Ian nodded, “So the end of the world makes you see people’s true colors that maybe you were too busy or distracted to notice.”
“So, why am I trying to get her to leave with us?”
“Because you’re still a good friend,” he answered pulling into one of the vacant spots near our apartments.
I got out of the car. Ian grabbed the box of chili out of the backseat.
“I’ll take this to the office to Aaron and Laura,” He said.
“I’m sure they want me there with you,” I replied.
“I know they do but that’s stupid. You go home, get Milo.”
I smiled, “Thanks Ian.”
“You’re very welcome.”
Ian headed to the main office as I took the stairs to my second floor apartment.
I unlocked the door and went inside. I heard some rustling around.
Emma came out of the hallway and her eyes got really big when she saw me.
“Cate!” She exclaimed and ran to give me a hug, “I thought you were dead.”
“No,” I said pulling out of her embrace. “We’re alright. Just got stuck because of the rain. But I heard that my dog is with the Martinez’s.”
“Oh,” she sighed and giggled. “I’m sorry, it’s just Aaron had this really romantic dinner planned and I didn’t want to cut the evening short by saying ‘I got to go check on Cate’s dog.”
“No, no, no, wouldn’t want to ever do that,” I replied thinly disguising my anger.
“Cate, don’t be mad. I just wanted to have a good time,” she said.
“Emma, you’re always having a good time. You’re never in this apartment because of it.”
She rolled her eyes, “Don’t try to make me feel bad because I’m getting laid and you’re not. I mean you could totally have Ian if you wanted him so don’t take the moral high ground because you’re jealous.”
“Jealous?” I asked and started laughing. “Oh, yeah. I’m so jealous of that.”
“Well, yeah. You obviously are.”
I began to laugh even harder at how absurd what she was saying actually was. It took me a minute to get myself together.
“No, Emma, I’m not jealous. I’m tired,” I said.
She looked confused, “You’re tired?”
“Yes, I am very tired of the fact you seem to have no grasp on what the hell is going on out there. People are dying and coming back to life and then trying to turn other people into either food or into a zombie.”
Her face turned red as she was getting angry. “I know what’s going on out there Cate. Just because I don’t play hero and go out in it every week, doesn’t mean I don’t know.”
“Really? Because if you had even the tiniest grasp of the situation, it seems that you would be acting more responsible instead of like a kid that’s just off to college and away from Mommy and Daddy for the first time,” I stated.
She looked at me and I could see she was contemplating hitting me but knew that would not end well for her. I’m not the toughest creature in the world but I could easily wipe the floor with Emma if it came to blows.
“Whatever, Cate. You just think you’re so much better than everyone.”
“So, first I was jealous and now I think I’m better than everyone else. Which is it Emma?”
She let out an irritated sigh, “I’ll watch your stupid dog from now on.”
“Don’t bother. I will take him on all my runs from now on. I’d hate to interrupt your important activities. Just know that if one of the dead things gets a hold of Milo and he doesn’t make it back, I will beat the living snot out of you. I may just do it so that maybe you could get some damn sense knocked into you.”
She didn’t say anything else to me. She then walked away and went into her room, slamming the door behind her.
I was fuming and wanted to go in that room and hit her in the face. Before I could act on impulse, there was a knock at the door.
I took a deep breath and went to open the door. Ian stood there looking upset.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He motioned for me to join him outside. I did and shut the door behind me.
“What is it?” I asked.
He sighed, “Aaron wants us to do another run today.”
“What?” I asked. “We just got back.”
“We didn’t get enough supplies to justify how long we were gone.”
I shook my head, “Surely he saw the rain coming down.”
“Not an excuse,” He said. “This is it Cate. This should be the last one.”
I shook my head, “Not this one. The next one, let’s just do what we need to this time.”
He looked irritated but nodded in agreement, “Okay.”
I sighed, “I need to get Milo from the Martinez’s. I can’t leave him with Emma anymore.”
Ian nodded. “He’s always good to have around. I’ll get the Nissan ready. It has more fuel than the Mustang.”
I nodded in agreement and headed towards the Martinez’s place. I passed by the office and continued on. I was still so mad at Emma and began to get even more upset that we had to go back out again.
I turned back around and headed into the office. Aaron was alone looking at paperwork which I thought was a little odd.
He looked up and saw me, “Hi Cate. Glad to see you made it back alive since you didn’t bother to check in.”
“Really? You’re happy to see me alive. You’re sending us right back out into the fire, seems you have a death wish for the two of us.”
He smirked at me. “It’s not my fault you two didn’t do your job.
