The City, Part Five, Chilling

CHAPTER 15

"Ryeee.." Hearing Blaze call my name wakes me up, and I open my eyes to see him, grinning while standing over me, holding two plates in his hands. "Guess what's for dinnerrr.." I really hope it isn't ravioli.

"Is it ravioli, perchance?" His smile grins as I ask this. "No, actually! Something much better!" He sets the plates down on the table next us and helps me sit up. Now that I'm above the plates, I can see that they have white meat, seared and accompanied by asparagus, dressed with lemon slices.

"Wow.. where'd you get all this?" None of this stuff is near our apartment, and even if it were, he wouldn't have had time to go foraging and hunting. "Fern brought us some rabbit meat she hunted and some produce from her garden." "Wow, well, that was hella nice of her. Thanks for making it, blaze."

He looks at me, maybe a moment too long, still smiling. "No problem, just a bit of cooking, eat up." This might be the best food I've ever eaten. The rabbit is seared perfectly, having crunch without being burnt. It's juicy too, and seasoned with lemon and spices. "This is.. really good, blaze. How are you so good at cooking?"

He blushes, his grin growing wider, and looks away. "Aw, thanks, but it's really just because it's not ravioli for once.. I'm not that good.." He cant really think that? He's great at cooking, he even made ravioli bearable. 

"Blaze, you're great at cooking. Sure, it's nice that this isn't ravioli, but you have to give yourself some credit for this masterpiece." Finally, he gives up and accepts the truth. "Thanks, Rye." He takes a bite from his plate, eyes growing wide when he realizes how good it is, and starts shoveling the rest into his mouth. 

we eat, Puff glancing at us from over the rim of his own bowl. I throw him a piece, and he eats it graciously, rewarding us with his.. unique purr. It causes me to subconsciously chuckle, but as soon as I do, pain explodes through my chest. 

Blaze must see me wince, because as soon as I do, he stops eating, worry spreading across his face. "You okay?" I can't tell him how much it hurts. There's nothing he can do, and it'd only make him feel bad for me, something I don't need. 

"I'm fine." I smile as well as I can, but he sees through it. He knows I'm lying. I hate the look of helplessness on his face as he looks at me. I know how bad it hurts him to want so much to help without being able to. "Really, Blaze. I feel fine. I'm ok." But he still doesn't believe me.

"Here.." He scoots closer to me, lying me back down. It hurts for a moment, but as my spine settles, I feel a hundred times better. He picks up my plate, piling some of the food onto the fork, bringing it towards my mouth.

"I.. um.." I can feel my face turn red. "You don't have to.. do this." He shouldn't have to help me, I should just bear through the pain, save him the trouble.

"Rye. You need help, and you need to eat. I don't mind, really. Just eat, please?" Cautiously, I allow him to bring the fork to my mouth, helping me eat. Once the plate is empty, he gets up, taking it, as well as his, back into the kitchen.

"Blaze, wait." He turns around to look at me, confused, but stops walking. I have to tell him this. "Thanks. for helping me." He looks shocked, as if it's just a normal, everyday thing, one that doesn't need thanking for. "No problem." He looks like he's about to say something else, but doesn't, instead continuing to the kitchen. 

CHAPTER 16

Blaze is still in the kitchen. How long has it been? I get up, walking into the room, to see him leaned over the sink, cleaning dishes. "Blazeee.." I sing his name, standing behind him with my arms wrapped around his midsection. I look down, seeing his feet shuffle as he turns to face me, lodged between me and the counter. 

"Rye.." he pulls me closer, whispering in my ear. His breath is warm. one hand is wrapped around me, moving down my back. The other brushes my head, twirling my hair around his fingers. It's dark in here, adding to the atmosphere. 

What was he doing? Looking towards the sink, I see the dishes, covered in clumps. It's hard to make out the colour, but after a moment, I see that it's red, glistening, everywhere.

"Help.." I look up at him, at his face, and see that it's rotting, bleeding, the fatal bite on his jaw. "Fuck! Blaze!" I back up, but he pulls me towards him again. "I'm hungry, Rye.. So hungry.." His hands come up to my face, pulling me closer to his. 

He looks at me. He's scared. He's hurt. But the virus doesn't care. His lips are close to mine. Or maybe they're not, since they're sitting in the sink, having rotted off. But what's left brushes my cheek, slick with blood. 

"Blaze.." Tears meet the blood on my face, though I can't tell whose they are. His teeth press into my skin, not biting down. And just as he applies pressure to his jaw, I wake up.

I can't breathe. My chest feels as though It's on fire. My face is wet with sweat. "Blaze!" I try to yell his name, but my voice comes out as a croak, and even that is enough to make the pain flash black in my vision. 

Where is he? I can see a light coming from the kitchen. He must be in there. Oh no, please don't be hurt.. Ignoring the pain, I try again to call for him. "Blaze.." I can't move. I can't breathe. My vision is blurry. "Blaze.."

CHAPTER 17

I'm in the kitchen, cleaning up from dinner, when I hear a noise from the main room. What was that? Quickly, I finish the dishes and walk to the bunk bed to check on Rye. He looks sick, his skin is pale and his hair is slick with sweat. He's panting, as if he's unable to breathe, and.. he's crying.

"Hey.." Hearing my voice, he looks at me, flinching, searching my face. "Blaze..? You're okay?" I lie down next to him, wiping his face. "Yeah, I'm ok. It's ok." I wrap my arms around him. His head is hot, he has a fever. "Shit, Rye. You're sick.." More prominent than his head, his chest radiates with heat. Gently, I pull down his collar to look at the scratch. The flesh around it is miscoloured, red, purple, and green blending around the cut, bleeding. 

"Ah, fuck!" He swears through his teeth at the pain, and I match his energy.

"Fuck.. Rye, I'm gonna need to get Fern.. She's the only one who knows how to fix this.."

"What? You can't! It's too dangerous, it's dark out." He glares at me through the pain. "You're not going while it's dark out. It won't help me for you to go and get yourself and Fern killed. I can wait until morning."

"Are you sure?" I really don't want to let his wound fester like this, but he's right. There's no way I'll make it outside right now. He nods. "Ok.." He's still shaking, and I can tell he's trying to stop crying. I tuck his head under my chin. "What's wrong?"

"I.. had a bad dream.." He chokes the words out, and shakes harder as he breathes out a sob. His breath is warm against my neck. "About zombies.. one of them bit you.." He's scared. I can feel his heart beat against mine, rapid. 

"Hey, it's okay. We're okay, there's no walkers in here." I try to reassure him, pulling him closer as gently as I can, and he calms down a little. I should make him something to help with the fever.. "Do you want some tea? It'll help with the fever, as well as sleep, and you need rest." 

"Okay.." Slowly, trying not to jostle him, I get up, heading towards the kitchen once again. I light the wood stove, putting the kettle on it. Waiting for it to heat up, I rummage through the bag of supplies Fern gave me. She said that this was likely to happen, and left me some herbs that would help. 

She also said that if the zombie had drooled into the wound at all, it would look just like an infection, until it was too late. I push aside the gun in the bag, finding the herbs under it. Lemongrass, peppermint, ginger, and chamomile, dried and crushed. I throw them in the pot, now boiling, and let them sit for a few minutes.

Bringing the tea back out, I see Puff sitting next to Rye, purring as he's being pet. "Hey, got your tea." I set the cup down on the table, climbing over Rye to lie down without moving Puff. I grab the cup, putting it to his lips, and he drinks. "Is it cool enough?" I don't wanna burn his throat, and I pull the cup away after he takes a sip.

"Yeah, it's good, thank you." He mumbles, rather than speaking, he looks so tired. I bring the tea back to his mouth.

Once he finishes the tea, I place the cup back onto the table. I look back at him to see that his eyes are closed. He's probably sleeping. I better get out of his bed.. but once I start getting up, he grabs my wrist lightly "Wait, stay.." His eyes don't open, but he's not talking in his sleep.

"Okay.." I lie back down, watching him. The even rhythm of his breathing, his eyes moving inside their lids, this time, he doesn't stir. When he does fall asleep, it's deep. It's calming, seeing him so peaceful. Eventually, my eyes grow heavy, and I fall asleep.