Desolate

Jordan and Charlie went up to the roof to see if any zombies had gathered. They crouched quietly towards the edge of the roof. They saw one zombie limping along the empty road, his ankle attached to his leg by a thin string of flesh.

“If we shoot him, it’ll attract more…” Jordan said quietly. Charlie nodded as they slowly walked back into the store.

“All good,” Charlie announced when they got back to the group. Jordan nodded and walked towards the magazine rack across from where they all stood.

“Jordan seems so down lately,” Bianca said softly, staring at Jordan sympathetically.

“Yeah…what’d you do?” Zakk said, looking at Charlie. Charlie stepped back, as if he’d hit her.

“What makes you think I did something?!” she snapped.

“Well ever since you called her cocky and threatened to leave her to die under the dead bear she’s been…low,” he answered, clearly amused at Charlie’s aggravation.

“You’re hilarious. But I didn’t do anything.” she replied coolly, crossing her arms. She glanced at Jordan, who was blankly reading through an old People Magazine. She walked over to Jordan, who looked up for a split second before returning to her magazine. If Jordan really was “low” as Zakk put it, she wouldn’t react to anything Charlie said.

“I don’t think we should cook anymore, it might attract zombies. So it’s just cold food from now on,” she declared.

“Ok,” she said, not even looking up at her or giving her any smart ass comments. Charlie bit her lip and tried to think of something else to say.

“I forgot to check the basement and a zombie came up and it’s devouring Alex!” she cried, flailing her arms.

“That’s nice,” she mumbled, turning the page of the magazine. Charlie sighed and it was like a light bulb flashed above her head. She smirked and put her hands on her hips.

“I banged Oliver in your bed,” she said smugly, feeling the victory.

“That’s fine,” Jordan replied calmly. Charlie threw her arms into the air and scoffed loudly.

“How is that fine?!” she demanded.

“Because I banged Zakk in your bed already,” she said without hesitation. Charlie stood there for a second, narrowing her eyes at her. Jordan’s eyes looked into Charlie’s and she smiled.

“So you’re still alive,” Charlie joked, lightly punching Jordan on the arm. Jordan laughed softly and lightly punched Charlie back, sending a painful shock up her arm to her infected wound, causing her to wince and back away abruptly.

“Are you ok?” Jordan asked, rising from her seat. Charlie backed away, trying to ignore the fierce throbbing.

“I’m fine. You just punched a bruise. That’s all,” she said, giving Jordan a reassuring smile. She turned and ran off, ignoring Jordan as she called her name. She eventually gave up, shrugged it off and walked by the greeting card section, where she found Oliver.

“What are you doing in the birthday card section?” she asked, sitting down next to him. She looked into his eyes and smirked.

“Are you thinking about Charlie?” she asked.

“Why would you I be thinking about Charlie?” he answered, trying to laugh off her question.

“Because you love her,” she said in a sing-song voice. Oliver sat in silence, not denying anything, “I knew it!”

“I don’t even know how I feel about her,” he said softly, “I barely know her. Trust me, the only thing you’ll ever know about her is her first name.”

“I thought you were friends with her boyfriend,” she remarked.

“Yeah, with her boyfriend. Not her. I saw her a couple times but never really knew her,” he countered.

“Well if you really want to know her, why don’t you discuss this with her? You and her are both making this complicated,” she groaned, “as if this whole situation wasn’t complicated enough.”

He chuckled and stood up to leave. Jordan sat there, trying to think of what to do now. She eventually stood up and decided to look around. She went straight to the shoes to see if there were any shoes to replace her worn out boots that had been coated with a mixture of dirt and blood. She saw Zakk from the corner of her eye as she tried on another pair of boots.

“Hi Zakk,” she greeted cheerfully.

“I came over here to apologize,” he mumbled. Jordan raised an eyebrow and turned her body to face him.

“Why?” she asked.

“Well, that comment I made, ‘I’m surprised no one has put a ring on that finger’” Zakk said softly, biting his bottom lip and folding his hands behind his back.

“Don’t be sorry. You didn’t know,” she said, giving him a warm, comforting smile. He smiled back, although he wasn’t fully convinced. She stood up and placed a small kiss on his cheek, “But thank you for apologizing.”

The conversation had ended but they still stood there, staring deeply into each other’s eyes. They began to lean in slowly when Alex came running towards them. They moved away from each other quickly and smiled faintly at Alex.

“Charlie is acting really weird,” Alex panted, looking at Jordan. Jordan shrugged and raised her eyebrows.

“What do you want me to do about it?” she asked.

“Just come with me,” Alex said, taking a deep breath in between her words. She grabbed Jordan by the wrist and led her away from Zakk. She turned her head and took one last look at him before she turned back and followed Alex.

“Would you shut up?! I’m FINE!” she snapped as Bianca walked around in circles around her asking question after question.

“What’s going on?” Jordan asked. Alex grabbed Bianca and forcefully dragged her out of the room.

“Are you ok?” she asked.

“I just said I’m fine didn’t I?” Charlie said harshly.

“You did. But I have a hard time believing you,” Jordan retorted. Charlie scoffed and rolled her eyes. Jordan looked at the arm Charlie was practically cradling like a baby.

“Let me see your arm,” she said.

“No,” she said, moving her arm away from Jordan, as if that would stop her. Jordan was ready to argue when she came up with an idea. She noticed a belt hanging on a hook out of the corner of her eye. She grabbed it and snapped it.

“If there is absolutely nothing wrong with your arm…” she said, snapping it some more. Charlie met her eyes directly, as if she was calling her bluff. Jordan smiled mischievously as she raised her belt to whip Charlie’s arm with it.

“Ok, ok!” she yelled, slipping her top off of her body, slowly and painfully. Jordan stared wide eyed at Charlie’s wound and covered her mouth in the shock and disgust at the swollen, infected wound.

“That thing looks like it has a functioning beating heart,” she said as she turned away.

“You’re a laugh riot,” Charlie scoffed.

“Didn’t you clean it before you bandaged it?” she asked.

“Yeah, because I had the materials to do that at the moment,” she answered sarcastically.

“Ok whatever. But now it’s infected and we don’t have a doctor. What the hell are we supposed to do?!” Jordan asked herself as she threw her arms in the air. She turned back to Charlie and sighed, opening her mouth to speak, with no words coming out. She closed her mouth again and turned to leave.

She tried to think about what to do with Charlie when she found Zakk sitting where she had been a few minutes before. She walked towards him and sat down next to him on the small stool.

“What are you doing here all by yourself?” she asked, bumping her knees against his. Zakk smiled but stayed silent. She wrapped an arm around and him and shook him slightly, “I never got to hear your story.”

“It’s too boring to tell,” he joked.

“I don’t care. I want to hear it,” she said.

“Fine. I was living with my girlfriend and my sister. My girlfriend was in medical school at the time and my sister was working at this beauty place where they sold hair dye, shampoo, the works,” he said, “I was working at this used music place. They sold CD’s, DVD’s, even records that were extremely cheap.”

He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down, “I came home one day to an empty house. That doesn’t sound bad, but they always beat me home,” he said softly, “I figured they were stopping somewhere. But they still weren’t home by the next day.”

“You never found them?” she said.

“No, I did. I was like you. I didn’t believe in the whole radiation thing. I just went about my day and there they were. But they weren’t them anymore. But I didn’t come to that realization right away,” he said, his voice slowly beginning to crack as he hung his head to hide his face from Jordan, “Charlie came at the last second and killed them both. I held such a grudge until she finally convinced me that they weren’t them anymore.”

His body began to shake as he finally let himself cry. Jordan wrapped her arms around him and held his trembling body. His head rested on her shoulder and she rocked slowly as she stroked his hair.

“If it helps, at least you know that they’re in a much better place,” she said sympathetically. Jordan’s fiancée could be just like the rest of them, feasting on anything that moved with live flesh.

He moved his body away from her and wiped his face, finally calming down. He looked at her, his eyes a little bit red and he smiled at her.

“You know, Charlie told me to try and forget the past and focus on the present, what really matters…” she murmured. They gazed into each other’s eyes for a few moments, just like earlier. They leaned in slowly and their lips finally met before anyone could interrupt them. They pulled away from each other and stared at each other in shock. Jordan put her fingers on her lips and smiled. Zakk pressed his lips together and fought a smile. They sat there in silence before they heard Darren’s voice.

“Bianca! You owe me five bucks!” he yelled. They whipped their bodies around and raised eyebrows at him.

“Excuse me?” Jordan said. Darren smiled mischievously and held his hand out for Bianca. Bianca scoffed and slapped a five dollar bill into the palm of his hand.

“Bianca said that Oliver would make his move on Charlie first and I said Zakk would make his move on you first. And I won five big ones!” he said cheerfully.

“To use for what?” Jordan said, rolling her eyes at him.

“Well when the zombies finally die off and the world is normal again, I’ll be rich!” he answered without hesitation.

“Oh yeah Darren, you’re a genius for using that logic,” Zakk said sarcastically as he stood up and walked off. Jordan stood up and walked towards Darren. She punched him in the shoulder and smiled.

“He read my mind,” she said as she walked off. She was in such a daze that she barely noticed Charlie leaning against a wall, shutting her eyes and clenching her fists. Jordan sighed and hit her forehead with her palm. She’d forgotten all about Charlie. She still didn’t know what the hell to do. Nobody had any kind of medical experience. Charlie needed to see a doctor. But knowing her luck, the only doctors left were probably killing people more than helping people.