Insensitive

Blake subconsciously tightened his grasp on the paper, before raised his head up to look at Aria.

At first, he wanted to refuse her request, but after looking at her face and seeing the expression on it, for some reason… he just couldn't.

Unlike the usual flat expression she had when they first met, this time, different expressions reflected on her eyes and even from where he sat, Blake could feel her longing to see his drawing.

"Ah…" He sighed, before raising the paper towards her. Now that he was stared at her face for a longer period of time, he couldn't help but notice just his beautiful she was.

Without the flat expression that was usually on her face, her beauty somehow radiated more, and even Blake could feel his heart skip a beat for a second.

Aria collected the paper from his hands, holding it with her two hands like it was the most precious piece of treasure. Her eyes were focused intensely on the image drawn on the paper, and even though it was a rather simple one, she was still so charmed by it.

Blake didn't know why, but for some reason, seeing someone appreciate his drawing and treat it like it was special, made him feel warm in his heart.

"You drew this?" Aria asked, to which Blake nodded in response.

"It's beautiful…" Aria muttered in a soft voice, but Blake was still able to hear what she said since they weren't far from each other.

Blake eyes widened slightly when he heard her remark, and a slight smile appeared on his face, however, it vanished almost immediately as he remembered that his parents were already dead… and it wasn't a natural one, but through the hands of disgusting zombies.

He gritted his teeth in annoyance, and let out a low hiss, trying hard to forget that memory.

He looked back at Aria, and couldn't help but notice that her hands were trembling slightly as he held the paper.

'Shit… seems like seeing that drawing has opened some painful memories for her.' Blake mumbled inwardly, feeling a little bit guilty for showing it to her.

While Aria seemed cold and indifferent on the outside, it wouldn't be surprising if she also had some painful memories of her own that she was willing to hide.

In fact, it was possible that her indifferent exterior, was due to the events she faced in her life.

While Blake was still pondering whether he should collect the paper back from her or not, his eyes suddenly widened in anger when he heard Aria's next question.

"So… where are they right now?" Aria suddenly asked, this time, her tone flat and indifferent like it was before.

Blake seethed in anger when he heard those words, and he subconsciously clenched his fists. He clenched them so tight, that his knuckles turned white.

Aria, seeing Blake's reaction, realized that her question seemed to have opened up a bad memory for him.

'I should have known…' Aria mumbled inwardly, feeling ashamed at herself for asking such an insensitive question.

With the current situation around the world, and how Blake had been acting so far, it wouldn't be to surprising if something had happened to his parents.

"I'm sorry—" She quickly tried to apologize, however, Blake suddenly interrupted her.

"Never mind." Blake said, before suddenly snatching the paper from her hands.

He stared at it for a few seconds, before finally folding it back into his pockets.

Despite saying those words, Aria could still see his hands trembling a little at his side, however, she didn't comment on it.

Blake's brows suddenly furrowed, as he remembered something. "So, why did you even come here?" He asked, turning towards Aria.

He knew that there was no way she came to meet him just to ask about the drawing, especially since she didn't even know about it before, and they weren't close to begin with, so she couldn't have come here just to greet him.

"Huh? Oh, that." Aria muttered. "Shane said we should all meet… and plan how we would get foods and drugs."

Blake's head bent downwards, as the words spoken by Aria kept playing in his mind. 'Food and drugs… yeah… we'll need that also… to survive.' He mumbled inwardly.

Just as he had expected, Aria hadn't come to meet him just to talk or ask about the drawing.

However, her words served as another reminder for him, about how the state of the world was now.

If it was before, something like getting food was so easy, as long as a person had enough money, they could always go to any food store or market and get foodstuffs.

But now, things had changed, and no one could just walk around carelessly, because the streets were now inhabited by zombies and beasts.

'Don't think too much about it… don't think about it.' Blake kept repeating inwardly, trying hard to ignore the images of his parents' death that was flashing in his mind.

"Okay then. Let's go." He muttered, before standing up, dusting his clothes a little.

Aria nodded her head in response, before turning around, with Blake following behind her.

After walking for a few seconds, they finally reached where Shane and the rest of the survivors were gathered.

Standing in the middle of the group was a familiar tall and muscular man, with sleek black hair.

Patricia, the woman who healed him, was leaning her back on the wall, and Blake could also recognize Puck, the man with messy blonde hair, sitting on the floor with his axes held tightly in his hands.

Around them were seven other people, all standing while shaking uncontrollably, they all stood at a distance away from Puck, still scared of the axes he was holding, and the scary look in his eyes didn't do much to reduce their fears either.

Shane was the first to notice Blake and Aria, and he waved at them while calling out their names.

"Hey! Blake! Aria!" He said, and then continued: "Good to see you're both finally here."

***

I edited chapter 13-16, I didn't change anything, so there's no need to go back. Please leave a review, so the book can get a rating. :)