A New Start

Chapter 36: A Week Later

Just a reminder, these are the people that are with us. Cole, Nathan, Savannah, Scarlett, Sophia, Matthew, Beau, Cody, Emalea, Jessie, Jason, Luther, and Hope. (If I forgot anybody, i'll add later)

We were running out of food and water supply. Jessie and Cole went out every know and then to see if they could find anything. We were starving. I don't know how much longer we could survive under these conditions. We were staying in Cody's house.
"Still no luck?" Cody said leaning up as Jessie and Cole walked in. Jessie shook his head no and made sure the doors were locked. "You know we can always go back to the school and see if anything was left behind?" Hope suggested.
It didn't seem like a bad idea until you really think about how bad the school was destroyed. There is no way anything was left. The school is in pieces and if there there was anything left, it would be all under the heavy concrete.
"It is worth a try." Scarlett said stretching a bit. "Jessie, Cole. You guys take a break from running. Me and Scarlett will go." Savannah said with a smile. Jessie only returned the smile and laid down. Cole sat down next to Matthew and Sophia. Sophia and Mathew were huddled in a corner.
"Hey, uh Matt? You look at little sick. You okay?" Cole asked. "He's fine." Sophia said with steady tone. She sounded aggressive. Matthew slightly moved. You could see how pale he was. Sophia had a little blood on her right shoulder where he was laying.
"Um, Sophia I don't believe he is okay." Cole said reaching to move him. Sophia smacked his hand and pulled Matthew closer to her. "I said he's fine!" She yelled. Her eyes glared from her tears. "Sophia, what is wrong with Matthew?" Cody said. He must of heard her yell. She was pretty loud and aggressive with it. "God damn it! He is fine, I am fine, you are fine. Everyone is fine!" She yeller again. Tears were falling from her eyes now.
"Emalea, I have a plan." Beau whispered to me. "And what is the plan about?" I asked. "Something is obviously wrong with Matthew. He could've been bit, if so," he stopped. "I know, we'll have to kill him." I said bluntly. He seemed a bit shocked. "Okay, well if you can talk Sophia into doing something, me and Cody might have time to see what is wrong with him." He said while looking at Sophia. "Do you think she'll fall for it? I mean, she is pretty smart." I asked. He thought for a moment. "It's worth a shot." He said.
He got up and whispered to Cody and then motioned me to go ahead. I took a deep breath. Here we go, I thought. "Hey, Sophia." I said sitting next to her. She looked up at me. Her eyes were still a bit puffy. "Hey Empai, what do you need?" She asked with a sniffle. "Just seeing how you're doing. Oh, and I need your help with farming outside. Jessie found some watermelon seeds." I said hoping she'd believe me. She looked at Matthew. "Can't Scarlett or Savannah help you?" She asked. "Oh, uh," I stopped. "They have to run to the school to see if anything was left." I said in a more convincing voice. She huffed. "I'll be outside in a moment wait for me there." She said.
I got up and walked to Beau and Cody acting like they gave me seeds. "She's gonna be outside in a few minutes. I'll be back in 5 so make sure you guys are done before then." I said heading to the back of the house. Sophia finally walked out. She had her hand over to her right shoulder.
"I just need you to help me yank the grass up. I can do the rest so you can go back inside, okay?" I said. She bent down and started to yank the grass. I could hear the creatures on the other side of the fence. Probably eating something that's been dead for awhile now. I bent down close to Sophia and started to yank some grass up.
"Hey, Emalea. We need you for a second." Cody said coming outside. He tried to stay quiet so the creatures wouldn't hear. I got up and patted Sophia's head. "I'll be back." I said. I walked inside and went into the living with the rest. Matthew Matthews as sitting in the chair tied down. "It was what we feared." Beau said. "Sophia is going to be crushed." Jason said in a calm down. "We can't kill him. She would go insane and probably get herself killed. What we need to do it let him die and turn. We can all watch over him and her. I'm not going to let Sophia die just because Matthew was bit." Nathan said. His voice was steady.
Nobody talked for a moment. Cole slowly walked up to Matthew and felt his head. "He might not have much time. We can lay him back down but he will probably be turned by tonight. He can barley keep his eyes open now." Cole said returning to his spot.
"Go get Sophia." Cody said to me. "Beau, help me put Matthew back where he was." He motioned to the corner.
I walked back outside. "Hey, we came to find out those seeds aren't real seeds. Jessie just thought they were but they aren't. We cab go back inside now if you'd like?" I said. She stood up and brushed herself off. "Matthew's okay right?" She asked. Her eyes got a little watered again. "Yeah, he was just laying down where you left him." I said trying not to make anything on obvious. "He's been sick lately, obviously. I just want to make sure he is okay." She said shaking. She walked inside before I could. I followed behind closing the gate behind me.

1:27 Am
"Sophia seems to be asleep." Beau whispered to Cody. "Do you want to keep watch or me?" Cody asked. I slowly raised up. "I want to." I said not taking my eyes off of Sophia. They jumped a bit. "Okay, but I am staying up to." Beau said. "So you think I can't handle myself?" I asked. "It's not that, its just what if you need help?" He said. "Beau, lay down and go to sleep." I said with a giggle. How could I giggle at a time like this?
2:56 Am
Sophia was a little bit away from Matthew. A little movement happened from him. I tensed a bit. "Uh, Beau." I whispered in panic. He slowly rose up putting his glasses on. "Yeah?" He replied. "I think Matthew turned." I said. Matthew made a groan. I picked up the knife and held it tight. I looked to Beau and saw Cody up to. He was in a tense stance.
"You guys stay here, i'm going to do it." Cody said standing up. "No, I said I'd do it." I said standing up to. "Look, no affiance, but this is kind of a guy thing." He said. "Oh so again I can't handle myself? Thanks Cody, but I think I got this one." I said walking towards Matthew and Sophia. I was keeping quiet. "I don't think so." Cody grabber my arm and gently pulled me back.
He convinced me into letting him do it. I sat down next to Beau and watched as Cody went over to them. "What if he hasn't turned yet?" I asked. "Then we'll wait." Beau replied. Cody's steps were silent. You could see Matthew slowly raise up and groan even more. Sophia woke up and screamed. She froze.
"Oh shit " I said darting to Sophia. "Cody now!" Beau yelled. Cody took his knife and slowly pushed it into Matthews temple. I grabbed Sophia and ran off with her. We fell into the middle of the floor. The rest woke up in panic. Sophia was crying, but still in shock. I rocked her back and forth as her tears ran down her face. I could feel her breathing get faster. Her cries got louder and louder.
She ran over to the dead corpse pushing Cody out of the way. She placed her hand over his cold face. Tears fell onto his. I got upbtot see her. "Give her a moment." Savannah said. "She just lost somebody she really cared about. Give her a moment." She repeated.
I sat back down next to Beau covering my face trying not to cry. Cody came and sat on the other side of Beau. "Hey Emalea, get some rest. We can watch over Sophia." Cody said. "I can watch ov-" Beau cut me off. "Eh, no. Go to sleep." He said throwing a pillow at my face. "Fine." I said. I laid down focusing on Sophia for another 20 minutes and finally dozed off.