ZARED

I don't know how long we stood there in the middle of all this horror of dead bodies, torn flesh, blood and red embers of ash, but it didn't feel like it was long enough. The familiarity of his body against mine, his scent, his taste, everything about him felt like a very long awaited homecoming that took longer than it ever should have been. And all I wanted to do was hold him, never let go, and take him away from this horrible place for good.

He suddenly pushes me away with a scowl, making me wince as he hits me hard dead center in the chest. Tears were still falling as he grits out,

"What the fuck, Zared? You pushed me into the fucking river, leaving me all alone, risking your life just to save mine. I thought you were dead! This entire time, you were dead in my mind. Do you have any idea what the hell I've been through thinking that? I went back to the mill and s-saw all that b-blood...I even a-almost...I wanted to..."

He looks away from me as his voice begins to choke up and tears fell even more. He swings back to me wiping his tears roughly from his cheeks. "and I just...seeing you standing here right now...I never even imagined that you would be here, alive." He whispers brokenly at the end of his sentence.

I didn't know what to say, because looking at him I could see how much my "death" had done to him. Reaching up a hand to touch his cheek, his grabs my wrist with his own and nuzzles into it like he never wanted to let me go.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think I was going to live either, Jinsen. I thought I was dead for sure and all I could think about was you. But then just moments before my life was done for people showed up and saved me. I was badly hurt and was out for days before I came to and was told I had traveled a long way from you. I tried to go back but they wouldn't let me, not in the condition I was in." I truthfully said.

"He did nearly die. The people I was with saved him, he had a fever, and his wound was pretty bad. It took us two months just to get him moving normally again." Kyle speaks up and I realize that everyone was standing around watching the two of us.

Jinsen looks at him, then at the others I was with. His eyes tear up when he sees Lacy, Leo, Christina, Lani, Jacob, Seth and Mateo.

"You guys are all okay." He whispers, near on a sob.

Swinging his eyes back to me he frowns. "Let me see you." He demands in a tone that meant no argument.

"I uh, sort of have other injuries." I admitted as I slowly lift my shirt, wincing as I did.

He wasn't the only one who gasps at the sight of my body. It was pretty banged up after all. He gently, ever so slightly touches the big giant purple bruise on one side, but then he focuses on the wound that tore the two of us apart.

"Why does it look like it isn't healing? It looks almost fresh. It's been months since that day." he asks looking worried and afraid.

"I kind of-"

"It's my fault. I was attacked by someone in our group and Zared recused me. His wound opened in the process of its healing. It hasn't healed right since then because we were forced to keep traveling so he hasn't been able to rest enough to let it."

Kyle looks down at the ground as he states this, his eyes downcast with regret and shame. Something he had no right to be feeling since none of that was on him. I was about to say so, but Jinsen always surprises me.

"You were in trouble. Don't ever feel sorry for someone helping you for being in trouble. Zared would have done it even if his leg had been chopped off. Because that's the kind of guy he is." He looks to me with watery eyes. "It's one of the reasons why I fell in love with him."

I couldn't help the smile grow on my face staring right into his eyes. God, how much I loved him with every part of my being. And I finally found him or more like he found me. I hate to admit it but I'm kind of glad we got attacked when we did. Because then he would have never heard the screams and came running to us when he did. And I was so thankful that he wasn't one to run away from helping others in need.

At least that part of him never left when he believed I was gone.

"We should get moving." A young girl, maybe a year or two older than us, quietly states to Jinsen, who nods.

Pulling my shirt back down he steps into my space again and kisses me right on the lips, like it was the most natural thing to do. "I'll take a look at that later. But right now we have a group waiting for us. We should join them before it gets too dark."

"We saw your group. You have kids with you." Lacy speaks up.

He frowns and looks to me once more. "You saw us?"

"Yeah. Actually we were standing as close as we are now in fact." I tell him about the wall and how we couldn't see each other and couldn't get through unless we bypassed it in the river where I got my colorful art on my torso.

I watch him carefully as he takes in this new information. Swallowing hard he mumbles, "I think I felt you there on the hill. I placed my hand, and it was like feeling a familiar flutter. It felt...wrong to leave that wall."

"I placed my hand on it too, on yours."

Licking his lips he asks, "Did you...did you whisper, 'I love you'?" His cheeks actually flamed up saying that out loud where everyone could hear us.

Seeing him act like that made me act like that, so feeling embarrassed I nod my head. "Yeah, I did." I whisper back. "You heard me."

Taking my hand into his and intertwining our fingers together, he begins to pull me after him. "Yeah, I heard you."

I couldn't help staring down at our linked hands as we walked side by side. He leans down to pick up the things he had dropped when he ran to me. I saw the bow and couldn't help saying, "You went to my house."

Looking down at the thing I swore I would never use again because of what it had represented at the time, I strangely felt relieved to see him with it. Not just with it but using it to his advantage. His bow had broken all those years ago and I never saw him with another one. But also seeing him with it brought my curiosity on what he shot it with.

"What was it that you shot the monsters with?"

"I have been dying to ask that same question but wanted the two of you to have your moment, you know." Leo speaks up as if he had been holding back. "Whatever it was, it was really bright, nearly went blind."

"I promise I'll explain everything to everyone. There's a lot that's happened since we all have been separated. But the short version of it is, remember that metal ball we've been trying to figure out?" He looks to me.

"Yeah, the bomb thing?"

"Apparently it isn't a bomb or more like not the type of bomb we thought it was anyways." Squeezing my hand he continues. "It's a light bomb. Monsters can't stand light, so someone created this thing that causes it to do what it did just moments before."

There was an underlying of truth in this that he wasn't telling me. Something he was trying to hold back. Staring at him as we kept walking I had to ask it, had to find out what he had tried to say when he couldn't finish his sentence when he was reprimanding me.

"How did you find out what it was? When did you try to use it?" I ask softly.

He and the others with him went deathly quiet. He wouldn't look me in the eyes and kept staring in front of us, his Adam's apple moving quickly.

"Jinsen." I prompted, squeezing his hand back.

He finally looks up to me and whispers, "Like I said, I promise to tell you everything, just...not right now."

But he didn't have to explain anything to me, because deep down I already knew. His words hit me hard, making me fully understand what exactly he was telling me.

I didn't care whether if I lived or died. It didn't matter to me anymore because you were gone.

And I knew I never wanted to hear him say those words ever again.