Guilt (A Zero Spin-Off)

Eighteen - Kyle

Hunter watched the girls walk away and then stood up. "I'll follow them," he offered and no one argued because we were all thinking the same thing. The buddy system had been enacted since we'd run into signs of other people, and technically Zero and Ella were adhering to it. But not one of us felt comfortable letting them go off without backup. Zero might be able to handle herself, but Ella couldn't. She'd improved and that was awesome, but she wouldn't hold her own against a zombie and none of us had forgotten the threat of other people. The girls didn't need to be alone. Honestly, they didn't need to be scoping out the area at all, we had only stopped for a quick break before we were going to get moving again. I figured one of them had to use the bathroom or something.

When ten minutes had passed without their return, we were all shifting as our worry grew.

"I don't like this," Miles finally stated what we were all feeling.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Let's go." Standing I grabbed the backpack that Ella had been carrying and slung it over one shoulder, fitting it awkwardly against the bag already on my back. Miles did the same with the pack that Zero had been carrying and we took off, not quite at a jog, but we weren't strolling along either as we made our way through the woods on the same path they'd taken.

"Hang on a sec," Joel said and we all stopped our progress. Without the added noise of our feet crunching against leaves and sticks on the ground, Miles and I heard what Joel had already heard. Screaming. It was faint enough that we might have missed it. But it was there. My heart stopped as someone screamed again. And I recognized my name. The three of us took off toward the shouts, moving as quickly as we could. Joel, the quickest of us, broke forward pushing himself to get to the source of the screams.

Zero broke through the trees into sight and almost ran into Joel. "I tried," she said and tears were filling her eyes. "She slipped out of my hands."

"What happened?" I asked. "Is she alive?"

Zero nodded and then with wide terrified eyes looked to each of us and then her brow furrowed as she caught her breath. "Where's Hunter?"

Joel or Miles answered her while I ran forward retracing the footsteps Zero had created.

"Ella!" I shouted her name and for a second I thought I heard my own name in return. But it had gone quiet. I kept forward, in the direction I'd heard the yelling, calling her name. But there was nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

A rotting corpse was the only sign anyone had even been out this far.

I stepped around it, hoping for... well, I wasn't really sure. A glare hit my eyes and I looked down to see the metal glinting in the sunlight. I picked up the knife, wiping it off on the leg of my pants and pocketed it.

A hand landed on my shoulder. "She's gone, man. She ain't here."

I shrugged off Joel's hand and paced forward, running my hands through my hair. I was supposed to keep her safe. One goddamned job to do. Keep Ella safe. She was so scared last night and I'd promised she would be okay. I would keep her safe. God... where was she?

"Fuck," I yelled, damn near collapsing to the ground.

It was Zero who approached me next, hesitantly, as if it were the last thing she wanted to do, she reached out and touched my arm.

"What the hell were doing so far out?" I couldn't keep the accusation from my voice as I yanked away from her. Zero's eyes were already filled with guilt. She felt bad enough and I knew I didn't need to add to it. But that didn't stop me. It was irresponsible to wander that far off. Downright stupid.