Chapter 5 (Opinions)

Chapter 5: Opinions

Valentine Evans

September 2022

About 4 months after outbreak

Ohio

Season 1

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"He shouldn't be here, not after what he did."

"Cole, shut the hell up. If anything, you shouldn't be here."

"No, he does have a point, Arwen; you know he does."

"That was months ago, and we're not children anymore! Something's obviously wrong with him, and we're not just gonna leave him around to die."

"But it's what he would do."

"He had to do what he had to do, Sky; we don't need to hold a grudge."

I was awake for most of their conversation. I wanted to get up and maybe open my eyes. Pretend to have turned, make the sounds like the dead do, rip a chunk out of Skylar and her entitled ego, maybe even get a laugh from the others, but that probably wouldn't have been too funny. I liked the things Arwen said; they were good people even when I was a shitty one, but I didn't really care that they were here. Cole was here. For some reason, I guess that mattered more. Cole's presence held a significance that overshadowed everyone else's. It wasn't just about his physical presence; it was about the emotional connection I had with him. Despite my desire to retaliate against Skylar, my focus remained on Cole and the impact he had on me.

I had the worst hangover in my entire life, and the torturous part was that I was pretending to be asleep, which is easier said than done when it feels like all your insides are being squished together, your head is throbbing, and you just want to curl up in a little ball and hope the pain passes quickly.

"He's our friend; it doesn't matter what he's done; we couldn't have just left him out there."

"Speak for yourself, Nickolas."

"Get the fuck out, Cole."

---

I knew he was an asshole. Since eighth grade, he's pretended to be repulsed by the mere mention of me, but despite it all, I still loved him deep down. It was a love that I couldn't explain, a love that made me blind to his flaws and the pain he caused me.

In public, he wants nothing to do with me. He acts like he would rather spend his time with anyone other than me. In private, however (private as in one-on-one time in the back of your English classroom when all your other friends are absent and you have no one else to talk to), he's been everything I've ever needed. Which sounds kind of messed up when you really think about it. But I was young, dumb, and in love, so who was I to give a shit.

---

I let a few hours pass before I could no longer tolerate the way my head felt on my shoulders. I thought everyone had left the room in a jealous rage, or whatever the hell you want to call that performance. To my luck, I was wrong, but I guess I can admit that it could have been worse.

"Hey."

"Aspen, is that you?" I questioned as I lazily sat forward, feeling like I might fall off the bed. I was amazed that I managed to catch myself. Aspen walked towards me with a concerned look on his face. "Yeah, it's me," he replied softly. "Are you okay? Last time we talked, you kind of had a bullet in you." I mustered a weak smile and shrugged, not wanting to burden him with my problems.

"Yeah, I'm okay now. Why are you here?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. Aspen hesitated for a moment before answering, "I missed you." His words caught me off guard, and I couldn't help but feel a surge of warmth in my chest. "Also,you're like drugged out of your mind or ssomething;I figured you probably shouldn't be alone."

Are you sure you should be hanging out with me?"

"If my therapist was still alive, she'd definitely be hearing about this one. Lucky for us, that's not gonna happen any time soon." I chuckled at Aspen's remark, appreciating his dark sense of humor.

"To be honest, I didn't think you'd still be here."

"I didn't think you would be either. I figured you'd probably end up doing something stupid or you'd catch an infection from not letting us properly stitch you up a few months ago, and if I were anyone other than me, I'd say you already did something stupid, but I really have no place to talk. I'm gonna tell the others that you're up. They agreed to take a vote on what to do with you. Not many people really like you, so I wouldn't get my hopes up. You always have my vote, though. But hey, who knows? Maybe this time they'll surprise us and see the value of keeping you around. I mean, despite everything, you do have your moments."

Aspen had been my friend for a while. I used to tell him everything, even things he didn't really want to know, but we didn't stay close like that. He hung himself from a ceiling fan a few months before the world went to shit. He stopped talking to everyone but Nic after that. Nic's the only reason he's alive; he picked the chair up so Aspen could breathe. I didn't blame Aspen for being distant from everyone; it's just that when I left before, I didn't think I'd be seeing him again.