Where are you going?

Chapter 26

Julia's POV:

He didn't look the slightest like he had that much of sleep when I woke up next to him. His skin looked pale and his under eyes were darker than usual, but I didn't think I could say anything, I looked horrible myself. A life with death around you doesn't exactly make you look better, but I felt like it made us stronger. I mean, me and Colby could survive without each other, but it was easier when we were together. That's at least how it has been for the last couple of days. It's been a week since we visited the rescue shelters and about two weeks since the virus spread across the country and ate up every living, but me and Colby are still looking for our friends. We got attacked that night. The night after visiting the shelters, gangs broke into the apartment building and took over. We got out with everything including Shaely and Kiwi, we quickly found an abandon motel and are now staying here. It's quieter and therefor safer, but it doesn't change the fact that we haven't gotten closer to finding our friends, and I've felt completely lost with the thought of never seeing Violette again. She's like a sister to me, and since my brothers, who I'm not sure yet are still alive, are across the country it's easier to feel abandon again. It's cold when I think of that, but it's truly hotter than ever in LA and it hasn't rained the whole week. The motel room's AC doesn't work and so our windows has been open the entire night the whole week, but I had to close it before the heat will get in as well. When I rolled over in the bed and sat up to look at the open window a weird feeling hit me, as if someone had their eyes at me. I quickly turned around to see Colby, but his eyes were shut. Weird. I then walked slowly towards the window after grabbing one of the loaded guns laying on the bedtable. Nothing was moving besides a couple of birds eating off the ground but quickly flew away when they saw my head in the open frame. The motel was pretty much at the outline of LA and so there weren't many buildings near but instead a dessert and a bunch of dried trees and bushes. The whole week had been me and Colby fighting for our lives while trying to figure out where Sam and Violette are. We haven't met any sane and living people since a week ago. People are either trying to survive like Colby and I, getting help in the shelters or showing up to the demonstrations. Yeah. Believe it or not, but people are yelling at the government to do more against the virus, which has been taking police and military too. There's no security, no leader, not much food and only electricity half of the time. Colby thinks it's insane that they have the guts to group and make so much noise, when they know that's all it takes for the zombies to get there. I don't think he's wrong, but I do feel angry at the government too, so I don't blame the demonstrators. And yeah, have checked if Violette could be one of them. That was two days ago, when Colby and I went inside to the city with masks and gloves, trying to blend in and find Violette and the others, but no success. I've grown on to him I guess, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing. We have been playing scrabble that we found at one of the abandoned motel rooms and have been playing the nights when we can't sleep, or when the heat is killing us. I never thought scrabble could be such an intense game, but I guess everything is different with Colby. He hasn't changed me, and I haven't changed him or anything, cause it's different than that. It's almost as if we're changing together, surviving together and growing, I guess. The gun felt heavy in my hand until all its weight lifted off, and out of my hand. I then felt his warm hands creep up my back, and lock around my waist until I felt his entire body against me. I suppose he had thrown the gun back in the bed behind us, because I felt both of his hands running up and down my sides until I turned around. He was all the sudden taller than ever and he looked amazing with his bed head getting kinda curly by now. He hated it though, and I knew. "Don't you think it's kinda early for a gun in your hands?". I looked at his face as I was pushed up against the wall next to the window and felt a small wind come through. But I guess I should let him know, it wouldn't hurt to tell him. I guess he noticed immediately that I had something on my chest, because he shifted position and pulled away and his hands slid off my body to then cup my face and look like something was wrong. I didn't say anything until I couldn't hold in the laughter any longer. "Julia, I'm serious.". His face was worried for a moment, and then noticed what he just did. I guess I shouldn't have laughed but, I guess the heat and the small motel room was taking away my braincells. I looked up at Colby who was standing by the window with his hands on the ledge and a half-smile plastered on his face. "I did it again, didn't I?". "Yep.". I then walked over to him and leaned up against the ledge to look at him. "I thought I just heard something, but this place is seriously a ghost town. Come on, the car doesn't drive itself.". I was taking on the one pair of shorts I had left before I looked back and saw how Colby was in the same position, looking out of the window with his hands on the ledge and his head hanging low. "Colby?". I was ready to go and get some breakfast and perhaps fill up our food deposit and kinda wanted to get out of the motel room as quick as possible. "Right, sorry.". It was weird seeing him like this. No jokes. No notice the way to the car, and no talking until he put in one of the CDs. I guess he just wanted to be in his own bubble for a while, and I understood that in a way. Being with one human being 24/7 makes you almost doubt who you were before you met them. It still feels like I've known Colby for years, and we both had been opening more up to each other lately, searching for our friends, driving around LA, helping a few strangers, then seeing the sunset, talking till midnight, then playing scrabble till 3 AM and waking up by the sun beaming into the airless motel room.

I quickly noticed that Colby wasn't taking the usual route for gas or a visit to the drugstore but instead headed towards one of the highways. "Colby, what are you doing?". I looked worried at him but calmed down when I found Colby jamming to the music and filling in all the negative room with his smile and some quite interesting dancing moves. "Why are you laughing? This is just the beginning, you see, I actually learned this from Corey.". I kept on laughing and pretending like I was embarrassed, but it didn't matter, and I couldn't give a fuck, besides, there were no people to give fucks to. "There you go. Woooohoo!". All the sudden we were both jamming to the songs booming out of the speakers while driving towards something I still wasn't sure what was. And just as I thought I knew where we were, water was beneath us and we were driving on a bridge. Not a big one, but big enough to feel like rush above the water, as if we were saved from dropping 40 feet and into a lake of water. Colby kept going though, he seemed thrilled to be pushing the speeder pedal and letting go for ones, getting loose, feeling some sort of freedom in this fucked up world. A euphoric feeling was in the air the whole time, sitting with in us the way through the bridge and the tunnel leaving us to the other side, where the wind wasn't as tough and where we could breath normally. As far as I know, he could be kidnapping me, drug me soon and then leave me for dead, because I had no control over that steering wheel and I didn't mind. When our laughing finally had been controlled, there was a quiet moment where I could look closely at Colby. When I thought about it, he didn't belong to LA. He didn't belong to Kansas either, but he fitted well in here. I could sense his happiness off him. The way his shoulders would relax, the way his one hand would grab the steering wheel and the other the roof outside of the car, and the way his head would slant to his left. "Do you love it? This, the city. You came cause of work, but do you like it?". I asked him. "Do you? Love it?". He asked back. "Yeah. I do, but I have only been in LA for a couple of days where the normal people also were alive.". I said it like it was a joke, and Colby laughed too but it was true. "Then there's your answer. I love the city, but I hate the people, most of the time I guess.". I frowned at him and I saw him looking back for a moment with the blue eyes of his. "Some of my friends are from LA but 99% of people I've met, haven't been a very good influence, let's just leave it at that.". He answered and I didn't need to know more, which I understood. "What about you? I mean, you were born into one of the biggest cities in the world and now you're here.". I had been trying to never think about that, about New York and home. It broke my heart and twisted my stomach with the thought of home being so far away yet feeling home with Colby.