Finally, they had managed to reach the exit of the forest. Their beating hearts suffering from excessive work. A gripping pain holding them tight in its thorny web. Zane squinched his eyes shut from exhaustion. His hands braced against his knees. His breathing heavy as his lungs asked for more air.
Everyone else was basically the same. Deandre and Tyrone were however the most impacted among them. It was to be expected given the fact that they had been closer to Hazel. Just like Almarie, she had died in a horrible way. The memories it brought alongside it, was anything but pleasant.
Lightning cut the sky in two, followed by the bass singing of thunder. Slowly, the rain began to pitter-patter upon them. Steadily, it became more hurried, until it was a full shower of rain. It absorbed the silence of the group, as they stared at one another not knowing what to do.
Zane lifted his head— his hair now soaked with the pelting rain. He took a good look on the faces of the others. Obvious discontent crawling all over their faces. Even Layla looked at a loss at what to do. He couldn't blame her. She had been shouldering the leading position of the group this entire time. Normally, it would fall onto the shoulders of Tyrone or Nick whenever she needed a break. Unfortunately, now even they were struggling to maintain a stable emotional state.
Zane hardened his face in frustration. Lately, he had made much better decisions, but he still wasn't satisfied. Apart from that one time back at Noah's house— Zane had never really tried taking the lead. He always tried making himself more of a support character since Layla was present. She had the aura of a true alpha-female. Zane felt like he was more of a beta character, which he hated.
Zane turned himself to the depressing group of individuals. He asserted himself, instantly catching their attention.
"It's raining, we need to find some sort of shelter to hide in until the rain passes."
"Yeah, it's best we hurry and get a move on. The rain won't stop the Apocrypha from coming after us." added Anastasia.
Layla took a deep breath as she eased herself into a comfortable position. Her hair now saggy with water– dripping down her side. "Okay, but where are we anyway? It's hard to tell from the rain."
Zane took a look around. The area was shrouded in a sea of grey. A few buildings were peeping out, but they were barely visible. His eyes turned upon a small convenience store not too far ahead of them. It seemed big enough to hold them until the rain passed.
"Let's seek shelter in that store ahead of us for now... We can wait the rain out there."
"We should probably be careful... Just in case something is inside..." cautioned Nick. His voice void of any form of confidence or joy.
No one argued as they carefully approached the store. As they got to the front of the store, they noticed it wasn't very damaged. There was one small hole in the window, which webbed out into a pattern of cracks. Apart from that, the store was in very good condition.
Slowly, they entered the store. Their weapons in front of them— ready to take action at a moment's notice. Zane braced himself against the glass door. His eyes scanning the interior of the building for the slightest bits of movement. The store was seemingly empty and his intuition was perfectly calm.
He slowly pushed the door open— the hinges squeaking like a rubber-duck. Carefully, he let himself in, with the others not far behind.
"Keep your guard up. This time we scan the entire store before making ourselves comfortable." declared Layla.
Everyone agreed as they moved around the interior of the store. Their eyes inspecting every corner, detailing even the small cobwebs that formed in the ceiling. They noticed that there were however no items present. The store had already been raided by other survivors.
"Clear" proclaimed Ashley, who was looking behind the counters.
"Same here" stated Serenity from the other side of the store.
"Alright then, we settle down here until the rain passes." ordered Zane, still trying to act like a leader.
Layla looked over to him smiling at his effort. It was adorable how he was trying to suppress his soft side to take lead.
Finally– to be safe, Ashley moved over to the door and shut the lock with a key she had found in the cashier's drawer.
"Best to lock ourselves in and keep hidden for now..."
"For sure" agreed Nick.
The group then all took a seat on the floor; puddles of water forming where they sat. They all made sure to keep clear of the windows and doors, so that no passerby's, or Apocrypha could see them.
Layla sat beside Zane behind the counter. Her head comfortably leaned against his shoulder. Zane felt a little flustered. Recently, Layla had been very friendly with him. A majority of the time she was just teasing him, but there was a slight seriousness to it.
"Layla..." he called softly.
"Yeah?"
"Why have you been so friendly with me lately? Is it just to tease me or..?"
"Meh— I do what I want. I told you that before. It's not just to tease you though."
Zane paused as he pondered trying to decode what she meant. "What else is there to it then?"
Layla looked up into his eyes and smiled. She moved her head close to his ear and let out a whisper;
"It's a secret"
Zane gave a cute frown as he hated being left in the dark. Either way, he had a slight feeling that he knew what she meant. He however, kept his lips sealed and placed a smirk on his face.
"Fine, be like that. I'm sure I'll find out soon enough anyway."
"That would make it a lot easier. So please do."
Just then, disturbing their moment, was Ellie. She walked over to them with two dolls in her hands. One was a male that had its stomach ripped out, with its stuffing bulging outwards. The other was a female doll, that had a surgical knife forced through its hand. For some reason, it seemed as if the female doll was doing surgery on the male doll.
"Hi!" she greeted them. A playful expression cast over her face.
Layla and Zane felt extremely creeped out. Why was Ellie even playing with dolls?
"Um— Aren't you a bit too old to be playing with dolls, Ellie?" asked Layla. Her voice filled with cringe.
Ellie looked on both her dolls back and forth, "These aren't dolls silly! This is me and Zane! We're playing doctor together!"
Zane felt a shiver run through his spine. It was creepy enough she had been playing with dolls, but it was even worse knowing she had named them. Especially that the names belonged to both of them.
"Why did you name the doll after me..?"
Ellie gave a very innocent smile, "Because I like you! You're so handsome and sweet! I could just cut-"
"You like Zane because he's handsome?" interrupted Layla. She paused as she turned to look at Zane's face. "I mean, sure he's handsome, but he ain't all that. I've seen better."
"Thanks... I guess?" replied Zane, uncertain of what to think of Layla's remark.
"No! To me, Zane's the cutest! Gimme my Zane! Gimme him!" demanded Ellie. Her face made up in an innocent frown as she held out her arm in reach of Zane.
"No, eww! Back off... He's not interested in you."
"Zane, do you not want me? I'll give you everything you need... I'll protect you from these dangerous creatures, even if it costs me my life!"
Zane looked into the eyes of Ellie. They radiated pure craziness. Goose bumps danced on his skin, making him scoot closer to Layla.
"I'm sorry Ellie... Um— sorry, but I don't thing we could work..."
"Awww! Why not?? Do you have a girlfriend, or something?"
"Well, no-"
"Yes he does. It's me. Didn't I tell you we were getting busy last night? He's mine, so please don't bother him again." defended Layla. Obviously wanting Ellie to leave them alone.
Zane didn't know if he was to be impressed by her lie, or downright intimidated by how well she pulled it off.
Ellie placed a sad expression across her face. She looked like she was about to burst with tears. She clenched the dolls in her hands while staring at Layla.
"I might have to cut you up..." she whispered under her breath.
"What was that?" queried Layla– not hearing what she had said.
Ellie suddenly placed a bright look back on her face. It was creepy how she transitioned between her emotions so quickly.
"That's okay! I'll just have to steal Zane from you when you're not looking!!"
"Um– Okay?" replied Layla with a bit of sass.
Ellie then turned herself around and skipped towards the back of the store. Layla and Zane left together with a tugging feeling of fear inside them. Layla turned herself to Zane with an intense stare.
"Don't go near that girl without my supervision."
Zane couldn't believe his ears. Was Layla really treating him like a child? He gave a slight laugh as he looked at her.
"I'll be fine Layla. I'm not a kid. Besides, there's literally no way I can think of, that she's gonna actually STEAL me."
"Fine, just be careful around her. Crazy and obsession, are two things you want to avoid in a person. They'll literally try to destroy the world for you."
"You think she's crazy?"
"I mean, she acts like it. It's really a shame that we ended up with her on our team. This is the reason I'd rather you all come to me before openly accepting someone into our group."
"Well, we couldn't just leave her to die you know..."
"Meh— she's even threatening to steal you from me. I can't have that."
"Aw! Are you actually worried she'll steal me from you? Hehe... You're jealous."
"Hush. Worried, yes. Jealous, maybe a little."
Zane smirked, "Did you fall in love with me?"
"Ew, As if I could fall in love with a thing like you."
Zane patted Layla's head of wet hair gently. Her words no longer seemed to bother him, which he was glad he had gotten over. She leaned herself against his chest listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat. A smile placed across her face.
"You smell nice"
"Of course I do. Wish I could say the same for you..."
"Wait, for real?? I smell??"
Layla chuckled, "Nah, teasing ya."
The two sat there as the rain pelted on the outside. They felt a moment of peace, which they needed, after all the pain they had gone through. Little did they know, another turn of events was getting ready to take the stage.