ZOMB-POCALYPSE

Chapter Fourteen

"You lied to me." Ryan's words are quiet, but the accusation is impossible to ignore. Worse is the hurt in his eyes and the tone of his voice.

"What?" I stammer. There's been so much going on during the last two days. For a minute, my mind struggles to follow the direction of the conversation.

"You told me you got out," he reminds me, and I feel the pit of my stomach start to ache.

"Ryan," I stare up at his handsome face. I can tell he's mad, but at least he isn't Silas' brand of mad.

"I had to. If you had tried to save me, you would have been killed." Ryan looks like he wants to deny it, but he and I both know that he truthfully can't.

"You must have barely made it out of there as it is. If half the zombies hadn't been distracted by me in the pharmacy, you would have had a real problem on your hands," I remind him gently, and he has the grace to acknowledge what I've said as the truth with a curt nod of his head.

"When I saw you on top of those shelves, my heart almost stopped," he admits to me, and I hug him close again. The thump of his heart against my ear is comforting, and I relax for the first time in two days.

Ryan pulls away from me and looks at Silas who is sitting on his bed, minding his own business, and puffing away on a lit cigarette.

"Who is this guy?" he asks, and it sounds a bit rude to my ears.

"Ryan, this is Silas. Silas, Ryan," I awkwardly introduce them. Ryan politely puts his hand out, but Silas pointedly ignores it. I watch an angry flush enter Ryan's cheeks.

"Silas was staying in the apartment across the alley from the pharmacy and helped me."

Ryan looks like he doesn't want to believe it.

"Did you see the message at the pharmacy?" I ask, and Ryan nods. "That was Silas' idea." I watch Ryan digest this information.

"I'm glad you had someone when I wasn't there," he says at last.

I smile, admiring him for taking the higher ground.

Silas grunts, accepting his due of the compliment before ashing his cigarette out in one of the four beer cans littering his nightstand.

Ryan gives me a look, and I shrug helplessly.

"What now?" Ryan asks, suddenly looking unsure. I look at him, not sure what he's asking me.

"We stay here till morning," I say at last. There is no way I'm leaving this room in the dark unless I absolutely have to.

Ryan glances towards Silas like he thinks Silas is going to kick him out. Honestly, I have no idea what Silas is thinking, but I shake my head anyway.

"I paid for half this room. You're staying." I say firmly, not sure when I became the one to make decisions.

"Fine," Silas says suddenly, "But he isn't bunking with me." Silas is so random that I laugh.

Ryan frowns at me like I'm a crazy person.

"What do you mean you paid for this—?" Ryan asks in confusion.

"Do you need help bringing that woman from the car accident inside?" I interrupt him as I suddenly remember the reason we were even in that cursed pharmacy.

Before he speaks, the look on Ryan's face tells me that the woman is no longer with him.

"What happened?" I ask softly, leading him towards my bed.