DAYLIGHT

Chapter 11

Garrett cleared his dry throat again.

"No. Remember when I was running at the supermarket, I didn't notice that something sharp was sticking out from those messy racks, it sliced my arm but it wasn't deep. Damn, I need water." Garrett said with a hoarse voice like he swallowed

"And Tilden's leg?"

I walked to the pitch-black kitchen, I was glad that that house didn't have a lot of furniture and was spacious. I opened the fridge that was starting to smell and grabbed a bottle of water and gave it to Garrett who was following me behind.

"Thanks." Garrett said as he received the bottle and drank everything in one breath before he started talking.

"We were running outside the supermarket, he was carrying you in his arms and he didn't see that sharp metal rod and grazed his leg. He was bleeding every time he took a step, how much more when we jogged to the car while carrying a person but he refused to hand you to me."

Leander's sighed. "He must have been hurting so much. Was it deep? Did you find anything to disinfect your wounds?"

" It was deep but you could never see any emotion on the captain's face and don't worry. We choose a house to stay the night because there might be any first aid kits available."

I felt responsible. If I hadn't walked far away from them, then we could have escaped immediately. They didn't have to come back to rescue me. I never also thought that he would swim with those zombies to save me.

"I'm sorry, Garrett. If hadn't—"

"C'mon!" Garrett cut what I was about to say. " Why the hell are you sorry? Stupid. It wasn't your fault. We were there knowing something like that would happen. Instead of whining, you should look after the captain, he's willing to become a zombie if you turn. "

I knew that Tilden was a flirty kind of a guy but he never saw Tilden flirting with anyone other than me or maybe because there wasn't anyone around that was his type to flirt with.

G a r r e t t

I watched Leander's back as he went inside the room and it made me feel guilty. To think I thought of abandoning him back at the supermarket.

"I'm sorry." I said through the dead night.

I threw myself to the couch where I was sleeping a while ago and swallowed a groan when the wound on my upper arm hurt like hell.

I deserved it anyway.

...

L e a n d e r

I picked the handkerchief and soaked it in the bowl of water then wrung it. I was thankful that it wasn't that dark compared to the living room because of the huge glass window permitting the soft light of the rising full moon to enter.

It was the first time staring at Tilden's face and thanks to the darkness, the shadow emphasized Tilden's sculpted nose and long eyelashes. I couldn't deny that he was not handsome. I started wiping Tilden's face with the wet cloth, hearing him sigh in his sleep while I was wiping down to his neck.

I only had three hours of intermittent sleep while monitoring Tilden and somewhere between midnight, his body started shivering and his fever worsened. I did not know what to do so I wrapped the blanket around him and hugged him, feeling his body trembling in my arms despite the thick blanket in between. I got to close my eyes when his trembling stopped after I unwrapped him from the blanket because he started sweating again.

I lay beside him.

T i l d e n

The dorm only had a double bed that Leander and I shared together so we had no choice but to cuddle. Even though that bed was enough for us, I nudged closer to Leander and pulled him inside my arms feeling his familiar warmth. I breathed in his scent and I felt like I could just live smelling him. He said he was a beta but he smells sweet. Like sweet citrus. It was soothing and it calmed me down.

I want time to stop so we can stay like this forever.

I sighed and gently kissed his head before getting up from bed only to see that the shirt and pants I was wearing were gone leaving me in my underwear and I saw a basin of water and a wet cloth above the drawer next to the bed.

.....

Soft rays of the morning sun peeked from the horizon. Garrett picked some packs of biscuits from the pile of groceries for breakfast.

Garrett volunteered to drive the armored car because of my injury. I insisted on sitting at the back but Leander said that he wasn't that heartless and self-centered to let an injured person sit on the backseat where groceries were piled up.

"Shut up and sit on the passenger seat." Leander firmly said and jumped to the backseat, swiping those grocery packs that were occupying the seat.

“Thank you for taking care of me.” I said to Leander.

“I’m glad your fever’s gone.” He said. “How was your leg?”

I smiled and was glad that Leander was concerned about me.

“It’s working well, thanks to you.”

“Good.” He said and grabbed a huge box of cereal and hugged it as if it was a pillow.

“Get some sleep.” I said and Leander hummed as he looked outside the window.

Beautiful hues of orange and yellow filled the sky as the sun slowly rose. My eyes did not leave the rear mirror and looking at Leander halfway through the trip.

The wound on my leg was hurting but it was far from the injuries I had before. I never had a fever, unlike this time, maybe because I knew someone would take care of me. I smiled recalling how Leander took care of me last night. Though my memory was hazy but I could hear and feel Leander.

I never had a real relationship with anyone. I once fell to an omega but that omega already has his alpha. It was the last time I fell for someone, the rest were just betas who I could use to relieve myself during my rut but seeing Leander for the first time, I felt that familiar yet unfamiliar feeling as if my heart was itching.

Maybe because he was handsome and cute and smelled good.

I closed my eyes to rest, setting aside my thoughts for a while, but I was woken up halfway through the ride back to the dorms when my handheld radio chimed with a scratching sound and Chan's voice was heard from the other side.

"Captain!" Chan called, his tense voice could be heard and it woke me up when I heard screaming in the background.

"Zombies."

.........