They Called It The Apocalpse

Chapter 10

Cassie found herself walking at the back this time with Tate eagerly pushing forwards up front and Jason walking at a middle ground between the two of them. She had her hand in her bag and slowly stroked the rough head of the small rabbit plush, her thumb moving rhythmically over its tatty fur. "You doing alright?" Jason asked, turning back and stopping to wait for her. She whipped her hand out of her bag faster than lightning, embarrassment colouring her cheeks red. "Yeah, I'm just a little tired, thats all." Jason smiled and extended his hand towards her, "You need some help?" She smiled back and took his offer, holding on tightly as he walked just a little faster and pulled her after him.

Soon enough they reached the light covering of snow that covered the very top of the mountain, Tate stopped at the line that separated snow and dry ground, he bent down and scooped up a handful of snow, smiling back at the others. He only had the snow in his hand for a few seconds before he shrieked and dropped the melting pile of slush, "It's cold!" He cried, clutching his reddened hand and laughing to himself, "It's really cold." He dropped to his knees and put both hands into the snow, almost crying from the joy he was feeling. "I haven't seen snow in so long." He mused as he shifted great lumps of it from side to side. Jason shook his head but there was a smile appearing on his lips. Cassie was smiling too as she followed Jason into the snow, it crunched under her feet and looked back at Tate gleefully. He got to his feet, scrunching something in his hands then held a finger to his lips as if willing her not to alert Jason. He threw the lump of snow as hard as he could and it hit Jason square in the face, exploding into a mini flurry. He turned back to Tate, mouth open in shock then his expression mellowed and a smile drew onto his face, "Oh really?" He asked, bending and scooping his own snowball. Tate yelped and ran backwards, sprinting away as Jason launched a snowball at him. It hit him in the middle of his back, leaving a spray of snow stuck to his jacket. He tripped on impact, falling face first into the snow then rolling over onto his back and laughing. "Alright, come on then." Jason chuckled, heading further along the path, as Tate got to his feet and jogged after them.

They quickly reached the summit and headed onto the downhill stride of their mountain journey, Cassie slipped just over the top of the mountain and fell flat onto the floor, she kept hold of Jason's hand as she fell and dragged him down with her. They both started laughing as Tate bent over and offered Cassie a hand up. She took it, allowing him to pull her to her feet, letting go of Jason's hand as she did. Once on her feet Tate looked over at Jason, who pulled his most comedic puppy dog eyes and held out his hand towards Tate. "Nah." Tate muttered, turning and starting walking again. "Oh you ass!" Jason yelled after him, scrambling to his feet and pushing him, he slipped, falling forwards with his hands out. They both laughed as Jason sprinted past, pushing Tate down again as he reached out to try and trip him. "You guys are cheerful today." Cassie remarked as she steadied herself against the wall of the mountain and took cautious steps through the snow. Tate grinned back at her, "Yeah, we're all chummy chummy now. Best friends really." Cassie chuckled at that and Tate faked being offended, he crossed his arms and opened his mouth. "I'd like to hear Jason say that." Her foot started to slide, she could feel herself tipping but Tate grabbed her by the arm, smiling supportively. "Oh he's just grumpy." He cooed, helping to stabilise her then shuffling after Jason.

As quickly as they'd entered the snow, they exited it, stomping their feet loudly against the floor to shake off some of the snow. Cassie's hands were bright red and trembling and she rubbed them together, breathing a stream of warm air into them. Jason slowed to walk beside her as Tate trotted ahead. He dug into his bag then produced the gloves he'd been wearing when they first reunited in the grocery store. He took her hand gently then slipped the glove on, adjusting the fingers so that they fitted hers and pressed the clip into place at the wrist. He took her second hand and fitted the other glove then returned his focus to the trail. "Thank you." She smiled, watching as Tate turned back to see where they were then hurried down a steeper bit of the path. "No problem." Jason replied, smiling happily at her and her mind went to the plush rabbit in her bag, her own smile dropped and she watched the small rocks on the track coming away with each footstep. "I'm sorry Jason." She mumbled, dragging her feet through the dust on the path. She was trying to find the words to describe exactly what she wanted to say to him but she was coming up with nothing. "What for?" He asked, turning to look at her with those eyes that she dreamed of so often. "Everything." She replied, twisting her fingers together in front of her, there were tears she wanted to shed but she couldn't do it, not halfway down the mountain, not with Tate just inches ahead. "Cassie." Jason cooed, drawing her head up with cool fingers and turning it to look at him, "You don't have to apologise for anything. There's nothing I haven't or won't forgive you for. I...I..." he wanted to tell her, needed to describe the feelings he felt for her but he couldn't quite speak his mind. He stuttered then stopped trying, silent,y searching her face as they both took in the air. "I know..." she mumbled, stroking the side of his face tenderly. Tate reappeared, having tracked back to find where they had stopped. "Come on Romeo and Juliet!" He yelled, waving a hand at them to follow. Cassie found herself blushing, embarrassed that Tate had caught them sharing a moment, she pulled away from Jason then pushed forwards down the hill. He stood for a second, staring at the wall of the mountain and kicking himself for not telling her exactly how he felt then trudged after them.

The sun came down as they walked and they found themselves walking through the night, stars twinkling like fireflies up in the sky. Tate started to flag, his energy waning and his feet dragging along the floor. He clawed at the wall to keep himself upright and each time he closed his eyes they threatened to not open again. "I'm getting a little tired guys." He muttered through a yawn and both Jason and Cassie turned back to look at him. "Alright, I guess we can set up camp here for the night then." Jason stated as he pushed some of the bigger rocks aside. It wasn't so cold tonight and there was no signs of an incoming storm. He took a seat, placing his bag beside him and patting the ground next to him whilst looking up at Cassie. She held up her hand to indicate that she needed a minute as she dug through her bag then pulled out the blanket,holding it out to Tate. His eyebrows raised and his eyes went wide in shock. "For...for me?" He asked, unable to believe the generosity he was receiving. "Sure, you can use it as a bed or something." He smiled and nodded, taking the blanket and wrapping it around him. Cassie went to sit, hitting the wall and sliding down it until she was on the floor as Tate curled up beside her, lying sideways and falling asleep at almost the exact moment he lay down. She took her bag off like Jason and put it between her and muddy souls of Tate's shoes then rested her head against Jason's shoulder as she watched the stars in the sky.

"Hey, that ones moving!" She chimed, sitting upright and pointing. She looked over at Jason to find him with his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open, he dozed peacefully with his head back and she smiled contentedly. Quietly she crawled around him, unzipping his bag and digging out one of the food tins, she was surprised to find that it had a ring pull attached to the top and sat back against the wall to pull it open and discover what was inside. Her fork cut noiselessly through the corned beef and she chewed slowly as she watched the stars, the one she'd seen moving had disappeared but she could pick out patterns and shapes in the ones she could see. She traced a bear with her fingers and tilted her head to view Orion from another direction, as a child Orion was the only constellation she could pick out and she'd always remembered it. Stars were rare where she'd come from, the boarded up windows of the shelter had prevented her from seeing them and she'd always sought a certain comfort from them. She marvelled at the sky until she had finished the whole can of food then placed it to the side and fished around in her bag, she found the rabbit and smoothed down its ears to it head. It's eyes shine with the reflection of the stars and she ran her thumbs over the smooth beaded eyes, following it down to the embroidered pink nose. She held it close and closed her eyes, sniffing quietly in her grief then hitched in a breath and crammed the rabbit back into her satchel. Her vision started to blur as she looked back up at the sky, stars swirling into a big blue marble. She felt the urge to get closer, falling forwards onto her hands and knees and starting to crawl with her eyes fixed on the sky. Cassie inched closer to the edge until her hand went over and she was forced to stop, drawing her head down and seeing the ground getting closer then further away. She felt a bought of nausea creeping up on her and braced herself against the edge of the path at she wretched, vomiting a think stream of pink. She reached up to wipe the spit from her mouth and pulled her hand away bloody, she started to shake, her face contorting and breaths hitching in and out. She scrambled backwards away from the edge and fell onto her butt, clawing herself away until she half hit the wall, half hit Jason. He stirred with a start as she started to cry, pushing her head against his chest and sobbing. He frowned tiredly but wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her as she cried.