Decimation (Ianthony Apocalypse AU)

day forty-eight

chompers seen: probably about seven hundred

chompers killed: 1

near-death experiences: 6

human deaths witnessed: 4

friends left behind: 6

camps infiltrated: 1

dead friends: 2

"So what are you gonna do? Just sneak past your parents, or say goodbye?"

Rico shrugged. "I feel like I should say goodbye, but then they'll try to trap me here, y'know?"

We walked up the stairs together, each carrying a tray of food. We were leaving today, no matter what. We were going to yesterday, on Rico's actual birthday, but they couldn't take Anthony's stitches out until today. He still hadn't told me how he'd convinced his parents to let us stay here this long, and I wasn't sure if I'd ever find out. Maybe they didn't even know we were still here. I still hadn't formally met them. The people who were tending to Anthony were Rico's aunts, apparently. Other than that, I'd only formally talked to a few of his cousins, family friends, and one woman who'd worked here. It was a sort of unspoken agreement that we'd spend just about all day up on the top floor, minding our own business, and I only descended the billion flights of stairs for meals.

When we finally reached the top floor, I was panting and had to wipe sweat off my forehead. Rico laughed at me, but I noticed a bead of sweat rolling down his face, also.

"You really think bringing her breakfast every day will make her just magically fall in love with you?" I joked when we stopped outside Lizzy's door.

He shrugged. "Yesterday she let me sit down for a minute. We talked a little bit, too."

I laughed, shaking my head. "Just don't come on too strong. She's been through a lot."

Aaron, Jenna, and Alex were still at the hotel. The day after leaving, Aaron had returned to the office building with the ambulance, saying Alex still couldn't leave and they were just gonna stay with her until we were all ready to go. Which, as much as I hated to say it, was kind of a relief, because now there was no one to enforce the whole "five feet" rule.

I spent the entirety of the day in Anthony's room. He was still too weak to do much, because of how much blood he'd lost, but he said taking to me took his mind off the pain. So, I slept in there, I ate in there, I lived in there. Jonah, Rico, Lizzy, and sometimes even Henry joined us frequently to talk and joke and plan our next moves.

He was awake when I opened the door. He smiled at me as I set the tray on his lap.

"Did you sleep okay?" I asked, pulling the plastic chair right up to his bedside.

He shrugged. "Yeah. Normal."

"You sure you're okay to leave today?" I opened his stale individual box of Cheerios for him. "Because we really can wait-"

"No, seriously," he interrupted. "I feel a lot better. I think I'll be fine."

I frowned at the Ziploc bag next to him on the bed. "You're almost out of pills."

He nodded. "I know. It kinda sucks, but I'll be fine. Really."

We ate our breakfast in almost silence. It had only been a week, and he was already learning how to do so much on his own. Yesterday, he'd completely bathed on his own in the big plastic container in the "bathroom" - the empty office with just a few buckets and scarce water to wash in. "It was just my left hand, anyways," he'd joked. "I don't need that shit."