Chapter 158：Embrace

Veon and Sheloah kept running. They were buying some time for the other two to prepare for the molotov cocktail.

Sheloah also had a lot of questions running in her head. How did they arrive here, and why was Veon together with Kiress? She also wondered why she was locked up. She also wondered what Kreiss told Veon and if ever they are in good terms.

As they were running, Veon suddenly tightened his grip on Sheloah's hand, making the girl go back to her senses. She looked at him and was taken aback when Veon pulled her in his arms, hiding behind a large tree.

They were catching their breaths the moment they hid behind the tree. They don't want the zombie out of their sight, either. They could only rest for a short while.

"Veon, we have to go. The zombie might—"

Sheloah could not finish her statement. Her eyes widened when her head hit Veon's chest. His arms cradled Sheloah inside, making her feel small. Only then that the girl realized that she was being embraced by Veon.

"Don't say anything," Veon whispered in her ear as he tightened his arms around her. Sheloah felt his heart doubling its pace. Realizing her feelings toward him and their current situation, this made the girl's face red.

'Why is he hugging me?'

They stayed like this for a minute, Sheloah taking a peek from time to time to see if the zombie was still around. Sheloah almost shrieked when the zombie shouted. Veon covered her mouth with his hand as the zombie ran to a different direction.

"A-aren't we going to follow the zombie and distract it," Sheloah said, breaking the silence and she heard Veon sigh.

"Later," he said and he loosened his hold on the girl, but she still remained in his arms. "We have to think of a plan on how to distract the zombie with our attacks. Simply running won't help," he added and Sheloah nodded, feeling quite shy.

Sheloah couldn't understand him. Veon wasn't like this before. He was not expressive and is definitely not the sweet type. She wondered if this was normal—if it was real. These actions… are because they're close friends and that he's worried about her, right?

Veon completely released Sheloah then took a peek to look at the zombie. This made the girl look at the boy's back, feeling a bit awkward.

"It's… a good thing that you're all safe, Veon," Sheloah just said and Veon continued looking at the zombie then spoke.

"That's my line. You were kidnapped, remember," Veon said and Sheloah let out an awkward laugh.

"Kreiss… is not actually a bad person," Sheloah said silently but it was still enough for Veon to hear. He looked back and he looked at Sheloah in disbelief.

"What did you say?"

He sighed. "Honestly, the last time we left, they were safe but right now, we don't know what's happening over there," Veon said and Sheloah frowned.

"I'm sorry," the girl apologized then she looked at Veon. "Because of me, maybe they're already at risk because you guys are here," she added and Veon shook his head.

"They're all worried about you. It's important to look for you first before we travel to Manila. Besides, your family would definitely not like it if you were left behind," Veon said and Sheloah forced out a smile.

"I see. Then let's get out of this place quick," she said and Veon just stared at her. This made Sheloah feel uneasy. "Why, what's wrong," she asked and he just shook his head.

"I'm just curious," Veon answered and Sheloah cocked her head to the right. "You were kidnapped and you look perfectly fine," he added and the girl let out an awkward laugh again.

"Well… you might not believe it but it turns out that Kreiss is not actually a bad person," she said out loud, making Veon glare at the girl.

"You dare say that in front of me? You were kidnapped! How can he be good," he said and Sheloah raised a brow at him.

"Why are you so irritated? Well, it's true he kidnapped me and I felt at first that he was a bad guy but he took care of me." Sheloah defended Kreiss and Veon scoffed.

"You really believe that," he said and he gave Sheloah a cold stare. "He locked you up and he told me he would hurt you if I don't follow the rules. I don't know if that's true, but he's using you."

When Veon said that, her eyes widened.

'Really? Kreiss said that?'