The Flares

I Knew You'd Come Around

I DECIDED AGAINST explaining what had happened to Stephanie and Gwen. I doubt my tale of murdering an infected little girl and leaving a dying man alone in an alley constituted good story material. Stephanie accepted the supplies and thanked me in a way that made it seem like I did the worst thing imaginable; which I may have in her perspective. She may put on an ice cold exterior, but she wasn't vicious on the inside, and no matter how much she objected to my presence, she couldn't bring herself to dismiss me entirely. Besides, Gwen and I were getting along, and she couldn't go against Gwen's wishes.

"We should head out soon. I don't feel comfortable staying in one place too long." Stephanie drew out dryly. She and Gwen were searching for an area clear from infected, like they had set up when the outbreak had begun. I was dubious about the existence of one, but searching for false hope together beat living a harsh reality alone, so I was willing to accompany them on their pointless journey.

I guess it was no more pointless than my wandering aimlessly across the country.

"If we find an army surplus store or book store or something like that and get a map, we might have some kind of idea where we're going." Stephanie had busied herself with getting as many weapons as she possibly could, realising that a gun wasn't very good to use on a regular basis, but she kept it as a last resort.

"And where exactly are we going? Did you hear somewhere that there might be some specific place where survivors are headed?" I came up to her to help her pack some of the weapons away. There were a lot of army knives on display, as well as a katana that Gwen desperately wanted to use. Stephanie was adamant that it wouldn't happen in a billion years, and Gwen has been sulking at her ever since. Stephanie sighed at my question and I saw her shoulders tense before slouching again.

"No, but anywhere else feels safer than just staying here. We have all the time in the world, given that the world has four years left." I heard her bite back the laughter that threatened to erupt before an awkward silence ensued. We knew that we were just prolonging death, but we felt more reassured knowing that it was our choice, and that we weren't slaves to fate.

"What about this one?" Gwen ran up to Stephanie with a dagger and displayed it proudly, giving Stephanie a please-can-I-use-this-sharp-blade smile. Stephanie knelt to her level, placed her hands on Gwen's shoulders and returned a smile to her. "Alright. If you're willing to carry some clothes with you, and you can find a backpack, you can keep it." Gwen was elated and got to work immediately, leaving a relieved Stephanie to continue packing her things into my camper pack. It was filled to the brim with small weapons, snacks, drinks, the first aid kit and a blowhorn we had found on display. She was trying to fit a few more cans of soda into it when I looked at her from the corner of my eye.

"So, how'd you two find each other? I take it you're not really related."

"You realised that the little Caucasian girl and Asian teenager aren't identical sisters? Good observational skills." She responded dryly before biting back on what she said, and giving me a somewhat sincere sorry.

She turned to me, dropping her head as she tried to recall events. "We lived in the same apartment complex. When things got bad I had to leave my house. My parents both got sick, and then. . . well, I think you can figure out what happened." She paused her packing, tensing up at the raw memories.

"I remember giving my mom some chicken soup. She was very traditional with medicine, and she didn't want anything else. Maybe she knew that nothing would fix her, and she was just doing it to keep my mind at ease. One day, when I brought the soup to her, she just got really mad at me. I was trying to calm her down but she was just getting more and more furious." I already knew where this was going, and remained as silent as I could. I knew there was no shelter from the truth of the past.