This Beautiful World - Book #1 (BxB)

Chapter 17

After the girls left us, Arin and I went to the room that her father let us use for the night. Despite speaking with him last night, I still felt a little awkward being around a stranger. I wanted to try to get along with him since I wasn't sure how long we would be stuck together at the apartment building. It would make life a little easier if I was on good terms with everyone. However, I wasn't sure what I should say or if I should just bid him goodnight.

Within the room, I looked for any sort of chair that I could use for the night, but there was only the bed. I felt uncomfortable enough whenever Alex tried to share a bed with me, so I definitely wasn't about to with some guy that I hardly know. Even though the bed was big enough for both of us, it wasn't going to happen. I sighed, grabbed one of the pillows and blankets, then took a spot on the floor. 

Arin sat at the edge of the bed. From the soft glow that the candle cast, I could tell that he was looking at me. Then he said, "We can share the bed. I don't mind. It'll help you sleep more peacefully and you'll want to be at the top of your game if something happens tomorrow."

I knew that he had a point, but I was stubborn about it. "I'll be just fine. Besides, today was fairly easy, so tomorrow might be as well."

"That's a terrible way of thinking about it. We don't know what is going to happen tomorrow and there's no guarantee that we'll get as lucky as we did today," he responded. 

"I'm optimistic."

"Optimism is going to get you killed." Arin laid back on the bed. 

I looked back at him, a little annoyed. "Okay, Mr. Pessimist. Let me ask you this then. What do you think our odds of surviving are?"

"Honestly, I don't have high hopes. Things went into complete chaos only seconds after the first zombie showed up. I saw many people around me die, more than those who were able to escape. The zombies move fast, only one bite or scratch is enough to infect you, and some of them don't even die from headshots. We don't know if they're capable of other things. We also don't know how far this has spread. With how quickly it started, I wouldn't be surprised if our whole country has been affected by this. At this rate, humanity will be wiped out," he said nonchalantly. 

"I get where you're coming from, but I would like to believe that we have a chance. Like you even said, we don't know how far this has spread. There is a chance that it hasn't gotten far. Things might be bad here, but we don't know about other places. Maybe they found a way to hinder the infection." I wanted to believe that humanity could overcome this. It's only been a couple of days since it started here. Maybe it wasn't so bad everywhere else in the world.

Arin sighed. "I doubt it. In any case, I don't really care what happens. Like many other survivors, this infection has already taken most of what I care about. Even if things were to get better, I've lost too much."

I wasn't expecting him to drop something so deep after our short debate. I wasn't sure what to say that might comfort him. I couldn't ask him about it because I didn't want to bring up any unwanted memories. He mentioned something about a little sister last night, so it was obvious that she was who he was talking about. I'm sure there were other family members that he was thinking about as well. 

"I'm sorry." That was all that I could say. Nothing that I said could change what happened to him, nor did I think that I could make him feel any better. I knew that I was lucky to be reunited with my family and that not as many people had that chance. I was grateful that I was able to see them again despite the odds. 

He said nothing about the topic anymore. Instead, he changed the subject. "Just come lay up here on the bed with me already. You'll be sore otherwise. And if you're worried about my opinion on what your sister said about you earlier, don't be. I truly don't mind."

Reluctantly, I listened to him. I lay down as far away from him as I could. This shouldn't have felt so strange to me considering the fact that I fell asleep near him last night. The only difference was that now we were sharing the same bed. I glanced over at him. It didn't seem like this was bothering Arin at all. 

"Is this really okay?" I asked. 

He nodded. "Yes. Don't think too much about it. Blow out the candle, close your eyes, and try to relax."

I did as I was told. It didn't take long for Arin to fall asleep. Since he was the one on the night shift yesterday, he must have been exhausted. Yet, he still decided to accompany me and Riley on this journey. He said that he didn't care what happened, but he helped us regardless. He was a kind person. 

While I tried to clear my mind and get some rest, I heard a noise coming from outside. It sounded like something scratching at the window. The curtains were closed, so I couldn't see what it could be. It might have been an animal or a tree branch scraping against the window. I tried to ignore the sound and go to sleep, but the sound kept persisting. It was getting louder. 

I felt bad for waking Arin after he had just fallen asleep, but the sound was bothering me. I could have been waking him up over nothing, but something felt wrong. I shook him, which woke him up easily. When he also heard the sound, he sat up. He was quickly on alert. 

We couldn't ignore it. Since we didn't know what was out there, we didn't know whether it was dangerous or not. We were on the second floor, so it had to be nothing. I was on edge after the monsters that we had encountered yesterday. Slowly and carefully, both of us got off of the bed and walked over to the window. I took the lead, with Arin close behind me. Once I reached the window, I cautiously pulled back the curtain just enough to peek outside. 

What I saw wasn't an animal or a simple tree branch. Instead, a face stared back at me.