Emelie flicked her eyes open after having another dreamless night. Sitting up, she rubbed her tired eyes. She blinked as she looked at the empty sleeping bag next to her--where Doug should have been. Curiously, she stood up and stepped outside her home. The moonlight casted shadows on everything it could reach. In front of her was a suited man in black, staring up to the sky.
She wasn't sure if it was because of her still-groggy mind or just a neglected heart who had yearned for somebody to like for too long, but her cheeks warmed up as she stared at the tall, slim, young, and well-spoken man who was standing in silence in front of her. The aura around him felt mysterious yet so appealing and somehow beckoning. She felt drawn to him and she couldn't find the reason as to why.
All of a sudden, she felt conscious about herself.
She looked down at her body; she was wearing pajamas that had holes in it, a shirt that was honestly too dirty to wear, and she knew her hair looked like a field of corn while the bags under her eyes have a darker shade than normal. She realized that she had never worn makeup before; her mother didn't encourage her when she was young. But she remembered her mother wanting to have beautiful, blonde, grand kids running around the house. A heavy feeling weighed down upon her shoulders knowing that she could never make her mother proud again.
I don't think he would fancy someone as filthy as me, she thought to herself. As she looked up, Doug was already looking at her in silence, his hands in his pockets. His grey eyes stared into her intently.
"Doug?" Emelie called out casually, pretending that she wasn't staring at him since earlier. She looked down as she quickly tied her messy hair up into a ponytail. "What are you doing out here? It's freezing cold."
"I like the cold," Doug replied in a deep voice and closed his eyes. "Don't you?"
"I guess so, although I think I'd like a little bit of sunlight as well, but not the burning one."
"Just the right temperature," Doug smiled on one side and took a step towards her. "Get your things ready."
Emelie looked at the man who was standing inches away from where she stood and wondered how lucky she was to meet someone who seemed to be like her guardian. But then again, she thought that it might be too early to assume. It seemed like two sides of her mind were trying to overpower each other.
It had been two hours of non-stop walking under the sun and short conversations were done. They've walked through cracked roads, with animal carcasses lying around, but grim thoughts surged in Emelie's mind, that maybe the carcasses lying around weren't all animals. Doug was slightly disappointed that they haven't seen anyone. Just piles of trash lying around, and a few abandoned houses. Emelie's back was already aching from the weight of her mountain backpack but she didn't have the audacity to ask Doug for help. She thought that she had already troubled Doug too much.
Her legs started to tremble and her back was arched downward, like she was an old lady struggling to walk up a hill.
"Where to?" Doug asked, looking at a pile of cow carcasses on his left. In front were two dry roads, with green signs on each but were discoloured and vandalized, making it unreadable. After a few seconds without Emelie's answer, Doug gave his attention to her.
She was a few feet away from him, still trying to catch her breath as sweat continued to drip from her forehead and down her chin. Her moist palms were rested on her still-trembling knees.
"Hey," Doug jogged to her, "Why didn't you ask me for help? I was waiting for you to do so. I thought you could handle it."
He looked at the tired lady and grabbed one of the bag's straps. "Let me carry it."
Emelie shook her head, "No," she said, panting, "Let me just. . .rest for a while then we can continue."
"If you say so," Doug replied. He looked around, and saw that there was a bus stop shelter not too far from them. "There's shade over there, come."
He started to walk but didn't hear Emelie following. Once again, he looked over his shoulder and Emelie was still catching her breath. Doug sighed, grabbed Emelie's bag, and took the straps off her shoulders. This time, Emelie didn't resist.
~~~~~~~
"You should've only brought important things, like food and water. Also clothes," Doug muttered, peering inside Emelie's bag.
"I couldn't just leave some things behind," Emelie sighed, "These pictures and books mean so much to me."
"I didn't know non-living things could mean so special to someone," he replied in curiosity. "Why?"
"Well . . ." Emelie tucks both of her hands under her thighs, "When someone leaves this world, you can never see them again. Even if you pray to hundreds of gods to bring them back, they won't. That's why people who're alive will still hold on to small things that would remind them of those who've passed. Even if it's just a pen or a diary, they all mean the same. Without a remembrance, people would eventually forget them soon. They'll forget that someone dear has passed away, because they'll be so caught up with their own lives."
Doug stared at Emelie, who was chewing her lip.
"I never really understood Shakespeare books, but my mother had a lot of them," she continued. "She would reread her favourite chapters every night while sipping her green tea. She told me to try and read one, but I didn't understand anything yet because I was young, and I was frustrated. Instead, she would tell the stories with her own words, and I knew she changed some concepts to make me understand the story better and to make it child-friendly," she chuckled to herself, "But now, having all the time in the world to read anything, I've appreciated the books, and I understood why she loved them, finally, and I appreciated her even more, even she wasn't with me. Sometimes I would imitate what she did; back straight, one leg over the other, occasionally adjusting my non-existent reading glasses, and pretend to sip some tea with an empty cup," Emelie added with a small, trembling smile. The scene with her mother reading was still perfectly detailed in her mind, although she didn't want to remember, she wasn't in control of that.
"These pictures and books, they mean that much to you?" He asked in a careful manner, looking at a Shakespeare book in his hand.
She nodded, "Yes. They mean everything to me."
Doug furrowed his brows and scratched his head. He blinked twice before putting the book back in Emelie's bag. "We should start moving, the sun will get hotter by the minute." He stood up and swung the bag on his side.
Emelie stood up with a sigh. "Okay."
After another hour of walking on the cracked road that didn't seem to end, Emelie's shoe was suddenly caught up in a small gap in a crack. The sun's heat became more unpleasant and she was dying to rest under a cool shade. Annoyed and desperate to pull it out, she swung her foot a little too hard, and her right shoe finally broke. The sole was gone and she hopped around, chuckling like she had lost her mind.
Doug walked back to her and crouched down, looking at her broken shoe. "Oh, it broke."
"Thanks, Sherlock," Emelie said, groaning. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, ignoring Doug's question, 'Who's Sherlock?'
"Here, wear mine instead," Doug suggested, taking off his shoes for her.
"What? No, no," Emelie disagreed, waving her hands in front of her.
But Doug had already removed both of his shoes. His socks were in contact with the burning pavement but his feet felt nothing.
"Here," he said, holding out his pair of black shoes.
Still, Emelie shook her head. "Doug, I said no. I'll just find something along the way."
Doug didn't respond. He crouched down and slowly put his shoes on Emelie's feet. She muttered something under her breath and she sighed.
"The pavement is smoking hot, are you sure about this?" Emelie asked Doug, looking down at her feet. The black shoes were slightly bigger than her usual foot size but it wasn't too loose.
"Hot?" Doug asked, looking at the pavement. "If you say it's 'smoking hot,' then I shall say it is, too." He turned his back from Emelie and continued to walk.
She was still processing her thoughts as she stood there, watching Doug carry her mountain bag. When Doug was a few feet away from her, he noticed that Emelie wasn't following so he walked back to her.
"What's wrong?" Doug asked, both of his eyes looking at Emelie's right eye, then her left eye, then back again.
Emelie leaned back uncomfortably, not knowing what to say, "Nothing, it's just you're so--"
"Here," Doug said, taking off his black coat. He puts it on Emelie's head. "That should keep you sheltered from the heat. Now let's go."
Emelie's eyes wandered on Doug's white waistcoat and his grey vest. His waist was smaller than she'd expect it to be; his biceps were toned and his shoulders were broad. She gulped as she didn't know that it was possible that her face would get even warmer under the harsh heat.
"Look, Doug! An abandoned supermarket!" Emelie excitedly clapped, running towards a supermarket that had vines climbing on its walls and broken cars were just scattered around, like some sort of a maze.
They stepped in and Emelie's smile faded as she saw that the tall shelves were empty. Nothing but dust and spiderwebs on top. The tiles were cracked and filthy, and shopping carts were turned over and rusted. Window frames stood empty, with no glass filling them. Emelie assumed that it was because people had fought for the food.
Emelie clicked her tongue. "I'm sure there are other supermarkets," she murmured, and she turned around, but her body turned stiff. "Doug. . ." she whispered, trembling with fear.
Doug turned around and his grey eyes darted left and right once again, looking at the odd group of people in front of them.
Two young men and two young women were standing in front of them. One of them had a shotgun, pointing at Doug, but he wasn't concerned about it, nor he felt the need to be.
"Who're you?" the guy holding the gun had asked. He had a scar on his left eye and he seemed like he was the typical leader of the group, with his built body and tall figure, Emelie had thought.
Since Doug didn't say anything, which Emelie hoped that he would, she opened her mouth to speak, "I-I. . . We were just--"
"Hey!" a slim girl exclaimed, stepping forward. Her brown eyes twinkled as she looked at Doug, "I know you!"
Doug pointed at himself, "Me?"
The girl nodded slowly, "You're David. . .David Myers?"
Emelie flicked her head at Doug. "But you said you were--"
"No, I've changed my name to Doug. Just Doug," he replied to both of the girls.
"Who's he?" a man with an Italian accent asked.
"Doug? It doesn't really suit you. . ." the brunette said, staring at Doug's chest and biceps. "Do you remember me?"
Doug didn't respond. He didn't know this girl.
"Hey, hey," a girl with short, curly hair said to the man holding the gun. "Put that damn gun down, he must've been terrified with that thing aimed at him."
The tall man hesitated at first but eventually pointed his gun to the floor.
The brunette slowly walked towards Doug and when she was only a few inches away from him, she stared into his eyes and her plump lips parted from each other slightly. She batted her long eyelashes at him.
"Oh, David," she said, tears swelling up in her eyes, "I thought I'd never see you again!" she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and plant her pink lips on his'. Doug was taken aback and his eyes widened by surprise.
Everyone's jaws dropped open, followed by the Italian man giving a single, fake cough. 'Just who does this girl think she is?' Emelie thought to herself as she felt a pang of jealousy.
Her lips felt soft, moving in a rhythmic pattern, trying to encourage Doug to kiss her back, but he wasn't intrigued. He was just letting her kiss him. Her hands were stroking his black hair slowly.
"Woah, what the hell?" the Italian man spoke, "Uh, Paige?"
Paige pulled away with a smile while Doug stepped a foot back, saying, "Hm. What a very welcoming greeting." He slightly licked his lower lip curiously and then wiped it with his hand. It was indeed a strange way to greet someone new.
Paige giggled, turning towards her group, "David. . . I mean, Doug is my ex-boyfriend."