Chapter 9

Lucy stood frozen to a spot. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; she didn't want to. Ruby's and Dave's heads snapped to hers and a look of shock and fear was written on their faces. Lucy began to back away from the room, frowning and shaking her head slowly in disbelief.

'Lucy, wait!' Ruby said, breaking away from Dave and reaching for her clothes. Lucy turned back and ran out, not wanting to hear what she had to say. All she could think about was how badly Helena was betrayed. Ruby caught up to her and grabbed her by the shoulder just before she could go into another room. 'Lucy!' Ruby firmly said.

Lucy turned back to face her with a hurt and confused look on her face. She looked at Ruby's face and for the first time, she saw her without her smile. Her face was stern and Lucy could see the person she really was behind those wide smiles. A hypocrite and a liar. 'How could you?' Lucy's face screwed up into that of disgust and then she tried to free herself from Ruby's grip but her hold only became tighter.

'Stop moving,' she hissed.

'Helena's your friend,' Lucy said, ignoring her and kept on trying to free herself.

Ruby let out a wry laugh and then narrowed her eyes at Lucy. 'No, she's not. She's exactly who Emily is to you.'

Lucy stopped moving, her anger overcome by confusion. 'What?'

Ruby slowly loosened her grip on her, then let go of her when she saw Lucy wasn't going anywhere. She gave an exasperated sigh as she reached down, pulled her jeans up, zipped it and pulled down her tank top. 'I liked Dave way before she came along and stole him. You of all people should understand how I feel.'

Lucy stared at her unbelievingly. Her eyebrows were together in a frown and her mouth was ajar at a loss for words. She searched Ruby's eyes, looking for something that could assure her it really wasn't Ruby talking but found nothing. 'You're the one that told me just a few hours ago to not do something I'll regret.' Ruby shrugged, uncaringly and Lucy's frown grew deeper. 'So you never really meant it.'

'I have not for once regretted what I'm doing,' she flatly said.

Lucy took a good look at the woman that she had begun to consider as family and her blood boiled in anger. 'What is wrong with you?'

'Ruby?' someone said from the staircase just before Ruby could talk and she turned to see Helena come upstairs, stifling a yawn. Lucy's blood ran cold but Ruby put on the widest smile she could muster.

'Helena,' she said in a cheerful tone. 'What's wrong, I thought you were still going to be outside by now.'

'Yeah, but I got really tired and I wanted to ask you if you could take over earlier.' She arched her back as she stretched and then she saw Lucy's fearful face. 'What's wrong? What were you guys talking about?'

'Oh, nothing,' Ruby quickly said. 'Or did you hear something?'

Helena gave both of them a confused look and then shook her head. 'Are you sure it's nothing?'

'It's nothing,' Ruby said and then held Lucy's hand, giving it a tight squeeze. Lucy was shocked about how smoothly Ruby was able to keep up the act. It seemed like she had done the same thing multiple times before. Helena stared at them for a few seconds and Lucy wondered if she should say anything right then. Ruby's hold became tighter and her fingers dug into Lucy's wrist. She stayed silent, enduring the pain, unsure of what to do. Helena then shrugged after a moment and went into the room Dave was in.

If only I didn't go in then, she would have found out by herself, Lucy thought. 'She's going to find out sooner or later.'

'She won't,' Ruby firmly said and then looked Lucy right in the eye, daring her to object. 'Not as long as you keep your mouth shut.'

Lucy returned the glare. 'What makes you think I would do that?'

Ruby released her hold on her and her face became devoid of expression. 'Do you really want to be the reason this group falls apart? It will kill us. You'll be a killer, just like the zombies.' Lucy was silent. She thought of how Helena knowing about the affair would disrupt the peace of the whole group. She thought of what Tyler would think of Dave and of how his leadership position in the group could be affected. Ruby took her silence as an agreement. She backed away from her and then turned around. 'Goodnight Lucy,' she said and then went downstairs.

Lucy sighed deeply, a headache forming. It wasn't a good day at all. Her whole view of Ruby changed. She thought of all the times she had been nice to her, to Helena. It was like she was hiding behind a mask of a cheerful person; hiding her manipulative self, her deceptive self, her hypocritical self, her true self. It was the first time she saw her frown and she looked horrible.

Helena was oblivious to everything. Dave kept up a good act. He welcomed her into the room with open arms and Helena saw his being half-clothed as an invitation for intimacy. She went into his arms and he held her close, kissing her with the same lips that were just on another woman. He held onto her as they both slept and cursed Ruby in his mind for not locking the door.

***

Tyler brought up his hands and pushed Emily back once she kissed him, keeping her at arm's length. 'What are you doing, Emily?' he asked, frowning at her.

She was shocked by how suddenly he pushed her away and then her eyebrows went up in worry when she saw him frowning. 'I… I just, I…' she stammered.

'Look, Emily,' he said, looking right into her eyes. 'I'm glad to see you again, but we're friends and I can't pretend anymore that you touching me is fine. I don't see you that way, I'm sorry.' Her shoulders slumped and he slowly let go of her. 'I think it's best we keep some distance from each other.'

She looked away and blinked back tears that began to form. 'Is this because of Lucy?' she asked and Tyler frowned. 'You like her, don't you?'

'No, I…' Tyler started saying but the words seemed to get stuck in his throat. He thought about Lucy and how fun it was to mess with her, but he didn't think it meant he had feelings for her. He shook his head, not wanting to let their conversation be diverted. 'That has nothing to do with this.'

Emily scoffed, standing up. 'Who do you think you are fooling? She was the first person you introduced to me; the person you kept on glancing at when we talked; the only person you smile like that to.' Tyler gave her a confused look, making her roll her eyes at him. 'Forget it.' She walked out on him, angrily and to the kitchen, walking past Helena.

***

The next morning, Brad and Dave were hard at work on the engine of the vehicle. It refused to start and they were trying to see what they could do about it. Helena and Ruby were having a conversation just a few feet away from them and they were smiling at each other. Lucy watched the four of them as she leaned on the wall of the front of the house. Her forehead was creased in annoyance at how everything went back to normal among them; like nothing was going on behind closed doors.

'Hey,' someone said beside Lucy and her head snapped to the person, her frown still on her face. 'Whoa,' Tyler said, raising his hand. 'Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.' She rolled her eyes at him and then turned back to glare at Ruby and Dave. 'What's wrong?' He walked closer to her and leaned on the wall beside her, looking at the four of them near the vehicle.

'Nothing. Where's Emily?'

He shrugged. 'I don't know.'

She became confused and her eyes went away from Ruby and Dave. 'That's odd, she's usually not less than three feet away from you.'

'Yeah, but that was before. Besides, I said that I'm not leaving you.' He turned to her with a smirk on his face. 'You don't have to miss me anymore.' She scoffed but a little smile played on her lips.

'You all!' Brad called out, waving his hands at them and they all walked over to where he was. Dave had his hands on his waist and he shook his head at the engine in front of him. 'We've tried all we can but this car isn't going anywhere.'

'I was hoping it would last longer than this but we'll have to trek from here. Hopefully, we'll see another vehicle along the way early,' Dave said and he got grumbles as a response.

'Not again,' Tyler mumbled.

They unloaded the essential stuff and carried them in bags and nylons. Ammunition, water, food, a change of clothes and some other things needed to survive the long walk. Brad held a jerry can just in case, Dave had the map in his hand and they got started on their journey.

They walked in the hot sun. Tyler was tempted to remove his shirt multiple times, it being black made him feel even hotter. Emily kept her distance from Tyler and the nasty looks she gave Lucy made Lucy wonder what really happened after they kissed. Dave and Ruby hardly interacted throughout, as usual, fooling everyone. Dave offered to help Helena carry her load like the gentleman he pretended to be and Helena refused, not wanting him to stress himself too much. If only she knew.

Ruby talked with Brad from time to time. Lucy wondered how Brad would feel if he knew the atrocity she was committing. The whole façade disturbed her. She wanted to tell someone but she didn't want the group to be divided either.

They took water breaks scarcely and they used that short time to get rid of body waste. They walked at the side of the road where lots of trees were since the road was too hot. The very few vehicles they found were either also broken down or terribly damaged, most likely during the confusion. Running into zombies was the worst case. They couldn't use their ammunition too much because they didn't know when next they would find a place to get more. They had to make do with knives, their fists and their environment. They were exhausted after each run-in with them and they had to keep on protecting Emily who was only skilled in screaming and running away. Helena got annoyed with her at some point and threatened to throw her at the zombies if she screamed again.

They spent two nights out in the open, on the bare ground. They hoped and prayed to get a vehicle and more supplies soon, and when their resources diminished faster because they were on foot, they began to wonder which they would die of first, hunger or zombies.

'We'll soon be out of water,' Helena said, checking the few supplies in her hands. All their faces simultaneously fell.

'This area should have lakes nearby,' Dave said, looking at the map and frowning.

'Maybe we'll find it if we go away from the roadside,' Ruby suggested and Dave nodded.

'That's a great option.'

'I could climb one of the trees and search around from the top,' Lucy said, avoiding eye contact with Dave. He smiled widely at her and nodded.

'Okay, Tyler will go with you,' he said and she internally rolled her eyes at the lame attempt of a peace offering.

'Race you to the top?' Tyler said, smirking and she smirked back even though they both knew they were tired.

'You're on.'

Without another word, Tyler jogged quickly to the tallest nearby tree he saw and she ran after him. They began climbing it, placing their feet on the bark and near branches. Lucy kept her eyes on the top, not paying attention to Tyler so she wouldn't lose focus. Once she got to the highest branch she found, she stood on it and looked down and around for Tyler, a proud smile on her face.

'Up here,' his voice came from above her and she looked up to see him sitting on an even higher branch with a proud smile also on his face. 'Took you long enough.' She grumbled, cut some leaves and threw them at him. He laughed at her weak attempt to hit him and his laugh was surprisingly contagious.

The branch under Lucy made a low snapping sound and Lucy's eyes went wide in fear. Tyler reached down to her immediately and she quickly grabbed his hand before the branch could fall. He pulled her up and she sat on the branch, beside him.

'Thanks,' she said, breathing a sigh of relief.

'Anytime,' he said and she stared at him, smiling, which made him a bit uncomfortable. 'What?'

'Oh, nothing. I expected you to give a nonchalant remark but it looks like you really care. You've changed.'

He gave a short laugh, scratching the back of his head. 'Well, you aren't exactly the annoying, wimpy, klutz you were when we met.'

She frowned at him and shoved him. 'And you're not the snobbish, self-centred, rude…'

'I get it, I get it,' he laughed, cutting her off and she smiled triumphantly.

'You see anything yet?' Dave asked and they quickly began to look around. Tyler spotted something and he called Lucy's attention to it. They smiled triumphantly at each other and then climbed back down.

'Tell me you found something,' Brad said, exhausted from all their walking already.

'There's a lake about a 30-minute walk from here,' Tyler said, pointing towards the direction of the lake. All of them made sounds of rejoicing; all but Emily.

'Took you that long to spot a whole lake,' she said, frowning at them.

'At least they found it,' Helena said to her, a small smile on her face and Emily forced a smile back at her, not wanting to get on her bad side.

They went through the trees and finally got to the lake. They noticed a lake house just before it and a fine-looking pickup truck was parked on a path leading back to the main road. They couldn't believe their luck. They immediately rushed to the lake and practically collapsed into the water. They drank the fresh water to their full and began filling their kegs with it.

Then, there was a gurgling sound from the bottom of the lake. They all froze as bubbles began to come up the water. They slowly backed away, their eyes glued to the part of the lake where the bubbles were emerging. Suddenly, scores of zombies rose up from the water. Their bodies were white, extremely wrinkled and peeling; their eyes were deep red and their shrieks came out dry and ghostly.

'Everybody, run!' Dave shouted and the group desperately waded through the water. They ran onto the banks and quickly picked up the supplies they still had. Emily came out of the water after them, not being able to keep up with the little chaos that erupted. The unnatural shrieks from the zombies behind her scared her to death and she found herself falling face-first to the ground.

'No,' she mumbled and tried getting up but fell back down. The others were already a fairly large distance away and headed to the lake house. 'Help!' she cried out, trying to get away but the zombies were getting too close. She looked up ahead of her and saw that Lucy had turned back but was unmoving. She was about to go back to help her but then the thought of risking her life for someone that didn't give her the time of the day since the moment they met was discouraging her.

Emily screamed out, ignoring Helena's warnings and began crawling away but not fast enough. She looked back up at a still motionless Lucy with tears in her eyes and she shouted, 'please!'