Resistentiam

Chapter 7

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A hacking cough filled the dorms, echoing down the corridor. Emery groaned, pulling her pillow over her ears. Bertie had come down with a cough and it was relentless. His little screams and wails were enough to break even the coldest of hearts, but it was keeping everyone up. The clock on her nightstand read 04:08 and she groaned again. Right now, as she laid wide awake, Emery was feeling resentful that Dean decided that everyone should sleep in one area. She sat up wearily, getting out of bed. If she were awake, then surely Ash would be too. Grabbing her hoodie and a pair of fluffy socks she made her way across the hall to Ash's room, knocking lightly before entering.

Amid the darkness, Ash's black mop of hair appeared from beneath the duvet, his eyes wide and alert. "Shit you scared me. Bertie keeping you up too?" Ash asked, pulling his duvet to the side. Emery nodded grinning, making her way over to him. She climbed into the bed next to him, relishing in his warmth. Ash wrapped his arm around her pulling her in. They both sighed as more of Bertie's cries sounded out. "It sounds like a really bad cough he has bless him." Emery said to him. Ash tensed a little before mumbling into her hair. "What?" Ash sighed, looking down at her. "Dad is worried that whatever he has may be serious, or contagious. If it is, he isn't sure we have the supplies to handle it." Emery didn't know what to say, she hadn't thought much about the medical supplies. She knew their food supplies were short, but hardly anyone ever gets sick, so she had never even thought it was an issue. Ash nudged her, pressing his fingers into her ribs. She grumbled before pushing him on the chest, both laughing quietly. "But there's no point in worrying about it. Dad will figure it out, that's why he's the leader right?" He said, and she agreed. They laid in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying one another's company.

"What do you think our lives would have been like if they hadn't taken over?" Emery asked him. More and more recently Emery's thoughts had turned to that question, the whole idea of another life she and her entire family lost out on was something she struggled not to think about.  Ash raised his eyebrows at her before sighing again. "Well, I'm thinking pretty different Em." He said sarcastically. She shoved him again, tutting. "You know what I meant. I know there's all the obvious things, like we wouldn't live down here for starters. But what about other things? Like do you think we would have met people, fallen in love, had kids, that kind of stuff?" They both went quiet for a moment before Ash pulled her in closer. "Yeah, I do, I think you would have met some guy who I would have hated." She giggled at that. "And you would have gotten married and had like a billion kids. And then your husband would have started an affair with the neighbour, rather cliché I might add, and you would have been divorced by the time you were 40." They both laughed loudly before trying to stifle their laughter under the quilt. "Okay well then what about you?" She giggled. "Oh well me, I would be a massive player, chasing every girl I set my eyes on. Except you of course." She rolled her eyes. "And what's so bad about me ey?" "Oh, there's nothing bad about you, so much so you're too good for me, and I will never deserve you. That's why I would never even try to make a move." He said dramatically, sighing for affect. "And it's also why I would continue to sleep with countless girls in an attempt to get over you. So really it would be all your fault I was such a player, you should feel bad." By this point Emery was not even attempting to muffle the noise of her giggles, her ribs aching from laughing. He sure knew how to paint a picture. "Well then I guess it's good we're stuck down here, sounds like our lives would have been awful for us had things been different." They both grinned.

"But do you think we'll be down here forever?" She asked him. Ash pondered her question before replying slowly. "Honestly Em I don't know, but I know I'll be happy if we are. Because I'll have you." He smiled at her, a real genuine smile, and she couldn't help but smile back. Ash was right, Emery thought, they would always have each other. "And this would be where, in some corny movie, we would do some awful secret 'best friends forever' handshake, but we're not gonna do that because we are way more original. So, what we are gonna do instead is try and get some sleep... I'm not saying we will be successful but we're gonna try." She laughed once more, nodding, lowering herself into the bed. Ash placed a kiss to her forehead and wrapped the quilt around her. With his arm cloaked around her, Emery let her eyes shut, her mind blocking out the sound of Bertie's coughs, and she went to sleep knowing she was happy. 

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Finally an update! I have really struggled with the 'filler' chapters so to speak, as I didn't just want to rush straight into all the bigger stuff. This chapter is just about setting the scene for Emery and Ash's friendship and how close they are. 

Thank you so much for reading, and I promise things get more dramatic & gripping from here, and I will update quicker. 

Thank you again, please comment and vote xx