Blog of the Dead (Book 2): Life Read Online Free PDF Page A

bounce off towards the caravan. I admired her ability to remain so upbeat but yet so strong at her core despite all the loss and the constant battle for survival life had been reduced to. She never did tell us any more about what led her to be standing on the edge of a tall building when we found her in Wales, other than she was the only one of her group that remained. But from the brink of suicide to the ray of sweetness and sunshine I had got to know in less than a year, I guessed she had learned to value life again.
    After we heard the gentle bang of the caravan door closing behind Charlotte, I saw Misfit gaze into the fire. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said.
    ‘What for?’ asked Kay.
    ‘I fucked up. We don’t have any food and we’re starving.’
    ‘Don’t be such a bloody fucktard,’ said Kay. ‘You got attacked out there … on your own and you killed a ton of zombies with your bare hands. You’ve nothing to be sorry for.’
    ‘I’ll go out again tomorrow, as soon as it’s light.’
    ‘NO!’ I snapped, turning my head to look at Misfit.
    ‘Sophie –’
    ‘Someone can get food from town … or from the St Andrews lot.’
    ‘There’s not a lot out there any more,’ said Kay. ‘You saw what me and Charlotte came back with last time, it barely lasted a few days. And that’s with you on virtual hunger strike. Fuck knows what we’ll do when you get your appetite back. And the St Andrews lot aren’t any better off. We can’t ask them for food.’
    ‘Try the stores further out of town. Misfit can’t –’
    ‘Sophie, I can’t let what happened out there beat me.’ Misfit looked me in the eye.
    ‘And I can’t let what’s out there take you away from me!’
    ‘And you can’t let what’s out there beat you, either. You saved my life today, so I know the old Sophie’s still in there. It’s time to let her out full time. You’re like me, you don’t belong in a cage waiting for the keepers to feed you.’
    ‘He’s right, you know,’ said Kay. ‘You need to get back out there.’
    I looked down at mine and Misfit’s entwined fingers resting on my crossed legs. I turned his slightly so the back of his hand faced up and I read the words life tattooed across his fingers.
    ‘You look tired, Sophie,’ said Kay. ‘You should get some sleep.’ She stood up and headed towards our caravan. ‘Misfit, make sure she gets some sleep or I’ll brain ya.’
    I looked up and saw Misfit nod without taking his eyes off me. ‘She’s right, Sophie. You need to sleep – at night and in a bed. Not sat out here napping on my shoulder. Look after yourself.’
    ‘I don’t want to sleep in there,’ I said. ‘It reminds me of him. I can still smell him in there.’
    Misfit stood and tugged on my hand to pull me up. ‘I have a sofa you can borrow. I’d offer you my bed, but, well, it was made for people half our size.’ Misfit turned and strode off to his caravan. Fingers entwined, I had no choice but to follow close behind him.
    Inside the living room Misfit pulled his hand out of mine and nodded to the built in sofa that ran in an L shape along two walls beneath a big bay window at the front of the caravan. I stood, feeling naked without his hand in mine, and looked at him like a kid whose parent had just said, ‘Go on, you’ll be late for your first day at school.’
    ‘Lie down and I’ll get you a blanket,’ said Misfit.
    I hesitated, watching him weave his way to his room. But exhaustion got to me and I sat down, then slid down so that I lay with my back to the back of the sofa, my head on a flat, musty cushion stained with mildew. Misfit returned with a blanket and laid it over me. ‘Night Sophie,’ he said and turned.
    ‘Wait,’ I said, propping myself up on an elbow. Misfit turned back and gazed down at me. There was enough moonlight for me to be able to see his features clearly. He had a half smile on his lips. He must have seen the fear in my eyes, the fear of sleeping alone, because without