Oblivion {n.h.}

Chapter 57.

JACKSON'S POINT OF VIEW:

"What's the plan?" Carly asks, both of us edging further and further off the side of the road, retreating into the tree line in order to hide from the open.

"Staying out of the open." I give her a short answer, sticking my hand out from behind me, allowing her to grab on as we pace ourselves through the sticks and brush of the plains.

"No, I mean the plan further than that." She tells me, not looking down from her brown boots on the ground that crunch in the leftover snow.

"Not sure."

"Jackson you chose to go this way, I know you have something in mind." She pushes me on, and  I realize I'm not getting out of this.

I sigh heavily in defeat, but keep walking at a quick pace as I begin to tell her my reasoning, and why Lewes is written in neon lights behind my eyelids.

"I kind of eavesdropped on Kaya and Thomas the other night," I start, and Carly nods from beside me, her long red hair pulled up into a tight ponytail as it swings back and forth, "they found a signal on the walkie-talkie and some woman they knew was speaking to them, someone from a community down in Lewes." I tell Carly, although she continues to look down and not say a word.

"It's our best bet." She says quietly, and I nod more to myself than her.

Suddenly I feel the tears threatening to escape my eyes, as the reality of the situation flows into my mind, only wanting to turn around and go jump into the pond we'd seen in the London Plaza.

I want to wake up and have Mrs.Blackwell suddenly snap me out of this sick dream. Wanna look up to see Danielle laughing at me, Steven, Emily, and Alex all joining in instead doing their class work.

Wanna jump out that window we had in the first place, and go find Joshua, and the rest of the people we've met. I want it to go back to normal.

I want to be remembered.

"Jack?" Carly asks me in an unsure tone, giving me the short nickname Danielle used for a while when we were younger.

"Yeah?" I snap myself out of my own little world, ready to listen to what she may have to say instead.

"I just tried to speak with you and you stared off into space." Carly's feminine voice chuckles at me under her breath. "You okay?" She squeezes my hand, and I brush my thumb over her tiny and cold fingers, trembling beneath mine.

"I am, but are you?" I continue caressing her hand and she sighs heavily, "I don't know, I guess I have to be."

With that I drop the conversation and stare at the path ahead of me, as a tiny neighborhood comes into view from where we walk.

Light colored houses in shades of blue, green, and yellow, a once cute and nice place to live.

"I need to pee." Carly announces, pulling my hand from behind, spinning me around, just as we get to the backyard of a light blue condo.

I nod my head, letting go of her hand and leaning against the fence, waiting for her to finish what she needs to do.

Kicking at the rocks and sticks in the dirt, I try to push my earlier thoughts far from my mind. I want things that will never happen.

I lean against one of the houses, the pink siding against my back, and I take my bag off, digging around in its contents. I take out Allison's journal, the familiar leather cover under my fingertips as I trace her name on the front of it.

A vivid scream pierces the air, and the pain in my chest already forms, and I don't even know what's happened yet.

My mind races with the worse-case scenarios of course, and I run down the tree line, the next house over being a pastel yellow, a big oak tree leaning against the fence where Carly had gone to pee behind.

A walker growls from the side I come upon, it's back facing me as it's head sticks between the tree limbs at Carly.

Searching the ground, I pick up a rock and bash it into the dead woman's head, her white eyes looking to me before I slam the hunk of earth at her face now, putting her down for good.

Carly whimpers from behind the tree and I run to her side quickly, a bite mark lining her wrist, blood goring out of it.

"Come on Car, come on!" I scream, picking up my companion and running back to the blue house's gate. Kicking it open, the back door luckily unlocked and the whole home small and empty.

I set her down against the wall of what seems to be the living area, and I pull out my machete from my back pocket, the blade rusting from its use recently.

"No–" Carly holds my wrist back from cutting her arm off.

"It'll be quick Car, it'll be quick." I tell her, my heart beating in my chest, looking around for any possible thing to aid in the bloody process.

"I don't want to." She tells me, shaking her head, life still pulsing through her veins as she starts to weaken.

"What do you mean you don't want to?" I ask her, pulling up on of my knees and pulling her chin to look at me.

"I mean I don't." She smiles weakly at me, her voice crackly and tears starting to form in her glossy blue eyes.

"Carly you can't do this to me, I have to– to stop the infection from spreading." My eyes getting wetter as hers do every second.

"Let it happen, I don't want to fight it anymore. I'm sorry Jack." She shakes her head back and forth, "I'm okay. I am." Tears escape her eyes as they shut and open frequently, "With you is where I wanted it to happen anyway, I'm with you."

I shake my head back and forth violently, looking around the room and threading my fingers through my hair as the tears stream down my face.

"Don't do this to me Carly, don't do this to me." I try to stay strong as I grip her hand in mine.

The hand on her injured arm reaches in her back pocket to pull out her pistol, and I know exactly what's coming.

"I love you Jackson Lerman. I'm sorry." Her voice squeaks, and then cocks her pistol before putting the gun to the side of her head and shoots herself.

My mind jumbles together and thankfully, the tears cover my eyes so much that I can't see the mess of her in front of me, all I do is unconsciously grab the gun out of her hands.

Panting heavily, I stare at the wall nearest to me, and put the gun up to my temple, pulling the trigger.