No Body No Crime

Love Story

The inside is mostly empty but I could see this being a good hideout. There is a small stove thing and I make my way towards it. I take out some tins and start making dinner. I notice she hasn't got much food and so I only use my stuff, she sits beside me and I smile at her. Her frosty expression starts to thaw and she smiles back. I finish the food and she hands me her ration tin. I give her more than I have in mine as a thank you, she eyes it and notices this but she doesn't comment on it. We sit in silence for a bit, the only noise is the scraping of our forks. I break the silence first.
"You gonna tell me how the fuck you have that level of security?" I say tilting my head but continuing to eat. My chair is close to hers and I can see her tense and pause. Her fork drops ino her food and she sniffs.
"My dad found this place, the outbreak hit the city pretty quickly, before the electric cut out he was able to reprogram it. It must be hooked up to some other power source, I'm not sure but it still works." I chew a bit of the food and hum.
"How'd he know about this place?" Tears glaze her eyes and this tells me everything I need to know. Her father turned and she's had to protect herself ever since.
"He worked here, a programming company and he was pretty up there in terms of business. He was going to get a promotion and then the world turned to shit." I notice only one sleeping bag but I don't ask about it, her eyes follow mine and connects the dots.
"He turned, two weeks ago. It's just me now." I run my tongue along the front of my teeth and nod. My head falls and I open up to her.
"You ever been in love kid?" She smiles sadly.
"No, but I always loved the movies." I smile and memories with Leah resurface, I don't cry.
"Kid, the movies don't compare. Love is special and you're gonna find it." She shakes her head.
"Nah it's too late for me," I cut her off.
"It's never too late," I hesitate,"Can I tell you a story?" She nods and continues eating.
"I was in love once, met her when I was young, really young. She was smart, kind, funny and so beautiful." My eyes glaze and I've gained her full attention.
"I thought she was the love of my life. She was called Leah but to me she was my world." I sniffle and control my breathing.
"She seems nice," I smile but it falls off my face. It doesn't stick.
"She was. She was the best of us but on Outbreak Day she got bit." I snap my fingers.
"And everything I wanted with her was gone, just like that." I chuckle sadly.
"We were a dream but then I woke up and I had to kill her, she begged me to do it so I did. I've been getting better, at one point I wanted to end it. My life. But now I know she wasn't my future. She wasn't my one love, I have a bestfriend called Alessia and wow." My face lights up and she grins at me.
"I'm sorry about Leah," I nod and my face turns sympathetic.
"I'm sorry about your dad." She nods and I start eating again.
"Tell me about Alessia." I chuckle and wipe my mouth.
"You okay with staying up for a little while because there's a lot to cover." She nods quickly and listens intently.
"I knew her longer than Leah, she's my best friend and I love her more than one. Her eyes are like the ocean and I get lost in them. She's perfect for me, with Leah I felt like I didn't deserve her but with Less. I don't know it's like it's just us, it was always us." She looks at me shocked and I laugh.
"I didn't know love was like that." I laugh and grab her shoulder, she faces me.
"Let me teach you something kid. Love is endless, it comes in so many different ways, I love Leah, I love Alessia but the love I have for them is different. When you feel it for the first time you'll know." She nods her head.
"I'll know?" I nod and breathe out.
"Yeah, you'll know." She smiles and I finish my food. We sit in silence again and she sparks the conversation.
"How'd you meet Alessia?" My mind goes back to the time we first met.
"Believe it or not I met her in nursery." She shakes her head.
"No way!" I nod my head.
"Yeah kid. We met in nursery. She was shy and I was really confident. I played football since I was a kid and I made friends with some of the boys but Less, she wasn't that talkative. I remember the ball rolled over to the swing she was sitting on. She kicked it back to me and I smiled at her. She was crying and instead of playing with the boys again I threw it back and joined her. The best decision of my life." She smiles and sits near the small fire we made. I join her and she tucks her legs into her chest.
"It sounds like a movie." I stretch my legs out.
"No definitely not a movie. She told me to go away and play with the boys, I was stubborn though, sat and swung with her. She didn't talk to me but I stayed even when the boys called me back, I stayed." She rests her head on my shoulder and I wrap my arm around her.
"I wish my mum and dad had that type of love." I rub her shoulder.
"I mean dad loved her but she didn't. She left us when I was three. Left me to go on some cruise with her other boyfriend. Dad was heartbroken but still tried to keep me happy. He was good like that." I smile and kiss the side of her head. My eyes are fixed on the fire and the warmth gives me a fuzzy feeling.
"I'm sorry can you keep talking please." I nod and pick it up again.
"The next day I came into school and Alessia ignored me, I was only young so I didn't understand so I stuck to her like glue. When we had to do pair work I'd grab her before she'd back out. After a while she started talking and then we were best friends ever since." She tucks her chin into my neck and sniffles.
"What about your family?" I stiffen and my voice cracks.
"My mum died when I was young and my dad drank to numb his pain. My uncle was the only person there for me and my teacher. They were my family." She apologises but I wave her off.
"No need to be sorry I came to terms with that stuff a while back." Her next words digs a knife into my side.
"You said you liked football, did you ever go pro?" I unclip the necklace and hand it to her. She traces the cannon.
"Arsenal?" I nod and my voice cracks.
"Arsenal was where I found my forever family. We won the biggest achievement of club football on Outbreak Day, Leah and I's anniversary. Alessia and I scored on that day and we lifted the trophy together. A friend of mine Katrina brought her kid to the match with her. Little Harper. We were being stupid on the pitch together when everything happened. I got all of them on the bus but Leah was stuck in there. I told them to go on and I went back for her." She gasps and smacks me.
"You dumbass, you went back in." I shake my head in laughter.
"Why do you always nearly get killed?" I'm clutching my stomach.
"There was a couple of other moments when I nearly died." I point at Marlow.
"I got trapped on the roof of a building. He drew the infected away. Saved my life. That's why I made sure his was safe first." She looks up at me.
"You're a good person." I sigh and shake my head.
"In a world like this, there's no such thing. But I try, I try." She hums and I shift a bit.
"Why are you out here then?" I bite my lip.
"My teacher, I found some of her stuff and a map." I bring it out of my pocket.
"I met some people she knew and they said that she was told to go to the X by some man on the radio." She sits up and stares down on the map.
"Oh shit!" She says covering her mouth. I scramble to her.
"What do you mean?" She looks slowly up at me.
"Your friend, she's walking into a trap. This man on the radio sends broadcasts of his location. If she tapped into it and he talked to her directly then she's screwed. It's a trap, if she walks in she's dead." I gulp and close my eyes.
"Then I'll stop her before that happens." She hands me the map back and I slide it into my pocket. I watch as she keeps the necklace in her hands.
"You play guitar?" I nod.
"My teacher, Mrs P gave me her daughters old one when I broke mine." She nods and gives me the chain back. I clip it on and she returns to her position.
"Have you got a home kid? I mean other than this place." She shakes her head and I think of Hillside.
"I have a home. The best home. We have electricity, water, food, jobs and we're safe." She hums and yawns tired.
"That sounds nice." I breathe out and approach this next question carefully.
"You could come with me, find Mrs P and come to Hillside with me." She sits up again and crosses her legs.
"What's it like there?" I smile and laugh gently.
"There's people, a community and we protect eachother. We have plenty of food and weapons to protect us. We're hidden in a forest and there's a river near us. It's calm and not many infected reach us." She nods and looks off into the distance, she doesn't speak for a while.
"I mean-yea I want to go, there's nothing here for me anymore." I stand up and bring her into a hug. Her hands grab tightly onto my clothes.
"Thank you," she breathes out and I nod before realising she can't see me.
"No, thank you for saving me, your dad would be proud of you." She breaks down and sinks to the ground. I hold onto her and bring us down slowly, she's shaking but I keep my grip firm so she knows I'm here.
"He's proud of you kid, he's so proud." She's nodding against me and I keep repeating this. She quietens down and I stop talking. I think she's asleep but her voice cracks out something.
"Alice." She says and I grow confused.
"Sorry?" She repeats it again.
"Alice, that's my name. My friends in school called me Ally." I smile and run my hands through her hair.
"Well Ally, my name's Aurora but I think it's a bit boring so I mostly go by Rory." She yawns and I help her over to her sleeping bag. She slips in and I squat down.
"Get some sleep kid, we'll need it in the morning." She nods and I smile gently. I go to bed dreaming of Less and Hillside.