We all had a light breakfast comprising of the ready-made food in the pantry of the cafeteria and then took things easy the rest of the morning. The main doors of the hospital were barricaded and with no sign of the infected outside, so we were in the clear for a little while.
We took turns standing guard; swopping every hour and with every hour the sky outside got darker and darker as storm clouds gathered… So much for daylight.
Henry took the first shift, followed by Fred and Dharma and then Alex. The ones that were not on shift lay down on some of the hospital beds we dragged into the cafeteria. I took over the shift from Alex and found him sitting at the window staring out at the darkening clouds as if lost in a dream.
“Hey.” I said softly as not to bother the others as they rested.
Alex turned to face me and smiled as he softly touched his prosthetic leg and sighed.
“I can still feel it, you know.” He said hushed, “My leg. I can feel it as if it is still there.”
I nodded, pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. The clouds outside looked like they were about to burst open at the seams and pour out rain at any moment.
“I’ve heard about that happening.” I said, “They call it ghost limb or something.”
Alex chucked, looked down at his prosthetic leg and said, “You know, I lived my life thinking that all the wrong things were important. A couple of days ago I would have been devastated about the loss of my leg… and would have probably taken it out on you.”
He probably would have, I thought to myself.
“But now,” Alex said and stared out through the window, “Now I know what is truly important: living and being with people you care about. If only I realized it sooner and spent more time with my family.”
He faced me again and continued, “I think that is the one thing I will always regret; not spending more time with my family. My dad had been begging me to go along on a fishing trip with him, but I thought it was the lamest thing on earth. It meant the world to him and I was too big a jerk to swallow my pride and go fishing with him. I guess I will never get a chance to do stuff like that.”
Alex sighed and stared out through the window again. All was quiet – the dead were quiet and nowhere to be seen. Somewhere in the distant clouds the thunder rolled into a murmur signalling the approaching rain.
I didn’t have any comforting words for him, and I doubt that he wanted to hear some clichéd bunch of words meant to comfort but only add more pain.
“It got clouded over quite fast.” Alex said.
“It’s good to see that Mother Nature did not lose her mind.” I said, “She can still send us rain during the apocalypse. You should go get some rest. Your shift is over.”
Alex nodded and slowly staggered to his feet. He walked over to one of beds and laid down while I stared out through the window at the lightshow in the clouds created by the rolling thunder and lightning.
“Hey.” Michelle said next to me.
I turned to her and said, “Hey.”
“Would you like some company?” She asked and sat down next to me.
“Sure.” I said.
She glanced out at the dark skies outside and then turned to me.
“I just love the rain.” She said in a hushed tone, “It’s perfect for reading a book… or cuddling.”
I wouldn’t know much about cuddling during rainy weather as I never had anyone to cuddle with. Michelle gave me a look that might have said, you can drape your arm across my shoulders now as she moved closer, but I could have misinterpreted the signs, so I said nothing.
She glanced out the window again and said, “It’s hard to believe that the world outside has ended. It feels like any other day when it’s this quiet.”
She reached up and opened the window and then took a deep breath as she smelled the fresh air.
“I just love the smell of approaching rain.” She said and then turned to me, “This is the part where you wrap your arm around me.”
My heart skipped a beat when she said that. I’ve always wanted to wrap my arm around a girl’s shoulder and watch the rain… okay, I never wanted to do it, until now. I nervously bit down on my lower lip and cautiously wrapped my arm around her shoulder as she snuggled in closer to me.
“This is nice.” She said, “Just the two of us.”
I wanted to tell her there and then that I was completely and head over heels in love with her, but was afraid of how she would react. I knew that she liked me, but did she like me enough to love me back?
“I have to tell you something.” I finally said.
My heart was racing like a herd of runaway horses stampeding across desert country and I constantly had to lick my lips to keep them from drying out.
I took a deep breath and continued, “I know it might be too soon and that you might think that I am crazy or almost driven crazy by death chomping at us at every turn, but I just want to tell you that I have never felt this way about anyone. I constantly think about you and I want to keep you in my life, even though my life is in ruins at the moment… anyway, what I am trying to say is… I… I love you.”
She stared at me in silence and I could see a tear sparkle in her eye.
“I love you too.” She whispered.
She loved me… was all I could think about. She loved me. I was loved by someone. It was the greatest feeling in the world to love someone who loved you back.
She stared into my eyes and then leaned in to kiss me. Her lips were as soft as ever and the kiss was an everlasting one that might have lasted if it wasn’t for… Bang! The sudden strike of thunder right outside the window made both of us jerk in our seat and then giggle.
“That was close…” She said with a sigh of relief.
“It’s just thunder.” I said.
We ignored the interruption and stared into each other’s eyes. I could see a blurred image of someone behind Michelle getting up and walking over to the window. It did not matter to me. All I could see was the woman that I loved and who loved me.
“You guys…” Fred said with a fretful voice.
I glanced over at Fred who stood at the window staring out at the approaching storm.
“I don’t think that was any ordinary lightning.” Fred said concerned.
The clouds gathered around the top of Mount Koning and were darker than night. The clouds were churning as if they were about to spew out hell itself, but nothing happened.
“So, this is where you’re hiding?” A man’s voice said behind us.
We all spun around at the sound of the mystery voice and then I spotted James standing at the swing doors of the cafeteria. He was dressed in a militia uniform and had several firearms sticking out from a backpack.
“James?” I asked confused.
I thought I’d never see him again.
“You are by far the worst slayer in the history of the world.” James said sternly.