Infected (l.h.)

Chapter One

"Wake up, we gotta get ready," I was awoken by bad breath.

"Why? It's too early," I groaned. I pulled my warm covers over my head.

"Astrid, come on," my covers were thrown off of me, and I was forced to look at my brother. His harsh stare made me jump. "We gotta go hunting, I know you don't want to go... since the accident and all, but you have to help. We're a man short. Well, another man short."

My heart sank with his remark. I pushed him away, and jumped out of bed and pulled random clothing out of my closet. I folded my arms, "You can get out of my room now." Michael rolled his eyes and left me alone to get ready. I took a quick shower. We only have cold water, our water heater broke. Sadly, since we're in an apocalypse, it's hard to get ahold of new ones. But that's okay. Michael hates waiting on me to get ready. I blow dried my hair, and put it in a braid. Then I tried my hardest to slide my slightly wet legs into a pair of skinny jeans. I hate how hard and stressful it is to get dressed after you shower. By the time I zipped up my blue jeans, I was sweating and dirty again. Oh well. I threw on a brown sweater, then put on a light jacket over. Searching through all my drawers, I finally found a pair of mismatch socks and grabbed my combat boots.

Before putting my boots on, I grabbed my knives and wrapped them around my calf. I hadn't touched them in ages. I hadn't touched them since he died; since I had to...

No, don't. I can't. Every time I start thinking of that I start to spiral. I know I did what was best for the community, but I just can't forgive myself.

Michael pounded on my door, queuing for me to hurry up. I put on my boots and ran down stairs. Michael didn't lock the front door when we left. No one ever locks anything here. We all trust each other. We're all one big family. We've all lost so many, we need all the family we can get. Besides, we have the Infected to worry about. It's better for our community to band together and fight against the Infected than fight them and each other.

We walked silently to the military base. Ever since our parents died, we hadn't been close. Of course, we had to talk to each other, but we only talked about finding a cure or not having enough food. We talked about survival, we never talked about personal things. He never asked about how it felt when I lost him, or how scary this planet was now. I swear, he never truly looked me in the eye. I knew I reminded him of Mom too much. I had the same blonde, fluffy hair as her, we shared the same blue eyes, and we had the same small nose. He couldn't look at me without thinking of her, and I understood. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror without seeing her with the gun pressed to her temple and tears in her eyes. "I'm doing this for you. I don't want to hurt you," she had said, then she was gone.

Our parents had both got bitten. Luckily, I shot the damn beings that bit them, but it was too late. Once you get bitten, you get infected. My mother had first pulled the trigger on Dad, then on herself. She didn't say she loved us, she didn't say goodbye. Michael and I never got to say goodbye. She said those words, and then that was the end. I guess I can't be mad.

When we finally got to the base, a strange, empty feeling washed over me. Entering the building, I was greeted by a wall of fallen soldiers. I tried my hardest not to look. Too many people I love were on the wall. But my eyes couldn't help it, they spotted my father on the very top, and then they found their way to him...

Calum.

Don't cry, don't cry. I swear to god, don't you fucking cry, I told myself, but I felt the tears overflow and run down my cheeks. Michael must have noticed, because he grabbed ahold of my hand for the first time since our parents died.

Instantly, memories started flashing in my mind. The movie of us, Calum and I, started rolling and I couldn't turn it off. I remember the first time we met. It was long before the apocalypse; we were at school, during soccer practice, and I accidentally ran into him. I remembered when he said that I was the one he wanted to marry. It was when the community had just started running functionally, and we had realized that we actually had a chance at survival. We were in a field of wheat, charting the stars in the sky. Calum had made a picnic for us. He had these wide eyes full of awe. "You know, we have a chance here," he started. We were lying next to each other, his eyes locked on mine. Our feet were tangled, and our hands glued together. "I know it's crazy that I'm saying this but... I love you. I don't want anyone but you. You make me so goddamn happy; you keep me sane. This world has the ability to screw up our minds, but you're my clarity. Fuck, I don't think anyone has ever loved anything or will ever love anything as much as I love you. Astrid, I want to marry you. I want to wake up every day to your cute little smile."