BETTER SAFE THAN ZOMBIE

9| Ghost Town

"Kids in the backseat cause accidents; accidents in the backseat cause kids. Try to remember that."

Xavier and I broke away from kissing, and as if rehearsed, both sighed a not-this-again sigh. Ethan stood grinning at us from the door frame of the passenger seat, his arms crossed on his chest and his frame leaning decidedly relaxed at the door frame.

I glared at him and said sarcastically, "You want some popcorn with that?"

"Sure," he agreed easily. "You got some?"

"No," I replied. "But I have this."

Then I shot him the finger.

Ethan laughed, slid inside the car and sat, before finally closing the car door behind him. 

"That's Sally's place," I reminded him.

"She's still isn't here," he countered back.

It was true. Sally, Simon, Bree and Dana had gone outside to scout an abandoned-looking house for food, and Xavier and I were left out to guard the car. Ethan had gone out with them, but the house must have been empty of zombies if he came back here so quickly.

It was noon, the sun on its peak. This is the eighth day I had spent among people and I must admit, it wasn't really as bad as I had first thought. If I were honest with myself, I actually had fun being with them. Simon was like the fatherly figure all of us had craved since losing our own parents, and Sally was the motherly figure, with her warm and caring personality, not to mention the protective streak she has sometimes.

Bree and Dana, though they could be total airhead sometimes, was actually fun to be with. They both have the innocence of a young child, and the optimism of a happy-go-lucky gal. Ethan--bless his charred soul--though he could make your blood boil to 360 degrees, he could break the tension in the air faster than anyone by his wisecracks and witty remarks. Xavier, my sweet and adoring boyfriend, was devoted and warm and so good to me that I felt (sometimes) unworthy of his undying and unconditional love.

Once, I tried to be Ms. Serene-and-Good-and-Innocent just to feel deserved of his love, but when I told him that if we might survive the apocalypse, I'll build the new Peace corps coven where we'll all be peaceful and earth-loving in the Himalaya mountains, he just looked at me strangely and said, "Where is my girlfriend and what have you done to her?"

So I just kind of gave up after that. It won't work out anyway. Some will say "Pen is mightier than the sword." Me? "What are you? Cavemen? There's nuclear bombs for everybody, y'all!"

So yeah. Me and amity? Not so great together.

"Why do you keep interrupting when we're kissing?" I complained to Ethan.

"Because its gross," he said, stretching his long legs in front of him and propping them in the dashboard, ankles crossed. He looked sideways at me, and one lock of that dark hair fell on his eye. He irritatedly brushed it away.

"If you want to hook up," he told me, "Find a place people can't see you and puke."

"If I told you I have a piece of dirt in my eye, would you move?" I said, glaring at him.

"Touché," he replied, grinning.

Xavier rolled his eyes at us. "I'll check up on them," he told me, getting out and slamming the door.

"Ooooh," Ethan said. "Someone's mad."

"No wonder," I said. "Every time you appear, you piss someone off."

"Chaos, disorder, hate--my work here is done," Ethan said, tipping an imaginary hat on his head  with a wink at me.

"If we were to kill everybody who hates you," I sighed, "It wouldn't be murder; it would be genocide."