Zombies

XII

{Author's Note}

{Just another quick thank you for 100 Votes! This is absolutely amazing, and I'm working really hard to get another chapter up this week. Also, I'd love to see some comments! I want to know what your favourite part was from the whole book, or even, better, from everyone's perspective. Keep up the support! <3 }

Ashley:

Our kiss lasted for several moments, until I pulled away. Mitch’s eyes lit up with shock, but they were no longer mechanical. “Stop acting like a robot. It’s so annoying.” I demanded humorously, returning to my findings. He nodded, obviously stunned. I began to feel a small twinge of regret from doing that, but I said nothing.”Should we bring Louise in, or bring these out to her?” I asked. “Bring the stuff out to her. I don’t even know if she can move, really.” Mitch replied. We struggled to carry all of our loot out to the car. Louise was turning rather pale from blood loss. “Damn,” I murmured to myself. She looked terribly hurt, and I began to question how long she could survive like that. We applied fresh bandages to her hurt arm, but we had no medication to help soothe the pin or to fight off infection. “Do we stop until she heals a little, or push on?” I asked, open to debate. “Push on.” Ryan replied immediately. “I mean, she’s in a car. It’s not like we’re walking.” He explained. “Mm,” Mitch bit his lip doubtfully. “I don’t know, but a bumpy car ride couldn’t be good, could it?” He replied to Ryan. “Where would we go, if we were to go anywhere?” Louise croaked uneasily. I grabbed the atlas from my seat, and flipped open to the page of Missouri, and pointed to the small spot that was circled and labeled ‘Gardenwall.’ “Jack said we should go here, so here’s where we should go.” I stated. “What’s in Gardenwall?” Ryan asked suspiciously. I shrugged my shoulders. “Civilization? Order? Safety? Something like that, I bet.” I replied. “I say we stay a night.” Jerome added. “I agree.” Louise murmured. I clasped my hands together, and sighed. “Okay, it’s settled. Let’s get inside then, before we catch any attention.” I instructed briefly, gathering my bag. We unloaded what we needed, and made our camp in the mansion’s living room. 

Hours ticked by quickly, and everyone was settling into a slumber except me. I had appointed myself as watch guard, and sat with my legs crossed on the edge of the couch, alert. Moonlight streamed in through the broad windows, bathing me in creamy light. I got to my feet, and ventured over to the window, and admired the view. It overlooked the mansion’s extensive garden, that was beginning to run wild. I closed my eyes for a moment, and sighed deeply, trying to take in everything we had been through. “Is there anything out there?” A voice from behind startled me. I swung around, ready to grab my knife, but relaxed when I saw it was only Mitch. He was smiling slightly, and looked somewhat relaxed. “If you’re asking bout zombies, then no.” I replied, turning back to the window. He came and stood next to me, looking out the window. “Pretty garden though.” He noted. I turned back to him, and couldn’t help but laugh a little. “You can stop with the small talk. If you have something to say, just say it.” I smiled gently, trying to evade a pointless conversation. “Small talk? I thought we were just admiring a garden.” Mitch replied, slight taken aback. I raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “Really?” I whispered. “Well, maybe not. I have a question, I guess.” He replied shyly. “Yeah, I gathered. What is it?” I urged, almost annoyed. I wondered how he could emotionlessly kill a zombie, yet he wasn’t brave enough to ask me a direct question. “Well, okay. Why’d you.. you know… kiss me?” he stuttered, not looking at me. I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe just to get you to snap out of it.” I replied, looking at him. “Snap out of what?” He asked. “You know, that emotionless robotic leader. How you act when you’re in charge,” I answered. Mitch glanced at me quizzically, but didn’t say anything. We both stood beside each other in the cryptically charming moonlight for a moment, in peace. I didn’t want to disturb the calm, but I had to. “On another matter.” I spoke up timidly. “I need to discuss something with you, and now seems like a good time.” He turned to look at me. “Yeah, what’s on your mind?” He asked curiously. I took a deep breath, and met his gaze. “This may be hard to understand, but it’s about Ryan.” I noticed a flicker of disappointment in his copper eyes. “I…I don’t know if we can trust him. He’s been acting kind of… different, since this began. Mitch’s eyes changed from welcoming and open to hostile and disagreeable. “You don’t trust Ryan because he’s changed?” Mitch repeated, disgusted. “We’ve ALL changed. Look at us! I’m apparently a robotic leader, you steal from anyone without a second thought. Louise has a damn bullet in her shoulder. So what, Ryan’s changed a little too!” I had expected this reaction, but prayed that I would be surprised. I  didn’t pull away, but looked down at my feet to hide the tears that began to gather in my eyes. “No Mitch. He threatened to kill me.. He..” I stopped talking, because I knew my argument had fallen upon deaf ears. “You know what, Ashley? Why don’t you try to get some sleep. I’ll take up guard for the rest of the night, ‘cause I don’t know if I can even trust you at this point.” He snapped. It broke my heart to hear the hurt in his voice. I turned away from him, and returned to his bed, and hid my teary face in the blanket.