Apocalyptic Romance

Chapter 8: Decisions, Decisions

It's been almost three months since Dad died, and now Jack was in critical condition since he lost his arm. Lizzie decided to keep a close watch on him for a few days to decide what his fate would be; either he comes out fine, or he turns and we have to.... "sadly terminate the problem" as Lizzie put it. I just thought of it as having to kill my little brother if he turned into one of the monsters trying to kill us everyday. The thought of the odds coming to the second option made my whole body shut down. He was the only family I had left alive.

Jason came into the tent and sat beside me for a minute, speaking in a quiet voice as if someone were listening to us

"Eliza? Honey, I'm going to go on supply patrol. I'll be back soo-" I cut him off before he could finish, fear filling me of the thought of him going out there. I grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling me closer to him, before my arms scrambled around his back to hold him against me so he couldn't leave.

"No, no you can't leave! Please don't leave. What if you get hurt and.." My mind drifted to Jack's incident for a moment, tears swelling in my eyes and trickling down my cheeks in an all too familiar fashion.

"And end up in critical condition like Jack, or worse..."

" As the leader of all of these people, who look up to me, I have to make sure that we are fully stocked in supplies. It's my duty to go."

I calmed down a bit, only because I realized he was right. I wasn't the only person who looked up to him for protection. There were about 80 others who needed him as much as I do. I slowly unwrapped my arms from around him and held my head down in shame, because I was being selfish. I felt his hand hold my chin, and before I knew what was happening I was looking at him

"I'll be okay, Eliza. I promise. I'll be back before you know it" He kissed  me then rested his forehead against mine.

"I love you, Jason" I shakily whispered

"I love you too, Eliza," he softly responded

I watched as he walked out of the tent; and just like that, I was alone again. Stuck with my own thoughts and emotions. I was unfortunately flooded with memories of how I felt when Dad died. My whole body ached, there was an empty pit of despair and depression in my stomach, and I absolutely could not stop crying. My whole world was crumbling even more than it already had.
I needed Jack to make it out of  this mess.