Surviving (*Editing)

Chapter |8|

|Marley's P.O.V|

I felt pathetic.

I kept walking and refused to turn back. I was already embarrassed enough.

I should have known that he didn't feel the same way as I did for him. He likes me. But not in that way.

Our relationship was more like a friendship. Now I know how Rider must have felt when I rejected him.

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I was back on the roof of the mall again. Deep into my thoughts and just watching from above.

From where I was standing, when I looked to my left, there where smaller shops down below. It was the same in my front view. However, to my right, you can see the beach. It had a short dock from what I assume you can either jump from or get on your boat from there.

The rooftop would be a perfect spot to view the sunsets and not to mention, but also a great view for any zombies that might be near.

I closed my eyes, inhaling the ocean air.

The sound of a car broke the silence as I could hear it's engine starting up.

I looked around to spot where the sound was coming from and looking down below, I spotted Rider.

I wasn't certain of what he was doing because he kept his head inside the car while reaching for something.

I decided to see what he was up to and began making my way down to him.

Several flights of stairs later...

"What are you doing?" Was the first thing I asked Rider as he brought out stuff from the car and put it into a box.

"Just cleaning out the car" he said all at once and walked over to the front door of the mall, placing the box inside.

"Oh, cool. Going somewhere?" I asked as he sat down in the car.

"Yeah, the beach" he said with little emotion.

"Could I join you? I have to get some stuff off my mind" 

"Sure" I shut the door and fastened my seat belt.

The first few minutes of the drive was quite awkward since none of us spoke.

I could sense he was still upset about our last conversation.

"Rider, about the thing we talked about last time, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you or anything but I just wanted you to know how I really felt. You really are great guy and all, but you deserve someone better than me" I started out.

"Like who? Cause last time I checked, you were the only girl who's around" He said in a frustrated tone.

"We don't know for sure yet that everyone in the world is dead, I'm pretty sure there's people who are like us wondering if anyone else is alive".

 I had to give him hope.

"Well even if there were other girls in the world, I still wouldn't want to be with any of them. They aren't like you Marley" he shouted this time and looked into my eyes when saying this.

"Rider. I know this is hard for you. But it's just not gonna happen".

"Because of him, right?"

He was talking about Nathan. I stayed silent.

"We had something. I know we did. You were just too afraid to admit it to yourself. You had to have felt something for me. I don't know where I went wrong. But now I'm pretty sure it has to do with him" he explained and continued to look at me.

Rider's anger must have had a connection with the car's speed because it soon accelerated.

"Rider, slow down" I said in great fear.

"Tell me the truth. Do you love him?" Rider ignored my caution.

"Rider, please" I begged.

"Answer the question Marley" he didn't budge to decrease the speed. In fact, it only kept increasing.

I looked at him. 

"Yes, I do love him" my heart broke once I let those words go. 

He found assurance in my answer and reached for the break.

Nathan didn't love me back and that broke me.

"What the fuck" Rider said and continued to push his foot down on the break.

"What's going on?" I said almost panicking.

"The break" he pushed down several times "it's not working" but the car wouldn't stop.

He pushed down another time and this time, the speed increased even more.

"It's broken" Rider looked at me, unsure what to do.

I saw straight ahead that we were heading towards the beach. Specifically, the ocean.

"We have to get out right now" I shouted. Rider looked nervous and afraid, just like the time when we had to jump into the ocean when zombies were chasing us.

I needed him to be brave.

"On three, we jump out, okay?"

He nodded. 

The car was only getting closer to the water by each second.

"One" Rider took a deep breath to calm down.

"Two" He clicked his seat belt and took it off.

"Three!" He pushed open the door and tumbled out.

By three, I clicked my seatbelt and was ready to jump out at the same time. But, it was stuck. I couldn't unravel myself from the seatbelt.

And even if I did within those last seconds, it was already too late. The car flew off the dock and crashed into the water. The seatbelt clicked itself out. And with full force, I managed to take a powerful blow to the head before seeing darkness.

This is it.