Save Me (7 page)

"Will, why are you here? Where are the cousins?" My brain finally woke up enough to be on alert. I tried to sit up, unsuccessfully.

"No, don't try to get up. You're safe now." Will looked away guiltily.

"But, Bo and Lucas, where are they? I heard a shot." Despite the pain and Will's disapproval, I managed to prop myself up a bit realizing I was back on the bed somehow.

"Gone." Will sat on the bed next to me and sighed. "For good."

"How do you know? They could come back. We have to get out of here." I tried to get off the bed, nearly falling onto the floor. If not for Will catching me I would have been face first into the wood.

"Andi, please, just rest. They aren't coming back. I promise." Will eased me back up onto the bed as gently as he could. Then he laid a blanket over me and tucked the edges in around me. He tried to walk away but I grabbed his wrist to pull him back. Not that I had the strength to stop him if he resisted, but he didn't.

"Will?" I didn't even know what I was going to say. I wanted to ask him how he knew they wouldn't be back, why he left me, how he found me. Everything swirled around in my head. I was angry with him and glad to see him at the same time. The only thing I knew was at that moment, I didn't want him to leave my side. Will sat back down on the bed next to me and ran his hand over my cheek tenderly.

"I promise you, they won't be back. Why don't you get some rest and we can talk about it later." From the expression on Will's face, it didn't look like he wanted to have that conversation later, or ever. I tried to wonder what could have made him look so sad, but my eyelids were heavy. I was more sleepy than I remembered being in a long time. I tried to fight the inevitable, not wanting to sleep in this cabin, afraid that the cousins would be back, afraid that Will would be gone when I woke up. Plus with how angry Bo had been, I doubted he would be in a good mood when he returned. Will softly stroked my hair the way my mother used to do when I was sick as a child. My body betrayed me yet again. The heaviness in my eyes grew until I was no longer able to keep them open. Sleepiness washed over me until everything faded into darkness once again.

It seemed like my eyes had only just closed when I felt Will nudge me.

"Andi?" He whispered.

"Make up your mind. You want me to rest or not?" I struggled to open my eyes fully. Luckily, the cabin was mostly dark from all the windows being boarded up.

"And you did silly girl," Will teased. "You slept for two hours." Wow, could it have really been that long? It felt like I had just fallen asleep. "But since it looks like you hit your head pretty hard, I would like to make sure you're just sleeping and not in a coma or anything."

I pushed the sleepiness away more effectively this time. I even managed to sit up a bit. Will handed me a water bottle from his bag. I gratefully accepted. My mouth and throat felt like sandpaper. Will watched me drink. He still looked concerned.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that? It's just a bump on the head. I'll live." I handed him the bottle back and propped myself up a bit more so I was nearly sitting upright on the bed. I was still sore moving around but it was getting easier.

"If you could see what you look like, you'd understand."

"What are you talking about? The cut?" I remembered the cut on my cheek I had gotten in the truck on the way to the cabin. It couldn't have been that bad.

"No, Andi. Not just the cut." Will looked away and sighed again.

"What then?"

Will looked back at me and then away again without saying a word. If Will had nothing to say, something must be wrong. It was usually hard to keep that boy quiet. I managed to swing my legs over the side of the bed.

"Andi," Will protested, hurrying over to my side in case I fell again. "Please just stay in bed for now," he pleaded.

"I'm fine. Leave me alone." I pushed him back. I wasn't actually sure I was able to stand but I was intent on trying. I got both feet on the floor and with some effort, pushed myself up with my arms. Will laced his arm through mine and assisted, despite his disapproval. With Will's help, I made my way over to the far corner of the cabin to a mirror that hang above the filthy sink. I let my eyes adjust to a reflection I was not expecting. I had a large slash across my left cheek, a cut above my right eyebrow and my right cheek was purple and swollen. My bottom lip was also cut and swollen. Okay, so I was a mess. My shirt was ripped, only half covering me. Purple bruises were visible through the torn fabric. I tried to remember how I got this way but my memory was fuzzy. Part of me was glad I couldn't remember exactly what happened. For a brief moment, I felt panicked about what they might have done. A wave of nausea came over me and I thought I might be sick. Will leaned his face into my hair, looking away from the mirror. I could tell he couldn't bear to see me this way. I hadn't realized my injuries were so bad. I ran my tongue over the cut in my lip. It stung a bit but I would survive.

"Will," I said nudging him out of my hair to look at me."I'm okay, really."

"I'm so sorry Andi. It killed me to watch them take you." Tears welled up in Will's eyes.

"I know." And I did. I couldn't stay mad at him for not stopping them. I knew he couldn't have. I was just glad he was here now, and they were not. "Will, what happened to the cousins?"

Will let out another sigh. This was becoming a habit. He led me over to the bed, away from the mirror, and helped me back up. He climbed up on the bed beside me and readied himself for the story.

"Those guys, it wasn't the first time I've run into them."

"Wait, you knew them?" I was starting off this story confused. This couldn't be good.

"Not exactly. About three months ago I was with this group of six other people. They were decent people. They found me in a bad situation and they took me in, no questions asked. I'm not sure I would have made it if they hadn't helped me." Will pulled the blanket up over me even though it wasn't really cold in the cabin.

"We had been traveling, trying to find a good place to maybe settle for awhile. The leader of our group, Josh, and his wife Danielle were expecting a baby so we really needed a place to hang until the baby was born. That's when we found this cabin."

"This cabin? As in, you were here?" Will just nodded his answer.

"No one was here and it didn't look like anyone had been in quite some time. It wasn't big enough for all of us really, but it was the best we could find at the time. We were going to set up camp here but still scout during the day for something bigger. Danielle needed to rest more by then so it was good enough until we could find something." Will reached over to his bag and pulled out a photo of a couple in their late twenties. I guessed that was Josh and Danielle.

"The first couple nights were fine. Not many flesh eaters came through and we dealt with them easily. That's the great thing about a group, always someone to keep watch allowing everyone to get a decent night sleep."

I reached out and put my hand over Will's. I could tell how difficult this story was for him to tell, so I waited quietly for him to continue. He ran his thumb across my wrist above where the zip ties had cut into my flesh, closing his eyes for a few moments.

"I was out on a scout the third day with a couple of the guys. We actually found a place that looked like it might work. When we got back to the camp to let the others know, we could tell right away something was wrong. Danielle's sobbing was the first thing I heard. The other guys motioned for me to hold back while they went up ahead to check things out. The next thing I knew shots were being fired, then the sound of flesh eaters. I made my way up to the cabin to see what I could to do help." A tear escaped down Will's cheek and he quickly wiped it away. He took a deep breath and continued with the story.

"The first thing I saw was Bo. He was pulling a knife out of the chest of one of the guys I had been out scouting with. The other was on the ground, dead. Danielle was on the ground next to Josh's dead body still sobbing. Three undead were headed straight for her. I thought I should pull out my bow and shoot the bastards but I was afraid of alerting the guys slaughtering my friends to my location. Before I really had a second to think about it, an arrow whizzed by, landing straight between the eyes of the flesh eater closest to Danielle. It was Sam, one of the guys in our group. That's when I saw Lucas for the first time. He came from around the side of the cabin shooting. After five shots, he took down another of the zombies. He certainly wasn't the best shot. Unfortunately, Bo was. He pulled a gun from his pants and shot in Sam's direction. I was about to take a shot at him when Danielle screamed. The last of the undead visitors had grabbed hold of her. She was unwilling to leave Josh's body so she just sat there screaming. I had to choose between shooting the flesh eater before it got Danielle, or Bo before he shot Sam. I chose to help Danielle. As I shot my arrow through its rotting skull, Bo hit Sam. I was hidden behind a tree so they didn't get a good look at me but I could tell they were planning out what to do next so they could add me to the pile of my dead friends." Will took another deep breath and a long draw off the water bottle. My head was throbbing more intensely than before and I had to fight back sleep. I wanted to hear Will's story and I knew he needed to tell it.

"You okay Andi?" Will looked me over.

"Yes, go on." I did my best to hold back a yawn. Will looked at me unconvinced but continued on anyway.

"I knew I had to do something fast. We still had one more person unaccounted for and Danielle was still on the ground by Josh's body. I wasn't even sure how I was going to get her out of there or if Janet, the other girl from our group, was even alive. I guess they were planning to wait me out. They took cover behind their truck, not making a sound for what seemed like hours. I made my way closer to the cabin inch by inch. By the time I could get Danielle's attention, she had calmed down considerably. She didn't look like she was willing to move from the body of her dead husband, but she was no longer sobbing. After a few attempts, I managed to get her attention. She looked surprised to see me there. I explained to her I was going to get her out of there, but she was going to have to go without Josh. She looked down at Josh, then back at me. Her eyes pleaded for anything but that. After I tried reasoning with her and failed, Lucas called out from behind the truck. He told us the cabin was theirs and we needed to go. They promised not to shoot, not wanting to hurt a pregnant woman, but we needed to get lost and never come back.”

“They just let you go?” I couldn’t believe either of those two could even imagine doing the right thing.

“They said they would and I really wanted to believe it was true. I didn’t think they would kill a pregnant woman. Plus she was sitting there the whole time during this whole mess by Josh’s body. They could have killed her any time if they had wanted.”

I couldn’t hold back the yawn any longer. Will stroked his hand across my face and smiled sweetly.

“You should get some more sleep. I want to get you back to the basement before dark and you don’t look like you are in any shape to travel just yet.”

“No, please? I’m not really that tired. Finish the story.” Will didn’t believe a word of my lies, but he let me have my way again anyway.

“I finally convinced Danielle to leave Josh and come with me for the sake of her baby. They did keep their word. They didn’t shoot her.” Will tugged up his jeans to show me a scar where he had been shot.

“They shot you?” The thought of Will being shot was enough to wake up my brain.

“Yeah, they put off about six rounds before I took one in the leg. I think they would have kept it up until they killed me but I managed to get Bo in the shoulder with an arrow. He was a real baby about it too. Danielle and I took the opportunity to run. We didn’t stop for hours except to bandage up my leg the best we could. It was nearly the next morning before we ran into a couple of medical students who agreed to help us out.”

“Wow! Wait, what about the other girl?”

“Danielle said she was already dead. We really didn’t talk about it after that.”

“Where is she now? Danielle I mean,” I asked, hoping he wasn’t about to tell me she was dead now too.

“We stayed with the medical students until my leg healed and she had the baby. Then they were going to try to make it to the military base in the south. Danielle wanted to take the baby and go. I didn’t.”

“Why not?” I couldn’t imagine Will wanting to go off on his own rather than stay with people he was comfortable with. He gave me enough lectures about how much better off we were staying together. Why would he do the exact opposite when he had the choice?

“I had my reasons.” Will got that faraway look again. I didn’t want to press the issue after he had told me so much already. “Now you, young lady, are going to get some rest so we can be on our way.”

I really was very tired. I knew it wouldn’t take much for me to fall asleep. My head continued to throb. I couldn’t wait to get back to the basement and find some of the pain medication Mom had stockpiled.

“You didn’t finish the story. How do you know they aren't coming back?” Just the thought of either of the cousins showing up back at the cabin made me shudder.

“Andi,” Will sighed. “Please get some rest. I promise they aren’t coming back. We can finish the story later.” He put his arm around my shoulders and gently pulled me closer to him. My head easily rested on his warm chest. That familiar heaviness in my eyelids returned and I drifted off to sleep once more.