Louis
Leila had dosed off again in the hopes of sleeping her way through her hangover. I was sitting beside her eating a can of beans. I hadn't eaten for six hours, so I was pretty starving. I lay back with my elbows propped up, but instantly sat up again when I felt something sharp press against the bottom of my spine. I realized it was the pliers I had tucked into my trousers earlier when I was searching the city for Leila. I pulled them out as well as the broken necklace in my pocket.
My Aunt used to make and fix jewellery as a pass-time hobby, so I moderately understood what I was doing. I looped the snapped chain through the unbroken one and closed it together with the pliers. It fell apart the first two times I tried it, but – third time the charm – I managed to bend it in shape on the next attempt. I held it up in front of me and examined it for any signs of imperfection, but I seemed to have fixed it surprisingly well.
“Leila?” I placed my hand delicately on her shoulder and shook her ever-so slightly.
“Yeah?” she mumbled, her eyes still closed.
“Surprise”. I smiled shyly as her lashes fluttered and her eyes opened wearily. Her expression was indecipherable, but she was certainly more awake than she had been a mere second ago.
“Oh my God,” she breathed, reaching out and hesitantly taking it from my grasp. She held it up to the light streaming through the tent from the early morning sun. “I thought I'd never see this again”.
Before I think she realized what she was doing, she reached out and pulled me into a hug. As if only just comprehending what she was doing, she released me from her embrace and smiled, embarrassment clearly carved into her perfect features. “Thanks, Stripes,” she muttered.
“My pleasure. Here,” I grasped the chain and removed it from her grip, “Turn around”.
She obeyed and turned her head, lifting up her hair with her arms, revealing the back of her neck. I brought my arms up and fastened the locket round her neck. She let her hair fall loose in thick waves before turning to face me again.
We watched each other for a few moments, as if awaiting something to happen, but unsure of what. Her eyes examined my face and she cocked her head to one side, almost like she was internally debating something. Our gazes remained frozen into each other’s, blue to blue.
“Are there Dead here?”
“You think they could set up a camp?”
We both stilled when we heard two unfamiliar voices outside our tent. Leila's eyes widened and her first instinct was to pull a pistol out from under her pillow and, using her other hand, shove my chest back so I was laying down. She then protectively stood over me, her sight never failing to leave the opening of the tent.
“Stay here,” she demanded, keeping her voice low. I nodded obediently. She agilely leaped out the tent, gun in hand. I could still see her shadow on the material of the tent. I decided to crawl on all fours over to the gap in the tent, peeking out curiously.
“Halt,” Leila commanded, her tone firm. It reminded me of when I first met her. I glanced round further to see a man and woman staring at her with terrified eyes. They were probably around their mid-thirties. “Are you bitten?” Leila hissed.
“N-no!” the woman stammered, clearly taken aback by the weapon pointing in her face, “We were just in search of help!”
“You sure you're not bitten?”
“You have our word”.
“Where are you from?” Leila questioned, still not lowering her gun.
YOU ARE READING
Gory Glory // l.t au
Fanfiction"Please tell me what's going on," I didn't bother to hide the pleading tone in my words. I was desperate and terrified. "Let me enlighten you," she began, extending her hand out for me to shake. "Hi, I'm Leila Grey, and this is the end of the world"...
