F*** Cancer, This One Did Us All In.

23

  "Daniel!"

  "Nope."

  "Daniel, wait!"

  "Stop following me!"

  I had to say, I didn't see that one coming. I mean, I expected him to cry, I expected him to yell. Hell, I even figured he would dance and sing before he would just turn around and start walking away.

  "Daniel, slow your stupid ass down!" Amelia yelled and I could see her face burning red and her eyes filling with tears as we all walked after him.

  "No, Amelia, no!" He didn't stop, but he looked his shoulder at the three of us. "Just leave! Go somewhere else! Stop following me!"

  "I know you don't mean that." She said and he stopped, turning around to face us.

  "Really? Amelia, I mean it. Go somewhere else. You have these two strangers with you."

  "Hi," I awkwardly said and I couldn't help but let out a small wave.

  "They're not strangers. They're my friends. This is Mfundo, and that waving idiot is Theodore."

  Feeling suddenly self-conscious, I put my hand down.

  "Oh, even better." He tried to turn around but Amelia grabbed his arm and he looked her right into her different-coloured eyes.

  "You're such an asshole! Aren't you even going to ask what happened to me these past six days!"

  "I – look, Amelia. I'm doing this for your own good. You'll be better off if I'm not around."

  "Better off? Look at me!" She motioned to the blood on her clothes. "Does this look any better to you?"

  "Just trust me, Amelia. I'm doing this for you."

  Then Mfundo stepped forward and Daniel turned to look at him. "Look, I don't really know why you would want to push away your only sister, but I'm afraid we can't allow that."

  "Yeah." I stepped forward a little bit, prepared to fight for Amelia but also weary of the axe her brother once again held in his hands.

  "Why not?" He asked.

  "Because we fought dead bodies looking for you!" Amelia was really trying her hardest not to scream too loudly. "We have killed and watched people being killed over and over again. Daniel, this whole situation is messed up and scary and every time I close my eyes, I pray I'll open them and I'll wake up in my bedroom. I want this all to be a horrible dream, but it isn't. It's scary and messed up and nothing makes sense anymore. Now, I've finally found you, a reminder that maybe this life isn't so scary, and you want to push me away? No. I'm not leaving. None of us are leaving. We've all been desperately searching for our families, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let mine slip through my fingers."

  Whoa. Amelia had to take a moment to breathe heavily but her stare never even dropped one iota in its intensity. She was daring him to do something or say something that would piss her off. I was surprised Daniel was holding her glare with his own hard look. I had never met a single person who could hold up to Amelia's glare.

  "Fine. Stay behind me, don't say a word, and if you see a Zed, run."

  "What's a Zed?" Mfundo asked.

  "The – the zombies." Daniel said.

  "Oh," I said. "Well, we just call them fle – zombies."