12 Quiet Sobbing In The Night

Rebecca was still having a hard time believing everything, but she figured it had to be somewhat true. But it bothered her as to why only Leo got this system. And at her question, Leo looked at  Nora, who only shrugged.  Leo sighed and replied, "I am not sure. I guess I got lucky. From what Nora told me before, that only one person gets the system, and that person will end up either dying or surviving. I, for one, do not wish to die so young, so I will work hard to survive."

"I do not wish to die either, so we better work hard." Rebecca could agree on this one point. She did not wish to die yet.

"So now you know that I am really not talking to myself…." Leo stated once more. Nora, who was on his shoulder, was giggling away. She found it amusing that Leo was trying so hard not to come across as a man who talks to invisible people.

"I understand. Anyway, we should get some food in us." Rebecca got up and began pulling some things out of the collection of food. She got a bottle of water and a bag of chips for both of them. 

"Remember to eat all of it. No crumbs." Rebecca said in a serious tone.

  "I will, don't worry. The one thing I do not do is waste food." Leo replied. 

The two chatted for most of the day, getting to know one another better. They only talked about what their lives were like before the apocalypse. "So basically, I was a content creator."

  "I was going to school online. I am not much of a social person anymore." Rebecca explained. "I grew up in and out of DSS. But most of the families I was put into were not very good. One place almost ruined me for good. When the judge said I could move out on my own, I moved here! Sadly, my one and only thing that I looked forward to also came to an end. The state would not pay for my dance lessons anymore. Since then, I have been working and doing online schooling." 

"So you are like me…." Leo sighed. "I was always sent back. No idea why. But after the fourth time, I kind of gave up. Luckily, I got to stay in the area and was able to learn martial arts for a while." 

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. She did not realize that they were so similar. "How come I never saw you?" 

  "Were you at the Apple House?" Leo asked curiously.

"Now. I was at St. Johns. Now that I think about it, there are many orphanages around here."  Rebecca wondered just how many kids were out on the streets in this area.

"There sure is. I stayed at friend's houses on and off for a while before finally settling here. They were pretty good people. They even let me start my streaming career here. Did you get a lump sum from the government?" 

  "I did, but it cost me everything for my school supplies. Without my part-time job, I would not have been able to keep living in this place while trying to go to school. Who knew that I was good at writing?" Rebecca smiled as she leaned over and looked at Leo while pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "It seems were are quite similar in many ways."

"I guess so!" Leo chuckled. He looked at the darkness outside and remembered something. "We forgot to grab your mattress…."

"I thought about it too, but we can get it tomorrow. For now, we can just share your bed. We have to take turns keeping watch, right?" Rebecca just figured they could take turns sleeping.

  "Ah. Ummm…. Nora can keep watch. It allows us to make sure we are good and rested." Leo replied whole, scratching his head. "If you want, I can sleep on the floor or go next door for your mattress."

"No…" Rebecca did not want to risk it. They did not know how these zombies acted at night. If they happen to make too much noise, they might end up being attacked. "We will just sleep with our backs facing each other."

  "Okay." Leo nodded. This was the only solution for now. 

"You agreed quite quickly." Rebecca gave a small smile and teased.

"I do not really want to go out in the dark anyway. Like you said we do not know how zombies react at night. And sleeping next to a cute girl is not going to harm me a single bit." Leo smiled back at her, causing Rebecca to blush. She puffed her cheeks and turned her head, but secretly, she was happy to be called cute. "Anyway, let me get the door blocked up."

"I will help." Rebecca quickly stood up. Both her and Leo lifted what they could quietly and placed it in front of the door. Since the door opened inwards it would at least make some noise if people tried to push their way in.

As the two lay down for the night with their backs pretty much pressed up against eachother, They stared into the dark, unable to sleep. "Hey…." Rebecca called out softly.

"Hmmm?" Leo hummed in response. He did not get his hopes up for any hanky panky but he was interested in what she had to say.

"Do you think we will live past a month or even a week?" Rebecca asked. She could not hide the fear in her voice.

"Who knows? But I know one thing is for sure. I want to live, so I will be working hard at it. We are now partners, so let's do our best together." Leo replied.

"Mm…." Rebecca still did not feel completely at ease, but she did feel a little more comforted. 

"Try to get some sleep. I will stay up for a bit longer." Leo whispered to her. Rebecca nodded before rolling over and pressing her head on Leo's back. She was scared. Leo was the only one here she could lean on for some kind of comfort. She did not wish to die. She did not wish to turn into a monster. She wanted to stay alive as long as she could. When she remembered the desperation she had when she got scratched she felt like crying for the first time since all these things happened. In fact, her tears did start to fall.

Leo listened to the muffled sobs coming from his back and sighed. He looked at Nora who was sitting in front of his face staring at him with a big grin. "Leo, don't worry and sleep. I will watch over both of you. Maybe, she will become one of your reasons." With the teasing tone in her voice lingering in the air, Nora flew up and sat on Leo's head, watched the door, and listened to the sounds around them. She ignored the crying girl since she did not care about her at all. She only cared about keeping her host alive as best as she could.