Don't Talk To Me | BOOK 3

twenty two

Riley Murphy

2048

I heard a car reverse out of the drive and looked out my bedroom window.

Paxton's car is gone and so is Megan.

I slowly walk down the hallway to Elle's room, where I gently knock.

"Come in." I hear her say.

I walk in, welcomed to the darkness as their curtains are pinned shut, completely blocking out the sun.

"Hey." I said, following her voice to the bathroom.

"Oh hey, what's up?" She smiled.

My smile faltered as I saw her red eyes.

"You're crying, why are you crying?" I asked, kneeling down beside her as she put her head in her hands.

I can tell she's tired. The worry lines that are permanent on her skin, the never leaving eyebags she always complains about, "Nothing Riles I'm fine just- don't feel good, you know?"

I nodded, "I know. That's why I came to check on you."

"You're a sweet boy. Let me guess- you had a feeling?" She smiled, wiping away the remaining tears that fell down her cheeks.

I shrugged, "Yeah, I guess I'm gifted with that." 

"You get it from me. And we're not even related." She smirks.

"No seriously, what's wrong though? I've never seen you this upset before, aside from the obvious." 

She shakes her head and I notice the way her hand goes to her stomach, as if she's protecting it.

"You're pregnant?" I say, after the realisation hits me.

She doesn't say anything nor do her eyes meet mine, so I have my answer.

"No Elle this is good news, why aren't you excited?" I say happily.

"... For so many reasons, Riles. Too many in fact."

"Name 2." I say.

"First of all, I don't want a bring a child into this world where there is no... happiness, you know? No sunshine, no themeparks, no colour. I don't want my child to grow up unhappy like you four did." 

"What are you talking about? Gage and I turned out fine. We ate a bit of mud and a few rocks here and there but we turned out great!"

She chuckled, "I know but- it's worse now. We have Mason and the zombies- still. God, there's still zombies, after 20 years you'd think they would have starved to death by now."

"Okay and the second reason?" 

"I just- don't think I'll be a good mother." She mumbled.

My mouth fell open.

Is she joking?

"Are you kidding right now? Elle- you basically raised me." I said in disbelief, "You- held me and protected me and made sure I grew up sheltered from the world that you had to handle, all by yourself." I said to her.

Her eyes were brimmed with tears now as she listened to me speak, "Look I never knew my Mom. But from the stories Alex has told me, you were a great one. And from my experience, you were. And you will be. You have so much love in your heart and no one to give it too. This baby, will give you something to look forward too."

Elle sniffed, leaning her head on my shoulder, "When did you get so wise, huh?"

* * * 

Paxton and Megan returned a little while after our talk.

Elle locked herself in the bathroom along with Paxton and Alex and they haven't come out since.

We could hear mumbling coming from upstairs but nothing much.

"What do you thinks going to happen?" Levi asked, I shrugged, "If she is pregnant, we'll have a little guy to look after." Gage smiled, "I get where she's coming from, the paranoia." I said.

They all nod, "Look I have another plan."

Gage groaned, "I'm not participating."

I smirk, "Just listen to me before you object."

"Elle's right, it's not safe to raise a kid with Mason out there. The zombies, yeah, they're annoying, but Mason is our main target. He knows where we live and if he finds out about this kid, then that'll be the only thing on his mind."

"Keep going." Dakota said.

"My plan, we fake an alliance with him, or at least try and get him on our side to distract him for long enough to gain a little bit of his trust."

"There's no way in hell that Mason is going to trust us, let alone form an alliance with us."

"Maybe not, but if we give him something that he wants, he might let us in."

"But what exactly does he want? He has everything."

"He wants his Mom." A new voice interrupts.

We all turn around, seeing Alex behind us.

"Elle killed Tracy 16 years ago, leaving Mason alone and obviously angry. He tried to take revenge but here we are, still standing."

"You have a point, Riley."

"So if we give him his Mom, he might what? Respect us more?" Levi joked, "No- we give him her burial site, the place she was killed you know? Information like that."

"But he knows where she was killed, we have no leverage to prove that." Gage added.

"Which is why we give him false information." Paxton cut in.

Soon enough, everyone was sitting around the table, adding into the idea, "Mason has no idea that we don't know where his Mom is. We could send him to Albuquerque and he'd have no idea."

"We just need to get him distracted enough, so we can eventually-"

"Kill him."

The room fell silent.

"Look guys I know it's a tough decision, having none of you ever kill anyone before. So that's why one of us will do it. But if it comes down to it, just close your eyes and squeeze the trigger."

"The test came back positive." Elle blurted out, all of our eyes shot to her. Paxton smiled whilst me, Gage, Levi and Dakota all started wide eyed at her.

"So you're actually p-pregnant?" Dakota squealed happily.

She nodded.

"Congratulations!" Dakota said, hugging Elle.

I nodded my head, going back to the plan "So how do we do this then? We have a plan but we need the details?"

"We'll deal with that tomorrow, I'm too tired to think right now." Alex rubbed his temples, "Agreed."

I was on dinner duty tonight, so I just heated up some leftover soup over the fire and added a few extra spices. 

After serving the bowls, eating silently in the kitchen and doing the dishes, I headed to bed.

But when my head hit the pillow I had a strange feeling like- someone was watching me.

* * * 

what if I just left y'all on a cliffhanger??

JOKES, how do we feel about Elle being prego? what gender do u think the baby will be, even I don't know yet!!