Dawn of the Others

Chapter 6

The ride back to the cabin went by quickly and after stashing the bike in the same spot as before I began my usual walk in. This had always been the only problem with the cabin, there wasn't really a marked trail and the ground was too rocky to ride in with any ease. The dense trees and constantly changing altitude made it better to simply walk the short way from the road than to attempt a ride. My strides slowed as I reached the small clearing, sensing something was wrong before seeing any indications. I swiftly pulled my gun out before surveying the area as I exited the last of the tree line.
To my surprise the yard was littered with bodies, at least five of them, each a little closer to the cabin door itself. Two more stood at the door, scratching and banging and bumping each other out of the way as they desperately tried to get inside, their infected hands leaving marks all over the wood. I felt myself go tense as I took in the mess, a worried chill going down my spine. As I got closer, switching my gun for my knife, I noticed the drops of blood that littered the porch and smudged across the door handle. Shit, where's Riley? I panicked.
My knife sliced through the infected woman's skull with ease, eliminating her followed by the other infected and leaving the door clear for me to enter. I quickly attempted to push it open but was met with resistance and a quiet sound of pain causing me to stop.
"Riley?" I called, my heart feeling like it was in my throat as I shoved my body through the doorway. I had only made a tiny opening so far but it was enough for me to stumbled inside clumsily, knife still at the ready. The inside of the cabin was the exact same as I had left it though, aside from Riley sitting with her back against the other side of the door. I immediately dropped down and began looking her over from top to bottom, searching for the source of the blood outside, but it wasn't hard to find.
"It's just my leg." She offered softly, looking away when I tried to meet her eyes but pointing a finger down to her scarf wrapped leg.
I hummed in response and gently moved down towards the bottom half of her left leg so that I could move the thick scarf and take a look. I noticed a knife that had been set on the floor next to her, but stayed quiet about it even though I knew it had come from deep within my closet. I silently wondered what else she had found here. Refocusing on her leg, I took in the mostly dried blood that was caked across it and had dripped down to colour parts of the old wooden floorboards. The gash itself wasn't too deep, but it ran almost horizontally across the whole side of her calf along with another, marginally smaller, cut just below it. I let myself relax a little as I realized she was going to be fine again, probably just weak from the blood loss and her recent outdoor activities.
"Were you going to rob me." I asked, watching her out of the corner of my eye as I rolled her pant leg up so it would remain in place when I moved her. She tensed a little, trying not to react but at the same time knowing that she had been caught. "I have the same cut my leg." I stated simply before she could deny it. "From the back shed, right?"
She sucked in a breath and gave me an answer with a sigh, "Yes." She began as I sat back on my heels and looked at her, our eyes meeting in the afternoon light. "I wasn't going to rob you though, I just really need to get back home."
As much as I wanted to believe her I knew that it would be extremely naive of me to, I still had to be careful around her and it seemed it would be best for both of us if she was returned home sooner rather than later.
I didn't say anything and instead moved to scoop her up off the floor, "Hold on." I instructed, sliding my head under her good arm and rising. The fingers of her left hand splayed themselves across my chest as her grip tightened a little. When she turned her head it put our faces mere inches apart, her short breaths heated and tickled my face all at once. The warmth of her body seeped through clothes where she rested against my chest and stomach and I fought the urge to never put her down. Her dark coloured eyes appeared endlessly deep in the soft rays of light that made it through the boarded up windows. I almost got lost in them before pulling myself back and shifting my eyes away forcefully. All it took was me holding her to forget that I should be keeping my distance. It was weird to me how drawn I was to her when I didn't know much else about her other than her name. I made the last few strides to the couch and set her down carefully as I continued avoiding her eyes.
"I'll be right back." I assured her before turning and heading to the bathroom to get the first aid supplies I had used a few days before, taking my time a little in order to settle my wild nerves. A bottle of antiseptic, a box of stick on stitches, a roll of gauze and a damp cloth later and I was returning to the couch to unload my supplies next to her. As much as I wished I didn't need the antiseptic, I didn't trust the rusted metal shard protruding from the side of the shed in the least bit. "This is going to hurt." I warned her, gesturing to the bottle in my hand.
She scrunched her nose a little, knowing what I meant, but grabbed the side of the couch and motioned for me to proceed anyway. I held the folded towel close to the gash and quickly doused the side of her leg with antiseptic before covering it for a moment, letting it soak in and do its job. She grit her teeth as I tried not to prolong her pain for any longer than necessary, her slightly laboured breathing made me feel guilty even though I was only helping. "Okay, all good." I said, removing it and wiping the last of the blood away so I could move on to the stitches. She breathed out a sigh of relief and leaned closer to watch me, her eyes made it harder to focus as I continued to work on her leg. It was my turn to sigh in relief as I finally finished my job and loosely wrapped it up, allowing me to put some much needed space between the two of us. She grabbed my hand, stopping me from moving any further and causing my heart rate to increase a little as it registered her touch. "Thank you." She said simply, looking up at me gratefully before letting me go again.
My hand rested limply at my side as I stood there, "It's really no problem." I replied sheepishly, trying to hide my reddening cheeks. "You might have to stay here for at least a couple days though, then I can take you back without you getting worse." I said, trying not to seem too relieved when she nodded her head and agreed to my request. Even though I had said it because she was still in no shape to travel, a part of me was just happy to have her around for a bit longer. There were people around my age in town but they were way more social than I had ever been and it was almost awkward trying to converse with them. We were just very different people even now, but things felt more relaxed with Riley right from the start.
I walked to the door, lost in thought as I picked up the knife and wiped it off with a loose rag. The blood was still fresh and had barely begun to dry, if I had come back a little sooner I probably would have found her outside myself.
"I'm sorry about that." She said quietly from over the couch. "The gun is out on the lawn." If I wasn't mistaken it sounded like she regretted taking my stuff and trying to leave, not that it had worked out for her anyway.
I chuckled a little, unable to help it, causing her to look at me rather incredulously. "Aren't you mad..." she asked in confusion. Her eyebrows had furrowed together in the middle, making little creases between them and causing her to look incredibly cute.
I just shook my head, "That gun is a piece of shit." I explained. "And the knife probably hasn't been sharpened in a decade. You took the most dysfunctional weapons in this whole place." I laughed a little more as she put her face in her hands and groaned. "Did it even fire?" I asked curiously.
She lifted her head again, her mouth turned down on one side in annoyance. "Only twice." She grumbled with a huff.
"Huh." I said, surprised it had even fired at all. "I don't use any of it, it all used to be my father's. Everything in the box was his before he left." I hadn't meant to say all that but it was nice talking to someone that didn't live in our town and already know everything about me. It was easy to say things to Riley without thinking about it, but that also made it dangerous, I still didn't know her and it was seeming more like I was going to forget that.
"When did he leave?" She asked quietly, her gentle tone and curious look catching me off guard.
I watched her for a second, thinking about how he had left and what it had done to my mother. I cared about him even now, but I also wanted to kill him for the pain he had caused her. "Couple years ago, at the beginning of all this." I finally answered with a sigh.
"I'm sorry that happened." She said simply. I waited but she didn't say more and I was glad she wasn't going to try to justify it or make me feel better like everyone else usually did. I was sick of people looking at me like I was an orphan, even if I was.
In my mind it had been better for him to leave then, life would have been harder if he had stuck around long enough for us to depend on him. He had come in and out our whole lives, showing up when he wanted and then disappearing again for weeks at a time without much of a goodbye. Mom had always sat with us and told us that if it was his choice he would have been a great father, that him leaving wasn't completely within his control. I never believed much of it, but it had seemed to make her feel better so every time I'd nod along quietly from beside her, letting her have the comfort that came with convincing your kids that everything was fine.
It seemed to have worked for my brother, he always joked that dad must have been sent on some secret government mission at the beginning of the infection and that's why he hadn't come back, but I knew he still believed that dad was out there somewhere, even if only a little. Chris had been adamant about seeing the good in dad his whole life, holding him on a podium despite his usual absence and empty promises. I, on the other hand, had tried my best to forget about him completely, throwing the things that I couldn't part with into the small cardboard box and bringing it here to leave in the closet.
I realized suddenly that I had been standing looking at the floor for a long moment and glancing up I found Riley in the same spot, watching me silently from the couch. My mind went quiet as I gazed at her, the rusty colour at the edge of her dark pupils caught the light just right and made them look like a miniature mountain scape with endless peaks and valleys. Simply looking at her made me want to slide my hand around the side of her face and pull her in for a kiss and it seemed like she was starting to notice my stares.
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" She inquired, the corners of her mouth turning up into a slight smile even though she was fighting it.
"That's just my face." I said dumbly, trying and definitely failing to sound unaffected by her.
She laughed and I couldn't help but smile a little myself as it lit up her face and caused dimples to poke into her cheeks. "Ya, okay." She replied sarcastically, smirking at me a little. Her sass made my mind jump to the rather unholy things that we could have been doing here alone, but I shook my head a little and dismissed them quickly. I had to get rid of this girl before anything happened, if she stayed here too long I had no doubt that it would and I would let it.