Day One (Book 3): Alone by Michael Mcdonald Page B

I had no idea if they had made it back to the military base, as they could have ran out of fuel on the way and had to put the bird down elsewhere, and then there was the possibility that they could have crashed, as the bird did take fire when they were leaving the school complex. I was this way because I was sick and tired of people taking advantage of others. The false pretenses they put forth to draw the innocent in and kill them. I was this way because I was tired of whom I had been… and I wasn’t going to be that person anymore. That person was dead. He died with his family that night not too long ago.
    “Why didn’t you kill me earlier?” Darren asked me.
    “Why didn’t you?” I rebutted.
    “I told you already. The gun wasn’t loaded, but yours was, so why didn’t you finish me off like you did her?”
    I changed the subject abruptly. “Do you miss her?”
    Darren looked over his shoulder at her body, and then to me. “I would like to say that I did, I guess so I sound human, but those moments leading up to her getting shot you made a pretty valid point.”
    “Did I?”
    “She would have run across some other people before too long and had me killed. I was just the first guy she happened upon that wasn’t mean to her, or so she said.”
    “It’s not easy out here all alone, kid.”
    “I was just her partner that got his hands dirty so she wouldn’t have too. A modern day Bonnie and Clyde, just minus me being a stone cold killer,” he said. “So I guess it’s better this way.”
    I noticed in his speech that he had failed to answer my question. I could tell by the tone in his voice that he was more than aware she was using him, but at least he had someone to face the world with. He may even have had feelings for her, which he knew would go nowhere. I felt sorry for the Kid in some ways, when all he wanted was to be needed by someone and the only person he runs across is the one person that was far more likely to cause him harm than the undead.
    “Why do you have a gun if you aren’t going to keep it loaded?” I asked him.
    “I do keep it loaded, but when she saw you pull in and she told me we could get your truck, I kind of figured I’d be the one tasked with shooting you if you didn’t do what she said,” he responded, the sincerity in his tone was unmistakable. “So I took the bullets out and put them in my pocket. Like I said earlier, I don’t like guns and the last thing I needed was to accidently shoot someone.”
    “So I’d be correct to say you’ve never killed anyone before, huh?”
    “Look, it’s not that I can’t, I’m sure if push came to shove I could do it, but just because I haven’t doesn’t mean I’m not worth anything,” he said irritated.
    “It was just a question, kid. I wasn’t trying to judge you,” I told him.
    “And my name is not kid , it’s Darren.”
    I looked at him with a half-smile. “My name is Brandon, kid, nice to meet you.” Now I was just being a dick because I could.
    There was a few awkward moments of silence unwittingly broken by Darren’s voice. “So, what now?” He asked.
    “You can stay here and fight all of them that show up or you can load up with me and see what’s in store as the sun comes up. It’s your choice.” I told him.
    He moved to the same side of the pickup as me and rested his arms on the bed rail. “I’m not trying to screw anything up here, but how can you give me a choice to go with you when I held a gun to your head while a crazy bitch was screaming at you, telling me to shoot you, all before she shot at you, and then you popped her?” His words lingered a few seconds. “By the way, how are you still standing after she shot you? I know she hit you, I saw you jerk from the bullet impact.”
    “You’re sixteen, Darren. I don’t see anyone else out here offering to help keep you alive and give you at least a fighting chance. I might be a bastard to some, but I still have a heart, for whatever reason,” I