The Chase

The Chase Ch. 29

Thad's P.O.V

“No, you just have to make sure you don’t set it on fire,” Luke said while handing me a can of something. He and Emma had been trying to teach me how to cook for the past half hour, which turned out to be a lot harder than it looked. Luckily I hadn’t managed to destroy anything yet. Yet being the keyword.

Ginger hadn’t come down from her room since I had gotten back, which worried me, but I figured I could squeeze whatever it was out of her after dinner.  I didn’t want to bother her about it right away.

“Okay, so open the can first,” Emma handed me a metal object with double handles and gear like things on it. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with it, so I sat it down on the counter and ripped the top off with my teeth.

“Okay, well that works too!” she laughed kind of nervously. I knew I unsettled them all at least a little. Except for Donovan, that is, who seemed to be pissed off just at the fact that I existed.

I stared up at the staircase and a few seconds later Ginger started making her way down and into the kitchen.

“That’s kind of creepy,” Luke chuckled, “The way you knew she was coming.” I looked shyly at the ground and shrugged.

Ginger smiled up at me, but her blue eyes looked empty and tired and her smile looked too stressed around the corners of her lips. I frowned down at her, clearly demanding an answer for her gloomy mood.

“We can talk about it later,” she whispered to me.

“Or now,” I smirked, “We’ll be back down for dinner, I’m just slowing you guys down anyway.” Luke and Emma smiled knowingly at us and I grabbed Ginger’s wrist and led her back up to her room. When we stepped through the doorway, I picked her up and plopped her down on her bed softly.

“So what’s troubling you, Ginger? You were fine when you left me.”

“It’s just,” she sighed and looked down at her bed sheets, “I feel bad about…hurting Donovan.”

“Hurting him?”

She looked at me like I was stupid, her head cocked to the side and frown on her face.

“I mean emotionally. Breaking his heart, you know?”

“Do you still love him?” I asked her. She looked a little taken back by my question, but quickly regained her composure.

“No, but I care about him as a friend.” She looked at the ground like she didn’t want to tell me that. Of course she knew I didn’t like him, but it’s not like I could stop them from being friends or anything, even if I wanted to. If he ever tried anything, however, I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from ripping him to shreds.

“He doesn’t want to let me go,” she added quietly.

“Then tell him he needs to let go,”

“I did! That’s how I hurt him!” she said with an exasperated sigh.

“Give him time, I’m sure he’ll come around. I’m sure he’s a great guy deep down. Maybe he’ll find someone else.” I shrugged it off, not wanting her to make too big of a deal about it.

“Thad, there are no other humans left,” she said while gripping her sheets with frustration. I think maybe my heart broke for her then. The hopeless look on her face almost made me want to cry and hold her. I maybe should have expected her to say something like this eventually, but we all want to hide the ugly truth sometimes.

“That’s not true,” I cupped her face in my hand tipped her chin up to my face, “Enoch said there is about a fourth as many humans left in the world as there was before, which can’t mean you guys are the only ones.”

“That’s a lot less than before. That’s so many people that have already been murdered. More are dying every single day and we’re not repopulating while you guys grow in numbers every day. I’m starting to think there is no light at the end of this tunnel.” By the time she was done talking, she had started to cry softly. I pulled her off of the bed and into a tight hug, and let her cry into my chest.

“If I could save the world for you I would,” I whispered. She clutched the back of my shirt with shaking, warm hands. Her tears started to soak through my shirt, and the salty smell of them burned in my nose. She smelled like sadness.

“Everything will work out just fine, Ginger, you’ll see,” I kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back, “No matter what I’ll save you. You’re all I’ve got.”

Her shoulders bounced a little bit under my embrace. A laugh?

“Do you humans laugh at everything?” I groaned. Just a second ago she was falling apart in my arms, and now she was laughing at me?

“Only when we want to forget the bad stuff,” she said with a laugh, tears still clinging to the edges of her eyes. I wiped them away with my finger and kissed her lightly. I guess that made sense.

“Is it okay if I remind you of it for a little bit?” I said, careful to choose my words wisely. I didn’t want to upset her like that again.

“What do you mean?” her nose wrinkled itself up with distaste as she pulled herself away from my chest and gazed up at me. I placed her on the edge of her bed and walked over to drawer. I pulled something wrapped in parchment paper out and sat down beside her.

“I stopped by the library to talk to Enoch on the way back,” I explained, “He wouldn’t tell me anything because he told me I needed to read and learn on my own for once.” I rolled my eyes at that last part.

“So you decided to sneak into my room while I wasn’t looking and put it in the drawer with my bras?!” she practically yelled at me.

“Well, yes,” I smirked at her. She sighed dramatically and collapsed back on the bed.

“Anyway,” I continued, “I figured we could read it together, so I don’t get distracted.”

“Is your attention span really that short?” her remark was muffled by her arms smothering her face.

“Pretty much, now sit up!” I jerked her up by her arm and sat the package down my lap. She watched attentively as I carefully peeled away the paper and sat it on the bed. I was kind of scared just holding the book. The cover and spin were both so worn that even I couldn’t read what had once been the title. The entire book itself seemed more fragile than even a human’s frail skin. After gently skimming my fingers over the cover, I flipped open the book to the first page.

This shall hold the memories of things since past… the faded words read.

“Very cryptic,” Ginger commented with a laugh while reading over my shoulder. I tried to ignore the intoxicating smell of her breath and flipped through the pages. It didn’t have a table of contents, so this would be a lot harder.

“I’ll tell you when I find something that catches my eye,” I told her and she nodded.

“Thad?” she asked while reclining back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. I mumbled a reply and continued scanning the pages.

“How old is Enoch?”

“How old does he look to you?” I laughed.

“Like he should be dead,” she giggled.

“Exactly. So your guess is as good as mine, but he’s well over two thousand years old, I think. Our aging gradually slows down.” I could sense her surprise and looked up from the dusty pages to see her eyes wide and alert.

“Now that’s old! Will you live that long?”

“If I don’t die before then, maybe,” I’d never actually really thought about how long I would live.

 A few words on a page caught my eye.

Human

 Partnership

Blood

 Ritual

Wed

I quickly flicked back to it.

“Hey Ginger, I think I found something!”