A/N: I haven't posted in so long so I'm sorry about that. I'll try post faster from now on. Well, hopefully haha. I hope the little TGP2 makes up for it though...
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Bryce.
I'm going to do it. I'm defiantly going to do it. There is no turning back now. I have to go. Emily will be fine. Marissa and Samuel are here now. I'm confident nothing will happen to her with them around. They are always prepared. Nothing can hurt her now. Not even me. She might even be glad to see me gone. Who knows? Either way, for myself, I still need to say some sort of goodbye. I pull myself out of depressing thoughts and look at Emily on the couch. She's always on that couch. It's her throne. She never gives it up for anyone. Although, lately I've caught her moving over a little when Samuel comes near. She's always had a thing for flirting, boy or girl and I guess Cameron and Damian aren't good enough for her any more. Or maybe she actually appreciates Lindsay's friendship more than anything. A fight for Damian is probably not something she wants. Anyway, maybe the next time I come back to see her she'll be together with Samuel. I doubt that will happen though. She either can't see it or doesn't want to see it, but Samuel has some weird attachment to Marissa.
Although I only met Samuel and Marissa a week ago I think I'll really miss them. Samuel is such a chill dude. We get along well because we both make an effort not to piss the other off. We actually have quite a bit in common too. If we weren't in a zombie apocalypse and in the normal world I could see us being good mates. And Marissa too. She is so dope. We have a common interest in disliking Lindsay and making fun of her. Cameron, I probably won't miss him as much as Damian but I'll miss his odd, optimistic view on things. But Damian. My heart thumps painfully against my chest. I think I'm really going to miss him. I know he is best friends with Cameron so I never quite measured up to him but we still had so much fun going on raids together. Before Samuel and Marissa came and practically saved our lives Damian's was my kick-ass zombie fighting buddy. Killing zombies will never be the same without him.
I sigh loudly. It's getting late. Emily will probably want to get some sleep soon. I squirm out of my seat and drag myself over to Emily's sofa. She turns at the movement and watches me suspiciously. She must have seen the urgency in my eyes though, for she squirms over to make room for me.
"What do you want?" she moans, though the corner of her mouth turns up slowly.
"Just wanted to remind you I love ya," I joke and wrap my arms around her shoulders.
Surprisingly she settles against me and rests her head against my shoulder. It's almost like she knows what my plans are and is trying to make me stay. "I love you too. Even though you're one of the most annoying people I've ever known."
"You're so appreciative."
She laughs, "You know it," she curls into me. I'm too content to talk. In a way, I wish I could stay like this forever. We haven't got a long much lately but I'm still protective of her. She's my little sister. I must come back for her. They'll still be here. Probably.
I feel myself drifting quietly. It's so relaxing sitting here. With her head resting against me makes me so comfortably it makes me doubt why I even wanted to leave in the first place. But no matter how good it feels now to be with my sister again, I haven't forgotten what it's like to live here in this house. Lindsay's apology didn't change much. I'll still be treated the same. I'm not being a pussy. I just want a little respect. I want some proper freedom, where a short black haired girl does not boss me around. I don't want to be the punching bag anymore and I know Damian and Cameron mean well but deep down they'd always take Lindsay's side.
"You all right?" Emily asks suddenly.
"Yeah, man. Why?"
Emily sighs, "I guess you've been a bit picked on lately."
I rub her head affectionately, "You know me, Ems. Tough as nails."
She nods slowly, "Yeah."
She squirms and moves her head down to my chest. I kind of want to stay like this forever but I can't and the sooner I leave the easy it will be. I pull away from Emily and kiss her forehead. She laughs quietly and turns around to rest her head against the crusty pillow. She sighs and without opening her eyes, rolls over. I walk across the room towards my bed hoping to catch somebodies eye. Maybe everyone will be nice tonight? Damian nods and smiles at me as I pass the round table. He's trying his hardest to make everything happy in the house. But even he can't deny the tension. He looks at me for a split second before quickly lingering his stare back to Lindsay. His eyes twitch in a longing way. Poor boy. He's so confused. I don't bother to say goodnight or in this case goodbye to Lindsay. I never do anyway. That'll just make me look suspicious. I turn to look at her though. She's in the kitchen (like always), knitting something. Looks like a scarf... or maybe a noose. Damian brought her knitting needles and wool on the raid last week. I think he's trying to make things better from when he rejected her. I walk over to Cameron. He's cleaning our emergency shower with a scrubber brush. I pat him on the shoulder lightly, though he jumps out of his skin with a quiet screech.
I laugh gently, "What's up man? Did I scare you?"
He shakes his head without looking at me. His eyes are glazed over as he looks over at Samuel with a snare.
"Nah, man. I'm just a bit distracted," he says quietly and turns back to the bucket of soapy water. The drama in the room is bothering me more than it should. I'm leaving all that behind. Just forget about it.
"Well, goodnight," I say in the most cherry voice I can muster. He nods sharply. What a brilliant farewell. I look over at Marissa and Samuel. I want to say goodbye to them too but by the looks on their empty faces I'll get just another grunt. I'd rather make up my own memory of them all crying and sulking about my departure as I break all their hearts by walking out the door.
I walk to my bed, shoulders hunched and dump myself on top of the sheets. This is going to be a long night.
It's been at least an hour since Damian went to bed. I'm sure everyone must be asleep by now. Slowly, I push the dirty blanket off me and drag myself away from my mattress. I'm so tired! Why did Damian have to stay up half the night sulking over Lindsay? I make my way round the beds, just missing Lindsay's face by an inch. She's so sad. Sleeping on the floor like a hobo. She really is too stubborn. I hold my mouth shut from swearing as Lindsay lets out a snort in her sleep. Ha! I so wish I could tell Marissa about that before I leave. Oh well.
"Bryce?" I jump startled by the aggressive voice to my left. I sigh in relief when I turn to see the face of Samuel. He's out of bed, leaning against the wall, wide-awake.
"What're you doing man?" I say casually. I have to remain cool. I have to get out.
"Can't sleep," he murmurs with a flick of his hand. "What are you doing?"
I shrug nonchalantly, "Need some air." I turn towards the door in a rush before he can offer to join me. I look back down at the ground to watch my feet. I see the top of Samuels and Marissa's mattress just by my feet. I gasp loudly at the sight of Marissa's crumpled body. She's curled up at the top of the mattress, her face screwed together in pain. If I didn't know any better I'd think there are tears dripping down her face too. I force myself to forget her face and quickly half sprint to the door. I wrench it open, and smile at Samuel one last time before I walk through the door. As soon as I pull the heavy door shut with the quietest bang I could manage, I sprint down the long dark corridor. I trip often in the pitch-blackness but keep going forward, foot after foot. Nothing can stop me from freedom now. I'm so close I can smell it. I guess I should start thinking about a plan, though. Its not like I can run straight out into the dark and expect no zombies to catch me. I'm not going to find other humans straight away either. I need some sort of transport. A truck. Samuel's truck.
It doesn't take me long to reach the outside door. I'm running so fast that my feet feel like they'll spin off my body any minute. I smash the door against the wall with my hastiness to leave. I try to calm myself down; I'll die in minutes if I don't remember to take precautions. I can't stop though. I slam the door close so fast I feel like I'm the hulk, my body pumping with adrenaline. I turn quickly and peak at Samuel's truck. I'll never see him again and he'll never see me. So what's the risk? I have to make a decision now. Zombies don't sleep during the night. In fact I don't think they sleep at all. I peer down the alley and scan the open road. There is no way I can walk around in the dark. It's way too dangerous! I sprint to the car and jump in the drivers seat within seconds. I can be faster than a cheater when I want to be. The keys are left in the ignition, of course. In a zombie apocalypse there is no need to worry about your car being stolen. How is a zombie supposed to start a car when it can't open a door? I rev up the truck and smile in triumph. I'm out. Nobody can stop me now. I wind down the windows and drive forward at top speed. I drift around the corners and cheer loudly like my fifteen year old self. This is the life. Try stop me now, Lindsay.
It's almost sunrise. I can feel the bitter morning wind blowing through my long hair. I touch the back of my head; at the back my hair reaches down past my shoulders. I push my fringe back off my face. My hair desperately needs to be cut again. I should have got Emily to do it before I left. I'll probably cut an ear off if I try.
It's been a very long, cold night. No zombies came but there was no sign of any humans either. I need to get further out. I bet my groups of survivors were the only ones in Ohio. Oddly that makes me feel more proud than sad. Yeah, I'm not very sensitive. I guess that's a good quality to have when trying to survive a zombie apocalypse, though. No lose ends, that's how you survive. I'm lucky to have nobody holding me back from my own survival. That's Damian's problem. Too worried about trying to keep everyone else alive to keep himself safe. He'll get himself killed. I only worry about myself. Well, Emily too I suppose. Just a little. But Nana, even if she is still out there somewhere hanging on, I don't really care. She was a right little cow. Quite like Lindsay actually. I laugh out loud. Oh man. I'm laughing at my inner jokes. If I don't find human contact soon I'll go insane. I pull the keys out of my pocket and rev up the ignition. I feel like such a beast in this car. I can see why Samuel loved it so much. I wind the windows back up to block the cold and start driving. I speed right up till I'm way over the speed limit. There are some parts I love about a zombie apocalypse. And this is part of it. I've always wondered what it would be like to live in a world where there are no rules. The closest thing I've ever got to that feeling is when I took my girlfriend from three years ago to the movies and we were the only ones in the cinema. Even then though she wouldn't let me roll backwards over the chairs. Apparently I could break my neck, or some stupid reason like that.
I peel my eyes to the road looking for sign of recent human movement. But nothing. Just more disaster after another paints the dull, lonely streets.
Hours pass and as night starts to approach, I begin to feel let down. What if I'm wrong? What if there is nobody here? What if there is nobody anywhere? What if the last chance of human survival was actually the people I left back in Lima? What if? What if? What if? I start to doubt my intentions and make excuses of why I should turn back. But I stay strong. I've gone this far. I can't turn back now. There really has to be somebody somewhere-
"AHHHHHH, fuck!" I panic and swerve the truck towards the left as it pelts forward towards a picket fence. Did someone just throw mud at the truck? The truck smashes through the fence like the snap of a biscuit and heads towards an old brick house. I panic and spin the turning wheel. But nothing happens; in fact the car speeds up. In rush of panic I realize my foot is pressed down hard against the gas. It's too late. I scream as the truck flattens a bed of roses and pummels into the house. I crouch down low and put my hands over my head as the roof begins to dint inwards with a big bangs. Samuels going to kill me! I don't move a muscle as the quiet crumble of bricks clattering against the truck cease. My heart is racing so fast I feel like it might explode out my chest. I take a peak up at the window screen. Apart from it being completely smashed and there is tumble of bricks rolling into the car, I can see the smudge of a mud splatter. Someone had thrown mud at the truck! Someone trying to hurt me? Or warn me? Or just an asshole? I turn slowly to try and pry open the door. I gasp loudly. A figure is looming over the window staring straight at me! I try to think quickly, what's the best way to kill a zombie from my position? I open the door, swinging it fast and powerfully. But the figure is just as quick; it slams the door to an abrupt stop.
"Easy! Easy!" the voice urges. A husky male's voice. My hands shake but I force them to my side. He's human. There is nothing to fear. I breathe in and out slowly waiting for the man to make a move. Once I completely stop hyperventilating he opens the door wide and offers me his hand. I squirm forward dodging the clutter of more bricks that come through the window. He moves his face from behind the doorframe and looks at me with mild amusement. He has brown eyes with thick scruffy brown hair. He's quite pale but tall and athletic looking. I ignore his hand and drag myself out of the truck. I stumble a little on my feet though the adrenaline is still firing through me.
"Did you do this?" I half growl. I didn't want to be too aggressive for he was the first human I'd seen in a while. I didn't want him to hate me right off the bat.
He smiles crookedly. One side of his mouth goes up higher than the other, "Not intentionally. That was their fault," he points to the other side of the road where two more figures appear. Two males by the looks of it. One very skinny and one very short. My stiff neck turns back to the tall man. I shake myself suddenly to loosen my muscles. My knee clicks painfully. Mental reminder to check that later; could be broken.
"Did you intentionally mean to make me crash?" I ask the tall guy sarcastically.
He laughs with the nod of his head, "No! We were debating whether we should stop you or not, you know, to see if you're human? I was thinking of just running onto the road but then Dani threw mud at your window," he looks over at his friends. They were closer now so I could see them both better. The short one was really short and was not at all a child but a fit man with bangs across his face. The other looks extremely young. Just a boy. I watch as his hair swishes across his face with a flick of his head. Could I be meeting the Justin Bieber?!
"So you didn't actually mean to kill me then?" I say calmly to the two approaching.
"No of course not," Justin Bieber says in his pubescent voice, "I'm no murderer." He steps forward and takes my hand in a strong grasp. "I'm Dani." Dani? I look closely at his face; soft skin, long eyelashes, red lips.
I feel my mouth pop open in shock. I say in a rush, "You're a - a - a -"
"Girl," Dani nods her head solemnly. "A common misconception."
I shake my head, suddenly embarrassed by my rudeness. "I'm sorry! Of course you're a girl! You do look like - a - you know - a - a - girl. It's the short hair! It threw me off," I mumble my face going red.
She laughs and the two others - I quickly scan - who are definitely both boys, join in. "Honestly, I just take it as a compliment."
The tall guy, the one I originally met, speaks again, "Anyway, what's your name stranger who we almost killed? This is Matheus," he points to the short man, "and I'm Charlie."
I smile at them both confidently, "I'm Bryce. Room to drag another along? I'm short of a car," I shake my head and look back at my car longingly.
The three laugh again. I smile a little too. I think I'm going to fit in here. "Of course you may, there is always room for another," Dani pats me on the back and smiles. She has perfect, white, straight teeth.
Charlie looks at Dani pointedly and says without looking at me, "We are traveling to California though."
Dani nods exasperated, "Yes Charlie, I know we are. But you don't mind, do ya Bryce?"
I nod, "Anywhere and everywhere. I got no where to go anyway."
Dani raises her eyebrows at Charlie as if to say 'told you.' Charlie nods suddenly serious and walks away without another word. The other two follow right after. I quickly grab the truck car keys from the ignition as a gift for Samuel and follow after the short man, Matheus. I walk up beside him casually, pushing down the awkward squirm that is trying to fight its way up in my stomach.
"So is Charlie the leader here?" I ask coolly.
Matheus looks up at me with a flat face, "We don't have leaders, right Dani?"
Dani looks down at Matheus with strained eyes, "Right." I look between them startled. Just seconds ago they were sweet as and now I feel I've just entered an intense game of Cluedo.
I speak up, my awkwardness seeping through, "That's cool. Leaders are annoying. I had one at the last place I stayed at. She was just terrible," I laugh shakily.
They both smile affectionately at me. "You were with other humans? What happened to them? Did zombies eat them?" Matheus asks in an almost childish voice.
"Nothing, they're fine," I reassure him quickly, "They just weren't very nice people." Not technically true, but its a quicker story than the real one.
Matheus nods slowly and Dani smiles at me, "Welcome to the new group then! Trust me we're very nice." I grin back at her before she runs after Charlie. Now that I know she's a girl, I can't see how I could ever have thought her to be a boy. She's got shape.
Matheus tuts beside me, shaking his head vigorously.
"What?" I laugh.
"You should have stayed with your other friends."
"Why?"
He looks up at me, amused, "Dani and Charlie are nice but if you want to survive, just stick with me."
Cameron.
"Emily, please calm down!" Lindsay pleads attempting to grab Emily around the waist.
But Emily is vicious; she pushes Lindsay away with a snarl. "I won't calm down until one of you goes out there and finds my brother!" Emily screeches.
Samuel quickly holds Lindsay out of reach from another swing. Emily growls in frustration.
"Marissa and Damian are already out looking," I say quietly. My strategy is to never get involved with any drama but if I don't help cool this situation, Lindsay could be mauled.
Emily turns on me stepping forward menacingly, "That is not enough!" I hold down a laugh of irony. She will never step outside into the zombie world. Even if her brother is missing, she'd rather endanger others lives than her own. "FIND HIM!" She screams in my face; spit flying all over me.
Emily turns back to Lindsay and Samuel. They're probably more likely to give in to her than I am. Lindsay smiles at Samuel as he drops her back down to the ground, "We can't all leave the house, Emily. I'm sorry but somebody has to stay-"
Emily shakes her head stupidly, "I'll stay!"
Samuel moves around Lindsay and steps in front of her as protection, "Damian and Marissa are perfectly capable-"
"BUT THEY AREN'T ENOUGH!" Emily looks around at all our faces. I try to smile pityingly but I feel it comes out more bitter than sweet. Emily sighs and storms out of the room. Is she really going outside? Well if that's not an achievement I don't know what is.
Samuel drops down on the couch exasperated, "Waste of time. He isn't coming back." Mean, but true.
I nod, "He'll be long gone."
Lindsay looks at us both outraged, "You could at least help her! I know I've said some bad things about Bryce in the past but he'd never leave Emily! Never!"
"Seriously Lindsay, you really think-"
"I do," she snaps. She eyes me suspiciously before marching out of the room in her diva way. She's still yelling like always but I guess it's nice that she's helping Emily out through thick and thin. I watch her leave then turn back towards Samuel awkwardly.
"I shot not sleeping with Emily or Lindsay-" I begin to say.
"I told you not to talk to Marissa," Samuel says sharply. His eyes turn to slits and his mouth curls in a grimace.
I move around to the other side of the chair nervously, "Look, I'm sorry. I was just curious why-"
"If you're so curious why didn't you ask me?"
"Because you weren't the one crying! And I obviously wasn't going to get an answer from you..."
Samuel laughs coldly, "Well your definitely not going to get one from her."
I shake my head with a laugh of my own, "She doesn't hate me as much as you think she does. You know, I think you're just jealous that she's warming up to me." His eyes widen in shock as I smirk at him.
"That has nothing to do with it! Firstly, Marissa is nice to you because she's just a nice person-" I bark a laugh, "And secondly, she wouldn't tell you the answer because she doesn't know the answer!"
"Oh, stop the crap Samuel. I'm only curious! You don't have to make a big deal out of it! Just tell me. What was it, huh? Did you hit her? Is that what it is? Are you abusing her, Samuel?" In a flash, Samuel jumps up in a fit of rage. I try to step back out of his way but next thing I know, a fist comes flying towards my face and I hear the little crack of my glasses snapping in two.