Those Who Remain

Chapter 3

A loud bang woke me up from the deep slumber I was previously in. As I sat up to look around, I was in the sweet bliss of forgetfulness that came with the first few seconds of being awake, but when I remembered what was happening, I sprung out of the bed I don't remember being placed in. I figured it must have been Ridge who put me there.

Since I hadn't heard another loud bang, I crept into the living room to see Ridge hugging a small girl who was visibly shaking from fear. It broke my heart to see a smaller child, probably a new teen, so worked up about something. I figured she may have been cornered by an infected individual and Ridge was able to pull her in here without giving away our location to the infected going after her.

As I walk over to help Ridge calm the girl down, I look at the clock to see that it was around three in the morning. It was rather early for a girl that age to be out by herself, so she must have been caught off guard and fled to look for assistance.

I put a hand on Ridge's shoulder as I crouched down to take the girl into my arms and introduce myself, and when he pulled away enough, I was shocked to see who it was he was holding.

"Lily? Are you okay?" I asked her frantically as I pulled her into a tight embrace. I was shocked to see her without her dad. I can figure out what happened to her mom and sister since they both took the diet pills.

"Gem? What are you doing here? I never knew you lived in these apartments," she replied hugging me tighter than I was her. I didn't want to hurt her because I knew she was still sore from her procedure those few months ago.

"I don't live here. This is Ridge's apartment, and we are leaving for Tennessee in the morning. Do you live here?" I asked her as I picked her up and sat her on the couch.

"Ya, my family and I were renting an apartment here for a few months while we moved houses," she replies looking exhausted.

"Where is your dad?" I asked hoping that she says he's okay and just not here at the moment, but the tears in her eyes told me everything I needed to know.

"My mom attacked him, and while he was fighting her off, he told me to run. I saw her bite him, and I knew that I couldn't go back. The news said a bit is how the disease is transmitted, so I don't have anywhere to go. My dad is going to turn into one of those things," she said sobbing now, and it was hard to understand her through her sobs, so I just pulled her back into a tight hug. 

I caught Ridge's eye over her shoulder. "Can you grab us a blanket please?"

Ridge nodded at me and left the living room to get us a blanket. While he's gone, I pull back so I could wipe the tears off her face and look her in the eyes. "We are not going to leave you here alone. Do you have any family in the area that you want us to take you to?"

"No, all my family live across the country in Washington. They're pretty old too, so I'm not sure if they're even still alive," she said trying to calm herself down so she can talk with me about what to do next.

Before I can say anything else, Ridge comes back with a blanket. He handed it to her, and said, "Would you like to lay down and sleep? I know it may be hard, but it's going to be a long day tomorrow, so you may want to at least try."

She looked reluctant to be left alone but eventually nodded at him, so he took her into the spare bedroom so she could have some privacy. I couldn't imagine what she's going through right now. To see her dad fight off her sick mother, and knowing he wasn't going to make it, had to be traumatizing for her.

"How did you find her," I asked Ridge as he came out of the spare bedroom shutting the door quietly.

"I heard a knock on the door. It was hard enough to be urgent, but soft enough to know someone wasn't trying to break in. When I got up to look through the peephole, I saw it was a young girl, so I immediately let her in," he told me, shivering slightly as he replayed the memory in his mind, "She came in immediately and shut the door telling me an infected man was following her, so I looked out the peephole to see no one. Eventually, I heard the groaning he was making, so I knew he was close by. When I saw him through the hole, I slammed the door open knocking him over the railing, down three stories."