Between Friend and Foe

Decisions.

My words cause Earl and Antonio to sigh and pout. Anya just looks at me with those beautiful green orbs, eyes spelling out every one of her emotions. She wears her heart on her sleeve, it's a little dangerous. "We don't have a choice then, who's willing to go Scout?" Anya asks certainty and determination in her voice. Her sudden change in attitude surprises me. Suddenly, she sounds so much stronger and much wiser. "I mean, I should probably go, I am the shortest and the swiftest." Antonio's head snaps in her direction, anxiety shining in his duller green eyes. "No, I'll go." His words are confident, and even I can not say that he is not brave at this point. Perhaps it should be I to go? After all, I am the only one here with no one to return to. It would make a lot of sense. "I suppose it would be best if I were to go. I can defend myself pretty well, and I'm fairly quick. I have the least to lose here, so it seems logical." Antonio shakes his head firmly, disregarding my idea quickly. "I'm quicker and smaller." His words are final. I hope I haven't led him to his death.

Earl is the most worried out of us all. Pacing up and down in front of Anya and me; shooting the occasional look that says loud and clear 'If he gets hurt, then all of this is on you'. A sharp yell breaks us out of silence, and we all stand-up. Each of us grabs something to protect ourselves with, me taking a long knife, Anya taking a smaller one and Earl grabbing a gun. Time seems to go in slow motion as we begin running to Antonio. I can see red when I notice some Crazies encircling the young boy. Earl begins to shoot blindly at them, carelessly managing to miss the majority of them. As soon as he is out of bullets I run towards the group who seem to now be looking at us. The first one I kill is a middle-aged man. Time feels like it simply stops as soon as my blade hits the Crazies in the back of the neck. Antonio looks at me with slightly fearful eyes, and I shoot him a minuscule smile. He gasps and points behind me. I can feel the muscles in my body move to slice the monster behind me, and I can only feel relief when I hear it drop dead to the floor. Antonio runs and hugs me, his head just reaching the top of my chest. And for once, perhaps the only time ever, I'm not just Heather. I feel like so much more.

Everything speeds up again, time is no longer stopped, and my adrenaline has dropped significantly. Anya ran up and hugged the dear life out of Antonio, who hugs her like she is his own sister. Earl, runs towards us, first giving Antonio a hug, and then suddenly standing up and launching into me. His arms are wrapped securely around my body, I can hear his breathing, I can feel his heartbeat. This is the closest anyone has ever held me. It feels strange. But comforting at the same time. It's like my brain can't decide which emotion to choose, so it all ends up in a jumbled mess. It feels like forever until he lets go and finally I can breathe normally and my brain doesn't feel all jumbled up. "Thank you, Heather." Antonio thanks me. We walk away together, and I feel so full of air that I could burst at any given moment. My body feels light, and I am exhausted. Exhausted, but for the first time, truly ecstatic. I saved that dark brunette boy from inevitable pain and death, and I have never felt so happy about doing something in my entire life.

"I feel weird," Anya states out of nowhere. The 7-year-old shuffles uncomfortably. Antonio is the first to ask her what's wrong, but her response makes us all go perfectly silent. It's funny how a few words from a little girl can suddenly bring all of your happiness crashing down. "I feel sad, a lot. Sometimes I have a voice saying that I should go to heaven." Earl is the most serious I have ever seen him, a frown seemingly on his face, covered by the rag, brows furrowed under the goggles and his stature sagging. He turns and grabs Anya by the shoulders, making her face him. "Never listen to that voice, never go to heaven." It is in that moment that I realise that I have clearly misjudged his entire character. He is afraid, terrified even. But the thought of losing Anya or Antonio, makes his entire being flow with rage. He loves them, they are his family. I can't relate.

After that... Interesting conversation, we all look for shelter. It seems like the Crazies we killed earlier were the only ones here. We pick out the safest looking location, a building that obviously has a cellar that we can sleep in. My heart weakens at the sight of the house, on its walls are a few pictures, obviously drawn by a young child, on the floor is shattered glass from picture frames, and the furniture is turned over in panic. There are toys scattered around, and the entire place reeks of mystery and fear. Nothing feels right about this place, the people that died here died in fear, and I realise that I shall die in the same way. I offer to investigate the upstairs rooms, seeing if there is anything useful we can steal. It's unlikely, but who knows. We are in luck, as I look in one of the cabinets, I find a bunch of unused towels and blankets. I peek into what looks like a young child's bedroom and smile when I find a cute little Teddy Bunny, with the words 'I love you' written on its stomach in neat cursive stitching. Anya would like this.

I am fairly short for my age, so Antonio isn't that much shorter than I am, despite the age difference. Earl towers over me.