Gory Glory // l.t au

19 - Leila

Leila

Louis hurried over to me once he noticed my lumbering figure. Detecting how tired I was, he was quick to assist me with the tyre. He was yet to spot the blood-covered fabric wrapped around my arm, as he was too focused on getting the Jeep moving again. I withdrew the wrench from my pants as we knelt down in front of the vehicle I had grown to love, and began to fix it.

No words were spoken throughout the entirety of the task, as we remained in a comfortable silence. Now that I think about it, neither of us have exchanged any form of communication besides eye contact since I returned. Louis exhaled a long breath whilst wiping his brow, signifying the task was complete.

We both smiled whole-heartedly to each other, simultaneously clambering back into the Jeep. As I started the engine, the familiar roar calmed me considerably for some odd reason. That was until my arm reached up to clutch the wheel and I caught sight of the red-stained fabric. I saw his gaze flicker to it as well in my peripheral vision.

“Wh-what’s that?”

My pulse instantly quickened. “Oh, nothing, I just cut it on a piece of scrap metal,” I forced a smile, praying it at least appeared convincing outwardly. I could still see him watching me as I kept my focus ahead on the road. He was subtly observing me, trying to read the expressions I was attempting to hide. After what felt like hours, he nodded slowly.

“I see,” his voice lacked emotion, “Are you alright? It’s not infected, is it?”

My breath was caught in my throat. How did he know?

“I mean, who knows what bacteria could be on rusty metal,” he continued. I visibly let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh! No, no, it’s fine,” I assured.

“Are you sure? I can take a look if you want,” he reached out to undo the material.

“NO!” I exclaimed, louder than intended. He immediately retracted his hand, surprise evident on his face. “I mean, no. Honestly, there’s no need. I’m certain it’s okay, my mom is…well, used to be a doctor. That’s how I knew how to heal Rob’s arm”. I saw Louis’ jaw muscle twitch at the mention of that man’s name.

“Alright. Tell me if it gets any worse though, please,” he insisted. I smiled to myself; he’s such a caring guy.

Once the moon began to settle in the darkened sky above us, we both decided it would be best to stop for the night. I cut the engine and we discovered ourselves to have ended up in a remote, desolate area. The ground was dry, and there didn’t seem to be any sign of civilisation around. Louis and I couldn’t be bothered to set out the tent – there was no point since I was positive Breathers wouldn’t find us. We were too far out in the middle of nowhere for that possibility.

We set out blankets before laying back on them, side-by-side. Neither of us changed into suitable clothing for the night, as it just seemed like extra, unnecessary hassle. Louis lay with his hands under his head whereas I was propped up on my elbows with my legs crossed over. I wasn’t really looking at anything in particular, however, I couldn’t help but notice that Louis’ attention was fixed onto the sky.

“There’s so many stars out tonight,” he sighed contently. “Almost makes you forget about all of this, doesn’t it?” I knew he was referring to the apocalypse, the world crumbling apart before our very eyes.

I was about to reply with a sarcastic remark, tease him on how cheesy he was being, but something told me it wasn’t the right time. “Yeah,” I simply agreed.