Guilt (A Zero Spin-Off)

Five - Ella

Hope you're enjoying Guilt thus far! Look for chapter 6 on Friday :] 

Five - Ella

They were right about me. I wasn't cut out for this. I felt like I needed and oxygen tank to make it another step by the time we stopped. I couldn't even remember the last time that I walked so much. Hudson wasn't all that big and since I'd been there from the start, I was relatively close to everything. Even before that, my days were spent in labs and classrooms, not in the gym or on hiking trails. By the time the small community had come into sight, my lungs were worn, my feet were sore and blistered, my shoulders and back ached and I wanted to sleep for three or four days. I couldn't even really be offended that they all thought I wouldn't last a week out here. After the long day of walking, I didn't think I'd last a week either.

But they were still assholes for saying it out loud. For making bets about it. Well, maybe not all of them, but two of three was more than enough. And it wasn't like Kyle had jumped up in my defense.

Maybe they were right about my survivability, but I was hurt and pissed.

The only blessing was that Miles had been right, our path was mostly zombie-free. All the roads we took were old farm roads that were well off the highway and thus away from too much in the way of civilization. I wasn't going to kid myself into thinking I would remain that way, especially since we our destination was smack dab in the middle of a city, but right then, that had been enough.

I tried not to seem to excited at the announcement that we'd be spending the night at the church since it was clear that they weren't happy with our progress today, but I couldn't stop myself from smiling.

"A new face," an older man said as he stepped up to me. He was dressed in slacks and a button down shirt that had the top two buttons undone and was wearing a warm smile that caused the wrinkles around the corners of his eyes to become more pronounced.

"Ella, this is Reverend Allen," Kyle introduced. "Rev, this is Ella. She works in the clinic at Hudson."

He took both of my hands in his and gave me a warm smile. "Feel free to call me Ian. Most people here don't stick with the formalities unless it's Sunday."

"Sunday?" I asked, surprised at the implication. I'd never been to church in my life. It wasn't something my father believed in. But I'd heard more than my fair share of religious people lament over why God would allow such a fate to be unleashed upon us. So many had lost faith in anything beyond this that I assumed everyone did. "I didn't know anyone still had faith."

Kyle's jaw dropped, as he tried to silently communicate that I should shut up, but the reverend wasn't offended. "Now more than ever, we need to put our faith in the Lord, Ella. We hold a service every Sunday, just like before."

I didn't know what to say. As someone who never really had an opinion one way or another about the whole God thing, I wasn't sure what to even think about what he was saying. It seemed like an antiquated idea to me. Getting together to pray the zombies away wasn't going to work, but I wouldn't insult someone kind of enough to take me in for the night. I just smiled not wanting to risk opening my mouth and promptly putting my foot right in it.

"Have these young men been kind to you today?" He asked, changing the subject. "You look exhausted."

"They've been patient," I said and I meant it. Though I know at least one of them wanted to leave me behind at some point and I heard more than one muttered comment through the course of the day, they weren't outright rude or impatient. Even Joel, though I got the feeling he barely tolerated my presence, wasn't outwardly malicious. "I'm just fine." I would not complain. They thought little enough of me as it was. But if I didn't sit down soon, I thought I might collapse.