Resistance

Wake up...

    The same voice that lulled me to sleep every night, stirred me up from the deep sleep I was proud to have actually had. I opened my eyes, and looked to the source of the voice.. Mike looked at me, the lack of a good night's rest starting to show on his face. His normal hazel eye's looked almost brown, and developed an empty look. It troubled me. He held a shotgun protectively to his chest. We had to take up anything we could find to protect ourselves from them.

  

 “We need to get moving.”  He said with a slightly louder tone. “ I'm afraid they will be here soon. We need to head to the next bunker.”

    I sat up. “How long was I asleep?”

    He looked down at his analog watch, which I was surprised still worked. Nothing worked now...not since...

    “About three hours, give or take.”

    At least it was some sleep. I stood up, brushing the dirt off my clothes, and looked at him again. “How long did you sleep?”

    “I haven't slept yet.” He was reloading the shotgun. No wonder he looked like he had been ran over. The once bright, intelligent, confident look he had was barely there anymore. He barely made eye contact with me anymore, unless it came with some major physical contact, which we treated as just a basic human need now days. An empty act, that we engaged in only when we needed human touch. No strings attached. I reached out, and touched his arm, which startled him a bit.

    “You need sleep.” I said, trying to sound stern. Almost like a mother to her child. “It's not healthy. You need the energy. How are you supposed to fight without sleep? Next stop, you are sleeping.”

    “I'm fine.” He looked into my eyes, then straight back at the shotgun in his arms, as if lost in thought. A loud noise echoed in the distance, which could only mean one thing. They were on our trail. We had to get going to stay ahead. We started heading in the direction of the next bunker, which was about fifty miles away. I loaded bullets into the handgun I currently carried. I counted five, which was all I had at the moment. Ammo was hard to find in between trips from bunker to bunker, which made the trips even more dangerous. You never know what you are going to run into. I prayed it was enough, along with the shotgun shells Mike carried, to get us to our destination.

    I wished I had a working phone to call my cousin, who was like a sister to me. We would rant about how stubborn guys were for hours, whenever one would piss us off. This was one of those moments where I just wanted someone to complain to. I had know idea if she had made it.

    Mike and I stayed quiet for a while.

    “No. You're not okay.” I replied, then cursed myself for bringing it up again. Why was he being so stubborn? He's a smart man. He knows he needs sleep. It was starting to become very irritating. “You're becoming delirious.”

    “No! You don't understand! Why are you being so damn hardheaded?! ” He shouted. “Can you just stop questioning everything I do?!”

    I stopped walking in surprise. He was confusing me. He rarely raised his voice, especially to me. It hadn't been twenty minutes before we were fighting...We never fought...When everything was normal...back when we were just friends...

    I tried so hard to keep the tears that wanted to fall from falling. He couldn't see me cry. It would only cause more problems in my mind with the tension between us, and delay us from reaching our destination. Apparently, my emotions were not on my side at the moment, as they fell anyway.

    Mike noticed me stop, and turned around to face me, realizing my intentions were only good. Slight panic showed up in his face, as he pulled me to an area that was hidden. Those things were way behind us, but he wanted to be cautious. Finally, when he thought we were safe for the time being ,he placed the shotgun close on the ground, and his arms found their way around me. Something I hadn't felt in what seems like forever. He held me, almost like he was scared he would brake me, or lose me, one. We were in such a fragile state of health and mind. We were tired, we were hungry, we were lucky if we saw any of our own kind anymore. Even animals were rare. We had lost everything. Our homes, our families, our friends...our lives. Except for the people who had survived the invasion, all we had were each other.

    “I'm sorry I snapped at you.” He whispered softly, rubbing the small of my back softly in attempt to calm me down. “The last thing I want you to do is cry.”

  

 Noticing his ministrations were working, he relaxed slightly. “I stay awake because I can't sleep...Not without knowing you're safe. I...don't want anything to happen to you.”

    Why he was being this affectionate, I didn't know. I was pretty sure his shirt was soaked by now. “I'm sorry...”

    

“What should you be sorry about?” I felt his lips kiss my forehead. “I'm the one who should be.”

    

God, I missed his touch. That one small kiss sent waves through my body. I inhaled deeply, taking his scent with me. Though we were both very obviously in need of a shower, he still smelled of spice, and a slight musky scent. I guessed it was from being in the wilderness for so long. I hoped I didn't smell like roadkill. Apparently, I didn't since he still held on to me.

    

“I miss this.” I said, sniffing through the last of my tears.

    I received a small huh of question for his end. He seemed to be in his own little world. I wondered what he was thinking about...