by W. A. R.
This should be fun.
“I think we should go this way.” Amber offered lightly, not wishing to spur on any more of an argument than necessary.
Lacy crossed her arms and scoffed. “Of course you do. And I suppose you think you’re right.”
Amber sighed heavily. Why did this woman have to make things so damned difficult? “Look, I am not trying to argue…”
“Then stop doing that and go this way.” Lacy demanded, her eyes narrowed to slits. Her dark curly hair was damp and falling into her face from her up-do and her jaw clenched. Amber felt like an Amazon next to her, Lacy’s stature so feminine and demure Amber was almost envious of it. Amber’s hands were, in fact, much larger, her shoulders broader thanks to her dad and she was much taller than her short counterpart. Lacy even primped herself during the damned apocalypse. Amber felt…inferior…self-conscious of her femininity and though these thoughts and feelings were silly, she had to admit that she was still a woman…and women did feel these things every now and then.
Still, right at that moment, something was pulling at her; some unknown force was urging her to go right. She knew that that was where she would find Miles. And so, she shook her head. “That’s the wrong way.”
Lacy scoffed. “And how would you know?”
“I just do.”
“So now you know everything as well?”
“I don’t know everything.” Amber replied tiredly. She didn’t want to fight; really, she didn’t.
“It sure seems like it.” Lacy countered, bitter. She was spurring for a fight, Amber just knew it and she was trying her best not to stoop down to her level.
Amber took two steps to the right, her eyes on the very dark hallway ahead of her. “Could you please stop acting like a three-year-old? This is getting childish. You are either going to get someone killed at the compound if you don’t cooperate…or, Lord forbid, yourself…if you even go.” Amber told her with slight sarcasm in her voice.
“Nail on the head there, Sweetness.” Lacy spat out venomously. “Why do you think I haven’t helped you?”
Amber felt her skin flush and a heat crawled up her neck. Quickly, she turned to face Lacy, her eyes wide in shock. “Excuse me?” Surely, she wasn’t implying what she thought she was.
Lacy leaned against a wall and lifted a brow in challenge. “You heard me.”
“Let me get this right…you aren’t helping because you want me to…what?...die?” Amber asked incredulously. She moved her arms up, sheathing her swords in fear that she may inadvertently use them on the ignorant woman-child before her.
Lacy pointed a finger to her nose and smirked. “Not as dumb as you look.”
Amber advanced her angrily. “What is your problem with me, huh?” she asked, her voice getting loud. She didn’t even care that Biters could hear her. She would take them down when the time came to it. Until then, they needed to address this problem between the two of them. “I haven’t done anything to you to deserve this from you.”
Lacy straightened and narrowed her eyes once again, surprised by Amber’s question. “You didn’t have to do anything to me.” And for a long, heated moment, the two women stared at one another, one in uncertainty and the other in anger. Amber was the first to break, turning and once again walking towards the dark hallway, shaking her head in disbelief as she did so.
“Whatever.” She muttered under her breath, unwilling to go on with the foolishness of the argument. She refused to stoop down to Lacy’s level and instead turned and focused her attention on the task as hand. She hadn’t even made it three steps when Lacy countered once again.
“You disgust him, you know.”
Her words were like a punch to the gut and immediately she felt her fire rage, her eyes water, and the air she had been breathing was suddenly gone. She knew exactly who she had meant…Miles. Why had she said that? Yes, it had been an ongoing thought in her head, raging on and on like a wildfire and consuming everything that she once thought beautiful. Did she disgust him? Was she simply too changed for him? Why did he remain in that God-forsaken opposite room instead of next to her where he rightly belonged? Her words sliced her clean and deep like a razor blade and oh…it hurt so very badly. Still, she could find nothing to say and all she could do was stand there with her back to the woman, her eyes focused on the ground at her feet. Lacy had to continue, however. She wouldn’t let it go.
“Why do you think he’s been so distant? I mean, we all know that he is either sleeping and if he’s not doing that he’s working. Constantly working. He can’t bring himself to tell you how insignificant you are to him.”
Amber swallowed painfully. “Stop.” Her words were deep and throaty, laced with an anger that was unrecognizable and churning in Amber’s stomach like hydraulic acid, eating away at whatever lay in its path.
She could almost hear Lacy’s smirk. “Things have changed since you two were separated. He doesn’t love you.” Tick. “I don’t think he ever did.” Tick. “After all, how could he love a monster?” Tick.
Amber whipped her head around and glared daggers at Lacy through pain-filled eyes. Monster…how could this woman know what raged on within her mind? Surely, she didn’t. “Sara, I’m warning you…”
“Oh, and one more thing, that whole savior complex is getting tired. You are nothing but a big cry for attention.” Lacy mocked her, smirking and saying each word as if it were weighted with hatred. Biters were coming; Amber could vaguely hear them through the blood roaring in her ears. She clenched her fists at her sides. “Why won’t you hit me, huh? Scared to?” Tick.
“I don’t like doing things in anger…anger makes us do things we might later regret doing.”
Lacy scoffed. “Oh yeah?” Tick.
“Besides, you aren’t worth my energy.”
Lacy had the gall to laugh. “You think I care? You’re nothing. Never were. Your daughter knows this...Miles knows this. Everyone knows this. Even your son knew this. You were meant to die. Not him.” Boom.
“Alright!” Amber exclaimed, advancing with measured steps towards Lacy. Lacy, while still smirking, now had fear in her eyes and she backed into the wall easily. She stared at Amber as she approached her. Amber had been so good for the past week, having collided with her identity once again but there was no denying the changes in her mind and her personality, and this was one of them. These insecurities that Lacy was hitting on were on her mind, hitting her hard regardless of the come around that she has had. She couldn’t just forget everything that happened, but she refused to let it all weigh her down as well. Still, as a human, these insecurities were there and they hurt. Amber looked down at Lacy’s small frame and she had to admit that she felt invincible, powerful, as she towered threateningly above her. “I get it, okay? I get that you think you know Roman, and that you feel you understand absolutely anything about me or my family. I get that this whole superiority act of yours is just that…an act.”
“It’s not…”
Amber poked her in the chest. “I know you think I am nothing special, maybe even a liar, but I’ve got news for you…. YOU AREN’T THE ONLY ONE! If you think for a second that I don’t look at myself in the mirror and am disgusted by what I see or that I believe there is anything significant about me, think again. I feel like nothing and I don’t need your opinion as a reminder. And even so…you think I want to be this way? You think I want to go into this place with you and put some of the people I care the most about at risk? Do you honestly believe I want to be different? How stupid can you be to think I am not absolutely terrified?!”
Lacy gulped, trying to keep her composure. “Then why…”
“Why am I going?” Amber finished for her and without waiting for a response, continued. She was heated now, angry. “That’s what this is about then, huh? About what I said before that scared you?” Amber asked heatedly. She felt so very angry. “I am going because even if I’m terrified, and even if I think I am undeserving of whatever title these people have given me,
they are trusting me. There are people in there, my brother included, that need me to be whoever they have deemed me to be and I refuse to give up on them. So, I would greatly appreciate if you would just let it go and allow me to feel, for just a few minutes, that I am doing something right by working with my team to accomplish what we set out to accomplish because maybe then we can all have the confidence we need to pull this whole damn thing off!” Amber then turned from Lacy, looking at the Biters ahead of her in her hallway. She reached back to withdraw her swords, her adrenaline pumping, her heart heavy. She needed the fights…she needed to take down these monsters to take her mind off of everything that had just happened. Otherwise she would take her swords to Lacy without a second thought. “You don’t want to be a part of this team? Fine. Go your own way.”
“Fine! I will.” She countered, her voice trembling just the slightest. “Bitch.” Lacy muttered under her breath before turning and walking down the opposite hallway.
Amber yelled over her shoulder. “I’ve been called worse by better people.” And with that, she clenched her jaw and swung with all of her effort, wishing to inflict as much damage as possible. She grunted and yelled with the effort but she didn’t care. She surged forward, bringing down adversary after adversary, no more doors available down the hallway that she was in. The sunlight grew dimmer due to the lack of windows. She focused on moving quickly in the darkness, seeing light a good ways up ahead from what appeared to be two open hallways. She was glad Lacy was gone, but that didn’t take the sting of everything away. Still, regardless, she felt that pull on her very person as she moved towards the lightened split hallway and the closer she got, the stronger the pull was. There were a few Biters that she took out easily, finally having no more to worry about right in that moment. She shook her hands and turned, leaning against the wall, catching her breath and trying to ease the painful constricting of her chest. Damn Lacy. Damn her and her intuitive statements. Lacy, she knew, didn’t even understand why those words hurt and angered her so much. While Lacy was meaning what she had done while the two of them had been separated with her words, Amber was thinking of something else entirely. She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes tightly, willing those torrid emotions away. Why did they have to hurt so badly? It wasn’t but just a split second, however, when she heard footsteps shuffle from around the corner. She jerked her head up at the sound and straightened, preparing for imminent battle. One hand reached up for the hilt of her sword but the assumption was forgone when she saw her imposter.
“Well, well…I knew I would find you here.” He told her smiling. Miles stood there, his knives in his hands, guns on his hips. Tar-like blood covered his knuckles and hands, and his hair was damp with sweat. His T-shirt clung to his chest, and his jeans hung easily from his hips. He looked so damn good. She felt her heart squeeze a little tighter, Lacy’s words so fresh, so raw, that tears were on the verge of falling. She couldn’t handle it if Lacy had been right about his feelings and thoughts towards her, not that she could blame him. She had been distant as well, uncertain, and yet still she hated it. Quickly, she turned away from his eyesight, clenching her swords a little tighter and rubbing at her eyes with the back of her left hand.
“Did you now?” she asked playfully, friend to friend. He was advancing her slowly, watching her with intent. Satisfied all her emotion was gone, she finally turned to him. He stared at her through the dim lighting. “Where’s Buddy?”
He shrugged, looking behind her. “Not sure. I haven’t seen him at all. I’ve been alone. Where’s Lacy?”
Ouch. For some reason, that question hurt. “She went her own way.” She bit out. He furrowed his brow at her.
“Want to talk about it?”
“No.” she replied as evenly as she could.
“I can tell when you’re lying.” He told her softly and she inhaled sharply.
“Don’t worry about it. It isn’t worth it.” She turned then and moved towards him, meeting his slow and even steps with her own. He stared down at her, studying her. Something told her that he had maybe heard it all…after all, there was nothing but silence in the building aside from the groans and he was relatively close to where they had been. Still, she refused to address it with him. That would hurt far too much. “Find Michael or Rusty yet?”
“Not yet.” He paused and looked over his shoulder at the split hallways just a few yards away. He then turned back to her. “My personal first mission was to come find you.” He told her and she began walking around him, swords at her sides, towards the split hallways. She cast him a dubious look, relaxing. Yes, she thought, she could always relax with him, have fun with him, be serious with him. He was…magnificent.
“Why?” she asked and he turned with her, walking beside her, walking slower than usual to keep up with her. She looked up sideways at him.
“Why not?”
“Avoiding the question?”
“No…answering the question with a question…there’s a difference.” He told her on a smile, though it didn’t meet his eyes. His gaze held a certain longing and concern that she was genuinely curious about but wouldn’t ask. If he wanted to discuss whatever he was feeling with her, he would.
“Not much of one.” She stated as the sunlight began passing over her and she stopped and squinted her eyes against the assault of light on her senses.
They stood at the center of the split paths, sunlight filtering in here and there through open doors, Biters slowly sauntering out at the sounds of their boots squeaking against the marble tile. They were slow, however, having been locked away with no reason to move or search for a food source with no motivation to do so. Their bones were already brittle before the outbreak, and they had to be brittle afterwards, especially when it was going on a year after. Still, that didn’t stop them from moving faster, breaking any bones in the process. Amber, ignoring the slowly advancing Biters, turned to her counterpart and sighed, looking up at his brown eyes knowingly. He looked back at her, the gold flecks in his eyes showing themselves in the natural lighting. He shook his head as if reading her mind.
“We shouldn’t split up.” He told her before looking over her head at the advancing creatures on her side. She twisted, her sword banging against her leg lightly as she peered around him at the five or more coming their way from behind him.
She turned her eyes back to him. “We’re going to have to.” She told him before looking at the hallways straight ahead of them. It was dark, and there were no doors in that very long stretch of hallway. “It is a test, after all.”
He heaved a heavy breath, smirking just a little. “I was never very good at exams…written or otherwise.” Amber chuckled, smiling a little. This, this banter, was what she missed above all else.
“Of course you weren’t. You failed biology lab.” She taunted and he glanced at her as if offended.
“I can’t help it my lab partner was so…distracting.” He winked at her. “Those goggles were incredibly sexy by the way. You should find some and wear them again sometime.”
She rolled her eyes, flushing, and yet remembering with a vivid aching Lacy’s words. She needed to counteract this discussion. “You didn’t even know what sexy was back then.” He laughed as she looked between the hallways. “Which way?”
He seemed to think for a moment, still eyeing the hallways behind her. He brought the hand holding his knife to his chin, tar-like blood on his knuckles and fingers. He ran his clean thumb along his chin, brows furrowed in concentration. “Both of these hallways seem the same…they split into two more at the ends.” His eyes then focused intently on her, the playful glint in them making her breath catch. “And I know what sexy is now…” he told her and his words were like a slap to the face. Of course he did…after all, he was an unbelievable creature. She just wished that he thought of her that way.
Amber glanced behind him and nodded, ignoring the stabbing in her chest. “The hallways do seem to be that way.” She glanced back at the empty hallw
ay. She groaned, feeling her pulse quicken. It wasn’t empty anymore. There were at least three coming…possibly more. It was hard to tell from the dark. “That one seems like it may lead to one of the other buildings. It’s almost like a wild-goose chase.”
He nodded and then groaned, closing his eyes. “Think, Roman, think! Logically, not emotionally.” He looked up at her then, his eyes glittering with concentration. “Alright, if they were in here, playing it safe but making us work…where would they be?”
“I’m not sure…some place predetermined, that’s for sure…but that had to be decided today. No one has left the community without us.”
Miles looked around, nodding. “And without a doubt safe from any risk.”
Amber shrugged. “They had to be really silent, which in a building previously filled with nothing but silence, was going to be a task within itself.” She looked around at the still advancing creatures before turning back to him, her eyes widening slightly. Quickly, she moved forward, stepping to his left and thrusting her sword toward the head of a Biter that had been reaching for Miles, mouth gaped open, teeth gnashing. The tip of the sword pierced the skin, then the bone, before meeting the brain. The creature fell to the floor as Amber pulled back, her grip steady on the hilt. She shifted, as did he, and they looked down both hallways at their sides then. She then turned back to him, using the few seconds that they had left. “They are very talented to say the least.”
