This Beautiful World - Book #1 (BxB)

Chapter 20

It was too dark in the building that we entered to see anything. My sister and I thought the same thing as we pulled out our phones and turned on the flashlight. There was barely any charge left on my phone, so this thing would die soon. It would be helpful to find an actual flashlight before then, but this would have to do for now. We shined the lights to illuminate our surroundings.  

It appeared that we were in a thrift store. I waved my phone around, looking for any signs of infected. There were a few knocked-over racks and shelves, but that was all. I didn't see any blood and I didn't hear any noises besides our own breathing. When it seemed as if we were safe, Arin and Riley's father pushed one of the shelves in front of the door. At least it was something if a zombie tried to break in.

Once things seemed to settle down, Riley and her father broke away from the group. I couldn't imagine how Riley was still hanging on. She kept her head low as she desperately tried to fight back the tears. Somehow, she was staying quiet, though I knew she wanted to break down and cry. 

I wanted to comfort my friend. I tried to follow them, but before I had the chance to Arin grabbed my arm. He shook his head and said, "Give them their space."

Perhaps that's what they needed right now. They should be together after what happened and even though I wanted to be there for my friend, I wouldn't feel the same pain as she did. Riley's mother was important to me. She had been a big part of my childhood, but she meant even more to Riley. If it were my sister or my mother who I had lost, then I don't think that I would be able to handle it. That loss would destroy me.

Right now, I would let Riley mourn with her father and check on her later. There wasn't anything I could do to improve the situation, but I could at least be there to support her through this hardship. I wished that Alex would have come with to help support her as well.

Caitlyn was the next one to break away from the group. I followed after her. I wasn't fond of my younger sister exploring this place on her own. Though we shined our flashlights around and found nothing, I was still on alert. There was the back of the store that we hadn't checked yet. Briefly, Caitlyn glanced around, before heading for one of the clothes racks. 

She nonchalantly started shifting through the hanging clothes. Throughout this, Caitlyn had been the most level-headed of the group. She took the lead when I didn't expect her to, and her springing into action was what made the rest of the group hurry up. However, I knew my sister better than anyone else here. She may have seemed calm as she searched through the clothes, but I could see her hands trembling slightly. 

"Caitlyn, are you alright?" I asked. As the older one, I should have taken more of the lead than her. That responsibility shouldn't have fallen on my sister at that time. Everyone just happened to follow her during the commotion, the youngest person in our group. I was an adult, I should have acted as one. 

She briefly glanced my way. "We grew up with Riley's mom. She was an important figure to us and she was there after what happened with our mom and dad. It doesn't feel real that something like this happened. I keep thinking that tomorrow I'll wake up and it'll all be a dream. You'll be back at university with Riley and Alex, and I'll be here in this shitty town going to a shitty high school. I'd rather go back to that than have to watch loved ones around me die."

Caitlyn finally grabbed some clothes from the rack. She looked up at me once again and added, "You're not allowed to die on me, okay?" 

She didn't wait for my response as she walked away. I would have liked to reassure her that nothing was going to happen to me, but Caitlyn might not believe it. After all, something could happen to us at any moment. Telling her that I would live through this could end up being an empty promise. After what happened with our father, Caitlyn probably didn't believe when people said they'd stay in our lives. People were prone to leave at any moment. 

I sighed. I felt completely useless. I couldn't console one of my best friends or my sister. This was a great loss for all of us, and it hadn't completely sunk in yet. I felt the same way as Caitlyn did. Perhaps tomorrow, I would wake up and be in my dorm room with Alex. Things could go back to normal. 

But that was just a dream. I had already woken up once to be in the same nightmare. Tomorrow wouldn't be any different. I doubt that any of us would even be able to sleep tonight. It would be a long night until morning got here. There were still plenty of hours left before the sun rose once again. 

Eventually, Caitlyn joined me once again. She had changed out of the skirt that she was wearing and into sweatpants. She had also ditched her boots for sneakers. I made no comment on the outfit change. This was better and safer for her since we did have to run from zombies. 

Caitlyn scanned the store again and when she didn't seem to find what she was looking for, she asked, "Where did Arin go?"

I was sure that he was around here somewhere. However, I wasn't fond of my sister running off to him. My older brother mode was being activated. I crossed my arms. "Why do you want to find him?"

She looked away from me and shrugged her shoulders. "He's nice. I just want to get to know him better. Is that wrong?"

"Yes, because you're interested in him more than that. You're sixteen. He's probably around my age, and I don't like the idea of you crushing on an adult. I'm not dumb. I can tell by the way that you look at him that you like him more than you're admitting. Plus, we're in the middle of a zombie outbreak. We need to focus on survival, not romance. Besides, we barely know him. He may seem nice now, but when things take a turn for the worst his true colors might show. Don't trust strangers just because they're kind to you a couple of times." I wanted to make myself clear to Caitlyn. I didn't want her to make any rash decisions because of a crush that she was forming on this guy. 

"I know. I'm not dumb either. I do think he's a nice person, though. He didn't have to help Mom and me, but he still did. If he was awful, I don't think he would have rescued two strangers. Anyway, you don't have to worry about me pursuing a relationship or anything. I'm not that interested and based on what Stella told us tonight . . ." Caitlyn trailed off. 

She had me curious now. "What did you girls talk about?"

A small smile tugged at her lips. "It's a secret."

That was all Caitlyn left me with before turning and walking away. While I was curious about what she was going to say, I wouldn't pry for information. I was more worried about how tonight would go instead of finding out the secrets of the people who accompanied us. If we were stuck in this nightmare for a while, then I was sure that I would learn more about our companions eventually. 

With another sigh, I followed after my sister.