Rise of the Dead

Chapter 6: The Argument

"Life is better when you're laughing." ~ Maura

- - -

I stare out of the window and watch the sinister trees flash by in the shadowy midnight darkness, their arms reaching out as if to grab the car. I look around at my group and see they're all asleep soundly- apart from Maria who's driving, much to my better judgement of letting a fifteen-year-old drive. I stare at her for a while, trying to think of something to say that will ease the growing tension. I come up with nothing. After a while, she sighs and turns to me with a face of irritation, her eyes meeting mine in the darkness. 

"Just say it, Madeline," Maria huffs, her knuckles tightening on the steering wheel. I purse my lips tightly, looking down at Ashia who sleeps peacefully in my arms before shrugging my shoulders. 

"I just don't understand why you hate me so much?" I question, my voice hushed as to not wake the others. Maria smiles slightly and shakes her head, her red curls bouncing slightly as she moves. 

"You attacked my brother," she replies simply, her lips barely moving as she speaks. 

"Yeah? Well, I also kept him alive for the past year so I think we're pretty even," I seethe, shaking my head and turning to look out of the window. 

Maria laughs, a short burst before she catches herself, glancing over her shoulder to check whether she's woken the others. A frown creases my brows and I send her a wary look, my mouth pulling into a thin line. 

"Oh yeah, right, with all your insider knowledge that you kept from the group," she retorts bitterly, "and was this before you experimented on your best friend?"

Anger prickles inside me and it takes every last ounce of self-control not to scream and shout at Maria, her smug façade only making my temper flare further.  

"you have no idea what you're talking about," I spit, "the guilt and the sacrifices I had to make. I never wanted to hurt Amelia, you have to believe me."

"Oh I do believe you, Madeline. I don't think you wanted to hurt Amelia, but you did. Your need to be the hero only hurts the ones you supposedly love. You should have just taken Josh's cure and used that, you never needed to make your own and test it on Amelia," Maria says softly. 

"Josh's cure wasn't enough," I explain, "there wasn't enough of it and it was weak- it wasn't strong enough to turn those who'd been dead so long, only those who'd turned recently. It was a race against time and I had to clear up the mess I made," I say sadly, tears prickling at the back of my eyes. 

"You didn't make this Madeline, and nor did your parents, you were all acting under the government- you had no idea this would happen," Maria says, gesturing to the corpses enveloped by darkness surrounding the car. 

"It doesn't matter now, the damage is done," I reply, a tear rolling down my cheek. "I just want to try and make it right, however I can, I can't sit here and do nothing," I add. Maria smiles, her features softening slightly and her hands loosening from around the steering wheel. 

"You know, maybe you're not so bad, Maddy," she taunts, but a look of acceptance coats her face.

I flinch at her words, turning away defensively- some things will never heal with time.

"It's Madeline," I respond, faking anger at her use of that nickname, masking the anxiety that bubbles inside the depths of my subconscious mind. 

"Whatever," she replies shortly, staring outside into the dark jade forests that line the road. 

A moment of uncomfortable silence passes before I speak again, my words hushed and gentle against the rumbling of the car's engine. 

"How did you survive, Maria, all alone out there," I whisper, shaking my head at the thought of isolation in the dying world. Maria purses her lips tightly, her eyes glazing over slightly as she thinks. 

"I barely did," she replies quietly, the pain evident in her voice, "I just kept moving, never staying anywhere too long. I wasn't alone the whole time, I met other survivors along the way but it never really lasted. Some were killed, some I left- you learn pretty quickly that the zombies aren't the real monsters, not really. Humans are far worse."

I take in Maria's words in silence, nodding gently as she finished. I let out a low exhale and shift in my seat, the movement causing Jaz to stir in the footwell of the car. 

"I am grateful," Maria adds, "for what you did for my brother, he told me that you saved his life when he'd been bit- I'll always owe you for that." I shake my head dismissively and Maria frowns at my slightly. 

"You don't owe me anything, I did what I would have done for any of my friends," I reply, a small smile tugging at my lips. "I felt so awful at the time, thinking I'd killed him when he passed out, then questioning whether he'd hate me for the injury I inflicted on him," I explain. 

"Madeline, he could never be angry at you, you saved his life," Maria states softly, the kindness in her eyes taking me back. 

"Thank you," I reply, caressing the side of Ashia's face as I speak. 

"For what?" Maria questions, frowning at me from the driving seat. 

"For forgiving me, for not killing me," I respond, "there's a lot really."

Maria chuckles lightly, her shoulders shaking as she tries to muffle a laugh, her eyes gleaming in the darkness and reflecting the brightly lit dashboard. 

"Don't thank me yet," she replies, "I'd kill you if you got bitten."

I force a smile in response but something unsettles me in her words. The numbness, the authenticity; the promise. But even more so, the strength. 

Becuase Maria has the courage to do something I couldn't.