Surviving Walkers

S01E06 - The Apple Tree

I didn't know how I slept. I remembered thinking if I would wake up the next day at all. After ending my watch through the freezing night, I awakened Ryan and handed the duty over to him. Then I lied down on the ground with a backpack as rest for my aching heavy head. I saw Beth sleeping few feet away. I wanted her to feel safe with us—with me. As I tried to sleep coping with the fear of being eaten alive, and losing myself and turning into one of them, I thought of us—Ryan and me before this apocalypse took our lives away. We were nothing but just kids who hung around wasting our time, skipping college and smoking a flower that know one knew about. Ryan and I were best friends ever since that I could recall. We two were the worst kids in the batch—not in grades but in behavior. Still not to exaggerate, people loved us.

I remembered how we bunked classes with a group of senior girls. They'd drink, talk hours about their horrible cheating boyfriends and would end the session with having rough, hard, revenge sex with us. I always wondered why they hooked up with us. With some pleasure that I state, we were players in the game. Eventually Ryan got together with Tara—one of our juniors. That was when we decided to change our behavior and become responsible teenagers who had normal lives—but it didn't go as planned. What we did was we dragged Tara and her best friend Alex to the wild lives we lived. Alex automatically became a part of our group, a part of me. Four of us always hung around together and when we did, Alex and I had to give space to the love birds. We two ended up alone, and in time we became best friends. Back then, the thought of shooting them in the face never crossed my mind, then again it wasn't them we shot—it was something different.

The hunger reminded me of the empty sacks of food we had left. I saw Ryan doing a perfect job of keeping a look out by being in a deep sleep. I couldn't blame him. We all had crossed our limits a long time before. I was only happy that we were lucky enough to not to be meals for those cannibal monsters. Suddenly, something dumped on the ground near me and bumped towards me. I was surprised to see that it was an apple. I followed the direction that it came and saw Beth with a huge bag full of them, standing in the morning sunlight, looking like an angel.

"There's an apple tree by the lake." She said.

"There's a lake?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah—down there."

I searched where she pointed, all I saw was the edge of a forest.

"How far is it?" I asked feeling the danger of her going around alone.

"It's kinda far." She said taking a bite out of an apple.

"Why would you go there alone?" I asked standing up, dusting off my pants.

"What?" She asked with a mouthful.

"Something could've happened to you." I said concerned.

"Okay you care I get it—now drop it." She said blowing my mood. "Come on. I'll show you."

I followed Beth after she convinced me that it would be okay to leave Ryan alone with the SUV. The walk gave me a geographical idea about the place. The ground started from the road and spread up to a lake, which seemed to be filled with clean water—clean enough for us to drink. Ending the ground there, in the other side of the lake it was a small forest.

"Anyone could've been in that forest and grabbed you—or a walker could've eaten you." I said as I was looking for more ways she could've gotten hurt.

"Come." She said pulling my arm as she didn't hear my theories of her getting in trouble.

She brought me to a rock which had its one half on grounds and the other went up to the middle of the lake. She led the way pulling my arm so I let go of myself and gave her to take me wherever. She climbed the rock and after I made it, we came to the edge of the rock. I wanted to blame her more for being inconsiderate but the place got me astonished. We were standing in the middle of the lake's transparent water, which we saw the sand filled beautiful bottom of it through. The peacefulness and beauty the forest held, faded away any fear of danger in there. Met with the morning bright sunlight, the water sparkled as it moved in its own rhythm passing us. The music of birds came from the little forest, enhancing the beauty and mesmerizing me with nature.

Beth held my hand as she stood next to me, experiencing the heaven on earth as I was. I took a big breath trying to grasp all the perfectness of the forest, closing my eyes, smiling as I did. I saw her looking at me as I opened them again. She was glad that her discovery gave me that much pleasure. I felt her leaning on to me, pressing me with her body as the tender grip tightened in her hand. Her warmth was all I needed against the cold wind blew through us struggling with our cloths. I felt a strong feeling deep within me as she rested her head on my shoulder. I ran my hand around her waist, grabbing her closer to me. Her hair ran down on me making me want to kiss her head. I saw her smiling with perfection as I took my lips away.

"I'm sorry." Said Beth.

"For what?" I asked surprised.

"For going around alone."

That was the first time I experienced her softness towards me. She always had been a tough girl but at that moment, I saw deep into her heart for what it was.

"It's okay." I said feeling blissful for accepting me.

We kept silence as we enjoyed the paradise together, feeling each other's warmth, connecting, creating something special.

"Do you like it?" She asked.

"Hell yeah." Said I.

"I saw this when I was on the apple tree." She said, making me feel proud for some reason.

"You were on the apple tree?" I asked.

"Aha..."

"Then?"

"Then I thought you should see this. I thought we could enjoy this together." She said pressing me more as I felt her soft body on me.

"Together?" I asked trying to move the conversation along the path.

"Yeah, would you like that?" She asked gazing in to my eyes.

"I am 'together' now and I'm having the best time of my life." I said smiling.

Giving me a minor stroke, she leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

"Good—cause me too." She said.

I looked at her and saw her eyes fixed on my lips. I knew the sign, I knew what she wanted. I slowly closed my lips to hers. Watching her eyes getting closed, I closed mine and waited passionately for her lips to touch mine. The universe paused as we felt each other.