Chapter 8 - Dead End

Lara's POV

Rick and I went out hunting early in the morning. We decided to let Alex sleep on, he looked really tired yesterday night. He just couldn't stop yawning and rubbing his eyes. Thinking about it now, reminds me of how tired I've been myself. Sleeping doesn't come easy on this damn island, especially with the psychopathic scavengers on this island. What do they want from us? We have nothing that they could possibly want from us. How did they get on this island anyway? So many questions still unanswered.

"Shit! Missed again." I hissed.

"Need help?" Rick offered.

"No. Well, actually… Yeah." I smiled sheepish.

He nodded and positioned behind me again. This time he got closer to me, causing my cheeks to heat up, similar to when you bump into your crush while walking through the hallways of the school. NOT that I have a crush on him. His body was warmer than mine, making me feel tingly inside. I couldn't concentrate like this and I lowered the rifle. He turned me around and looked into my eyes. I noticed just now that he had incredible eyes. Those deep blue ones, like huskies. Woof.

"You're so beautiful, Lara." He told me and took the rifle from my hands.

I couldn't help but blush. He dropped the rifle on the ground and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Rick...!" I protested slightly. I put both my hands on his chest, trying to push him away lightly.

"Lara?"

I looked around me and saw Alex standing there. I pushed Rick off of me, this time less lightly, and picked up the rifle from the ground.

"Hey! Alex. Slept well?" I said awkwardly.

"Yeah, I did. You guys… err… caught anything yet?" He asked us, scratching the back of his neck.

I couldn't read his eyes clearly, it looked like pain combined with a hint of anger.

"I'm kinda hungry." He added.

"Yes, it's err… over there." I pointed towards where the deer was, still trying to figure out what he was feeling. It seemed like his expression was changing constantly. Like he was trying his best to hide his emotions.

We went over to the deer and dragged it back to the camp. We cooked it and began eating. It was painfully quiet, not a word was exchanged.

When we finished eating, we left the camp and went into the forest again. Alex was convinced that we would find the others soon. I hope he was right.

What was Alex feeling? Jealousy? When he saw me with Rick, it sure looked like it. His eyes were vague, like he didn't know what to feel.

"Lara, are you alright?" Alex asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I tried to smile.

"That's good." He smiled back weakly.

He asks that a lot lately, maybe he doesn't know what to say. I don't blame him though, I've no idea what to say either. At least he's keeping it light for us. For me.

Alex's POV

I could see Rick looking at me from the corner of his eye. He doesn't seem to like it when I talk with Lara. I hope this won't escalate, we can't have a conflict between us two. That will make us vulnerable.

"How's your arm, Alex?" Lara asked me.

"It's getting better. Only hurts when I touch it." I smiled slightly.

"That's good. Should we look for a disinfectant?"

"He's fine." Rick stated.

"Okay." Lara said quietly.

"How's yours? It's starting to look better." I said.

"Yeah it is healing pretty good, I hope it won't open up again." Lara replied.

"I hope so too, seeing you hurt like that was unbearable." I agreed smiling.

"Enough with the chatter, we must not be caught off guard here." Rick interrupted.

"What, you know this place?" I asked agitated.

"I know that this place can kill us if we aren't paying attention." He answered in a corrective manner.

"There's a difference between this place killing us and you getting us killed..." I muttered.

"Alex...!" Lara hissed indignantly.

"What was that?" Rick asked with an angry tone.

"If you want to lead the way, go the fuck ahead." He added, pointing forwards.

I didn't reply.

"That's what I thought." Rick mumbled and continued leading the way. We were lagging behind, allowing Lara to talk with me without Rick hearing it.

"Alex, what is going on with you?" Lara whispered.

"I don't know, I just don't trust this guy." I replied.

"You aren't jealous, are you?" She asked skeptical.

"What? No, of course not. Why would I be jealous?" I almost yelled.

I knew that I was lying. I was jealous, but I couldn't admit it.

"Then don't act like it." Lara replied and tried to catch up with Rick.

I hesitated about catching up too, but decided not to. I sighed slow and quietly and then continued walking at my own pace.

What am I doing wrong? Why does she push me away, every time I try to get close? I wish I was different. I wish I was someone she would be interested in...

It started raining, lightly at first, but soon got heavier.

"Should we shelter somewhere?" I suggested.

"No." Rick replied bluntly.

"I didn't ask you, asshole..." I reacted.

"Hey, easy! And no, we can't stop looking for them now, I have a feeling we're getting really close." Lara responded.

She sounded determined and confident, like she really knew we we're close. I believed her gut-feeling and continued at their pace. We were silent, the only sounds I heard were the rain and our steps in the thin layer of squishy mud.

"Lara." I started.

"Yeah?"

"Could we talk for a moment?"

"Yeah, su-" She replied, but got interrupted by Rick.

"What? Is there something I'm not allowed to hear?"

"No, it's just... It's personal." I replied, wondering if it were the right words to use.

"Psh..." He responded and left us alone for a moment.

"So... What is it, Alex?" Lara began.

"There's something about Rick... I didn't know when to tell you, because I was afraid of getting to conclusions too soon or that you wouldn't understand, since you like-"

"Alex, slow down, okay? I'm having a hard time following you."

"Sorry. Jus- just take a look at this." I said.

I took out the picture I found in the hunting lodge earlier and showed it to her.

"What am I supposed to see, Alex?" She asked confused.

"Take a closer look." I told her.

"Alex, I don't see anything." She clarified.

I took a look myself and noticed the picture was washed out and next to worthless.

"What the..."

I felt my body heat up.

"I swear it wasn't like this before… Fuck…" I began panicking.

"Alex, calm down. What was on the picture?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I doubted.

"I will. You wouldn't panic like this if it wasn't true." Lara reassured.

"Okay. It was Rick and the other guy, George. They were… it was…"

"Wait, Alex. Are you trying to tell me Rick is gay?" Lara chuckled.

"No what? No! That's not what I meant at all. They were standing in knee deep snow, while holding a deer by its antlers. And behind them, was the same exact hunting lodge as where we..."

"Where I fell asleep on your lap?" She chortled.

"Yea." I blushed.

"But it doesn't make sense, It's summer." Lara told me like I didn't know that.

"Exactly." I sighed. I scratched the side of my head and kicked away some leaves on the ground with my foot.

"So you are saying, that Rick isn't from the Endurance?" She said, with a hint of disbelief.

"Yeah. That's what it all comes down to basically." I confirmed.

"Where do you think he's from then?" She questioned.

"No clue." I replied, ditching the subject.

There was a short pause, allowing her to process what I just told her.

"Oh yeah, err... This isn't what I wanted to say in the first place, but..." I stopped and started thinking.

"What's up?"

I didn't respond right away, as I was looking for the right words.

Do you like me? Nah.. Too straight-forward.

I like you, Lara. Ugh... No.

Maybe...

"What do you really think of me?" I asked.

"What?" She said confused.

Dammit. Should've gone with "do you like me".

"What am I to you?" I clarified.

"A good friend, someone I can laugh with." She responded.

"That's... all?" I asked, slightly hurt.

"Well, what else is there to say? You're nice and smart." She replied.

"But what am I really to you? Just a friend or..." I paused.

"Or?" She questioned.

"Something more?" I finished.

"Alex..." She sighed and looked to the side.

"I really like you, Lara."

"Well, I like you too." She said, punctuating the word 'like'.

No, it's not like that, you don't get it." I said, while looking at the ground between us.

"You two done?" Rick interrupted. He was clearly being impatient, notable due to the fact he was tapping his feet and crossing his arms.

"Yeah." I replied with a surprisingly normal tone. For once, I let Rick be the dick he was.

Lara didn't respond right away. She stared at the ground in front of her.

"Lara?" Rick called her name.

"Yeah. We're good to go."

"Alright then. We need to pick up the pace, it's getting late." Rick told us, while jogging along the dirt path."

Where are you leading us, Rick?

We walked for half an hour in pure silence. Even Rick, who's always complaining about our travel speed, was quiet.

Suddenly Rick threw his arm back, telling us to stand still. My alertness raised and so did my heart rate. At first I could only hear my own breathing, but then I heard ruffling noises coming from the sides. I slowly reached for my gun and took it in my right hand. I looked to the left. Nothing. I looked to the right. Nothing either.

We know you're there, asshole. Come on out.

My gaze fell on Lara, she was holding her bow and was observing her surroundings with care.

"Let's keep going. Whoever that was, he's gone now." Rick stated. "But don't let your guard down. He's still watching us, I'm sure of it." Rick added.

Once again, we were moving through the dense forests of Yamatai. Once again, my thoughts shifted towards Lara.

If only I could read her mind. Is she thinking about me right now? Or is she thinking about Rick? Maybe neither, maybe she's still focusing on keeping her guard up, like I should.

I observed what was around me carefully and noticed what seemed like a dead end in front of us. It took Rick a moment before realizing the same.

"Shit. Dead end." He said agitated.

Way ahead of you, buddy.

"What now?" Lara asked. She was looking around her, trying to find an alternate route.

Suddenly, Rick walked passed us, back to where we came from and raised his rifle. He fired a couple shots at a nearby tree to the right of him. We heard a loud groan, but it didn't sound like a grown man. In fact, it wasn't. It was a fucking kid. Rick walked towards the teenage boy, trying to crawl away from us. And aimed his weapon on him. The boy had brown hair and green eyes, he wore a greyish blue t-shirt with white sleeves and a pair of jeans.

"Rick! No!" I yelled. I dashed towards him and tried to take his rifle from him."

He pushed me off and shifted his aim at me.

"Fuck off, Alex." He muttered.

"It's a fucking kid, Rick!" I shouted.

"He was spying on us, he could be one of those scavengers. Look at him. He is death. Okay? Do you really think those scavengers would keep normal kids? This boy is gonna call for his buddies and get us killed, if we don't eliminate him right now."

"Rick, don't do this. We aren't murderers." Lara told him.

Rick focused on the boy and aimed his rifle again. The boy was bleeding bad, he got shot in his chest and gut.

"Who are you, where are your buddies and who do you work for?!" He yelled.

The boy didn't respond. Rick pulled back the bolt, loading in a round.

"Useless piece of shit…" Rick said and put his finger on the trigger.

"RICK! Don't sh-"

~ End of Chapter ~

Sorry for taking so long, guys. Next one will be up sooner.