Survival

Part 36: Jeordie

Night came like the black wings of a low flying raven, and with the darkness it brought the smell of oncoming rain seeping from its feathers, fresh and sweet, setting every one of my nerves on end.

"How short?" Aluna asked Valerie, who was sitting cross legged with her back to Aluna.

"Maybe to my shoulderblades. I just don't want them to get in the way anymore." Valerie sighed and brushed her long dreadlocks over her shoulder.

"Sweet." Aluna said, sifting through the thick clumps of painstakingly neatly matted hair. She lifted a knife and wrapped a lock around it tightly.

Valerie shut her eyes, wincing as though she expected it to hurt. Then again, those dreadlocks had become a part of her very identity, like a body part. Maybe getting them cut would hurt, but not in a physical way. Even still, I released my breath in relief as at least twenty centimetres of dreadlock fell to the ground, leaving Valerie's head painlessly.

"There, that wasnt so bad, now was it?" Aluna laughed and took another lock. Valerie smiled self consciously and sat still so Aluna could finish her work.

"Remember when Marcus would do this for you?" Valerie asked quietly, looking down at her hands through her eyelashes. Her fingers were encrusted with rings from the hands of Changed they had removed, as were Aluna's.

"As if it were yesterday." Aluna sighed.

The two girls sat in silence except for the gentle sound of steel sliding through hair.

I hadn't got the chance to know Marcus very well in the short time I had with him, but from what I could gather he meant a lot to the others, especially Aluna and Aris; despite the fact that Aris had known Marcus for just as long as I did.

Something inside me twisted uncomfortably at the thought of Aris. Ridiculous, I know, but his closeness with Valerie had triggered something inside me that had never stirred before. Of course I wasn't jealous. Was I? Valerie had always been practically a sister to me; we were more than best friends. That kind of bond isn't easily broken. Why would I be jealous just because she had been spending a little time with a random guy helping us in the zombie apocalypse? Damn these teenage thoughts.

I furrowed my brow and chewed my lip uncomfortably.

"Hey Jeords, what's up yo?" Indiana crossed the width of the roof in two steps. I shuffled over to make room for him, becoming dangerously close to the groping hands. It was funny how accustomed you would get to a constant sound; I barely even noticed the keening anymore. That said, I still didn't like it. I prayed to the godless heavens that Anna would return with a ladder, and fast.

"Jus' thinkin' 'bout life." I said in a dramatic voice and pretended to look wistfully into the distance with my chin on my fist.

"Yeah, okay you dork. Really though, what's wrong? You're not yourself." Indiana sighed and shifted his weight, flicking his lengthening blonde hair from his eyes. I thought for a moment, considering if it would be unwise to tell Indiana what was on my mind. I settled on the fact that yes, it would be very unwise. So instead, I lied.

I spread my arms helplessly.

"What isn't wrong, Indiana? We're sitting on a roof with fucking zombies screeching for our flesh. You know, I used to stress about assignments and I thought that was pretty darn tough. But here I am, after watching my mother die and being separated from my best friend and being imprisoned and almost dying in that wet cell. I was rescued and reunited with my friend and some strangers only to have everything torn away again as quickly as I regained it. Now what are we doing? We're waiting for a girl to somehow run across roofs and bring back a ladder so we don't get eaten." I found that the more I talked the easier it was, and that was when I realised that I wasn't lying. Everything was becoming too much once again. Never in my right mind would I be jealous of Valerie having a friendship with someone else; I despised people who were so selfish as to feel that way.