LoveSick (old)

Chapter 2: The Expert

No warnings! Enjoy!

After what was probably hours went by and Six, Five, and Nine finally stopped yapping about Two, and zombies, and honestly, who knows what else, I glanced over at X, noticing their concerned expression. I didn't blame X for being worried, but I knew that something serious was going on with this stupid infection thing, and if I was going to make sure X would be okay, then I needed to be ready for the worst. And as soon as physically possible.

 I didn't want to waste any time getting prepared, so I grabbed X's arm—a little rougher than I meant to—and hastily dragged him off towards our house. He opened his mouth to protest or question me or something, but just shut it right back and kept quiet, letting me pull him until we got up on our porch. "Four, what are you doing?" X finally asked, pulling his arm out of my grasp with a bit of an annoyed expression—maybe I was a bit too rough with him, whoops... "We're getting ready, X. Duh.." I responded like this was common knowledge, rolling my eyes. X should know by now that I'll always be prepared for anything, especially zombies! And I probably have the most knowledge on this whole infection thing, so I should totally call the shots right now!

"Ready for what?" X just looked at me like I was crazy—even though I'm not. "Uh—The apocalypse?? You don't remember that infection that started on Two's stolen show?" Like usual, I made sure to make it perfectly clear that even in this upcoming shitshow, Two's "show" wasn't even theirs. God, I hated Two. Honestly, I was glad they were dead! Are they dead? I don't think this counts as dead... Undead. I was glad they were undead. But that's not very important right now; I have an apocalypse to plan for! Do I even have time to explain everything to X? They might not cooperate with me if I don't explain first, so I kind of have to...

"I mean—kinda.. I think I remember hearing someone talk about it a bit ago, but I'm not really sure, Four.." X still looked horribly confused. He was wasting time, leaving us vulnerable to attacks out here—the situational awareness of this one, I swear! Good thing I knew not to stand out in the open, because only an idiot would do something so reckless, and I'm not an idiot.

I quickly opened the door, pulling X through by the wrist and locking it behind myself. "The one that's clearly super duper contagious and has like—no cure? The one that's here now. In our home? The equation playground? Ya know.. that infection??" I smiled condescendingly, not even noticing how hostile my response was. "Ok, sorry, jeez." X leaned away from me just too quickly to be subtle, their shoulders tensing up slightly; none of that went unnoticed. Quickly realizing what exactly came out of my mouth, I felt a bit guilty—embarrassed, even—as I let go of X's wrist, taking a quick step back to give them a little room. 

I didn't know why I was acting like this, honestly. Maybe I was just excited to actually know more than everyone about something, I dunno. I've known a lot about survival for years; I had plenty of time to teach myself what I needed to know all throughout my childhood. Thinking about it all didn't make me sad anymore; the other numbers sucked anyway. I always preferred being outside with X over talking to them, so they were basically doing me a favor by locking me out there! But that's not important right now!!

I took a small breath before I spoke, quieter and slower this time. "Sorry—what I mean is, I just want us to survive this whole zombie thing. I'm-.. worried.. Everyone knows the unprepared people die first, and...I don't want that happening to you—us." I did my best to be open with X, finding myself making intense eye contact with them. As soon as I realized I was staring, I averted my eyes, locking them on a poster on the wall behind X. I always forget that they weren't big on eye contact; I should really work on that. X seemed to loosen up a little with my confession, and he smiled softly. "Okay.. I'm listening." They replied with a much kinder tone as they leaned closer to me again.