Don't Be Afraid

Chapter 15

Linda's POV

I wipe the sweat from my forehead. Being stuck in a small truck with three other people is difficult. The air smells of body odor and it's humid outside. Hunter has the air conditioner on as high as it'll go, but it's still not enough.

"We need to pull over." Cleo hisses again.

Hunter's grip on the wheel tightens. "Not yet. We need to-"

"Need to put as much distance as we can from that hell hole. We know." Issac snaps. Hunter sends him a death glare, but Issac just smirks. For the past two days there's been tension between the two boys. Cleo and I have been staying out of their little arguments, but lately they've been quiet and not a good quiet, more like an 'I'm planning something' quiet.  

Right now the seating arrangement is Hunter, whose driving, me, Cleo, and Issac, but being stuck between two moody guys isn't fun. I swear they're worse than two girls on their period. We can literally feel the awkwardness. It's so bad that Cleo and I have agreed we'd rather fight four dozen zombies than deal with this any longer.

"Stop the truck. We need to talk. All of us." I say. Hunter slows down and finally comes to a halt. He jumps out of the truck and lifts me out since I'm short and the truck's taller than me.

"What do we need to talk about?" Issac asks.

"You guys, you and Hunter, have been acting....different. Cleo and I are a little worried that-"

"I'm gonna be blunt. You guys are acting like wolves. Like you're trying to decide whose the alpha of the group. So what the hell is going on?" Issac looks at me, then to Cleo, and lastly at Hunter. Hunter has his head down. Cleo's tapping her foot, clearly out of annoyance, and has her brow raised.

"Nothing's going on-" Issac starts.

"Like hell nothing's going on." Hunter interrupts. If looks could kill, Hunter would be a walking corpse by now trying to eat our faces off. "You've been acting weird ever since you caught Linda and I kissing. Is that your problem?" Issac looks away. "It is isn't it? You have a crush on her."

"Hunter stop." I hold him back, but he roughly pushes me out of his way. Cleo catches me before I fall.

"Come on Issac. Tell her. Heck I think she might like you back." Issac doesn't say anything. He continues to look off in the distance as if nothing's going on. Hunter gets closer and shoves Issac.

"Hunter!" I shout. I run and grab his sleeve pulling him away from Issac, but he knocks me to the ground. I land on my butt and wince. This pushes Issac over the edge. He lunges at Hunter and wraps his hands around his throat. Cleo jumps between the two guys and attempts to pull them apart. I bring myself to my feet and grab Issac by his arm. I see his eyes shine and he releases Hunter, stumbling backward as if he didn't know what he was doing.

"Linda I...I didn't mean to. He... he hurt you. I...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He falls to his knees and then crosses his legs putting his head in his hands. I crouch beside him and put a hand on his shoulder and another on his back. I rub small circles on his back trying to calm him. He isn't shaking as bad as before, but I can tell he's still panicking. Hunter and Cleo are talking ten feet away and I can barely hear a thing. After a few minutes I hear Cleo shout whatever and she stalks toward Issac and I.

"Hunter and I can no longer be in your group. We're leaving. I'm sorry." I see her eyes water up, but don't say anything. I get to my feet and give her a hug. She whispers something in my ear and my body goes frigid. She pulls away from the hug, gives me an apologetic smile, and walks toward Hunter.

"Keep the truck." Hunter snorts. He throws the keys at my feet and smirks, as if he knows how I'm feeling right now and is proud of it. I narrow my eyes at him and he frowns. "If only you would've sided with me Linda. Trust me I do like you, but I can't deal with him."

"Goodbye Hunter." I spit. He smiles again and stalks toward a car that's about 20 feet away from the truck. Cleo hesitantly climbs in the passenger seat. My heart aches for her. The car makes a U-turn and speeds off. I help Issac to his feet.

"Well. We're on our own. Again."

"It's my fault. Linda I'm so sorry-"

"Don't be. We would've found out sooner or later that Hunter was a jerk. Better we found out sooner." I whisper the last part to myself. Issac gently grabs my arm and pulls me close to him, hiding his face in my hair. I rub his back and let some tears fall.

"So many things have gone wrong in such a short time, but at least we still have each other." Issac mumbles into my hair.

"Yeah." I look into the distance and see zombies. There's more than we can take on. "We need to leave." I point at the zombies and he slowly nods his head. Grabbing the truck's keys I hand them to Issac.

"Why don't you drive? You know, try to redeem yourself." I smile a little.

"Sounds good." He follows me toward the truck and helps me up. After he's in I push down on the gas and drive north. No going back now.