We have walked around looking for a building to stay in at the worst time of the day: night. It is dark and hard to see. The moon gives us some light, but it is not full moon. Damien luckily finds a flashlight in a persons bag; yet, it seems to only illuminate a few feet in front of us. We haven't been attacked yet but we hear the infected close by. Every once in a while we hear the screams of people being killed for their food or worse, the infected get to them. By this time, my legs startbhurting and I start falling asleep. I trip over my own leg and fall to the soft, green grass.
"Kaylee, are you okay?" Damien ask. Rubble prances around.
"I'm fine, just let me rest here a bit," I respond already half asleep.
"I'll carry you until we find a building." I look up at him.
"No, you are already tired enough. You carrying me would make your feet hurt more and us go slower," I stand back on my feet.
"But for real I can..." He is interrupted by a high pitch scream. And it is nearby. Then the moans and snarls of the infected grow louder and more aggressive.
"I think it's time to run," I bolt down a pathway we have been following. Damien and Rubble are not far behind. The infected snarl behind us as we run. There is another scream in the distance. I stop and turn around. It sounds like it is close by. Maybe if I hurry I can save them. I bolt in the direction of the screams, which was right towards the infected.
"Kaylee!" Damien calls.
"I can save them, Damien!" I yell back as I run around the group of infected. Damien yells something else, but I can not hear him over the sound of the blood racing through my heart. I stop and listen for the screams. They are to the right of me. I sprint as fast as I can until I find a lady trapped in a tree that is surrounded by infected. The lady is holding a small child.
"Hey!" I scream. Some of the infected turn my way. I pull out my gun and shoot one bullet. That causes the rest of the infected to turn and face me. "Come and eat me, you slimy empty skin sacks!" They run towards me with such speed that I almost have to tuck and roll to dodge them. These infected are fast. I pull out my two favorite knives and start stabbing infected as I run. The infected are soon down to about three; however, these three were the fastest. For some reason, I feel like they are actually smart enough to not run head on with me. One of them goes behind me and lunges at me. I pull my arm back and stab it in the forehead. I pull my knife out and notice the other two are crouching side by side. I hear Damien yelling in the distance along with Rubble barking and the infected turn around. They rum off towards where Damien' voice was coming from.s
"Dang it Damien!" I run after the infected and manage to catch up to one of them. I swing my leg out and trip it. I step on its head, making sure to crush its brains in. I hear them close to me, which meant that the infected is ever so closer to Damien and Rubble. That is when I heard Damien yell.
"Damien!" I run as fast as I can to find Damien with a knife in the infecteds head.
"Is this what you went after?" Damien says, inspecting the infected closely.
"No, I found where the person was screaming from. If they didn't have a small child in their arms then I would have left them." I jog back to where the mother and the child are. I go to the base of the tree and hold my arms up.
"Here, hand me the child," I smile kindly. She hands me the child and jumps down. I move the blanket away from the child's head to reveal dead baby infected. It has been shot through the head.
"You need to get out of here," the mother whispers," they will take you, too, if you dont get out of here." I hand the dead infected back to the mother.
"Were those infected?" I ask.
"No, those were guys. They know that people will come and save a woman with her child."
"But it is okay. I already killed them all."
"No, there are more of them. There are more of them that come to take the person away," at that moment there were screams and whoops. "Go! Now! They are coming!" She yells. I instantly sprint towards where Damien is. He is still inspecting the infected. Rubble is now smelling it.
"Damien, we need to go now! That is not an infected!" I point at the person. Damien drops the person quickly and runs beside me. Rubble pants as he ran beside us.
"What happened?" Damien asks jogging beside me.
"It was a trap," I answer. Then I see a dark mass ahead of us. "There!" I point at a house just ahead of us. We run inside the building and slam the door behind us. Rubble lays down with his slobbery, wet tongue hanging out. Me and Damien slide down the back of the door. I lean my head back against the wall. I feel a hand rub on my neck. I glare over at Damien. He is not focused on me. He is focused on the cut on my neck.
"Why did you not let me help you?" He asks still focused on the cut. I push his hand away; however, he begins rubbing my cheek.
"Because you would have gotten in the way," I reply softly. "I didn't think you cared." It feels good when he rubs my neck and my cheek.
"I saved your life. You could have been tortured and used as a sex toy." He says. "I don't want to lose you." He began rubbing on my neck.
"I don't think they would do that. They would probably kill me and then take all my stuff." He stands up and holds out his hand. I take his hand and hop up.
"Let's go find a bed to sleep in," he smiles.
"You mean beds to sleep in, right?"
"No, I meant bed," he winks. He pulls me along and I snap for Rubble. He gets up and follows us. We walk into the main room and see tables and a bar. Damien let go of my hand and runs to the back of the bar.
"What are you looking for?" I ask.
"Sometimes there are is water back here," he pulls out a jar of water. "Here is a jar of water, do you want some first?" He asks. I take it and chug it down. I leave a microscopic amount for Damien. This water tastes really weird.
"Sorry, I was really thirsty," I giggle. Damien takes it from me and drinks the rest. He gives a weird look and then looks at me.
"That wasn't water," Damien says calmly, laughing.
"What was that?" I exclaim.
"Definitely not water," he smiles. What did I just drink?
"What could it have been?"
"Contaminated water, old wine, moonshine," he shrugs. I stick out my tongue.
"Damien, I feel funny," I giggle.
"Can you stand on one leg?" He asks. I attempt to do so; however, I nearly fall over.
"Nope," I giggle.
"I think that was moonshine," he laughs at me. "Let's go find a bed to sleep in," he smile.
"Yes," he takes my hand and pulls me along. Rubble follows us throughout the building. I am falling over my feet while we walked. Damien laughs and then he picks me back up. My vision is all wonky. He pushes open one of the doors; inside is a huge bed.
"I'm so sleepy," I stumble over to the bed and jump up on it, much like a child would on Christmas morning. It is so comfortable. I almost do not like it. I am so used to cheap beds. Damien laughs and shuts the door behind him. He set the bags by the door and puts a cabinet in front of the door. He walks over to the bed and pushes me off the bed. I flop on the ground and then spring back up. Damien is laying on the bed with his arms behind his head and his legs crossed. I peak over the bed. I squat down so I would have momentum and jump. Damien screams as I land on him. I growl at him and all he does is laugh.
"You're adorable now settle down and go to sleep," he commands. Rubble jumps up on the bed and lays down.
"No!" I argue," I'm not tired!" He grabs me and pulls me down.
"Lay down!" He retorts. I stand up and jump up and down. I manage to escape from his grasp and continue to jump on the bed. This time; however, he wraps his arms around my waist and holds me down.
"Awe," I whined.
"No, it is bed time." He pulls me close and holds me there. He is so warm and inviting. I cuddle up to him like I used to when I would have a nightmare when I was a kid. I inhale his scent and sigh. I feel so weird and am so sleepy that in a few minutes I fall asleep, even without my medicine.
"Kaylee," Damien coos as he shakes me. I groan, pushing his arms away and cover back up with the blanket. He shakes me a bit more, but this time Rubble is licking my face.
"Rubble!" I push Rubble's face; consequently, he head-butts me, causing me to fall onto the cold wood floor.
"Ouch." I have a major headache. I lay back down on the soft bed. I feel dead, but not the infected dead.
"Kaylee, we need to go," he shakes me. "We need to get to my camp." I quickly sit up and stare at Damien.
"What?" I ask.
"Well, yeah. I mean, my camp has shelter, food, people, and safety."
"No, no, no. You are the first human being that I have ever communicated with since this whole thing started."
"You will be fine." I need to take my medicine and then we need to look for food. This is what my dad and I did before we made it to the apartment buildings. It is a harsh lifestyle, but for the world we are in, it was the best we could do. I stand up and start rummaging through my bag for my medicine. I pull them out and start opening the package. Damien comes up beside me and takes them from me.
"Damien, give them back," I scold.
"No, you do not need these stupid things," he shakes them in my face; however, when I try to take them back he puts it out of my reach.
"Damien! Those are not toys! I need those!" I yell.
"No, you don't! He opens the window and chucks them as far as he can. I am so full of anger that I stomp out of the room. Damien chases me out into the main lobby.
"Kaylee, wait!" He calls.
"Those were the only thing holding me back!" I scream. I drop to the floor. That idiot threw away something that kept me in control, kept me focused, kept me down on earth. I turn and glare at Damien.
"That was the only thing that kept me in control. It kept me from going crazy," tears blur my vision. The last time this happened me and my dad was in the middle of the forest. I went crazy and my dad had to carry me until we got me my medicine. No, I need to fight through this, but how? I stand up and Damien comes up behind me.
"I'm sorry, but you don't need those."
"Well you are gonna have to help me out, you are going to have to deal with crazy me. You might have to hold me down. My dad could barely hold me down, have fun," I smile. Damien looks at Rubble and Rubble shakes his head. Rubble then looks at me and I stare at him. Rubble whines and hides behind Damien.
"Rubble remembers what happens to me when I don't have my medicine. I hope you made the right choice." After a long silence, Damien finally speaks.
"Well, let's go look for a little something to eat and then we will head to my camp." He starts walking away and I groan. He turns around and glances at me.
"I hate scavenging for food. I did that for four years until we went to the apartment buildings. That's when my dad kept me on that floor, all because of my... problems. He was also scared of losing me."
"Well one, we have to so we don't die of hunger. And two, what are all your problems?"
"Lets see, anxiety and depression. All because of one event."
"What event was that?"
"The event where I killed my own mother with my own hands when I was seven," I sigh.
"Oh. Sorry." We stop talking and both go different ways. I scavenge through the cabinets. I do not find much, except for a big bag of jelly beans and some spice. Weird, people only take the healthy stuff , but whatever. Leave the good stuff for me. This spice can be used for food. I creep back to where I had left Damien. He has a fire built and has a pan.
"What are you doing?" I ask. He stares up at me, making me feel slightly uneasy. Oh man, my anxiety is already showing through.
"Well, there is a small, slow flowing river behind this building. If we can catch some fish then we can cook them. I take the liberty of going and catching a few for us. Rubble runs to Damien and licks his face.
"It smells amazing. What would make it better are these," I hold out the spices and his jaw drops.
"These will make the fish taste way better!" He starts sprinkling the random spices onto the fish.
"No," I take the spices away from him. I proceed to only use the ones my mom used to use. I used to help my mom with cooking when I was younger, and then once she died my dad cooked really good food. I flip the fish and see the golden brown fish flack off.
"Mmm," he smells the air. I take the fish off the pan and set all three on a plate. Rubble digs into his fish while Damien is very hesitant. I grabs his fork and puts the butter melting fish in his mouth. He chews the fish and then takes the fork away from me.
"This is good," he says with a mouthful. He swallows hard," how did you learn to cook?" He asks shoving more in his mouth.
"My mom and my dad. My mom before this whole thing and my dad once she died," I answer holding my plate out to Damien. He pushes it back at me.
"You need to eat." I set the plate down on his lap and Rubble looks at me for more.
"I will be fine. Now let's hurry up so we can get out of here," I turn away. I feel him grasp my wrist then he pushes me up against the wall with my hands above my head. He looks dead in my eyes. He puts his leg in between mine and lifts me off the ground. I yelp.
"What are you doing?" I asked in a shaky voice. He sighs and sets me down. I feel my legs buckle from me shaking so much. He looks at me and I notice there was a look in his eyes that I had never seen in someone before. He walks away without saying a word. What is going on with him? I run after Damien and grab his shirt sleeve. He stops and turns around quickly. His eyes are a soft, vibrant green. I drown in his eyes as he put a hand on my cheek. The cut on my cheek is healing better than the one on my neck. He pulls on my chin so I was looking deep into his eyes.
"Da-Damien," I sigh shakily. I am definitely dead. I already drowned in his eyes. He grabs my wrist and puts them behind my back. I am now push up against him with his leg in between mine. I feel so weird like I want to kiss him. What is this feeling I am feeling? I resist that urge and try to get out of Damien's grasp. He holds me there so I can not move. He pulls my chin up and kisses me. I feel like a thousand volts of electricity is being pumped into my body.
"Damien?" I call. He shakes his head and lets go of me. The look in his eyes are now fading back to their normal green.
"I'm sorry," he answers. He steps away from me. "Let's get our stuff and start heading for my camp," he walks away in silence. I look down at Rubble and he tilts his head.
"What is up with Damien?" I ask Rubble. He tilts his head in the other direction and then walks towards the bags. I sigh and begin getting our stuff together. I find Damien in the room we slept in. He is laying on the bed with his arms over his eyes. I tip-toe into the room and poke his arm.
"Damien?" I ask. He did not move. "Damien, what is going on with you?" I poke his face this time and when I does he pulls me onto the bed. He peers down at me with those bright vibrant eyes as before. He grabs a piece of cloth and binds my hands together. He hovers over me and holds my bonded hands above my head.
"What is the matter with you?" I as shaking. He leans in close to my ear. Instead of whispering something he bites on my neck. I let out a small moan. What is happening to me? What is this feeling that I am feeling? Damien laughs a little.
"I love you," he whispers then he sighs. He unties my hands and walks away.
"Damien," I call after him. He is already out the front door of the building when I catch up with him.
"What was that vibrant glow in your beautiful eyes?" I am losing myself in his emerald green eyes again. He ignores me and continues walking. I tug his shirt sleeve; yet, he does not turn around.
"Daddy," I whined. I feel myself flush red. "I mean, Damien." I feel him slightly slow down and laughs a little. Was it my voice he reacted to?
"Dam..."
"It's called love," he interrupts. "It can also be called lust."
"Is that why you were acting like that?" He stays silent for a while.
"Yes."
"Is that why you won't look at me right now?" I say in my sweetest voice ever. He stops and sighs.
"Yes, I want to make you mine."
"How do you do that?" I ask. He grabs my hand and pulls me along. Rubble was touting behind us slowly, stopping and going when we do. We seem to walk for what seems like forever in silence. The sun is now starting to set.
"Why are you ignoring me?" I ask hitting his hand. He even ignores me hitting him. He stops and I run into him.
"Damien, why are we..." I look past Damien and see a huge wall. He whistles and that wall opens up. He pulls me along inside the walls. The walls close behind us with a boom.
"Kaylee, this is my home," he smiles. I spin around looking at everything. Then someone screams Damien's name. A woman comes running up to Damien along with a lot of other people. They grid us. Rubble barks at the crowd. I push through the people and out of the crowd. I feel someone tug on my sweatshirt and pull me back.
"Let go!" I scream. I thrash around trying to escape. Rubble barks above the crowd at the person holding me.
"Let her go, Luke!" I hear Damien yell. He pushes through the crowd and the person who had me let go. I run to Damien and clung onto him like I would my dad.
"Oh, I'm sorry. When did you snag this one?" The guy bellows.
"Come on, Kaylee." He starts walking to a house with me still clinging to him. Rubble follows us to a house. He opens the door and closes it behind him. I finally stopp holding my breath. I hear the door open behind me and I jump higher than a frog. I quickly retreve my knives, ready to strike.
"Damien, who is this?" A woman ask.
"Guys, this is Kaylee and her dog Rubble," I stay close to Damien, knives ready. There is a lady and two other guys. Damien takes my only one of my knives and I feel defensless.
"Kaylee, this is my family," Damien smiles. I look around examining the people. The lady is the first to speak.
"Hi Kaylee, I'm Elizabeth, Damien's mom." She waves at me. What am I supposed to do? I wave back awkwardly. She smiles,"this is my husband, Jacob and this is Luke." She points to each. I already knew I am not going to like Luke. There is something about him. Luke crosses his arms.
"So, where are the others?" Luke asks.
"The guys attacked Kaylee so she attacked back and she killed them," Damien says like it is no big deal.
Luke scuffs," I doubt it. She's too wimpy." I growl at Luke.
"Leave her alone, Luke."
"Oh come on, Damien. Let the little girl prove herself," Luke stands in a stance. I growl and wait for him. He runs at me and I duck, putting my left shoulder between his legs and throwing him on his back. I do a back flip back and land straddling him with a knife to his neck. I growl.
"Okay Kaylee, that's enough," Damien calls. "I think he learned his lesson." I pull my knife away and walk back to Damien. I could sense Luke right behind me. I go in front of Damien so that Luke can not touch me.
"Oh, you look so tired. Let's get you into some nice, fresh, clean clothes." Elizabeth says reaching for my arm. I back up as close as I could to Damien. Damien comes close to my ear.
"It's fine. She won't hurt you," he pushes me forward. Damien calls for Rubble to not follow me. She grasps my hand and pulls me along. I stay at arm's length away from Elizabeth. She brings me into one of the rooms. The room is a dark purple, the curtains were a light, violet purple, and the bed is creme colored. I step into the room and feel a fuzzy carpet beneath my feet.
"Now, let's get you washed up," she smiles." I need you to strip."
"What?" I ask.
"You need to take your clothes off so you can get washed." I start taking my sweatshirt off and then my leggings. I stand in just my lace undergarments. Elizabeth turns around and starts washing the grim off my skin from the two days I haven't washed. It was just like when my mother washed me. Luckily I was like my mom, who did not grow hair anywhere except for her head. She washes almost every inch of me except where my undergarments cover. She puts her hand over her mouth once she steps back.
"What?" I ask shaking.
"You have so many scars. How old are you and how long have you been out there by yourself?" She asks.
"Um... I'm seventeen," I answered. " and I haven't been out there by myself for long."
"You are so young. That means you were only... seven when this happened, correct?"
"Yes."
"Where are your parents?" She asks. I stiffen up.
"Um, dead. Probably."
"What do you mean probably?"
"I shot my mother when I was seven when she turned. My dad... I don't know if he is alive."
"Oh, I'm sorry." She wraps her arms around me. I squirm out of her grasp. She sighs and holds out some clothes.
"Um... do you have a sports bra and boxers? I, um, feel safer?" iquestion myself as to why I want to wear boxers, but I go with it.
"Yeah, I will be right back." She leaves me alone in the room. I sit on the fuzzy rug and rub against it. It is so soft. It is really funny. My parents referred to me as a kitten because I liked sleeping in boxes, I loved climbing, and I loved rubbing on stuff. I hear someone outside the door. I quickly crawl behind the door. The person walks up to the door and knocks on the door. I hear another set of footsteps and then the door opens. I stay behind the door, holding my breath.
"Kaylee?" Elizabeth calls.
"I'm here," I answer coming out from behind the door.
"Why were you behind the door?"
"There was someone by the door," I shrug.
"Oh that was Jacob coming to tell me food is ready," she smiles. Then she hands me a pile of clothes.
"I will wait outside the door and then take you to the kitchen for dinner," she walks out and closes the door behind her. I look down at the clothes she has gotten me. A nice pair of boxers, a pair of sweatpants, a tight tank top, and a pink sports bra. I quickly put this on and then open the door. Elizabeth smiles when she sees me.
"That suits you very much. And you have nice abs," she winks. That's when she sees the ring on my finger.
"Is that Damien's ring?" She asks.
"Um, yeah. He gave it to me. If he wasn't supposed to give it away then..."
"No, it's fine," she smiles. "Now let's go get some food." I follow her to the kitchen where the table is covered with food. My eyes grew wide. I have never seen this much food since this whole thing started. Elizabeth sits next to Jacob and I sit next close to Damien awkwardly.
"Well, let's start eating," Jacob announces. Everyone, even Rubble, starts digging in while I sit there awkwardly. Damien turns to me.
"You need to eat," he picks up a potato and places it on my plate. I slug back into my seat, too embarrassed to do something.
"What do you want on it?" He asks warmly.
"Um, everything," I answer. He started piling food into my potato. First, the chili followed by cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. Damien smiles and starts eating his food. I look at my food. I want to eat but am too scared to. I feel a hand touch my thigh. I look up at Damien. What is this connection that we have?
"It's okay, you can eat." I take my fork and start eating. I am so hungry that I finish before Damien finishes his food. Elizabeth laughs.
"Hungry much. How long had it been since you ate?"
"Um.. a day," I admit. We had fish yesterday, right?
"Would you like another one, Kaylee?" Damien asks. I nod my head. As Damien fills my plate, Luke grunts.
"She is so weak," he snarls. "She doesn't talk except to Damien and she can barely do anything on her own. I'm surprised she even survived this long. Where are her parents, dead?" I stand up and hiss at him.
"Fuck you," I growl behind gritted teeth.
"Leave her alone, Luke!" Damien yells standing up. Luke runs his hand down the cut on my cheek. I back up, running into Damien.
"Don't touch her!" Damien yell.
"That is enough!" Elizabeth yells standing up and hitting the table. There is a knock on the window.
Elizabeth sighs,"time for bed. Kaylee, you can have the spare bedroom and..."
"Can she sleep in my room?" Damien ask.
"I feel safer with Damien watching over me," I contribute while glaring at Luke.
"Sure, since it makes you feel safe," Elizabeth smile. Damien grabs my hand and pulls me out of the kitchen. I pat my leg and Rubble runs up beside me.
"You have a very obedient dog," Jacob states.
"Yeah, he only listens to me, my dad, and Damien now." Damien leads me up a flight of stairs and then down the hall. I notice a window right in front of the room Damien stops at. The moon shines through the open window. Damien pushes open the door.
"I'm sorry if it is a bit messy," he smile.
"It's whatever," I laugh. I step inside his room. Inside is a tv with a gaming system, three skateboards hanging on his wall, and a nice neat bed. Rubble rubs and rolls against the rug on his floor. I laugh as Rubble looks at me upside down. I hear something soft hit the ground and turn around. Damien was now only in his brief. I blush. I walk to the bed and lay down. He gets on top and stares down at me. His eyes are back to the vibrant green.
"Can I make you mine?" He ask.
"Um, how... do we do that?" I ask shaking. He smirks.
"Maybe I will wait until we have known each other longer, but one thing before I go to sleep. Just so I can fall asleep," he grabs my chin and pressed his lips against mine. Like last time, electricity shoots through my body. I shiver and so he pulls me against his body. His body is so warm. He rubs his hand down the side of my neck.
"I'm sorry," he apologizes.
"It's fine," I smile cuddling up to him. He wraps his arms around me.
"I love you, Kaylee."
"I-I love you t-too.
Is this really what love feels like?
Thank you for reading my book! I am so happy that you guys love it! Love ya guys!!