Arabella

Chapter 7

"The city," Chris began to exclaim repetitively.
Arabella went on and ran ahead of Chris to get a view. He was right. It looked like a few miles away from where they were all at. Hour by hour they got close to the land again. Who knew how many survivors were left there? It'd be amazing to find more people. Luke went beside Chris and they began to talk about how long it would take for them to get there. Max walked beside Arabella along with Dee.
It took hours walking there. Just wait till they kept moving forward passing the city, and what lies beyond that. As they got closer, Arabella realized that it wasn't considered a city just yet. There was a sign that stood. It said WELCOME TO: Austin, Texas. It felt like her heart was falling into the pit of her stomach over and over again. This was her town----her birth place, where she learned, where she died in the hospital. Now she's coming back as an Immune, a hunter. She realized that all around her was a scorched area, where all of the beautiful buildings and nature used to be was burnt to ashes and completely vanished. All that was left was a desert.

Beware of enemies, my dear Arabella. They're coming.

The whispers of the wind were spewing everywhere. Whispers came one by one as the wind gently blew. Luke noticed her struggling, and sighed, "Well... I guess we'll be finding our way soon. Are you tired?" Quietly, Arabella shook her head no.
"I shouldn't be the one who's tired," she muttered, "I got more sleep than you guys anyways." Chris snorted at how he finally got the joke, "Just keep moving forward. Don't look back, okay?"
The pace of their walk quickened till they started jogging towards the abandoned city. As they got closer and closer, they realized how big of a mess there was. Arabella slowed down and Luke looked at her suspiciously, "What's wrong?" The rest of the boys stopped.
"Just be careful. Who knows what's over there guys," she announced, "Don't get hurt."
"If anything, oldest goes first," Dee suggested to us.

She looked around and sighed, then they all proceeded running again. The sand storm was coming soon, and all they knew was that this place was unknown. "Well if we fought a bunch of those things over there, we shouldn't have any more problems over here." One of the boys suggested.
"Still lethal," Luke grumbled as they ran into one of the buildings as the sand storm slowly came in. They looked around left and right trying to find any others that lived here, knowing that wherever they were in the abandoned city, they were not alone. Chris flicked his flashlight on and scanned the dark areas of the room.

Trash lied everywhere, dirt on the floor. There were puddles of dirty water, weeds growing out of the windows and walls. Dried blood stained the concrete, and parts of the buildings looked like it was going to collapse if not fixed any sooner. "This place must have been in complete chaos," Luke stated clearly, "I just wonder how I missed it all."
"So this is where you came from Luke?" Chris looked around amused. Surprisingly this seemed to be the only place they would be able to stand nearby before getting hit.
Arabella questioned, "Where'd you come from?"
"Not Austin," he remarked and continued searching for anymore of the Runners. There was a drawing of a symbol. For tonight, this place is where they all would be staying. The room was cleared by Max and Dee. Chris looked so intrigued by the sign, "What does this even mean?"
Dee sighed and shook his head, "I'll tell you guys for story time tonight." Arabella found a clean spot where she could sit, and Dalton was right beside her. They watched the rest of the boys talking about a symbol. It was a big circle on the outside, a small one in the middle and lines began to intersect in the middle in all black. It did mean something, although. Ever since stepping out of what used to be the quarantine zone, their eyes have been glowing since. The reaction of the glow is from seriousness, stress. The rim around the eyes would often get light and natural if upset.
     "So what was life like for you when life wasn't so bizarre?" Dalton was full of questions.
She looked up at the rotten ceiling and tried to remember what it was for her, "Mmm.. it seems so long, Dalton. I had just my mom around when I was maybe your age, but she disappeared. My dad disappeared on my birthday. My sisters had passed away from the disease since then and the only time I saw one of them, was when I made my way up to the second dimension."
     Before the virus had happened, life was perfect for Arabella. She had company by her loved ones. Day by day she would learn something new from her father. How to use guns and knives, how to survive in a situation like this. Every night she would spend hours sharing secrets with her two sisters, Rosemary and Hannah.
     She remembered most of her past, but then she mentioned Luke. That was when Arabella smiled to herself and remembered how they met each other. By the time she finished, Dalton was amazed, "So you and your little sister were the only ones left?"
     "Basically," she muttered quietly and tried to avoid the bad memories she had, "Do you have any apples?" The boy reached for his backpack and unzipped it. The hunger eating her stomach alive wasn't bearable. She hadn't had a lunch or a dinner ever since she blew up the quarantine that was full of infected people. Her perfectly white teeth bit into the apple and the burst of flavor hit her taste buds for the first time in a couple hours. Luke and Chris were in Arabella's sight. The two teenage boys were flashing their light on the symbol.

     "I heard you're chatting up with the newbie," Luke joked around with a small smile, "True?"

     "What the hell is that supposed to mean," Chris questioned him and shook his head, "British people."

     Luke rolled his eyes at how stupid Chris could be, "It means flirt." Chris then understood him well and looked straight at him.
     He shrugged, "She's pretty cute, I'm not going to lie. But the only one who seems to be catching her attention is you."

     "She could show a lot of interest in you mate," he muttered, "Blimey! What am I saying? What if she likes us both?"

     They walked a little closer to the wall and noticed how it was a spray paint, but Chris reassured him, "I'm not saying that I like her that way. I'll keep my distance if she means a lot to you."
     "We only met just a while ago," Luke rolled his eyes, "But she is a beautiful girl. Really beautiful." Chris chuckled and they both continued to drift off talking about random things. Arabella looked at her hands and had to think this through.
     "Did Luke just say I was really beautiful?" She questioned herself. It must have been a mistake. She's been around him for many days now. As of today, they got closer to each other.

He just called me really beautiful.

Yes, Arabella, I did call you really beautiful.

     Arabella looked up noticing that she accidentally spoke in his mind. Her eyes widened, and Luke stood there staring at her only a few yards away. His face was blank, and his eyes glowed green around his pupils. She felt the strong heat and movement of the blood rushing straight to her cheeks. Thump, thump, thump her heart raced faster. They made eye contact with each other for a minute, but then Arabella quickly looked back at her hands again sheepishly.
     "I'm sorry for embarrassing you Arabella," he said softly to me and took a seat beside me, "But only you... You're the most beautiful girl I've seen just yet." She rolled her eyes and set up her blanket. 
     Max walked up to the young developing couple, "Plan for tomorrow is to find a way out of this city. There's some of the people that Dee knows of who are hiding somewhere nearby."
     Arabella and Luke exchanged looks at each other then back at Luke. She knew they needed to keep moving on. Luke seemed to wonder her opinion on the plan by his looks he gave her. The look in his eyes glistened and ever so often there would be a sparkle in his eye.

    "Seems good. Sounds easy. Let's go Runner Hunting," she suggested.
    Noah widened his eyes and stood up, "What the hell is wrong with you? We could die out there."
      "We, could at least use a little bit of fun while we're slowly dying," she mentioned again, "We are hunters, after all."
     Chris propped himself up and sat down looking at the two men and Luke surrounded Arabella, "That's because Arabella is all fun and games." She shot a death glare at him, "Sorry, it's the truth. The last thing I would want to happen is for us all dying. So no, we won't go Runner Hunting."
     "Alright enough with the arguing you two kids. Just go to sleep," Dee said to them and went back beside Noah, leaning against the wall trying to fall asleep. Max only nodded his head at them, and Luke began to whisper to Arabella.
     She realized how close he's gotten to her, and how their lips were only inches apart. He held her in his arms gently and whispered, "You know, I kind of enjoy being this close to you. But it'd be better if" Arabella cut him off with her own words.
     "If we were closer?" She got close to where both of their foreheads were slightly touching each other. Their hearts beating quickly. His hot breath hit against her lips, in which she bit. He liked her and here she was liking him. They've known each other for the longest time, but didn't remember until memories began to jam into their heads after the Transportation Ride. Arabella knew something about him from the start.
     He smiled and muttered, "You're killing me, beautiful girl." Time ticked and it was hard for Luke to resist stealing a small kiss from Arabella, the girl he's practically known for a very long time.

     "Sorry-" he cut her off and leaned in closer. Arabella's eyes widened but then their lips crashed together roughly.

He did it. He kissed her.

     Arabella closed her eyes feeling the outburst of happiness and excitement. She hadn't kissed anyone before, and here was her first kiss. About a minute passed and he still hadn't pulled away, but Arabella controlled herself once more and then pushed him off of her gently. Her eyes wide, his as well. In sync they both slurred, "Wow."