8 What Do We Do?

I clench my teeth as the bullet grazes my arm and embeds itself deep in the wall next to me.

A few splinters attempt to distract me as they fly through the air past my face, but they fail to draw my attention. I could only stare at the woman in front of me as I raised my arms in surrender—oblivious to the pain.

"A-A-Alex is that you?!" Ali sobs as she drops her rifle and runs forward, embracing me.

My ears are ringing from the loud bang that accompanied the gunshot, making it difficult to fully understand the question.

"H-h-how are you here?" Her voice cracks as her tears continue to fall on my shoulder, "You're bleeding!"

Her hand smoothly glides up my arm, stirring a sense of relief within me and arriving at my sleeve. Rolling the edge of my t-shirt up, Ali gasps as the torn flesh is exposed to her sight.

"Well, to be fair, I've been shot!" I chuckle as I begin to come back to my senses.

The searing pain of the recent injury returns to my shoulder as I glance over and notice my shirt and skin had become dyed with a patch of crimson. The wound isn't deep, but the constant moving of my arm allowed the blood to flow unrestricted.

"Actually, it's starting to really burn…" I shift my arm when I flinch as she grazes the wound with her index finger, lightly coating her finger in blood.

"Sarah should have some ointment and bandages in her bathroom. Sit down while I get something to clean you up," Ali said as she backed away at my flinching, only to return with a chair.

"Sarah? I guess that explains why you're here," I groan as I sit down for the first time since leaving the apartment.

I don't know who Sarah is, but I'm confident Ali will explain—she was always one to be mindful of that sort of thing. Instead of asking, I stare at the back of the beautiful woman I was confident that I would never be able to see again.

She was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and white athletic shorts that weren't her usual style. The white nylon material was a tad loose, but they weren't enough to hide the long toned legs that were beneath them.

'At least the view is nice…' I remember that, just a moment ago, I was confident I would be facing a fellow human in a battle to the death.

'God, how is the first person I met in the apocalypse her of all people?' Staring in the direction she left in, I was lost in thought and didn't notice her return until she poked me on the forehead with a now clean index finger.

"I know that face," she smiled, "You're probably thinking that it's pretty damn weird that your ex-girlfriend is who you ran into today, right?"

She knew me too well.

"Actually," I smirked, "I was just thinking back to our break-up and wondering if you shot me on purpose."

Ali didn't seem to appreciate my joke. She quickly wrung out a washcloth over a bowl of water and applied it directly to my injury, causing me to flinch again.

"Ow, now you're trying to finish the job 'eh?" I turn my head and meet her gaze; her soft eyes quickly glance away as she lowers her head.

"I'm sorry, I've been scared ever since Sarah left." Tears form in her eyes yet again, but she continues to clean my wound and applies an ointment.

Not wanting to see her cry again, I reach over with my good arm and place my palm on her cheek. I gently wipe away the tears with my thumb as I tilt her face toward mine, "Please, I can put the bandage on. Just tell me, what happened?"

'Perhaps learning what happened would explain why she killed me previously.'

"No, no, let me do it." A faint smile and a blush return to her face as she takes out a bandage and covers my wound, "You weren't wrong. I shot you."

Ali neatly finishes the dressing and carefully rolls my sleeve back over it. The blood has already started to dry, but it doesn't fully prevent it from seeping onto the cleaned site. Grasping my hand, she guides me, "Come sit on the couch. It'll be more comfortable."

I can't help but follow her like a stray puppy, lost in the kindness she is showing me. She didn't exactly take our break-up well.

"Sarah's boyfriend probably has some shirts that'll fit you. I'll run and grab one." The youthful woman scampers into the bedroom, leaving me dumbfounded on the couch.

A few moments went by before she came back with a bright smile, holding a black t-shirt up like she found gold. She handed me the clothing and tilted her head at the confused look on my face, "That's right, you don't know Sarah!"

She started from the beginning.

It turns out, shortly after our separation, a new girl had started working with her, and they quickly became friends. It didn't take long before the two of them were seen everywhere together. Ali was on her way to pick Sarah up for work when the world changed.

They were downstairs saying goodbye to Trent, Sarah's boyfriend, when it happened.

A man had attempted to break into the apartment building by repeatedly beating his face and arms against the glass windows of the main entrance. Thankfully, the apartment building's locks kept him out until a passerby caught his attention. It wouldn't take long before the local police would arrest them and the occupants would be safe.

It was when the man tackled the passerby and began the grotesque act of eating his face that Trent grabbed Sarah and ran back to their apartment.

He had always been kind of a survival maniac, and it turned out to be a great thing! He stashed weapons as well as various supplies in Sarah's apartment without her even knowing. At first, Sarah was upset, but as things got worse she begged him to help her save her parents.

A full stash of fresh water and military rations in the basement allowed them some security in their supplies. They were able to gather most of it before being forced to barricade the halls.

They had already barricaded the stairs to this floor of the building, so nobody could get there, but that didn't stop Trent. No, he had a ladder in a box tucked away in Sarah's closet.

Trent lowered himself to the ground first, and made sure everything was safe. This is when Sarah lowered herself to the ground.

Ali's face became pale as her hands began to tremble.

"A tall lanky monster came speeding out of nowhere, slicing their heads off before I could even tell it was in the alley!" She climbs onto the couch next to me before she continues her explanation, obviously shaken by the incident.

"After it killed them, it just stood there, looking at me." She was leaning into my side as I wrapped my arm around her.

'That sounds familiar.' My mind goes back to the creature resting below my fire escape.

"I even s-s-shot i-it" Her voice cracks as she attempts to continue.

'Well, if she shot it, it shouldn't be that one…'

"It moved so fast, it d-dodged the b-bullet, Alex." Her terror comes back as she digs her face into my shoulder, trying to hide from the memory, "What do we do?!"

My mind clicked on once again, 'More importantly, where was the blood?'