Madness (Completed)

Mornings

I slowly wake up and flutter my eyes open from my slumber. I see sun shining through windows and soft, white blankets and pillows around me. I sit up slowly in my bed and look around the room. I then realize that I'm not the only one in this room. I look over my shoulder and see a small couch where Mark lie, still sleeping. I sigh in relief, at least I know he slept this week. I lightly rub my eyes to further wake myself up and feel an aching pain still in my head from the alcohol. I keep a hand on my head from the pounding in it. I hear a groggy sigh and a loud pounding noise from behind me. I turn my head and see Mark on the ground rubbing his palms over his eyes sleepily.
"Morning" I say sleepily. Mark moves his hands and smiles at me.
"Morning." He responds sitting up, still on the floor, leaning on his hands.
"How did I get here? I remember falling asleep on the table." I explain, turning the rest of my body towards Mark. Mark nods lightly.
"Yeah, I didn't think that was fair. So, I carries you to this room to sleep. The other guys passed out not long after you and I carried them to different rooms. I figured I should keep an eye on you, so I stayed in this room with you for the night." Mark explains with a sweet smile spreading on his face.
"My hero." I pause giving Mark a sweet smile back. "Thank you." I add, tilting my head lightly.
"It was nothing, especially when you're so strong like me." Mark jokes with a laugh. I roll my eyes and let a laugh escape my mouth.
"If you're 'so strong' then what am I?" I ask, showing my biceps lightly. Mark laughs at my joke with me giving a light chuckle.
"Yeah, yeah, you keep dreaming." Mark chuckles.
"I will. What happened anyways? When you went out to bargain?" I ask, becoming serious almost instantly.
"We got your crossbow. Bob and I promised them a small amount of food for supplies we need. Such as weapons and clean water. They said they'll drop 5 gallons of clean water and tons of other weapons just for 10 cans of food. Bob and I agreed to it, they said your crossbow will be an incentive, to show that they will give us what we want." Mark explains with his smile fading slightly.
"When are we leaving?" I ask.
"Soon as we can. They just want food and we want water. They will drop it by here sometime today, hopefully soon so we can leave." Mark explains with a soft, sleepy smile covering his face.
"Yeah." I agree.
"Well, you finally wake up." I hear Wades voice from the door. I turn my head and see Wade leaning on the doorframe.
"Shut up Wade!" Mark shouts from the floor. Wade gives me a confused look until his eyes land on Mark, who is still laying on the floor.
"What happened to him?" Wade asks, turning his attention back to me.
"Fell off the couch." I explain with a laugh.
"Oh, ha! Idiot." Wade laughs.
"Once again, shut up Wade!" Mark shouts, standing up off the floor.
"When do I ever listen to that?" Wade chuckles.
"Good point. But you should shut up, 'cause you're not even that clever." Mark chuckles back at Wade.
"Yeah, I'm not one who isn't clever." Wade says sarcastically rolling his eyes.
"Exactly, you're not clever. Thanks for admitting it." Mark says happily.
"Can we make coffee?" I pipe up, glancing at both the guys. They both turn to me and chuckle lightly.
"Jack already made some." Wade informs me. I nod and get out of the bed, heading for the door out of the room. Wade stops me with his arm before I leave and leans close to my ear.
"Don't break his heart too much." Wade whispers gesturing towards Mark.
"What do you mean?" I whisper back.
"He really loves you, don't take it for granted." Wade whispers, moving his arm out of my way.
"I won't, don't worry." I whisper back as I walk out of the room. I walk down the stairs quickly, ready to get the coffee. I hop to the kitchen and see Jack standing there next to the coffee pot and a mug in his hand.
"Hey." I say grabbing my mug off the counter and standing next to Jack.
"Hey, I'm guessing you want coffee too?" Jack questions with a slight smirk.
"Yeah, I've missed it." I say, memories from my mornings before the apocalypse flooding back to me.
"Me too. I never thought I'd have it again, but I won't complain." Jack chuckles as the coffee pot slows because all the coffee is done.
"Well, you can have some." I chuckle gesturing to the coffee pot. Jack nods and grabs the coffee pot, pouring himself some and then pouring me some.
"Sugar or milk?" Jack asks putting down the pot.
"Little milk." I respond. Jack nods and pours a little of the substance into my mug.
"Thank you very much good sir." I say, pretending to tip a hat to Jack.
"You are very welcome m'lady." Jack responds with a giggle. I take a few sips from my mug, loving the substance more than I remember. I walk to a nearby couch in the living room and sit in it, taking another sip of my coffee. Jack follows close behind me, sitting next to me quickly.
"So, how'd you sleep?" Jack asks taking another sip of his coffee.
"Fine, you?" I return the question.
"Fine. What do you want to do today?" Jack asks. I shrug my shoulders lightly.
"I don't know. The town seems almost... Normal." I say, more to myself than Jack.
"Well, should we do something normal? Take a walk, play a game o' cards, anything is fine with me." Jack says with a soothing smile.
"It is a nice day, even through everything going on." I pause, looking out the window, seeing the sun shine brightly through them. "We shouldn't stay in all day, let's take a walk." I offer with a smile.
"Well, I'll grab the guys and get ready." Jack chuckles brightly, getting off the couch. I put my hand on his arm to stop him.
"Just us, I don't think they're all awake yet." I say with a smile. Jack nods, I take my hand off of his arm.
"Well, I'll grab my shoes." Jack says grabbing his combat boots off the ground, starting to tie them. I realize I already have mine on from the other day, so I just watch Jack tie his.
"Ready?" Jack asks once he finishes. I nod in response and stand up from the couch with Jack. We both walk out the door and down the steps of the porch until we reach the sidewalk. Jack and I walk along the sidewalk, looking at the buildings and people who stare at us in silence. The whole concept of a home or civilization has become so foreign to me. I see people staring at me in confusion and terror. How could people not understand living like I am? It's an apocalypse outside, how can they deny that concept when it's a plain fact? It bothers me so much how oblivious all these people are to everything I've been living through the passed year.
"Hey, you look stressed. What's wrong?" Jack chuckles bringing me out of my thoughts and back into reality. I try to put on a smile, to hide my true thoughts from Jack.
"Nothing... Its just weird how these people are living here." I explain with a sigh. I glance from house to house, looking around shops and people walking along the streets.
"Yeah, Bob told me what they agreed with the leaders of this place. We shouldn't be here much longer." Jack says with a smile.
"I hope so. We just need to get our supplies and get out of here. I still don't trust being here." I explain with a heavy sigh escaping me.
"I get that. We will be leaving, with or without our supplies. We're leaving tonight, that's what Mark told me. I don't like the vibe here anyways." Jack says, trying to put a smile on his face, but making it seem more fake than he intended.
"Yeah, we should try to make the best of it though, I think we need some fun in our lives. Come on, let's check this place out, let's try to be normal. We could go get coffee, or go to the gym, maybe even go shopping at the mall together. Come on, I wanna do something, we deserve to have fun." I say grasping my hand around Jacks and pulling him along with me while I walk along the sidewalk. I skip to a giant building that ends up being a mall.
"Let's go, it will be fun." I chuckle, dragging Jack into the building.
"Whatever you say, I'm having fun already." Jack chuckles back at me. I push open the doors and instantly, memories come flooding back to me from my past. Memories of my friends and I steeling shopping carts and eating ice cream with our crushes. I have to stop and gaze at the amazing sight just to make sense of everything I see.
"Wow." I mumble under my breath, gazing at all the shops and people I see around me. Jack squeezes my hand lightly, making me come back into reality, which is; this is normal for all these people.
"Where do you wanna go first?" Jack laughs, coming up next to me to gaze upon the store.
"Anywhere. This place is amazing." I respond, shock is obvious in my voice. Jack giggles and starts to drag me to different stores. We don't end up buying anything, just looking at all the stores contents and food they offer, making jokes along the way. Jack and I walk along a hall laughing at some stupid joke Jack made, until I see him. That stupid guy, Carter comes around a corner becoming face to face with Jack and I. Carter still wears his evil grin, which makes him even more terrifying.
"Oh, hello. Fancy seeing you here, since I heard you didn't want a part of this place." Carter pauses, letting his words set in and letting his grin spread further. "However, we require something of all of you, I'm sure your friend told you." I can't help but let my confusion show in my face.
"He didn't tell you?" Carter asks, sounding amused at the whole concept.
"Tell us what?" Jack asks protective over me. Carter chuckles, letting his eyes focus on me.
"You know what we traded, right? Well, I'll just explain it. Your buddy, Mark, right? Yeah, Mark, he came in and threatened me multiple times, but we finally came to an agreement. You, Violet, are going to be staying here and your friends get all the supplies they need. They also are able to leave the complex, see how much we value you?" Carter smirks evilly. "And see how little they think of you? They gave you up for supplies. They told me that you wouldn't stay without your crossbow, so I gladly handed it over, to hive you more incentive. I mean, since you're staying, you need to be comfortable." Carter chuckles. I grip Jacks hand tightly, trying hard not to show my anger or betrayal I feel at his words. I shake my head and take in a deep breath.
"No. They wouldn't do that to me. They told me we're leaving, I will never stay here." I spit at Carter anger rising slowly in my voice. Jack rubs his finger across my hand to calm me, it works slightly.
"Oh, but they did. They left you behind because they wanted water and a few guns." Carter says, his evil grin going back onto his face.
"They might as well be drowning me with that water and shoot me with the gun." I mumble under my breath angrily.
"Well, I'm sure I'll see you very soon. Have fun with your friends, while they're here." Carter chuckles as he walks passed Jack and I like nothing ever happened. I quickly turn my head to Jack, anger and shock covering my face.
"I need to talk to Mark." I growl dragging Jack behind me as I stomp out of the mall and back home. I come up the steps, anger fueling ever step I take. I open the door in one quick movement, letting go of Jacks hand in the process. I stomp up the stairs towards Marks room.
"Mark!" I shout, anger in my voice. I see Mark stumble out of his room, his shirt taken off and a towel over his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Mark asks concern instantly taking over him.
"I a little bird told me that a few scraps of food wasn't the only thing you traded. You traded me for food?!" I shout slapping Mark across the face leaving a bright red print in its place.
"How could you do that? I trusted you and you are making me stay here because you want some extra water?!" I slap Mark again with my other hand leaving another mark on his face.
"You might as well drown me in the water you get, because you will be killing me, leaving me with that phycopath!" I shout angrily, stopping to take a breath. Mark looks at me, stunned and hurt emotions going around his mind that I see clearly through his eyes.
"Violet, we would never leave you. We were planning on smuggling you out when we leave. Bob and I decided you would get mad if we told you sooner. I can't believe you thought we would leave you here. That I would ever let that happen, I wouldn't be able to live with myself." Mark says in a shocked and pained voice. I see my hand prints stain his skin along his cheeks. I gasp, realizing what I had done, knowing that I was being completely irrational and awful.
"I'm so sorry. I-I-I just-" Mark cuts me off, putting a finger to my lips lightly. I let myself fall into Marks arms, tears starting to pour from my eyes.
"I just don't want to be alone. I am so terrified of being left behind, it messes me up inside. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just get so scared when I think I might be alone. The idea scares the shit out of me." I whisper into Marks bare chest. Marks places his arms on my back, rubbing it soothingly.
"I know, I know. I'll be fine. I will never leave you, I hope you know that I'll never leave you alone." Marks whispers back, planting a small kiss on my forehead.
"Thank you, I... I am so grateful to have you in my life." I whisper, calming myself down with Marks warm skin touching mine.
"You don't have to thank me, I'm just being a good friend, that's what your calling me right?" Mark chuckles as he places a hand on my cheek to wipe away my tears. I just roll my eyes and nod for my response, I don't think he needs anything else to understand my answer.
"Well, I was right about to take a shower, I might as well look and smell good while we run to a new base." Mark chuckles, taking his arms back to his sides, letting me do the same.
"Well, have fun with that. I'll start to pack our stuff, and drink another pot of coffee." I say with a smirk.
"Good plan. I'll see you in a bit." Mark says, slowly walking back into his room.
"See you in a bit." I say, waving slightly as I walk down the stairs into the kitchen. I start to make another pot of coffee to drink, considering it might be days until I sleep out on the road. I suddenly hear the doorbell and footsteps rush to get it. I wander near the door and see Bob quickly answer the door.
"Oh, hey. How can I help you?" Bob asks, glancing back at me slightly. I hear another voice from outside, but I don't understand what they say.
"Oh, uh, can you drop by later? She isn't here yet and she needs to get ready once she gets back." Bob says, trying to hide his nervousness. I hear the voice again and Bob nods, closing the door quickly. Bob makes eye contact with me and sighs heavily.

AH! CLIFF HANGERS! As an author, I love them, but as a reader I hate them. I hope it wasn't too bad reading this chapter, it was a bit longer than usual. Feel free to leave any thoughts or questions in the comments and I will try to answer. Anyways, thanks SO much for reading, I hope you enjoy it so far! Love you all! See you in the next chapter! 😘