Love and the Undead (gxg)

Chapter 2

Stunned, I find myself staring into the most clear gray-blue eyes I have ever seen. On top of me breathing heavily and looking terrified is a girl holding a knife to my throat. She has short blonde hair, and she looks fragile but determined.

"Who are you?" She says.

Her voice sounds raw, like she hasn't drank any water recently. I lay still for a moment, and then suddenly grab her arm which still holds a knife to my throat and take the knife from her hands. I then roll us both over so that I'm straddling her, holding her arms above her head.

"I am a friend." I answer her. "I will not hurt you."

She struggles, but I can tell that she's running out of energy. We look into each others eyes, her looking at me with anger and fear, but also some hope.

"Let me go!" She yells.

"Why do you struggle like this?" I ask her. "Obviously I am a friend. Had I wanted to hurt you, you would be dead already."

I see something change in her eyes as she realizes this is true. Cautiously, I ease my body off of hers and reach a hand down to help her up. She ignores my hand and struggles to get up on her own. I admire her determination, but she's just not strong enough to stand on her own yet. Sighing, I reach down and pull her up into my arms and start carrying her towards the room at the end of the hall. All of the fight seems to drain out of her the moment I pick her up and I feel her body go limp.

"Hey, stay awake for me." I say softly. "I have water for you."

At this, her eyes open once more and I see her despair. She must have been through a lot recently. Laying her gently on the bed, I take my bag off and pull out two bottles of water. When I stand up, I see her eyeing me warily but the moment she sees the water she forgets all caution and reaches out towards it. Not wanting her to choke, I place my hand on her back and help her into a sitting position. I open the first bottle and hand it to her. She quickly drains it and reaches for the other one, which she drinks a bit slower than the first. When she's done, she hands me the empty bottles and then suddenly goes wide eyed.

"Oh my god! Erebus!" She exclaims,
frantically trying to get off the bed.

I jump up and place a hand on her leg, causing her to pause.

"What are you talking about?" I ask her.

"Please go get him, please save my dog." she's saying this frantically.

"Hey, calm down. It's okay. Where is he?" I ask her.

She points towards the hallway.

"In the closet" she says.

"Okay, listen. Just sit here and relax. I'll go get him."

She nods and lays back on the bed, seeming like she has no energy left to even open her eyes. I glance at her once more before leaving the room to check the closet. I gasp when I get there, seeing a mass of bloody fur laying in the corner of the closet. I walk to it, and lay a hand on it's side. I hear a whimper, letting me know it's still alive. Thank God, I think. As gently as I can, I scoop the dog up into my arms and carry it towards the bedroom as well. It's fur is matted and black with dried blood, and it's way too skinny. I lay it down, finally getting a good look at it. I can now see that he's a boy. He looks like a Pit Bull. His eyes are closed and he's whimpering. I pull out another two water bottles, whispering encouragements to him the whole time. I gently uncap the water and open his mouth. He's so weak he doesn't fight it at all as I slowly poor water into the side of his mouth. Most of it just runs out the other side, but I can see him trying to swallow it so i just slow down and give him a chance to get his throat working. Slowly but surely, he starts swallowing the water, until he just lays his head down exhausted. I want to let him rest but I need to know if he has any serious injuries. Walking into the bathroom, I try the faucet and hear a machine turn on somewhere in the basement. Hm, must be a backup generator down there. After a few moments, rust colored water starts flowing from the sink. I walk over to where Erebus is laying and as gently as I can, I pick him up and place him in the bathtub. I grab a cup from the edge of the tub, and fill it with water before slowly pouring it over his body, washing away the dried blood and dirt. His fur is actually pure white; I just couldn't tell before because of all the blood. I do this many more times before I am satisfied enough. I check his body for injuries and find nothing serious, except for his ribs seem to be a little sore.