Killing Corpses (zombie novel)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

                 

She was right, it was safe from Reapers. It was small and compact, so we set up in the largest room we could find, which was the restaurant on the top floor. It had a balcony leading out to view the city, and plenty of room inside. Not that we were counting on aesthetics to get us through the night. I was counting on my heart not breaking.

The duffel bags contained food, water and blankets, consisting of energy bars and bottled water. So, we had a feast on everything there was. We all knew we'd be going to the White House again tomorrow, when Seth was gone. We made his last meal as great as we possibly could.

"I can't believe the last meal I will ever eat is three nutrition bars and a bottle of water," Seth chuckled, trying to keep everyone's spirits up. We all tried to smile, but it physically hurt. It was heart-wrenchingly odd to know the person who you were sitting beside at that moment in time, that person who had re-located your shoulder and taught you how to jump across buildings, was going to be gone in mere hours. The person who stayed up all night to talk with you while you vented your worries out, and told him your apocalyptic, nightmare of a life. The person who, although he came across as a jerk, was actually the sweetest, kindest guy you'd ever met. All taken away by one, stupid bite.

One by one, we all began to drop like flies, collapsing from exhaustion from the day's events. Not my original team though. We stayed up for hours, reminiscing.

Liam, Matt, Jacob, Alex and Lyndsay were all out cold, while Seth, Callum, Abbie and I stayed up to talk about what life was like before we had met the Sierra Nevada crew. We talked about how I sneaked out and happened to find Seth, how Seth helped me and pissed off Callum, how he made Abbie and Callum move out of their "Safe zone" and helped us find our way to sanctuary. He had literally saved my life; I just wished I could have saved his too.

It wasn't long before Callum and Abbie too, were sound asleep, leaving Seth and I alone. (Not for the first time). He didn't look any worse than he had after he had just been bitten, which was promising. But I knew it was only a matter of time.

We sat for hours, holding on to each other, while I shed silent tears. It was so bizarre to think he was going to be gone.

"How does it feel?" I sniffed quietly.

"Not any worse." He replied quietly, stroking my short hair. It was strange. I had never thought of Seth in a romantic kind of way, but here we were, holding each other in the dark while we comforted each other.

"Copsyn," He said hoarsely. "I need you to look at me and really listen, okay?"

I sat up and nodded at him, looking at him in the eyes.

"Okay." He sighed, rubbing his eye. "I ...I am going to die. That's what's going to happen, and we can't do anything about it. You can't, I can't... It's something that we're going to have to deal with." He began.

I sniffed, a tear escaping from my eye and rolling down my cheek. He caught it with his finger, looking at me sympathetically, his own eyes welling up.

"Sorry, I'm not making this any easier." I mumbled.

He chuckled and shook his head. "But seriously." He continued, licking his dry lips. "I'm not going to be here tomorrow. Or the next day, or the next. I don't expect you to go running through fields and dancing with glee at the prospect of my death, but I don't want you to dwell on me. You are capable of so much more, Copsyn, you have to understand me. Focus on the goal. Focus on a cure, on helping people, and saving the godamn world. Because that's what you can do, Copsyn. And you'll do it, I know it."