Chapter 1 Art: by.inky_ (instagram)
Lilly was told several times that she would never go on to pursue art. She was told that going to art school was a waste of money and time. She was also told she looked like was ready for Halloween everyday, and that she was a smart mouth when she was in middle school. All these things Lilly thought about way too much. She took every comment to heart. She needed everyone to like her. She needed everyone to get along with each other, and with herself. But she knew it wouldn't happen, and she hated it.
Currently, Lilly sat in the corner of a convenient store with a sprained ankle, crying and holding a dirty pink teddy bear. A ruffly pink umbrella lay inches from her left foot, and a heavy bag sat at her side. No one was helping her. Why? No one was there. She sighed heavily and looked around at what was left of the store.
Boxes were thrown and chips were spilled and a body or two lay within a few feet. She was terrified. She couldn't move, she was going to die. That is, until she heard whispering. Lilly gasped slightly, praying to all the gods in the world that it wasn't zombies. That it wasn't the flesh eating monsters ready to dine on her like she was a Thanksgiving turkey.
It wasn't. She could tell.
"I don't know, I just... I heard crying. Hello?" A voice called out. Lilly stayed silent. The footsteps and the voice got louder. "Hello? Is anyone in here? We heard you-"
"Stop. It could be a rouse."
"I want to check." All of a sudden, a pretty boy with blue-ish white hair came out from behind a shelf. He had violet eyes and a clear face. Lilly eyed him with puffy red eyes and a suspicious look. "Are you okay?" He whispered carefully. There was a bug difference between them. He looked healthy, clean, and pretty. Lilly looked sad, miserable, and unhealthy.
"W-W-Who are y-you?" Lilly barely managed to get out her words. She was cold, hurt, scared, and afraid. He was pretty, but she could tell he was as worried of getting hurt as she was. The boy had a warming aura about him, as if he just wanted to give everyone a hot bowl of soup and a home to stay at.
"I... I'm Harry." He said reluctantly, eyeing her as she eyed him. "Are you hurt? Did you get bitten?" Lilly immediately shook her head.
"No. I sprained my ankle. I've been stuck here for about two hours. No zombies have really been in this area. One or two, but they just walked off." Lilly sniffled. She hadn't been wearing much either. Shorts and a tank with a denim jacket. It wasn't super cold when the zombies began to spread like mold, how was she supposed to know the actual zombie apocalypse was coming. God she was freezing. Harry approached cautiously.
He squatted next to her. "How can I be so sure?" He asked in a gentle tone. Lilly took off her jacket to reveal her full arms, and pulled down her knee socks to reveal all of her legs.
"I promise you I'm clean. No bites." She tried to show all of her arms and legs, clean of bites, before shivering and putting her jacket back on. Harry stared for a minute, observing her arms and legs before nodding.
"She looks safe, Ethan." Lilly gave Harry a questioning look before a tall guy came out from behind a shelf. He had a baseball bat and black swoopy hair. Lilly stared at him, a little scared. Ethan looked down at Lilly for a second. Lilly stared back. Feeling the tension, Harry carefully put his hand on Lillys knee, who jumped in response. "I-It's okay. He's good. You must be so cold. Have you been wandering by yourself this whole time?" Lilly nodded. "We...." Harry have Ethan a look before turning back to Lilly. "We have an entire group of survivors staying at the high school about a block away. We could take you with us, give you somewhere to stay." The shivering girl's eyes widened.
"You would do that?" She whispered, feeling tears brim her eyes. Before Harry could answer, his name was called out, as well as Ethans. He looked over his shoulder to see his friend cautiously walking up. Lilly stared at all of them with confusion and fear. Who were all these people? Why were there so many of them? The girl began to get overwhelmed and tried to back up. Lilly couldn't help it. She hadn't seen people in several days. It felt weird, especially since it was a group of teenage boys. She got nervous around boys her age. Harry looked at the boy and told him she was safe. The new one walked up and leaned down next to Lilly who scooted away in response pretty quickly. He smiled, and Lilly immediately felt calmer.
She couldn't back up any further as she was in the corner of the store. The boy put his hands up cautiously. "Its okay, I'm not going to hurt you. What's your name?" He asked quietly. His brown eyes were very pretty, and warm. He had fluffy hair. She wanted to touch it. She didn't though, as that would be creepy. Lilly looked at him and then all of the boys.
"Li... Lilly." She whispered. She jumped as he touched her ankle. It stung, badly.
"I'm sorry. I'll try not to hurt you. I'm Lawrence." He said calmly. "Ethan, hand me some of that athletic tape." The boy did as told and Lawrence began wrapping her ankle.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" She whispered weakly. Lawrence looked up, but Harry answered.
"We're not just going to leave a survivor to fend for herself. We're human, that's what we do." He said. Lawrence threw the tape to Ethan who caught it and put it away. "By the way, what's that?" Harry pointed to a big black bag next to Lilly.
"My stuff. It's just some survival items." Lilly put her bear in the bag and grabbed her umbrella. Lawrence looked at the bear for a second before back at her.
"Lawrence, could she come to the high school with us?" Harry asked quietly. "She let us check for bite marks and said she's been here for two hours. If she were bitten, she probably would have turned by now."
Lawrence stared at Lilly for a moment too long before nodding. "Sure. Why not? But you can't walk can you? Ethan could you carry her?" Ethan looked at her, trying to determine her weight before nodding.
"Okay." he whispered.
***
Lilly never understood why they helped her. People were always nice to her, but she never felt like she deserved it. That was the problem with Lilly. She never felt like she deserved the attention and the kind actions.
That's what depression did to you. It pushed you under the water when you needed air. And she needed air, badly.
