Speechless

Chapter seven

Jason just stares at me, half of me regrets what I said to him, since I know how he feels about me. But the other half is not so upset, he needs to believe me, even though he's right here I've never felt so alone. "Jason, I'm sorry," I say. "I didn't mean it,"

"Yeah you did," he tells me. "You've never felt the same way about me as I do you. You care about me but caring about my survival is as far as it goes. It's okay though, I'll be fine, beautiful," I turn and grab the door handle,

"Don't call me that," I warn. It used to be cute, made me feel special. But now it's just annoying. It only reminds me of what used to be. I don't want to be living in the present, or the future, but in the past. Before things got complicated.

I walk out the door and don't know what to think, I feel like a housewife and her imbecile of a husband fighting another petty fight. Love seems a little overrated when it's the end of the world. But I never thought I loved Jason. Maybe I was wrong.

I go to the corn field again and just sit there, looking out into the open plain. I see field for miles, with a faint mist of trees in the background. I suddenly feel tears tearing up my face, leaving water marks behind and my eyes bloodshot. I remember when Jason and I were talking, and I felt a single tear run down my cheek like a silent raindrop, but this, this was no raindrop. This was a storm. I then feel a hand on my shoulder and see Jason, with a sympathetic look in his eyes and on his face. I turn away from him, looking back out at the scenery. Jason sits beside me and We sit in silence for a while, not knowing how to start this conversation. But I decide it's time for me to make the first move, "you didn't believe me," I tell him, not knowing what else to say rather than repeat what I've already established.

"How can I, Aubrey?" He asks, turning his head to face me. I then look at him, at those green eyes and remember that lighting bolt tattoo under his ear, how small and subtle it is.

"What does your tattoo mean?" I ask. "Is it just cool looking or is it more? Knowing you, it's more,"

"It means something," Jason starts. He's then turns back out to look at the horizon, the sun slowly setting, dragging out the day, the moment. "It means that nature is a beautiful thing, but some is dangerous. Flowers and the sun is a gift to the world. But lighting is apart of that too, and it can kill you. Nature and life in General is a beautifully dangerous gift to the world. There's the flower and the tree, which is nature, but where does lighting go? Storms? There's tornadoes, all by Mother Nature, so therefore, lighting is part of nature. It's destructive. It's un safe. So I guess it means that even when things look beautiful, don't trust everything. Because Mother Nature can make it a sunny and happy day, but believe me, when lighting strikes, it strikes good." Jason finishes.

"I feel like you have trust issues," I say.

"Why would you say that?" He asks turning back to me. While I never stopped looking at him while he was defining his tattoo.

"Because when we were at the cave you said the sun shining and birds chirping was trickery, not hope. You don't trust easily. Maybe that is why you don't trust me, that The Gone are not dead, just stunned," I explain. He nods, seeming to acknowledge this for the first time.

"Wow," he says. "You're right,"

"Now why is this?" I ask in hopes that he knows the answer. He shrugs his shoulders,

"I have no clue. Maybe it will come to me tonight, while we sleep, in that house, right over there," he explains, pointing to the house. I chuckle,

"I'm coming back, don't worry, I'm not that crazy," I say. I hear Jason take a sigh of relief,

"That's great. I thought you might actually leave me," he said. I slowly shake my head, both of us are gazing into each other's eyes,

"I would never do that," I assure him. "No matter how frustrated and angry I get, I will never leave you to survive on your own. I promise,"

"Don't make promises you can't keep," he tells me just how I told him before. I look down at the ground then, trying to not make eye contact or else I might fall in love with him. I've been scared of falling if in love because I have no idea if when I land if I will land on a pile of feathers or metal spikes. I've never thought the risk would be worth taking. Certainly not now.

"I won't," I respond as I get up off the field and walk back to the house. I hear Jason get up to and he catches up with me. We walk in silence and soon arrive at the front step to the house. I open the door and see The Gone lying all over the hard wood floor. Then I walk a little distance and turn my head, seeing The Gone that talked to me lifeless against the wall. I look away and walk back to the pile of Gone and begin removing them from the household, one by one with Jason's help.

After we finished that, Jason ended up getting The Gone that spoke to me. "We should burn them," he tells me.

"Yeah," I agree. "Burn all but one,"

"Which one?" He asks.

"The one that spoke to me. I know all of them is capable of this, but we can't bury them all. So let's bury this one, which will represent all of them. They all deserve to-" Jason cuts me off.

"No! Aubrey, don't you see? This world is making you lose your mind! You're not stable! Aubrey, you're a great person, but mentally you're losing it. These things are the risen dead, we've talked about this, and there's nothing to be done. Alright?" He started off yelling at me, but then his tone slowly softened, almost to a whisper. I shake my head,

"You burn those, but I'm burying this one. With or without your help,"

And that's exactly what happened. Jason burned the other Gone and I buried The Gone that spoke with me. I buried him by myself. And I did it with pride.

After we finished that, it was pitch black outside. "Let's go to bed," Jason suggests. I nod and we walk inside, finding two separate bedrooms across the hall from one another upstairs. I walk into one and close the door behind me. The bed sheets had bloodstains all over them.

"Of course," I say to myself. I strip the bed and lay down on it, cold and alone on the bed. While I fall asleep, I think if Jason could be right. Maybe these things are dead, I think. Maybe I am going crazy and I'm just imagining The Gone speaking to me. I try to get the thought out of my brain, because I know I heard them. I can't lose hope like Jason. The man said there was a cure, I'm going to find it. These people are not dead, just stunned by a virus that makes them need to eat human flesh and are unable to control themselves on a physical level. But they can control themselves on a mental level. That's hope right there. They are just stunned, stunned speechless. They are not dead. Just speechless. Speechless.