Then There Were Three

CH 10

"El." I feel shaking on my shoulder, which scares me out of my socks. 

I try to open my eyes, but it's like they're glued shut. 

 "El!" The voice says louder now, panicked.

how long have I been out?

where am I? 

"EL, please." The voice begs. I try with all of my strenght to open my eyes.

 I try to swallow, but my throat feels like sandpaper.

"Ellie-Mae!" The voice is shouting, I can hear my name being repeated over and over.

I try my eyes again, but they won't budge.

The bed, or couch I'm laying on sinks, as if someone decided to sit on the end.

"Wake up!" The voice yells. I wish I could. I feel so weak at the moment, like someone layed concrete on top of me.

"Please wake up."

Finally, I can open my eyes. My vision is extremely blurry, but I can see Kendall sitting on the edge of the couch. He hasn't see me yet.

I slowly sit up, and lay my back against the arm of the couch, throwing the blanket off of me. 

"God, I was trying to sleep." I roll my eyes. My voice comes out like a frog's. 

"El, thank god you're okay." Kendall gets up and squeezes me into a hug. "Kendall... ouch." I say, laughing.

"Sorry... How are you?" Kendall sits down facing me, concern in his eyes.

I shrug. "Tired. Where's Mr. Greene?"  

"He went on a supply run. Are you thirsty? I'll be right back." Kendall hops up from the couch.

"You let him go alone?" I ask. "He insisted." 

"Kendall?" I call as loud as I can. He turns around. 

"Thank you."

Kendall smiles, a smile so big it has to hurt. 

"Here you go." Kendall passes me a glass of water, and sits next to me with his own.

"Why did you save me? I mean... from the z-zombies." I stutter on the "Z" word. Kendall looks up, almost spitting out his water.

"Are you crazy? 'why did I save you'?" Kendall shakes his head. I shrug, and sit quietly until he answers.

"Because you're my friend, and I couldn't just... just let you turn into one of those things. I couldn't let you die, too many people have died," I open my mouth to say something, but Kendall continues,"When we went to my house... my mom was there. But it wasn't her... it was one of those things, and I tried to calm her down but it didn't work because she didn't recognize me. I was cornered, I had to..." He doesn't finish, but I know exactly what he was going to say.

He had to kill her.

"Oh god..." I mutter, "I'm so so sorry." Kendall shrugs, sniffling, "It's not your fault." He mutters.

"So... you can shoot a gun." I decide to change the subject, due to the awkward silence. 

Kendall's eyes light up, "Yeah, I mean I guess so. I don't mean to brag, but I'm a pretty good shot." He winks. I roll my eyes. 

"You're good at everything. I've only known you for... 48 hours now?" I say, trying to do the math in my head. It's hard to keep track of the days and time during an apocalypse.

Kendall laughs, " 'good at everything.' "

"You'll have to teach me sometime,"" I state, picking up the water glass,  "I'm not very good at the whole violence thing." 

"You can shoot a bow." Kendall offers, trying to convince me that I'm good at something in this messed up world. 

"That's it, though. I can't do anything else." 

"I bet you can cook, and clean. That's helpful." Kendall laughs. I laugh as well. 

"That's true. But that's not going to help save humanity." 

"It'll keep us alive a little longer. Food, clean clothing." 

"So I'm like a maid, for the Zombie Apocalypse?" I roll my eyes.

"I wouldn't say that..." Kendall yawns. 

"You wouldn't say it, but you think it." 

"Not true."" He shakes his head, taking a long drink from his water glass.

"Are you tired?" I change the subject again. 

"Quit changing the subject." Kendall laughs, a short laugh.

"I'm more useful than cooking and cleaning." I state. 

"Okay." Kendall rolls his eyes.

"Okay, that's it?" 

"Yes, now can you make me a sandwich?" 

I widen my eyes. 

"Kidding." Kendall laughs, probably at my reaction to what he said. 

"Oh it's so funny." 

I stand up and stretch, walking behind the couch to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Kendall turns around and puts his elbows on the back of the couch.

"Making a sandwich." I say, pulling out a loaf of bread. "It was a joke, you really don't have to." Kendall rolls his eyes.

"I know, it's not for you."