Rise of the Dead

Chapter 18: The Fake Trust

"The best way to find out if you trust somebody is to trust them." ~ Ernest Hemingway

- - -

Today is our last day of travelling before we reach London and spirits are surprisingly high, although when the adrenaline runs out the fear will settle in- just like it always does. It's a harsh world we live in now and you have to enjoy the brief moments of happiness.

"It has been what? Six? Seven months since it began now?" I ask to no one in particular and Josh nods to my words, "how have we survived this long?" I say jokily and they all laugh humourlessly, something rather unsettling in the tone.

"Because we're a team and we all stick together," Toby says loyally, the expression contrasting his normal sarcasm, and someone shuffles uneasily in the back, causing me to furrow my brows deeply. 

"Look, guys," I say as we pass a metallic green sign that shows London is approximately three miles away and they all smile as I glance at the rear-view mirror. It almost feels as if our journey is coming to an end. We've been together so long and our goal was always to get to London so this holds a sense of finality, I don't know why but I don't think we will all get out of this unscathed. Maybe I'm over thinking things, I've always been a realist and seen the worst in every possible situation.

"Wow!" Josh exclaims and I look up to see the tall skyscrapers towering above us, their architectural beauty is completely breath-taking. I slow the car down to a crawl as I peer out of the windows in awe, my eyes wide with admiration. 

"You've never been to London before, have you?" Josh asks and I shake my head. "Well I would say your in for a treat but with all the infected running around I wouldn't be so sure," he says bluntly.

"I'll take that into account," I humour him.

We drive for a further few minutes before I pull into a side road and cut the engine, I take a deep breath and turn around in my seat- the belt digging into my neck painfully as I send a look of reassurance to the group. We climb out of the car silently and walk hurriedly over to Lara and Nicholas who sit uncomfortably on the blood-splattered bonnet, Lara wrapping a thread of barbed wire from the handle to the sharply curved tip of her baseball bat. 

"So, where do we head from here?" Nicholas asks, his eyes scanning the city eagerly as Lara looks up from her weapon also. I consider this for a moment before I reply curtly, turning my knife in my hands absentmindedly.

"I suppose we should find some supplies, weapons and food, and then locate a lab. It seems like the best plan right now," I explain shortly and sling my rucksack over my shoulder.

"Where do you want to go first?" Soph queries, staring up at the tall buildings that dwarf her petite frame. Her white-blonde hair fluttering around her face as she admires the concrete city that laughs down at her innocence. 

"I guess now's when we abandon the cars? They're too noisy, we don't need the attention. Let's get all of the bags out and then we head to a weapons shop up the street I saw on a map. Then we should find a lab with accommodation next door preferably, but at least on the same street, the science and research district isn't too far from here," I finish quietly as I speak out the group's sketchy plan.

They all nod their heads and we get out the map to plan our discrete routes, we decide on alleyways and small side roads to get to the weapons and a supermarket and before long the map is filled with wobbly red lines that represent our paths. We turn around and walk down the side road into the open street, cars are impaling shop windows and debris is strewn across the pavements, acting as urban landmines we pick our way through the litter. Walking along the road we pass an abandoned café of which the sign creaks in a non-existent wind. The windows smashed and curtains blow in the imaginary breeze, goosebumps prickle my skin and I sense the threat before I see it. Something isn't right, something is coming.

Something bad.

A crash echoes behind me and I spin instantly, I see Amelia has knocked over a single metal table stood outside the wreckage. I send a desperate look in her direction and she raises her hands in a surrender. 

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she shout-whispers and I just purse my lips together tightly. Much to my relief, I don't think the zombies heard us. I haven't even taken my next step before I see them, a heard of infected, charging at us with an eerie pace. 

"Oh..." I hear Amelia curse.

_ _ _ _ _

*Unknown P.O.V*

I'm so close I could almost touch her and she still has no idea. I don't know how to explain myself, I know she will hate me but she deserves the answers. She deserves my confession, no matter how sadistic it may be.

I need to sample her blood again to find it- the cure. Our lifeline. My mission from day one of this mess.

She's what the world has been waiting for and I need to tell her, but I think she guessed. Or part of it anyway, the troubled look I saw in her eyes in that moment proved it. I watched as she saw the needle marks, left behind in my haste and shaking hands. Her reaction as she realised what someone did to her, the look of horror on her face and the way she looked so betrayed from the heart-wrenching thought. A moment that filled me with overwhelming and blinding guilt.

I think it's time to enter her life again. I have to talk to her, she needs this. I need this.

But how to tell the others? They'll hate me? They should, I would in their shoes. They thought they could all trust me, with their lives even. I guess they were wrong. Very wrong.

Stupid humans, didn't their parents tell them to trust no one?

I built up the fake trust for so long and worked so hard on my perfect façade no one gave a single thought about it, completely oblivious and why would they question me? But now, they will never forgive me. I deserve it, I deserve to die. But nothing will stop me from finishing what I started and she will die if she gets in the way. 

I take a deep breathe and walk out of the long grass that conceals me, I stand a few feet away and clear my throat.