He caresses my face with his palm and I don’t know where to look unused to such affection, he leans his face into mine and suddenly his lips are on mine, I feel shocked and I'm about to push him away when I realise I could give my cover away, I lean into his kiss but feel disgust at his affection.
We pull away and I stand to my feet, "well I better shower I promised April we'd hang out" I say trying to find anyway to put some distance between us, "you guys made up?" He asks, "yeah I don’t know what came over me acting so... awful to her, but we've made up now so I better go" I say as I start walking backwards out the room, "tell her hi for me" he says I hum in agreement and escape the room and enter my own, "gross boys are the worst" I grumble to myself, I pick out a clean outfit and a towel and close myself in the bathroom.
I strip off and enter the hot shower blood and dirt circles down the drain, I sigh in content and wash my face to rid myself of Damon's kiss shivering in disgust at the memory of it, once clean I dry myself off with a towel and dress in the fresh clothes leaving the dirty ones in the laundry basket, I dry my hair and search the room for Sam's makeup.
I decide to put on some foundation, mascara and lip gloss and admire myself in the mirror, "I think I look really cute!" I exclaim "you may look cute but it's me they're seeing not you! You're evil and they know it!" Exclaims Sam in the mirror with an angry look on her face, "don’t frown sweetie you'll get wrinkles, besides as far as they know I am you, and soon enough you'll be gone" I laugh and Sam looks worried, "you won’t have the light forever Amaya, I'll take my consciousness back and tell them it was you!" She exclaims in a panic, "they’ll think you're the liar, honey they think I'm you" I smile back sweetly, she continues to argue, I find something to clean the bit mark and wrap a bandage around the wound, I grab a jacket to hide it and leave the room.
"Ready?" April asks as I close the door behind me, I smile at her admiring how good she makes jeans and a tee shirt look, "absolutely let's go" we link arms and walk down to the game room, I grin smugly knowing I have these people right where I want them.
Chapter 8
April chats to me excitedly as we arrive at the game room, she points to a dancing machine with a smug look on her face knowing I won't deny her, we turn on the game watching as the screen lights up and the floor keys buzz to life, we choose a song and prepare to dance "I'm a pro at this, prepare to be thrashed" I roll my eyes but can't help but grin at her, "oh is that right? Well I'm an expert so prepare to meet your match!" I exclaim egging her on, the song begins, and we stamp and jump on the keys using arm movements and spinning to seem like we are truly dancing and not just standing on lit up floor keys.
I sneak a peek at her listening to her laughter and admiring the concentration on her face, before long the song ends and we're both panting and sweating, we laugh and watch the screen expectantly to see who won, the numbers pop onto the screen player 1 98% accuracy, and player 2 97% accuracy, I groan in defeat as April exclaims in victory and jumps up and down.
"So you suck at dancing so to make it fair we will now play a game of your choosing, but if you lose that I'll be super disappointed in you as a person" April jokes with a grin, "easy air hockey, I'll thrash you at that" I smirk and lead her to the air hockey table.
The game begins and the aggressive thrusting of the disk back and forth each side of the table begins, we screech as the disk flies towards our sides each time and deliver a hefty hit back, April groans in annoyance when the disk escapes her and into her goal, she exclaims "ha!" As she scores into my goal, a wicked grin on her face which soon falls as my score moves higher and higher until I am the champion of this game.
"Are you now not disappointed in me as a person?" I ask feeling smug, "you just got lucky" she huffs in playful annoyance, "let’s just go sit in the garden for a bit!" She announces and takes off out the door and down the hall, I hurry to catch up with her and this soon turns into a game of chasing her, she screams and laughs as I slowly gain on her and tackle her in the garden.
"Fine you win" she huffs out of breath, I have her arms pinned to the ground and grin knowing I remain the victor, I clamber off her out of sheer awkwardness of my face being so close to hers, "why'd you just go weird?" She laughs, I shrug and laugh awkwardly wrecking my brain to change the subject, "you're different today" she comments catching me of guard "what do you mean?" I ask worried my cover has been blown, "just more yourself, yesterday you were kind of... I don’t know bossy" I sigh in relief "guess the nerves of being on a first patrol got to me, sorry I took it out on you" she smiles back kindly and wraps her arm around me, "you got me babe" she laughs, I feel my cheeks warm at her proximity and try to push it to the back of my mind.
We walk aimlessly around the vast garden that is filled with Rose's, sunflowers and every other flower imaginable, "how are things with my brother?" She asks, I try to think of what straight minded Sam would say, "pretty good, I mean as good as a girl and a guy can be during a zombie apocalypse" I joke she smiles but I see a hint of something hidden beneath, "you're not jealous... are you?" I ask she laughs for too long and too forcefully, "why would I be jealous of you two? I've been rooting for you guys for years, I'm not mad or anything or like lonely if that's what-" I cut her off with my lips planted on hers, she gasps in surprise but kisses me back only for a second, then she’s pushes me away.
"What the fuck was that?!" She asks angrily and confused, "you're dating my brother why would you..." she can hardly string a sentence together in her confused state, "I've... I've got to go" she dashes off before I can explain away what happened or figure out if she felt the same way, then she’s gone and I'm alone in the garden as the sky darkens.
I collapse onto my knees, "stupid, stupid, stupid!" I scream at myself, then I feel her start to take back her mind, "no, no, no I'm not done!" I exclaim but it is too late, and she is pushes me back into the dark, Sam sighs deeply now in control again "what did you do?".
April's POV
I rush back to the house and run up the stairs, I throw open my door and slam it behind me throwing myself onto my bed, how did I get myself into such a mess, where did that come from? Did I take it the wrong way, was she just messing with me and I freaked out which is way crazier than my best friend kissing me, why did I kiss her back? Why did I... like it? A million thoughts buzz around my mind making me angry and confused, I touch my lips and think of her soft lips on mine that tasted of her cherry lip gloss, I shake my head trying to forcefully remove the memory from my mind to no avail.
A knock at my door snaps me from my thoughts, I keep quiet to hide from my unexpected visitor, the knock comes again "April?" That is Colonels voice, "I'm not here" I reply hoping that will making him leave "then who just said that?" He asks with a chuckle "shit" I reply realising how dumb I truly am, I sigh and answer my door, I leave him at the doorway and flop back down on my bed again, Finnian follows behind purring as he rubs his head on Colonels leg, he smiles scratching him behind his ear, "from the door slamming and your current attitude I'd say something is up" he says and walks into the room, "and the genius award goes to..." I say sarcastically.
He takes a seat at my desk and turns the chair to face me, Finnian jumps onto the desk watching me in the same manner as Colonel, "what's up moody?" He asks trying to joke, "I'm actually having a very bizarre day that has brought unwanted drama to my life, I don’t know what to do and I don’t even understand it" I groan placing a pillow over my face, "I'm sure whatever teenage drama you're experiencing can be easily solved" he laughs and without seeing his face I know he’s judging me, "unless you've had your best friend kiss you and made you question your sexuality then I doubt it" Colonel has no comeback and from his silence I think he’s left the room, "Sam kissed you?" He asks slowly trying to figure it out as confused as I am.
"Bingo" I mumble under the pillow, "well I didn't know you're gay" he coughs awkwardly, I bolt upright "I'm not! Well I mean I don’t think I am, I'm not too sure at this point, like I was sure I was strai
ght then she kissed me and I kind of kissed her back so now I'm not too sure" I fall over my words as I talk quickly trying to piece together everything as I speak, "I see" Colonel says being oh so very helpful.
"If you are um... gay that's not bad" he says awkwardly "I know that!" I exclaim in annoyance, "if it was any other girl things would be so much simpler, she’s dating Damon, so if I like her and it’s mutual that makes for a very uncomfortable situation" Colonel nods now understanding the dramatics of the situation.
"I'm not you so I don’t how you're feeling or what you're thinking, but you should always be true to yourself, speak to her to figure out what's going on, if it’s genuine then she needs to let her boyfriend know, if it wasn’t just a mistake she can’t keep lying to herself and to him" I nod in agreement, he may be an old guy but he didn’t judge me and spoke sense, "thanks dad" I sigh and lie back on my bed.
Out of the corner of my eye I can see the surprise and joy on Colonels face, he doesn’t express this and instead composes himself "I'll always be here for you buttercup" he tells me and leaves the room with Finnian following close behind, the nickname shakes something up inside me, a distant memory that struggles to resurface.
Sam's POV
While I was gone the other me seems to have stirred up trouble, kissing April was the worst thing she could've done, I'm not into girls and this is my body so nothing could happen with April, now I've got to somehow explain what happened without being a jerk.
"Why did you have to mess everything up?" I groan out loud, "I know what I want so I went for it, plus it's not like we have a whole lot of time" she snidely replies, I look down to my arm and sigh knowing she’s right, it's just a matter of time until the bite travels further into my blood stream and I become... one of them.
I notice April coming out of the house, she struggles to meet my eyes as she stops a few metres in front of me, "hi" I greet her unsure what else to say, "hey um I think we should talk" she says, her awkwardness is apparent "that kiss?" She asks and looks at me expectantly, "it was a mistake, I hope you didn’t think it meant anything, you know I'm with Damon" I explain falling over my words, she’s quiet for a moment "o-oh right of course a mistake, that's um that's what I was going to say, it was a big mistake" she laughs humourlessly, "well now that's cleared up I've got somewhere to be" she hurries off before I can stop her.
I immediately know that kiss meant more to her than she is letting on, did I just break her heart? Or does she think I am strange for kissing her out of nowhere and mean nothing by it? I begin walking back inside up to Damon's room, I want nothing more than to cuddle up with Damon and try to forget the previous events ever happened.
April's POV
I slam the bedroom door behind me and sink down to the floor, the kiss was a mistake like I figured it was, just a misunderstanding no big deal, and yet why do I feel so empty inside from her words? Why has my vision become blurry from my tears that are trickling down my face, why do I feel so angry and betrayed, yet so embarrassed for even a moment thinking we were more than friends for that brief second that our lips touched, her words echo in my mind "it was a mistake" like a stab to my heart, "I hope you didn’t think it meant anything" how dare I think she liked me even for a moment, "I'm with Damon" how could I ever compete with my brother?
What does this all mean? What happened has affected me so much that I must be gay, all this time and I never knew, I never had boyfriends or spent time thinking of guys I like but I just figured those feeling would come with time, I walk over to my bed and lie on my stomach, I scream into my pillow letting all my emotions seep out, I just let my tears soak the pillow until I have no more emotion left inside me, at some point I fall asleep, I dream of being left alone by my loved ones, stuck in a vast never ending forest with no hope of escape.
I wake the next morning and don’t want to leave my bed, I curl up under the blanket and decide to stay put despite it being 10am, I soon realise Colonel never came to take me for training, he must be giving me a pass given the circumstances which I appreciate.
I lie under the covers for some time, a light knock rips me from my thoughts, I do not answer and hope whoever it is just leaves, but the knock comes again "April?" Damon's voice asks, and the guilt of kissing his girlfriend hits me, "I'm not feeling good" I reply hoping that’s enough to drive him away, I hear the door creak open and I sigh in annoyance, the bed creaks as he sits at the end of it, "what's up?" He asks, "I just don’t feel like leaving my bed today" I reply "did something happen?" He asks and I cringe at his question, "no I'm just not feeling myself, like I miss mum and I didn’t sleep well" I try and come up with as many excuses as possible.
"I'll be right back" he says suddenly and his feet creak quickly out of my room, he’s gone for a while and I start to relax hoping he decided to leave me be, my hope is short lived when his feet creak back in my room again, he pulls my cover over my head "me and you are going to spend the day together, I told everyone including Sam to leave us be, we're going to watch movies and have a chill family day where we can cry about mum or just remember her together" despite wanting to be left alone I like his idea better and move over so we can both lie under the cover, he produced a wireless DVD player and a movie we all used to watch together starts playing on the screen.
Chapter 9
Sam's POV
I sit in my room staring into the mirror back at Amaya, "why did you kiss her? She’s my best friend and now she’s going got be so confused!" I yell at my reflection Finnian stares between my reflection and myself as we argue back and forth, "I was just following my impulses, at first I wanted your life as mine but after being with her, I want her" she says I roll my eyes, "so you're gay? You're not even real just a mental illness" I scoff, "well either I'm real and gay, or you are" she points out, I have no response to that, I’m definitely not gay so in some way she must be real or at least in my mind she’s real.
"Whatever just know you've just fucked everything up, April will never want to speak to me again" I huff, "and who's fault is that?" She retorts, Finnian meows “see even the cat agrees, you're the one that couldn’t come up with anything better than 'it was a mistake' the truth would have been much kinder than that, of course she’s upset, what if Damon turned around and told you your kiss was a mistake" what she says made real sense, although it was my sense she was using against me.
“Well I’m not letting you take over again, this is my body and my life not yours and-“ I try to argue and start coughing uncontrollably, I look down at my hands and find blood, I gasp in shock and look back up to the mirror, “what’s happening?” I ask her, she wears an empathetic expression “you’re dying sweetie, well we’re dying because of that zombie attack” she explains.
“But that was days ago shouldn’t I be a zombie already?” I ask, she shakes her head “the zombie barely touched us so it’s taking longer for its disease to spread, or that’s what it seems to be I’m no expert” I sigh feeling weaker than before, what am I supposed to do, I will be leaving my best friend and my boyfriend to be alone, they’ve already lost their mother, they can’t lose me too.
“Dinner!” Sarah’s voice echoes pulling me from my spiralling thoughts, “I guess I’ll have to figure this out later”, I leave my room with Finnian curled up on the bed, I close the door behind me, and descend the long staircase to join the other members of the house for dinner, I sit between Damon and April, Damon talks about things I can’t concentrate on, while April talks to the Colonel about her training and I can feel myself disassociating barely picking at my food, the evening moves in a blur until I’m back at my room staring at my ceiling trying to organise my thoughts.
“Hey you!” Amaya’s voice pulls me from my thoughts, “there’s nothing we can do about your arm, all we can do is enjoy the time we have left, just spend some time with April and Damon, let me get to know April too I won’t tell her about the mark” Amaya says, I consider her words carefully, she could be right and it’s not like I ha
ve many options at this point, “fine I agree but April and Damon do not find out” she nods in agreement and is gone from the mirror, I turn over and try to get some sleep trying to appreciate the time I have left.
April’s POV
I’m awoken by the Colonel again for training, I dress sleepily and follow him to the training room, “today I’ll be teaching you how to be quiet” he states, I stifle a laugh “I know how to be quiet that’s not really something I need to be taught.”
“Zombies are only partially sighted and mostly rely on sound for attack, I will be teaching you how to move quietly, send a sneak attack and using the quietest weapon for this” he explains.
I grab my bat and try to sneak up on the training dummy, “too loud” states the Colonel, I try again and again only to be stopped by the Colonel for my ‘loud steps’, “try to move slower, you don’t need to be quick, only strike quickly” he advises, I start to move slower and then strike the dummy’s head once close enough, “great, always go for the head when possible, your weapon is one of the quieter weapons, knives or swords are also a great weapon when you wish to be silent, and only use a gun if you really have to, they are the loudest weapon and therefore bring the most attention,” he explains.
Infection Z Page 7
