Sometimes...

Sometimes I get scenes stuck in my head that have nothing to do with anything. This is one that takes place during a zombie apocalypse, I have a few other oddbits from the same story but no clear plot or idea of what is actually going on. Only that there is this guy looking for his friend. This is the moment he finds her.

-

Ollie was there.

His clothes were torn, and his face smeared with mud and blood, but it was him. It had to be. Jen ran down the steps, pausing at the bottom. She lifted her hands to keep the sun from her eyes.

He waved.

It was him. 

She felt her breath catch in her throat.

A strong wind blew over them causing the trees to bow behind him. He used a hand to push his long fringe from his eyes. It had been shorter last time she had seen it. Short and choppy. Now it hung long around his face at all different lengths. The wind brought with it the smell of burning. Most likely it came from the town that spread out a good ten miles away. She wondered if he had come through it.

Jen looked him up and down. He wore dark jeans and a white t-shirt with a short sleeved shirt over the top. The shirt was torn and the jeans jagged at the hems. Mud smeared his skin and there were scratches on his cheeks and all down his bare arms. His eyes were darker than she had thought, but his smile was just the same. He eased his backpack off of his shoulder and let it drop to the ground.

Ollie held his arms out to her.

‘I come all this way for you, and you aren’t gonna give me a hug?’

It was like a dream, she took one step and then another. 

‘Jen!’

She paused and looked back.

Ethan stood on the top step. Dressed in tight jeans and a shirt, his skin clean and pale Ethan cut a fine contrast. However, he did not smile. His lips pressed tight together, he rushed down the steps and put a hand on her shoulder. The pressure was light and warm but dominant.

‘Ollie’s here,’ she said.

‘He is bleeding.’ 

‘A wall fell on me,’ Ollie shrugged. ‘You can look,’ he held out his arms, ‘I haven’t been bit. I wouldn’t have come for Jen if I had.’ 

Jen shook Ethan’s hand from her shoulder and made to go to him again but Ethan pulled her back. She turned on him, ‘what?’

‘He could be lying. Jen…’

She had pulled away. Moving quickly she found Ollie’s arms and pressed herself into them. She felt him stiffen, and knew that he was looking at Ethan. His cheek pressed to her temple and he pulled her in close. He smelt of smoke and blood. His skin was rough where it touched her own, he had been through hell and back, most likely. 

That was when she remembered. ‘Where’s your brother?’ she asked as she pulled back, his hand brushed down her arm. For a moment he caught her gaze, but he could not hold it for long. 

‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’

He smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. ‘Don’t be. It’s not your fault.’ 

He gave her arm a light squeeze. It said: it’s mine. 

‘Ollie,’

He let her go and picked up his backpack, ‘well, I didn’t bite her head off.’

Ethan was still standing at the bottom of the stairs. He nodded slowly. ‘If you so much as clear your throat, I’ll shoot you.’

‘And when you miss because of the recoil I’ll break your legs.’

Ethan stepped towards him. Jen placed herself between them. 

‘We need all the people we can get,’ she said to Ethan,.‘And you,’ she looked at Ollie, ‘you’re new here. Don’t start stirring stuff up.’ She took Ethan’s hand and headed up the stairs, having to tighten her grip and pull him after her.