One Survivor

10 'He returns'

Ava stood at the gate, there were two men standing there as per usual. They were eyeing her, not in a friendly or happy way. She didn't know why she was here, but she figured she was waiting for him to come back, for him to tell her it was going to be okay and that she did the right thing.

She suddenly saw headlights at the bottom of the hill, "Hey!" she got the men's attention as they turned round to the hill. The headlights grew bigger and revealed a truck.

"Edward?!" she yelled and opened the gate, running out with the men yelling her no.

"Ava!" she heard that familiar voice yell as she limped her way to the truck. It stopped and she watched a ginger haired boy jump out and run to her.

"Eddie..." she sighed and fell into his arms.

"What happened to you?" he asked and analyzed her bruised face.

"What happened to YOU?" she copied his question rubbing her thumb on the cut across his cheek.

"We need to talk" Ed told her in a serious tone.

"Yeah. Yeah we do" she bit her lip and looked up to him.

"Paige...? But how? She was fine when I left and why wouldn't she say something sooner we could've—"

"It's done, Ed. I killed her and now I'm the murderer of this community" Ava cut him off and stood up from the bed, "I've been explaining this to you for the past twenty minutes, now tell me—"

"Sorry to interrupt but both you and Eddie need to come with me to see Malcom. It's about our little field trip" Justin ran in before Ava could finish.

"We'll be right there" Ed told him as he nodded and went towards Malcom's house.

"What is he talking about?" Ava glared at him.

"You're about to find out" he held out his hand as she stood up slowly and entwined their fingers before walking out together, people stared ta them in disgust as they made their way into Malcom's house.

"Ava, Edward" Malcom welcomed them as they walked inside. Edward snaked his arm round Ava's waist as she placed her hand on his back.

"It's good to have you back Edward, but there are a few things we need to discuss" Malcom sat down in his chair, "Sit" he gesture to the couch as both teens sat down nervously.

"Tell us the truth Edward, about those men" Justin folded his arms and stood behind Malcom.

Ed turned to Ava in his seat as she looked at him, worry clouded her hazel eyes, "I lied. Yes my parents died when I was young. No my uncle didn't die at the beginning. My uncle and his brother knew this was gonna happen and they knew that there was someone out there who had a cure. Inside them" he told them as Ava stared at him.

"They thought it was me because of these nightmares I kept getting... but it wasn't. When it was just you and I, I was talking to him on a radio he gave me when this all started. But then I stopped when I realized how I felt towards you. It was too late because I knew you had the same nightmares and I told them. They're convinced you are the c—" he couldn't finish before she stood up.

"Are you serious?!" she yelled.

"Ava—" Malcom started but she interrupted him.

"What? I have these nightmares and you think I'm a walking cure? No fucking way! Are you hearing how crazy this sounds?" she glared at Ed, "Paige got shot because you ratted me out, I almost died! And now, they could be on their way here just because they think I'm a walking blood bag?" she scoffed and walked out of the house.

"Hey killer! You think that because your boyfriends back we're gonna stop making you pay for what you did?" that same boy walked in front of her and blocked her path.

"Get out of my way" she ordered him.

"Who do you think you are to tell me what to do, murderer?" he scoffed and stood over her.

All the anger she had been hiding was about to pour out of her, her boyfriend had been lying to her, he was the reason Paige got shot, he was to blame for whatever was to come. And the fact that this guy right here is still rambling on about her being a killer.

"... Damn right you're a fucking killer. You murdered Paige and you're gonna get us all kill—" she didn't let him finish and just punched him in the jaw... he fell to the ground and she straddled him, punching him repeatedly until he grabbed her shoulders and flipped them round.

He started punching her across the face repeatedly, standing up and then kicking her, "HEY!" Edward yelled and tackled him to the ground. He gripped the boy by the shirt and threw one punch across his face before Justin pulled him off of him.

Malcom and some other people ran over to the scene while others stood there after watching it all unfold, Justin dragged Edward away by the shirt as he looked back at Ava on the ground and begged him to let him help her.

"Ava, breathe, breathe" Malcom sat her up as she coughed up the blood and spat it out. The others helped up the other boy and had to hold him back from Ava. Malcom picked her up as she cried out in pain as he did so. He carried her to the infirmary and laid her down on the bed.

"I'm sorry" she coughed, "I know I just made things so much worse, but I can't, I can't do this anymore... I'm a murderer and that's all they see" she cried as he unbuttoned her shirt and looked at the bruising on her chest.

He grabbed a cloth and dipped into some cold water before grabbing a type of cream out of the medicine box and sitting next to her. He opened the tub and started spreading the cream on her wound as she grunted and groaned in pain.

"We can't control what they think of you. But I will make sure they don't bother you again" he smiled and wrapped her stomach in a bandage. He then used the cloth to wipe the blood form her lip, cheek, and eyebrow.

"Why are being so nice to me?" she asked, genuinely curious about his answer.

"I see right through that wall you've built around yourself. I see a scared young girl whose been put through hell these last months. And everything that these people are doing to you is changing you. And I don't think I want to see what you become if this goes on" he told her.

"What do you think I'll become?" she asked him, he heard the slight worry in her voice even though she tried to hide it best she could.

"I don't know. But I don't think anyone wants to see it, as a kid this new adjustment to life is hard, I get that. But it makes you vulnerable. Trust the people who you think care" he told her and buttoned her shirt back up for her then wrapped her wrist in a bandage before walking away.

"If he tried hard enough, he could be a living fortune cookie" she told her self before her eyelids felt heavy and finally closed, letting her drift off into a deep sleep.