Chapter Eight

We started our walk, heading away from the mountains. I tried to keep pace with Nina, but I wasn’t used to walking as fast as her.

“Sorry,” I said, looking down. “Not as fast.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Nina responded. “We’re pretty safe right now, so take your time.” I thought what she just said. I looked to the left and right of me. I didn’t see anything now, but her words stayed with me. “We’re pretty close to my place too so there’s nothing to worry about.” I decided to let those words calm me down as I looked up.

“Sky is dark,” I said. “Rain?”

“Rain,” she said with a pause. “It hasn’t rained for a really long time. I don’t even remember when it last happened. It’s usually no big deal anyway. The worst part of it is the smell of decaying…” She paused before finishing her sentence. She turned to me and found the expression on my face that she didn’t want to see. “But like I said, you don’t have to worry about anything. You don’t smell bad, nor will you ever smell bad!” The franticness of her voice was difficult to hide. I stared at her with disappointed eyes as I lifted my arm to see how much I smelled. “No, no, I can’t have you doing that,” Nina said lowering my arm. She used enough force to knock it out of my body again, making a soft sound as it landed next to me. Nina gasped before putting my arm back in place. “Just trust me, okay?” The wink that accompanied those words didn’t have the confidence to convince me, but I decided to let it go for now.

After a few more minutes, we reached another rundown building. I looked for any signs that would tell me that Nina lived here but all I saw were broken walls and shattered buildings.

“Your house?” I asked. “Broken.”

“Uh, excuse you,” Nina said, somewhat offended. “I was trying to be nice about your situation so it’s only fair that you be nice about mine. Besides, my place isn’t the brick walls. It’s what’s under it.” She pointed to a wooden door on the floor, hidden behind broken pieces of wood and brick. It looked heavy and cumbersome to move all at once. I wanted to help but I could barely keep myself up. She noticed my hand moving towards the pile and smiled. “It’s not as bad as it looks, see?” She moved two planks of wood, three small rocks and five bricks into specific areas and the door became visible. She opened the door and motioned me to come in.

I hesitated and Nina picked up on it. It was difficult to explain the expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Nina asked, eyebrow raised. “I didn’t think you’d distrust me the moment we got here.” While it was true that being led down a basement was somewhat concerning, especially since I’ve only just met Nina, there was something else bothering me. I could deal with this being some sort of trap. Painful as it would be to have all those good feelings be washed away by something much more nefarious, what stopped me was the feeling that she was genuine. I knew I was getting punished for everything I did to Dawn. I knew that I only deserved pain and suffering. And yet, Nina showed up to greet me in the new world. She welcomed me into her home, and maybe even her life. If she was being truthful in everything that she said to me, how could I enjoy it, when it wasn’t meant for me?

“Can’t go in,” I said with an obvious tinge in my voice. “Not for me.”

“Nonsense,” Nina responded. “I’m not going to leave you alone in this world.” She took my hand but stopped right before pulling me in. “I can’t have you be alone in this world. Not anymore. There’s something bothering you, and if I’m being honest, I hope it’s only a distrust in me. That much I can handle. But if it’s something else…” She stopped and looked into my eyes. “I probably won’t have the answer to it. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to leave you. All it means is that you now have someone who can help you work through it. I don’t care if it takes the rest of our lives here to figure it out. I want to help you with your troubles.” I looked down and then back at Nina.

“Why, for me?” I asked. “We met…”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, firm in her response. “You’re…someone special. Not just because you’re a zombie that can talk. But because deep down under everything that makes you look like one, I can tell that you’re like me. You don’t know about this world like I do, and as I’ve gotten older, I realized just how important it is to find someone like yourself.” I felt spikes in my heart. I didn’t deserve this. I didn’t deserve Nina. I didn’t deserve to be given more things that I didn’t earn. I heard the tiny voice again, trying to fight its way through the thick smoke of truth in my body.

“Stop,” I whispered, lowering my head. Nina heard the word I tried to keep from her. She put her other hand on my shoulder and began moving me towards the door. I shook my head and tried to resist but there was no way I was going to overpower her in this state.

“Looks like I’m taking you captive then,” Nina said with a playful smile. “What I say goes and I say you get into that room!” She pushed me down the door and I fell into a dark pit, landing on the ground with a loud thud.