Chapter 43: 2.12

In the end, I did not get a bed to sleep on. The only empty rooms had yet to be cleaned up after ridding them of their dead previous owners. Leaving the only clean room being the guy who had died barely hours before.

It felt wrong watching the boys strip his room bare, packing his possessions into a cardboard box. It should have been a morbid affair. Instead, they joked about the teammate they nicknamed runt since he was not only the youngest but skinny and short. Boys could be so cruel to those closest to them in the spirit of comradery.

We were on the top floor, where I guessed either rich kids or staff had lived before everything ended. It was like an apartment, with a kitchenette and living space with a hallway leading to six bedrooms and two practically identical bathrooms.

Inside the room, the boys had changed the bedding of the small double bed and wiped almost every inch clean. Removing all traces of their fallen companion.

It was obvious that this was not their first time in this situation, somehow that made it worse, making my heart uncomfortably ache at the thought.

Originally Alex offered Leo to sleep with him, but Leo and Holly were unwilling to part, so Leo begged to stay with us girls, offering to sleep on the floor.

Only, whilst I had showered, the cheeky sod had fallen fast asleep snuggling on top of the cover beside Holly, clutching her hand as she tossed and turned, haunted by her dreams.

Tossing the thick duvet he was supposed to use as a makeshift mattress on top of his bare, deathly pale-looking skin, I tucked them in like small children.

"System help Holly," I ordered, stroking the mousy brown hair that clung to her sweat-filled face. Leaving my fingertips lingering at her scalp, letting the peaceful energy flow until her face no longer scrunched up and her breathing slowed. "Thank you."

Feeling worn out from the day's events and multiple uses of System to calm these people suddenly in my life, I made my way to the kitchen to boil the kettle.

The college had been a passion project of the Clarks funnily enough. Mr. Clark, like his daughter, was very much an activist, fighting against climate change.

The college had been built in partnership with multiple eco-friendly companies, including a renewable energy company. Each building was powered via solar power on their roofs and linked to a wind farm a few miles away.

Thankfully it meant each building had access to power since it was not using the main grid. Though it was disturbing to see the bright lights shining out of windows on the other side of the wall.

There were six dorms in total all surrounding a small common area with some commercial buildings. Dark shadows moved inside the lit rooms, not all of them dead according to System.

Just how safe was it here?

Somehow, I found myself reluctantly woken up by System unsure of just when I had fallen asleep on the incredibly comfortable sofa.

Hands were sliding under my body, raising me up. There was no mention of danger, it was just System being polite to let me know someone was touching my body. Without it, I'd have certainly slept like the dead.

"Woah, sorry," Alex let me drop back to the sofa, stepping back with his hands raised up, "just I noticed you out here," he blushed slightly clearing his throat, "like that, I just wanted to swap places."

I pushed myself to wearily sit up, rubbing sleep from my eyes. "Lex?" I found myself still stuck in the dream of my last life.

"Are you even awake?" Alex chuckled, pressing the tip of my nose. When I didn't even flinch, he pulled onto my hands forcing me to a stand, "follow me, let's get you into a warm bed."

Eager at the sound of warmth, I almost tripped trying to follow him as quickly as possible. He pulled me into his room, placed me on the bed, and raised the blanket to let me crawl in. I collapsed, then burrowed into the cold sheets frustrated.

"Why are you so cute?" Alex laughed, pinching my cheeks.

"Stop fussing and come to bed Lex," I whined, pulling him firmly to the cold spot beside me and then clinging to him like the hot water bottle he was. When I felt the duvet pulled to cover us both I let the tiny semblance of the guard I still had lower and drifted back into the sweet dream that let me forget I had died.

***

"Damn sis," Leo nudged me in the ribcage, "you work fast."

Leo and Holly were sitting at the round table with me, tucking into bowls of muesli mix and soya milk. It was the first time I'd had this kind of milk, it was sweetened so it currently had my approval. My sweet tooth had followed, I wasn't sure if Hannah's taste buds even had a choice.

"I only slept in a bed," I gave him a scornful glance before drinking the remainder of the milk in the bowl, "since someone else stole my spot, also working very fast."

Holly blushed at my insinuation. Oops, I'd forgotten she was there since she was too quiet.

"How are you feeling this morning Holly, my one and only favourite sixteen-year-old?" The way she had frowned in her sleep bothered me still. Was she like that every night now?

She nodded, speaking in her sweet, soft voice, "it was nice to feel safe whilst I slept."

On the outside, I was smiling, inside, my heart was being torn to shreds. I wanted to tell her, no, I needed to tell her it wasn't safe. It would never be safe again.

Then she leaned on Leo's shoulder, her doe-like eyes looking up at him with such naive and innocent dependence.

I was strong. I was going to get stronger, strong enough to protect them from this new world's new cruelties.

I needed to work harder to build my strength until not even a hundred of those rotting corpses could stop me. For now, gathering stronger people around them, around me, would be ideal. Alex and his friends were perfect for this.

Speaking of the devil…

"Hannah, you free?" Alex lingered at the apartment's entrance. I had not spoken to him at all when I woke up tangled around him like an octopus, only awkwardly fleeing the room to return to the teens, accidentally waking them up as I slammed the door all panicked.

I nodded, trying my best to gather my wits and look mature, the kids were watching.

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to join in on the fun?"

"Fun?" I raised a brow, glancing at the excited look on Leo's face and Holly's mortified expression at his excitement was just too cute.

Life here wouldn't all be gore and misery. Not if I had the right people. I knew that now.

I could easily presume that fun was a codeword for something dangerous, so I mouthed the words NO to Leo and darted out of the room, dragging Alex by the arm, before Leo could protest and follow. "Where are we going?"

"Here she is," one of the boys, I think Ethan, called out, "the whole reason he's dragging us on another wild goose chase."

I glanced sideways at Alex, wondering why his teammates didn't look as enthusiastic as he did. In fact, they looked almost drained of their will to live.

"Watching you with your swords yesterday reminded me there was a coach who ran a European sword fighting class," Alex explained, completely ignoring the entire vibe of his team as we walked towards the large soil wall.

He had me, however, very excited at the mention of the word swords.

"We're getting swords?" I asked, with a slight pep to my step as I still clung to his elbow.

All four men groaned, Matt muttering, "she's just as crazy as he is."

"Stand up straight and focus," I drew my sword, playfully batting him across the backside with the flat side of my sword, "behave and I'll even teach you how to use them."

At my words, all four of them stood in a line comically, like soldiers, as we stopped at the wall's edge.

"Your family military?" Alex asked, walking forward to touch the wall with the flat of his palm. Steps jutted out of the side of the wall reaching the thick, flat top. The four guys swiftly jumped ahead before he had even finished, every confidence in their leader. I envied their loyalty.

"Yeah," I replied, putting my sword away and massaging my aching head, angry at myself for feeling this way. They were people, not things I could use.

"Thought so," he began walking up, leaving me to quickly follow behind him, scared the steps would give way.

"What sports team were you guys on?" I asked, trying to distract myself from the thought of falling. At this height, I wouldn't die, but it would certainly hurt. I wondered if I had died by falling in my past life. It would explain the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach as we climbed.

"Surfing," Alex looked embarrassed at his answer. He looked every part of the stereotypical California surfer, from his wavy dirty blonde hair and green eyes to his tan, well-muscular body.

"I'm only here on a sports scholarship though, I'm actually studying IT, or at least I was."

I tried to picture him as an IT guy, finding it hard.

"Why surfing?" I asked, trying to pry at why he seemed uncomfortable talking about it, trying to deny the thoughts that took pleasure in the blush appearing at the tips of his ears.

"Family trade," he winked, pulling up his playfully flirty mask, hiding the sorrow at his words. I decided to stop prying further.

"Right," he drew our attention as we reached the top, "remember guys we're heading to sports hall two on the East, not sports hall one on the West."

Alex cheerfully reminded the team. From the look on the rest of their faces, I guessed there was a hidden story to his words.

Now at the top of the wall, I could see the college grounds clearly. The buildings more to the North showed signs of windows being blown in by a blast. Despite the large grounds, there were only a few of the dead wandering freely and aimlessly between the well-spaced outbuildings.

They had designed the college to be as eco-friendly as possible, it had been great publicity for Mr. Clark in the end. Hannah had read a lengthy article written by Ivy herself.

I glanced back at the dorm building safely tucked behind these tall and very sturdy walls. It felt like a solid stone beneath my feet. Just how long had it taken Alex and the others like him to build this?

The steps we had used to climb up sunk back into the wall, appearing on the outside. Again the boys started walking down well before the steps even reached the ground.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Raychbunni

Luna's finally starting to soften a little. It's true that in times of hardship, the people around you can make all the difference in your willingness to survive. Let's hope Luna makes better life choices from now when it comes to trusting people.

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