Life in an Apocalypse

Chapter 7

     After taking some time to cool off from that little incident with Cynthia (I still shiver at the thought), I headed back towards the room we had Cynthia resting. I found her cowering behind Marge and Marge arguing with Jack and Damien for some reason. I only held one thought in my mind: what the hell did Damien do now?
    "Look, the girl wasn't in her room when I opened up to check on her and I just wanna know where she was! That too hard to ask?!" Damien was shouting. Marge looked like she wasn't gonna have any of it. She remained defensive, not letting Jack nor Damien come close to talking to the poor girl. 
    "You're just scaring her, Damien. Lay off," Jack was trying to calm Damien down, but I guess he was being ignored. 
    "Just shut up and let her back into her room, Damien," Marge was shouting back, "She's back safe and sound so you shouldn't need to bother her about it, right?! Let her through!"
    "Not unless we tell her straight not to just walk off like that!" Damien retorted angrily. I sighed in frustration. This was just utterly irritating just to listen.
    "Will everyone just shut up for about five whole freaking seconds?!" I shouted out. All four of them turned rapidly towards me, surprised at my voice. Cynthia let go of Marge's back and nearly tackled me into a hug, gripping my back for dear life. I returned the hug in kind, trying to reassure her that she was going to be fine, my eyes still fixed on the three other individuals standing before me. "I hope you guys realize that you might attract reams with all your useless shouting, right?" I toned my voice down. They exchanged looks with one another, each one laughing sheepishly at their actions. I honestly found this to be sad; it made me wonder about how on Earth I came to start travelling with this group. "If you guys are finished acting like children, move aside. I think Cynthia needs to rest," I continued. I nudged Cynthia to loosen her grip and began escorting her towards her room. They stepped aside to let me and Cynthia pass through, and remained silent as the door closed behind me. 

    I sat Cynthia down on her bed and knelt down to see her face. She was downcast, and still looked rather terrified of Damien and Jack. My thoughts on what was going on? She's frightened by the two guys, mostly Damien.
    "They look scary, but they don't mean any harm. Okay?" I told her quietly. She nodded at me, acknowledging that I said something, but that was all she did: acknowledge me. I wanted to tell her that she was going to stay scared of them for awhile, and that it would take time for her to get used to them. That is, I wish we had time, but life had something else in store for us. I suddenly heard muffled shouts and grunts coming from outside the room. They sounded all too familiar to me: there was a skirmish going on just outside Cynthia's room. I stood up quickly and reached for my knife belt. I could feel Cynthia watching my every move as I prepared myself. Before I got to the door, though, she embraced me from behind. I felt her head pressed against my back, small tremors signalling that she was crying again.
    "Don't go," I could hear Cynthia faintly whisper, sobs wracking her body, "Don't leave me alone." I swallowed hard. She was making this really difficult for me. I understood that she was scared and I wanted to comfort her. But at he same time, I needed to go. I had to go to Jack, Damien and Marge. They need me to help them in this fight. I took Cynthia's hands off my body and turned around. What I did next was something I just did by instinct and is something I never thought I would actually do. 

    I held the back of her head gently, embracing her with my other arm, and kissed her forehead. 

    She looked up at me in shock when I pulled away. I looked straight into her eyes. "I need to go. To protect you and the others. I WON'T be leaving you. I promise," I told her, letting my conviction flow through my voice. She just stood still, dazed at what just happened between us, as I turned to head outside the room to join the fight. 

    I came out to find Jack, Damien and Marge in a deadlock with a horde of reams. This is quite the mess, I thought to myself, there's about fifty reams at the very least in here! Straight away I pulled out my bayonet and one other kitchen knife, charging head first into a few reams trying to take a bite out of Jack.
    "Glad you finally came around!" The lean man called out to me, smirking. I grinned back, shoving a blade down a ream's skull. 
    "Sorry it took so long!" I called back, "Mind telling me what the hell happened here?!"
    "Ream horde just swarmed us!" I heard Damien yell through the groans and growls of the horde, "They must have come from the front of the hospital. Didn't think they'd swarm us so fast!"
    "It was probably because we were shouting earlier!" Marge yelled out, crunching a few reams of her own, "They must have heard us and began forming up here!"
    "Well, whatever the case, let's end this fast!" I shouted out to all three of them, "Whatever you do, DO NOT let them past us!"
    "Got it!"
    "Roger that!"
    "Already on it!"
    The four of us kept going at it for a good hour and a half, never stopping for a break. We did manage to take down the entire horde with no real issue, but it left us physically and mentally exhausted. I could see Marge leaning against the wall breathing heavily as Damien and Jack managed to muster the strength to clean up the ream bodies that littered around us. I sheathed my two knives into my belt just staggered back into Cynthia's room to go check on her. Upon opening the door I tripped just from my sheer exhaustion. But before I could hit the floor, I felt Cynthia's hands hold me up from my shoulders. She didn't speak, but helped me to sit down on her bed. I sensed her walk away for a bit, then return. When I finally calmed myself down to a reasonable level, I noticed Cynthia offering me my water bottle. I smiled in thanks and took it, draining its contents. She smiled back, and the two of us just sat there in peaceful silence, just appreciating each other's company. 

    Neither one of us really knew what to do in the silence. I was pondering at what I had done before the fight. WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING, I internally screamed. I kissed her forehead. I actually did that. I honestly didn't know what to really think. I nearly jumped through the ceiling from Cynthia tapping my shoulder to get my attention. 
    "Hey... Zee?" She sounded anxious, as if she was trying to choose her words carefully. I remained silent, but I did look over to her to show her I was listening. She saw my eyes and quickly looked away for a moment, her face going red with embarrassment, before turning to me again. "Thank you. For that," she said meekly. I blinked a couple times as I tried to register what she meant. In the end, I remained confused.
    "What for?" I asked as calm as I could. 
    "For, you know," Cynthia replied, "Not leaving me. Like you promised."
    
    I didn't know what to say. For a second I thought she was going to question why the hell I would do what I did despite only meeting her today. What she said instead did give me a bit of relief, but it didn't help the awkward atmosphere. I couldn't help but smile. "I meant it. Neither me nor anyone else in our group is going to leave you alone. We're in this together now. There's no way we'd abandon you here," I told her. She giggled, and this time I couldn't help but feel like my heart became lighter. It made me happy that she was comfortable with us now. 
    "I should go apologize to Damien, huh," Cynthia said, smiling still. 
    "Nah, I'm sure he doesn't care by now," I chuckled, "You can try talking to him if you want. I'll even stay next to you if you're scared."
    "Hehe, yeah, I'd appreciate that," Cynthia laughed nervously. I stood up from her bed and pulled her up with me. Together, the two of us walked outside of the room, carrying my stuff with me. We found Marge, Damien and Jack all packing their things as well. Seems everyone had the same idea: it was time to leave. 
    "I see you guys are ready to go," Jack noted aloud, noticing Cynthia and I, "Shall we head out?"
    "As soon as everyone's ready, I guess," I replied back, gripping my pack on my shoulder. Cynthia nodded as well, standing close to me.
    "Good. We don't have to tell you," Damien called back, slinging his pack over his back. He walked over towards me and Cynthia. I noticed Marge and Jack tense up a bit, but I smiled and motioned them to relax. Damien approached Cynthia, trying his best not to scare her away again. Cynthia was also trying her best not to hide behind me; she chose to hold onto my left arm and hug it instead to ease her fears.

    "Try not to run off by yourself again next time, okay?" Damien said to Cynthia, keeping his tone even, "We need to watch over each other and stay careful. You never know what might happen. Deal?"
    Cynthia smiled, "Deal. I'll let you guys know if I need anything, okay?" Jack and Marge breathed a collective sigh of relief. I couldn't help but smile in relief myself; she's getting used to being around everyone now.

    "Alright then," I spoke up, shifting my pack, "If everyone is done packing, let's head out." And with that, we left the hospital behind to continue on.