Lauren's POV:
After killing more zombies than I'd killed in these past three months, it was hard to convince Camila that Shawn was fine when I knew he wasn't; this city was ridden.
"Come on," I said and pulled Camila by her arm after giving the streets the once over. "Where do we go from here?"
Camila's breathing was uneven as she scanned the area in search of signs. "I think it's this way." She told me, marching forward.
The younger woman had only been to see Shawn twice since he moved to New York five months ago, therefore she was having a hard time remembering her way. It was frustrating because I knew all of this was a waste of time, Shawn was dead – but I would never say that to her until she saw it herself. I took a deep breath and kept my mouth shut for the next fifteen minutes.
"This is it." Camila confirmed, eyeing up the desolate building that read 'Pace University'. I could feel my breathing getting heavier as I tried to contemplate what I would say when Camila and I would lay eyes on a zomibified Shawn. I'd experienced seeing a loved one that way now, and I was a lot stronger than I imagined Camila would be in that situation.
"Are you okay?" The brunette asked, placing her hand gently on my arm after I'd been silent for a good ten seconds.
I gave her a soft smile and nodded, making my way towards the entrance of the building with my grip tight on the weapon in my hand.
-
"Lauren, watch it!" Camila yelled and aimed her weapon to something behind me which I hadn't seen. I spun to see a figure reaching its arms towards me and I quickly dived to the ground so Camila could make a clear shot, which she did. The undead fell to the ground and I started to stand up, brushing the splatter of my new jeans. "That's the fourth one, Laur."
I smiled sympathetically because what else could I do? Lie to her and say everything was going to be okay? I grabbed my trusty bag which had fallen to the floor and threw it over my shoulder. "Come on."
"His door number is 10B." Camila announced, tightening her loose pony as we started to make our way down another corridor. I examined the blood stained walls that were once cream, the stained carpet that was covered in dust, broken glass and liquid spillage. The lights above us were providing no light at all as we walked wearily beneath them.
"Here," I heard and focused my eyes on Camila who stood in front of Shawn's dorm room. She eyed up the door anxiously and nibbled on her bottom lip before looking over at me for some sort of reassurance and encouragement, I imagined. All I could do was give her another tight smile and gesture towards the door for her to open it.
When her hand grazed the handle, I subtly shuffled closer to her and forced myself to keep my eyes on whatever would be behind that door.
"Should I knock?" Camila's voice startled me for a minute and I released a loud sigh.
"No, just open the door. Jesus." I complained, shaking my head lightly before focusing myself again.
The Cuban turned the handle slowly and then gently pushed the door so it would open – which it did, with a loud creak that made me flinch. I followed her lead when she started taking careful steps into the room.
It wasn't in the state I imagined it to be; the living room was fairly tidy and there wasn't that much dust. The curtains were drawn back with a window slightly cracked open and I felt my eyebrows starting to furrow.
The two of us loosened up slightly at the sight we were no longer used to. I decided to examine the kitchen which was attached to the front room, spotting a mini fridge on top of the counter.
I felt myself gulp when I opened it to see that it was fully functioning and filled with bottles of water and beer. Slamming it shut in annoyance and bewilderment, I startled Camila who turned to face me.
"What is it?" She asked, frowning at my sudden action.
"Nothing. Let's keep looking."
I didn't know why I was feeling so uneasy at the possibility of Shawn being alive, but I was and I found myself actually dreading looking in the other rooms.
Camila came to a halt outside of one of the two bedroom doors. "This is his bedroom."
"Yeah, you'd know." I mumbled quietly and was taken back by my own bitterness. Camila shot me a look of confusion.
I took a deep breath and watched her open up the bedroom door. This time, I was taking lead and was the first to step foot into the room which was in the same state (if not a cleaner state) as the front room. I made my way over to the bed to start my search for God knows what whilst Camila started looking through the bedside cabinets.
"Don't move." A male voice came from behind the door along with the sound of a gun being cocked and I froze, instinctively lifting up my hands slowly and dropping my weapon to the floor.
"Shawn!" Camila's joyful voice filled the room and I turned around just in time to see her embrace him in a tight hug. His gun fell to the floor as he wrapped his arms around her momentarily before pulling away and examining her face.
"Oh my God." His voice was barely audible as he took in her features, pulling her back into his embrace afterwards.
I felt my throat starting to close over at the sight and my knees grew weak. I flopped myself down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, needing a minute to take all this in.
-
Five, maybe even ten minutes must have passed before I was addressed by Camila. "Lauren," She said and I quickly sat up to see her standing at the foot of the bed holding Shawn's hand tightly. The couple wore bright smiles and could just about take their eyes off each other. "This is Shawn."
"No shit." I said sarcastically, giving a small smile and shaking his hand. "I'm Lauren."
Once the introductions where over and done with, I no longer wanted to third wheel and listen to them tell each other how much they loved the other and how badly they'd missed one another.
Rolling my eyes and picking up my gym bag and pistol, I threw the accessory over my shoulder and made my way to the door. I was almost at the stairs when I heard footsteps behind me along with a shout.
"Wait!" The familiar voice filled my ears and I stopped to turn around. Camila's loose strands of hair had fallen in front of her face due to her running after me, and made her look 10x more beautiful than I already knew she was. "Where are you going?"
"I told you I wouldn't stay." I reminded her, fiddling with the gun in my hand and struggling to maintain eye contact with the breathless woman in front of me.
Her jaw dropped slightly as she looked back in the direction of the room she had just left. "But I want you to stay."
I chuckled a little and licked my lips. I didn't really know what to say. I knew I couldn't stand third wheeling, especially not during the apocalypse and especially not with Shawn. I Imagined the three of us getting into a situation where Camila had to save Shawn or myself, or Shawn had to save Camila or me – how would that go down? That was the exact reason an even number of people was needed in circumstances like this.
"I can't." I said quietly. I looked up and Camila whose eyes appeared to be a little glassy and I could swear her bottom lip trembled. "I reunited you with your boyfriend, that's what you wanted when we first met." I recalled.
The Cuban wiped at her eyes and let out a small, bitter laugh. "Before I got to know you."
I frowned for a minute and could tell by the way she looked down at the floor afterwards that she hadn't meant to say that.
I waited for her to look up at me again but she didn't; so I let a few minutes go by before I ran my fingers through my hair and cleared my throat to get her attention. "I have to go."
Camila nodded and bit her lip, meeting my gaze. Her voice was hardly audible when she mumbled out: "Okay."
I contemplated walking up to her and giving a hug but I didn't. I feared getting teary-eyed or not being able to let go. We'd bonded over these past two weeks of being together and it would be weird for the both of us to be without the other – we had become a team.
With that thought in mind, I flashed her a toothy smile which she reciprocated with more sadness than I would have liked. I took a dep breath and headed down the stairs, refusing look back.
I pushed the 'exit' door open and felt myself become overwhelmed with sadness. I gave myself a minute to put my head in my hands and recompose which was difficult, because within the space of a week or just over, I'd lost two people that I cared about.
-
A/N: ooOooOo, juicy.
hello folks! happy saturday. how are ya? how's things? any of you sitting some GCSEs yet? this time last year, in the midst of writing my previous fanfic 'the tattooist and the florist', I was doing the exact same thing and I fucking HATED it. but hey, it'll be over soon and at least you have these little weekly updates.
so a lot of you hoped/suspected shawn would be dead...how're you feeling now?? what do you think is going to happen??
let's see how different things are in the next chapter.
take care!
- fay.