Alive - Zalfie (BOOK 2)

1. Night time car trip

Chapter 1 - Night time car trip

I woke up in the middle of an open field. I sighed and got to my feet, wiping a bit of grass of my black pants that wasn't so black anymore. It had a lot of blood stains and dirt on it.

I grabbed my backpack and continued my way to London to find Alfie. Suddenly I heard a noise coming from behind me. I slowly spun around and saw Thomas and Alfie running away really fast.

"What's going on?" I screamed at them. Why were they even here in the first place?

"Run little one!"

"Run Zoe!"

I listened to them I started running as fast as I could. They both easily caught up to me and both grabbed one of my hands. I looked behind my shoulder to see what we were running away from. My eyes widened as I saw those horrible creatures again.

I gasped as the ground underneath my feet suddenly disappeared and I fell down hard. Thomas and Alfie both came back to help me up.

"Take my hand, little one!"

"Take my hand, Zoe!"

They were both yelling the same thing at me. They gave each other death glares and started to push each other away from me.

"Stop!" I screamed at them. "Stop! Please!"

A bony hand suddenly reached for my shoulder. I screamed as the monster held my body very tight. I was dying and Thomas and Alfie were still fighting. Just as I was about to get killed I saw Alfie stabbing Thomas to death.

"NO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. As the monster started to eat me alive I could see Alfie smiling at me. "It will all be over soon."

I shot up and I couldn't stop shaking. It was just a dream. Sweat was dripping down my body and I was breathing very fast. Next to me I saw Alfie sitting up, leaning his back against the bed.

"Again?" he asked irritated.

"Yes," I mumbled trembling. I was still overwhelmed with the emotions I had in my nightmare. It had been a month since Alfie had come to save me but I had nightmares and more frequent panic attacks since. I did not feel alright. Normally Alfie would comfort me but tonight he didn't. I wondered why. "Why are you acting like this?" I asked him, disappointment in my voice.

"You need to talk to someone about this, Zoe."

"I have," I shouted back in defence. "I've told you about how I feel a million times but..."

"But what?" he asked already knowing what I'd say.

"You don't understand," I said toneless. It was true. He didn't understand me. He kept telling me that everything that had happened wasn't real but to me it was. I have lived in that world for almost two months. The only one who really understood me was Jim. I could also talk to Poppy but she has only been in the simulation for a week so she had already giving everything a place. Whilst Jim was really suffering. Like me. "I'm going to Jim's."

"Zoe, no," Alfie forbade me. "It's the middle of the night you can't drive to London right now!"

"Watch me." I got out of bed and took some clothes from the floor. I heard Alfie jumping of the bed to follow me so I quickened my pace. Alfie seemed to be doing the same so I ran the last bit to the bathroom and locked the door.

"You can't shut me out," Alfie said at the other side of the door. "Literally," he added. That's what he always did: trying to joke everything away. But that didn't work for me anymore. I ignored him and put on my clothes. In my hurry I hadn't noticed what clothes I had taken with me. Apparently I was going to wear a short red dress with a black hoodie. That would have to do. In the bathroom I found some white converse shoes to wear underneath. I looked ridiculous but I couldn't care less. I was going to see Jim and Tanya in the middle of the night. It was not like I was going to see a lot of people

I unlocked the door and opened it which made Alfie almost fall into my arms but he managed to keep his balance.

"Little one," Alfie begged. "Please don't go. I'm sorry I was acting so stupid."

"That's alright," I told him. "But I'm still going. Don't forget to feed the animals tomorrow morning." I ran down the stairs and found a purse. I dropped my wallet and phone inside and was about to grab my car keys when Alfie was stopping me once again.

"Fine, I won't stop you but please be careful," said Alfie while looking me straight in the eyes. For one second I started doubting whether I'd go or not. I felt a lot calmer already anyways.

"I'm not going to Jim's," I decided out loud. "I'm going to the hospital."

"Zoe, no!" Alfie yelled at me. He never yelled at me. I looked at him with big eyes and he seemed to understand why I was looking a little scared and hurt. "You can't just run in there and disturb everyone," he explained himself.

"I'm just going to see, Thomas and Megan," I assured him. For the past month I've been to the hospital almost every day. The doctors allowed me to go into the room where Thomas was lying with all the machines attached to his body. Sometimes I could go into Megan's room too but they mostly made me choose. See Thomas or Megan. In that case, I chose Thomas. When I was there I always tried to make him hear me. I always told him to kill himself so he'd get out of the simulation.

Alfie told me that Thomas was furious when Alfie had killed me. He had almost stabbed him but Megan was there to stop him. Alfie was the one to take his own life and get out of the experiment.

I grabbed my car keys and gave Alfie a quick peck on the lips. He gave me a weak smile and opened the door for me. I walked over to my car to see that there was a note sticking to the window of the driver's seat. I took it and saw that it was addressed to me.

"Zoe

Being able to forgive someone is a beautiful treat which I wish I possessed. Sadly for you I'm more the type to get revenge. And that is exactly what I'm going to do.

Beware"