Undead Rises

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ

ᴄᴏʀᴀ ʜᴇɴᴅᴇʀꜱᴏɴ'ꜱ ᴘᴏᴠ

Aria and I went to the kitchen soon after she brought in the rabbit. I watched her do everything that needed to be done in order to cook and eat the rabbit. It made me feel nauseous, and I had to look away several time in order not to throw up. There were little words that were exchanged in the kitchen as I helped cook the rabbit. By helping I mean, I lit all the candles in the cabin as it became dark, and Aria roasted the rabbit over the fire.

"Good thing this guy liked spice." Aria chuckled as she walked up to me with different kinds of condiments. I had been sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace with two plates in my hands. Aria sat beside me and placed all the spices between us, I handed her the plate before getting to work on mine. I watched the fire dance as I ate, my mind drifted back to Miami.

That's where Tobias and I had decided to have our trip, but when all hell broke loose, we were forced to stay in Florida and watch everything burn. We spent so much time in that small hotel room, we almost went insane. We couldn't call anyone, and it was just us, for weeks until eventually everything got overrun. That's when we left. I had lost count on how many days it has taken us to get where we were today. Knowing the date and counting the weeks, didn't seem that important to me anymore.

"I'll be right back." Aria said before dropping her empty plate and walking out, towards her room. My heart leapt into my throat as I hoped nothing seemed out of place to her. It was wrong going through her personal things but there was no way of stopping myself. The sound of her footsteps caused me to look in her direction. Aria stood with a bottle of brown liquid in hand, she slowly crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

"Did you find anything interesting while you were in my room, Darlin'?" Aria asked with a smirk, her words mixed with annoyance but humor. "I'm sorry, but in my defense, you are a stranger. Sometimes when I get curious, I can't help where I end up wandering." I confessed putting my plate down and hugged my knees, I only hoped that I didn't drive her to kick us out in the middle of the night. "I had a feeling you weren't a thief. However, it seems you're a curious cat." she sighed before walking over and sitting down beside me. The bottle sat helplessly in her lap.

"Please don't give me the 'curiosity killed the cat', bullshit. I know it was wrong. I'm sorry." I apologized before looking back into the fire. "For what it's worth, I would've done the same thing. You're forgiven." Aria smirked before pushing the open bottle of brown liquid towards me, I shook my head. "I can't drink. I'm twenty." I sighed looking back at my brother, Aria raised an eyebrow.

"It's not like the police will break down the door. Plus, I don't drink either, but it feels like a special occasion." Aria threw her head back and took a sip before gesturing the bottle towards me, I grabbed it. "Why?" was all I asked before taking a sip, the liquid burned its way down my throat which threw me into a fit of coughs. Aria covered her mouth with her hand as she was clearly trying not to laugh.

"I've been alone for a long time, having someone here makes it feel less...empty." Aria said slowly, and I felt like it wasn't easy for her to be alone for so long. At least I had my brother, I wasn't alone, but she was. I would have gotten cabin fever if I stayed alone for weeks on end. "That map, where does it lead to?" I asked her before taking the bottle and taking another sip, it felt like I would never get used to the warmth it left in my chest.

"It's of the nearest military base. I figured if they were still up and running, it would be the safest place to go. But I never got around to leaving." Aria sighed looking around the cabin, I wondered to myself if she was struggling moving on from a place that gave her safety for a while. "Well, I noticed that it goes through our hometown. If you want, you can tag along with us? Then, when we get there, you can make your way to the base." I suggested before taking another sip and handing Aria the bottle.