Courage of our hearts

We will all be judged by the courage of our heart

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"You have to go back for him." The girl cried, slapping her fist against his back.

It irritated Abbey.

The more she punched, the more it angered him. But he would no.put her down. She was delusional, if she thought he would go back for that man.

Especially if more zombies were rushing towards them from all angles.

Zigzagged, he ran, ducking and twisting, the raging form of the old man pounding after them.

"You can't save everyone, okay, you need to realise that." Abbey growled at her as he made his way out.

Outside the mall, his fingers flashed, hurriedly clicking down on the key. A car by the corner responded, the head lights beeping on. That was the car. The car of the old man who had given them the escape rather than come with them.

Abbey huffed. The old man roared behind, his now modified feet stomping some extra weight as he rolled after them.

But not in a friendly manner.

One little delay, Abbey knew he would be mince meat. The man was gone. So was any hope of saving him.

He rushed to the car, summoning very bit of strength within his limbs. The zombies outside charged instantly a surging sea of infected roaring to his side. Dropping Rose to her feet, he grabbed her hand, till they got to the car and the jumped in. Both through the drivers seat.

Door shut hurriedly as they went low on the ground. Leaving the zombie charge behind, the ones who had gotten so close to them only to claw at the windows of the car.

They were holed in. But at least, right now, they were safe.

That is, Abbey thought, if there were no instigator type infected in the horde.

Abbey and Rose stayed silent in the car. The both of them, holding their pained groans and muffled sobs, respectively.

And after a while of inactivity from them, the zombie encampment a t ethe window of the car now scattered around. The infected running after other sources of sound, which obviously was either the sound of other survivors of things just crashing down.

Since they were left alone, Abbey took a deep breath, sitting up against the chair of the driver, his hands on the steering. He rested his heads on the hands, sighing deeply.

He was tired. His muscles burned with fatigue. And he was sweaty. But above all, the desire for sleep tore at his sense of being many times.

Rose on the other hand, sat quietly. She did not dare to sit on the chair, only to crouch beside the drivers seat, her hands still covering her mouth. Her eyes were red, cheeks were tear stained as she stared balefully at Abbey.

They continued this way, until Abbey took a weary glance at her, his lips parting.

"You okay?" He asked her through dropping eyelids.

"How can I be okay?" She started out, shaking. "You left him to die. You could have gone back to save him. You could have helped him. You could have…"

BANG!

"Mmmpgh…" Rose whimpered at the sight of Abbey slamming his fists against the wheel.

The horn went off and the zombie crowd roared in response. But just as quickly as it sounded, the zombies got distracted by other minute sounds around.

"You want to die?" Abbey whisper yelled at her. "You think that his death doesn't not affect me too? Fuck! He is a system holder and he could have told me lots more about what I know right now. He could have made sense out of everything."

The girl whimpered now, her eyes moistening up as she watched him vent at her. The initial anger in her own eyes vanished. She was scared. Had she offended him so much that he would even slam the horn, a potential attempt to jeopardize them because of her?

Was he going to leave her after this? Had she done the wrong thing now?

"He knows about the system. He can help me make sense of it. We could have stayed out stronger and all. But he chose to go down yo give us a chance. There was no way we could have survived that whole thing. We were between the wall and the freezer. How on Earth were we going to get out if he did not take the hit for us?" Abbey asked her, furiously. "And to think that he, he caused it. Look, I'm too tired for this. If you see me as a devil because I chose you over him, then go out there and die!"

Chose you.

The words echoed over and over in the ears of Rose. The tears which threatened to pour out rushed win her cheeks. She grabbed harder at her lips, muffling out all the sobs from her mouth as she pondered tearfully over the words she heard.

This boy just said that he chose her.

All her life, she had been worried. Worried sick that one day, the people that could help her would abandon her. But he did not.

And right form his mouthy, she heard him say that he'd chosen her.

Over the old man who had something in common with him. He chose her.

"Mmpppmm…" She sobbed out, her body shaking furiously in the act.

Irritated, Abbey tsked at her.

"Tsk… tsk… why are you crying? That's babyish. I thought you were grown up."

The girl shook her head at him, her eyes wet as the tears poured down to her jaws.

"You can't understand. T-thank you…" She cried, hugging his knee.

Alarmed by this, Abbey wanted to push her off but stopped, looking away. He sighed, his hand slowly resting against the back of her head.

"You saved me. I was too ungrateful. Thank you. Thank you for not abandoning me. Thank you for keeping me till now." She bobbed her head.

It alarmed Abbey even more. If someone outside could look in the car, it would appear as if she was giving him head. Noting this, the mister blushed, looking away quickly as he pulled his hand off her head.

"That's okay!" Abbey sighed. "I wish I could have helped out as well. But I'm too tired for that. I should sleep." He groaned, using his other hand to cover his face while leaning back.

"My name is Rose."

"Uh?" Abbey gaped at her.

Now that she said that, it occurred to him that he did not know her name. He never asked and she never told.

Was this act meant to mean something now?

"I said,my name is Rose. What is your name?"

"Abbey." He inhaled, his hands touching the headset by his neck. "And my friend's name was Ben. He was my best friend."

"It does not matter what we did. Or I did. In the end, we will be judged by the courage of our heart. By the ability to do the right thing even if it feels so wrong." Rose muttered, her voice becoming drowsy while she still hugged his knee.

Abbey frowned at this.

He was suppose to be the one sleeping. But he couldn't. Not when he was yet to be safe.

It was different for her. She had the guts to feel sleepy.

"I can't believe you want to sleep in this kind of situation." He mouthed.

"Why?" Rose peeked at him, pouting her lips in a cute manner. "You're my master. I am your slave. What should I be worried about?"

"Aren't you taking it too far?" He nervously laughed now, gently patting her head.

"When you said it first? I thought it was just some joke so I played with it. But Abbey. You've won every rights to be my master. How could I ever question that?" Rose said, bobbing her head against his thigh.

He sighed, inhaling and exhaling deeply. His eyes drifted to the window of the car. The zombies still milled around. With the key in his hands, If they would move, they would have to smash some zombies aside.

But for now, he needed to rest. To sleep. Catch his strength.

Then when rested, they would head to the Army barracks. Just like the radio reporter said.

His eyes soon clipped shut. As long as they did not make noise, the zombies would not disturb them. With that realization, he relaxed himself against the window, his consciousness drifting into sleep.

Meanwhile, as that happened, the mutated infected roared, a somewhat young mister challenging it to a brawl in the mall. While some other survivors huddled in the corner, whimpering and praying.

From the situation of things, the two zombies seemed to be battling over who had to eat these survivors.

And the young mister, with a bite on his elbow, looked exactly like Ben.