Days are Gone

Chapter 2 - Jake

Two months.

It's been two months since I lost Belle. I went back to that hellish camp where the two of us used to live, but it was abandoned and filled with hundreds of infected. Not even a single sign of that man or his savage group can be seen.

Left with no leads, I left that old camp with dark thoughts slowly corrupting my mind. I don't know where to start, and I don't have a single clue as to where to find her.

Hope is fading, and suicide is the only option I can think of at that moment. Not until I encountered a wounded man sitting below a tree in the middle of the woods. Stunned by such a bizarre encounter, I set my suicidal thoughts aside and decided to help him.

It's been a while since I met this guy, and all I can say is that having someone accompany you on your journey through the macabre is extremely beneficial to your sanity.

- - -

"Too frail. Get up."

"Ah, whatever," he murmured.

I threw a punch and aimed for his face. He then blocks it with his arms, leaving his body vulnerable to any attacks.

An opening.

I withdrew my fist and landed a kick on his side, causing him to fall on his knees and curl in pain.

"That's enough. We'll continue tomorrow."

"A fake! Come on, that's cheating!" he complained.

I shook my head and grabbed my hoodie. "We'll head out in a minute. We won't survive a week if we can't get any food or water. Also, the horde we saw earlier might pass through this area, so we better do this quick or we'll get surrounded."

He sat on the floor chair and sighed. "Now that you mentioned that, I don't understand why they walk in groups, any ideas?"

"Beats me, let's just get as many supplies as we can and then say goodbye to this place." I replied.

"You know what? I'm glad that we met each other. I thought I'd die out there and bleed to death. I owe you one."

"Yeah, whatever. Repay your debt soon."

"Come on, what's with the unfriendly attitude? We've been together for three weeks."

"Two weeks, Jake." I interrupted.

"R-right..."

Silence filled the room. Trusting someone is not that easy. After all, isolating myself from other people is the main thing that's been keeping me alive to this day.

The candle illuminating every corner of the room caught my attention. It's melting, and the flames are about to touch the floor.

It's slowly dying, just like me.

"There's something that's bugging me since we met, Cyra."

"What is it?"

"That..."

He points his finger at my forearm which made me freeze for a second.

"Oh, this? It's just a bruise, nothing to worry about."

He chuckles. "Come on, we both know what a bruise looks like, and that thing on your arm is not a bruise."

I released a deep sigh, and then pulled down the sleeve of my hoodie to cover it. "It's a bruise."