Catherine slipped across the roof, silent, gripping her knife. She didn't see the glass until she heard it crack. She curled up, falling until she hit the ground. Her vision swam when she sat up. Broken chunks of glass dug into Catherine's arm as she clenched her teeth and pulled them out one by one. She glanced around at the seemingly abandoned room. She needed to relocate, but her position was far to close... to them.
Catherine stood up slowly, plucking the last piece of glass from her vibrant, scarlet arm. She stumbled towards the door in front of her, wrapping her wound with a blue bandana. She re-positioned her jacket and sprinted through the breaking sunrise towards the base. With every step closer, she tired more and more. When Catherine arrived, she opened the door and collapsed inside on her back. Relieved, she muttered "I'm here," with a yawn.
"Cat!" Aaron rushed over and reached out his hand to assist her in standing. When Catherine lifted her hand, Aaron couldn't help but notice the blood pulsing from her wrist. "You're hurt...". Her balance floundered, as she regained her breath. Catherine snickered, "I didn't know the building had a skylight and ended up falling through. Nothing too bad." She adjusted the bandana to cease the flow of blood. She realized the time,7 AM, and whispered, "I'm glad no one heard the crash this late."
Aaron hugged her and said softly, "I'm just glad you're back safe." Those were the words he said but not the words he wanted to say. Catherine and Aaron both knew he could've said,"I missed you," or " I was worried about you." However, on a day like this, in a world like this, that just wasn't an option.
Their embrace ends and Catherine awkwardly nods, glancing around momentarily. "Meet anyone new, or is it still just you and me?" she asked, her eyes no longer flitting around, refocused on Aaron's. Aaron gloomily uttered "I though I saw some others earlier, but I couldn't get close enough to see if they were Virals. I wasn't about to take any chances." A chill ran down Catherine's spine an the mention of their name. The Virals, the affected, or whatever anyone else wanted to call them. An evolved race made up of what used to be Aaron's and Cat's family, friends, and people they used to know. They both knew that all they had now was each other.
Catherine, exhausted, walked over to the the tattered couch and slumped back, motioning for Aaron to come sit next to her. "Everything is clear from our last location," she mumbled as she yawned. Aaron let out a "humph" as he fell onto the couch beside her, exhausted as well. "You could hear them a little down the street. From what I could tell, they're about a week behind our schedule," Cat said as she rested her head on Aaron's shoulder.
Aaron spread the blanket that was on the couch arm over their tired legs. To Catherine's surprise he bluntly blurted out, "What are we even doing? Are we just going to run until there is no where else to run? Don't you want to find somewhere where we don't have to worry about sneaking around and staying one step ahead? We could even find others, but if we wait, we might become the last ones, and we can't let that happen." Catherine sighed softly, "I don't know... I think there's supposed to be a safe place off the coast of Florida... almost 3,000 miles away." At that fact, Aaron countered, "Can I just fall off the couch onto my face?" Catherine giggled,"No, silly." "Ugh, okay," Aaron said as he instead fell over Catherine's lap, his face landing flat on the couch cushion. When Catherine rested her arms on his back, he muffled through the couch cushion, "You know my back sort of hurts. Maybe, you know if you want, you could rub my back for me." Within a second, Catherine pushed him off the couch and Aaron let out a "humph" as he hit the floor. Aaron stood up and brushed the dirt off his shirt. Catherine paused before standing, "I'm sorry, kinda," and giggled. She made a slight pout with her lips, "Hug?," and outstretched her arms. Aaron hugged her and whispered in her ear, "I have to tell you a secret." Catherine leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder, "Yeah." Next thing she knows, Aaron promptly blew in her ear. She jumped back frowning and smiling at the same time. "Not Nice!" she says as she tackles him onto the ground. They tickle each other until Aaron plumply sits on her. "Oomph. Hey, no fair!" She playfully punches him in the stomach, "So not fair!" Aaron rolls onto his back to lay beside her. All he could think about was the feeling of her hair against his face. Soft, brunette, beautiful. He places his hands behind his neck and together they stare at the stars through the glass roof.
Catherine sighs softly. "How about we try for Florida?" she says, looking over and smiling softly. Aaron looks over, pensively. "Do you believe we can do it?" Catherine smiles, yawns, and rests her head on his chest, closing her eyes. "We have to try." They drift asleep, snuggling in close.
