The End is Near

Chapter Seven

     My sobs are the only thing I can hear. Julia is dead. That thought only makes my sobs louder. She's going to turn into one of those things, just like Sarah, Emily, who knows who else. I try to control my sobs. She's going to turn soon, and I have to be ready to kill her. I close my eyes, forcing the tears back. I won't let her be one of those things. I take deep breaths as I stand up and look at Julia. She looks so peaceful right now, as if she's sleeping, and any second now she'd open her eyes and ask why I was crying. I take one final, deep, shuddering breath. Blake is standing to the side, watching me with sad eyes. I hate him seeing me so vulnerable. I'm not vulnerable. Not anymore. I don't want to see the pity that is bright in his eyes. I don't want him to look at me with pity. I want him to look at me and see a strong fighter, someone that can survive on my own. I straighten my back, trying to control my emotions, but I can't and soon have tears streaming down my cheeks again. I close my eyes, again, and force them back.
     I stare at Julia for a long time, then it happens. She starts moving, moaning and trying to get up. Her eyes open, but they aren't her normal blue eyes. They are the white, opaque eyes of the monsters I have come to hate.
     She, no, it, gets up and starts to slowly shuffle towards me. I reach behind me and pull my pistol out. An arrow wouldn't go through her head, she's still too new. I take a deep breath and tighten my hand on the handle of the gun. I grip it tight and raise it, pointing it at what used to be my best friend. My hand starts to shake, but I steady it. She's already looks so different. Her skin is no longer tan, but a ghostly pale, her eyes are white and opaque. She's so skinny, her skin hanging loosely off her bones, her cheeks and eyes are sunken in. She's not herself anymore, she's a monster.
     I let out a deep shuddering sigh and tighten my finger on the trigger. I feel someone's hand on my shoulder and turn my head to see Blake, smiling sympathetically at me. I close my eyes and when I open them again I look at Julia one last time.
     "I'm sorry, Julia." Then I pull the trigger, closing my eyes. I know I've hit my mark when I hear her body fall to the ground for the last time. I open my eyes and look at her now lifeless body, laying on the cold ground. I exhale a deep, shuddering breath as I look at my best friend, dead on the ground. And this time she isn't going to wake up. I look out to the lake, maybe I'll push her body into the lake, so she's not eaten by any walkers that come by. I lower the gun and walk over to her. I grab her arm and drag her to the edge of the lake.
     "Goodbye, Julia." I say one last time, then I push her out, so that she's floating on the surface of the water. Slowly, she floats out to the middle of the lake, only then do I turn and look at Blake.
     "Let's go. I don't want to walk through the woods while it's dark." Surprisingly, my voice comes out even and strong. Good. I know it won't last forever, sooner or later, I'll fall apart.
     "Ok." Blake's voice is sad, I don't look at him, only the woods as I walk back to the highway, leaving my Julia, my best friend, forever.
~Keith's POV~
     "Where could they have gone? What was that gunshot? Do you think Cassie is hurt?" I fire question after question off, worriedly looking at the woods where Cassie disappeared. "Who was that guy?" I really want that one answered.
     "Come on, man, calm down. Cassie and Julia are fine. They can take care of themselves." Karson looks at me. "They'll be fine." He says forcefully. I sigh and nod, sitting down on the roof of the truck we are on. But who was that guy she was with? She didn't look very happy to be with him. Can she trust him? It didn't look like she trusted him, she wasn't even with him when she ran into the woods. He chased after her.
     "I just want them to come back soon. So I know that they are ok. I don't want them in there in the dark. It's not safe." Karson nods in agreement.
     "Yeah, let's hope they come back soon."
     They show up a few minutes later. But something is wrong.
     "Where's Julia?" I have a bad feeling about this. I watch as the guy turns to her and says something. My question is answered as I watch Cassie fall apart.
~Cassie's POV~
     We get back to the highway and I'm taking deep breaths, trying not to cry.
     Blake looks at me sadly. He doesn't know what I'm going through, he didn't know Julia. He leads me through the maze of cars and we stop at a truck. He turns to me and smiles sadly.
     "It's ok to not be ok, you know. It's ok to cry. You can fall apart tonight and be ok in the morning." I look at him as tears start to fill my eyes, against my wishes. He smiles softly. "Just let it out." A loud sob escapes me as my knees start to buckle. He catches me and I cry into his shoulder. A few moments later, I feel him pick me up and climb into the truck. He sets me down on the very top of the truck and I sit there, with my head in my hands.
     I don't know how long I've been crying, it feels like days, but I know it's only been about an hour. That still a long time to cry, though. Crying isn't even enough to show what I'm really feeling. So I do what I've wanted to do since I pulled the trigger. I scream. I scream as loud as I can for as long as I can. I don't stop until my throat is raw, I don't care if any walkers hear me, Blake is already on the ground, killing the ones that do hear. My throat is raw and my eyes sting. But I feel better than I did before, but I still feel awful.
     Another sob escapes me, but I bite my hand, holding it back. I will not cry anymore. Julia would want me to get on with my life, remember her with happiness, not sadness.
     One more sob escapes me before I go silent. My shoulders shaking with silent tears streaming down my face.
     I killed my best friend.
~Keith's POV~
     My heart breaks as I watch Cassie sobbing on top of the truck. I should be there, comforting her, but no, she's alone, while whoever that guy is, is killing walkers on the ground. I close my eyes, trying to block the sound of Cassie's sobs.
     She cries for an hour, then she screams. I try to block it out, but I can't. The sounds of her sobs are burned into my mind. After an hour and a half, she goes silent. I cautiously look up, and my heart breaks even more as I watch her shake, curled up in a ball. I look over at Karson, who has unshed tears in his eyes. I feel tears enter my eyes, but I force them back. I can't cry. I keep my eyes closed until the tears are gone. When I open my eyes, I look back at Cassie, she's stopped shaking and her breathing is even. She's asleep. Good, at least she can't feel pain in her sleep.
~Blake's POV~
Cassie fell asleep quickly, thankfully. I don't like seeing her in pain. I shake my head, no, I can't think like that. I'm here on a mission and nothing else. I'll get her to trust me, then I do what we planned, nothing else. I look around, trying to see if any zombies are nearby, but I can't hear anything. I hold my breath and strain my hears, trying to hear anything. Sound floats to my ears, but it doesn't sound like any zombies, it sounds human. I tense and reach for my gun. I slowly stand up and walk on the car roofs, quietly, towards the truck the sound is coming from.
"I don't like him. I don't trust him and I don't think Cassie does either. I don't want him around her." My eyes narrow when I hear the unfamiliar voice. I raise my gun and cock it, pointing it in the direction of the voice.
"Yeah, I don't trust him either. He's too nice, too friendly, it's got to be fake." Another voice answers. My eyes narrow even more. I creep up on the truck and see two boys about my age, crouched down with their backs to me. I point my gun at the one closest to me and stick my foot out, kicking him in the back.
"What were you saying?" I say, menacingly.
~Keith's POV~
I sprawl on my stomach, a boot on my back, holding my down. Karson falls silent and I feel something push into the back of my head.
"What were you saying?" It's him. The guy who was with Cassie. My eyes narrow and I push myself up, facing him.
"What do you want?" I ask, venomously. His eyes narrow.
"I wouldn't talk like that to me. If you can't tell, I have a gun pointed at your head and you are weaponless. Who do you think has the upper-hand here?" I laugh, emotionlessly, and reach my hand behind me, wrapping my hand around the handle of the pistol tucked into the back of my pants. I pull it out and point it at him, smirking. Karson follows my lead and pulls out his gun, pointing it at him.
"Well, obviously not you." His eyes widen before narrowing again. "What do you want?"
"I want you to stay away from Cassie and I." I laugh, humorlessly.
"That is so not going to happen. I'm not leaving her alone, not with you." He rolls his eyes, annoyed.
"I'm warning you now, walk away before you get involved in something you don't want to be a part of. You are not going to get in my way, Cassie is very special for what we have planned and you are not going to stop me from getting it done, even if it means I have to kill you." I narrow my eyes. "Cassie obviously doesn't know you're here, and I'm not going to tell her. So you better not get in my way." Anger fills me and I want nothing more than to pull the trigger, ending his worthless, good-for-nothing life. But I can't, Cassie doesn't know what kind of person he is yet. But she looked like she didn't like him. A nagging voice in the back of my head tells me, tempting me to pull the trigger.
"Get out of my face. You disgust me. If you do anything to hurt Cassie, I will personally make your life miserable. Got it?" He scoffs and rolls his eyes, obviously not believing me. That's his first mistake. He smirks as he walks away, saying only one things that makes my blood boil.
"Is that a challenge?"
~Cassie's POV~
I open my eyes and immediately shut them against the blinding light. I open them again, squinting until my sight comes back to me. I sigh, sitting up, stretching my cramped and sore muscles. I look around, looking for any threats. When I don't find anything, I stand up, grabbing my weapons, and look around again. I don't see Blake anywhere and relief flows through me. I don't trust him and I don't want him with me. I want to be alone, anyway.
"Hey, you're awake." I jump and whirl around, sliding my katana out of its sheath and pointing it at the voice. I sigh when I see who it is. Blake. That's just great. I roll my eyes and put my sword back in the sheath.
"You know, you really shouldn't sneak up on an armed girl who is more than ready to kill any threat." He just laughs that stupid, annoying laugh of his.
"You've got good instincts. That's definitely going to help us out there." I raise an eyebrow.
"Who says you're coming with me?" His eyes widen and he looks shocked.
"I think it's best that we stay together, you just lost your best friend, being in a group could be the best thing for you." I narrow my eyes.
"Who says I want to be in a group? I might want to travel alone, ever think of that?" He looks shocked and I almost want to laugh. But I don't. He sighs, almost sounding aggravated.
"Fine, we won't travel together the whole way. But let's at least get to a town so we can get supplies, ok?" I sigh, rolling my eyes.
"Fine." With that I start to look for my backpack, but remember with a sigh that I had dropped it when I was with Julia. Looks like I'll need a new one. "Let's go." We start to walk. It's been several minutes of silence when Blake speaks.
"How are you feeling?" He asks, his voice gentle. My jaw clenches as my eyes narrow. Why would he think that I want to talk about that?
"Can we just not talk about that? I'd say I'm feeling fine, like I didn't just kill me best friend, but I'm not feeling fine. I'd say I'd get over it, but I won't. The truth it, I don't feel anything, and I don't want to. I'm fine without feeling anything for the rest of my life. Was that the answer you were looking for? No! Because you thought I'd say I was doing just fine. But why would I lie? What's the point? You should know how I'm feeling. You watched me kill my best friend. And you expect me to say I'm ok? Well, I'm not. So just drop it." I hiss, glaring at him. "I don't even know you, and I don't trust you. So stay out of my life." He looks really shocked, eyes wide, mouth open and everything. I ignore him and keep walking, keeping my eyes on the road ahead. Occasionally I'll look around for any walkers getting too close.
We walk for hours, only stopping for food and water, well Blake does anyway, I don't have anything with me. Finally, we reach a small town, abandoned, with few walkers. I turn to Blake, with a bored expression.
"Let's do this. We both get supplies, I'll look for food, you look for water, meet up here to split it up, then we both leave each other alone, ok?" I say, looking around, bored. He nods. "Ok, I'll go this way." I start to turn when I hear a loud gunshot nearby. I stop and tense, grabbing my katana. I turn around and look for a threat.
"It came from that way, I'm pretty sure." I say, pointing at a cluster of building a ways down the road. "Let's go check it out." I start to walk towards the buildings, but Blake grabs my arm, pulling me back. I turn and glare at him. "What?" I say, agitated.
"No! I'll go check it out, you go get supplies, I'll get water. Meet back here in an hour." I roll my eyes.
"Fine." I walk away and search for a sporting goods store. I see one about a block away and start to walk towards it. I sigh, shaking my head. He had looked alarm and really nervous. Whatever, I'm leaving anyway.
     I walk to the store and look inside, cautiously. When I find no walkers, I relax and walk in. I need to get supplies, and a lot of it. I grab a black backpack off the shelf and walk around the store, getting everything I need. I get a blanket, a canteen and a lot of imperishable food. I find another quiver of arrows and add it to the few I have left and another box of ammunition for my gun. I walk around the store one last time, checking for anything I may have forgotten, and when I feel like I have everything, I walk out of the store, heading back to the meeting place to wait for Blake.
     It takes about five minutes to get back to the meeting spot, and when I get there, he's not there. Of course. It's been an hour, of course he would be late. I roll my eyes, annoyed that I'll have to wait.
     I wait for a half hour, then decide to leave. I stop at a house close by and stock up on enough water for a long trip, then start to walk away.
     "And then there was one." I sigh as I leave the town. Finally.