Meet Me

Chapter 14 - Ash And Katherine

"I don't want us to be strangers again." - Unknown

By chance, we found somewhere to rest. We had been walking away from the prison for days now, and in that time all we had done was talk. Figure each other out.  So far, I had learnt that Ash was a year older than me, used to play for the school football team and was very badass. Take for example: killed a zombie with his bare hands so he could save one of his old group. His old group had been attacked. Only he and Katherine had survived. I hadn’t told him about Luisa. I didn’t think I would. She had only died a couple of days ago, but she was the past.

I had to get over her. There was absolutely nothing I could’ve done. It was either her or Owen. In that moment, there was no denying I would’ve saved Owen over her. Even still, Owen was family. Just not in the way I thought he was… “So, what about your boyfriend? Where is he? Dead?” I shook my head. It was very true that my boyfriend wasn’t dead, because he didn’t exist. “Oh, so where is he?” He was being nosy now, or flirting. I was the same. I hadn’t been around a boy in so long, I began to flirt with anything, that wasn’t my family or friend, which moved and had a heartbeat.               

“I never had a boyfriend. Don’t hit on me, you have Katherine by the sounds of it. I know flirting. I happen to be the champion of it.” I said, raising my eyebrows. He mirrored my action and stopped dead in his tracks. I stopped too, waiting for him to say something. I barely knew him, but I knew he was going to say something by his expression that was attempting to mirror mine.             

 “Oh really? Give me your best chat up line.” He said, crossing his arms. I laughed, so loud that Owen and Katherine turned round.

“It’s nothing, guys. Just stay on look out. Kate and I are going to go and see if we can find any shelter.”           

   “We are?” I asked, completely new to this statement. Before he replied, he dragged me into the forest. “Are we actually looking for a shelter or are you going to carry on playing twenty questions?” It seemed a little weird that if Katherine was his girlfriend, why was he alone here with me not her? “Because I don’t have any more questions. I am all out.” Now I knew Ash wasn’t a threat of any kind, I didn’t mind talking and being around him. Either that, or I had just missed flirting a whole lot more than I thought.  

    “I brought you in here for 2 reasons. One of them is that we are going to look for shelter. I used to live round this area, I recognize it a whole lot. I do remember that there is a hut somewhere here. Creepy, but safe if it is still there”                              

 “And number two?” I asked, keeping my eyes peeled for a wooden hut, I was guessing it was wooden. I was in the woods, after all.             

 “I recognize you. Very well actually.” He crossed his arms, intimidatingly. I wondered where this was going. I had met people in shops, clubs and the café. Everywhere. So, why was he any different? I defiantly felt as if I knew him from somewhere. His voice was familiar. Perhaps he was one of those boys – I call them boys, because that’s what they stay until aged thirty, or a zombie apocalypse happens – that whispered to me late at night in a drunken haze of meaning nothing. I would then do the ‘walk of shame’ in the morning. Not so much for me. It was more of a victory.

A small high without drugs – occasionally. I hated not remembering the night before, but it was something I was willing to do if I could feel amazing in the moment. I didn’t have to necessarily remember it. Couples forget important things like their wedding anniversary. It doesn’t mean they stop loving each other.                     

“How?” I finally asked. He tipped his head.                    

   “You honestly don’t remember the sobbing boy in the corner of the club? You came up to me, introduced yourself even though you were dru…” I spoke before I could let him finish.         

“I am always drunk if I am in a club. So far, no memory. Maybe, just maybe, it was because I was drunk? Ever think of that?” Ash nodded, so I shut up again and let him carry on with his story. I had been listening to a lot of these recently.          

  “I did think of that. So, anyway, you helped me up and told me to shove it up my ass, whatever was wrong, and be a man. You made me laugh.” I shrugged and crossed my arms over my torso to keep me from getting cold.

 A cold wind had picked up and I didn’t want to catch a cold. Now there was no warm place to go, a cold was deadly. Many people had just simply died of a cold. I knew this, because Owen, Luisa and I had let a girl named Leanne tag along with us once. She was eight, caught a cold, and the rest is history.

Luisa was the one that felt bad for days afterwards. Owen and I sucked it up and tried to make Luisa deal with it herself – after all it was her problem that she cared, not ours. “Then, you pulled me outside and told me a load of shit about your life. Everything, or so it seemed to be. I only remember you, because of your hair and your eyes. It’s a rare combination, you know.” I didn’t know that, but I stayed quiet.

“We sat on a fence and you complained that your skirt was too tight. I called you a slut, but you didn’t seem to care. Said it was true and I said nothing else. You told me ‘bout your family and how they’d mistreated you, that you were in care, had a brother called Owen, – that’s when I knew for definite it was you by the way – and you were part of a gang. A bad gang, you said. I thought you were high. You probably were. I’m still not very sure.

But, your problems put mine into perspective. Thanks for that. Fuck it, you kept saying, as you took swings from a vodka bottle.” This was all happening so fast. This guy knew me. This person that I thought was a stranger had been helped by drunk Kate. Like I just said, no memory of it happening.

“Let’s just start off as strangers, okay?” I asked, desperate for him to have made a mistake Drunk Kate usually slept with guys she met and spoke to. I would’ve defiantly made Ash a victim. He was tall, dark and handsome. Drunk Kate liked those types of guys. Who was I kidding? So did sober Kate.  

 “Yeah. You don’t remember me anyway, so this will be easy for you.” He held out his hand, and I took it and we shook hands. “Nice to meet you, Kate. I’m Ash. My real name is Ashley. I hate that name, because it sounds so much like a girl’s name.” He smirked and let go of my hand. I didn’t know what to reply with, so I just spat out any sentence appropriate.       

  “Am I supposed to laugh? Nice to meet you, Ash – ley.” Ash grimaced. “Ash.” I corrected myself. He nodded and said,                    

“Better. Now, let’s look for this hut.” I barely knew him, but I felt as if we had a connection. I didn't want to date Ash.  Especially in the situation we were in, it wasn't ideal at all. I just met him. Well, as far as I knew I had. There was only one problem with that connection: Katherine.