jumps up, grabbing the crumpled pieces of paper and shoving them into his pocket.
Okay then…
"So, why are you up so late?" I change the subject while he walks back to his seat, trying to return to my normal self. I can tell these pills are working because my head feels completely numb, and it feels nice.
He looks over towards the door, and then back at me. Either he's hinting at something, or he's edgy being awake and down here at this time.
Did... Did someone go outside on their own?
"Alvin got tired, he asked me to continue and so I did. And here I am."
"Okay, I see."
Good, I thought he was going to say someone ran off.
I take a huge sip from the glass of water, setting the glass down on the table. The thunder shakes the house once more, causing the glass to rattle against the tabletop.
It feels weird not having Luke beside me. I don't think I ever got to sit down with Nick alone, in a long time.
His eyes keep glancing at me; I can tell he's a bit worried.
"I can help you up the stairs if you can't walk, you know that right?"
"I can walk fine."
I stand up from the chair, the tingly black sensation creeps slowly across my vision once more, and before I know it, I fall to the floor, heaving up the fish and rabbit that we ate for dinner.
"Disgusting." Nick mutters, helping me up once more and setting me down on the chair while he wipes up my mouth with a cloth; his blue eyes lock onto mine, while he smiles softly.
My heart thumps softly, why is Nick doing all of this for me?
"To think that Luke did this for me when we got drunk together…"
"I thought you never got drunk?" I question him, as he begins to clean up the rest of it.
"I used to get drunk, I just kept drinking and eventually it went away." He tosses the cloth into the sink, turning back to face me.
I threw up all over him almost, I should at least apologize.
"I'm sorry..."
He laughs a tiny bit.
"Don't worry. I'm taking you to bed and letting Carlos know you're sick-"
"Don't!"
If he finds out, I'll be pitied and I don't want that, I want to help out.
He gazes at me oddly.
"Why..? He's a doctor, he can help. Besides, he's been acting real suspicious lately because he found some blood in the bathroom upstairs."
"I don't want to be a burden to the group- and what? How come I wasn't informed?"
He smirks softly, walking towards me.
My heart pounds a little.
"You're not a burden; you're just a kid, yeah. But you're tougher than most of us. Don't feel ashamed that you're sick, it happens okay? And, sometimes the grownups have grownup meetings…" He teases me with a smile.
"Ass, just please don't tell him." I roll my eyes at him while he laughs a little.
"Alright, fine." He sighs, clearly not happy with my decision; but he agrees.
I sigh of relief, I'm glad he won't tell. I should probably get Carlos to look at me, but not right now. Not when there's work to be done tomorrow.
The wind howls with a vengeance, the sound of more trees falling around us can be heard as well. It's going to be a mess tomorrow…
Instead of even giving me the option to walk, he scoops me up in his arms without a warning, and begins to walk towards the living room.
His arms hold me gently as he keeps glancing down at me pressing against his chest, trying not to crack a smile.
"What the-" I just go with it, I'm too tired to even care at this point, besides; I'd probably fall down the steps anyways if I tried.
My body burns, and my eyes grow heavy very quickly. I can tell my fever is high, and so can he.
The pills must be working... I don't feel any pain right now, I'm happy that it's gone...
"Luke would kill me if he caught me doing this." Nick mutters. Tightening his grip on me to make sure I don't fall as we head up the stairs slowly, avoiding the cracks to lessen the chance of anyone waking up.
I feel calm laying here in his arms, not Luke or Lee calm, but calm enough to know I'll be okay. I think I'm starting to trust him fully now.
He glances down at me; a vague, hidden smile twitches along his lips.
My eyes keep closing, I'm glad he's doing this; I'd probably end up sleeping on the couch if he didn't. And we all know how Luke would take to that.
He opens the door slowly, walking blindly into the dark room and carefully leaning over Luke, setting me down back in my original spot when I first woke up.
"Now don't you move until the others are up, I'm going to wake up Kenny then I'm coming back, alright?" He quietly assures me, pulling the covers a bit from underneath Luke whose hogging most of them and placing them overtop of me.
I smile and nod, silently thanking him as he turns around and slowly leaves the room. Heading into Kenny's which is just across the hall from ours.
I smile, relaxing finally now that I don't feel any of the pain.
Now I can finally sleep. Hopefully I stay asleep this time.
The rain pounds against the only window that isn't boarded up, the wind picks up even harder and you can hear the sound of some brittle trees snapping and collapsing around us.
Luke grumbles a little, shifting over to face me and slowly opens his eyes. Almost as if he was waiting for Nick to leave the room.
"Hey, what are you doin' up..?" He groggily replies, yawning and stretching his arms. Unaware that Nick isn't here.
Really, I want to sleep.
I roll over, huddled against the wall ignoring him so I can at least get some rest.
I'll just pretend I'm sleeping; maybe he'll leave me alone.
He smirks slyly.
"It's rude to ignore people, kiddo."
He moves closer to me, sliding his warm hands around my waist and pulling me towards him.
W-what's he doing...?
My heart thumps, wildly and willingly.
His lips curl into a smile; I guess he can feel it with his hands that are wrapped around my waist.
"C'mon Clem, why are you up? You woke me up several minutes ago, so I'm not lettin' go until you tell me."
I sigh a little, while he laughs a tiny bit, knowing that he's won.
I guess I'll tell him then...
"My headache got worse. So I left, to get those painkillers Carlos has..."
Hesitating a little he lets go of me, smiling a tiny bit while rolling over on his back.
"Well, I'm glad you're not in pain anymore. If there's anythin' you need though, you let me know. Okay?"
"Okay..."
He always has to do everything for me; I'm not a little kid anymore; why can't he see that?
He smiles, drifting off to sleep slowly.
"See you tomorrow…" He manages to speak. And with that, he rolls over falls asleep instantly.
He probably wanted to know so badly because he was worried, he noticed I was looking sick before I even could figure it out…
I lay there half-awake for a while, Luke finally passes out into a deep sleep and the deep breathing escapes from his nose. Oddly enough I hear footsteps coming back up the stairs, opening Kenny's door in the hallway, and then suddenly to our door.
Nick...? Why'd he take so long? Plus he went to Kenny's room, not downstairs. Unless, I didn't hear him move downstairs...
I peer over Luke once again looking at Nick who takes off his shoes again, and shuts the door behind him quietly.
"Clem...? I see you." Quietly he makes his way over to the foot of the bed, sitting down on my side while Luke moves around in his sleep.
"What took you so long...?"
"Oh, you care about me huh?" He smirks, getting just a little bit full of himself.
"Well, yeah you're my friend..."
He smiles a tiny bit, looking over at Luke with a bit of jealously in his eyes.
"Kenny wanted me to keep watch for a few minutes longer until he was awake enough to start, nothing too major." He stands right up again, and lies back down on his makeshift bed on the floor beside our bed.
Okay... We can all sleep again finally...
"Goodnight, Clem." He adds, wrapping himself up in the blankets, I hope I fall asleep before he starts snoring...
"You to." I barely manage to get out.
I yawn a little, stretching my body and curling up facing the wall, trying to pull some of the blankets from underneath Luke again.
Maybe Nick changed… He'd never be concerned for me as much as he was just right now. After all; we all managed to survive this long enough together so maybe, just maybe, he finally is starting to trust me more than he did before.
The pills kick in; making my brain drowsy even just thinking about anything really, tires me out completely. My eyes slowly close and eventually, I fall asleep without any pain in my head or hear the thoughts clawing at my brain like they usually do before.