Warm Bodies: Awakening

Looking for Answers

"And then what happened?" Nora asked, her voice rising in pitch, clearly irritated for her friend.

Julie sat on her bed and cradled her head in her hands, the memory of the moment crushing her. "He just... took off."

"What the fuck?! Why?"

"I don't know, he didn't say. He just ran out the door." Julie looked up at her friend, her eyes red, "He looked horrified, Nora."

She didn't understand. All she'd said was... I love you.

Why had that affected him so much? That look on his face as she'd said it... where had that come from?

Nora blinked, and opened her mouth as if to say something, but shut it instead.

Julie twisted the tassels of her pillow in her hands. "I can't find him anywhere... I ran after him, but by the time I got downstairs he was gone. I drove around a bit too. I don't know what to do... I don't know what I did."

"YOU didn't do anything, Jules," Nora said, and came around the side of the bed to sit by her. "He's obviously got some weird shit going on in his head that he couldn't handle. I mean, he was a zombie, he's going to be a bit fucked up no matter what."

Julie sighed. She could always count on her friend to be so bluntly wise.

Would this happen every time they were together? Would he always be haunted by the past? It had hurt. He'd left her there, sitting naked on his bed in a dark empty room. She'd stumbled after him, her heart reeling, but throwing on her clothes had cost her some time, and he was nowhere to be seen when she finally got out on the street.

There had been a group of once-dead outside, and one of them, a woman with black hair and dark eyes, had turned and pointed down the street, while the rest had just stared at her. Feeling distinctly uncomfortable, she'd mumbled a quick thank you to the lady and run off, only to realize she had no idea where she was headed next. He had disappeared.

Her heart felt like it'd been torn from her chest as she stood there, her breath making clouds in the cool night air, and realized that he'd just run out on her. He'd run away from her.

Bringing her hand to her mouth, she'd started to cry, the pain of that understanding hitting her hard. Her mind worked to try and understand why. Was it too much? Should she not have said what she did? No, it couldn't be that, there was something else in his expression, some kind of horror that had hurt him so badly he'd had to run. Hugging herself, she walked back to the building, and quickly ran up to his room, hoping he'd come back. He hadn't.

She'd come back to the convertible then, and started sweeping back and forth through the nearby streets. But she couldn't find him, and he hadn't come back to the room. That's when she'd come home and called Nora on the com.

And here they were, and he was still gone. She'd checked his window across the road a few times now. No movement, no light.

This had never happened between them before, and she was scared. What if he'd been hurt? There was talk of a group of idiots running around threatening the once-dead. Could they have cornered him? Attacked him? God, she couldn't stand this.

She jumped up out of bed, startling Nora.

"What are you doing?" her friend asked.

"I have to find him, he might be hurt," Julie answered, her mind racing over other places he might be. Should they hit the hospital? Maybe he'd left the city? Was it that bad that he would do that? Her face crumpled and she started crying again.

Nora stood and pulled her into a hug. "Hey, hey..." she soothed, "It's going to be okay, we'll find him. I'm sure he's fine."

Julie rested her head against her friends shoulder and nodded quietly.

He had to be.

Because she was going to kick his ass for leaving her naked on his bed.