Zombpocalypse in the Making

Chapter 2~ Origins

Zombpocalypse in the Making

Chapter 2~ Origins

Chrysanthemum's POV

"So how much farther is it?" James asked, huffing and puffing. Two of his friends, Bryan and Kenny, were walking quietly behind us.

"Only a couple of miles." I answered. "I'm sorry I'm rushing. I just want to get somewhere safe."

"No problem." He wheezed. I looked back at his friends to see them roll their eyes. They were clearly the more athletic type. They weren't having any trouble.

"You okay, man?" Kenny spoke up, concerned for his buddy. "You have your inhaler?"

'Inhaler?' I thought. 'He has asthma?' I interrupted James' answer, stopping us. "You have asthma?"

James nodded, a blush coming over his face. "And yeah," he gasped for air, "I have my inhaler. In my back pocket."

"Then use it, dude." Bryan piped in.

"I didn't want her to know," he wheezed again, "that I have asthma."

"Use your inhaler." I snapped. "You should've told me. I would've gone a bit slower."

He nodded, quickly pulling the object out and using it. His eyes kept shifting around, never looking at me. I felt bad for being so hard on him, but he could've at least warned me. Having asthma is no small thing. He could very easily die and it'd be all my fault.

"Let's continue." I calmed down. "We don't want to be stuck out here at night."

All of the boys nodded and we trekked ahead. I kept glancing at each of them in turn. All but James returned the gaze. I pulled James up a little farther ahead so that it would be harder for his friends to hear us.

"James... You know I'm not mad at you, right?" I asked, glancing nervously at his face. "Don't be embarrassed that you have to use an inhaler. It's a medical necessity. If you don't use it you could die. And no one here wants you to die. So you really can't do that."

"But now that you know, you'll go slower. Just to avoid my having an asthma attack." He answered, a steely gleam to his eyes. "And I don't want to get anyone killed. I'll stick it out. I'll use my inhaler but we don't have to keep going so slow."

I nodded, understanding where he was coming from. He stopped me before I could walk away.

"Where'd the shy girl from the bus go?" He asked. "The one that blushed just because I winked at her?"

"She was never really there." I smiled. "It's best to act meek in a new school so they don't think you're trying to steal their popularity."

He looked at me in thought. His piercing blue eyes scouring my face before he nodded. A somewhat hurt expression covered his face as he led the group, thankfully in the right way.

We all walked in silence, watching around us to ensure that we were safe. Suddenly, we heard a twig snap to our left. I grabbed a branch off the forest floor and readied myself, prepared to kill whatever it was coming after us. But when she stepped out of the woods, I dropped the branch. It was a little girl. She had a scared look on her face, one that said she had no clue what was going on. She wasn't bloody. Just dirty. But she was shaking from fright.

"Who are you?" She asked, standing taller, as if she wasn't scared half to death.

"I'm Chrysanthemum. This is James, Bryan, and Kenny." I spoke, gesturing to each of them respectively. "We're walking to the gun shop my dad owns. Would you like to join us?"

"Guns?" She asked, her eyes getting wider.

"Yes. Guns." I answered, a sad smile plastered on. "Have you seen what's going on yet?"