The Ruins Of Tomorrow

28. There Is Always A Tomorrow

Thunder clapped above the trees as rain poured down heavily. My shoes were soaked in mud and water as I stood outside looking over the cabin for Lia. I caught the distinct sound of the gate creaking and footsteps coming from around the cabin, but I wasn't sure where she was.

"This cabin, it looks familiar doesn't it Scarlet?" Lia's voice yelled out in the harsh weather. I couldn't see her, but I knew she must have been watching me from a distance.

"You might not remember the accident, but the doctor who helped you said there was a small chance you would regain your memories in time. Some of that fogginess in your mind is clearing up now, isn't it?" she said.

I quickly turned around the second I heard her footsteps behind me. Lia pointed a gun me. Her short hair was drenched as her cheeks were rosy red and eyes appeared drained. Her hand was shivering and I could tell from the look in her eyes that she didn't want to do this.

"Who are you really?" I asked, raising my voice. "Are you Lillian? Or someone completely different now?"

She softly chuckled. "Lillian was someone who was still trying to figure shit out before. She was clueless of the world she was living in and ran away from her own camp and brother. But my name has always been Lia. I didn't lie to you about it-"

"But you did before," I cut in. "I don't know if I can trust you now."

There was a frown forming on her lips. "I'm still the same girl who helped you last week at the drugstore when we got attacked and the one who pulled you away from the biter that caused a breach in the wall just so you wouldn't get bit. And the same person who bothered to make a pair of gloves for you. I guess none of that matters now."

"I genuinely thought you were a good person," I said, wrapping my cold arms over my chest. "Maybe too good of a person. You were always kind to me and my brother, and to everyone."

"But I couldn't help my own brother," she said, taking a step closer. "I promised to myself that I would protect and watch over him no matter what. I couldn't save my older sister when she got surrounded by the dead and now I wasn't able to protect Benjamin."

"You did everything you could," I said. 

"But not enough," she cuts in, clenching her jaw and staring back with determination. "If you want me to be the bad guy, then you should say it Scarlet," she spat.

I skimmed the side of my jeans and drove out my gun, lifting it towards Lia. "I don't want that," I said. "I just want things to go back to normal. You're my friend..."

"You say that but you still drew out your gun," she said.

I could feel my heart beating fast as I tried to calm my breathing. "That's because you're not making things easier. You pulled out your gun first and don't seem to care to explain everything. Which means you don't plan on chatting long before you try to run off again."

"You know I don't like to play easy," she teased.

I went for the gun in her hand but she quickly grabbed my arm and pulled it behind my back. I let out a scream and felt the pain surge through my arm as I fell to my knees. She let go of my arm and got down to my level.

"I would have thought Hunter taught you better than that," she said, eyeing me closely. "Considering you're a Nova."

"Was. That's not who I am anymore," I gritted my teeth at her. "But how do you know? Only Dean and a few others do."

She tapped the right side of her chest. "Did you also forget? You had a lapel pin of the Nova's back then when we first met. Most people would know that symbol if they saw it."