We All Have Our Sad Stories

Chapter 21

Lilly stood in horror, shocked at what had just happened. She had watched her best friend get eaten by a hoard of those monsters. She heard voices around her, but she blocked them out, her eyes fixated on the mutilated body that sat just a few yards away from where she stood. Suddenly, she felt someone's hand in hers, pulling her away from the scene. She turned her head to look at the person who was dragging her away from the sight that made her freeze. Niall.

Finally, the fact that she was running from zombies registered in her brain and adrenaline kicked in. She ripped her hand from his and unsheathed her hunting knife from its holster around her leg. She sprinted forward, totally numb to all the built up emotion that was bound to flow out sometime soon. All earlier exhaustion vanished as she passed the tired group, taking the lead.

Lilly continued running, determined to get away from the scene that would certainly haunt her dreams later on. Her vision got blurry as her legs carried her through the trees. She narrowed her eyes, focusing on stabbing everything that moved in front of her.

Soon, she started to slow down, finally allowing herself to become aware of her surroundings. The group was shouting her name, trying to tell her that they were safe, and all the beasts had gone. Lilly stopped at a tree, a big oak tree that sat in a small clearing of the woods. She leaned against it for support, letting her back rest on it as she caught her breath.

Then it hit her. The loss, the grief, the sadness, the anger, and the oh-so-feared feeling of loneliness. Tears fell freely down her rosy cheeks, and she let out a loud scream of despair before putting her head in her hands and sobbing uncontrollably.

He was gone. The one she laughed with, the one she cared for, the one who comforted her after nightmares; and most importantly, the one who made her happy again.

"Lilly! Thank God." Ness exhaled, relieved to see her friend intact. Well, physically intact that is.

Lilly ignored her as the sobs raked through her body. Loud, ugly sobs that nobody, not even Ness, had heard before.

Ness' eyes filled with sadness and sympathy for the poor girl that stood in front of her. She then remembered that she was still holding onto a crying Louis. Ness had dragged him away from the scene after it had unfolded, his first reaction being something close to Lilly's; he froze and started stammering uselessly, the words of despondency not rolling off of his tongue as he wanted them to. She led him over to a tree close by and sat him there as the other members arrived.

One by one, they walked into the clearing, eyes widening when they saw Lilly crying as hard as she was. Even through her hands you could hear the loud cries coming from her mouth. Lilly never cried that hard. The group had no idea what to do, until Niall walked onto the scene.

Niall grabbed Louis' arm and walked him in Lilly's direction, expression neutral. Ness watched him, catching onto his antics before guiding Lilly to Louis. Niall shoved Louis forward, as did Ness with Lilly.

The despairing pair clashed together, Louis enveloping Lilly into his arms, and Lilly wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. Louis buried his face into the crook of Lilly's neck, sobbing irrepressibly. Lilly grabbed his blood soaked shirt and fisted it between her fingers, nuzzling her tear stained face into his chest.

The two slowly sank to their knees, fatigue taking over. But they both held onto each other tightly, silently fearing that if the other pulled away, their sanity would go along with them.

Ness watched them in despair, the feeling of tears in her eyes only angering her to the point where more tears appeared. Zayn watched her silently, gauging whether it was alright to approach her or not. He had sort of abandoned her before, and he wasn't sure if she would've held it against him.