Meet Me At The End Of The World

Chapter Twenty-one

Finally, the door to the reception area where Simon and I are swings open and Honey and Val both scramble in. I allow a sigh of relief to escape me at the sight of them and they both do the same. Like always, Simon is the only one to remain silent.

"There was a load of blood outside of school. We began to fear the worst." Honey admits as she wraps me in a hug. She then crouches down and pulls Simon into her arms but he shoves her away, trembling slightly.

"We were attacked. Simon killed it." I inform them both. Honey turns to stare at her best friend who is staring at his hands which are covered in black blood.

"There was nothing you could have done for it Simon. You saved Danny and put the creature out of its misery." Val says softly, clearly understanding Simon's pain. Simon only nods before forcing himself to his feet and leaning back against the wall.

"Simon..." I start to say but he shakes his head before I can finish.

"We should check the building for zombies." He states quietly and despite wanting to talk to him about what he's feeling and how to cope with it, I know that it's not what he wants right now.

"I'll go up first, follow in whatever order." Honey states as she loads some bullets from her seemiling infinite stash of ammunition into her gun and it clicks. We each nod to one another before Honey hurries towards the stairs and glances up them. "Clear." She hissed with her gun held out ready.

We follow her slowly up the steps, each step leading to another ball of anxiety tying a knot in my stomach.

I wouldn't call myself a nervous person. Sure, I've felt frightened a lot in my life time but I wouldn't say that I've ever suffered. At least, not as badly as some. Naturally, everyone lives with some sort of anxiety just waiting to burst out of them and attack but so far I believe that I've been rather fortunate.

The first few office rooms are empty apart from the littered desks and broken computers. The amount of technology makes me smile since I know for a fact that Val is very much so going to enjoy themself here.

As Honey darts into the forth office with her gun raises we wait outside the room like before. There is a pause before she calls out to inform us that it's safe.

The office is small with a cleaners cupboard door leading off somewhere else. Instantly, my mind returns to my time in the hotel when I opened the bathroom door to reveal a member of the undead awaiting me.

"Check the cupboard." I hiss and at the sound of my voice, a ravaged clawing starts on the wooden door.

"How did you know?" Val asks as they watch me with amazement.

"Been caught out by that trick before." I state and Honey smirks before apprching the cupboard. She places her hand on the handle before turning back to face us all. Both Val and I nod while Simon appears to be daydreaming by the window.

The door swings open and in an instant three shots are fired, each one blasting a hole into the undead womans skull. The body slumps as black blood spills over the floor. I flinch in horror and Simon cries out in terror at the gun fire.

"Si." Honey whispers as she watches her best friend begin to tremble. I approach him and wrap my arms around his shaking form.

"I hate it." He mumbled with tears in his beautiful shimmering eyes.

"It's okay." I tell him softly as I run my fingers through his tangle of red hair. He shakes his head before leaning into me and burying his face into my chest.

"We need to continue searching." Val states after a short moment. I glance over to them to find them standing extremely close to Honey, their hands brushing ever so slightly. I can't help but smile.

"You two go on. Simon and I will stay here." I say as I hold my trembling boyfriend in my arms.

"Call us if you need us." Honey says sternly, offering a small smile before leaving the room hand in hand with Val.

Honey and Val make a sweet couple. Something about them just seems to fit and after everything that's happened, their love is what everyone needs.

"Simon." I say after a long silence. He hums to prove that he's listening and I exhale deeply. "We're all going to get through this." Its pathtic yet it's all I can say for the moment.

"No, we're not." He states as he rubs his still trembling hands over his face.

"You can't keep thinking like this." I say unable to keep the sympathy from my voice. For as long as I have known him, Simon has tortured himself with thoughts of the worse case scenario and constant negative words. I long to help him but I'm not even sure what the issue is that needs to be fixed.

"How else am I supposed to think?" He questions with a slight raised eyebrow.

"More positively." I inform him. He doesn't seem impressed by that.

"I'm tired of getting my hopes up for nothing Danny." He mumbles and once again there is nothing I can do to help him.

_________________________________________

I awake instantly knowing that something is wrong.

I sit up and glance around the room to find Honey and Val snuggling in the corner asleep. I pat the space beside me where the meloncholic boy should be resting to find the blakents empty.

"Simon." I hiss as I glance around the room but I don't catch a single sight of him lurking anywhere.

Panic floods into my body as I ponder over everywhere Simon could have gone. With his leg, I doubt that he would have gone to his skyscraper yet I can't think of anywhere else he could be.

In a frantic panic, I scoot over to Honey and shake her roughly with my hand until her eyes slide open and she glares at me.

"What?" She snaps, clearly not appreciating being awake at this time.

"Simon's missing."