Apocalyptic Love

Gone

Carter-

The girl in front of me was a ghost, an empty hollow where the brightest soul used to be. It had been weeks since we lost our home and she had barely spoken a word, she only ate enough to keep her alive and her body was on survival mode, but her mind wasn't. She was slowly giving up and both me and Matt knew it, but neither would admit it.

The three of us were held up in a small house, vast acres of greenery covered the area for miles and it was somewhat safe for now. Matt had gone looting for more supplies while I sat on the wooden porch with Katie, watching her as she stared into the distance.

Her once sun-kissed skin was now deathly white, dark purple circles hollowing under her blue eyes. Katie's body was slowly thinning, her knees pulled to her chest as she took slow, uneasy breaths.

"Katie" I broke the silence, only getting a slight hum from her in reply. "I know you are hurting; I get that. But I'm here for you, you don't have to deal with this alone". I expected her to at least look at me, show any type of sign she was listening, but she never moved. "I feel like I'm losing you".

The brunette pulled herself from the floor quickly and aimed for the door, but I managed to block her exit before she could escape the inevitable again. I placed my hands on either side of her arms expecting her to relax, but instead she tensed, her lip slowly trembling as she sucked in a harsh breath.

"I can't" she silently sobbed, facing away from me as she pulled her hand to her mouth.

"You told me to let you in and I did, now I need you to do the same. You can't keep it bottled up, its breaking you Katie" I tried to pull her gaze back to me, but once again she pulled away.

"You don't get it" Katie's broken stare finally connected with mine, tears pooling in the blue of her eyes "Everyone back there.. they are all dead because of me".

"That's not true baby" my finger swiped a tear sliding down her flushed cheeks, but it was soon replaced with a wave of more.

"It is. If I would have kept looking for my parents, my mum might not have.. I could have stopped all this" her fingernails were digging into her palms as she tried to hold the emotion in, but she was losing "The man who I called my father shot Andrew, like it was nothing. As if his life meant nothing. If the kind of man I knew could do that then we are all damned" Katie finally managed to brush past me and run up the stairs, but she was too fast.

I shouted her name though the hollow hallway, but she didn't look back, she continued until she reached the bathroom and locked herself inside. I could have broke the door down but that could have made things worse, she needed to let this out no matter how hard it hurts.

"It wasn't your fault, even if you had found them it might not have changed anything. Your father decided to become that person, not because of you, but because he wasn't strong enough for this world" I slouched against the door, leaning my head against the hollow wood. I really hoped she would listen, but part of me knew she wouldn't. guilt is like a parasite, and I know that better than anyone.

The hours passed by in torture, listening to her sob and knowing she couldn't let me in was heartbreaking and I knew it was killing her just like it did for me. When I met Katie I was a broken man, it wasn't until I finally let her in that I started to heal and that was all down to her.

All I wanted to was take her pain away, reassure her that it gets better in time, but I couldn't do that unless she was willing to let me in.

After two hours the crying stopped and it was deadly silent, but I stayed sitting against the door. I'd wait all day if I had to, id do anything for the girl who held my whole heart.

By the time Matt finally returned and his worried look mimicked my own, we both knew what we needed to do.

Matt grabbed a crowbar and started prying the hinges from the door, but still she made no noise, and I could feel the bile rising slowly each time she didn't answer.

When the door was finally open we both barged in expecting to see the worst, but what we didn't see was even more horrifying. The bathroom was empty, the only noise was the wind thrashing against the wide-open window.

Katie was gone.

Edited