RU in? - 1st novel in the Ruinsaga series

Chapter 34 .

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I watched Grace as she slept. Her black and teal hair tumbled all around her. Her beautiful face was calm and peaceful. There was a small smile at the corner of her lips. I hoped she dreamed of me.

It was strange. We had been friends since we were little. Me and her and the other group of kids from our neighborhood. And then she turned thirteen and everything changed. She dyed strands of her hair the teal color it still was. She had kept up that unique hair color ever since then. She stopped hanging around us. She stopped talking to us. I tried to talk to her when it first happened. I tried going over to her house to see her because even then I had a crush on her, but she would never speak to me. Not through middle school or high school. She was on the archery team, but she wouldn't even speak with them. She would go and practice or go win tournaments, but she didn't socialize.

Since she kept to herself, I hadn't known what college she was going to or if she even planned to go. I was shocked the first time I saw her in the cafeteria at my university. And she wasn't alone. She was chatting and laughing with Camila. She was socializing in a way I had never seen before. Being at the university had freed her from whatever hidden shackles she had put on herself.

I looked across the camp to where Camila sat alert and scanning the woods as the others slept. It was cold. Our breaths made little white puffs in the air. Both Camila and I had blankets wrapped around us as well as the coats we had picked up earlier in the day.

Everyone who slept snuggled close together underneath the sleeping bags to keep warm. I was on watch, but I sat directly next to Grace. I reached out and gently touched one of her teal strands.

That first day I saw her in the cafeteria, she had seemed as shocked as I was. But she was different than middle school and high school. She greeted me warmly and invited me to sit with her and Camila. From that moment on, we had lunch together everyday. It wasn't long until we started to have dinners together too. And then one day she casually held my hand. I had kissed her and our relationship officially began. She hadn't told her family yet and I hadn't told mine. I was quiet because it seemed like she wanted to keep it secret. I didn't know why. Once we met up with our families, we would tell them everything. She never did give me a good reason why she stopped talking to me when she turned thirteen. She changed the subject whenever I brought it up and I let her.

Earlier in the day - or yesterday as it was now early morning the next day-, after we had left Dr. Smith and the girl at that weird RU in? place, we had found a super store. We ran into a few zombies which we had killed, but not many. We were lucky and we knew we were lucky. We stocked up on supplies, got our new bikes and headed out to the diner.

The sky subtly began to lighten. If it had been the spring or summer, we might begin to hear birds, but it wasn't. It was eerily quiet this early in the morning.

It was colder and colder with each passing day. Once we joined up with our families, we should find a safe, warm place to stay for the winter. I knew Camila and Connor wanted to go look for their families too, but it would be difficult to travel through the snow.

Camila smiled at me from across the camp as I played with my girlfriend's hair. I stopped embarrassed that I had been caught. A low moan sounded nearby. Camila and I froze. A second moan greeted it. There was shuffling in the foliage behind the trees beyond Camila. Her knife was out in an instant.

I shook Grace's shoulder. I put my finger to my lips to indicate for her to be quiet when her brown eyes fluttered open. Camila stood and backed up a little. She nudged Dr. Patel's foot with her own. He opened his eyes and blinked questioningly at her, but as soon as he saw her standing ready with the knife in hand, he woke Dr. Higgins. Grace woke Todd who in turn woke Connor. By the time the first zombie shambled his way into our camp, we were all ready. The zombie groaned loudly when she saw us. A groan extremely close by answered. Two more groans answered a little further away.