Chapter 50: Love

Carmella awoke to find Bilal's side of the bed empty. The ache that she felt settle into the pit of her stomach was immediate and intense, but also familiar. She remembered it after nightmares where she relived the life and death of Jodie and Micah. It had been her constant companion on treks through empty stores and buildings as she searched for can goods and dried provisions that might still be edible. This feeling had been her next of kin on stormy nights when the wind and rain whipped about her large darkened home and served to remind her that she was utterly alone.

Carmella rolled to her side and clutched the pillow that smelled like Bilal. She thought it funny that they could use the same soap and the same shampoo and yet he smelled so different. He had a woodsy, earthy masculine smell that mingled with the shea butter soap that they shared.