Hollow Veins

Chapter Three; Excuses Excuses

Facing towards the dropping sun, they made their way across the dry, bumpy terrain. She and Aaron had decided that if there were others, they would go. Their bags had all their necessary equipment. Food, weapons, medical supplies, anything that was useful. Alice was near the back of the group. Rocks did their best to trip her with every step. She heard a quiet whisper behind her, "Hey, can we talk?" Aaron matched his stride with hers, "Why are we doing this? We can't trust him." She looked at the darkening horizon, "I know, but we were just gonna end up dead anyways. Maybe we can find civilization." "Doubt it," "What were we gonna do back there? Eventually, starve, that's what." Aaron sighed, "Jasper left you for dead the moment he had a chance to get to civilization." Alice's head began to throb as Aaron continued, "He won't hesitate to do it again." Her vision blurred. She sped up, moving away from Aaron. Jaden glanced at her as she moved up next to him and raised his eyebrows. Alice swiped at her face, "What?" He gave her the most sarcastic look she'd ever seen. "Was that because it's obvious what or because you can't say what?" He smirked. Alice paused, then said "Sorry I didn't mean to sound so... insensitive." Jaden studied her face for a second, then shrugged. He directed his gaze over his shoulder at Aaron, who looked slightly annoyed. Jaden raised his eyebrows again. Alice caught the question without much difficulty, "Yeah, he did, but not like that, we were just talking about upsetting things." She thought she caught an almost understanding look, but it was hard to tell in the dark. After that, she didn't say anything else. Jasper suggested they camp for the night. "When we get closer to some of the towns, we'll switch around watches, but for now, I'll just stay up. The Infected don't go in the wilderness much so we should be alright.

The sun peaked the horizon when they woke and started up again. They didn't talk much, just an endless walk. Aaron grumbled about Jasper for a while, then finally went quiet. Ren started walking alongside Alice and handed her a water bottle. Alice smiled slightly, "Thanks, uh, Ren, right?" She nodded, "And... Alice?" "Yep." They walked in silence for a while, then Alice broke the silence, "So you ran into Jasper at a gas station?" "Yeah... he almost shot me..." She paused, then, "Do you have a gun?" Alice raised her eyebrows, "Uh yeah, why?" Ren looked a little embarrassed, "I wanna learn to shoot. My... my dad promised to teach me, but..." Her voice trailed off. Alice felt a surge of sympathy, "I'm sorry, my dad, we were all attacked, he didn't make it either. I can try to teach you. We'll need to find a way without making noise. Maybe you could learn the theory." Ren smiled, and they continued walking. One break, two breaks, three. As much as the walk felt long, the day itself felt short. It felt like it had been ten minutes since the sun had risen, yet it was already sinking.

Just as Alice felt like she couldn't walk anymore, Jasper held up an arm, "Let's take a break." Prince's voice broke over Jasper's, "Good because I was getting ready to kill you if made us go any farther." Aaron looked annoyed, "We should keep going while it's dark." Jasper looked over his shoulder, but not at Aaron. His gaze fell on Alice, "Wearing ourselves out is not a good idea." Aaron opened his mouth and looked at the others. They were all red-faced and panting. He shrugged. Aaron gritted his teeth and sat down, his face going redder. Alice crouched next to him. Aaron picked up a twig and started sharpening it with a pocket knife. "You ok?" "Let's just say that I find murder intriguing at the moment." Alice smiled in spite of herself, "As much as I dislike Jasper challenging him when he's right is not the right way to go about it. It'll cost you." The orangey glow of the sunset shown on his face. Aaron shrugged again. He plunged the stick into the ground and stood, "I'm gonna look around, see if there's anything nearby." She stayed where she was. All they had seen, for miles, was a dirty landscape. Alice leaned back and stretched her legs out. A yawn beside her made her jerk and reach for her knife. Jaden smirked. "Don't do that," She gave him a light shove, "How long were you sitting there?" He smirked wider. "Oh, come on. Why are you so creepy." Jaden put a hand to his chest, exaggerating offense to the extreme. "Yeah, I get it. You don't care," She couldn't help a laugh. He looked over at Aaron and made gaging noises. "Stop it. He'll hear you." Jaden grinned creepily. "Yeah, yeah, that's the point." He made motions that she took to have to do with her usual understanding. He frowned suddenly, then made stuck his nose in the air and pretended to brush back hair. Alice turned to see Jasper and Prince approaching them. Jaden stood and  walked away to stand next to Ari. Jasper glanced at Prince, "Uh, Prince, could you... uh, give us a minute." Prince flicked a curl away from his face, "Sure thing." He walked over to Jaden, who glared and turned away. Jasper looked at them a moment, then turned to Alice. She focused her gaze on her boots. They stood in the moonlight for a minute, then. "Alice, I wanted to talk for a second," A pause, "I wanted to say... to say I'm sorry. Sorry for what I did." Her eyes jerked up, anger flooding her, "Sorry? Sorry?!?!?! You left me! Left me! By..." She choked down a sob. "By myself," She finished in a quieter tone. "I'm sorry," he said again, "I'm sorry we got separa..." "Separated? It was more than separated. You left." Her eyes burned. "Why? Why did you leave? I thought you... you... cared about..." This time, the sob escaped, "Why?" Jasper looked down, "I... I just..." Alice realized that tears were coming, "You just left. You know all this time I... I hoped... there was some explanation." She felt the tears pour down her face, and she lowered her head. He reached out a hand. Alice stepped back and held up her own, "Don't! Just... don't." She looked up, "You're just a coward. You..." Her voice lowered to a whisper, "You've outlived sorry." Alice turned and walked away from Jasper.