Together We Survive

Cold

With fuel running low we were only traveling for another ten minutes before the engine gave out completely, but it was enough to distance ourselves from the walkers. Elyza jumped out of the car to refill the engine as I continued to stare straight ahead, feeling sick to the stomach by what I had just witnessed.

Soon enough we were back on the road and I felt Elyza glance over at me every now and again in the tense silence, opening her mouth as if to speak but then thinking better of it. It reminded me of the time during the earlier days when I had not been aware of the situation and had seen my neighbors being attacked, my first instinct had been to run out and help them though my mom had quickly stopped me from leaving the house.

It was a bitter realization that more deaths would surely come, though it gave me even more cause to want to help people when possible. Elyza had barely hesitated in her decision to leave the women, a choice I would not have willingly made.

'You're not still mad at me about earlier right?' Elyza finally asked, taking her eyes from the road to look over in my direction.

I remained in a sullen silence, unable to forget the fear filled expression as the women had been overrun by the undead. There had been the faintest trace of hope in her eyes when she had spotted us, hope that these strangers would have the heart to save her from the almost certain death.

'Fine, play it that way then, we're about half an hour away,' she said stiffly, returning her gaze to the road when I said nothing in response.

'You left her to die,' I said quietly, not having the energy to shout and scream at the girl.

'We left her,' Elyza corrected me, 'and there was nothing that we could've done to help her.'

'You don't know that,' I argued, had she actually tried there was always the possibility. Now we would never know.

'She was covered in blood, most likely bitten by one of those fuckers and even if by some miracle we had managed to get her over that damn fence then she would've turned and attacked us in thanks.'

I bit back the torrent of harsh words that would only escalate the situation, there was no way we could've known if she was bitten.

'She probably would have shot us both with that shotgun strapped across her back before stealing my car,' Elyza continued, and I didn't bother to correct the fact that the stolen car could not be considered hers. 'Besides, the mass of walkers descending on us put us in a bit of a tight spot.'

'You're the bad ass blonde with an arsenal of weapons on hand, are you saying you couldn't handle some of the undead?' I asked tightly, not willing to accept that we had been in any immediate danger.

'Oh, I can handle anything thrown at me, even a feisty brunette with a bad attitude,' she replied easily, winking meaningfully behind her aviators. I ground my teeth in annoyance at how quickly she had managed to interrupt such a serious conversation. 

'You could've saved her,' I said sharply, refusing to be drawn away from the topic.

'She was a stranger, we had no choice and you know it,' she told me firmly, a hint of annoyance in her voice at my persistence. It was the first time she had truly showed any emotion since it had happened and I wasn't done pushing yet.

'So was I once, then you saved me and here I am, why is that so different?' I went on, my situation not having been so far off until Elyza had jumped in all guns blazing.

'You weren't bitten, and from the way you managed to miss that walker three times with a handgun I was pretty certain you weren't going to be a problem,' she said with a sigh, drumming her fingers on the wheel to let out some of her own frustration.