Eyes of the infected ✔ [COMPLETED]

Chapter twenty-five

I can't believe this is the last chapter (before the epilogue). This has been awesome fun to write and Im so grateful that anyone read it. I know a few thousand reads isn't massive on this website but I expected nobody but little ol' me to read it so thank you for the votes, reads ad comments and the really cool support.

Cheers m'dears and I hope you like it.

Epilogue will be posted ASAP. :)

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 The door slammed shut and I threw myself back on the bed, letting out the biggest breath I think I'd ever let out in my life. My limbs suddenly went numb and I realised just how exhausted I was, not just physically but emotionally. It was hard to believe that after all this, this really was the end. We'd sleep tonight and then we'd be jetted off to another country, somewhere safe. Excitement filled my stomach before it was replaced with complete dread and I realised that even though I was living in terror, I didn't want to leave. How could I possibly leave... bodies behind? We were walking away from this horror but there were people surely still trapped, were they going to get help?

No. We'd stumbled across help, where would we be if Keith hadn't convinced me to come with these guys? Would we be dead, holed up in a shop still? Would they carry on with that bombing after all? What would be left of my home country?

I sprung upwards on the mattress when Keith dropped next to me, groaning as he did.

'Tired?' I mumbled, bemused.

'I don't know' he muttered back, pulling me into him. I sighed, content.

'You meant it all?' I asked him; knowing he did, hoping he did.

'Of course I did' he sounded almost sheepish and I smiled, '...Did you?'

I pulled away from him so I could look straight at him, 'every word'.

'Why?' I noticed he tried to hide his smile by crunching up his nose, 'I work at a supermarket and I cle-'

I put my finger up to his lips and swatted him around the head.

'I like shelf stackers'.

'And I like you, Miss Sawyer'.

'Keith...' I sat up on the bed, my fatigue forgotten. Sensing the tone, he sat up too and we both remained cross legged, looking at one another.

'I feel like...' I tried to find the words, 'I feel like I can't leave this place. I'd be abandoning my parents and my best friend...' a lump formed in my throat but I vowed not to cry, 'I feel like I'm shoving all the information away and I haven't had time to process it... I haven't even accepted' the lump got bigger, 'I mean, I haven't even let myself believe that they're...' I took a breath, 'Dead'.

He looked at me intently for a short while before answering, taking his hands and stroking mine.

'I'm scared to leave too, sunshine' he admitted and as much as I tried to hide my shock, I couldn't.

'Why?'

'Because I don't want to leave anyone behind either... plus, I can't imagine myself settling back into normal like after this, y'know? We've spent so long being... abnormal that I can't see myself going and working in Sainsbury's again, I can't picture myself in a little flat alone eating microwave meals every night because I can't cook. I need more'.

I nodded vigorously, overwhelmed because he'd pinpointed my most buried, hidden fears.

'I don't want to go live in a house without my parents' I whispered, 'I don't want to go to another country and have to tell Joel that his parents... I don't wanna scroll through my phone and see Skylar on the contacts and go to call her but...' I couldn't speak anymore through the sobs and I was pulled firmly into an embrace.