I leave the bathroom and come back to the bedroom, I begin unpacking the small amount of possessions I have, the small amount of clothes I have belong to April as I’ve stayed with Damon and April since that day after school when we first encountered our first zombies, that day seems so long ago in almost another world, before we spotted our teacher outside it was such a normal and much more peaceful world where we could have dreams and future plans, and now all we have is survival and hope that one day our world will return to a type of normalcy where these zombies are no longer here.
I take a framed photo of myself and my parents out of my bag and place it on the table that has a large mirror above it, I sigh and think back to when I was able to get this photo back, when Damon and April’s mum was still around she allowed me and Damon to go back to my house and see if I could find my parents and get some important things, the place seemed empty when we arrived.
Damon came to my room and helped me grab some valuables, this picture was among them and a few pieces of clothing, I grabbed all I could and we were just leaving when I remembered a necklace I wanted of my mother’s that was in her room, we headed there and made the grave discovery of my parents both dead, they fell victim to zombies some time ago and all that was left was their bloodied rotting flesh, I couldn’t even cry at first I was just shocked by what I found, I always try to make the best of situations, I imagined my parents were fine and were hiding at home, or they’d gotten away to somewhere safe, I took the necklace and closed the door again, and I was in shock for a while, Damon tried to be comforting and ask if I needed anything, but I just needed solitude.
I locked myself in the bathroom and allowed all my emotions to pour out, everyone tried to help but I was inconsolable, I looked up to Damon and April’s mother as my own when I was orphaned, which made it hurt all the more when we lost her, although I never showed it, how could I be that selfish, it was their mother not mine so it would be unfair of me to break down too when I was the only one keeping the others spirits up.
I stare at my mother’s necklace, there is still specks of dried blood on the locket, I jump at a knock at my door, “come in" I reply and hide the necklace in a drawer, “just me" Damon smiles “hey, how are you doing?” I ask pushing my painful memories away, “yeah I’m good just unpacked and everything" he leans against the door frame watching me, “you can come in know" I smile, “don’t want to get into your personal space or anything" he shrugs and walks further into the room, “I think that would be pretty hard to do in here" I laugh, Damon sits on the bed beside me.
“This place is unbelievable” he agrees, his eyes shift from the room towards my face, I suddenly feel shy and warm in my face, I try to avoid his eyes, he laughs quietly and I feel his warm hand cup my cheek, I lift my eyes back to his again, “I know you heard me last night" he says quietly, my eyes widen in surprise “I know you were awake and you’ve been acting all shy so it was obvious" he says, I try to hide my smile but it still shows, he lowers his hand to lean on the bed now, “if you’ll allow me there’s something I’ve been dying to do for some time” he leans a little closer, he gets closer and closer and I feel I may melt from all the heat travelling up my face, especially since I’ve never had a kiss from a boy before.
I close my eyes preparing myself, just as I feel his breath on my face a knock brings us both back to reality, I look over to see it closed again, I hadn’t even noticed him close the door, “Sam it’s dinner, tell the others" says a woman’s voice “okay thanks" I reply feeling like a rebellious teenager caught by my parents for doing something bad, I look back to Damon who looks just as embarrassed as I feel “to be continued" he laughs awkwardly, “you coming?” he asks offering his hand, I wipe my hands on my jeans to rid them of their sweatiness and gladly accept his hand.
April’s POV
Everyone sits down to dinner, Sam and Damon are having a quiet conversation, the new people are all chatting together, Noah smiles at me from across the table I politely smile back, although I don’t trust any of them yet, perhaps I should enjoy the luxury to stay somewhere like this, but something about this seems off, the people are too kind and welcoming there was not one person that opposed us staying here despite the amount of people already living here.
I notice an empty seat and Cutlery set up in a place no one seems to be sitting in, “who’s that for?” I ask Noah raising my voice a little so he can hear me, “oh you’ll meet him soon, he’s been out on the other side of town, he provides our weapons" Noah says, I nod in understanding and start to feel curious of the unknown man we haven’t yet met, and why no one had mentioned him earlier.
Sarah brings the food out and everyone starts eating, the noise is reduced and there is only quiet chatter, “so April we haven’t properly met, I’m Sarah" she smiles at me, “hi Sarah this all looks great, reminds me of my mums cooking" I smile and remember the memories of her cooking, “did you get separated from your parents when the pandemic happened?” Sarah asks, “no she helped us survive at the beginning, she protected us" I explain, and hope she stops questioning me.
Noticing my uneasiness Sarah changes the subject “Colonel will be back soon, like Noah said he collects the weapons we keep for protection against the zombies, he’s a little rough around the edges but he has a kind heart, he protects us all" before I can ask Sarah anything further there’s a beeping noise.
“That must be him, Noah be a dear and let him in" Sarah asks, Noah excuses himself and I turn back to Sarah “why is he called Colonel?” I ask, “he was in the army, he’s quite reserved so we don’t know his real name” our conversation is once again interrupted by an unfamiliar man walking in with Noah, “I hope you’re not gossiping about me again" the man smiles softly, like described he has a rough look about him, short dark hair, faded scars reside by his mouth and right eye, he wears a military looking uniform and seems very neat as though he irons and polishes his clothes each day, he stands straight and with authority, a stranger but someone I feel I can put my trust in, he seems familiar for some reason.
“I see we have some unfamiliar faces...” Colonel trails off and his face is fixated on Damon’s face and his eyes flicker to mine, I feel my face heat up from the confusing attention I’m receiving, everyone eyes dart to me and Damon in confusion, I look to Damon who is wearing as much of a fixated gaze as Colonel, silence hangs in the air until Damon speaks “dad?” he barely whispers out, the room is filled with shocked gasps and whispers, and I try to piece my confused thoughts together, my father I don’t remember but recognise has shown his face after so many years away from us, my uneasy feeling begins to make sense and I soon realise it’s just the start of the surprises to come.
Chapter 5
Once everyone in the room recovers from the shock of the new development that occurred mere minutes ago, Colonel sits down to dinner and Noah tries to ease the awkward tension slowly rising by each passing minute “so Colonel what happened on your travels?” he asks, I shoot him a look to tell him how ridiculous of a conversation starter that is, he just shrugs in response “lots of zombies but I got what I needed, we’ll be fine for a while now weapon wise" Colonel responds and silence fills the room again “where have you been all this time?” Damon asks sadness is clear in his eyes yet his body shows anger, “it’s a very long story son, shouldn’t we wait for a time without prying eyes?” Colonel suggests trying to avoid the uncomfortable situation, “I don’t care if everyone is listening I want to know why you left us, and why you never came back" Damon demands, Sam tries to calm him to no avail.
Colonel sighs and turns in his seat to face us, “I never wanted to leave you kids, you guys were my whole world, I struggled with a lot of problems, with drugs and alcohol and a lot of anger, your mother wanted to support me but I couldn’t bring her down like that any longer, I went to get help but when I was clean it was hard staying that way, my anger kept dragging me down" he explains.
“But that’s when someone told me to enlist in the army
, it would teach me discipline and control, and honour, I went for as long as they would allow, it helped me stay clean and learn to tackle my anger, I felt like a better person from it" he smiles, “then why didn’t you come back?” Damon asks, “that’s what I wanted to do, I tried to track you guys down but you had moved and when I was able to contact your mother she wasn’t interested, she said you were all better off without me, I tried to fight for you, send you letters but she returned them to me, she wanted to shield you not willing to believe the angry alcoholic man she knew had changed".
“If you will let me, I want to be there for you now when I couldn’t in the past, and for your mother if she’ll let me, where is she?” he asks, the room goes silent once again as Damon isn’t willing to speak the truth just as much as I’m not, “she died" I whisper out, feeling a lump in my throat from finally saying the words out loud, “how?” Colonel whispers, “we were out getting supplies and zombies came out of nowhere, she sacrificed herself" Damon murmurs biting his lip to stop himself from crying, “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t there to help you" Colonel says quietly looking sad, I sigh and step back from the table “I’m done, thanks for the meal Sarah” I say with a small smile and leave the table, I hear footsteps behind me, “April wait are you okay?” Noah asks concern in his brown eyes, “I’m fine” I shrug, “I know that's not true, if you’re sad you can say it" I roll my eyes and attempt to walk past, he grabs my wrist pulling me back “I’ve known grief, I’ve known that look where you’re breaking inside but you think no one will understand your pain, your sadness" I scoff, “I’m not sad!” I exclaim in annoyance.
“Then tell me what you’re feeling, you put on a plain face and act tough, but I know it’s just an act" my anger grows by the minute “you’re wrong! I’m angry, I’m really pissed off, pissed at my mum for leaving me for not fighting harder for her life, pissed at my brother for just leaving her and not trying to help her more, pissed at my best friend for choosing my brother over me, and pissed at my dad for never being here, and pissed that zombies have ruined everything!” I scream, Noah smiles “the anger is good, it means you’re feeling”.
“I like how anger makes me feel, I like the feeling of darkness, the feeling of zombies dying to my hand" Noah smiles back a wicked smile “there is an allure to darkness, I have that same allure to you" Noah says staring at me intently, as though I’m no longer in my own body I’m drawn to Noah in an unfamiliar way, his lips touch mine in a rough and exciting way, our lips lock together in hunger, yearning for his touch the way grass yearns for the rain on a hot day, he pulls away “let’s not put on a show” he laughs, “come with me” he smiles leading me up the long stairs.
Damon’s POV
After April’s abrupt exit the room is engulfed in a deafening silence, “I know I messed up by not trying harder to find you guys, but I hope now with time we can have a relationship” Colonel says, “I think me and April need a little time, you’ve burst in here telling us all these things that we don’t really know are true, we’re still coping with the loss of our mother and need time to adjust” Colonel nods in understanding “for now I’m going to call it a night, Sam?” I ask prompting her to follow, we both head up the long spiral staircase the only sound is of our feet hitting the hard wood, “do you want to be alone?” Sam asks wearing a sympathetic expression, “alone with you" I smile, I lead her to my room by the hand and the door creaks slightly when opened, I lie down on top of the covers putting my hands under my head and releasing a deep sigh, Sam lies beside me on her side looking up at me, “do you believe what he said?” she asks, “I think to a point, maybe my mum did keep him away, and he did leave but all that crap about trying to be a part of our life sounds fake, my mum would’ve told us she wasn’t a secretive woman" I reply looking to the ceiling, “it feels weird talking about her in a past tense" I murmur.
Sam just sits and listens playing with my hair whilst I share my inner thoughts I kept concealed during dinner, “do you think April went to her room?” I ask Sam, “I would like to think so but Noah didn’t come back so I think she’s in his room" she mutters annoyance in her voice, “what’s wrong with Noah I thought you liked him" I smirk not used to Sam showing any other emotion than happy, “I do I think, but I feel like he’s taking advantage of April at such a low point" she frowns, I stifle a laugh at her cute angry expression, “don’t frown you’ll get wrinkles" I joke, she punches me and laughs, “you worry too much, she’s a big girl if she doesn’t want to do something she won’t” Sam sighs and nods, “I didn’t mean to take the topic off you, I just worry about her, we’re all she has", we continue to lie together in silence, “so earlier?” Sam asks breaking the silence “hmm?” I respond with my eyes closed trying to stay awake, “before we went to dinner and something was going to happen...” she trails off and without opening my eyes I know she’s blushing and playing with her hair, “what was going to happen?” I ask trying to not smile from how awkward I’m sure I’m making her feel, she doesn’t respond and I open my eyes to find her face inches from mine, I blink in surprise and feel my face heating up.
As the seconds go by that her face is mere inches from mine I grow more nervous and warm in the face, Sam isn’t one to act so bold, I close the distance between us and touch my lips to hers, I feel her sigh and lean into me, I gently hold the back of her head as our kisses grow more deep but remain gentle, after a few moments she pulls away with a small smile playing on her lips, “Damon" she says with a smile, “Sam" I mock with a smile, we lie beside one another again enjoying some peace from a hectic life until we hear a crash and both sit up suddenly, we hurry out of our room towards the crash sounds and the screams that sound much like April, “April?!” I call out in a panic, we bang on the door the sounds are emitting from “April?!” we both yell, “no no no!” she screams, “calm down" Noah’s voice responds, “stay away from me!” she yells, finding the handle no good I walk back and jump into the door, it doesn’t break on my first attempt, I try a few more times until it breaks open revealing a half dressed April wielding a knife towards a panicked Noah.
“What’s going on?” I ask, “I don’t know we were just kissing and she started freaking out, telling me I was going to hurt her and she doesn’t trust me and grabs a knife out of nowhere" Noah exclaims, I turn to April “are you okay?” I ask and she continues to scream in response pointing the knife in my direction, “you won’t get me like you got my mum!” she tells at me, “what do you mean?" I ask her trying to understand her screaming, “you zombies killed her!” she screams, I look to Noah and Sam in confusion, “is she hallucinating?” I ask they both shrug in response “April honey it’s Sam, let’s put down the knife" she says sweetly, “don’t come near me monster!” she yells running towards Sam, I jump in front of her just as April stabs the knife out in front of her, I feel the knife go inside my stomach, I kneel down coughing and groan in pain “Damon!” Sam yells kneeling down beside me, Noah runs to my side assuring me everything will be fine, “Damon? Oh god" April whispers coming out of her trance, their voices start to fade out as my vision blurs into black and I’m sure I must have lost consciousness.
Sam’s POV
Damon has been brought to his bed, and one of the new people is tending to his wound, I watch anxiously worried for his wellbeing, “will he be okay?” I ask, “he is very lucky, she didn’t hit anything important to do damage, he’ll be out for a bit but he should be just fine" assured the young boy with a smile, “thank you, Michael was it?”, he stands and nods with a smile, after he’s left the room I rush to Damon’s side and sit waiting for him to wake up, I also feel concerned what was going through April’s mind, why she thought we were attacking her, is the trauma she’s been through more damaging to her mind than we first thought?
After some time sat in silence there is a light knock, “how is he doing?” Noah asks as he enters the room, I sigh “he’ll he okay he’s just sleeping for now" I reply, “how’s April?” I ask him, he’s quiet for a
moment as though he’s deliberating whether to tell me the truth, “she’s quiet mostly, she seems completely shocked at her own behaviour like she wasn’t in control" he admits, “it seems like some sort of hallucination, I’ve never seen her act like that" my concerns over April’s behaviour continue to grow as the minutes tick by, “she’s a real risk" I mutter, “imagine if we’d been in a fight with those zombies, or she was on her own who knows what may have happened to her" Noah just nods in agreement, “what should we do?” he asks me looking as concerned as I feel, “for starters whatever relationship you two started to have can’t continue right now, and she needs to be isolated at least until we can figure out what triggers these attacks and how we can control them, otherwise she’ll be a risk to us and herself".
Noah agrees with a sigh, and leaves once again and silence engulfs the room again, I sit and watch Damon’s unconscious figure, watching the rise and fall of his chest, and listen to his deep breaths, I wish to be with April but I don’t know if I can face her yet, it may not be her fault Damon’s here but I still resent her for it, if maybe she had come to us or we had noticed something we could have helped her, was Damon’s tough love too much for her to handle so soon after losing her mum? These questions and a million more buzz around my head.
Finnian walks into the room and purrs around my legs letting off a few small meows, “I wondered where you got off to" I smile, the cat settles in my lap and peers up to me, “what are we going to do Finnian?” I ask with a sigh, he meows in response as though trying to answer my question, “just when things start to look up something else goes wrong" he meows again.
Infection Z Page 4
