Secrets

Chapter 1 Wake Up Call
Waking up during the early morning, I realized that I had no idea where I was. As I looked around, it was black to no ending.
I laid there in the darkness and it seemed that I had no remembrance of the previous events. Including what day it was, who I was with, how I got here, and even my name. I noticed after a few hours, the sun was coming up, and I heard voices rattling outside the room and began to listen in.
"Ben, I really don't know. She hasn't been bitten. But there's really no way of knowing if she's going to survive. Or if she's even infected."
It was obviously a guy, with a deep southern accent. But what really struck me as odd were the words he used. Bitten? Infected?
Chapter 2 The Second Greeting Thinking about what this guy had said, I heard the slight squeak of the doorknob and immediately a strike of fear went through me. I didn't know what else to do, so I just asked "Who are you, and how did I get here...?"
Nervously, because he had a shotgun in his hand. He laid down the gun and replied "Ellis. We found you nearby, your group had been devoured and you were the only one who survived, you were in the room next them. Completely out of it, so we brought you here, only because there was a slim chance you might make it. It's hard to see so much death.. Ya know?..."
Chapter 3 That Article
"So, what's going on with all this biting, and infected talk? How long was I out...?" I asked, still ignorant to the current situation. When I got the shocking reply,
"The dead are coming back to life, and eating the living, and spreading a deadly virus that causes you to turn into whatever they are. You have been here for about two days." As soon as he finished my mind went back, to a newspaper article I had stumbled upon during travel with the group. " THE DEAD WALK?
Recent scientific research suggests that a deadly virus is being spread, causing high fever, fatigue, and then death. But slightly after death, the body reanimates and craves the flesh of humans, and the subjects bitten suffer the same fate. CDC suggests to avoid all contact with those infected.
And if you are infected, isolate yourself from all beings still alive. CDC also recommends staying inside your home, and boarding up windows, for these things will stop at nothing to get you."
Chapter 4 So Much Closer
My eyes had widely opened, only to see Ellis still there, waving his hand in my face. "Thought I'd lost you there. You seemed to drift off into space for a sec." He said, which explained why he was waving his hand in my face. To make sure I was still there. "It was nothing really, just remembered one of the last few good times I had with the group, laughing about some old news papers. Before, they became infected." I said, a bit shaken, until Ellis began rambling.
"Infected? Heck, when I found em', those things were ripping the remnants of the flesh from their bones!" I looked at him like he was crazy, when he realized that had upset me, very much.
"Sorry. I shouldn't have said that, I'm new with the sensitive thing. Are you okay...?" obviously I wasn't, but tried my best to fight back tears. I had not a clue what had happened to my group, but it had to be my fault. I was the only one who survived.
When suddenly Ellis had decided to leave the room. "Well, I'll leave you to it." He said, walking towards the door and swallowing a bit of confusion, and deep sorrow, for something I didn't know of.
There was something I was still missing, but it slipped my mind quickly. "There's a dresser full of stuff you might like to go through, over there." He motioned to my right, on the other side of the room, to a very large, wooden dresser, and then left the room. I then listened to what he said to Ben.
"What am I gonna do? She doesn't know who I am. I don't event think she can remember herself." I laid down again, and tried to absorb what was happening. After hours on end, I decided that I had to find out what was in that dresser.
I got up, and scurried across the carpet floor, and lightly pulled the first compartment , only to find family mementos, photos, charms, and yearbooks. Flipping page by page the yearbook of Ellis' eighth grade year, scrolling through grade six, to grade seven, and noticed someone extremely familiar.
She had black, shoulder length hair and icy blue eyes, just like I did. That was me, just a few years ago. My name was Shea Allison. I had no idea that Ellis and I had went to the same school, but then his brownish blonde hair, and deep blue eyes suddenly seemed familiar.
I left the book aside, and continued looking through this dresser. I found lots of useful things, including some familiar clothing, and shoes. I ended up changing out of the rags I was already in, to an outfit of shorts, boots, and a purple t-shirt.
Then again continued to search through the room, but found really nothing important, so I decided to look through that yearbook again. Laying down, and flipping the pages, I heard the squeak of the doorknob. It was Ellis, "Just coming to see if you were alright."
He said, stably. "I see you found my sister's stash. We lost her back in the beginning. I figured you'd like this room as much as she did, so I put you in here. Find anything interesting?" I flipped to myself in the book, and showed him, and to his amazement, he remembered me.
"Well, I'll be dang, it's you! I didn't know we went to the same school." I still had no idea who he was, but I did happen to remember his sister. She had black hair, and brown eyes. Her name was Sarah.
We were great friends, I don't know why we separated, but I was always talking about how cute her brother was, but she always said "Eww" and we laughed about it.
Chapter 5 Chased
We continued to chat, and I noticed it was getting dark, the sun had already went down. There was an awkward moment of silence there for a second, then there was a large blast, of a shotgun, to my surprise. The electricity flickered, and proceeded to go out.
It was now dark again, and extremely frightening. Out of instinct, I grabbed hold of Ellis, in a hugging way, my arms wrapped around his neck. and for a second we just stood there, but then he put his arms around my waist, and hugged back.
Then said "It's alright. Ben can handle this, I'll be here." Then Ben had screamed, and Ellis had grabbed hold of my shoulders and said "Stay here. I'll only be a minute, I promise." And left the room, with his gun. He came back in the room, without Ben moments later.
Out of breath, and splattered in blood he ran closer and said "It's worse than I thought. Ben dissappeared. I don't know if those things got him, or if he made a run for it, but either way-- we gotta go! They've broke through the first floor; and are on their way up now."
Almost as soon as he finished, the door had began to rattle, and we had to make a run for it. The nearest exit was the window, and it was our only chance. He opened the window as the door jarred in; and we both jumped, it wasn't very far, but it felt like a long way down.
Ellis motioned to the truck, maybe ten feet away. Running toward it, we both got in, and Ellis drove away from the house that he once called home. I looked in the passenger side mirror, only to flash back again. To a time when Sarah and I were out front, on horseback, getting ready to have a race, and on the count of three, we'd always gallop away on our horses like we were being chased, but with Sarah or without; we were being chased.
Chapter 6 Revealed Feelings For
Old Friends
Driving away from that house was yet heartbreaking, and life saving. It was stay and die, or leave and forget. So leaving the house of many memories behind, at a high speed, it was forgetting unknown good times. There really was no going back.
That place had been overrun, no matter how you put it. Neither of us knew what had happened to Ben, and preferred not to talk of it. I could tell that there was a sensitive side to him when it came to friends and family.
Like his sister, when he mentioned her, the entire atmosphere in the room had changed. That's when it all had came back to me, what had previously happened with Sarah. As the good times flew by, a song was playing through my head; more of a hum, from that of a horror movie, right before someone dies.
Flashes of images that could have been just my imagination flowed, when I realized Ellis was singing that song. He was the voice. I concentrated harder on the images, only to see him humming the song to me; Sitting in his arms as I just listened.
Thinking and trying to decide if this had actually happened, I went blank again. At that very moment the singing had stopped, and I remembered the door swinging open. "What's going on here...?!" Sarah exclaimed.
Ellis nor I knew what to say. "I thought we were friends? I was wrong. This always happens." She continued, deceived. Though, I meant no harm, Sarah slammed the door, and went downstairs. I remained where I was, and didn't move a muscle.
She was talking with Ben. "I didn't think that this would happen. It seems that we've always been friends. All of my previous friends fell for him, and ended up crushed. I just don't want that to happen to her." She said to Keith but he said nothing, because he knew, the entire time.
I could hear her strongly; the house was silent except her words. " I should go." I whispered to Ellis, but when I said that, I obviously died a little inside. I never wanted to leave, but Sarah warned me Ellis was a heart breaker. No one ever listens.
I ran down the spiral staircase as fast as I could. Looking down, the full moon was just as bright as a flashlight. Just one tear dripped down the left side of my face, and I turned to the window, only to see him looking right back at me. I continued my journey as I got into my car.
I got home, and turned on the television, only to see the first broadcast. "Epidemic; flesh eaters are running rampid, spreading disease to every being scratched or bitten. Causing death, and the brain stem to reanimate, the body to live on one basic instinct, feed. Stay inside your homes, and lock your doors." the broadcaster said. Scared. His Bluetooth device, was talking to him, revealing new information(s). "HOW MANY?!" He asked into it, his face turning pale, like paper. "Are you sure...?" As he looked in the camera, I knew it was bad. "16 Million dead worldwide and the number is growing. This uhm, may be our last broadcast folks. Goodnight, and may God be with you." He said. Closing the show.
Chapter 7 The Beginning Of The
End
I remember calling all of my closest family, and friends. We teamed up and camped place to place, avoiding the soulless, flesh eating, meat bags called "Zeds" by the locals. Nothing major really happened. But we did loose a few on our way. It was devastating each and every time. Eventually I divorced the emotion to this situation, and when it all went downhill I just told myself "Nut up, er' shut up" to some extent.
I couldn't control all that was happening around me, or save everyone, there were some tragedies. We traveled and went on and on, until the last of the group, and I had come onto a death jumble. A horde of Zeds walked our way, some faster than the others.
Hundreds of them, inescapable. We all ran, and ran, to an office building. We went to a room that was thought to be safe.
We were to camp there until that horde had passed, but they all followed. They forced themselves into the room and devoured my teammates. I ran, knowing no one was left. The room next door, had nothing in it but shelves.
Steel doors, thick walls - I knew I'd be safe there. I exited the room and turned back, to see all of what was left of my team. Red spots in the carpet, those things peeling the skin from their bones while they squirmed.
The sight was so intense; I became quickly sickened, and dizzy. I ran to the room, as fast as possible. In a haze I stumbled into the room, and locked the door. I tried walking to the corner, as distant from the door as I could get ; but I made it to the middle of the room and fell to my knees.
Everything was spinning so fast... In such a foggy way. I had collapsed. It all went black, but then another memory interrupted. Everything had stopped spinning, but the haze was going strong. I was numb entirely, on the floor, starring at the ceiling. The steel door opened wide, only to hear that southern voice. "Ben -Check that body over for bites. I'll sort through these shelves."
I heard nothing but rattling, when Ben said "This one is still alive."
"Here just let me take care of that." Ellis interrupted. "No, put that gun down! I meant alive! Still human. There's still a heartbeat, and no fever." Ben faithfully said.
Which just led to a silence, followed by more chat. My eyes were still wide open, and I could tell they were both very close. Pretty much watching me. "You're right Ben. She is alive, let's take her back to the house. She just might make it. And we could use some help, another in the group." Ellis said, picking me up. His arm around my side, and other under my legs as he carried me.
Just moving that little bit was excruciating. It felt as needles were being poked into my skin, but I was starting to fade out again, my head right up against Ellis' chest. As he spoke the soft hum of his voice finished me off, accompanied by his heart beat. And the next thing I knew, I was back to reality.
Chapter 8 'Back In The Good Old
Times, Me & You Are.'
Back to life ; I paged in only to silence, laying against the window, I realized I was freezing, and began to shiver. Ellis looked over. And did a double take, "You alright princess? You don't look okay." Minutes passed, and I began to get that feeling again.
The cab of the truck was spinning, and everything began to blur yet again. "Hey... - Hey whoa!" Ellis said, a bit surprised. I had fell onto his shoulder, near unconscious. I was so emotionally exhausted.
He pulled me closer, and threw his arm around me to ensure a snug grip. My last thought before I fell asleep, was why he called me princess? After a long, refreshing sleep, my eyes jarred open, to see the darkness once more. It was still night, as early morning.
Through the truck window, I could see the thick black clouds, and the drips of the sparkly hard rain. It was relaxing, but yet disturbingly loud at the same time. The truck seat had been laid back, to a flat, bed of sorts. Ellis was asleep, and silent. My right hand was holding onto his shoulder, as my head laid on his chest, and his right arm gripped onto my side tightly.
I began to lay up, in a very sly way. But as quiet as I could be I had awoken Ellis. "Where are you going? I almost lost you once and forever, and I'm sure as heck not about to let you go now. We're back in the good old times. Me and you are. Nothing is gonna change that either." He said, in a flirtatious way - But serious, too. He pulled me back down, just to the way we were. But neither of us went back to sleep.
It was silence, all but the constant tapping of the rain until Ellis said, "This seems like the perfect time for us to talk." And his heartbeat sped up. I was awkwardly afraid of what he was about to say - though I had not an idea what it was. Unknowingly to what was about to happen, my hand pulled into a fist, his shirt wrapped up inside. Interrupting the moment, a piercing groan sounded. As soon as it did, we looked at each other and got up.
Only to see yellow glowing eyes, several sets of them. Ellis grabbed his shotgun, and opened the driver's side door. Several shots were fired. And the truck's door opened once again. He looked down, and shook his head, then looked up to see me worried, and scared for him. Attacked again, he was pulled back and thrown to the ground by an unsuspected Zed. But before I could do anything, he was pinned to the ground, and rolled to exchange places with it.
With the butt of his shotgun, he mashed the skull of the Zed, and got up. Unscratched. Out of breath he leaned over, hands on his knees, out into the rain I leaped out of the truck to assist him, but he needed no help. He stood up straight, and looked me in the eye.
We looked at each other with the same smile, as I watched the sparkle in his eye, I was about to bring up what he was talking about saying earlier when he said, "Better get a move on, now shouldn't we? Can't stand in this rain forever." He winked at me, and walked back to the truck. He jumped back into the driver's seat, and I curled up right beside him. Time flew by, and the suspense was killing me.
I had known this guy before the "Apocalypse" but I had always liked him. Sarah never approved of it, but now none of that matters. And at this point, there was no stopping it.
Chapter 9 Precious Time
Time passed, and I was glad to spend every second with him. It was a perfect time to ask about what he was going to say earlier, until the truck had ran out of gas. We exited the truck, grabbed the guns and supplies. It was a heavy load, but Ellis carried most of it, but it was still a heavy load. To make it worse, it was still dark and pouring the rain. We walked, and walked, until he decided to take a break.
We sat under a tree, moderately soaked. It was quiet and absolutely cold. "What were you going to say earlier?" I asked, in a nervous fashion. He looked over to me, with that smile, and stood up. He looked down and put out his hand. I held on, and stood up too. "I know Sarah would never approve of what I'm about to tell you, because I always told her I would always listen to her, but I can't hold it inside anymore. I may have failed Sarah but I have loved you from the start. This wasn't how I imagined telling you but I hope you feel the same way and-" He was hunched over, and very close to my face already so I just moved closer, as my hands touched his dripping wet face, our foreheads touched, and our lips connected. It was quite a magical moment, when he put his arms around my waist and kissed back.
His lips were so tender, warm and moist. But guilt overwhelmed me when Sarah popped into my head. Ellis was right, she wouldn't dare approve of it if she was still here. "I swear, Shea I'll never fall apart. I'll always be here for you. Don't you think twice about it either. Ever. I'll be anything, and everything you need." He said. I was standing there, staring into his amazing eyes, thinking of what to say.
I had everything I could ever want; for the rest of my life. It was amazing, my lifelong crush finds my half-dead body, in a random building and tells me he loves me. Miraculous.
We were still standing there, in the exact same position. Continuously looking into each other's eyes, when I had to confess, "I love you too. And believe me when I say it, I'm yours to keep." I said. We stood there for a good while, until the rain started to pick up again. We both slowly moved away and picked up the supplies, and followed each other to the edge of the road, and began our long walk to - somewhere.
Ellis came closer and closer, and grabbed my hand. Our fingers enclosed with each other's, as we walked. Ellis stuck his other arm around to unzip a pouch on one of the packs he was carrying. He pulled out a bottle of Vodka and unscrewed the cap on it with his mouth, and turned it upside down, and said "Ah, to us! I was gonna save this for a rainy day, but it is pretty rainy if you know what I mean." Then handed me the bottle. I did the same as he did, and we passed the bottle back and forth until it was empty.
After a while, we both had became wasted. After that, Ended up opening another couple bottles of Whiskey, and went crazy. Stumbling around in the rain, we found a building, and as we got closer realized it was a gas station. We both went inside, and seen no evidence of the infected. We locked up the doors, and right after, ended up passing out. It was wonderful, until I had woke up the next night. Ellis was still out, and it was about 10:00 PM.
I looked at the clock, then rushed to a bathroom, and began my violent-hangover-puking. It was just that once, but it had left me with an awful headache. I walked back over to Ellis and started to shake his arm. "Ellis.... Ellis! Wake up. It's 10:00! Wake up!" To my surprise, his eyes opened, and he began to rub his face.
"That. Was pretty dang close to the best night of my life." He said, as we both laughed. I helped him up, and we both grabbed a snack from a nearby shelf. Surprisingly, there was a shower in that bathroom, so I announced "Well, I'm gonna go clean up. Be right back." And proceeded to shower.
It was a while before I returned to Ellis, but when I did , he was carrying a few gas jugs and grabbing a pistol. "I'm gonna go fetch the truck, I shouldn't be long." He said, walking to me for a hug. That hug was about 15 seconds, then he went for the door. I took a seat behind the cash register, and waited. Thoughts began to scroll through my mind, as I watched the cash register.
Ellis never mentioned anything about money, but I had imagined it had lost it's value by now. I knew no one else would come back to reclaim this cash, because they abandoned it in the first place. 691.00$ total, I just folded it and put it into one of the pouches in the pack I had been in charge of. Thinking nothing of it, I had decided to pack up all of these supplies, since Ellis was on his way with the truck. I shoved food into one box, and drinks into another. That place had a couple bottles of Champagne, and Red Wine.
I wasn't used to drinking all the time, and I wasn't planning on it. So I included those two bottles, and moved on. It had been a while since Ellis had left, and I was beginning to worry - What if he'd been hurt? All of my troubled thoughts had faded away, when I heard the truck roll in.
Chapter 10 School's Out
Ellis walked in, unharmed and stated, "I'll clean up here too. I'll only be a minute." And walked to the bathroom. Minutes later he came back and asked, "You ready?" - "Yeah. All we gotta do is pack up these here supplies and were off." I replied, not letting him know that I was about to freak out when he walked in earlier. We loaded the supplies and were on our way. It was a long drive when we came upon a two way intersection.
It was left or right, die or live. Ellis gave me a specific worried look, suggesting we talk about which path to go. "What way are you going to take?" I asked frightened. " Do you want to flip a coin? Heads for right, tails for left." He suggested, which actually didn't seem like a bad idea. So I pulled out a quarter, and got a tail.
Silently we drove for a while and made it seem that this was the right choice, until a school was spotted. It was the only building we'd seen for miles, and who knew what was inside it. Ellis opened the glovebox, and grabbed a pair of binoculars to scope the showing windows.
"I don't see much movement at all. I think I'd better go look around in there." He suggested, and pulled an AK-47 from behind he seat.
"If you're going to go, atleast let me come too." I said, hoping he'd say yes. "No way. I can't take a risk like that." He denied my chance to do anything, then gave me a hug, and walked towards the building, staring down the sight of his gun. He kicked in the door, and began to fire.
The shooting had stopped for a few seconds, then was on and off from that point out. He was running backwards, coming back, and screamed "SCHOOL'S OUT!" I was relieved to see that he was alright, until he turned around. He had been bitten on his right arm, and was bleeding at a very fast rate. Making it to the passenger side, he tossed the keys to me through the window, and I slid over to the driver's seat, and both in the vehicle, I started the engine and floored I away as the young Zeds ran toward us.
"Oh my God! You should have let me go in there with you! I could've saved you!" I yelled, in tears. "But this could have happened to you! I'd rather die for you than the other way around. One of those things pushed me in a room and got me. But I did manage to grab this." He tossed me a hand radio, that still had a battery percentage. I pushed the broadcast button and tried to straighten up my voice.
"Anyone out there? Group of two seeking medical help ASAP! We come in peace, I'm broadcasting from Maple Ave. I'm driving a large, black, Ford. Please, anyone, if you're out there, gimme a call. Over."
Ellis had put a white towel...