Don't Get Eaten

Chapter Fifty Four

It felt like another hour had passed before the first streaks of sunlight hits the pavement. The area was quiet and still. Those creatures didn't come back and nothing else seemed to be alarming. But just in case we waited just a little longer.

Now the sun was beating down on the two of us and we have yet to still move a single muscle. A few more seconds and Zared finally moved. He peaks behind the dumpster and sighs.

"I think we're good now." He whispers.

I slowly start to get up, rotating my ankle to make sure it was good enough to walk on. He stares down at it as he stands by my side with a slight frown.

"How does it feel?" He asks.

"Better, now that I took the pressure off it."

"Good, so you'll be okay to walk on it right?" He looks over the top of the giant metal container, back out to the street.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

We cautiously walk out to the street hoping to find nothing. We looked down both ways to see the place once again abandoned. I take Zared's hand into mine as he begins walking the way we were first heading too, where Matty completely ditched us.

"Do you think the others are alright?" I whisper, still afraid to speak loudly.

There were still some areas in shadows from the tall buildings blocking the sun as it rises further into the sky.

"I hope so. That scream could have been anybody. Matty went off all on his own again. Hopefully he didn't end up running into other monsters before he was able to get away."

I don't say anything to that. As much as I hoped he was okay too, a part of me couldn't help but feel that if he ran into trouble than he deserved it for what he had done. By leaving the two of us completely on our own with those creatures.

My silence must have gotten to him as he looks back over to me. "Are you worried about him?" he asks gently.

I shake my head with a heavy sigh. "More like pissed. He left us Zared. I was struggling and he didn't even bother to look back to make sure we were still with him."

He makes a face that I quickly capture before he swipes it off for a frown instead.

"What?" I ask incredulously, pulling on his hand in my slight agitation of that look he just gave me.

"Nothing. It's just..." He takes a deep breath, looks around again, and continues to pull me away from the danger of the city. "Are you more pissed that he actually left us or left you?"

I come to a halt and jerk my hand out of his grasp. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I snap at him angrily.

He looks away from me as he begins to rub his neck. "Look Jinsen, as much as I want to believe that what we have is a for sure thing, I can't help but keep wondering if you still have feelings for him. It's not like they just automatically disappear overnight. Now that he's here with us, alive, I can't help but worry that..."

He looks down at his hands, his brows drawn together and his eyes piercing with a different kind of fear now.

"That?" I encourage, because honestly, I shouldn't even get mad at him for feeling the way he was.

He gives another heavy sigh and looks me straight in the eyes. "That you're going to finally come to your senses and realize that I'm not the one you want, not truly."

And there is was. His true fear between us.

He wasn't happy that Matty made his appearance after all. And he believed that I was using him because of my fear of this place and the possibility of dying at any given moment. But it did make me realize one thing.