Meet Me

Chapter 26 - Tessa

Tessa

"People gonna talk, whether you doing bad or good." Rihanna

The beginning of the apocalypse – 24274 dead/undead in the UK

I was lost, alone and scared. That sounded so cliché, but it was the truth. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but there were these… things going around killing people. They looked dead, but they were alive. I had only seen a few that were … some that looked alive.

“Help!” I screeched.

“Who’s out there?” A voice yelled back. I started to run towards the voice. I didn’t care if they were a killer – okay that was a lie – I was confused, hungry, thirsty and dazed. I was young and didn’t have a clue what was happening.

One minute, I was just sat at my dining room table doing my homework, then next I was running away from a zombie – it was unmistakably a zombie. I had watched Warm Bodies with my father when my mother had been out. It had been an okay film. Didn’t scare me. Much.

A boy, a little older than me perhaps, emerged from round a corner. He walked towards me in the middle of the road. I stood still. I hoped he wasn’t a murder. He didn’t look much like a murderer. Why was I judging him via appearance?

He had straw-like hair and he had the biggest blue eyes I had ever seen. They were almost as big and blue as my brothers eyes had been. Where was he? He always came to my rescue. Well, he had before.

“Are you okay? What is your name? How old are you?” He asked a million questions.

For some reason, I told him the answers.

“I… I’m just very confused. I don’t know what’s happening. My names Tessa and it’s my birthday today.” I admitted.

“Not a very good birthday then?” He asked, kneeing in front of me. I shook my head vigorously.

“No.  Defiantly not at all the bestest birthday I have ever had.”

“So, how old are you now?” The blonde boy asked.

“Ten.” I said, almost immediately.

“Wow. Ten. Can’t remember being ten that much at all.” Something told me he could remember each detail. I don’t know what it was.

He smiled at me and then we heard a yell – a girl’s voice.

“Owen! Hurry up! I don’t want to stick around here. I’m scared!”

Then another voice.

“What Luisa means to say is that we need to get out of here!” This voice was meaner, more determined. I didn’t like it.

“In a sec, Luisa!” He said, addressing the first girl. “Don’t worry, Kate, just wait a minute!” He said, giving a completely different time limit.  He looked at me and offered his hand.

“I’m Owen. Those two yelling are my … friend and my sister. Luisa and Kate.” His voice dropped into a whisper. “Don’t confuse them for each other. They are very different. In looks and personality…” His voice trailed off.

I had nobody else, and this boy had shown me nothing but kindness. How could I have not gone with him?

“Okay.” And we were off.

He took me to the corner where we had heard the yells. Standing there - one huddled into herself, one standing tall – were two pretty girls. They might’ve not been pretty, but to me they were.  They didn’t look like the girls in the magazines or the TV, but in my own personal opinion, I thought of them as being pretty.

One had ginger hair, dark ginger which was almost red, and her eyes scared me. I thought that if anything should be red, it should be her eyes. She examined me with them and I examined her the same way. She intimidated me. I wanted to intimidate her. I couldn’t.

The other seemed much kinder. She looked about as frightened as I was. Her hair was just like mine and so were her eyes – wide and violet. She looked at me differently. Owen had said that one was Kate and one was Luisa. I tried to guess who was who. I guessed that Kate was the one who had yelled the second time, the girl with the evil eyes, and Luisa was the one who had said she was frightened, the one who looked like me.

“Owen, who is this little angel?” Luisa asked.

Kate looked at me as if what Luisa said was the total opposite. The truth was, Kate was right and Luisa was wrong. I wasn’t at all a good child. In fact, I wasn’t even a bad child.  I was a normal child on the verge of being a bad one.

“Her name is Tessa.” He introduced me.

“Short for anything?” Kate asked. It was an innocent question, but she sneered it.

This girl was cold. As cold as the coldest winters day. I felt as if I were in that day and was wearing summer clothes when I was around her – and I had only known her for a measly few minutes.

I shook my head, not wanting to talk to her. I had lied to her. It was short for Teresa.

Kate crossed her arms and looked down on me. I stood tall, next to Owen. I liked him the best out of these people.

“You wanted to go. Let’s go.” Owen said to them both. He smiled and looked at me. “All four of us will be okay.”

I hoped he was right.

We walked and walked. I dragged myself along. All the while, Kate comforted Luisa and told her “Everything is going to be fine.” She was a liar; a dirty one at that. Even I knew nothing would be okay. I didn’t think anything would be okay ever again.

 My legs grew tied quickly, so Owen ended up carrying me.  His clothes were soft and he was warm, so I snuggled into him. I might’ve even fallen asleep.

When I opened my eyes, we were still in a city. It could’ve been a town, but we hadn’t learnt about them yet in geography. I liked school. Simple and friendly was what I used to describe it. People used to remark how smart I was for someone of such a young age.

Luisa was speaking.

“Poor little thing. She must be so confused.” She was next to Owen.

I looked down, not moving my head, just in time to see her and Owens hands join. I looked up again, just using my eyes. Kate was trailing behind. She didn’t look like she had before my nap. She looked a little lost. How could I know why?

“I know.” They still thought I was asleep. I liked listening to people talk about me, so I used that to my advantage. I didn’t listen to them though, I watched and listened to Kate.

“She isn’t a thing. She’s a kid. Bound to die if what we suspect is happening is happening, and what we think is happening is happening. A zombie apocalypse is no place for someone so weak and small.” She finished.

I hated to admit that if they were right, I was as good as dead. I didn’t want to die like this. I had planned, already, how I wanted to die. Surrounded my friends and family, and maybe my own family that I had created.

I was a very clever girl.

After being with these people for a week and a half, I learned a lot about them and how they wanted the future to go.

Luisa wanted it to all go back to normal by some miracle.

Owen wanted to just live and stay alive.

And Kate… I actually had to guess how she wanted things to turn out. I guessed that she wanted what Luisa and Owen both wanted.

I wanted the same thing. I wanted my mother and my father and my brother. Where was Drake?