I See Your Eyes

 

It was his stare.

The way his blue eyes–for she had focused so much on them that she knew they were a dull blue–stared at the world around him, searching for things non-existent.

The way his blue eyes glared at anyone who would remotely piss him off, and the way they would gaze at the group-appointed leader, listening to him speak and only adding input when he felt it necessary.

The way he would burn holes into the back of her purple blazer, the only thing she was able to retrieve from her mother's body hours after it ripped apart her nieces and almost killed her; had it not been for the bullet Suyapa blasted into her mother's dyed blonde hair.

It was a moment no number of zombie movies could have prepared her for and she had spent the better part of a month locked inside of their typical Florida home, mourning the death of her dearest family. What had once been a glorious yard full of plants, animals, and the latin beats of her family, soon became the cemetery of people dead-too-soon. Whispers in the dark recesses of Suyapa's mind told her she was better off with them, buried between the small koi fish pond and the tall palm tree, planted after her initial move from Honduras. But the truth was, she was too much of a coward to put the gun against her temple the way she had put it against her mother's.

There was really only one entrance Suyapa had to worry about, the front door, but it had soon been bared, her protection further secured by the cement walls surrounding the backyard; it had been an homage to old colonial latin american homes, but now it was her fort. However the food ran out and, soon, even the trees produced fruit as putrid as the bodies that had unsuccessfully tried to enter her home. That was when Suyapa placed the last bunch of flowers on her family's graves, said a prayer to a god she wasn't sure existed anymore, packed her suitcase, and drove away.

She didn't know where she was going, hell, Suyapa had never been anywhere but four places in her life and two of them were out of the country, so they didn't count. She just knew that whenever she tried following any known routes, she would find them closed off by dead ends and she would have to look for a different road. Sometimes she would be able to find gas stations prepared with mechanic shops, and she was increasingly grateful that her grandfather had taught her so much about auto repair. Sometimes she would be able to find abandoned stores that she could raid for food, her looting guilt relieved by the many signs that read, "help yourself and God bless." In fact she hadn't really encountered any straggling corpses walking around, but the rare moments she did, she was able to hide long enough for them to move away and give her a chance to sneak back into her car. She never entered other people's homes.

But, of course, as the world fell deeper into the hell of the walking dead, her luck began to run out until one day, she found herself running away from one of them and into a forest, too far from her car. She had quickly climbed a tree, pushed one of the branches next to her to fall, and hopefully knocked out the thing chasing her. She did not think this through and, as soon as the large branch snapped off, she fell to the ground. She looked up quickly, hearing the groaning and snapping of teeth, but found that, at least this last time, luck had not strayed far and had impaled the creature to the ground. Suyapa let out a breath relief, until she heard the creaking of the branch as the creature moved around and reached out for her. She wasn't taking any chances and so she left, to where she guessed she had left her car.

Suyapa walked for hours, her stomach growling in hunger, her legs yelling in pain, and completely lost. She looked up into the sky, hoping for some sort of sign; maybe she could figure out the lateral directions based on the sun? She wiped her short black hair back, sighing in frustration, until her shaky breaths came out as quiet cries in the hours of darkness.

---

She awoke some time later in the night at the sound of rustling leaves, fear entering her immediately. She jerked her head up, waiting to see one of them preparing to attack her–not that they ever prepared anyway–but was surprised to see a pair of angry eyes a good ten feet away from her. Her fear did not lessen at the sight of this new man, though hope shone through that maybe she wasn't alone after all this time. She allowed herself to stare back at him, taking note of the large crossbow in his hand, aimed right at her. Maybe he would kill her, commit the act she couldn't perform herself; she let out a slow breath.

"You bit?" a deep southern voice called out; the voice of the stranger.

"N-No." Suyapa cleared her throat, the hoarseness caused by lack of speech.

"You hurt?"

"No…" She cleared her voice again as it began to give out. "Just lost."

The man took a second to look her over once more, finally nodding his head slightly when he approved of her and assured himself he was safe. Though Suyapa did notice his hand never left one particular spot over his pants; most likely another weapon.

"You seen a girl 'round here? 'Bout this big?" His hand measured to his shoulder.

Choosing not to speak, as it was still uncomfortable for her throat, Suyapa just shook her head. No, she had not seen any little girl in the forest; she hadn't seen anyone since her mother and her nieces, anyone alive at least.

The man continued to stare at her, most likely trying to figure out what to do now, when he simply turned around and started walking away. As she noticed the way her breaths began matching his retreating steps, Suyapa suddenly felt very lonely. No, that was a lie, she had felt lonely since the moment she had placed her 4 year-old niece's body in the last grave she had spent the night digging, but it was different now. She had seen someone alive and she felt the need to no longer be alone, even if he didn't talk to her. Suyapa quickly stood and ran to catch up to him, noting that he briefly glanced in her direction but said nothing and kept on walking; she took it as an approval.