A gunshot rang out. James’ shoulder flew to the side, his body twisting in an unnatural way. Another shot came followed by two more then three in quick successions until there was too many to count. Chelsea was walking towards him with such ferocity that the weapon fired with the rhythm of her steps. James fell immediately, flopping onto the ground, lifeless. That did not stop Chelsea. She kept firing and firing and firing until the gun was empty. She kept firing, the slight click of the trigger echoing was the only noise at the quiet station. James was beyond dead. My body was now dying.
Chapter 28
I made my way over to Chelsea. She was still staring down on James’ dead body, a sad snarl covering her face. I put my hand on the gun and pulled it away from her. She did not resist. Her eyes were red, her face a bright pink. I went to brush the back of my hand along her soft dark hair, but the breeze blew it away from me. It was out of my reach.
She finally looked up to me. There were no tears, no signs of her breaking down. Chelsea was tough, and I knew that, but she was much tougher than I ever gave her credit for. Her eyes moved from my own down to my neck and back to me. Her head twitched, as if she was trying to shake her head ‘no’ but could not. Her upper lip moved rapidly, bouncing from her chin to her nose. She knew what was coming. She knew what had to be done.
I saw Zach appear behind her, keeping his distance. A quick turn of his eyes showed that he knew what happened and what needed to be done. He gave me a slight, pitying nod then turned away to tend to his shoulder.
Where the hell was I to start this? How do you tell someone that they need to leave you, to let you die? I was so young. There was nobody to teach this, nobody to teach you how to say goodbye. “It’s not fair,” she started, her voice fighting back tears.
I shrugged my shoulders, wincing at the pain in my neck, “That’s life. We aren’t in fair times anymore, Chels.”
“Maybe we can take you-“
“No, Chelsea,” I shook her off. “If they find out that you were traveling with a contaminated then they might not let you guys in.”
“You’re not a contaminated!” she lashed out. “Not yet,” she said, quieting down.
I shook my head, “I am. We know it. You and Zach have to get to Kansas City and-“
“We don’t even know if it’s there! What if it is a pile of rubble infested with more of these creatures?”
“It’s not. It is powered at the very least. We do know that,” I said, my body beginning to slightly shake from the cold. “The information that we found at the stadium confirms that at one point it was a place to take refuge. You cannot ignore that.”
She shook her head, “Well maybe it’s not. Maybe-“
“No, Chelsea. There’s no time for this,” I couldn’t do this. “That fight caused a lot of noise,” What do I do? “You guys need to get out of here now,” the only thing that I could do. “Here, there’s not much time,” I began to usher her to the remaining car.
She smacked me across the face, “I’m not leaving you! I told you that, or did you forget? I said it,” Chelsea’s eyes stared deep into my own. “I mean it.”
“Chelsea,” I said, forcing myself to look at her sad eyes. “This isn’t something that rubbing alcohol will fix.”
“I. How can you expect me to leave, after all of this?”
“Chelsea. We have been surviving all of this time. I need you to survive for me now.”
“You can’t go.”
“I have to.”
“I won’t let you.”
“Zach!”
He looked towards me.
“You have to get her out of here. Take her safely to Kansas City. Do it for me, Zach.”
“Stop, Daryl!” Chelsea practically screamed.
“Go!” I yelled.
Zach walked over, placing his good arm on Chelsea’s shoulder.
“No.”
“Chelsea.”
“No.”
“Now!”
“I won’t let you die alone!”
“Chelsea,” I placed my hands on her shoulders. She was teary eyed now, extra tears welling up in the corner of her eyes while I was fighting back my own. Saying no was the hardest thing that I ever had to do. “I love you, remember that.” I kissed her, the best kiss that I ever had. Full, tingling sensation ran through our perfectly met lips in our last embrace. The electricity between us coursed through our bodies from the completed connection. I was barely able to pull my lips away from her own. “Please go.”
There was an unnatural rustling in the woods. Contaminated were finally beginning to approach the gas station from all of the noise. Zach’s good hand clapped me on the side of the arm, “Give them hell kid,” he said before walking off to the car.
Chelsea sniffled quietly to herself then slowly shook her head. “You’ll be hungry. Take the food from the car here. Eat that. There should be something else in there for you to stay warm.”
I heard hissing from the woods. I picked up my baseball bat off of the ground and stood ready. “Go, now. Maybe I’ll see you in another life,” my love.
I heard a whimper and a touch on my shoulder followed by the closing of two doors to the car, the engine starting and roaring down the road. I took in the surroundings. The gas station was empty save the corpse of James and the giant contaminated. The wind was blowing ever so lightly. I was
