'It's not your fault,' her boyfriend told her.
I started to feel a little guilty, the Frankie I knew wouldn't have moved on just like that. And judging by the tone of her voice, she felt incredibly guilty.
'If I thought for one moment that there was even the slightest chance of Nikkita being alive, I never would have...,' she stopped mid-sentence as her voice broke.
'Never would have what?' He asked softly.
'Fallen in love with you,' she cried. I felt my heart breaking, to be with someone else was one thing. Even I'd sought comfort in another's arms when the world became too much to bear but never have I loved another. Frankie was still the only one for me.
I heard his voice begin to break, I didn't know this boy and I knew that I had a right to be upset and heartbroken but it seemed to me that he'd fallen for her too. 'You know you're the only person I've ever loved, I fell in love with your kindness your strength and your uncanny ability to always be there for us no matter what. But things are different now, Nikkita is back and I know you still love her. How could you not, she holds a part of you that I can never touch,' he spoke with such emotion, that I could almost feel his heart breaking alongside mine.
'I know that, but-,' Frankie started answer.
I knocked on the door, I couldn't listen to any more. I had to put some distance between Frankie and I, I didn't want to break this boy's heart nor did I want to destroy what a close family she had.
'I'm sorry to interrupt, I need to talk to you and your friends,' I sounded a lot colder than I meant to.
'Alright, let me get the others,' Frankie's boyfriend replied quietly.
He walked out the door, not looking at me.
'So what's up?' Frankie asked carefully.
'I'll wait for the others to join us, but I'm hoping you and your people can help us with something,' I told her. I couldn't look at her, every time I did, I felt like I wanted to run into her arms. It had been so long, and yet my feelings for her had not depleted. Even after all these years we could still tell what each other was thinking.
'How did you survive all this time, where's your dad?' She asked nervously.
I knew I owed her an explanation, but now was not the time for our personal baggage. 'I'll tell you later,' was all I could bring myself to say. After a few moments of awkward silence the rest of her friends walked in, the sad expressions on their faces made me feel bad for being a little off with everyone. No matter how used to death you become, it's still tragic when you lose someone.
'I'm Finn, and this is Izzy,' a tall, blond-haired boy said gesturing to a brown haired girl.
'Nice to meet you, look I'll get right to it. My friends and I are in the area because we're here to rescue some of our other friends that were kidnapped by a group of slavers,' I told them.
They gave each other looks that told me they knew all too well what I was talking about.
'That's why we're here too,' Frankie replied.
'Any chance you'd want to team up and give us a hand getting our friends back, and deal with those assholes?' I asked.
Again they all looked at each other, I could tell they were weighing things up. After a few minutes the Irish girl, I think her name was Tamara piped up.
'Sounds like a plan to me, we could use the extra numbers,' she agreed.
'I agree,' Finn chimed in.
The others agreed as well, to my relief.
'Gather up your friends and we'll discuss what our next move will be,' Frankie said commandingly. I nodded as I left the room, in the years I had known Frankie she was never the leading type. Out of the two of us, it was me that took charge in our relationship. She was quiet, shy and very selfconscious. She was often bullied and more than once I had to defend her, she never could stand up for herself. Frankie spent most of her time playing computer games, it wasn't until I came along that she started to venture outdoors. I didn't recognise the person she was now, how was I going to fit into her life now? I shook my head, we had more important things to deal with.
'They've agreed, we need to figure out our next move,' I told my lot as I walked in the door.
'Alright we'll head up in a minute,' Anthony answered. I went back to rejoin Frankie and everyone else, I didn't know what to do about our personal dilemma. This castle was huge, I managed to get lost while finding my way back to Frankie's room. When I eventually got there, I found that she was alone.
'Where's everyone else gone?' I asked trying not to sound cold.
'They've gone to check the Keep and make sure there's no other hordes coming our way,' she answered looking sadly at the floor. I closed the door and sat down next to her on the bed, I resisted the urge to just fling my arms around her.
'My lot will take a little while to get up the stairs, what with Xandra's sprained ankle,' I informed her.
'Fair enough, any chance of a proper chat now?' She asked a little shyly.
'What do you want to know?'
'Where have you been all this time?' 'It's a long story, but if you really want to know, after everything went to hell me and my dad ended up in a large forest in Scotland. We were there for a good while before slavers took it over,' I told her sadly.
'Is your dad-,'
'Yeah he's dead, he sacrificed himself so I could get away,' I said feeling my voice break a little.
'I'm sorry,' she replied comfortingly.
'It's alright, do you know what happened to my mum and brothers?' I asked nervously.
Before she even spoke I knew the news wasn't good. 'I tried to save them, I really did. But by the time I got to your house, your mum was dead. Your brothers didn't believe me when I told them she would come back, they wouldn't let me touch her. She rose and killed Thomas, I tried to get Lorne out but Thomas was too fast. I ended all of them,' she answered tearfully.
'Thank you for trying,it means a lot.' I didn't mean to but I touched her hand, and for a moment we sat there holding each others hand. She reached round and hugged me, I clung to her not wanting to let go. I forgot about the shit we were in, and about her moving on, I just relished in the feel of her skin, the smell of her hair.
'I'm so sorry, I honestly thought you were dead. If I'd known you would come back, I swear I would've waited for you,' she cried.
'I know, believe me I know. Five years is a long time, and I don't blame you. Though I will admit that it hurt seeing you with someone else, especially a guy,' I admitted.
She pulled away and looked at me with softness in her eyes. 'I never expected to fall in love again, even though I thought you were gone, you were still the only woman I loved. I could never be with another woman, I felt like that would be a betrayal,' she said wiping her eyes.
I thought about it for a minute, I understood how she was thinking and I could see the validity in it. 'I understand, and while I'll always love you, I won't stand in the way of what you have now. You should know, I'm not the same person I was back then, I've changed and not necessarily for the better,' I told her sadly.
Her face was tinged with sadness, all I wanted to do was kiss away the tears on her pale face.
'Neither am I, I'm not the quiet, shy girl you knew. I've seen everyone I love die, I've somehow become a leader and my family needs me,' she replied, her voice breaking.
'Then it's settled, we'll help each other get our people back and figure out the rest afterwards,' I said trying to sound strong.
She tried to smile, but I could tell by her tear stained face that she was hurting just as much as I was.
'How did you escape Leeds?' She asked suddenly.
'How do you know I was there?' I wondered.
'I met Andi and Bob, they told me you didn't make it,' she answered.
'Well if you met them, it's no wonder you thought I was dead. I was on the top floor, surrounded by corpses. I fought my way through, god only knows how I survived,' I explained.
'They said there were dozens of them, how on earth did you get through them?'
'I honestly don't k
now, but all I could think about was getting home to you,' I mumbled softly.
I looked upon her pale face, a single tear fell from her sapphire eyes. I reached up to wipe it away.
'It doesn't matter that your with someone else, I'm just so happy you're alive.'
'I really wish I'd known, I missed you, more than you could imagine,' she responded, holding my hand which was still on her face.
We sat for another few minutes, she kissed my hand softly. I could see the love in her eyes, she still loved me as much as I loved her.
'And I you.'
Our friends came up a few moments later, everyone took their seats, Frankie's boyfriend maintained a safe distance from her. I saw the pain and sadness on his face, he was terrified of losing her.
It wasn't my place to come between them, while I wanted nothing more than to run off into the sunset with Frankie, I would make sure that he knew I wasn't going to get in the way.
'Alright, now that everyone's here, we can begin,' Frankie said taking charge.
'What have you got in mind lass?' Tamara asked. For the next hour we talked, going backwards and forwards on the different idea's that we had. I had to admit that I liked the new Frankie, she was commanding, confident and fair. She listened to everyone's ideas and went out of her way to consider them. I kept flashing back to the girl I used to know, the quiet, shy Frankie. Looking at her now, I could marvel in her strength, her compassion. As hard as it was, seeing her this way only made me love her more.
'First thing we need to do, is make sure that everyone is capable of fighting. Xandra has a sprained ankle, and that could prove problematic if we have to run. We should rest for a couple of weeks, it will give the rest of us time to properly scope the area and gather some more supplies,' Frankie told us.
My lot looked at each other and slowly nodded.
'I'm just concerned with waiting too long,' Xandra fretted.
'So am I, after all it's mine and Xandra's sisters that are being held captive,' Casey piped up.
'I know how you feel, they have my sister and our adoptive mum,' Jensen spoke strongly. 'I understand how you all feel, but it's no use putting ourselves in unnecessary danger. Your sister wouldn't want anything to happen to you, while rescuing her would she?' Frankie spoke directly to Xandra.
'No she wouldn't, alright we'll wait. But the second I'm back on my feet, I want to head out,' she replied determinedly.
'That's fine, now who's going to do what? We need a small group of us to scout the area and get supplies while the rest of us fix this place up and remove all the bodies.'
'I'll go,' both Jensen and I said at the same time. Frankie looked unnerved by it, the rest of them clearly wanted to laugh. I closed my eyes, thinking that at that moment I could have quite easily strangled my lot. Some of them were enjoying my personal dilemma a little too much.
'Alright, who else?' Frankie asked trying not to sound nervous.
'I'll go,' Delilah offered. I felt relieved when Delilah offered to join us, out of all my people she was the one I was most closest to. More than once I'd confided in her, and looked to her for guidance and help with leading our friends.
'Me too,' Zachary spoke a little too loudly. Oh great, I so did not want Zachary coming with us. He wasn't a bad guy, but he could be forceful, arrogant and sometimes an absolute wanker. I couldn't trust that he'd behave himself, but it wasn't like I could stop him from tagging along.
'Aye, I'll go too,' Tamara piped up. Frankie and Jensen both looked relieved when Tamara piped up, to be honest I felt the same. Not that I had anything against the lad, but if it had been just him and me it would have for one awkward as hell trip.
Not that it was going to be a particularly pleasant trip with Zachary coming with us. 'When are we going to talk about actually attacking them?' Zachary asked in that arrogant, impatient tone that he knew irritated the hell out of me.
'I was going to get to that,' Frankie snapped back. She really had changed, the Frankie I knew would never have scolded anyone like that. I smiled at her, feeling proud. It had taken a zombie apocalypse, but she'd finally become the person I always knew she could be.
'We've already scoped out their base, so we know that there's very few weak points in their defence,' Izzy piped up. Izzy was a strange one, she didn't talk much and seemed to spend her time quietly observing everyone else. I wondered what she was thinking, it seemed that despite having only just met her I was the only one who could see the deep seated darkness boiling beneath the surface. I knew that at some point, she would unleash that darkness upon the world. I could only hope that it wouldn't be directed at any of us.
'Then how are we going to get in?' Zachary barked interrupting my thoughts.
'Diversionary tactics,' Frankie replied smiling a little smugly.
'What?' Zachary asked, confused.
I smiled, knowing that as smug as Zachary could be there's no way he would have thought about anything other than charging in recklessly and probably getting us all killed. 'When you lot are out, I want you to keep an eye out for walker hordes. When it comes time to attack, we'll have some of us leading the horde towards the compound, while the others drive a car straight through the gate,' Frankie said smiling.
For a moment the room fell silent, we all just stared at her. It was a crazy plan, one I never would have thought of. Yet, I had this feeling that it would work.
'Let's do it,' Tamara spoke after a minute. It didn't matter what happened with Frankie and I nor did make a difference as to whether we all survived the coming war. What was important, was to find all of our friends and make those sick bastards pay for hurting them. We all agreed to enter this fight knowing that it could very well be our last.
Chapter 3
Tamara
I was out on the run with Delilah, Zachary, Jensen and Nikkita and boy was it awkward. Delilah and Zachary talked among themselves, while Jensen and Nikkita didn't talk at all. Even my attempt at humour wasn't lightening the mood. We had looked at the maps in the gift shop, and decided to go as far as Glendale. It was a three hour walk, but we were hoping to find some working cars for on the way back.
'How much further?' Nikkita asked.
'About an hour,' I replied simply.
'It's gorgeous round here, isn't is?' Nikkita smiled. It was a gorgeous summers day, the sun shone through woodlands making the greenery sparkle with a mystical sheen. I could hear the birds chirp and rabbits scamper through their home. Nature had survived here, the earth was as it was meant to be. It was untouched by the vile plague that destroyed the mainland. It seemed strange that we'd only been here less than twenty-four hours and yet so much had changed.
Jillian was dead, Nikkita had come back and we had new allies to aid us in our mission in rescuing our family. All hope was not lost and I for one was ready to follow Frankie into war, her idea was brazen but I felt certain it would work.
'It sure is,' Jensen chimed in. I felt sorry for both of them, and for Frankie as well. They both loved the same woman, and while I'd not had much chance to talk to Frankie about the whole thing properly, I knew that she needed to make a choice. Things were so complicated, I wanted to help but didn't know how.
'You know, Frankie and I used to go on trips to places like this,' Nikkita answered thoughtfully.
'What was she like, you know back then?' Jensen wondered.
'She was so different, seeing her now it's hard to believe it's the same person,' she replied smiling.
'How so?'
'You wouldn't believe it, but she was this quiet, shy girl who actually used to get bullied a lot,' Nikkita told him.
'Wow, really? I can't imagine Frankie being like that,' he said almost in disbelief. 'I know, it's so amazing how much she's changed.' I walked a little ahead, letting them talk but still listening in. I was actually interested in hearing what Frankie was like before the outbreak.
'Since she came into our lives, she's done nothing but take care of us. When my sister was taken, she took the l
ead. When our friend Tom died, she was there for us,' Jensen smiled.
'Sounds like the apocalypse has made her stronger,' Nikkita sounded almost in awe of Frankie.
'I've never met anyone like her, without Frankie we wouldn't have got this far.' Their voices got quieter, they were lagging behind. I could tell they were going to have a serious talk, while I wanted to give them a chance to talk, I kinda wanted to know what was going on. Not only that, it seemed that someone needed to speak to Frankie and tell her straight. As much as Jensen loved her and I knew she loved him, if she didn't go and be with Nikkita she would always regret it. I didn't know if they would last, both Frankie and Nikkita had changed so much in the last five years. But I didn't want Frankie to always wonder what if, and it wouldn't be fair for Jensen as he would never truly know if he was Frankie's first choice.
'You know that at some point, Frankie needs to make a choice.'
I was surprised that Jensen broached the subject first.
'I know, and while the whole situation is hard for all of us, I want you to know that I won't try to sway her or get in your way,' Nikkita told him.
'Neither will I, more than anything I just want her to be happy. After everything she's been through, she deserves it,' Jensen spoke rather calmly.
'Then it's agreed, neither of us will try to sway her nor will we act like cunts if she chooses the other one.'
'Deal,' Jensen replied. I was amazed at their ability to be mature about this, Jensen often surprised me. It was easy to forget that he was still a teenager, I barely knew Nikkita so I didn't know if she was normally so rational and calm.
I turned to look at Nikkita for a moment, damn if only she wasn't Frankie's girlfriend I'd happily take her for a test drive. I laughed to myself, it had been a hell of a long time since I got any action. Shame I wasn't straight, I knew Finn had thing for me.
'Corpses, twelve o'clock,' Delilah whispered. I looked to see them not two hundred yards away, luckily for us there were heavy woods for us to hide in. I could see that there was a few dozen walkers in the herd, I told Zachary to radio in back at base to tell them. Thankfully for us Nikkita and her group had two radios, we kept one with the group and one with us.
Dead World Rising Page 2
