Chipless

Chapter 12- What now?

Back to Anthony's POV

"You knew Aaron?!" My hands curl into fist.
Ze turns around, his eyes widen. "Um, Uh..." He says something that I can't make out.
"Answer me!"
"Yes! I did! How do you know him?" I open my mouth but feel a physical lock in my throat that won't go away. We stand there in silence. "I see it now," Ze slowly backs away from me, "Anthony Baxter, his brother." I walk towards him, "Don't get any closer to me!"
I stop, the expression on Ze's face was a mix of fear and anger. "Why do you hate my brother so much?"
"He told me he could help me," Ze growls, "but all he did was abuse me." Those words make me think he's lying. Aaron was always such a kind person who would never hurt anyone. "You see this!" He points to what I think is a birthmark on his cheek. "This is one of the many places he gave me a permanent scar."
"Why should I believe you?!" I yell, "You just destroyed the only thing that just might have been evidence!"
"No," he sighs, "I didn't." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. "I was going to burn it."
I open it, and I wish I didn't. It's a death threat. I know it's from Aaron because of the handwriting. My heart shatters into a million pieces. "Oh my god." Is the only thing I'm a able to say. "Ze I'm so sorry."
I take a step towards him. "Stay away from me!" He yells. Next thing I know it all goes black.
. . .

I wake up in what seems to be a log cabin, an old one at that. I hear voices in the other room but can only pick out a few words such as "Accident" , "Slap" , and the phrase "I thought I could trust him". I hear moaning that sounds like it's from Ana. At least she's alive.
"I'm gonna go see if Anthony's awake." I think the voice belongs to Ze, but it sounds raspy. He walks it the room, "Hey, you're awake."
"Yeah," I say, "Where are we? What's going on in there? Why did you slap me?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," He says, "I'm sorry for being so quick to react. I was scared, I didn't know if Aaron has rubbed off on you."
I stay silent. I don't know what to say or how to deliver it. The only sound was Ana and Gavin muttering in the other room. I feel brain dead. "It's obvious you haven't been treating me well and if you really want me then get on the trail."
"Come on," He smirks and plops down on the couch I'd been sleeping on, "you know how I feel." Part of me knows exactly how he feels, he cares about me in a way no one has before. The rest has never been more lost.
"I'm not sure I do..." I sigh, usually I can pretty easily read the express on Ze's face, but now he's just a mixing pot of emotions. Now isn't a time to hide things, so I tell him the very brief truth. "But I know it's in a way no one else has."
"I told you," he says, "I'm a nightmare."
"But that's fine," I scoot closer to him, ours faces only an inch apart at most. "Dreams aren't any fun."
I get up and walk into the other room which I'm guessing was once a bedroom. I freeze, seeing Ana in this condition is depressing. She flinches ever few seconds and and moans from pain. "What's wrong with her?" Gavin whips his head around and looks at me.
"I've figured out its exposure to the flowers," He whispers, "blood dragons."
"How'd you find that out?"
"Think about it, you, Ana, and I where all exposed to the flowers and got sick, Ze didn't have exposure to the flowers and was fine." I nod, he sounds pretty sure so I don't dis him. He looks at Ana who had fallen asleep then back at me. "We should leave her alone." With that we exit the room.
I walk into the room where Ze is. He lay on the couch staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought. "Whatcha thinkin' bout?"
He looks at me, almost shocked. Then he stares back up at the ceiling, "Nothing," He mumbles. "Just staring off into space."
I walk over and lay on top of him. "You sure?" I smile, "I can tell when I'm being lied to." Most of the time. He sighs and I roll my eyes. "Plus you have a terrible poker face."
"Shut up," He laughs, but then he stares back at the ceiling and stops, "All these years I've thought I was safe and that they know who I really am, I'm just now thinking about what will they do to me, to us."
The thought slaps me in the face, hard. "Beat us, starve us, maybe even execute us." At this point I'm just thinking out loud.
"They're probably gonna execute you," He sighs, "but me, oh they'll keep me alive, if I die that will just put me out of my misery way to quickly, they know I deserve to suffer." He's probably right. I wish he wasn't though, I care about him to much to know he may suffer.
"Suffering is just the worlds way of saying you have nothing left to live for." I say, and peck him on the cheek with a kiss. Ana has stopped moaning so I wonder if she's listening in on our conversation. She's the kind of person that will do that. "Do you think Ana and possibly Gavin are listening in on us?" I ask him.
"Probably," He smirks, "If they are, we should give them what they came to see." I know what he means and kiss him like I might never see him again. The world around us stops. I'm short of breath but do I care, no. I want this more than anything. Running away is the best yet the worst thing I've ever done.
But then I hear the cabin door swing open and a gun shot fire. I hop up off of Ze to see what's happening and he follows. I freeze, Ana's sobs where enough to know something is wrong. She gazes at me with her bloodshot eyes and then at the floor.
There lays Gavin, who has just been shot.