Chapter 8

Lucy took one last look at the motel and memories of the day before went through her mind. She wished they could stay some more; she wished the place were safe forever. She sighed sadly and with a few supplies containing a few clothes, toiletries, a sandal and some other important things for the journey she gathered from the motel in her hand, she headed to the sienna, accepting that it was time to go.

'Well… it was nice while it lasted,' Brad said, smiling sadly at the building, wondering when they would have the chance to be at peace like that again. He turned around and headed to the vehicle. Dave was helping the others load supplies into the boot.

Once everything was loaded and set, they began filing into the vehicle. Dave went to the front seat and saw Helena already sitting in it. She gave him a teasing smile and he chuckled and then went to sit in the middle seat. Lucy got to the door and saw Tyler in the back seat and Dave in the middle. She wondered if she should sit with Tyler. She hadn't sat beside him in the vehicle yet because of how cold he acted at first, but he was different now.

'You coming?' Dave asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. She nodded and put her leg up to step into the vehicle and stay beside Dave when Ruby rushed into the vehicle and sat beside him instead.

'Whops, this place is occupied, but you can sit at the back with Tyler,' she said, secretly giving her a wink. Lucy's face flushed on realisation and a nervous sweat formed on her forehead. She stepped into the vehicle and sat beside Tyler, nervously keeping some distance between them. Ruby slid the door shut, Brad turned on the ignition and the engine roared to life.

The first hour on the road was pretty quiet. Lucy sat awkwardly on her seat, counting the number of zombies they passed by to keep her from looking at Tyler. Helena got started on another book she found in someone's luggage at the hotel; Brad was humming a melody while Tyler, Dave and Ruby sat quietly.

Ruby let out a loud sigh, uncomfortable with the silence. 'You all!' They tilted their heads towards her and she gave them a large smile. 'Now, I don't know what today it is today; probably a Wednesday but what would you have been doing today if there was no apocalypse?'

'My wife would have been lecturing me about not putting an empty carton of milk back in the fridge,' Brad said, chuckling.

'Husband material,' Helena joked. 'I would be teaching in front of a completely quiet class. No one dared misbehave when I was in.'

'Which is no wonder she's so tough,' Dave said, smiling proudly at her. 'I would be retiring from my night patrol, ready to hit the hay.'

'Me too!' Ruby shrieked, beaming at Dave. 'Working night shifts at bars could be so tiring. No matter what those drunks do, you just have to put up with them.'

'I guess I would be in another boring class,' Lucy said. There was a long silence as they all waited for Tyler to talk. Lucy and Ruby turned to him, expectantly.

'What?' he said, raising an eyebrow.

'What about you?' Ruby asked.

'I'm not doing that,' he said dismissively, closed his eyes and lay his head back on the headrest. Ruby's lips twitched. She reached into a little bag that was on the floor in front of her, pulled out a pair of panties, aimed and tossed it on his face. Tyler frowned as he opened his eyes. He picked up the underwear and when he realised what it was, his face turned red. 'Hey!' Ruby erupted in evil laughter. The others turned around while Brad looked at the back through the rearview mirror; once they saw him holding up the bright pink panties and frowning at Ruby, they joined in on the laughter.

Tyler didn't take the humiliation too well. He knelt on his seat and stretched his hand into the boot, looking for something to throw back at her. Something from Lucy's peripheral vision caught her attention. She looked out the window and saw a zombie weakly running ahead of them at the side of the road and a few other zombies jogging quickly behind it.

'Rabies?' she mumbled to herself and at that same moment, the zombie ahead looked behind as if to check if the other zombies had caught up to it. Its clothes were ragged and dirty but its face was that of a frightened girl. 'Wait,' she said, realisation hitting her. 'There's someone out there!'

Tyler froze with a bottle of water in his hand, already aiming for Ruby's face. Brad looked away from the rearview mirror and to the zombies. 'I see her,' he said, slowing down. Tyler's face seemed to fall and he sat back down in his seat.

'Not again,' he mumbled.

'Ruby, Helena,' Dave called and the two of them nodded in unison. Brad stopped the vehicle a little distance behind the zombies and they got out. Helena aimed and pulled the trigger and a zombie fell. The girl looked back once she heard the sound of it falling, and then there was a loud bang as Ruby shot another one down. She got terrified by the shooting and quickly bent low, covering her head. Helena and Ruby made quick work of the zombies and ran over to her.

'You're safe now,' Helena said, extending her hand toward her to pull her up. She looked up at her, still very much shaken. 'You're safe,' Helena reassured and the girl hesitantly took her hand. Helena pulled her up and she balanced on her left foot.

'Can you walk, dear?' Ruby asked, concerned and the girl tried putting her right foot in front of her. She grunted in pain and brought her leg up, reaching for her thigh which her a long cut on it. 'Careful,' Ruby said and Helena brought the girl's hand over her head, put her arm around her waist and helped her walk over to the vehicle.

Lucy studied her and they walked her over. She seemed to be around her age. She was tall and had long red hair. Her clothes were all torn up, revealing her purple underwear. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises, the scar on her thigh being the most prominent. Tyler shifted in his seat and Lucy turned to him, seeing him study the girl. His eyebrows were brought together as he looked at her. He stood up, passed by Lucy whose eyes followed him, confused, and stepped down from the vehicle.

The girl looked up at him and after a split second, her eyes brightened up in recognition. 'Tyler?' she said and he walked towards her. She let go of Helena and attempted to walk over to him but almost fell due to the pain in her thigh. Tyler immediately caught her before she did. 'Tyler, is it really you?'

Tyler smiled sadly at her, her pain getting to him and he nodded. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug and he held her tightly and whispered, 'Emily.'

Emily got a change of clothes and Helena cooked a lot of noodles for her to eat. She stayed around Tyler all the time and they didn't stop reminiscing. They had been friends in middle school but she and her mum left to live with her grandmother after her dad had a car crash and went into a coma. It had been a long time since they had seen each other but from how often they talked and joked, it was obvious that they used to be close. He helped her around until her leg got better enough for her to walk by herself and made sure she was feeling good.

Lucy felt a twinge of jealousy whenever she saw them together, especially when she would throw herself on him suddenly to hug him. She didn't know if it was because she didn't receive such warm treatment from Tyler when she came or if it was because she wanted him to treat her that way at that moment instead of Emily.

'We'll stay here for the night,' Dave said and Brad stopped the vehicle in front of a duplex. 'Lucy, Tyler,' he said and they both nodded. Emily gave a sad face when Tyler left her and he gave her a small smile before getting down and going into the house with Lucy. They turned on their flashlights and got into the house. They searched the ground floor in silence, then went upstairs.

'So,' Lucy said, keeping her eyes in front of her not wanting to get jumped by any zombies. 'Emily. You guys are really close.'

'Yeah, I guess,' he answered, still focusing on the environment.

'You guess?' she asked, looking at him. 'You guys have been inseparable for over a week now.'

'Well, yeah but she's changed a lot since I last saw her. We used to play pranks on teachers back in those days, but now she's very emotional' —he opened a room door and cautiously stepped in— 'and apparently, she doesn't respect personal space.'

Lucy laughed internally. 'You didn't seem to bother about that.'

He shrugged. 'She's my friend and she needed help.' They finished checking the first floor and they began descending.

'Well, too bad she didn't notice you needed some space.'

He chuckled. 'It's not too bad,' he said and she frowned a bit at his reply. They both got out and Tyler signalled to them that the house was okay. Emily poked her head out of the car and waved at him to come over. 'Later, Lucy.'

'Do you have to go?' she whined and he turned to her with a smirk on his face.

'You're already missing me?'

Her face flushed and she backed away from him. 'No!' she lied and he chuckled.

'Don't worry, I'm not leaving you.' He winked and she playfully punched his arm. The others began coming in and Dave told Helena she would be taking the first watch. Lucy looked through the window of the house at Tyler and Emily still outside, talking and she unconsciously frowned.

'You're totally jealous,' a voice whispered from behind her and she jumped. She turned around, her eyes wide and saw Ruby smiling knowingly at her.

'I'm not,' she replied and Ruby chuckled.

'Lucy, you can't fool me. Even a blind man can see it.'

Lucy opened her mouth to object to it but then her shoulders slumped. 'Okay, I guess I am a little jealous… but it's not fair. It took months for Tyler to be half as friendly to me as he is to her,' she rambled.

'And they've known each other for years,' Ruby said and Lucy sighed. 'I understand how you feel though.'

'You do?'

'Yeah, but I'll tell you about that some other day. Anyway, between you and me, Tyler likes you way better than her,' Ruby winked.

'You think so?' she asked with a doubtful expression.

'I know so. I mean, just look at them' —she pointed at them through the window— 'he's practically begging for time to breathe.'

Lucy laughed. 'Maybe I should lock her up in a room so he will be able to.'

'Now, don't go do anything you'll regret.' Ruby laughed and Lucy nodded, pouting.

'Thanks, I needed that.' Ruby gave her a short hug, and Lucy felt the same way as she did when she hugged her aunt.

'Anytime.'

Later in the night, Brad, Dave and Ruby had gone to bed, Helena was outside, keeping watch while Emily and Tyler were in the living room, discussing. Lucy sat at the bottom of the staircase which was close to the dining room. She heard Tyler talking about himself and she wanted to listen but didn't want to go into the living room with Emily there. At least, that was the excuse she gave herself for listening in on their conversation. She peeped into the place from where she was, making sure neither of them could see her, and then Tyler open his mouth to talk.

'Dad hardly had time for us, so after you left I was pretty much alone again; just me and my sister.'

'I wish I didn't leave either,' Emily's expression saddened. 'My mum wanted to leave immediately. She couldn't bear the thought of dad not being there. She basically left me at my grandma's and kept on trying to find ways to get him back.'

'That must have been rough,' he sadly said.

'It was. You know, I've been alone since. Grandma made me leave when the zombies came. I didn't want to leave her there but she knew she would only slow me down. I've been running since then, scared senseless.'

'I'm glad you're safe,' he smiled at her. 'How were you able to survive so long?'

Emily looked away, wrinkles forming on her forehead. 'I… I don't really know. I've been running and hiding for so long, I've lost count of time.' She looked down at her arms which were covered in bruises. 'I got hurt trying to escape a lot of times. There were times I felt I was done for.'

'The apocalypse does that to you,' Tyler said, sighing.

She looked up at him. 'It's easier to get through it when you have people with you.' Tyler's eyes seemed to darken like he didn't completely agree with her but didn't want to object to her either. 'I didn't think anyone else was alive. I haven't seen a single human since then. When Helena came to me, I thought I was hallucinating.' She paused, then reached out and held Tyler's hand in hers. 'Then I saw you and I hoped so much that I wasn't.'

'I was surprised to see you too' —he slowly slid his hand away from hers, patted the back of her hands to comfort her and took his away— 'I thought everyone I knew was gone.'

'Just like I did. This week has been one of my best since the apocalypse' —she shifted closer to him, her legs touching his— 'maybe even since we moved. Thanks, Tyler.'

'It's nothing Emily,' he said and shifted his legs away from her just a bit but just after, she spread her arms wide for a hug. He sighed internally and then went into her arms and held her loosely. He broke away first but before he could create a gap between them, she found his face and connected her lips with his.

Lucy turned away immediately, not wanting to see where that was going. She ran up the stairs, making sure not to make any noise. Feelings of hurt troubled her and she ran into the first room she saw. She stopped in her tracks, seeing a shirtless Dave and a half-naked woman making out with him. She was about to apologize and excuse herself when she remembered Helena was outside, taking the first watch.