Rachael Entry 4: Apart

Chapter 32

Jeffery, Will, and even that stupid kid and I worked on the plan to get that herd away from us. If everything works out ideally, when we turn off the power for a couple of days and confine ourselves to our rooms, the run team and the night watch will drive some cars all the way to Virginia leading the herd off of the key bridge or somewhere that's not here. Jeffery kind of volunteered the run team despite Annika and Tom not being present which was a little odd, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

For all the times of Annika to be missing in action this was an unlikely one, she's usually there when disaster strikes. She was there when Peter got bit, when I was in trouble, I even saw her looking for the keys and she was upstairs when Eden killed Sam. And for all of the times for Jeffery to slack off in his leadership role this was not a good one. If I was dumb I wouldn't entertain the idea of the two things being related, but because I'm smart I won't dare say anything about it.

Despite the high of coming up with a plan on how to survive the herd I feel kind of down. I took a shower to clear my head but it still felt clouded. It wasn't until I got dressed that it dawned on me what was wrong. I have no idea on how to console Eden and Harry about their whole situation. I didn't even return to their sides after finding out about the herd, I left Harry with the professor even. Hopefully he went to his room, I pray as I head up the stairs to the upper courtyard.

When I reach the top of the stairs I see Eden sitting on one the benches outside of the high school. I know I can't just walk by her to help Harry, especially since she told me straight to my face that she feels that I prioritize him over her. I haven't done anything to prove that what she said wasn't true even when she said it was fine. I walk over to her and sit right beside her.

"Hey." I say.

"Hey." She softly responds. Her curly hair droops down from her head as she stares at nothing on the ground. One doesn't have to be a psychiatrist to know that she's been crying even if she wasn't completely upset yesterday. I understand that there were a lot of emotions going around and three things happened at once.

"I'm not going to ask you if you're okay because that would just be a waste of breath, but I know how you feel."

"How could you?" Eden weeps, "You've never taken a life before."

"I have."

"I told you, Sam killed Peter." She reminds me.

"But I was willing to let him die, he may not have died but he wouldn't have the same life he had before the run. I was going to let him die because I hated him and I wanted to save my ass. But Eden, you killed Sam because you wanted everybody here to live. You sacrificed your peace of mind to save everyone here. You say self defense but you went up to Sam to confront her about Peter. That's not murder, that's being a hero. Yeah there may be a herd outside but it was about time we had a little bit of excitement here. Those brainless sacs of skin don't have anything on you."

Eden smiles through her tears which is exactly how I've been feeling since this week started.

"Thank you." She laughs as she wipes a tear away.

"No, thank you." I say starting to stand up, "I have to go talk to Harry now which will serve to be a harder task."

"I'll come with you." Eden suggests.

"Oh, you don't have to, really."

"I was there, I owe it to him."

"You don't owe anything to anybody."

"I want to do this, Rachael. Somebody needs to be there for him."

I nod to her and we make our way across the courtyard to Harry's room. I am lucky that Eden is so strong and only needed to hear a couple sentences to feel better, Harry is so different. Not only are their circumstances completely different, but Laina's fate had been decided since her meds ran out; there was no stopping this. I have no idea what to say to him and I'm kind of glad Eden decided to help me out. I take a deep breath before I turn the handle to Harry's door.