Our journey was uninterrupted as we continued walking, and it soon reached evening. We selected a house to stay in for the night, and boarded up the windows and doors. Well, Cyrus and Hunter did, meanwhile I tested out the television. I was disappointed to find that it didn't work, and when we all sat down, we found we didn't have much to talk about, except for what food was in the kitchen. As it turns out, there wasn't any food that wouldn't give me food poising, and so our conversation quickly ran out.
The three of us sat in silence, but I enjoyed it, it was comfortable. Cyrus had his feet up on the coffee table and his hands behind his head. He was the only one making a noise, though he couldn't help his wheezing and coughing. It came with the infected. I looked over at Hunter, who was curled up in the corner of the sofa, sitting as far away from me as possible. I wasn't sure why he did that, but I didn't ask. Hunter never responded well to personal questions.
"I think he's sleeping," Cyrus said quietly. I got up and crouched down in front of Hunter. When I looked underneath his hood, I could see that his eyes were closed, and he was breathing steadily. The dried blood on his face was still unsettling, but it was nice to see him so peaceful. It made him even more human.
"Should we just leave him?" I asked, and sat back down in my seat gently.
"Nah, I'll take him up to bed." Cyrus stood up and stretched his legs out. He picked Hunter up in his arms, muttering something when Hunter groaned sleepily. It was so strange to see Cyrus acting so tenderly to Hunter. Normally, Cyrus was quite boisterous with him, but now he was treating him like a child. Or a lover. Although Cyrus said that they were just friends, there was something about the way they acted that made me think differently.
When Cyrus had carried Hunter upstairs, I heard a loud thud, followed by Hunter yelping. "What was that for?" Hunter said angrily.
"Ah, just go to bed, sleeping beauty," Cyrus replied. Hunter mumbled something, and Cyrus laughed, and then left the room, closing the door behind him. As he walked back down the stairs, I tried to act casually, as if I hadn't been listening. He sat back down in the chair opposite me, returning to his original position.
"Are you tired?" I asked. I'd never actually seen him sleep, but I assumed that he did it at the same time as me.
"Not really, are you?" he asked back.
"A little, but I don't get much sleep. I'm too afraid." I cupped my elbows, and drew my legs close to my body. My jacket was on the other side of the room, and I couldn't be bothered to get up and get it.
"Afraid of what? Us?" Cyrus narrowed his eyes at me.
"No, not at all! Of other infected, the actual infected who would try and kill me. Like Tanks. I always get worried that one of them is going to just break into the house and kill me. What would be there to stop it?" I burbled, desperately trying not to offend him. In truth, I was scared of him. I was still scared that he or Hunter might turn fully, not that I'd ever say that.
"Don't worry about it. We'll protect you, remember?" Cyrus smiled. There was still something about his smile that unnerved me.
"I just can't help thinking about it."
"You need something to take your mind off it." He raised his eyebrow suggestively. I struggled not to visibly recoil at the thought. While I liked his personality, most of the time, his appearance was physically repulsive. Even thought I'd gotten used to it, somewhat, the idea of becoming intimate with him made me want to gag.
"Maybe I should go to bed; I'm more tired than I thought." I stood up clumsily, tripping over my own feet. His tongue shot of his mouth, and grabbed my wrist. I shrieked loudly, and he pulled me closer to him.
"Don't be like that, I'm sorry. I was just joking," he apologised. I looked anxiously at him, and he let go of me. I rubbed my wrist, and shuddered at the slime left on it.
"It's fine, it's fine. I just need some sleep." I forced a smile on my face, and stumbled out of the room. My arms and legs were shaking badly, and I nearly slipped going up the stairs. I opened the first door I saw, closed the door behind me and leant on it. I exhaled deeply, closing my eyes tightly and trying to steady myself. I made my way over to the bed, and it was only when I flopped onto the bed tiredly, that I realised Hunter was in it. He screamed, like any Hunter would if it'd been hurt, and leapt out of bed, pushing me onto the floor at the same time. I scrabbled to my feet, and rushed to the light switch. I turned it on, and saw Hunter clinging to the wall.
"Rose! You scared me," Hunter said pointlessly. I put my hand over my mouth to try and hide my laughter. He let go of the wall, and tumbled onto the floor.
"Sorry, I forgot you were in here. You scared me as well." I went over to help him up. He was hesitant to accept my hand, so I took hold of his arm and pulled him up.
"Well goodnight, then." Hunter dusted himself off, tugging his hood down further.
"Hunter, what was Cyrus like before the infection?" I asked. Hunter paused for a moment, chewing on his lower lip.
"It feels like it's been ages since then. He was pretty much the same as he is now, except not as... aggressive." Hunter looked down at the floor. He suddenly breathed in sharply, as if just realising something, but he didn't say anything. I didn't know what else to say or do, so I just said goodnight and left the room, but it felt like there was so much I could've done.
Bet you weren't expecting this. I've had plans about continuing this for a while, but I wasn't sure how to pick up from where I left off, considering it's been nearly six months. This actually happened by accident, I was intending to write it as a one shot, and then it evolved into a proper chapter. This is probably written very differently from the previous chapter, but I won't rewrite it until I've completed the story. If that happens.
Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.