I adjusted my glasses as I made my way through the rest of the aisles trying to find anything useful while my mind wandered off as I thought about what Ace had done.
I found Nico still looking through food, he had grabbed a cart and filled it with random foods, canned soups and fruit, some granola bars and some other small prepackaged items as well as a few cases of bottled water. These were the only things that didn't go bad as fast as the rest of the food.
Nico hadn't really needed clothes as he was still relatively clean and it wasn't his priority at the time, I wasn't sure where Ace was but I hoped he was safe. I stayed with Nico as he soon finished grabbing all the food and water he could, we looked for Ace and found him looking at flashlights and other little things we might need such as a first aid kit and some candles.
We left the store and started putting all of our items into the car, lucky for us it all fit. We got back into the car, Ace in the passenger seat and I sat in the back with you guessed it Nico driving.
Nico was good at driving, certainly better than I am. So I had no complaints when he drove. We made our way back to the house feeling accomplished with all of the things we had found, we were about ten minutes away from the house when Nico stopped the car out of nowhere.
"Do you see that?" He pointed to a group of thick oak trees, there was movement
"Okay? It's just some Lurkers" I said confused
"No, those aren't Lurkers. Those are… people" Nico said slowly
My heartbeat against my ribs feeling like it was about to break through, why were there people outside?
Nico and Ace got out of the car and I followed closely behind as the people had already gotten closer or at least close enough to make out who they were
"Chloe?" Ace said softly "No way" Ace's face lit up with excitement
"Who's Chloe?" I whispered to Nico
"Ace's psycho manipulative ex-girlfriend" Nico explained, I could feel a pain in my chest but I quickly shut it down
"I thought he was gay?" I ask remembering that Ace told me he was back at the convenience store
"Ha, where'd you hear that? Nah, Ace is Bi" Nico explained, of course, he is.
As the women and two other people came closer I realized I recognized her
Chloe McCoy, wavy golden-brown hair that came down to the center of her back, her sapphire eyes were locked on Ace, her usually flawless beige skin was soaked in bright red blood. She was known throughout the school as that one popular cheerleader who always went for guys older than her, the most notable one being Ace, Ace is eighteen and Chloe is fifteen. They were secretly dating for god knows how long but ended up breaking up because Chloe said Ace had hit her
Chloe was the typical perfect high school girl, slim curvy and beautiful, she looked like a model and everyone wanted to be with her. Well everyone except for me and apparently Nico according to the not so impressed look on his face.
She ran up to Ace jumping on his torso and wrapping her arms and legs around him, her clothes were ripped and covered in blood, but it looked to red to be Lurker blood, Lurker blood was typically a dark red that could easily be mistaken for black, It must have been human blood.
I recognized the two other people, Milo Martinez the Bi popular kid he had curly sandy blonde hair with onyx eyes which almost looked as black as the night sky. His sienna skin glistened with sweat as he ran, he was shirtless which only made things better as he was muscular and toned with the body of a god, he was at least 6' and one hundred and seventy pounds of muscle. He was known for looking intimidating but being a real sweetheart, let's just hope he stayed like that after all these years.
Last but not least there was Veronica Miller, Chloe's right-hand girl Chloe and Veronica had met at some cheerleading summer camp a few years ago and never shut up about how they've been "besties" ever since, god they make me nauseous. Veronica had dark ash hair that was curly and hard to manage, her skin was a gorgeous shade of bronze, don't get me wrong Veronica was a good person but with Chloe always being such a bitch it drowned out her personality.
With Chloe still attached to Ace's torso I wasn't sure what to do, am I jealous? I could feel anger rising in my body with each passing second. If he liked her then why did he kiss me? Question after question came to mind as the pain in my heart grew.
"Zac?" Milo asked
"Hey," I said awkwardly, Milo was a neighbour for about five years before he moved houses about a year ago, and completely stopped talking to me afterwards, he was the second person I came out to, he excepted me, he even told me that he was bisexual. We trusted each other even if we hadn't talked in a while.
"Good to see your safe" Milo said, it was hard to look him in the eyes as his shirtless torso teased me
Veronica fell to her knees, she looked pale and sickly, Milo placed a hand on her back comforting her
"My god what happened to you?" I heard Ace ask Chloe, I refused to let myself look at them any longer
"There were these people, they said they had a safe space so we went with them. They lied, it wasn't safe, we needed to escape so we did. I killed one of the guards and we got out" Chloe explained through shaky breaths
Well that explains why she's covered in blood
Veronica looked terrible as she started dry heaving whilst crying
"I'm sorry," she said repeatedly as she cried
What was she talking about? That's when I saw it, the bite mark on her forearm, it looked dark as the infection spread, she knew she was going to die.
"You need to do it, you need to kill me," she said loudly knowing she was going to die either way. I couldn't blame her if I was in her situation. I'd want someone to kill me too, I wouldn't want to become one of those creatures.
Ace was busy caring for Chloe and the rest of us were trying to figure out what to do with Veronica, we knew she couldn't come to the house with us, we'd need to kill her and soon.
"I'll do it," Nico said quietly, I couldn't let him keep doing this. I know that it was slowly draining him as he blamed himself for each person he killed, for Nico It wasn't an easy thing to do.
"No, I'll do it," I say loudly
"But" he started
"No buts Nico. I'll do it" I left little room for arguments as Nico stepped back and I slowly walked towards Veronica with Milo still comforting her
She looked at the ground I grabbed my knife holding it as steady as possible with both my shaking hands, Ace had started walking to the SUV with Chloe refusing to let go of him
I took a deep breath raising my knife above my head and swinging my arms down forcefully. I could feel the knife collide with her skull as her small body went limp
I could feel tears stinging in my eyes as her body slumped to the ground pulling me with it.
I sit on the grass with the sun low in the sky, tears now streaming from my eyes as it becomes harder to breathe as my lungs burn to take in the cold stale air, I pound my fists into the grass pulling some up in between my fingers, reopening the cuts that had been there from the previous ground pound
My knuckles grow numb as I continue to hit the ground. I feel a hand on my back pulling me into them, I don't struggle as I turn and recognize Milos sienna skin. I pushed my head into his warm bare chest. I cried for what felt like twenty minutes but was only probably two, Milo caressed my head as he cradled my weak body, Nico rubbed my back showing his support as well.
Ace of course was too busy taking care of Chloe, Milo picked me up and took me to the car with Nico behind us. I could tell Nico was worried about me but chose not to say anything just yet. Milo opens the back door and gets inside, with me still cradled in his arms as if I was a child although I didn't mind as it was helpful with calming me down.
Ace sat in the passenger seat with Chloe also in his lap. Nico started the car and he drove back to the house, when we pull into the driveway and Nico stopped the car, Milo carried me inside as my arms wrapped around his neck with my cold tear-stained cheek pressed against his warm shoulder, he didn't seem to mind as he willing carried me to my room after I told him which was mine. I could only assume Ace did the same with Chloe.
The house was dark almost pitch black as the sun had gone down leaving twinkling stars in the sky in place of the sun and the thin wispy clouds. Milo softly places me on my bed and tries to leave but was stopped by my arms which are still wrapped around his neck
"Please don't leave me," I say shakily into his neck
"Okay, I won't go anywhere I promise" he pulls back the blankets laying beside me, I fell asleep listening to his calming heartbeat only to be trapped in a hellish nightmare
I was trapped in my old apartment building, Ali, Casey, Miss Harris and Veronica were standing at the end of the hallway watching me.
"You did this to us," Casey said in a small voice
"I'm sorry," I say "I'm sorry" I repeated
"You did this to us!" Veronica yelled in a voice that's not her own, it was deep and gravelly as if it was a man's voice that had been smoking for at least 60 years.
They all run towards me as they reach for me. I scream as they jump on me waking my up in a cold sweat, I sat up and tried to steady my breathing when I felt a warm hand glide up my back as the other arm pulled me into a hug, it took me a minute to remember the night before telling Milo to stay the night with me, after he calmed me down yet again we leave my room and go to into the kitchen
Nico, Ace and Chloe were all around the large island that stood in the center of the kitchen, Chloe throws me a dirty look which confused me
"Come get your breakfast," Nico says throwing a granola bar at me
"The breakfast of gods," I say as I chuckle trying to hide my sadness, maybe if I convinced everyone else I was okay I would start to feel okay
I apologize to Nico for making him unpack the car alone and he said it was fine seeing as the previous night had been hard on me.
Ace stayed quiet with Chloe still clinging onto him, I tried not to let it bother me seeing as Ace had made his choice. I never wanted to make him choose as choosing wouldn't help anyone, instead I would just leave them be and slowly fade out of Ace's life becoming a distant memory
I went on with the day staying by Milo's side. The day was uneventful; we stayed inside not wanting to chance running into Lurkers or possibly drawing more our way. I would usually catch Chloe giving me dirty looks as if I was trying to take something from her even though I wasn't. No matter I didn't let it faze me.
I walk into the large pantry looking for a snack only to be trapped inside by Ace's large figure blocking the door
"What's up with you and that other guy?" Ace said skeptically, he must not have cared to learn Milo's name
"What?" I ask confused
"What the fuck is going on between you and that guy?" He asks sternly
"Oh I'm sorry that I needed someone to help me cope with killing a living breathing person as you tended to your ex," I say sarcastically and slightly annoyed
"What?" He said confused, of fucking course he didn't know
"Yeah, jackass I had to kill Veronica, Chloe's bff. Did you not notice how there were two other people with Chloe. The other girl was bit and I knew It would mess with Nico even more, he may not say it but I know he feels guilty about Ali and Xander, I couldn't just stand by and let him do something that I knew would mess with him more" I explain as tears welled in my eyes once again
"Oh god. I'm so sorry" Ace said with sympathy in his eyes as he can closer to me with open arms
"If you were actually sorry you wouldn't have ignored not only me but Nico as well, you're his best friend and he needs you, we needed you. I'm sorry but you did this to yourself Ace" I say pushing passed him and leaving the large pantry no longer hungry
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