GARDEN OF THE UNDEAD - A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE ROMANCE & ACTION TALE

chapter nine

"I Can't sleep" Alexia whispered to me half an hour later. Everyone else was sleeping except us and Kaiden who sat far away from us by the window. Joey had fallen asleep, he was truly exhausted and didn't have the strength to stay up for long.

"Do you think we can trust them?" Armani whispered cautiously, joining the conversation. Rolling onto her side to face Alexia who was as in between me and her. She was still as entrancing as ever, however her once full of life eyes no longer  much of a glint of hope or light behind them.

"Surely they wouldn't risk their lives to save us just to harm us would they?" Alexia whispered back breathing in before rubbing at her eyes and rolling over causing the sofa bed to creak slightly.

"I agree but I wouldn't be one hundred percent sure. They could drop us any time they like. After-all I think its pretty clear they think we're dead weight" I murmured

"Quit it, nobody thinks you're dead weight. Chen just has a difficult personality he'll come around" Kaiden gruffed, disassembling and reassembling his rifle. Pausing what he was doing, He ran his calloused hand through his hair before he continued

After another hour of silence, Alexia and Armani had finally drifted off to a much deserved sleep.

"When are you going to switch out of watch and get some sleep" I asked Kaiden, sitting on the camper chair that Joey had previously been sitting on before calling it quits and sleeping off.

"Not going to. I'm used to prolonged hours of not sleeping, the others need this rest more than me, it gets bad in the day and everyone needs to be alert" he replied leaning over to re-lace his boots. I took the opportunity to look over him, he was wearing black cargo pants, tactical boots, a black skin tight long sleeved gym shirt and a large leather jacket that read 'Kaiden'.

Ryan was wearing the exact same thing as him except his jacket read 'Ryan'. The only distinctive difference between them was that Kaiden was a bit taller and muscular than him and had darker, short cropped hair.

"Don't you need to be alert and awake as well, when are you going to stop putting up this I'm the leader and I have to put myself at a deficit for everyone else act?" I asked staring down at my shoes tapping my feet together.

"I didn't ask to be the leader of anything, it just came naturally. I would appreciate it if you put the energy you're using to worry about me to sleep or to at least learn something that could be beneficial to all of us since we're stuck together now" Kaiden stated, exchanging a tired, worn-out look to me.

"I'm sorry, I know you're trying for these guys, I can appreciate the genuine concern you have for your friends so don't take offence but if their leader isn't at his best, they won't function as well as if you were. It's okay to rest sometimes" I voiced, slouching down in the camping chair. Kaiden gave me an appreciative nod before a snap sounded outside the security office.

Instantly, his attention was off me and straight outside where a woman stood in front of the window staring straight up as if something higher in the block had caught her attention. She was covered in blood, gunk and most likely what seemed to be guts. Her pupils were almost a ghostly white with a purple hue. She was one of the undead.

She was in scrubs and a doctors coat, a large chunk of her neck was caved out in the shape of a bite mark. That's probably how she turned, I thought.

"Are-"

"She'll pass by, as long as she doesn't start attracting a crowd I won't bother dealing with her" Kaiden spoke up interrupting me as if he knew what I was about to ask, "In the meantime, I'm going to show you how to assemble, disassemble and load a pistol and a rifle, you don't happen to already know how to do that right?". He unloaded a pistol and a rifle before handing it to me.

With a mischievous grin, I disassembled, reassembled and loaded both whilst Kaiden checked to see if the woman outside had moved on. I handed him back the guns before explaining, "I've watched you do that about a billion times today, I've got it down Kaiden"

"Shit..." was all Kaiden could make out before spreading his legs further apart and resting his elbows on his knees, looking at me in awe. "You have one heck of a memory, I'll teach you how to shoot once we get to our main residence"

"Where is your place?" I asked, I didn't know that they were planning to move anytime soon and being on the outside again truly frightened me. It would be dangerous and we would be vulnerable. The trip making it here was hardly bearable with the scenes of the outside world foreign to how I had last seen it, the undead chasing after the minivan as it sputtered along the side roads through alleyways till we'd lost them.

"Outside of this area there's  some real country out there. Not many people I'm hoping. Lots of farm land as well, perfect for rebuilding and long term stay" he babbled excitedly, it seemed this place held some significance to him, his face lit up as soon as he began to explain this place to me.

"Did you live there previously or something?"

"Its Ryan's brother's land up in Fleming, we visited there any time we were off duty" he explained as I yawned softly.

"Hmm, I don't think I'll be getting around much over there, mud, animal and this outfit don't go too well together y'know?" I sighed rubbing at my forehead. I still hadn't gotten the opportunity to find any clothes suitable for the apocalypse and it was clear I wasn't getting very far in this outfit.

"Right. We're leaving at the next sunrise so today, when we go on our final supply run, I'll grab you something. Any requests?"

"I'll take what I can get, just something warm. You cant be picky in the apocalypse" I smiled yawning.

"Noted" was the last thing I heard him say before I finally surrendered to blissful sleep.

END