Hollow Veins

Chapter Nine; A Bit Of The Past

They settled in the cave, all of them except Aaron and Jasper. They were going to scout around, farther up the mountains, look for more caves. "We'll be back in around twenty minutes or so," Jasper said. Alice sat next to Ren, listening to the fading footsteps. Ren looked at her, "You... you used to know him, didn't you?" Alice sighed and nodded. "But he did something, left..." There was a pause. Alice looked Ren in the eye and nodded again, "Yeah, he... he did." "What happened?" The last thing Alice wanted to do was cry again, let alone talk about the sore subject. Aaron's continual reminders of it had hurt. But somehow, she didn't think Ren would continually bring it up. Alice felt Ari slide next to her, "Sometimes it feels good to let it out." All eyes were on her now. She took a long, deep breath, "We knew each other before the outbreak started. So, since we were little." Alice swallowed, "Our parents were friends. We lived pretty close by, so when the outbreak did start, we traded materials with them. Jasper had a little sister. Her name was Lauren, she was maybe four. She was deaf. That's how we know sign language," She gestured towards Jaden. "Anyways, one night Jasper and his parents showed up at the door. Their house had been... comprised... as it were. Lauren... she... she got bit and almost killed them, attracting others with the noise. So they stayed with us for a couple of years. Then the Infected finally got into our house. Bit my mom, dad, and Jasper's dad. We ran, but they caught up. His mom let them get her to give us time. They didn't bite her though they..." She choked, "It was almost like they wanted her dead. It was horrible. But she did save us. After that, we moved around, finding resources and shelter, that kind of thing. We worked together for maybe two years. Then, one day, we met a group of people. They were fixing an old helicopter. Said it was almost done. They said maybe two hours, and then they could get to civilization. They said... there was enough room for one more person. Jasper and I argued, trying to convince each other to go. Finally we decided to stay together. The people said that in case we changed our minds, they'd take off at sunset. Well, after a while, Jasper suggested he go and wait by one of the bigger stores, pretty close by. They were always crawling with Them but there were good supplies there. And the sound of the helicopter would distract them. I told him there was no rush, but he insisted it was better to get a head start. So I waited... about ten minutes, I saw Jasper running towards the helicopter." Alice took a shaky breath, controlling her emotions, "It was a good distance, but I recognized him. He always wore this leather jacket with a strange bird emblem. He flew away. I hoped there was some mistake, so I waited for several days. Two weeks later, I had to keep moving," She blinked hard, remembering that horrible day when she'd finally given up hope. "He never came back."