Surviving Today

Chapter Eight

Day 657(1 am)

"Jack?"

As soon as I saw her my mind went blank, my mouth went dry.

"Uh-I um-uh..."

Her face becomes serious, her eyes glaring hatred in my direction.

"Jack! What the hell are you doing here?" she tried.

I rack my brain for answers as I start to feel embarrassed.

Damn it cheeks! Don't fail me now!

My cheeks turn red as I stutter upon more words.

I was about to apologize, but then the smart ass in me answered first.

"I think the better question Amy is what are you doing here?" I quipped.

She looked taken aback, and for once I actually saw her face turn red.

"That's none of your buisness!"

"Oh really? So you break your own rules about not leaving things open, you put us all in danger, and yet you still think that's none of my buisness?" I retort.

She's speechless. She can't keep her strong exterior anymore I can tell.

Watching her was like watching a dam break. First you see cracks, but then it just collapses.

Tears of frustration were welling up in her eyes. She balled her fists and pinned them to her sides. This was the crack in the dam.

"I-I don't want to tell you Jack." she says, leaving her mouth in just a whisper.

My expression softens some.

"C'mon Amy. Stop holding it back. This is your chance, your chance to let it all go." I say to her.

She shakes her head violently. "No, no if I let it go then how will I remember?" she cries to me.

"Amy...letting go doesn't mean forgetting. It just means freeing yourself. You don't have to be alone in whatever you're dealing with. Let me help you." I say to her.

I slowly inch my way closer to her with my hands up in a calming motion. When I get close enough to her she turns her back to me.

"But I-I don't even know where to start." she says letting a small laugh escape her lips. She shakes her head at herself.

I make my way to her and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Just...Just start from the beginning." I say. She nods.

I lead her to the couch next to us and we both sit beside each other.

Amy hugs her knees to her chest, and stares off into the distance. She twitches every now and again, and her hands are shaking.

After some silence Amy starts to speak. She tells me her story.

"It wasn't just me. I had a family. I had a Mom, a Dad, an older sister, an older brother. I was the youngest, I was the weakest..." she begins.

"When things started happening, like the dead rising, we were together thank goodness; but...not for long. The apocalypse started July 30th, but it didn't hit us for about another week or so. You see it was like the virus started in the east coast and just sort of migrated slowly to where we are now. So when we saw that people were eating...people...on the news, we had time to prepare. The whole city did..."

She takes a pause to catch her breath. Still her breathing remains uneven and shaky. She never takes her eyes of whatever she is staring at.

"People were terrified, heck I was terrified. Most people fled the city and tried moving to the country, which to their misfortune resulted in them in becoming the freeway herd coming out of here. My family stayed. My parents were smart. My Dad started buying guns, and supplies. He started looking for places we could make base. He had a few in mind but we just ended up staying home. Everyone was equipped to fight; except me. They protected me, shielded me from the world. I never had to lift a finger really..." she laughed as she said this, then just as quickly became serious again.