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Chapter Text

CHAPTER ONE.   WEAK.

I was sitting on top of 10K's lap with my face snug into his neck. My hearing was getting progressively worse to the point where I could only hear a high-pitched ringing. I just hoped these were my final moments of feeling excruciating pain, whether the stop was death or meds. I just wanted it to be over.

I soon noticed a bright light shining through the window. I weakly turned to look out the back window, beyond 10K's shoulder and squinted in response. Too bright. I laid my head on 10K's shoulder, groaning and squeezing my eyes shut, the throbbing inside my head only getting worse.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay," 10K whispered, rubbing my back in reassurance.

"It hurts! Make it stop!" I cried in agony.

But eventually the explosion caught up with us, crashing into the SUV and flipping it over. Luckily, everyone survived. However I had developed a deep gash in my shoulder from the shards of broken glass. I had no idea why I was still alive, my head injury was already worsening and now I had injured my shoulder. I could only imagine what was next for me.

"Angel, are you okay?" 10K asked frantically, pulling me out of the flipped truck.

"Alive," I muttered weakly, loud enough for him to hear.

"You're bleeding," He stated, examining my shoulder. I was going to reply, telling him I was going to be okay but I was already struggling to keep my eyes open.

"No, no, no. Don't die on me, Angel," He shouted, alerting the other two.

"She's still breathing, but we need to move fast," 10K advised to the others. I groaned in addition, proving I was still alive. I was semiconscious - I could hear what was happening but was too weak to move or even talk. I was practically dead.

"He's right, we have to find shelter from this radioactive fallout," Warren agreed. I felt 10K lift me from the ground and carry me in his arms bridal style.

***

We had found some clothing to not breathe in any of the toxic fumes within the air. At least, that was what I assumed was happening when 10K wrapped a bandana around my mouth. They had walked for hours, I felt so bad for making 10K carry me but I just couldn't do it. And he was stubborn, he wouldn't leave me even if I insisted. But soon enough, everybody was too exhausted to go any farther.

Doc groaned in pain as Warren helped him sit down against the pile of rubbish. 10K had also put me down to rest next to Doc, I attempted to stand but my feet just collapsed from beneath me. 10K knelt in front of Doc, examining his bullet wound.

"What is it?" Warren asked.

"The bleeding stopped, but..." 10K paused, removing his material mask but before he could continue, Doc cut him off,

"Just go. Find me a hole to crawl in. Leave me a weapon and some ammo," He mumbled.

"You see I would second that, but if I can somehow manage to be alive after all this shit, then you can too. Besides, we can be shoulder buddies," I joked, gesturing to our shoulder wounds and laughing softly. But I was so weak that it was barely audible and just looked like my chest rising up and down repeatedly.

"She's right. Nobody's leaving you here to die. Here, take the last of the water," Warren offered, handing Doc her water bottle, "We wait here too long, we might be too weak to go look for help."

"Well I don't think I'm going anywhere, Chief. And I speak for the both of us," Doc admitted, referring to me and him.

Warren sighs, "10K, you stay here with these two. I'm going to see if I can find food or help while I still got the strength. If i'm not back in 48 hours, you're on your own," She explained.

"Oh and Angel, I'll try to look for some antibiotics for your head, okay?" She added. I nodded in response.

"Good luck," 10K muttered.

"Thanks."

After 10K checked on Doc once more, he knelt beside me and checked over my wound. Prioritising my shoulder, the most recent. I had mostly stopped bleeding by that point and not having to walk had given me a bit of strength. I could at least open my eyes and talk a bit again.

10K pulled out a piece of cloth and placed it on top of my head wound, which was still lightly dripping with blood. I winced at the pressure, making 10K remove the material immediately and worry shadowed his face. I then lent over beside him and coughed up blood, the sticky liquid was warm in my throat. I really was dying.

Wiping the remaining blood from my lips with my sleeve, I looked to the boy whom I loved with all of my being, "Mercy me. When I'm ready. Please," I pleaded.

"No, don't you dare say when. Don't say anything. I am not going to mercy you. I won't have to," He replied sternly.

"I'm gonna get you all killed. I want you to be the one to do it," I told him, desperate tears glassing over in my eyes.

"Hey, don't say that. Please. I wont let anything happened to you. Not now, not ever," He replied, cupping my face with both of his hands.

"I'm too sick to even walk. You have to-"

"Sorry to ruin your moment, but I think I just saw something over there," Doc informed, cutting me off as he pointed ahead.

"Like what?" I asked, straining my eyes to try and see but it was no use.

"It was like a signal. I have a feeling it was maybe Mack and Addy," He answered.

"Doc, they're probably dead," I admitted, offering him a smile to soften the blow. I know everyone was hoping that we'd seen them again but I gave up wishing about a fortnight after we left them.

"Well I know what I saw, okay?" Doc remarked.

"You want me to carry you?" 10K asked when it was agreed that we'd at least check it out and I nodded.

We followed Doc's mystery signal until it ended up at a place with old cars. None were useful I was assuming. 10K suggested that we climbed up an RV to get a better look. I got up first, 10K pushed me up and luckily I was just strong enough to climb the ladder with assistance. I laid down on my front, perching myself up with my elbows as the two boys sat besides me.

A few minutes later, we found Mack struggling with a Z whilst Addy tried to kill it with her Z Whacker. Wow, tough motherfuckers. 10K prepared his sniper and shot at the Z, the bullet zooming straight through the head, forming a gaping hole.

"Three thousand, ninety nine!" He shouted, alerting the pair of our presence.

"We saw your signal!" Doc explained, waving at them. We all climbed down, 10K and Doc helping me with that too. I weakly walked over to the two, limping with every step.

"What happened to you?" Addy asked, concern laced in her tone.

"Long story," I answered, sighing as I wrapped my arm around 10K's waist.

"Where is everyone?" Mack asked, looking around for any sign of the rest of our group.

"Another long story," Doc replied.

***

We left the field and Mack was now driving down a dusty road on a four-wheeler. We spotted a figure on the side of the road and as we got closer we found it to be Warren. The four-wheeler slowed to a stop besides Warren and let her jump in.

"Angel, it's your lucky day," Warren smiled, handing me some antibiotics for my head.

I sighed in relief, "Thanks, Warren," I returned her wide smile and gave her a hug. I then swallowed the pills with some water that Warren also had. I wondered where she'd gotten all this stuff, or rather, who she had run into.

After a while of driving we entered a town in Cheyenne, looking for Murphy who had apparently shed his skin back at the lab. And was also now known as The Murphy due to a recent broadcast from Citizen Z when he thought we all had died in that explosion. The throbbing and swelling in my head had finally gone down a bit and it only hurt excruciatingly if I focused on the pain. Which, obviously, I was trying hard not to do.

"My Spanish is terrible, but I'm sure this is what they were talking about," Addy informed.

"I wonder who else heard that broadcast," 10K added.

"Ten o'clock!" Mack announced as other people came into view.

"I see them. Just keep going!" Warren instructed.

Another women in a red car passed us, shooting glares at us, Doc mainly. "Folks are friendly here in Cheyenne," He remarked.

"Friendly ain't the vibe i'm getting," Warren countered, "Lets find Murphy and get the hell out of Dodge."

"Cheyenne," Doc corrected.

"Whatever. Okay so we all need to think like Murphy. Get inside his zombified head. And I know that's a scary place to be. But where would you hide if you were Murphy?" Warren asked.

"He's there," I stated, pointing as we passed a strip club.

"How can you be so sure?" 10K asked.

"Hell, they might as well have his picture on the sign," Doc added.

"Yeah, it's literally called 'Live Nude Girlz.' If he's not there, I'll chop my own hand off," I remarked, stepping out of the vehicle.

We all walked into the club, 10K had his arm around me for support. I was feeling much better but still hadn't completely recovered enough to walk independently. And sure enough, Murphy was sitting at the bar.

"Hey guys," He greeted casually, taking a sip of his drink, "What the hell took you so long?"

"Murphy, you son of a bitch," Warren spat.

"Yeah, what she said," Doc added, pointing to her in agreement.

"Now, now, Roberta. Is that any way to talk to an old friend?" Murphy asked and something in Warren snapped. She angrily pushed him against the bar which attracted the attention of the surrounding zombies but they soon settled down. At Murphy's command.

"That hurt," Murphy stated, glaring Warren down.

"Oh, I'm just getting started," She warned, glaring back just as hatefully.

"Now come on, Chief. Hey. Don't forget the mission," Doc reminded, trying to keep the peace and Warren backed off.

"You damn near got us all killed. And you did kill millions of other people," Warren informed.

"Didn't you get the memo?" Murphy asked, readjusting his fancy blazer, "The apocalypse means never having to say you're sorry. I was just following the prime directive of this mission. Save Murphy's ass," He then strutted off from Warren as he continued, "Lets not forget. If I die, party's over for the human race. If you want to blame somebody, blame that nutjob Doctor Kurian. Or your little buddy Citizen Z."

"Maybe we should tie you up for your own good," 10K threatened and I took that as my cue to walk up to Murphy with a glare on my face. At first I forgave him, but I was delusional. It was his fault that I had a head injury in the first place, and I was angry. Angrier than I ever had been at him before.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now?" I asked, raising my gun to his head.

"Kid, I know you're in a lot of pain right now but we have to think of the mission," Doc stepped in, trying to calm me down as I riled up the Zs again.

"Fuck the mission. There will be no mission after I put a bullet through his skull," I threatened, placing my finger on the trigger. At that slight movement, Cassandra stepped forward from her position besides Murphy and pushed me back forcefully. She stood between me and Murphy, glaring at me.

"Look, I said I was sorry. What more do you want?" Murphy questioned, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Yeah, you did. And then you tried to bite me and turn me into one of your freak slaves," I snapped, glancing around at the zombies sitting at every table, "I see you've gotten better at your zombie whispering," I added.

"You're very observant," He remarked.

I nodded, "Now call off your bitch," I commanded, gesturing to Cassandra and with a single look from Murphy, she drew back. "Thank you," I muttered, returning to my spot besides 10K.

"I'm sorry, what is she wearing?" Addy asked, furrowing her eyebrows at Cassandra's new stripper outfit, "Is that mildly impractical for the apocalypse?"

"You try dressing a classy lady in Cheyenne, Wyoming," Murphy replied defensively.

"Hey, is anyone else concerned that there's all these Zs standing around here?" Doc asked, again trying to change the tense subject.

"Don't worry. They're friendly. As long as I'm friendly," Murphy reassures.

"Come on, Murphy. We got to get you to California," Warren instructed.

"Yeah. About California - you know after everything that happened, the nukes and all, I'm not so sure I'm down with the whole saving humanity thing. I'm not so sure humanity is worth saving," He remarked in response, leaning against the bar and showing no sign of leaving.

"You're going to California," Warren stated bluntly.

"You don't even know if California is still there."

"Well look if you won't do it for humanity, do it for yourself, Murphy. You need that vaccine more than anybody," Doc explained, "Have you looked in the mirror lately? You may be styling, but you're turning zombie, brother."

"Brother, maybe there are worse things than being a zombie," Murphy snapped, "Maybe being a starving, fearful, violent, vindictive human is worse. But hey! It is the apocalypse!" He clapped his hands together enthusiastically, "Let's have some fun! Let me show you what I've been working on," He offered, walking over to the stage.

"Yeah, he has a thing with the zombies. You're not getting him anywhere going down that route," I explained. As Murphy was preparing everything, we just stood there and refused to sit down for whatever Murphy was about to show us. In any other circumstance where I wasn't annoyed at him, I would've sat down. But that time it wasn't the case.

"Come on. Grab a seat. You're gonna love this. The apocalypse will still be waiting for us when we're done," He remarked and eventually we all sat down in front of the stage. A bright light shone on the stage and music played as Murphy began his introduction.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Ah, so nice to see some familiar faces in the audience in the audience tonight! Ladies and gentlemen, lets here it for the one, the only, Chantrelle," Murphy introduced, tipping his hat to us as a stripper zombie took his place on the stage.

The zombie was swinging around the pole slowly and limply with one arm. The whole group sat there with their mouths wide open in bewilderment and shock of what we were being forced to witness. I couldn't help the smile that etched upon my face, classic Murphy.

"Oh... my... God," Addy let out.

"Well I hope she ain't working for tips," Doc remarked.

"Murphy," Warren said sternly, giving him a look of disappointment. I had to admit, this did seem like a complete waste of our time.

"I know, right? Wait. It gets better," Murphy assured excitedly.

"When?" I asked, cocking my head to the side as the zombie continued at her slow, boring pace. I glanced at 10K, who was entranced. I kinda felt bad that this was his first strip club experience, he'd be scarred for life.

Soon enough, the zombie started swinging faster and faster around the pole until her body was ripped apart from her arm and she crashed to the floor. Her arm remained gripped on the pole, sliding down whilst swinging. I burst out laughing, before wincing at my sudden head jerking and reached to cup my head with my hand. Oops.

"Ta-da! I know. I know. The finale needs a little work. But hey, let's hear it for Chantrelle!" Murphy exclaimed.

"Yeah, you might wanna fire her," I muttered, pointing to her limply laying besides a nearby table.

Nobody reacted besides me and all was silent within the bar until a slow clap was heard from the corner and a man appeared near Cassandra at the DJ table. We all stood up at his presence.

"Is this a private show or can anybody watch?" He asked. We all reached for our weapons but the stranger got his out first and aimed it at us.

"Leave your weapons right where they are. Don't make me have to shoot anybody. There's enough zombies in the world already," He commanded, glancing over at Murphy on the stage.

"What do you want?" Murphy asked, confused.

"Your name wouldn't happen to be Murphy, would it?"

Murphy shook his head, "Nope." Although it was pretty obvious, I mean, he had blue skin for fucks sake.

"Lot of people looking for you, Mr. Murphy," The man informed, seeing right through Murphy's lie.

"That so?"

Warren then stepped forward, raising her hands in surrender, "This man... He's our prisoner."

"Well he's my prisoner now," The man stated.

"Uh no. Sorry. She's right. We got dibs on him," Doc interrupted.

"Yeah and we're taking him to California," Addy added.

"No, you're not. He's coming with me."

"Where?" Murphy asked.

"To the highest bidder," The stranger replied, "CDC in California aren't the only ones willing to pay for his blood."

"Why does everybody talk about me like I am not standing right here?" Murphy asked, cutting in. To be fair, I was thinking that too. "You know there's only one problem with all of your plans for The Murphy. I ain't going anywhere with any of you. Hit it!" Murphy shouted and Cassandra slammed on a button. The room was immediately filled with flickering lights and loud music which set off the zombies. Murphy took that as his chance to escape out of the back door.

Gunshots and blood splatters echoed in the small room as everyone was trying to hurry and kill the zombies so they could get to Murphy.

I clutched onto my machete, slicing off the limbs and heads of the Zs. A zombie then attacked me from behind, I flipped it over my head and sliced it's head in half.

After all the Zs in the bar were dead, we discovered Warren was missing. Our group ran quickly through the door to find Warren struggling with a huge zombie. And the stranger was nowhere in sight. 10K grabbed a fire extinguisher, "Look out!" He warned loudly as he shoved the end inside the zombie.

It pulled back from Warren, slowly increasing in size. We all knew what was about to happen. 10K looked away and the Z burst, a mix of decayed flesh and foam completely covering the walls and us. Best kill ever. We cleaned ourselves off and left through the back exit.

"What do we do now, Chief?" Doc asked as we all stocked up on ammo for what was going to happen next now that we had lost Murphy.

"I made a promise to a little girl. And I'm gonna keep it," Warren answered, determined, "We are going to find Murphy, get him to California, and they're going to make a vaccine and save the world. And I'm gonna kill any bounty hunter that gets in my way."

"Sounds like a plan," Addy agreed, strapping a gun to her belt.

"Any idea which way Murphy went?" 10K asked and a squeaking of wheels answered his question as we saw a red truck speed away.

"He went that way," Warren replied and we all followed after her.

What did we just get ourselves into?

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWO. CHAOS.

As soon as we saw Murphy in that truck, we sprinted after him down the street. However, the stranger from before was also among the many running after that zombie whisperer. At that point, the whole of Cheyenne was searching for The Murphy. It was chaos, utter chaos.

"Murphy!" Warren yelled after him when he and Cassandra came into view.

We stopped abruptly when the stranger from the club earlier shot at a vehicle, filled with humans. They all had skeleton masks, looking like some sort of cartel. The glass in the window shattered and the tires squealed as the truck crashed into a nearby car.

We all hid behind a parked car, trying to see if increased chaos the crash caused would give us an advantage to get to Murphy. We watched as the stranger began to shoot the rest of the people inside the crashed truck. It was then that we realised this situation was more serious than we thought. We might actually have to kill some humans in order to get Murphy back.

"Look out!" Someone yelled, I think it was Mack as the woman in her van who was previously glaring at Doc started shooting at us. We quickly found another vehicle to hide behind but 10K took it upon himself to run off. He hid behind a building and I felt a pang in my chest, unsure whether he would make it back or not.

"10K! Murphy!" Warren shouted, motioning him to find Murphy. 10K nodded, running off around the corner. well if Warren trusted him to stay alive, I did too.

"Ugh! What the hell is going on?" Addy asked, raising her voice over the gunfire.

"It’s a damn Murphy free for all!" Doc answered.

"Well he's not going to be very useful if he gets killed from all this random shooting!" I remarked.

"Time to go!" Warren yelled as a zombie came to life right in front of us. I guess it was time to run again.

We took off down an alley as a guy got out from the shot up car and shot some sort of missile at us. I only caught a glimpse of him but he was wearing a black suit with a fancy red shirt. He was definitely important. An explosion set off in the car we were previously perched behind. We took refuge behind another truck, shooting at the bounty hunters.

"I see 10K, Angel cover me!" Doc yelled, running after the boy who was lying limply on the dusty ground. My heart dropped, at first glance he looked dead but soon enough Doc brought him over to us very much alive, just  little dazed. He rested him against the truck, safe from the gunfire.

"You scared the hell out of me, kid," Doc muttered.

I knelt in front of him, cupping his face with my hands. "Are you okay?" I asked, but he just started at me in response, wide eyed and confused.

"Don’t worry, kid. We got you now," Doc reassured.

"What?!" 10K shouted. I thought maybe it was the gunfire?

"I said we got you now!" Doc repeated, raising his voice.

"I can't hear you!" 10K yelled again, after Doc hadn't even finished. Yep, definitely not the gunfire.

"Why the hell is everybody shooting at everybody?!" Addy asked, distraught.

"Cuz Murphy's the golden goose!" Warren remarked angrily. To be fair, she had every reason to be pissed at Murphy. She knelt down, along with Mack and Addy so they were shielded from the gunfire.

"We’re sitting ducks here, we're going to have to split up into groups and keep going," Warren instructed, "10K, are you alright?"

"What?!"

"I think he's deaf," Doc informed.

Warren sighs, "Doc, you take him and Angel. You guys, get to the alley and cut east and advance north." As Warren was talking, Doc pointed to me and him to tell 10K what was going on. "Mack and Addy, you guys take the westside. We’ll flush him out," Warren ordered.

"Well what about the bounty hunters?" Doc asked. Shoot them, obviously.

"Kill them too! On my call. We’ll cover you," Warren yelled, cocking her gun in preparation. Doc wrapped his arm around 10K, making him stand as the three of us run around the corner, me taking the lead. Whereas, Warren, Mack and Addy started to shoot the bounty hunters as a distraction.

Doc and I hid behind a vehicle in front of a hotel, and 10K another. Doc mouthed an instruction to him as he was deaf and didn't want to draw any attention to ourselves. Once Doc got down to one, 10K advanced forward to a closer vehicle. Doc waited a few moments, checking to see if the coast was clear before running over to 10K, me following closely behind.

"Murphy?!" 10K asked loudly after leaning up to get a look at the hotel.

"Shh. Yeah, that's what I’m thinking," Doc replied in a whisper, "Ready? Go," He whisper-exclaimed as we ran to another truck barricade.

"The Zs must've followed Murphy inside. But I think I know a back entrance. might be safer," Doc explained. 10K didn't even react, but I nodded in agreement.

"Can you hear anything I’m saying?" Doc asked 10K.

"What?!" He yelled. But that attracted attention, the window shattered into pieces as someone shot at us.

"No more talking, okay?" I whispered slowly so that 10K would understand, brushing my thumb over his lips. He seemed to understand what I was saying and nodded.

"This is ridiculous!" Doc exclaimed, "What the hell are we doing here? That’s a rhetorical question. I’ll cover. You two run," He instructed, "One. Two. Three. Go."

We started to run out but was stopped immediately as a bullet sped past us, almost hitting me and 10K. Luckily, it missed. The last thing I needed was another fucking injury.

"Someone's got us pinned," Doc sighed.

"The fuck do we do now?" I asked, also sighing in frustration. 10K then held up a piece of metal and the person shot a large hole through it within a second.

"Sniper," 10K announced, this time at a regular volume.

"Great."

I glanced at 10K, who was searching around the ground until he found a dirty mirror and tried to subtly spot the shooter.

"Second floor. Seventh window from the right," He informed.

"You think you can take him out?" Doc asked but before anybody could reply a zombie grasped at Doc from within the car. Doc dashed towards the back entrance as 10K and I ran towards another vehicle when the sniper was distracted.

"Doc, wait!" I called after him.

"Stay with the kid, he needs you!" He yelled back, disappearing around the corner. 10K took out his gun and shot at our target, but unfortunately missed. He did break the window, though. Soon enough, I noticed Doc on the balcony and motioned to him to keep walking right.

Doc disappeared inside the building and we waited a few minutes but there was still no sign of him yet. I was beginning to get restless in anticipation.

"Hey, I think we should get in there, don't you?" I asked, mainly rhetorical, glancing over at 10K. I only received a confused expression.

I rolled my eyes, standing up and grabbing his hand as we ran towards the back entrance of the building. Luckily, Doc got the sniper distracted. After we ran up many flights of stairs, we entered a room with Doc leaning against a wall and a shelf, looking out of breath and weak.

We quickly ran to his side. "Are you okay?" 10K asked, as we both knelt before him.

"Murphy, he's here," Doc revealed.

"He’s in the building?" 10K and I asked in unison, it seemed he was starting to get his hearing back.

Doc nodded, gasping, "He just took off."

"How didn't we see him?" I muttered, rolling my eyes as I helped Doc up. 10K went ahead of us but instantly closed the door as I heard growls just outside. Fucking zombies.

Doc groaned, "Give me a break, will ya?!"

Then, a louder growling sounded behind us. The bounty hunter Doc killed sprung to life. "Duck," 10K warned as he shot the Z behind us as we hastily followed his command. A gunshot sounded in the room as its blood splattered on the fading wall.

Taking our chances, we burst out of the door and dashed down the winding stairs as the zombies were hot on our trail. We were now running down the hallway, all of them very similar, but stopped as Warren and the armed stranger faced us.

"Right behind us!" Doc shouted, warning the two of the trail of zombies.

"Move, get down!" Warren yelled, as the three of us leapt to the side as instructed. Warren and the stranger shot them all first try. "Follow us!"

We ran all the way to the top floor with them, where the hatch to the roof was wide open. Murphy. After we all climbed up, we saw that it really was Murphy standing on the ledge, gazing down below at something.

Warren walked over to him, talking to him calmly as the rest of us stayed back. Bombarding Murphy would only make matters worse. I could only make out a few words but it sounded like they were talking about some sort of existential crisis of Murphy's. Murphy stepped closer to Warren, muttering something before he ran across and leapt off the edge. I ran up to Warren as she screamed out, I looked down to see Murphy had landed in a pool filled with Zs. However, he was alive and was running out. Warren grabbed my arm and dragged me back down the roof hatch.

The five of us ran down the stairs even faster than before to get to Murphy so much to the point that I never even wanted to see a set of stairs ever again. the running was worse enough. By the time we caught up to Murphy again, someone in our group had already found him. It was Addy, and she was beating the shit out of him on the ground. Warren and Doc pulled Addy off of him whilst 10K aimed his gun at the blue cripple.

"What the hell?! What I ever do to her?!" Murphy asked, sitting up.

"Don’t, Murphy," I snapped, glaring at him. She was hurting, it wasn't like Addy to beat him randomly. Something had happened, and judging by the lack of a member I had a hunch on what it was.

"Where's Mack?" Warren asked, a sense of urgency in her voice. She must've suspected it too. Addy just shook her head, looking down in sorrow as her lip trembled and tears brimmed in her eyes.

Mack Thompson was dead.

Murphy was still on the ground, being held upright with Doc's assistance. Addy walked over to him, glaring at him silently. We all watched expectedly, she looked as if she was about to do something again. But she didn't. She walked off into the vehicle, as I followed her close behind. She may have wanted to be alone right but I needed to comfort her.

Wordlessly, I sat beside her and wrapped my arms around her and she started to sob, soaking my hoodie with salty tears.

"He’s dead! I can't believe he's actually dead," She let out in choked hiccups from her extensive crying.

"I know, babe. I know this is hard for you, believe me. But whatever comes after death is better than this damn apocalypse," I muttered softly, cradling her from side to side.

The others followed us inside the van, Murphy restrained so that he was actually our prisoner. He deserved it too after all this shit he just put us through. And the stranger came too, not removing his gun from Cassandra's head. Warren must trust him. He looked useful, especially after we just lost Mack, he'd be a good addition to the team. Not a replacement. We drove away in silence, nobody said anything. Not to Addy, not to anybody. She just lost someone she deeply cared about. Hell, we all just lost someone we cared about.

Fuck this apocalypse.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THREE. Z WEED.

After the death of Mack, Addy refused to speak to anybody except me. I guess it brought us closer in a way only because I was the one person in the group her age that genuinely understood what it was like to lose someone so close to you. Although, everybody had lost someone to the apocalypse at some point.

"We are going the wrong direction. again," Murphy complained as we walked up a hill with a storm brewing behind us.

"You left us no choice. Too much fallout in the West," Warren replied, sighing.

"Again. That was not my fault."

"Murphy, don't make me have to explain the term 'failsafe doomsday weapon' again. Please," Doc added.

"How do you even know California's still there?" Murphy asked.

"You’re looking ripe. You better hope it's still there," The stranger who’s name I learnt to be Vasquez remarked from behind Murphy, "Move," He commanded, shoving Murphy forward.

Murphy glared at Vasquez, "You are not the boss of me," He snapped, nodding his head towards Warren, "She is."

Warren steps forward, holding her hand out to stop Vasquez from retaliating, "I can handle this," She informed, turning to push Murphy too, "Move," She instructed passive-aggressively.

"Gladly," Murphy retorted, continuing forwards. Warren glanced at Vasquez, "You’ll get used to him."

Once we stopped at the edge of a cliff, 10K and Warren were looking ahead at the smoke through 10K’s scope whilst the rest of us hang back. Murphy and Cassandra sat down as she massaged his shoulders, and Doc and Vasquez were chatting to each other. I walked over to a lonely Addy, wrapping my arm around her, "Hey, how're you holding up?"

She sighs, glancing at my concerned expression, "It’s been rough. But thank you for taking care of me, I really appreciate it. I don't know what I’d do if it wasn't for you or the group," She admits.

"I will always care about you, Addy. And I speak for everybody here."

"Even Murphy?" She asks, raising an eyebrow in shock.

"A little bit," I answered, gesturing with my thumb and forefinger, "It’s the hair," I added, waving Addy's short red hair for a second before we both let out a small laugh.

"I missed you, Angel. You would've really liked the Sisters," She chuckled, genuinely smiling at me as our laughter died down.

"Too bad I got myself kicked out," I remarked, "besides, I wouldn't leave 10K."

"I’m really happy for you two. You always seem so happy together," Addy said, glancing at 10K and then back to me.

I grinned distinctively, "Thanks. It sometimes sucks, though, being terrified everyday that one of us might get bit and turn. I don't want to see that happen," I admitted in a low mumble, guilt flooding through me at dampening the mood.

Addy sighed, kicking at the grass with her feet before finally meeting my gaze again, "Yeah, but you shouldn't worry about that. Live in the moment, you know?"

I nodded before we soon walked over to 10K and Warren with the others, curious as to what lied beyond the cliff. It was an upturned vehicle that was blazing with fire and smoke. Then, some sort of loading truck came into view.

"Is that some kind of post apocalyptic wagon train?" Doc asked, noticing how heavily armed and protected it was.

"Well it ain't the 3:10 to Yuma," Warren answered as a few more cars, motorcycles and dirtbikes arrived. Muffled gunfire could be heard from down below.

"It’s gonna be a slaughter," Addy muttered. And she was right, people were falling dead at all directions.

"Looks like they're holding 'em off for now," Doc observed.

Warren laughs lightly, "Not bad for a bunch of sitting ducks."

"Well, you think we should, I dunno, help them?" Doc asked, always trying to be the nice one. Vasquez then walked in front of us, slamming the gun down from Warren's eyes.

"Think less like a missionary and more like a mercenary," He suggested, "Lets wait and steal the vehicles from the victor." That seemed like a decent plan.

"We may not be able to save the world," Warren muttered, snatching the tip of the gun from Vasquez and handing it back to 10K, "But maybe we can save them. 10K and Vasquez, that way. Addy and Angel, you're with me. Doc, you watch him and her," Warren instructed, referring to Murphy and Cassandra.

10K locked eyes with me, "Be careful out there," He advises, placing his lips to my forehead.

He then took off with Vasquez, leaving me standing there. "You too," I whispered in reply, but it was too late. He was already out of earshot.

Once I had caught up to Addy and Warren, the three of us hid behind a shelter wall until one of us could get a shot at the mysterious yet dangerous people. Addy killed her victim with her Z Whacker, Warren shot one, and I used my bow on mine. All three were male.

As we were walking to the back of the truck that belonged to the group we had saved, we stopped, shocked, in our tracks. The bed of the truck was filled with weak, exhausted sick people who were all leaning against the sides whilst coughing and moaning in pain. Wherever these people were headed, I knew they wouldn't make it there.

"I'll get this," Addy offered and Warren nodded in approval. So as Addy was examining the sick people, Warren and I went to greet the boss. Vasquez caught up with us not long after the man had introduced himself as Sam Custer.

"Where's 10K?" I asked almost immediately at the sight of Vasquez.

"Over there," He answered nonchalantly, pointing in the direction where he was located. I nodded in recognition and thanks as I walked over to 10K and Doc who were perching onto another truck, eating soup an drinking water and chatting casually to one another.

Doc was just congratulating 10K on being a hero when a guy in a red jacket walked up to us. "You know you can have soup. You know, you just add water."

"Cream of shrooms, dude. Water just dilutes the flavour," Doc said, shrugging it off before taking another gulp of the creamer substance from his fingers. As he was doing this, I took a small sip from the mug 10K had offered me - not wanting to drink the most of his water.

"You sure you don't want some?" The red jacketed guy asked us, noticing how 10K and I had contently stuck with water.

"I had minestrone loaf for breakfast," 10K answered before the guy's eyes landed on me.

I scrunched my nose up in disgust, "Pass. That shit's fucking disgusting, anyway. I wouldn't eat it even if I was desperate," I snapped, the pickiness in me showing.

After we had denied his hospitality, the guy soon moved to Murphy who was sitting a few feet away from us. Murphy adjusted himself where he sat when he had gained new company.

"Hydration?" The guy offered, a water bottle outstretched to Murphy.

"Is there somewhere else you can sit?" Murphy asked in obvious annoyance.

"Yep," He got up immediately and walked over to a new part of the group to offer some more water. He was obviously the dumb water boy.

***

"Three days ago we tangled with some bounty hunters," Sam explained to us, minus 10K who had gone to help the other group tip some vehicles. I kept a close eye on him as I listened to Sam.

"Bounty hunters, huh?" Murphy asked, his hands on his hips knowing exactly who they were talking about.

"'We don't wanna kill you,' They said. 'We’re just thirsty,' They said. But I think they were out of their minds. They kept rambling on about some half-zombie half-man with telekinetic powers. Like a world overrun with zombies isn't strange enough," Sam continued.

"Yeah those... those crazy rumours," Doc chucked out anxiously, glancing at Murphy for a moment.

"Yep, totally crazy. Telekinesis? Pfft, impossible," I added, shaking my head with such utter seriousness in my tone that it was quite obviously sarcastic. But Sam just agreed, and I was starting to think he was the one that was out of his mind. I couldn't believe he didn't suss that we were part of that half-zombie situation, I mean, Murphy was literally blue. That was when a thought popped into my head. Murphy was blue, like a smurf. Smurphy. I had to remember to tease him about that when I wasn't pissed off with him.

Once Sam had barked out the order of our departure, Addy, Warren and Vasquez followed him to prepare. I hung back slightly with Murphy, Doc and the guy in the red jacket from before whose nickname I had discovered to be Wrecking Ball. I could imagine why.

"Those guys were nuts," Wreck said, breaking the mere second of silence that had fallen between us, "Being able to control zombies with your mind, I mean how badass would that be."

"Supremely badass," Murphy replied cockily.

"Oh he's a badass," Doc agreed, making me roll my eyes. He was anything but a badarse. "You know I hear he can levitate," Doc continued, adding to the rumours.

"Ooh, levitate?"

"But of course, those are simply rumours. I think if there really is some sort of zombie controlling man out there, that he'd be an annoying dick. With all that power, it's kind of obvious. And if I ever met him, I’d probably kill him," I muttered, glaring at Murphy to show my forgiveness remained scarce. Wrecking Ball still remained oblivious.

"Maybe. But if you guys wanna levitate, I got what you need," Wreck revealed, "Z Weed," He announced proudly.

"Z Weed?" I repeated, cocking an eyebrow up.

I rolled my eyes as Wrecking Ball lead the two stoners to a car to get high in whereas I ventured up on the back of the semi with 10K. He was telling me about some survivors from the group from earlier that were lurking around, apparently they were crazy fast.

We remained on the back of the semi with Warren and Vasquez close by as we headed for Edmonton. Addy and Murphy rode in the back with the sick, Addy willingly but Murphy not so much. Sam had caught onto the fact that Murphy was a unhealthy colour but just assumed he was sick from radiation poisoning rather than being The Murphy. Doc rode in the weed car with Wrecking Ball but there was still no sign of Cassandra. I was sure she would follow soon. For wherever Murphy went, Cassandra went.

We slowed down slightly when we approached an abandoned vehicle with dead bodies scattered around it. I assumed it was the attackers from before. But those weren't just regular corpses, they laid flat down whilst showing no sign of struggle. Their faces had been eaten entirely off, revealing only their bloody skulls exposed. No regular zombie could do something like this, unless they had evolved during the fallout. Or if they were a completely different species of zombie entirely.

"You’re one hell of a shot," The girl nearby us called, as 10K shot one of the nearby zombies. Once we were a few more miles further from the abandoned vehicle, two motorcyclists rode up on both sides of the truck, shooting at us all. I knew those fuckers would come back. There were so many of them now, approaching from the hills probably. It was getting harder and harder to tell where they were all coming from.

Then, adding to the chaos there were two more quads with two shooters on each one. Unfortunately, the girl with the red pain smeared over her face was shot. I glanced at her in disappointment before 10K pushed my shoulder down to block me from the incoming bullets. The truck slowed to a stop so we could bury the dead girl and go back for Doc and Wrecking Ball, who had jumped out of their car as Cassandra was eating some of the bandits. I knew she'd be back.

We all gathered around nearby the truck once the sick truck had caught up as Warren was telling us about something called Blasters, zombies that were struck by the blast. Apparently they hunted in packs and were faster than anything anybody had ever seen. If they were the fast things we saw earlier, we were all fucked. Because not even Murphy could control them.

***

Pretty soon we found the water car that had been taken, Cassandra was kneeling beside. At the sound of an approaching vehicle, she stood, covered in blood all around her mouth and body. Once the truck had slowed enough for me to jump safely off, I rushed over to Cassandra to see if she was okay. She swayed limply as she stood, looking as if her mind was empty from all thoughts altogether.

Ever since I saw her with Murphy in the state that she was, I desperately wanted to get inside her head. She still had pieces of herself - like how she looked at the rest of us like she recognised us or how she understood exactly what was happening at all times. But when she looked at Murphy, all that disappeared from her expression. She was animalistic when she was with Murphy, but I couldn't tell whether she was just obsolete when he was in the picture since he was the one who made her this way or whether she felt like she was devoted to him because he saved her. In some messed up sort of way.

"Cassandra? Are you still in there?" I asked, voicing my thoughts aloud as I cupped her face in my hands trying to see any form of life within her eyes. I felt somewhat guilty for letting this happen to Cassandra, I could've stopped Murphy in some way or at least told her what this bite meant for her. But I didn't.

Doc walked over to check up on us, walking behind Cassandra as 10K was behind me, "You got a little something right here," Doc muttered, pulling an axe from Cassandra's back. If she was too dead to feel that, could she feel any emotion at all?

"Does it hurt?" I asked, referring to either the axe in her back or the fight that was going on within her mind as she desperately tried to reach out to herself again. I knew she was still in there, deep down inside she was aware of what had happened to her and what she was doing. for Murphy.

"I could use more Z Weed," Cassandra replied weakly, yet still with an emotionless expression on her face as she stared off.

"Couldn't we all?" Doc added.

"And a new outfit by the looks of it. You’re wearing white honey, this shit'll never wash off," I chuckled, but gained no reaction from her. All she did was perk up abruptly, and when I glanced over my shoulder I saw Murphy standing there as if waiting for her to return to him. Like she was his slave, and in a way, she was.

She let my hands fall from her face as she brushed calmly passed me, and obediently stood before Murphy and wrapped her arms around him in a sideways hug. It was then that I wondered if Murphy could control Cassandra too, or if she could hear his thoughts or something. It was like she knew exactly what he wanted. A connection of the mind.

"Do you think that Cassandra's more dead than alive?" 10K asked as we watched the two embrace.

"You mean is she more Z than person?" Doc elaborated.

"Yeah, I guess."

"I don't know, man. She comes and goes," Doc replied softly, speaking the truth. At least I wasn't the only person who had noticed it. Sensing we were speaking about them, Murphy glared at us before wheeling Cassandra away to the safety of the sick bay.

Then, as Doc walked away and I was alone with 10K, the emotions hit me in such strong waves I swear I could've toppled over. I watched sadly at the two, a tear sliding down my cheek.

"I did this to her," I whispered out, so that only 10K could hear. He immediately noticed my sudden change in mood and wrapped his arms tightly and comfortingly around me, my back turned from the truck. "I knew what would happen if Murphy bit her, but I just let it happen. I couldn't do anything about it, I was too weak. But looking back on it, there was probably something I could've done. That’s why I refused to let him bite me, so I couldn't become that. And now Cassandra is and its too late. I can't do anything, you can't do anything, nobody can fucking do anything about it. Deep down, she's in pain. And when I look at her that's all I can feel. Pain."

10K didn't say anything, he just listened and let me rant until all that came out was a series of sobs. He rubbed soothing circles on the back, before cradling my hair protectively, "It’s not your fault. You’re right, you were too weak. There’s nothing you could've done. We all feel guilty. And I think we're all angry at Murphy, for what he did to you and to Cassandra. I won't let him hurt you ever again, I promise," 10K assured, his voice strong and sure.

That just made me pull him tighter and cry harder, letting out one final choked sob before I was muffled by the crook oh his neck. Forgiveness was no longer an option with Murphy and I had finally gotten my wish. I knew exactly what was going on in Cassandra's head and I made it my goal to take away her pain.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FOUR. WHACK SOME WEEDS.

We travelled to a lab in Minneapolis, not too far behind Murphy and Cassandra. We knew they'd be there - Wrecking Ball was telling Doc about it. Our vehicle pulled up to the fence where a guard was standing on the inside, eying us suspiciously. We all exited the van and approached the man.

"You guys harvesters here for the cure?" the man asked.

"Yeah, that's right," Warren confirmed. Luckily Doc's intel enabled us to know exactly what this place was.

"You’re armed," The man commented, after having examined our group to find all of us were holding a weapon. I rolled my eyes at his statement and how shocked he sounded.

"Uh, yeah," Addy answered, raising her Z Whacker to rest on one shoulder as if it was obvious.

Nodding his head in satisfaction, the man opened the gate and allowed us to enter, "Good. Harvesters wait in the garage until you're called. The others inside will give you the rundown," He informed.

We all ignored his statement, walking a few steps until stopping and examining the area for the one thing we came here for. Murphy. "You think Murphy's here?" Addy asked, glancing around.

Warren nodded, "Yeah, he's here. I can smell him." Doc leaned in between the two girls, "I think you're smelling the Z weed," He said, taking a sharp intake of breath before we heard a panicked scream in the distance.

Immediately alerted, we ran over to the screaming girl as she struggled to crawl from the zombie. However, it's grip on her leg was too strong and as much as she crawled she just kept being pulled further and further back. One step forward, two steps back. Vasquez attacked a Z, which was wound up in thick green vines, as the rest of us dragged the girl away from her predator.

Two armed men jogged over to check out all the commotion we were making, "Hey! Told you people to move into the garage where it's safe," The man from the gate instructed.

"Safety first, huh?" Doc questioned sassily.

The man stepped towards him threateningly, "You got a problem?"

Doc was silent for a moment before sighing calmly, "No, no brother. Just here for the cure," He shrugged and I grabbed Doc's arm, pulling him away before anything could spiral out of control. However, Doc didn't leave without bucking his shoulder with the man's first. 10K hung at the back of the group, putting his arm around the lady so she could walk easier.

The lady directed us to the garage where the other harvesters were and 10K gently placed her on a mattress on the ground on which a little girl was also sleeping on. She winced in pain as she lowered herself to sit, the wound was deep into her thigh. At least it wasn't a bite.

"You alright?" Warren asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

Doc dug through his medical bag before swiftly pulling out a feminine pad. He unwrapped it from its plastic and folded it up to place on the wound as a bandage. I raised an eyebrow, silently questioning the effectiveness of a pad on a thigh wound.

The girl then stirred from her nap and sat up drowsily, "Mama?"

"Hey, baby. Hey. Mama's here," The lady reassured, stroking her daughter's hair, "I came back to you just like I promised."

"Did you find it?" The little girl asked, hope gleaming in her tired eyes. "Not yet sweetie, but we're getting close," Her mother told her before laying her back down to continue her slumber.

***

"What do you want to do? Wait for Murphy to come out and jump him?" Vasquez suggested when we spotted sight of Cassandra outside the lab. And wherever Cassandra was, Murphy was close by. However, I think she saw 10K and I spying on her outside the garage because she went back inside the lab a few minutes previous to this conversation.

"Ooh, I’m up for jumping him," I nodded my head in agreement excitedly. Murphy had done way more than just get on my nerves recently, it baffled me to think that I’d even liked the stubborn arsehole at one point.

"No, I don't like waiting. Bad things happen when you wait," Warren countered.

"Well we can take the guards hostage, search the compound for him," Vasquez added another suggestion to the list.

"I like that. Doc and 10K, you guys create a diversion-" Warren started to command but was cut off as Murphy and a few others entered the room. He had gathered quite the entourage since we'd last seen each other.

"Or you could just walk up and say hello like civilised people," Murphy proposed, smirking.

Warren scoffed in reply, "Hello my ass." She was right, I think we were done being civilised after he tried to kill us all back at the lab in Colorado.

"You know these folks?" One of his men, in a lab coat, asked - surprised.

"Oh, we've covered a bit of ground together," Murphy answered, staring cockily at Warren. What is he going to make us do now?

This time, it was my turn to scoff, "More than a bit," I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Yeah, dude seriously, I’m getting tired of chasing your bony ass all over the damn apocalypse," Doc huffed, mimicking my stance.

"What are we messing around for? This man is our prisoner. We’re taking him to California," Vasquez said, growing impatient as he tried to grab at Murphy. Warren pushed him back as Cassandra hissed in warning, knowing that going for Murphy was a bad idea.

Murphy laughed, "Chill out, Rambo. That ain't gonna happen."

"Why not?"

"Because the whole trip to California won't be necessary," Murphy informed, I knew he was up to something. Warren spun around from Vasquez to look at him. "There’s a cure for the zombie virus right here, in that greenhouse. And all we have to do is go in there and get it," Murphy explained.

"Batch 47 is real. We just tested it. A bonified zombie miracle," Lab Coat added.

"Well, think about it. No more relying on me to save the human race. It’s a win-win. Right?" Murphy remarked. It all came to me then, Murphy didn't really care about the cure or the human race - He just wanted to get out of the damn mission responsibility. Fortunately, Warren wasn't having it either,

"No, that's not our fight," She snapped, glaring at him.

"Please," The lady from before begged, stepping into the group to stop Murphy from replying, "If there's any hope."

And just like that, we decided to risk our lives and go into the minefield that was the greenhouse.

***

"Your job is to return to Batch 47 and the rest of the seedpods," Lab Coat explained the plan once we were all geared up and ready to venture into the greenhouse.

"And not get killed, right?" Doc cut in, "Is that... that's part of the plan?"

"Well its a secondary consideration, but sure."

"Secondary?!" I inquired, raising an eyebrow at his lack of concern for our lives in there, "Bitch, we're probably you're only chance of getting this Batch 43," I snapped.

"47," He corrected quickly causing me to roll my eyes.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Don’t threat. I have protection for you," Lab Coat reassured, reaching for a narrow helmet which looked like it was very claustrophobic.

"That’s okay. I’m gonna go like this. I need to be able to move to fight," Warren denied, speaking for us all.

Doc nodded in agreement, "Yeah. I like to be able to run from danger."

"I wouldn't take your guns, bullets don't kill plants," Lab Coat added just as we had turned to venture into the greenhouse, "I would take these," He suggested, referring to the manual weapons on the table in front of him.

The four of us walked up to the table and swapped our guns for our desired gardening weapon of choice. I chose some type of gardening pike - I didn't really care what it was, it was just sharp. And I kept my machete with me too in case I get tangled in those thick weeds I saw earlier. Vasquez hung back as we headed to the entrance, to hold the fort outside and shoot anybody if this little trip goes wrong.

"It’s your show, lead on," Warren instructed to Murphy, gesturing for him to walk in front of us.

The entrance was already like we were miles deep into a rainforest, plants and vines strung from all over the place and every inch of the ceiling. They kept on getting tangled into my hair so I quickly tied it up in a low ponytail but that didn't stop me from having to push them out of my face. At least now I was prepared to whack some weeds.

"It’s some kind of giant shop of horrors," Doc called out, he too getting annoyed with the plants getting tied up in his beard. We kept walking and I stayed close behind 10K, not wanting to loose him in the sea of green. We slowed down cautiously as a Z turned the corner, 10K shot it with his sling shot but it didn't die despite 10K hitting it exactly in the centre of the temple.

Frustrated, 10K raised his sling to take another shot but Murphy's arms shot out to lower 10K’s. "That won't work here," He snapped, just as I noticed him clinging onto his head in pain. The exact spot where 10K hit the zombie. "They’re all interconnected by the vines," Murphy explained, "You can't kill one without killing all of them." He then approached the zombie and used his mind control to draw the Z calmly back as he all passed.

Soon, our group made it too where Batch 47 was located. When we walked inside, we were almost instantly greeted with a huge zombie entangled with vines. It must've been the original source of this entire place if it was so big.

"Let’s do this and get the hell out of here. Doc and 10K, you guys harvest the leaves. Angel, Murphy and I will get the seedpods," Warren ordered them, seeming just as aware of the giant zombie standing tall in front of us, before looking to me, "Let us know if any Zs are heading our way," She instructed.

I nodded, pouting slightly at how I got the most boring job but didn't make up a fuss. This place was starting to creep me out and I wanted to get back into the open as quick as possible.

"Careful! Remember these things have feelings," Murphy reminded, adding to my suspicions even more before everybody got to work.

I stood by the opening with my gardening pike in hand as the others started to grab for the materials we needed. Quickly, the giant zombie started groaning and I glanced back to see that it's arm was jerking in pain.

"Easy now, you're gonna wake him," Murphy warned again, his voice calm in hopes of either calming the others or the awakening zombie.

Suddenly, it's eyes snapped open as it alerted all of the other zombies around us. The big one started to growl and before long I heard the incoming snarls of Zs heading towards us. "Uh, guys, we have company!" I called back as Murphy ran off to try and comfort the leader with his mind control.

But it was no use, the zombie was more plant than, well, zombie. Murphy wrapped his arms around the vines to hold off the leader as the others plucked at the seedpods and leaves at a much faster pace. Myself, on the other hand, started to hold off as many zombies as I could with such limited weaponry and options considering we couldn't actually kill these zombies.

"Okay, let's go, come on!" Warren shouted as we were started to get flooded by the zombies.

As we left the greenhouse, Murphy nowhere to be seen as usual, we were greeted with a group of men in skeleton masks and a man in a red and black suit, obviously the leader. Warren and the leader both stared at each other before Warren broke the stare off, "Who are you?" She inquired.

"My name is Hector Alvarez, but my friends call me Escorpion," He introduced, "I’m a vice president in charge of sales for the Zero Cartel. How can I help you today?"

"Well you can start by telling us what the hell is going on," Warren instructed, eyeing the group of Zeros before us.

"This? Just a little business between friends," Escorpion answered, eyeing up Doc who had the sack of seedpods, "I see you've been harvesting. Let me guess. Batch 47?"

Warren just simply raised an eyebrow in response causing Escorpion to take another intimidating step, "I’m afraid i'm going to have to ask you to give it to me."

Another few moments passed before Warren turned and nodded to Doc. He gave Warren the sack, which she slammed on the ground in front of her feet. One of the masked men took it for Escorpion. He then began to explain his plan for Batch 47, his first step getting a hold of a fresh zombie. Without command, one of the men shot one of the harvesters nearby immediately.

Escorpion snapped his gaze to his foolish member, scolding him in Spanish. And after almost a decade of Spanish lessons, I knew exactly what they were saying.

"I am very sorry about that. Good help is hard to find these days," Escorpion apologised as his man went to restrain the poor harvester who was writhing around in pain on the ground for when he eventually turned.

I stifled a laugh, "probablemente deberías despedir a tu idiota," I muttered which was 'you should probably fire your idiot' in Spanish. I could feel my group's eyes on me, obviously just as surprised as Escorpion and the Zeros were.

Escorpion flicked his head to look at me, quirking one eyebrow up, "¿tu hablas español?" He asked.

"sí. debería unirme a tu cartel." Which was 'yeah, I should join your cartel' in Spanish.

"I’ve only ever tested it on a zombie," Lab Coat cut in, stopping our conversation abruptly, "I have no idea what a safe or effective dose on a human is."

"There’s only one way to find out," Escorpion answered, pulling out his vape and tapping Batch 47 into it. Lab Coat was restrained either side as Escorpion cupped his chin securely and shoved the vape up Lab Coat's nose. After a while of groaning and spluttering, Escorpion removed the vape and Lab Coat insisted on feeling good afterwards. I could almost feel the excitement radiating off of Doc behind me.

They got the harvester zombie and lined him up with Lab Coat, but it was too late. He had already turned Z, to Escorpion's disappointment. It wasn't long before they both were shot in the head.

"So much for Batch 47," Escorpion muttered, staring at the limp corpses at his feet before looking up to command his Zeros, "Grab the Z Weed. Let’s get out of here, huh?"

But before anybody could get to work, one of the guarding Zeros shoved a hooded figure from the back of the crowd to the front.

"Who’s this?" Escorpion asked, taking down the hood and revealing a bald man whom which he recognised, "Doctor Kurian? What happened to your face?"

Kurian tilted his head slightly so I could get a look at what they were all talking about. All over the right side of his head was deep, intense burn scars so bad that the only thing that was left of his ear was the hole. Kurian slapped Escorpion's hand away, obviously sensitive about it hence the hoodie. I looked around my group at their grave faces, they obviously recognised this man too.

"It’s a long story," Kurian hissed in reply to Escorpion's question.

"You can tell it to La Reina," Escorpion instructed, who I could only assumed was the leader of the Zeros since her name literally translated to the queen. Escorpion nodded his head once and the guard behind knocked Kurian out cold and put him in the trunk of their vehicle. He also instructed for the greenhouse with Batch 47 to be burnt down.

Once Escorpion had returned to the safety of his truck, I turned to Warren, "Okay, who's the bald cunt?" I asked, confusion embedding in my expression.

***

All caught up on Kurian and what happened in Colorado, we headed back to the jungle place in hopes of finding Murphy, Cassandra now joining us. Pretty soon, Murphy came jogging past in the direction we had just came from and we all followed after instantly, not wanting to lose him and have to chase him around again.

When we got to the entrance, Murphy was sprawled out on the ground trapped in the thick vines that kept pulling him closer to the centre. Just like the lady we had saved earlier. Doc, Warren and I attempted to cut the vines with our gardening weapons. I say attempted because Murphy was one hell of a struggler.

The gigantic zombie etched closer to Murphy and the rest of us, 10K and Addy tried to kill or maim it but the Z only pushed them away. Vasquez finally appeared from his apparent detour, shooting the zombie but to no avail. Murphy screamed in pain as Vasquez continued stabbing. Even Cassandra was too weak to take the gigantic zombie on.

The Z got closer and closer and just as it was about to lower down on Murphy, Addy and 10K had managed to get its vines wrapped into the fan which dragged the zombie back until it eventually exploded.

Warren, 10K and I carried Murphy back to our vehicle as Doc and Addy quickly ran off to do something. Murphy was limp and panting, as if he was the one who had just exploded in the fan. We drove around the compound to get Doc and Addy.

"You could feel them, couldn't you? The zombies in the greenhouse?" I asked Murphy, trying to confirm my suspicions.

"Yeah. Whenever you attacked one, I could feel their pain," Murphy replied softly, shuddering at the thought of ever experiencing that again.

"Has that ever happened before?"

"No, not ever," He replied, eyes glued to his shoes.

"Well maybe it was because they were half-plant. You know what they say, plants are alive and shit," I proposed with a shrug and Murphy adverted his gaze from the floor to me for the first time since we left the greenhouse. I couldn't explain what flickered through his eyes, maybe it was surprise at how I could actually understand and notice what he was going through in there or maybe because I was just being civil with him for once. Either one was pretty shocking if I do say so myself.

We soon found where Doc and Addy had rushed off to, they had quickly visited the dying girl to give her some Batch 47 leaves to chew on before entering the truck with the rest of us.

"Well that was fun," Doc spoke out once we were further away from the mess we had just caused in that greenhouse.

"You shouldn't have killed him," Murphy remarked, his voice hoarse as he shook his head adamantly.

"You’re alive, aren't you?" Vasquez retorted back, earning a glare from Murphy.

Murphy quickly perked up, suddenly aware of his surroundings, "Why are we headed south? Shouldn't we be going west?" he asked.

"Still too much fallout west," Vasquez answered, not even looking at Murphy.

"We can turn west south of Missouri," Warren added, noticing a woman approaching our van, "What the hell is some woman doing out here by herself?" She asked rhetorically. As we got closer, we saw she was pregnant and then closer again, I even recognised her.

"It can't be. It’s Serena," Addy pointed out in awe, better known to me as Pie Girl.

"No way. Murphy, is that your pie girl?" Doc questioned, saying what we were all thinking.

"Pie Girl?" Vasquez repeated, in a judgemental tone.

"Pie Girl," 10K grinned in confirmation that Vasquez had in fact heard correctly.

"Fucking hell, Murphy, you got her pregnant and everything!" I exclaimed.

"Pregnant?" Murphy repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah, like ten months pregnant," Doc added his exaggeration but I couldn't fault him. I wondered how she hadn't broken her back yet from all this walking whilst that pregnant. Were we really there that long ago, though?

As we got close enough, the truck slowed to a stop. Much to Murphy's dismay. I knew he wouldn't appeal to the idea of having a child. Addy swiftly got out of the truck and ran to embrace Serena. Serena then ran to the side of the truck and Vasquez rolled his window down for her.

"Daddy, is that really you?" She asked in hope. Murphy was slouched down in the attempt of her not finding him and waved awkwardly.

Serena laughed joyfully, "He’s here, baba. Daddy's here," She muttered, peering down to rub her pregnant stomach.

We all leaned out of the car as she was pulling up her shirt, revealing a popped out baby face, causing us all to jerk back. Oh hell no.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FIVE. PIE GIRL.

We travelled to a small town in Wisconsin, a still heavily pregnant Serena in tow, where we were being chased by a horde of zombies upon arrival. They all had some weird costumes on and in different circumstances, that would've definitely caused one of my uncontrollable fits of laughter.

"Wisconsin cheese day parade," 10K read with his signature grin.

Addy laughed, "You betcha!"

I looked around at the parade with an unamused frown, the smell of rotting cheese was probably worse than the brain eating zombies we were being chased by. "Cheese isn't even that good, why make a whole fucking parade for it?" I muttered, earning a look of disappointment from Addy.

We ran on a little further, the growls behind us growing louder. On our way, we passed a gigantic wheel of cheese and Doc stopped to admire it, "Woah, wait a minute. Is that cheese?" He asked, stepping closer to examine it.

"No way, the world's largest wheel of cheese," 10K mused with a grin, running backwards to stare at the unbelievably large wheel before us.

"Its certainly the biggest I've ever seen," I added, earning a weird glance from 10K. In return, I rolled my eyes and slapped his shoulder, "Shut up, I didn't mean it like that," I deadpanned as I continued to jog.

"It's not real, Doc! Come on! We got to go! Puppies and kittens!" Warren shouted as Doc cut a piece of cheese from the wheel.

"No, it is real!" Doc cried back, displaying his piece of cheese before eating it. I crossed my arms over my chest, that cheese was probably years old. The group had paused, Serena was leaning over and vomiting. All this running probably wasn't very beneficial for the baby.

"Got an idea," Warren muttered, stepping closer to the cheese wheel, "Out of my way, Doc. I need that cheese."

I really hope she wasn't planning on eating it too.

"Oh come on, Warren. Can't a man eat a giant cheese wheel in peace?" Doc complained, stepping away to give Warren space for her plan.

"No. Remember Philly?" She questioned, making my eyes grow wide in excitement as I clapped my hands together eagerly.

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Doc asked, a grin washing over his face. Glad to see I wasn't the only one excited to witness this.

Realisation washed over Murphy as he shook his head, "Oh no, no, no, no."

"Yes, yes, yes, yes," Addy countered, jogging over to help Warren.

"What happened in Philly?" Vasquez asked, clueless about what was to come and why we were all eager.

"You'll see," 10K answered, not taking his eyes off the cheese wheel. Despite my joy, I couldn't help but think whether Cassandra could remember it too.

Addy rushed to the other side of the wheel, taking out the giant block of wood that was keeping the cheese in place and went back besides Warren. together, they pushed the cheese wheel with all their force and watched as it rolled down the hill, crushing all the parade zombies in its path.

"This is why Warren is the leader. Recreating one of the best moments in my apocalypse. Genius," I exclaimed, laughing loudly.

"How long you think it'll go?" 10K asked.

"Could go a while," Warren answered, "I'm pretty sure it's all downhill from there to the Mississippi. Now, it's time to go," She ordered, turning the opposite way to the cheese wheel, "If anybody asks..."

"We were nowhere near Wisconsin," We all answered in tune, with the exception of Vasquez and a spluttering Serena - who didn't understand our little inside joke.

***

We were all now back in the vehicle, Doc signing a song about cheese ever since the cheese wheel which couldn't help but bring a constant smile on my face. Until, we had to pull over to allow Serena to vomit again. We were all waiting either outside or inside the truck.

"Wow, it must really suck to be pregnant in this horrific place. I mean, who would want to have a baby during the zombie apocalypse?" I inquired, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Who can blame them? They bonded over pie and that's what really matters," 10K chuckled. I raised my eyebrows at him, considering they did a little more than just bonding. "What? We bonded over a deer?" He reminded, smirking in amusement.

"That was my fucking deer and you stole it," I snapped, giving him a serious look for a moment.

"But I gave it back, didn't I?" 10K countered, causing me to roll my eyes as I grin washed over my face. I raised our interlaced hands to kiss his, "I love you," I said with a smile.

"I love you, too."

10K was just about to say something else when he was cut off by rapid gun shots. We all quickly ducked behind the truck when we realised they were hiding in the hill behind us. 10K looked through his scope, "Got 'em," He commented.

"What do you see?" Warren asked as more bullets continued pelleting at us.

"Couple of guys in hunting caps. One seriously pissed off looking girl with-" He was cut off again but more shots, close to his head. He hid behind the truck with us and smirked, impressed, "She got my same gun."

I rolled my eyes, "Who cares about the gun, why is she shooting at us?"

"I dunno. Maybe it has something to do with this nice Zero ride we got," Vasquez suggested, as 10K continued to shoot at them, "Can't imagine our Mexican friends are too popular around here."

"Okay, I'm thinking 10K and Addy, you guys lay down some cover fire. And then we'll flank them around-" Warren started to order but was cut off by the gun fire like most of us had been.

"You dirt eating bastards!" We heard from within the automatic gunfire, "You filthy goat loving whores! There is a baby on board here! A mother loving baby! I am going to rip off your arms and saw off your head!" Serena yelled, the automatic gunfire soon stopping with a click. She was only replied with by silence.

We all looked around the truck to her, wide eyed. She turned around, resting her hand on her hip for support, "People are so rude."

I nodded my head in agreement, smiling at the perplexity of it, "You tell 'em, sister."

"I think it's time for a new vehicle," Warren suggested as our current one was now destroyed by the bullets.

***

We had found a new red truck, probably belonging to the people who were previously shooting at us, and were headed to a Mennonite farm where Vasquez thought there were people who could help Serena and the baby. We drove down the road that the farm was located until we slowly dragged to a stop.

"Well, we've seen Amish zombies, Mormon zombies. We get Mennonite zombies, we got ourselves a trifecta," Addy counted as she hopped out of the bed of the truck.

"Ooh, I hope we see some cowboy zombies. I doubt we'll find another farm anytime soon," I added, grinning at the idea of a zombie with a cowboy hat and spurs.

"I don't think this is that type of farm, Angel," Addy chuckled.

"Vasquez, you take the north fence. 10K, you go south," Warren instructed, "Addy and I got overwatch. Be back in twenty." I sighed at her instructions, knowing exactly what that meant for Doc and I. Babysitting.

"Why do we always get the shit job - looking after Murphy?" I muttered in a hushed whisper as I trudged to the bed of the truck with Doc, "I mean, surely he can take care of himself now?"

"I wouldn't complain, sister. Now we can take a nap," Doc pointed out, laying down in the bed of the truck as I sat watching out for 10K. I would be worried until he got back. I also snuck in some glances at Cassandra, wishing I could do something to help her as she crouched on the top of the truck, guarding Murphy.

Eventually, 10K came back into view from the field however covered in white powder. I stepped down from  the truck to greet him.

"We got 10K. Vasquez?" Addy called out.

"Not yet," Warren replied, approaching the youngest of our group, "Well?"

"Yeah, there's still people here. But they ran away from me," He answered and I stifled a laugh at the thought of 10K struggling.

"Zombies?" Doc inquired.

"The usual," He answered until he remembered something, "Oh, there's also zombie sheep."

"Zombie sheep? Why not?"

"Its no zombie bear," I added, nodding my head at Serena until I peered up at 10K to examine the while powder that was showered onto his clothes and face, "What's all that?"

"Uh, came out of a Z's head when I killed it. I dunno, maybe powdered brains?" 10K responded in suggestion, not seeming very bothered about the powder and to this, Doc laughed.

Warren got out a rag from her pocket and passed it to me, "Wash that crap off. Who knows what kinda zombie cooties are in there."

I nodded, "Exactly what I was thinking," I muttered as we hopped in the bed of the truck and drove closer to the farm with caution. During this, I lightly brushed the unknown powder from 10K's face and most of his clothes.

10K rolled his eyes at my concern, "I'll be fine. Don't worry," He reassured with a confident smile. Probably about that zombie sheep.

I raised an eyebrow, "Warren's right," I agreed, "I don't want you getting sick from this shit. We don't know what it is and assuming in the apocalypse gets you dead."

He nodded his head, processing my thoughts until he added, "Or I could turn into some super zombie and take over the world," He suggested playfully.

I scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, as I finished up and pocketed the rag to give back to Warren later.

"You're not really the leadership type, babe," I admitted, with a laugh. Eventually, we got close enough to the farm where we saw Vasquez carrying something in his arms. We all exited the truck to greet him.

"What happened to you?" Warren asked.

"Few Zs. I found this," He said, pulling out a small bag with something inside. Something deep inside me knew he was lying, he wasn't covered in white powder like 10K for a start.

"What is it?"

"Cured him," He tossed it to Doc, "Maybe mutton," Vasquez pulled his bag out, obviously equipped with more 'gifts'. "And for you... Strawberry jam. Top five missed foods, right?" He handed Warren and Addy a jar of jam each. He then turned to me, and my eyes widened in surprise - I had rarely got a chance to have any one-to-one interactions with Vasquez.

He reached into his bag and pulled out something that made my heart leap, "And for you..."

"M&Ms! How did you find fucking M&Ms in the apocalypse!?" I cheered, opening the small packet almost as immediately as I clasped it in my hands from his throw.

"I thought you were the type of girl that would appreciate that," Vasquez smiled, nodding in content with my reaction. I didn't care if this was some sort of bribe or not, I couldn't say no to M&Ms.

Warren gave him a look, "Now you're finding food. How are you always finding this stuff?" she asked.

"Well he found the key to my heart. Smoked pig."

"Yeah, I like this guy," I added, offering 10K a few after I had a couple to myself. I had forgotten how much I missed M&Ms until that day.

"Why don't you have white powder on you?" Warren asked as she scanned Vasquez, obviously not as happy with her gift as Doc and I were with ours.

"White powder?" Vasquez repeated with confusion as he swung his bag back on his back.

Before any of us could elaborate, growls were heard from inside of the house and now towards us. We all took out our guns while Addy twirled her bat. She went after one, making direct contact with it's face as it blew up with white powder, making her cough. This was going to be difficult.

"Pull back! Pull back!" Warren called, rushing away from the powdered zombies, "Come on! Get out of there!"

Vasquez fired the one furthest from us, white powder emerging from that head too. 10K was about to shoot, when more Zs were coming up behind him. After a warning from Warren and I, we swivelled around to avoid them before stabbing the from behind. A female zombie was running towards Doc, who knocked her over with his ham. 10K stabbed her in the head in assistance, more white powder made it's appearance as it engulfed the two.

***

You would think that the Amish people would thank us for saving them from that horde of zombies, but instead, they were planning on kicking us out.

"You English should not be here."

"We're not staying," Warren explained, "One of our people..." She motioned to Serena, "She needs a place to have her baby." The men looked to Serena and the inhumanely large baby she was carrying in disbelief but remained silent as Warren continued, "Can I talk to a leader? An elder?"

"No, no, I... I am leader now. All elders are dead," The man spoke, causing me to scoff. He was clearly not prepared to lead these people. Warren looked equally unimpressed. "And it is not safe for you here."

"Why not?" I asked, raising an eyebrow expectantly. We must have proved we could take care of ourselves already.

The 'leader' gestured to 10K, "The white powder. We have anthrax here."

My eyes widened as my jaw dropped only momentarily until anger streaked over my face. I took a threatening step forward, "You don't think you could've started with that?"

Before I could do anything drastic, Warren grabbed my arm securely. She gave me a look of authority until addressing the rest of the group, "Alright folks, time to go. There's no room at this inn. Ah, sorry for your trouble."

"Everyone has trouble these days." Understatement of the apocalypse.

"Ain't that the truth," Warren agreed.

I turned to walk back to the truck when I saw 10K looking only half conscious out of the corner of my eye. I grabbed his hand, "Hey, are you okay?" I asked, my voice filled with concern.

10K shook his head weakly, "I don't feel so go-"

He collapsed, falling forwards towards the grass as he slipped from my grip. Luckily I dropped in time to catch him before he landed, breaking his fall.

"10K? 10K!" I exclaimed, lowering him so I was in a more secure sitting position. His eyes only stared blankly towards the sky until he lost consciousness and they slowly snapped shut. I grabbed his face as the rest of the team knelt down next to us. His skin hot against my hands. I looked up to Doc worriedly, "He's burning up."

"He has it," The leader declared, "This disease. Milzbrand Krankheit."

"We got to get him out of here," Doc suggested frantically as I nodded in agreement. I couldn't think straight, not one coherent thought was formed to the point that I agreed with anything. Looking back on it, I realised it was already too late to take him anywhere at that point. Warren had a good point too,

"And take him where?"

"I dunno. Some place without anthrax or anthrax zombies or anthrax sheep," Doc listed.

"What he needs is antibiotics," Vasquez informed, "You got any of those?"

I looked back to Doc, tears glassing my desperate eyes, "Please tell me you have some," I begged.

Doc stood up from besides us, "Yeah, maybe," He muttered before running back to his bag in the truck. My gaze quickly adverted back to the sleeping boy in my arms as I started to push his hair back from his face.

***

Unfortunately, Doc didn't have any. And to make matters worse, Serena's water had broken. It would've been very convenient timing if that farm didn't have fucking anthrax. The Amish men finally let us into their barn, where they were holding all of their sick. Vasquez and Doc carried 10K, followed by Warren and I while Addy took Serena to a different, clean barn. Murphy and Cassandra were God knows where hiding, which didn't surprise me in the slightest.

10K was laid down in a bunk bed and a woman knelt down over him quickly, popping half of a pill in his mouth and giving him water to wash it down.

"What's she giving him?" I whispered harshly to the leader as we all kept our distance, allowing the woman to do her job.

"Cipro," He answered, "From the next farm over. They use it for the animals, but it will help."

"Yeah, well why's she only giving him half a pill?" Doc wondered.

"We must have enough for everyone."

"Enough for everyone to recover?" Vasquez asked, rolling his eyes at how ridiculous these people were. There were so many sick people in this barn and if they're already giving out half a pill each, how many pills did they have left until they ran out?

I stepped further out of the barn, needing some air although my subconscious knew that wouldn't help. Warren followed me, gazing upon my distressed figure with such concern you would think I was her own daughter.

"Why are they only giving him half a pill? That's hardly going to make him better. Or any of them. He's not even from around here, surely they should be taking some responsibility?" I asked, a few stray tears rolling down my cheeks as my voice cracked.

"10K's not from around here, it makes sense that they aren't prioritising him," Warren explained, continuing before I could say anything else, "But we will find him some more antibiotics, don't you worry, sweetheart. The best thing you can do for him now is to stay calm with him. okay? I know it sounds ridiculous right now, but can you do that for me?"

I darted my eyes from 10K, to Doc, to Warren and then back to 10K before nodding. Warren knew how to calm me down best in situations when 10K was in danger, which was becoming much more of a reoccurring event than I was comfortable with.

When I walked back into the barn, one of the women handed me a towel that had been soaked in a bowl of cold water. I grabbed one, sitting in the seat besides 10K, before dabbing him gently over his forehead. He seemed out of it, barely aware that I was there as I wiped the sweat from his head.

Still dabbing, I used my free hand to reach over and clutch his. It was mainly for my sake and I definitely felt more relaxed when he squeezed back.

"If you stay here, you could get it too," One of the women said to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged it off, glaring at her, "Well tough shit, 'cause I ain't going anywhere," I snapped.

Shortly after that Doc was rushed over to the baby barn to aid Serena with her labour. For a while after that, all could be heard was Serena's screaming even from where I was sitting. I obviously had never had a kid before, and after hearing her I definitely didn't want to find out the pain that comes from it.

After about ten maybe twenty minutes, I felt another hand on my shoulder. I was about to give the same harsh reaction like last time but when I looked up, Addy's face was the one that greeted me. "Hey. Vasquez and I are heading over the next town, do you want to come?"

I looked from Addy to 10K, shaking my head apologetically, "I- I think I should stay here. Make sure he's okay and comfortable. I don't want to leave him alone in here."

Addy nodded, giving me a light smile and my shoulder and comforting squeeze. "Hey, you're doing the right thing. He'll get better and soon enough you'll be joining us on the next barn over with Serena and hopefully her baby," She chuckled.

I returned her smile, "You should go, don't wanna keep Vasquez waiting." She chuckled before she left. I looked back over to see 10K looking at me talking with Addy.

I gave him a light smile, trying to stay stable for him like Warren said, "Hey, baby. Get some sleep. Vasquez and Addy are going to find some antibiotics, okay?"

10K nodded slowly, his head weak before allowing his eyes to shut.

The world really wasn't on our side today considering even Vasquez and Addy couldn't find any drugs. 10K was getting worse every second, he was even coughing up blood. So much to the point that they had to push me back. All I could think about was how I just couldn't let him die. And not to mention, Addy had got it too.

I could tell that Warren was getting restless as when I was waiting to approach 10K again, asking me if I had gotten any vaccines. I told her I hadn't but I then learnt that her, Doc and Vasquez were previously in the army or navy so they had gotten a mandatory vaccine for this disease. I knew it was a matter of time before I got it too, but I still didn't care. All I could think or care about was 10K.

Once Warren left to discuss more with Vasquez and Doc, the Amish people finally let me near him again. But only because I insisted to wipe the blood off him. I dabbed a fresh cloth in water but gently wiping the blood from the corners of his mouth. If only these people had given him enough Cipro, then he wouldn't have coughed up so much blood. Plus we had Addy and myself to think about.

After he was all cleaned up again, he grabbed my hand after I was putting the cloth away. He intertwined our fingers together, giving my hand a squeeze as tight as he could muster.

"You're not dying today. Or anytime soon. You hear me?" I asked and 10K nodded, signalling he was getting some of his consciousness back, "I can't lose you, Tommy. You know I can't."

It had been another ten minutes of me whispering words of reassurance to 10K before Warren appeared at the entrance of the barn, beckoning me over. I kissed his hand before unlacing our fingers and going to see what Warren wanted.

"Well? Is he gonna be okay? Tell me you found some antibiotics or something," I begged, hoping that she had found anything since our last helpless discussion since Vasquez was also accompanied with her.

Warren shook her head, "We didn't. Though we do have a plan, but it isn't very nice."

I shrugged, "I don't care. Tell me," My voice sounded desperate, I could tell.

"We steal from these people. Take their antibiotics," Vasquez stated.

"Okay, when?" They both widened their eyes at me, I was unsure as to what they thought my reaction would be, "What, did you think I was gonna say no? They're the reason we're in this mess in the first place with their stupid fucking anthrax zombies. I'll do what I have to. It's not like they're going to live very long with half a pill, right? We're all thinking about the group. This is 10K we're talking about," I said, pushing the two to their decision since Warren seemed sort of on the fence still. Maybe that's why they wanted to speak to me first, get my confirmation or just overall view on our last plan.

Vasquez nodded in agreement, "She's right, Warren."

"Now put your guilt, and quite frankly, our humanities aside and steal from these poor, friendly people," I ordered, placing my hands on my hips.

The two leaders entered first, their guns raised. I kept mine away as I followed inside, not wanting this to look like a complete ambush. We wouldn't have stolen from them unless we absolutely had to - which we did.

"Bruda. Sestre," The leader spoke fearfully, raising his hands, "I thought you might come. It is the medicine you want?"

"Its just," Warren started before clearing her throat. She realised how bad it looked and raised her hands, showing she meant no harm. Vasquez, on the other hand, kept his out, not wanting to be too careful. "We got to keep going," She explained, putting her gun away, "Our team, we got to get to California. And our man Murphy, he's immune. There's a lab. To make a vaccine. Medicine. Medicine that will help a lot of people. Save a lot of people." She finished her speech, looking to me, "Angel, get the pills."

I nodded, stepping around the surrendering Amish people and grabbing two small bottles of pills. I shook each bottle to see how much was left, it was quite a substantial amount to share between the three of us.

"We believe that peace is will of God," The leader began. Vasquez slowly made his way towards 10K. I looked back to see some of the Amish people praying even though we had already shown we meant no harm. "We follow the way of peace, justice, unity. We practice not to resist. Even through violence. Even through war. Our suffering comes from resisting what is. God has called us to seek justice and to make peace. To love our enemies." Vasquez hauled 10K over his shoulder, motioning me to follow him after I pocketed the bottles. "And to never seek revenge."

They continued to pray in German as I followed Vasquez out. Warren turned around to the Amish people, who we had pretty much signed their death warrant to. "I am sorry. Forgive me."

"I'd feel a whole lot better if they at least tried to kill us," Vasquez muttered, breaking the silence as we were all outside.

Warren slowly shook her head, "Only in a messed up apocalypse was that the right thing to do."

I scoffed, "You guys will never get to California without the three of us," I joked lightly. Even if I hadn't gotten sick, I wouldn't have left 10K.

Warren offered me a soft smile despite what we had just done before handing me her water bottle, "You should take some of those pills before you get sick too," She suggested and I did exactly that as we made our way to the barn.

The barn was barely in my sights when I heard Serena screaming. Vasquez laid 10K down next to Addy on the hay bails as I grabbed the bottle from my pocket. I slipped a few pills in 10K's mouth, washing it down with water. I was about to do the same with Addy but she was just about conscious to do it herself, taking the pills and water from me. I stood up and went to check on Serena, who was taking deep breaths whilst screaming. I immediately wanted to cover my eyes when I was greeted with her-

"I see something!" Murphy exclaimed, pointing. Serena's breathing weakened.

"That is not a head," Doc pointed out, distressed.

I furrowed my eyebrows, cocking my head to the side to determine what body part it was, "Is that a hand?"

"Yeah, but sometimes that happens, right?" Murphy asked in a panic, "Sometimes they get turned around and they come out feet first, right?"

I gave him a weird look, "Did you even do sex ed?" I asked but was partially cut off by Serena's increased screaming. Another hand reached out to pull something that never should've been pulled.

"That baby's not waiting to get pushed out. It's pulling itself out," Doc cried. All this panicking was making me want to pass out even more. I was never going to have a baby, apocalypse or not.

The one good thing that came out of that day was Murphy could no longer deny being the father. Considering the baby was fucking blue.

I grabbed one of the stray clothes from the side and handed it to Serena. She thanked me weakly before cleaning up her baby. She had a small yet cheeky grin on her face, one that I knew I didn't want to mess with as her mother cleaned her up.

"Congratulations, Daddy," Serena smiled at Murphy.

I had never seen Murphy so happy than I had in that moment. I guess it was true when they say parenthood changes people, all they need is that first glance at their new born child. "You did good, Mommy."

I wouldn't ever get over those disgusting nicknames for each other, even if they were actual parents - It was still kind of weird.

"Well what is it?" Doc asked. I was assuming she was some type of blend like Murphy considering she was blue. Like the fucking sky.

"It's a girl," Murphy answered, still smiling as he completely missed the actual point of the question.

"Oh, of course," Doc stuttered awkwardly as I stifled a laugh. I covered it up by smiling at the baby, I think she even smiled back but surely she was too young for that? I then noticed Doc holding out a cleaver, making me furrow my eyebrows at him.

"Uh, Doc. What is the cleaver for?" Warren asked, taking the words right from my mouth.

"Umbilical cord," Doc replied, although it was probably just in case Murphy's child was actually dangerous. Because she sure seemed like it inside Serena's stomach. However, the baby then did something I never thought I would see a baby do. She reached down, grabbed her own umbilical cord and teared it off with her teeth. "Woah! I guess she's got that covered," Doc added, chuckling nervously.

The baby let out something that resembled both a belch mixed with a small low growl. Murphy and Serena started to laugh as the baby giggled.

"That's my girl," Murphy laughed as Warren and I exchanged a look. Murphy nodded at Serena and the baby in her arms, "Can I?" he asked, referring to him holding his daughter.

Serena, of course, nodded before handing her to Murphy. I smiled at the wholesome moment before we all seemed to notice the growling and bunch of Zs behind us. Except Murphy, obviously, who was too entranced with his girl.

"Uh, Murphy," Warren warned.

"Isn't she cute?"

I nodded, "Cute and apparently attracting zombies."

That moment, the baby started crying monstrously. The dormant zombies suddenly snapped from their daze and started to climb over the small gate. Doc grabbed his cleaver and threw it at one of the zombies' heads. I grabbed my bow, striking one through the centre of the head.

"Cover Addy and 10K," Warren commanded me and Vasquez. We both nodded, making our way in front of them. Vasquez shot a Z in the eye before kicking it away from us.

A few more zombies approached us. I stick with my bow for a while before quickly converting to my pistol, shooting one in the neck as Vasquez shot it in the chest straight after me. one ran at me, but I used the butt of my gun to knock it on the ground before blasting its brains out. Vasquez shot from left to right as the Zs kept coming. They seemed more drawn to the baby, though. We all stopped when we heard Serena screaming loudly, drawing everyone's attention to her, including the zombies'.

"Get away from my baby you damn dirty zombies!" She screamed, grabbing the closest one and throwing it to the ground. Damn. "Go! Go!"

The Zs started to attack us again, aiming more for Serena this time. "Come on, let's go! Come on! Everybody to the truck!" Warren ordered.

Vasquez hauled a still unconscious 10K over his shoulder as I draped Addy's arm around mine. We dragged them towards the truck and practically tossed them to the back. I was obviously more gentle with Addy than Vasquez was with 10K. Vasquez jumped into the front seat as I hopped in the back with Addy and 10K. We waited with anticipation for the rest of the team. Once they arrived, slamming the truck doors behind them, I noticed someone was absent.

I looked back, "Where's Serena?"

The truck fell silent, Murphy's face was a picture of pain and didn't remove his gaze from his only daughter. I nodded my head slowly, already coming to the realisation. "She didn't make it, did she?" I asked, Warren only shook her head in reply as we drove the truck away.

***

We stopped in the middle of the road once we were far, far away from the Amish people and anthrax to discuss our new plan considering we had a baby to take care of then. Addy had gained strength although 10K was still out of it, resting his head on my shoulder.

"That's a lot of miles to cover before dark," Vasquez remarked after we discussed our next route, "We should get going."

"I'll go get Murphy," Warren stated, walking off to break up his moment with his child. Only a moment later, 10K started to stir.

"Hey," I said softly, my heart almost bursting at him finally being okay. He gave me a weak smile in return before turning to Doc.

"Hey, kid," he greeted happily.

"Hey. Where's- did she have her baby?" He inquired, sitting up from my shoulder and glancing his head around.

I nodded, smile growing wider at his selflessness, "Yeah, she did."

"Murphy's having a moment with her," Doc added, jabbing his thumb in their direction. I pulled 10K into a tight hug once he was all caught up, his arm weakly snaked around my waist.

"And speaking of babies..." Addy trailed off, pulling something from her bag, "Present for you." she handed 10K a familiar box and I pulled away to let him examine it.

"Billy Boy brand condoms," He read, slightly awkwardly as my face flushed a deep red.

"You are not gonna die virgins. I promise. But when it happens, don't be stupid," She warned, as 10K nodded slowly - not really knowing what to do.

Me, on the other hand, went a colour red that was probably not even a possible colour for a human to turn. But, Murphy was blue. "I told you that in confidence!" I hissed, before covering my face with both my hands and 10K's shoulder.

"Yeah. Like that guy," Vasquez added, nodding to Murphy, "I mean how did that happen anyway?"

Addy sighed as Doc answered, "Oh, man. You got to understand. There was pie."

Chapter Text

CHAPTER SIX. VIRGINS.

"We’re alone, you know," I muttered, tracing my fingers down 10K's arm. I had been dying to  get a moment alone ever since Addy gave us those condoms.

We had found a hut with a bed to protect Lucy during the night, perfect for the occasion. 10K and I had volunteered to take Lucy during the night since she barely ever slept so we were taking a 'nap in preparation'.

"I- I want to..." 10K whispered but trailed off as he leaned in lightly to kiss me.

The kiss started slow and timid. I smiled into the kiss as his hands moved to my sides as he slowly started to relax. I climbed into his lap, I had straddled him whilst making out before but he still seemed surprised as I put my legs either side of his.

The kiss began to heat up and soon he was pulling off his t-shirt. His hands played with the hem of my shirt and I knew he wanted to remove it, he was almost asking my permission first. Of course, I obliged. My hips bucked unintentionally, making 10K let out an almost pained moan. I then realised why, my movements were causing him pleasure even if it wasn't on purpose.

"Sorry," I mumbled, blushing slightly.

"It’s fine. Honestly, it felt good," He admitted followed by a small yet nervous laugh.

I smiled as we continued to make out. His hands ran up and down my sides lightly, brushing against bare skin every so often. 10K eventually got adventurous, his hands made his way to my arse and rested their for support. His erection started to grow underneath me and just as we were starting to get somewhere, I felt his hands in my shoulders as he gently pushed me back.

"I think we should get some rest," He suggested softly as I crawled off him and sat besides him on the bed, pouting. I didn't want to stop. I loved him with all my being but our make out sessions had recently stopped sooner than they used to.

"Don't give me that look," 10K sighed, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me into his side.

"Why do you always stop? I mean, we even have condoms now so we don't have to worry. Am I doing something wrong?" I asked, innocence and vulnerability laced in my tone as my lips quivered slightly.

"No! No, it's definitely not that. You’re amazing," He complimented quickly, his eyes looking straight into mine as if they were seeing directly into my soul. "I’m sorry. It’s not that I don't want to. It’s maybe better if we don't take it too far," He admits, blushing a deep red from embarrassment.

"Why?"

"Well, as I’m sure you've noticed, you have quite the effect on me," He chuckled nervously, nodding once towards his trousers and blushed even deeper, "And it's embarrassing. So I stop before it gets too bad." He was avoiding my gaze now.

"You know that's basically a compliment, right?" I questioned with a smile, making him glance back towards me after what felt like forever. I leaned in again, placing a soft passionate kiss to his lips - not intending for it to go anywhere.

"Angel, really. Unless you want to actually do something, we really need to stop," 10K warned, letting out another nervous laugh.

"Do you want to, you know, have sex with me?" I asked shyly. usually I was quite confident around the idea of sex but when it was finally time to think about myself doing it, was when I got awkward.

His famous playful grin tugged in his lips, "I’m an eighteen year old boy who's known you for three years, of course I do."

"Well maybe I do too," I added, returning the smirk as my usual confidence and dominance returned once again.

"Are you sure?" He asked in disbelief, as if I could have been talking to anybody else but him. Like it hadn't fully sunken in yet that I wanted to be with him throughout the whole apocalypse.

"Yes," I uttered, never being so sure about anything in my life, "I love you more than you even know. I want to do this for you, with you."

"So how should we... start this?" He asked, stuttering slightly as he placed his hand on my knee. We were both virgins and wasn't really sure how to go about this new experience. I had some idea what to do from all the sex scenes I had witnessed in the countless tv shows Pre-Z. I positioned myself further up onto the bed and 10K follow suit, crawling as he followed me so he was on top.

My hands draped around his neck, fingertips brushing against his hair as I pulled him down for a passionate kiss. My hands then moved lower to scratch against his bare back, lips still attached to each other and showing no sign of gasping for air.

"I love you," 10K muttered quietly, his lips brushing against my jaw then my neck just below my ear.

"I love you too, Tommy."

10K began to kiss down my stomach as his hands explored my sides. He raised his head again to press a single kiss to my lips before the disconnected and all I could see was 10K staring at my torso. In one swift motion, I pushed him down and was straddling his side on top in a second.  I sat on his stomach, careful not to sit on his crotch.

However, his eyes stayed glued to my chest. I rarely took my shirt off before this so he marvelled in the sight whenever he could. One hand started to go towards my tits before they dropped anxiously again.

"It’s okay, you can touch them, Tommy," I said, giving him the permission that he had silently asked me for. I reached down, cupping the back of his hand in mine before placing it on my right boob. His eyes lit up for a second and I just smiled as he enjoyed feeling me up. All I wanted to do was make him happy. Soon, he started to gain confidence and his other hand raised to my chest.

I leaned down to kiss him again, desperately missing the feeling of his lips pressed against mine. He let out an instant moan, his body flinching from under me making my own body jerk slightly in surprise. Confusion flooded me at first before I realised I had accidently moved farther down his body than I thought and I was no longer sitting in his stomach.

His face turned red again after just recovering from his last blushing spell at the sound he had just involuntarily made. I couldn't help but smile lovingly at him. The thought of giving him pleasure excited me so I decided to do something about it. I started to move my body gracefully down his body as he stared at me in confusion. Once my fingers danced over his zipper, his eyes shot open wide with realisation,

"Wait, no! You don't need to do that," 10K says quickly, taking my hands away from his body. He lent on his elbows so he could actually talk to me.

"What if I want to?" I countered, speaking nothing but the truth.

"I just wasn't expecting something like, uh, that," He stutters, "Which is why you don't have to."

"Do you not want me to?" I asked, feeling like maybe I had misread the situation. I would never want to make him do something he didn't want to. I set my knees beside his waist, not meeting his eyes. With that, he moved so he was now propped up to be closer to me. His hands cupped my face, raising it so I had to meet his softened gaze. I fought through the embarassment, knocking my gained confidence entirely.

"Come on, look at me," He pleaded until I finally gave in. His thumb traced over my bottom lip, coarse against the tender skin.

"Trust me, I want you to," He nodded, causing me to blush. I hated this effect he had on my during moments like this, having a confident personality but being a virgin was a tough combination. 10K was trying to play it cool but I could tell he was a mix of nervous and excited. I had noticed how badly he wanted to know what a blow job felt like, when we first started to get romantic I would find how he almost was always looking at my lips probably imagining all sorts of stuff. And I definitely had my suspicions when he would excuse himself all the time, at first it made me self consious until I fell in love with him.

He smiled at my once more and my fingers made their way back to his zipper again, pulling down his trousers. Once he was out of them, he frowned.

"What’s wrong?" I asked, worried he was uncomfortale or had changed his mind.

"I don't have any pants on, but you do. That’s not fair," My boyfriend said, trying to be deadly serious but couldn't help his laughter towards the end. I rolled my eyes playfully, climbing off the bed quickly to slip them off. I could tell he enjoyed watching me undress by the wide, uncontrolable smirk on his face.

Now only in my underwear, I clambered back on top of him - returning to my previous spot. I reached my hand out to touch him over his boxers but pulled back hesitantly.

"Are you okay?" 10K asked, watching my every move with concern.

"Yeah, I just... You know I don't really know what I’m doing, right? I don't want to be bad at it," I confessed in a mumble.

"It’s not like I have anything to compare it to. So I’m pretty sure I’ll think whatever you do is amazing," He encouraged, leaning up to kiss my lips. Hearing that reminder reassured me enough to stop overthinking and continue. He went back to resting on his elbows so he could watch as my hand moved towards his boxers again.

I palmed his erection through thin fabric, causing him to take a sharp intake of breath. I flickered my eyes up towards him at the sign of pain but he smiled and I knew it was the exact opposite. Real moments like this were much different than what they showed on tv.

My fingers moved to the waist band of his boxers, and without keeping him in suspense I pulled them down to his ankles. His erection moved so it was now on his stomach. I took a second to take it all in, his size was intimidating and made me think about later but I pushed that to the back of my mind for that moment and focused on what I was currently trying to do. I reached out for him and pumped him a few times as I watched him watching me intensely.

"Does that feel okay?"

"Yeah, much better than my own hand," He breathed out a chuckle and I laughed along with him. Soon I brought my face closer. I looked at him through my eyelashes before I opened my mouth, licking his tip. I didn't really know what to do, but I had heard a few things here and there Pre-Z and from Addy.

The pleasured look on his face was enough confirmation that I was doing at least one thing right so I stuck to that. Eventually, I moved on to different things - not wanting to bore him. His eyes squeezed shut and suddenly said my name in a panic, trying to get my attention. I stopped my actions, pulling away quickly.

"Shit, what did I do?" I asked, eyed wide with worry in case I had accidently bit him or something but to my relief he shook his head.

"No, I’m just... I’m close and I don't really want that to happen before we..." He trailed off, not wanting to say it but I understood. He placed his hands on my upper arms, pulling me closer so I was sitting on his stomach again.

I leaned down to kiss him as his hands drifted to behind my back and started to try and remove my bra. He struggled for a while before I helped him, unclasping it and pulling it off in one swift motion. I obviously had had much more practice than he had with this. His eyes widened as his hands raised to my chest again. With the absense of my bra, the feeeling was better for both of us.

His fingers lightly grazed my nipples, sending a shiver through my body. He used his momentum to flip me over so he was now on top of me. He leaned down to kiss me sharply as he rested his body between my open legs. I could feel his hard on brush against me, it excited me but filled me with nerves at the same time.

"Maybe it's my turn to, you know," He offered, gesturing his head down as his hands ghosted over my underwear, lips entwined with mine in a kiss. I nodded and he pulled them off with ease as I arched my back to aid him. The kiss never broke as his fingers started to feel me.

"I now completely understand your fears before," He mumbled against my lips, his smile hinting that he too didn't really know what to do. His fingers kept exploring until he was sure he had found a certain bundle of nerves that he knew I would enjoy him touching.

He focused his fingers in that specific spot, I couldn't help but let out a small moan that only made him smirk. Smug bastard was definitely proud of himself as he continued his work. Soon his kisses moved down to my neck, then my chest and then my bare stomach.

"Wait, I don't know about... that," I mumbled, referring to where his face was headed.

"Why?"

"It seems weird to have your face... there," I admitted, chuckling with embarrassment.

He smirked, quirking up an eyebrow, "You did the same to me," He laughed.

"True. But that was different," I argued, smiling playfully.

He shook his head in denial, still smiling as he continued what he was previously doing. Once his face was near my pussy, he stopped. It was his first time being able to actually look at me completely. His eyes gazed up and down my now completely naked body, placing a few kisses on my hips as he started to mutter about how beautiful I was. I blushed at his compliments, nobody had ever spoken about me like that before, and giggled subtly as his lips tickled against my skin.

He moved his face farther down until it was lined up with my sensitive area. I closed my eyes in anticipation as his tongue darted out, landing on the area which his fingers had been paying attention to earlier. He made me feel things I had never felt before as my breath quickened to the point that it nearly hitched in my throat.

Soon, he stopped to look at me.

"Can I, uhh, can I use?" He asked tentatively, poking a finger up in the air. He was a shy guy but after everything that had happened so far, I thought he would've relaxed a bit. Obviously that didn't seem to be the case.

I nodded my head in reply before he brought his eyes back down to my now wet folds. He used one of his fingers to locate my small opening. Once he found it he slowly pushed his finger in, allowing me to become comfortable with the foreign feeling.

"Is that okay?" he asked quickly. My heart swelled at how worried he was, I fell even more in love with that boy. I nodded my head again, too breathless to talk as he continued. He started to pump his finger in and out, looking up at my reaction to see if I was in any pain. Suddenly, he stopped - becoming conscious of the time.

"How long 'til they'll come check on us?" He asked, panic wide in his eyes.

I rolled my eyes at his panic, "We’ll have ages, don't worry," I reassured, as I laid back down and he sat up.

"Are you ready?"

I nodded, "I think so." I sounded much less confident than I had hoped.

"We don't have to. I mean, we can still stop," My flustered boyfriend suggested, as he laid down beside me.

"No, I want to. I’m just nervous, I guess," I confessed, turning my head to look at him.

"Me too," He said, accompanied by a small laugh as he kissed my lips again. By then I was sure they were swollen.

"Do you have the condoms?" I asked anxiously.

He nodded, reaching over to his bag, pulling one out of the open box. I watched as he ripped it open, then rolled it down his length. I raised my eyebrows at how easily he had done it, maybe that thing came naturally for boys.

"Is this position okay?" He asked. We were in the classic missionary passion, it seemed like a good choice for him.

"This is perfect."

"If it hurts, you have to tell me. I can stop at anytime," He informed, lowering himself between my legs. I knew it was going to hurt, but I was sure I had experienced much worse pain during the apocalypse.

"Should I start?" He inquired, his voice slightly shaky and I nodded again. I was worried that if I spoke, my voice would come out equally as shaky if not more. I knew if 10K heard, he would want to stop altogether. But the anticipation was killing me more than the actual pain did.

I squeezed my eyes shut as he pumped himself a few times before lining himself up with my entrance, pushing it in slightly. The feeling made me lay back down flat. It was deeply unpleasant and foreign. It hurt, like a sharp pinching inside me. I kept my eyes closed, moving me hips around a little to try and decrease the pressure and adjust to the feeling. He looked up, kissing me as he pushed in a little deeper. Once he was completely inside me, his eyes closed in pleasure as mine finally opened.

"Does it hurt?" He asked, nervous at the thought of him potentially hurting me during such an intimate moment.

"Not really. Just uncomfortable, like a pinching. And different," I admitted honestly.

"Good different or bad different?" His voice was strained.

"Stop talking," I mutter, grinding my hips lightly to get him to start moving.

He moaned whilst apologising, promising to give me a minute to adjust. I had no idea how much time had passed before I finally move my hips again, with a swifter movement that time. The discomfort eased dramatically the more I moved. 10K then moved to kiss me, our bodies synchronising perfectly.

He started to graze his lips against my neck as he continued pulling out and pushing in, quickening his movements. The new sensation was starting to overwhelm me and surprise stuck me as my stomach started to tighten. I had not expected to orgasm whilst losing my virginity. I started to moan in pleasure, and 10K couldn't help but smile. We had both been so nervous about not being able to pleasure each other, although the pinching never really went away throughout it all.

"Are you close?" He asked, he probably wasn't able to last much longer either. I nodded my head and he tried to hold out until I came. Luckily I soon felt my orgasm hit at the same time he hit his high. He kept grinding for as long as possible to prolong the feeling but he soon collapsed on top of me. He stayed there until his breathing slowed back down to a regular pace before pulling out and flopping beside me.

I watched as he attempted to remove the condom with a little difficulty, much more than he had slipping it on, and I couldn't help but giggle softly. He sent me a look as I slipped my head under the pillow to hide my small giggles. When he pulled the pillow up, throwing it to the end of the bed, I saw that 10K had now covered his naked self with a spare pair of boxers and handed me his shirt to wear until we had to leave again for our babysitting shift. He climbed back in next to me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he pulled me to his bare chest.

"So, how was that?" I decided to ask, breaking the content silence.

"Seriously? Do you need to ask?" He questioned and my cheeks flushed a light, rosy pink. "But was it good for you?" He countered, deadly serious and laced with concern.

"Yes, absolutely. We should do that again sometimes," I chuckled with a playful wink as his hand stroked my arm.

"I completely agree," He nodded, using his fingers to tilt my head up to kiss me. Eventually after we pulled away, I laid my head back against his chest - listening to his racing heart. We remained in that position for a while, probably almost falling asleep wrapped around each other until I shot up, remembering something.

"Shit, aren't you meant to pee after sex?!"

Chapter Text

CHAPTER SEVEN. AT PEACE.

Springfield, Illinois.

We were completely surrounded by a large group of Zs. 10K was stood on top of a car, shooting cogs at them with his slingshot. I mirrored his position, using my bow instead. Warren and Vasquez were back to back, fighting them off up close. Doc was frantically wailing on each zombie with a baseball bat. It didn't even have nails on it.

There was one wearing some sort of motorcycle gear. It got up close to my car, growling at me before trying to climb up. Failing, obviously. I raised my bow and shot it in the centre of its forehead before piercing another one in the neck. I glanced to the side, greeted with 10K giving me a small smile to which I quickly returned before jumping off the car and attacking on ground before I ran out of arrows.

"Doc!" I heard Murphy yell. I turned my head in the direction of his voice to see him throw Lucy across the road, over an approaching pack of zombies. I winced, bracing for her crashing to the ground but luckily Doc caught her. Only just, though.

"Murphy, what the fuck?! You don't throw the baby around like she's a ball!" I exclaimed, spinning around to stab a zombie that was creeping up behind me. It dropped to the floor with a grunt.

Murphy only shrugged his shoulders at me, signalling that he had ran out of options. I glared at him as Doc ran to the safety of the bus. Soon enough, we heard Lucy's cry again followed by Doc's screaming, "Let me out!"

I turned, pulling out my pistol and pocketing my knife again. He had gotten himself locked inside the bus.

"Come on, guys, help!" Doc shouted again, a sense of urgency evident in his voice. Addy and Warren tried to pry the doors open whilst Vasquez and I covered for them. They quickly managed to free Doc and the screaming baby, but followed after was a bus full of Lincoln zombies.

"What in God's name?" Warren asked, utterly perplexed. And to think I thought I had seen it all.

"Oh good, you see them too," Doc sighed, tossing Lucy to Addy, "Addy, hot potato!"

I started firing each Lincoln in the head, watching in annoyance as Addy threw Lucy to Warren. "Guys, she's still a baby!" I reminded. More Lincolns dropped from the bus as 10K made his way beside me, still using his slingshot.

All that could be heard was the slicing of heads as we all worked our way through the Lincolns. Even Warren was shooting, baby still cradled in her arms. Yep, we are badarses.

After a while of shooting and throwing Lucy around, even though I blatantly refused to join in with babyball. So when she was thrown to me, I kept her until all the zombies were finished with. I remembered from middle school that child endangerment was a federal offence. That’s right, I still had morals.

Doc shook his head, gazing at all the Lincoln zombie corpses, "This was so wrong." Lucy's crying continued, she was definitely going to be the death of us one day.

Murphy ran out from behind the bus, Cassandra in tow, with eager arms open, "I'll take her now." But I shook my head, cocking a cradled Lucy from Murphy's reach.

"Come on, give me my daughter," Murphy insisted, trying to lift her from me but I took a great step back. I didn't give him an exact answer until I adjusted Lucy in her arms and used my free arm to punch Murphy repeatedly on the shoulder,

"You don't throw a baby like that," I scolded. Each word followed by a punch. Lucy gurgled in delight at being bounced as I did so.

"Ow!" He yelled in pain, squeezing his punched arm, "I panicked. I won't do it again. Can I hold her now? Or are you going to keep assaulting me?"

I rolled my eyes, placing Lucy into his outstretched arms, "Here, take your kid," I muttered, walking back besides 10K.

Murphy smiled, letting out a gentle laugh as he cooed at his baby, "Adorable, isn't she?" He asked, the look of annoyance dropped from is face entirely.

"Thought you didn't like babies," Warren pointed out.

"I never said that. I said I didn't like that baby," Murphy answered, rocking Lucy back and forth. I actually had no idea what baby they were talking about since Lucy was the only apocalypse baby I had encountered but I dismissed it. "But she's daddy's precious little angel, aren't you?"

I cringed as Murphy continued cooing and started to make baby noises at her. everybody was a little weirded out. I shook my head slightly, leaning towards 10K, "I don't have precious is the exact word I'd use."

He didn't take his eyes off of the weird sight of happy Murphy before us when replying, "Same. She’s like..."

He trailed off, not wanting to be insulting towards an innocent baby. I, however, had no problem with it.

"Weird? Strange? Odd? All of the above? ...Blue?" I listed, eyebrows raising.

He nodded, a smile ghosting on his lips, "Exactly."

***

We kept walking for a while, further and further away from town. We stopped in the middle of a forest field to take a break. I didn't think I would ever get used to Murphy acting like, well, like that. He was like a completely different person towards her. And worse, Cassandra was more protective than ever - sitting perched in an animalistic stance as a guard.

Murphy, Cassandra and the baby sat far from the rest of the group, leaning against a boulder. "Hey, is anybody else worried about the baby?" Doc asked, approaching us and wearing a Lincoln hat.

"I don't know whether to be worried for that baby or afraid of that baby," Warren admitted, "You see the way she attracts Zs?"

"That baby, and I use the word loosely, is gonna get us all killed."

"Bro, she's a baby. Relax," Addy snapped to Vasquez, I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. A baby sprung from Murphy's loins," Doc added.

Warren shook her head, "She’s not just a baby," She commented, standing up, "She’s something else. She could grow up to be the saviour of the human race or the queen of destruction. And we need to find out which and do what we got to do."

And with that, she walked away - Doc and Addy following close behind. As soon as they were far enough, Vasquez grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder and started to walk off.

"Where are you going?" I called, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I just have to run a few errands."

"In the middle of the woods?" I questioned.

He didn't answer, just said, "There’s probably some food in town, I’m going to take a look. It’ll be better than sticking around here with that thing. I'll be back sooner than you think."

I shrugged, leaving him to it since it was clear I wasn't going to get a precise answer, "You better because we'll be leaving with or without you, it doesn't matter to me."

With everyone gone and 10K God knows where, I sat down where Warren previously was - biting my nail as I watched Cassandra mindlessly massage Murphy's feet. Sorrow embedded my entire being. I had no idea why I had taken so much responsibility for her, I had barely spoken to her when she was, well, alive. I could barely look at Cassandra since Lucy was born, the guilt was just too much. I was even getting back pain from being overwhelmingly guilty about her 'condition'.

"Are you okay?" I heard from behind me, as they placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. I tilted my head upwards to find 10K.

I smiled softly the best that I could, nodding my head. He raised an eyebrow, not believing me in the slightest. "It’s Cassandra, isn't it?"

I sighed, giving in as I swirled my body around to actually look at him, "Just look at her. I can't bare it any longer. Especially since she's become a bodyguard for two now. Do you think she knows what she's even doing anymore? Surely she's just too far gone now..."

10K shrugged, settling down beside me, "I don't think anyone knows exactly what's going on in Cassandra's head. Or ever will. But I promise, we will help her soon. We just have to get Lucy out of the way first," He reassured, wrapping an arm around me for a sideways hug. "Hey, you wanna come do some fishing with me?" He offered, a wide smile on his face.

"Did you find a lake or something?" I asked, a smile etching onto my face too.

10K nodded, "Yeah, not too far from here. I can teach you all my tricks," He winked.

"Do you even have a fishing rod?"

"Of sorts," He replied, getting to his feet as he walked off - expecting me to follow him.

I scoffed, "How do you make a fishing rod in the apocalypse?" I asked, astounded as I stood. He didn't answer, but I knew he had that stupid smirk on his face. "Tommy! How?" I yelled playfully, jogging to catch up with him as I linked my arm through his.

***

"Caught some trout," 10K announced as we made our way back from fishing. Turns out, I was terrible at it but it did give me a good excuse to work on my tan.

"Kid, you are a fishing guru," Doc commented happily taking the fish from him. Addy laughed as Doc continued, "What’s your secret?"

"Be one with the fish."

I rolled my eyes at the seriousness of his statement, as I sat down besides Addy. I told him it was stupid but did he listen? Of course not.

Warren smiled up at 10K, "Atta' boy." Before clearing her throat and hushing her voice to a whisper, "Hey. We need to get a look at that baby."

"Yeah, well good luck," Addy muttered, "Super Dad over there won't let anybody touch her. I’m guessing he's afraid we're gonna leave her behind."

Everyone fell silent.

"Zombie baby or not, she's still a kid. It’s not like she knows what she's doing. We can't exactly leave her anyway - that'd just be wrong. More wrong than brutally killing a load of Lincoln zombies," I added, glancing at Doc as I practically repeated his statement from in town.

"Something tells me she's gonna outlive us all," Warren looked around, noticing the absence of a group member, "Where’s Vasquez?"

I nodded at her question, "I saw him leave. He said he was going on an errand, something about finding food in town. But that son of a bitch is lying. He’s always disappearing out of nowhere, has anybody else noticed that?"

Warren nodded too, getting up, "Well I’m gonna find out where he keeps disappearing to."

***

Soon enough, after a while of brainstorming, we finally had an idea for how to get Murphy to hand over Lucy. We had no idea whether it would work but we figured it was worth a shot. All Doc had to do was give Lucy a little checkup. Yes, she was like half-zombie but she still could've developed a fever or something.

10K, Addy and I watched from afar. Doc and Murphy exchanged a few words before the three of us got up and made our way over to the rest of them. I cringed as I saw Lucy was using a finger as a dummy. I guess it would've been alright if it was a clean finger. But it wasn't. Murphy tried to pull the finger out of Lucy's gripped mouth with a struggle. As soon as he removed it, Lucy started crying.

Instead of placing the finger back inside her mouth, Murphy glared at Doc and threw the finger at him, "Great. You happy now?" He snapped before trying to calm Lucy down again.

"Look, Murphy. Nobody’s saying you're a bad father," Doc started, "We just think it'd be a good idea to, you know, give the baby a little checkup. That’s all."

"There is nothing wrong with little LuLu. And since when are you a paediatrician, huh?"

I raised a brow, "So she's absolutely fine? Not hungry, needs her nappy cleaned?"

Murphy gave me a sarcastic nod. "Thank you, Angel. If I ever need a babysitter I’ll make sure not to call you."

I flipped him off as Addy started to try a calmer approach, "Murphy, she's just had sugar water to eat. Let Doc have a quick look at her.

Murphy shook his head adamantly as he rocked her, "She looks fine to me."

Doc tilted his head, "Takes a village."

Murphy got up, glaring at all of us, "I don't know what you're up to. But I don't like it," He spat, pushing past us. Cassandra followed him and we followed them after. Murphy turned around in frustration, "Stop following me."

"We’re not following you," Doc lied. But we were definitely following him.

"You’re afraid of her. Afraid of what she might become. What we might become," He accused, motioning to Doc and Addy, "Don’t forget. I've seen how you treat babies." This was coming from a guy who literally threw her like a ball mere hours ago.

"And we've seen how you treat humans," 10K argued back. I agreed wholeheartedly, he treated pretty much everyone like shit. He thinks we're beneath him because his blood has the vaccine.

"I’m not gonna let you hurt her."

"No one is going to hurt her Murphy," I shrugged, "Not me, at least," I added.

I could see the softness in his eyes, it looked like he was about to hand her over to me. But Lucy's crying cut him off and he shook his head fiercely, rocking her gently. "Baby and I are going for a walk," He informed, looking to Cassandra, "Make sure they stay here. Nobody leaves," He instructed.

"Nobody leaves," She repeated in a montone, robotic voice. Completely different from when I last heard her spoke, like she still had some Cassandra left in her. But not anymore.

Addy tried to follow after him, "Where do you think you're going?" She asked. Cassandra blocked her way immediately, glaring.

"Someplace safe from people like you," He snapped, glaring at us one at a time before departing further into the woods.

***

"I think we got to go after him," Addy sighed as we all returned in a circle, guarded by Cassandra in a tense silence, "He shouldn't be out there alone. Especially not with the baby."

"And especially when said baby attracts all the zombies in the fucking state," I added. All they have to hear is one cry from Lucy and they pounce in an instant, wanting to rip off the arms of whoever was holding her.

"What about little miss sunshine over there?" Doc asked, nodding his head to Cassandra who was watching over us intently, "He told her to stop us."

"She can't stop all of us at once," 10K pointed out.

"We should give her mercy," I muttered, breaking the moment of silence as we each thought of a plan.

Doc looked at me wearily, "I dunno, kid. I think we should wait for Warren and Vasquez. They’ll be here soon."

I crossed my arms over my chest firmly, I wasn't backing down on this. "Come on, guys, we have to face facts. Yes, she used to be our friend but now she's just Murphy's little bitch who does whatever he says. So if he said to kill us if we leave, she will not hesitate to do so. We should give her mercy now before things get even worse than they already are. She doesn't even sound like herself anymore. I know for a fact, if that was me over there, I'd want you guys to mercy me too."

Addy spoke up, her too feeling off about my suggestion, "Look, we need to think of something soon. We don't even know where Warren and Vasquez are. And what if something happens to the baby? Or Murphy? He didn't take any food for the baby. Why would he not take food for the baby?"

Doc shook his head, assuming the worst of what Addy was suggesting, "Oh. He wouldn't do that, would he?" He questioned.

"We don't know what he's capable of."

I sighed, trying not to assume that he might've actually killed Lucy, "It was a quick decision. This is his kid we're talking about. He wouldn't," I shook my head, my eyes flicking to Cassandra.

"He’s more zombie than he is human," Addy argued.

I glanced back over to Cassandra once more, she shifted in her crouch as if ready for any sudden movements. I frowned, "Are you guys sure we can't kill her?" I pressed, my eyes pleading desperately.

"No, Angel. That’s not-"

"Maybe it is," 10K cut Addy off, surprising all of us. We averted our attention towards him, "Angel might be onto something. There’s four of us and one of her. If she tries to stop us, we'll do what we have to do."

Addy gave us both a look, "You can't be serious?"

"She’s not Cassandra. Not anymore."

"I don't know, man," Doc said, almost agreeing, "She is getting weirder. And you've seen how strong she is."

"Not to mention she's Murphy's devoted slave now," I snapped in addition.

"She would not hurt us. Not really," Addy argued again, still not convinced.

Doc shook his head, looking at her apologetically, "I wouldn't be so sure."

I gave each of them a look. "We all run in different directions. She’ll grab one of us, and the other three can go look for Murphy." I look to 10K after displaying my plan, who nodded at me in approval. Doc did the same. Even then, Addy was still anxious about the plan but agreed to it nonetheless. She was probably hoping not to resort to such things we were discussing only moments ago.

Addy cleared her throat before we all stood up, "Alright. We’re doing this," She stated in validation.

"I hope she doesn't overreact and do something crazy," Doc mumbled.

We stood still, all aimed in different directions. Out of the corner of her eye, Addy watched as Cassandra cocked her head in waiting. She was onto us. Addy then flicked her gaze to us, "Now," She hissed as we all sprinted away.

I bolted deeper through the woods and kept running, not looking back. I would've heard Cassandra's growling if she had followed me. I jumped over a small hole in the ground before immediately ducking under a low brunch, filled with adrenaline. I glided past a few more trees before I heard Addy's pained scream not too far away. I stopped immediately, glancing around for any sign of her and potentially Cassandra. She screamed again, even louder than the first. My eyes widened in panicked as I followed the sound of her scream.

When I brushed past the trees and into the open, Cassandra had Addy pinned to the ground, her arm tightly pressed behind her back.

"Cassandra, stop it!" I yelled, not wanting to get any closer in case she hurt Addy more.

Cassandra tugged her arm forcefully as Addy cried out. Doc and 10K were soon at my side. seeing that she was outnumbered, Cassandra released her hold on Addy, who got up and stumbled over to us. I held my arms out to her, almost protecting her from Cassandra, and wrapped them around her in a strong hug.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Doc cried.

"Nobody leaves," Cassandra responded bluntly in her new zombotic voice.

"We told you. It’s not her."

***

Well, that plan was a complete bust. My eyes didn't tear away from Cassandra and hers didn't leave mine as she escorted us back to our prison spot. Addy was groaning as she held her arm. The good news was that she said the feeling was starting to come back.

"What are we doing about it?" 10K asked, "We can't just stay here. Who knows what Murphy's up to."

"Could we try talking to her?" Doc suggested.

Addy scoffed, leaning against the bolder as pain consumed her arm, "I don't think she's in a talking mood."

I sighed, I was putting it off ever since she turned like this but now was finally the time. I stood, pulling off my jacket and leaving my bow there, unarmed. "She’ll talk to me."

10K grabbed my hand, pulling me back slightly in hesitation, "Are you sure? I don't want her to hurt you too," He admitted.

I offered him a soft smile to try and mask my nerves, "We have a connection now, something that ties us together. We went through something together in Colorado. This is our best shot," I elaborated, removing my hand from his grip as I gently stroked his knuckle in reassurance, "Just get ready to run."

I took a deep breath before I walked towards Cassandra. She sneered at me as I got closer. When at a safe distance, I knelt down in front of her so our faces were in line. She was so far gone that I was starting to fear for my life. I just needed to distract her long enough for the others to get a head start. Cassandra glanced at me before looking away, refusing to meet my gaze again.

"Cassandra." No reaction. "Cass, we need to talk. You really hurt Addy." She murmured in reply and started to blink rapidly as if trying to fight back the emotion. So she is still there. Deep, deep down. "You’ve hurt someone you once called a friend just because some guy told you to. Cassandra, I need you to listen to me. We need to look for Murphy so we can help him. So I can help him. I care about that arsehole just as much as you do, if you're even capable of displaying emotion anymore. But we need to find him before we can do that though."

"Nobody leaves."

I sighed, dismayed. I looked over my shoulder at the others, making that their cue to run off. Cassandra tried to jump but I wrapped my arms around her and tackled her to the floor. She stood up, her strength overpowering mine, and elbowed me before spinning around and pushing me back. I stumbled, falling on my back as she started screeching demonically.

I quickly got to my feet just as she leaned in preparation to start charging at me. Once again, she tackled me to the ground and clawed at my face. I grabbed her wrist before headbutting her and flipped us over. I bought my free fist up, colliding it with her brow. Just as I was about to do another punch, she restrained me by my fist, punching me in the jaw before kicking me off.

My body soared across the field. My back hit one of the rocks. I groaned before forcing myself to get back up. I grabbed a stray rock near me before throwing it at her. Luckily, I hit her head, causing her to stumble back. I ran over as quick as I could and kicked her chest. She backhanded me before grabbing my shoulders, pushing me off again. I felt my head hit something, probably the same large rock than last time, my head flooded with warmth of fresh blood. I grunted as I slowly rose to a stand, black spots starting to cloud my vision. Cassandra growled at me from across the field. I barely blinked before she disappeared. I looked around to see her crouched at a pile of boulders. She didn't even look tired out. I’m fucked.

She growled at me again before leaping straight into the air. I spun around and started running. Cassandra slammed into my body with all her force, knocking me to the ground. She clutched my head, bashing it against the hard grass repeatedly. I moved one of my elbows up, pulling her nose before I started to crawl forward desperately. She was going to kill me. Cassandra yanked my leg back, crawling on top of me.

We both struggled against each other. I grabbed her leg, trying to hold her in place but she brought her free foot back and kicked my jaw. I could then taste the metal in my mouth as she kicked at me again. I grabbed the nearest rock and smashed it against her ankle. Cassandra roared furiously before I knocked her away, getting up. I barely even ran before Cassandra tripped me from the ground. She grabbed my ankle, dragging me back again before getting fully on top of me. Her hands wrapped around my throat and started squeezing tightly.

My eyed widened as I weakly attempted to punch at her. She tightened her hold on me. I gasped for air at any chance I got, still thrashing around. Cassandra didn't stop her constant growl as my vision worsened to the point where I could only see her zombie-like eyes. My windpipes crushed against her strength. I kept hitting her arms but it didn't even make a scratch before,

Bang!

Cassandra gasped. her grip immediately loosened. I choked for air as she went limp against me, falling on my chest. Cassandra was pushed off me and she was replaced with 10K’s worried eyes. His figure was absolutely blurry but I knew for certain it was him.

"Angel, oh god. I’m so sorry," He sobbed, pulling me close to his chest. I felt the absence of his hand once he realised I was bleeding.

"I’m so fucking stupid," I chuckled weakly that it probably only came out as a breath, "But I almost had her, Tommy. She’s at peace now. Thank you."

He tried to smile, but I knew it was hurting him too much due to my condition, "Yeah, I’m sure you did. I promised myself I wouldn't let her hurt you, I should've stuck with you. I’m so sorry," He apologised, cupping my bruised face in his hands gently.

I couldn't even reply before my consciousness slowly slipped away. I couldn't hold on any longer, but I could rest easy knowing I had gotten justice for Cassandra.

***

I awoke to voices approaching, I looked over to see 10K kneeling besides whom I assumed was Cassandra's grave. I slowly turned my head to see Addy and Doc returning, followed by Warren and Vasquez.

"Well, we didn't find Murphy," Addy revealed disappointedly.

"But we found these two," Doc finished, referring to the two behind them.

"And not a minute too soon. We didn't have much fight left," Warren added.

"The fuck happened to you guys?" I asked once my vision had stopped blurring so I could see them both limping over to us.

"It doesn't matter what happened to them, what happened to you?!" Addy asked, immediately rushing to my side. Her gentle hands cupped the bruise marks on my neck and her eyes widened as they fell on the crusted blood at the back of my head.

In answer, I weakly gestured to her grave, "Cassandra... I beat her arse. I think she gave me a concussion, though," I suggested.

Addy rose an eyebrow at me, “You beat her ass or did she beat yours?”

I chuckled lightly, “It was mutual.”

Doc appeared beside me, gazing upon me with concern laced in his eyes. He nodded his head as he peered into my eyes, my pupils were obviously dilated, confirming my suspicions.

"I’m so tired. But aren't you, like, not meant to sleep when you've got concussion otherwise you'll get brain damage or some shit?" I asked, the words aching in my throat yet I couldn't stop them from fumbling out my lips.

Doc chuckled at my statement, nodding again, "Or some shit," He laughed. His face fell, however, when his attention was drawn to the massive hole in the ground before a silent 10K. "What’s that?" He asked.

Doc and Addy both got up and tentatively moved towards the small grave. I heard Addy fall to her knees, "Oh my god," She whispered in disbelief.

"I did what I had to do," He answered before anybody could ask any questions. He glanced at me for only a second, his eyes clouding with what I thought was guilt, before staring down at the ground below.

"You mercied her?" Warren inquired.

"She gave me no choice. Angel would be dead if I had gotten there a moment later," He defended.

"Saw that one coming," Vasquez commented. I groaned at his statement, my best attempt at scolding him. His stupid comments were really starting to get on my nerves.

"She was our friend."

"No," 10K shook his head, "No, she wasn't. Cassandra was our friend. That wasn't Cassandra."

"It’s okay, kid. We understand," Doc replied sympathetically.

"Don’t try to make me feel better about it. I don't want to feel better about it. Look at Angel, she can barely talk. There’s nothing to feel better about. Nothing. That’s what I want to feel."

Ouch. Guilt filled my entire being, more guilt than I had ever felt before. Knowing that I was the reason for his pain. He had to kill someone we all once cared about because of me. Because I was too weak to defend myself. I felt my heart shatter hearing those words leave his mouth. A single hot tear slipped down my cheek.

"What’s going on here?" I heard Murphy from a distance. Perfect timing, not. "Where’s Cassandra?"

There was a moment of silence between the group until Warren decided to be the bearer of bad news, "She’s dead. I’m sorry."

"Dead?" Murphy repeated in a mumble, "How? What happened?"

I scoffed from my spot on the floor, craning my neck to stare at the blue man, "How?" I sneered, "I’ll tell you how. When you told her 'nobody leaves' she took that as a command to kill. Me. Kill me. If you hadn't noticed by me lying on the floor with a bloody f-" I cut myself off, dizziness overcoming me. I had spoken too fast in anger. I took a breath to recover myself.

"Take it easy, sweetheart," I heard Doc advice.

"A bloody fucking head," I continued, breathing heavily, "10K mercied her trying to protect me," I explained.

Murphy looked to 10K, "You," He said, venom slightly laced in his tone, "I gave her life. And you had no right to take that away."

"She wasn't human," 10K argued, "That wasn't human. Not since you bit her."

Murphy shook his head condescendingly, "3255," His glare flickered from me to 10K, "All to protect your little girlfriend."

Murphy grunted, launching himself at 10K but Warren was fast enough to block him. She shook her head, whispering something I couldn't quite make out. And then, we all noticed the absence of quite a distinct group member. "Where’s the baby? Where’s Lucy?" Warren asked.

"You don't have to worry about the baby anymore," He said bluntly, before gazing downwards at me, "Can I talk to Angel, alone?" He asked.

10K blocked him from approaching me, "You're not going anywhere near her," He threatened.

"It’s fine, 10K. Let him talk," I sighed, looking Murphy dead in the eye. Reluctantly, the group moved away to let us talk privately. Murphy watched until they were out of earshot before he started,

"I’m sorry, Princess, I really am. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. Not again," He admitted, kneeling beside my laid figure. I could tell in his eyes, this was genuine.

"It’s fine, I forgive you, I guess. No point on dwelling on what can't be reversed. But for real this time, I forgive you. It’s only a concussion. Even after everything you've done, I forgive you," I offered him a small smile, "Besides, it's also not the first head injury you've given me so there's that..." I paused, discussing the clear elephant in the room, "I am sorry about Cassandra, but she needed to die. She was more animal than human, Murphy. And whenever I look at her, I just think about how that could've been me. If we hadn't got kidnapped together, I would've let you bite me. And then I would've become that, mindlessly following after you," I winced at the thought I always tried to avoid, tears embedding in my eyes, "I meant what I said back at the lab, I’d rather be dead. And I’m glad she's dead too. She was in pain, and now she's where she deserves to be. At peace."

"I saved her," He bluntly replied.

I scoffed, raising an eyebrow, "By making her go feral? Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better. But Cassandra wouldn't have wanted that either if she knew what that bite meant for her."

There was a moment of silence before Murphy eventually sighed, "Well I’m glad you ended up okay," He admitted.

I shook my head, "I’m not. He can't even look at me, Murphy," I said, my voice cracking as I referred to 10K and his emotionless voice, "That hurts, so bad. And I don't know what to do about it."

"I'm not apologising to him," Murphy snapped instantly, before I could even suggest anything. Which I wasn't. I knew it would only make things worse.

"I wasn't asking you to. I just gotta hope he'll come around, I guess."

"Well I’m always here to talk," Murphy revealed, which slightly surprised me but I didn't show it, "You’re my favourite, you know. Out of the group."

"Ha. Suck it, Doc," I chuckled weakly.

Murphy gave me one last comforting smile before going to walk off back to the group, I knew he wasn't going to help me walk. And I was starting to doubt 10K would either.

"And Lucy," I added, gently, "I’m sorry about her, too. What happened?"

"I left her with some people."

I nodded my head, "Nice people I’m assuming if they agreed to take in your blue daughter... Maybe you can come back and get her, once the apocalypse is over?" I suggested.

"Yeah, I might just do that."

Chapter Text

CHAPTER EIGHT.   THE SILENT TREATMENT.

Things had been really awkward between me and 10M since that day in Springfield. He didn't speak to me. He didn't even look at me. Every time we were travelling in the vehicle he would always sit next to Doc, leaving me with Addy or Vasquez. He talked to everyone else but me. At first, I thought it was because of Cassandra. Taking someone's life was definitely something that kept a hold of you. But he was acting like himself with everyone else but me. One day, I decided to walk with him in the back of the group. I thought he might actually speak to me but, of course, I was wrong.

"So..." I started slowly, easing into it, "How're you doing?"

He didn't say anything. He kept his eyes trained straight ahead. Already, I was starting to become irritated and just pissed off.

"Is that it? You're just not going to talk to me? At all?" Nothing. "You know what? If you're going to act like this and pretend that nothing happened, then you should've just let Cassandra kill me."

His head whipped round to glare at me, "How could you say that?" He snapped, his eyebrows furrowed sharply at me. I smirked, finally getting a reaction out of him.

"Am I wrong?" In reply, his head shot straight ahead again and we were back to the silent treatment. I sighed, "Fine. Just so you know, you can talk to me about whatever's going on in that head of yours. But if you don't, just stop being a complete dick and ignoring me."

I watched as his jaw clenched. I sighed once more before quickening my pace until I reached Addy's side. She looked at me before glancing behind at 10K.

"Nothing?" She asked. She had noticed the tension between us almost immediately. I think the entire group did. She even asked me exactly what had happened and I told her the truth. My truth, at least. I had no idea why he was acting like that.

I shook my head, "Nope."

Addy gave me a small smile, "Hey, give him some time. 10K can't ignore you forever."

"Oh he can be stubborn when he wants to be."

Addy smirked playfully, "Bet he's not as stubborn as you are 24/7," She joked. We both chuckled as we eventually approached the Mississippi River.

There was a small boat bobbing at the edge of the river, which made me sigh in relief as we dropped our bags. I couldn't walk for long distances since my concussion. However, the boat was packed with zombies. Oh, and the fact that I can't swim.

"Well, the Mississippi sure ain't as mighty as it used to be," Doc started off.

"We can move faster on river than on foot," Warren advised, "We can take this south to Memphis and then head west."

Doc sighed tiredly, obviously not wanting to deal with the zombies, "Can’t we find another one?"

Warren pulled out her machete, "No."

We all started to pull our weapons out. I grabbed one of my pistols and held it up as we crept towards the boat.

"You wanna help us out?" I heard Vasquez ask. I turned to see him direct his question to Murphy, who hadn't moved an inch.

"No, I don't," He answered bluntly, "By the way, I can't swim." He crossed his arms over his chest before adding, "And I don't think Angel should be helping either. She can only just walk by herself," He argued, much to my surprise. Maybe he was trying to redeem himself.

Warren turned before she stepped onto the boat at all the commotion. She gave me a look as if to agree with Murphy, causing me to sigh in frustration and hang back. "I wanna help," I mumbled as I stood besides Murphy, watching over our group.

"You’ve barely recovered from a concussion. Just rest for, like, a week or so then pull your weight. Even more to make up for your lost time if you really want," He suggested.

I smirked, finally piecing together why he was doing all this to aid me, "You feel bad, don't you?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head adamantly, "I don't feel remorse for people."

"But you do for me, I can tell."

He didn't reply. Because we were finally speaking, I decided it would be a good time to tell him my new nickname for him.

"Hey! Guess what?" I asked with a bright smile on my face.

Murphy rolled his eyes at my expression, he already knew I was up to something, "Do I really want to guess?"

I shrugged, "I thought of the perfect nickname for you. It’s Smurphy."

Murphy looked at me dead in the eye, disappointment stricken across his face. He shook his head once, sternly, "If you ever call me that I will end your life."

"You secretly love it."

By then, the boat was secure, and the others were all looking down on something. Addy beckoned us over. As we were approaching, I admitted, "And, for the record, I can't swim either."

When we both stepped onto the boat, I heard Vasquez say, "What are you doing here?" He asked a man in a bucket hat, laying on the floor with his hands raised.

"It’s my boat."

Doc glanced around at the group, "Makes sense."

"It’s ours now," Vasquez and I both muttered in sync. I grinned at him at our jinx but he just shrugged it off nonchalantly. arsehole.

"What the hell? Now wait a minute," The owner reasoned, trying to get up, "I don't like this deal. Can we negotiate?" Vasquez cocked his pistol and aimed it at the guy's head. The owner raised his hands again in fear. "Hey, listen. Listen, this boat ain't easy to operate. Well, plus, I know the river. The channel patterns. I’d make a great asset."

"Forget it," Vasquez snapped, "You talk too much."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, listen," the guy stuttered out, "I can keep quiet. You won't hear a peep."

"Can you take us south to Memphis?" Warren asked.

"Well hell yes," The man replied with a nod. Warren eyed Vasquez, silently commanding him to put away his gun. Which he did.

"Let’s go."

He nodded, getting up to sit in the driver's seat, "I’ll take you to the Gortner Bridge, just north of the city. Road block on the east side keeps things pretty quiet. After that, where you headed? East, west?"

Vasquez gave the man a look, "Shut up." Took the words right from my mouth.

The man nodded nervously, "Sure thing. Nothing worse than a blabber mouth that won't shut up." As a blabber mouth, I took great offense to that statement. He then proceeded to tell us a random anecdote about his brother in law.

"Does this thing actually run?" Addy asked, cutting him off abruptly.

The guy looked nervous. More than usual. "I swear it ran as soon as yesterday."

Warren didn't take her eyes off him, completely suspicious, "10K, check the motor."

10K set his gun aside. "Oh, thank you, young man. Yeah, I got a stinger in my neck. A lot of weakness in my upper extremities."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, no one cares," I said before my eyes drew unwillingly towards 10K. He had a sleeveless black hoodie on so I got a good view of his biceps. He wasn't that jacked but he wasn't like a twig either. My chest started thumping when he started to pull at the motor. I could see the muscles in his back contract firmly. I snapped out of my trance when I felt someone slap my arm. Addy had a small smirk on her face while she shook her head.

"You might want to wipe that drool off your chin," She whispered before heading towards 10K to help him out with the zombie that he had pulled out from the water. She whacked the Z that was entwined with the motor, kicking it off.

"I don't drool," I muttered. I even wiped my mouth self-consciously to make sure. And I was right, I don't drool.

***

We were finally sailing along the Mississippi. I sat next to Addy as we played a game of slapsies. At first, she didn't know what that was because it was probably an English game. But she soon got the hang of it. It was my turn so when she tried to slap my hands, I immediately pulled away causing her to aimlessly slap the air. I smirked at her as I help my hands up in triumph.

"You gotta be faster than that, Addy."

She chuckled at her millionth loss, "How are you so good?"

I winked, "I know all the tricks, baby," I laughed, she didn't take long to join me.

I felt eyes on me and looked to find 10K staring at me. He let out a breath before drawing his eyes away. I decided at that point I didn't understand him at all. I thought I did. That was the first time he looked at me without me having to say anything to him yet he doesn't say a thing. He completely ignored me, again. Does he hate me? Is that it? Maybe he hated that I played the distraction, forcing him to kill our friend trying to save me. I thought he was on board with my plan to mercy Cassandra. what the fuck was his problem?

"Hey, I think I know those dudes," Doc said, standing up to peer at the edge of the boat. I squinted my eyes as two guys with a rowboat approached us.

"Oh my god. Is that..." Addy started.

"Sketchy and Skeezy," Warren finished for her, causing me to audibly groan out in frustration.

"Oh fuck," I moaned, resting my head against the edge of the boat until my eyes landed on a confused Vasquez. I laughed to myself, "They are gonna piss you right off, mate," I warned him. He rolled his eyes at me before peering out the river to get a better look at them.

Doc patted our tour guide on the shoulder, "Slow down, man."

"Slowing down."

"Hey, we're not slowing down," Vasquez commanded, taking my comment into consideration.

Murphy nodded from his spot in the corner, "Yeah. for once I agree with him."

"Aye aye, sir," The boat guy said, doing whatever we told him to trying to not anger us in any way.

Doc shook his head, "Do what I tell you and slow down. Those are my friends," He encouraged urgently before we passed them.

I scoffed, "They’re annoying con-artists. And I've only met them, like, once," I argued.

The guy looked unsure of who to follow, especially when Vasquez pointed his gun at him. "Is that really necessary?"

Warren pushed his hand down, diffusing the situation, "Let’s check it out."

"Mistake," Vasquez countered and I nodded in agreement.

So on Warren's orders we approached Sketchy and Skeezy's little lifeboat. Sketchy noticed us and smiled. "Doc!" He yelled out, "Well I’ll be damned!"

"Well if it ain't tweedle dee and tweedle dumbass," Doc greeted, a small snort escaping me. Those were perfect names for the two.

"Oh, man. Your guys' timing is perfect."

Addy motioned to Skeezy who was covered in bird feathers, "What happened to him?"

"He fell in with the wrong crowd," Sketchy answered before looking to 10K, "Hey, kid! You still shooting out the lights?"

"Yeah."

"Great. Help us with this gear, will ya?" He asked. I didn't even notice 10K was standing really close to me until he moved. Sketchy then drew his attention to me, "Hey, sweetheart, how're you doing?" He asked with a grin.

I grinned fakely back, "Better if we hadn't ran into you two," I answered honestly.

Sketchy shook his head, batting his hand dismissively, "Nah, you love us really."

I hummed, shaking my head, "No, I don't."

"You’re not bringing that on board," Vasquez called firmly, halting them from having a conversation with the rest of the group.

"Sir. With all due respect, this is valuable booty worth about four weeks of road time."

"You get one," Warren ordered. They then argued about some salt and pepper shakers for a bit until they finally decided which stupid box to pick. Once we were all reseated and off along the river again, Sketchy fixed his jacket.

"Just so happens you caught us on the upswing. Long gestating plans have been percolating and coming into fruition all at once. It’s been a pretty good season for us."

Doc started laughing, "Where the hell'd you find all that stuff?"

Sketchy looked at the bag that Skeezy was carrying, the one Doc was referring to, "Oh, yeah, we stayed in Memphis for a bit. Happened by a little bitty place. Maybe you've heard of it. Former home of the King." I rolled my eyes at his exaggeration. It was only Elvis.

Doc continued to laugh, "You looted Graceland?"

"Oh, we cleaned the place out," Skeezy added whilst the other laughed along with Doc, "We had a couple of truckloads of authentic Elvis swag until we ran into a little bit of trouble."

Addy slowly nodded, "And if you were all the way in Mempis, how was it that you ended up here?" At least she wasn't buying it either. And I even saw Murphy roll his eyes.

"Oh, we took a river trail up north in Nebraska until we ran into some angry Albanians who did not like us," Sketchy replied, "Skeezy here damn near lost a leg."

I rolled my eyes again, "Well, does anyone like you? Like really," I asked sarcastically. They hadn't even been on the boat an hour and they were already starting to annoy the shit out of me.

Doc slapped my shoulder for interrupting. I gave him an annoyed look. "What happened?" He asked eagerly.

"They were gonna chop off my leg," Skeezy said, as if it was obvious. I think Doc was asking how they got into that predicament but either way, they should have.

"Damn."

I didn't even hide my irritation. I groaned before placing my head in my cupped hands. Those idiots were giving me more of a headache than I already had.

Sketchy went on as if nothing happened, "It was nothing a little bit of discourse couldn't mend. We’re all just animals," He pointed at the girls on the boat, "Looking for a connection." I sniffed in disapproval and I left 10K shift beside me.

"Oh and plus we got them with The Murphy," Skeezy added, excitedly. I stifled a laugh, this was going to be good.

"Excuse me?" Murphy questioned.

Sketchy nodded, oblivious, "Yeah, it's just this thing we do. It works cuz of Skeezy's passing resemblance."

"Resemblance? That so? And what exactly does The Murphy look like?" He continued to questioned. I tried to hide my smirk to get the best reaction out of them as possible. Although it seemed like they blocked out anything that wasn't a compliment or praise.

Sketchy rose and started to perform, "Over seven feet tall. Red eyes. Teeth like a mountain goat." I covered my mouth tightly to make sure I didn't make any noise. "He walks around on all fours. And he can blend into his surroundings like a chameleon." I felt the bubble in my throat. I really wanted to laugh more than anything in that moment. I leaned on someone and put more pressure on my mouth, not giving in.

"Yeah, when we saw him in Louisiana, he was green as moss," Skeezy added, "We saw him again a week later in Texas, and he looked like dirt." I couldn't take it anymore and began to giggle hardly. One of my arms held my stomach tightly while the other latched on the person's arm so I wouldn't slip off my seat. I ignored the look Murphy was giving me, wanting to remain strictly anonymous. But I really couldn't help it, this was fucking hilarious.

"You think this is funny?" Sketchy asked me, "He’s dangerous as all hell. I saw him turn a man inside out using his mind. Literally. Guy’s spleen just hanging out over his waistband."

"Bullshit," I chuckled.

"This is real, little lady," Sketchy said, "Most people don't understand."

"Oh, I understand. You two are a couple of lying morons who spoiled a rather pleasant boat ride," Murphy snapped and I nodded vigorously in agreement.

"I resent that."

Vasquez shot up, "I've heard enough." I furrowed my eyebrows, finally becoming self aware and of the face that I was still holding onto that person's arm. I looked down to see my arm wrapped around 10K’s. I yanked it away as if it was on fire, placing them firmly between my knees, ignoring the small blush rising to my cheeks.

"I’m throwing you both over," Vasquez threatened.

Sketchy and Skeezy then shot up too, shaking their heads desperately at him. Doc was trying to stop him but to no avail. I agreed entirely with Vasquez, they were wasting our time.

"You can't throw us in. Look, there's a zombie jams down river, okay?" Sketchy revealed, "It’d be like feeding us to piranhas."

"Your stories just get dumber and dumber."

"No, no, no, it's true. It’s true. All up and down the Mississippi," Skeezy rushed out.

"They start in Lake Onalaska and they drift down," Sketchy added.

Doc sighed, "Boys. You’re just digging a deeper hole."

"I swear on my mother's eyes, Doc."

Vasquez took a threatening step forward when the boat started to randomly shake and crash. 10K grabbed me and pulled me close as the boat rocked back and forth. My other hand reached for the edge of the boat so we wouldn't fly over.

"Zombie jam!" Our driver yelled. We looked over and saw a bunch of Zs swimming towards us. Some were trying to grab onto the boat.

"I told you!" Sketchy said.

Skeezy looked at him, "Nobody believes us!"

I glared at them both, "I wonder why?!"

"Guess we woke 'em up," Doc suggested. The Zs started to grip on the boat and haul themselves over. They were growling as a few were actually successful.

"Zombies on board!" The guy screamed. Panic flashed through my whole being, knowing exactly what Warren was going to command.

"Bail out!"

Through all the chaos, 10K and I were yanked away from each other. Before I could protest with my predicament, the boat shook once again, knocking me over the edge and into freezing water.

Darkness enveloped me. The water closed in around me, filling me with a deep dread. At that moment, I had completely forgotten the zombies we were previously escaping from. I held my breath as long as I could, too long in fact as I thrashed my arms desperately to reach the surface. Black splotches danced in front of my eyes, I couldn’t remember if they were open or closed. All I knew was that I was travelling further and further away from the boat. The coldness I had felt upon entering the water was completely gone. A desperate hot wave had come over me, warming even my frosted toes. My heart was beating more rapidly in panic. The urgency for air was more apparent than ever. There weren't any black blotches in my field of vision anymore. It was all black. I gasped for air, only to be met with salty water.

I didn't want to die like this, but it was too hard to fight, so I simply let the darkness take over me.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER NINE. SEPARATED.

Until a strong hand clutched my arm tightly, nails almost piercing my skin. The fresh air smacked me in the face, knocking me back slightly. Expecting to feel the familiar crash of the water, I was caught by firm arms. Wiping my stinging arms with my free hand, I found none other than Vasquez holding me.

"What the hell, kid?!" He asked, almost irritated that he had to save me.

"I can't swim!"

He rolled his arms, adjusting me so that I was clinging to his back like a monkey, arms wrapped so tightly around his neck I was almost afraid I was strangling him.

"Don’t let go," He warned, swimming to the shore not too far ahead.

We landed on the sand as I scrambled off of him, coughing out salt water in a nearby bush. Wow, I inhaled a shit ton of water. Vasquez called from the bank if I was okay as he watched for any sign of the others. Yeah, other than the fact that my lungs feel like they're literally on fire, I'm fine.

***

"10K!" I screamed out to the river, louder than my tired lungs could take. It had been about ten minutes after Vasquez and I had found safety on land and all of the others had followed suit. Except for 10K. I had been calling for him ever since I recaught my breath again.

"Kid! Can you hear us?!" Doc questioned, joining beside me, "Send a smoke signal!"

No answer, still.

I sighed deeply in frustration, "Fuck this, I’m going across," I muttered but was stopped abruptly before I could even take one step.

"You’re not going anywhere. You barely made it out of the boat," Vasquez commanded, of course it was him.

I pulled my wrist away from his grip, "I don't care. I have to find him," I urged, a warm droplet sliding down my face. Tears that I didn't even know were building up. Guilt was starting to overcome me - guilty that I might never see him again if I didn't find him at that moment. Guilty knowing his last memory of me and mine of him would be negative.

Doc nodded by my side, I smiled gratefully to him. "She’s right. We have to get him."

"No, we don't," Murphy argued from a rock, pouring water from his shoe. I glared at him firmly. "And what makes you think he's on the other side anyway?"

I tried to answer back, but only silence left my lips. Luckily, Doc spoke on our behalf, "That kid's a survivor! He ain't going out like that!"

"Yeah. As romantic as that sounds, that is not much to go on."

"Well I don't care. If Angel can't swim, I'm going after him," Doc countered in determination.

"That’s the east side of the Mississippi you're talking about," Vasquez added.

I crossed my arms over my chest, "So?"

"I’m heading West. So is he," He continued.

"Doc. Angel. Neither of you are going back in there," Warren ordered firmly.

I started to stutter, panicking slightly, "Well, what are we gonna do then? Leave him!?"

"Hey, hey," Addy called, a certain calmness in her voice, "We’re not gonna leave him," She reassured, "Look, he probably just floated downstream. Right? So let's head south. We’ll find a spot. We’ll camp out."

"There’s only one direction he could've gone. We’ll stay on the river's edge. If he's on the other side, he'll give us a signal," Warren planned, mainly looking at me since I was most likely to be the irrational one out of the pair of us.

"Well what about getting Murphy to California?" Vasquez piped up.

"Yeah," Murphy agreed, standing up, "What about that?"

"We’ll put 24 hours of looking for him," Warren said, trying to appeal to both side. But this only angered me further. "And then we head West."

I huffed, rolling my eyes at everyone, "Fuck you guys," I muttered, storming off. Warren wasn't too far behind, following after me. She looked at me, sympathy laced in her eyes.

"Angel, I understand that you're angry and upset so I know you're not thinking straight. But we need to think about the-"

"The mission, yeah I know. It’s always about the fucking mission," I snapped, cutting her off, "Well he's worth more than the saviour of humanity. He is to me, anyway," I sighed, catching my breath as I started to vent to Warren, "What if humanitys not worth saving? What if we're all so fucked up that there's no point? Things’ll get back to normal but we'd all just kill each other anyway."

She looked at me, and opened her mouth to say something but I continued, "If after 24 hours, we haven't found him - I won't be going with you. I'll find him and then together we'll head west, catch you guys up," I revealed my spontaneous plan.

Warren nodded her head gently in acknowledgement, "Okay. And I hope for our sake you do catch us up."

I smirked, "Hell yeah for your sake," I chuckled, trying to push down my deep emotions even just for a moment.

A few hours had passed and it was nightfall, we had set up camp a few hours ago and Addy and Murphy were sleepling soundlessly. Warren and Vasquez were sitting around the fire as Doc and I were watching for any sign by the water's edge. I had dozed off after hours and hours of watching for 10K, but just as I let sleep overcome me I swear I saw a light.

***

When morning had come, I learnt that the night before Vasquez was adamant on leaving west as early as dawn. But fortunately after Warren's 'reevaluation', we decided to push on along the river's edge just for a while longer. We had been walking not that long before we came across a large rowing boat. Doc ran over to it excitedly, I was glad that he hadn't lost his passion for finding 10K overnight.

"Now we can get across the damn river and find the kid," Doc sighed, dropping his bag in the centre of the boat.

"Oh come on," Addy shook her head, "You really think you're gonna get this thing all the way across?"

I walked to Doc's side, crossing my arms over my chest, "Yep," I answered bluntly.

Warren stepped forward, trying to 'talk some sense into us' but Doc shut her down immediately, "Don’t waste your breath, Warren. We’re going after him. You do what you got to do, but we're going."

"What do you expect us to do? Wait for you?" Murphy asked, stepping lightly closer to the boat.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "You should continue with the mission," I replied in a patronising tone. Warren already knew what my mind was set on. And that was finding 10K.

Murphy shrugged, "Then we head west," He suggested.

I threw my hands in the air, bewildered that we were still having this argument, "Is Doc the only one that cares that 10K is out there besides me?!"

"Of course not!" Addy shouted from the back of the group.

"I’m sorry. I thought this mission dictated our each and every action, and that anything, anything, was justifiable in service of the mission," Murphy reminded.

Doc stood with his hands on his hips, "We take care of each other. That’s how we got this far. Without that, there is no mission!"

"Tell that to Cassadra."

Doc's gaze softened, but mine only hardened. Something inside me threatened to snap at the mention of her name.

"Or was she expendable?" Murphy continued. And then I did. I snapped.

"She was in pain!" I screamed, pointing accusingly at him, "Pain that you inflicted on her! When you bit her, you turned her into something even worse than a zombie. Your mindless little slave. 10K did what he had to do," I spat, my finger pointing harshly into his chest.

"Bullshit!" Murphy countered, pushing me back, "Your boyfriend's a child with a gun who kills anything he doesn't understand. And let's not forget," He added, turning to the rest of the group, "Each and every one of you is expendable. There’s only one piece of precious cargo on this train."

Doc and I both scoffed at his statement. "Well, brother. At least we all know where we stand," Doc said.

"Hey, it's not personal," Murphy finished, looking at the both of us individually before walking away from the argument.

"Guys," Warren stepped forward, taking over in contrast to Murphy's malice, "Are you both willing to throw it all away right here?"

Doc and I glanced at each other before nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, we are," Doc answered.

"I meant what I said yesterday, Warren. I'm not going anywhere without 10K. Or at least without knowing what's happened to him," I added, calming down after my blow up at Murphy.

Warren nodded, knowing there was nothing she could do to persuade us, "We’ll head south as far as the Gortner Bridge. If you're there, we'll regroup. Just like you said, Angel. Otherwise, this is it."

Doc and I looked to each other one more time, as if asking the other if they were completely sure about what we were going to do. And we definitely were. I gave Addy one last hug, both of us asking the other to stay safe. And wordlessly, I placed my back in the boat next to Doc's and grabbed a paddle. Neither of us looked back.

***

We never found him. We did everything we could to find any sign of him but instead we found absolutely nothing. Doc and I headed to Gortner Bridge, both striken with melancholy. We rested the boat against some rocks just below the bridge and almost grieved, not getting out. We didn't say a word to each other as we both sat there. Doc held his head in his hands as I cried all the tears I had inside of me. I didn't know how long we were there for until I heard a familar voice call out to us.

Addy.

Of course, I was happy to be reunited with the group after only a mere few hours apart but the fact that I then had to continue the mission without 10K made any of that happiness shortlived.

Doc and I ventured to the top of the bridge, waiting just a few moments more for 10K. At least Doc hadn't lost hope even though I was starting to. However, the time had finally come when we had waited long enough. But even as Vasquez called out and Doc relunctantly followed, my feet refused to move from the spot they were planted in.

Addy approached me, gently squeezing my forearm in reassurance, "There’s not a lot of people looking out for each other in this world anymore. But you always did. You and Doc. So if 10K’s out there, he knows that," She sniffed once, trying to keep herself together in my presence, "But we got to go right now. And it's not for Murphy. It’s for me. I need you."

I teared my teary eyes away from the edge of the bridge, "He needs me too," I answered. Addy smiled softly, taking my hand comfortingly in hers, "We really have to go, Angel."

I sighed, knowing she was right. "Bye, Tommy," I whispered out, turning with her back to the car that Warren had hotwired.

But just as I was about to climb inside, we all stopped in our tracks at the sight of a woman jogging towards us with a duffle bag. Out of breath she explained to us about a boy she found at an old town. I knew instantly it was 10K. And I think the rest of the group did too as it didn't take much persuading for all of us to follow. With the exception of a reluctant Vasquez and Murphy, though.

We arrived at the town, a plan by Warren already set in motion. My heart jumped in my throat at the sight of a noose wrapped around his neck, ready to be hanged. He stood here, staring at the grass, emotionless - as if ready for death. As soon as he dropped, Addy and Doc shot at the noose, dropping him and Sketchy to the floor. Skeezy, on the other hand, began fighting for life. Not that I cared - my only focus in that moment was getting to 10K.

I stuck with Murphy, Vasquez and the girl with the duffel bag. Murphy parted the group of zombies just long enough for me to slide beside 10K underneath the platform. He then released his grip, dispersing the zombies on the town's people.

"Oh thank fuck you're okay. I’m so sorry," I choked, cupping his face before hugged him tightly around his neck. After slipping the noose off, of course.

Once I remembered his bound hands, I quickly slashed them with my knife and as soon as he broke free, his arms enveloped around my body. Together we were completely oblivious to the chaos surrounding us.

"I knew you'd come back for me," He sighed, his voice slightly muffed in my shoulder. He then pulled away, mirroring my previous stance with his hands cupping my cheeks, his eyes brimmed with tears, "I’m sorry. I was just angry at myself for not getting to Cassandra in time. I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you. You could've died, and it would've been my fault. But I never should've taken that out on you. I love you," He pressed a swift kiss to my lips, right after the words that flowed rapidly from his mouth.

I smile blissfully, "I love you too, you stupid prick. I'm never letting you go again," I chuckled just as Doc dipped under the platform to us. He rested a hand on each of our shoulders, gesturing us to the dentist truck,

"Sorry to break this up, kids. But we gotta go."

All of us entered the truck, including Sketchy and Skeezy, before zooming off back to the bridge to change vehicles. Conscious of the small herd of zombie's behind us. 10K held back, leaning over in the trunk at the two con-artists he's spent the last few days with. I looked at him in confusion, leaning over to watch them raid the duffel bag too.

"Beat it, kid! We’re not leaving here empty handed," Sketchy snapped at the sight of us.

"Come on. Grab my hand," 10K urged, leaning his hand into the hole.

"Go, man. We got this. I’m telling you," Sketchy assured.

"Seriously, we'll be fine," Skeezy added. I looked at them both skeptically, wondering whether being on the brink of death was an everyday occurance to them.

"What are you talking about? You guys ae goners," 10K shook his head, raising his eyesbrows in urgency.

I scoffed, "Let them go. They almost got you hanged for Christ sake," I yelled over the commotion of zombies.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Hey, don't you know by now, kid?" Sketchy started, cocking his machine gun, "We’re the two luckiest bastards you ever met!"

I looked up, watching as the herd got closer - their growls audible now. I elbowed 10K gently in the side to grab his attention away from his newfound friends.

"Thank you," He said to them softly, finally getting ready to leave with me.

"For what? We still haven't gotten you laid," Skeezy joked, Sketchy laughing along with him.

I rolled my eyes, "He’s gotten laid, thank you very much," I snapped before holding a hand out, "Give me some of those guns." Luckily, they did without a protest. And they were pretty good, too. I fastened them onto each of my shoulders before threatening,

"If I ever see you two again, I will fucking kill you."

Sketchy laughed, "I look forward to it, darling," He winked. I flipped him off before 10K and I slipped off the truck hand in hand just as the zombies were upon us.

I had said a lot of questionable things that day but that last statement, I was 100% honest about. Unfortunately, the next time I saw them I never followed through with that promise. Lucky bastards.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TEN.   ZOMBIE PRINCESS.

We were taking a quick inventory on the hood of the car, pulling out everything we had. It wasn't looking good.

"Flashlight, no batteries," Doc listed, removing said items from his bag, "Half a bottle of aspirin. Well I got no ammo. Found this," He added, raising a crowbar.

"I got two batteries and four bullets," Warren informed, following Doc's actions as she too placed her items on the hood.

Addy dropped some stray ammo with a clink, "I got two in my gun and two randoms and those."

"You got gum?" Warren questioned, followed by mine and Doc's hopeful expressions.

"For repair purposes only," She emphasised, eyeing the two of us.

Doc wrapped a persuading arm around her shoulder, "Remember fresh breath."

"Couple of bullets. Road flares," Vasquez proceeded bluntly with his inventory.

"I got one empty clip," 10K added in dismay.

"You know what. See if these fit," Addy suggested, handing him her randoms which he inserted inside the clip.

It was then my turn to pull out what I had, which was, "I have three bullets and five arrows."

"I know this looks shaky, but we will find a way to get Murphy to California," Warren encouraged at the sight of all of our discouraged faces.

"Well I’m hungry," Doc shrugged, walking over to Murphy who was taking a nap inside the car. Fortunately, he persuaded the lazy bastard to come with him, mentioned something about edible tree bark. As the pair trailed off into the woods, 10K pulled out a map, laying it on the hood of the car. Vasquez checked the car was petrol.

"Two gallons, maybe three," He answered afterwards with a sigh.

Warren turned around in her seat in the driver's seat to look at us, "If we get ten miles a gallon..."

"It’ll get us halfway to Plainview," 10K finished her suggestion, peering at the open map.

It wasn't too long until Doc came wandering back to the car, obviously being unsuccessful with finding food. But there was another thing there was an absence of.

"Hey, where's Murphy?" Warren asked immediately.

"He’s right behind me," Doc answered, pointing over his shoulder. For confirmation, he spun around to find he had, in fact, lost our mission. "Damn it Murphy!" He shouted into the distance. Guess it’s time for an impromptu search party.

***

"I’m gonna be really pissed if my last words are 'Murphy, where are you?'" Addy muttered as we headed down the same road that Doc had just came from.

"We may as well be saying 'here we are, zombies. come and get us,'" Doc remarked, opening his arms for the imaginary zombies.

"Murphy better hope he's not around when I reach 9,999," 10K added under his breath, demonstrating his obvious hate for Murphy.

Vasquez looked at him, "Easy, kid. We got to find him first," He told the boy.

"Doc, how do you just lose an entire person? Like did you not realise he wasn't answering you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Doc threw his hands in the air in frustration, "I don't know, man!" He then paused, looking up at a wall, "But I think it's somewhere around here. Oh and don't eat the bark off them skinny trees. Starts out tangy then goes south in a hurry," He informed, causing me to chuckle before he pointed in a direction, "Oh maybe it was over here."

We all followed a probably lost Doc further up ahead. Until we did figure out that he was lost and decided it was a better bet to head back to the car. Hopefully, Murphy would be waiting for us there but of course, he wasn't. The apocalypse always wanted things to be more difficult.

"Oh, damn. I was hoping we'd find him here napping," Doc sighed.

***

We headed into a nearby town that we thought Murphy had ran off to. I mean, it was where we found him last time. Doc shouted out for him, not attracting any zombies because there were none. Addy, 10K and I were huddled in our own little group outside a house.

"It’s a ghost town," Addy stated.

"Nothing but quiet," 10K agreed.

I shivered slightly, "This place gives me the creeps. I think I’d prefer it if there were zombies around," I added.

Warren and Vasquez exited a house, walking down the steps to meet up with the rest of us. "Without Murphy, there's no mission," Warren reminded, "Keep moving."

"For as important as this guy is, we sure lose him a lot," Vasquez muttered as we proceeded down the street.

I shrugged, "It’s our character flaw. If this was a tv show, it’d be pretty fucking boring if we didn't lose him from time to time," I added, earning a raised eyebrow from Vasquez.

I held my hands up in surrender, "Not that I’m saying this is a good thing."

***

We walked into the main part of town, away from the houses and closer to buildings such as the town hall and the library. Yet there was still nothing and nobody to be seen.

Warren stopped us, announcing her plan, "Alright. We need to fan out or we won't find Murphy by nightfall. Angel, you stick with 10K - I don't want you on your own until you've completely recovered," She instructed and I nodded in acknowledgment.

We all separated in different directions, searching every street and corner for Murphy. As 10K and I were walking, we both came across a zombie walking purposefully in a particular direction. Our first zombie since entering that town. The two of us glanced at each before shrugging and quickly following the zombie. The zombie stopped at its desired location, banging on the front door. 10K killed it with the back end of his gun, revealing a man sitting at the bottom of his stairs.

"Yes?" He questioned behind the door.

"We’re looking for a friend," 10K answered, referring to Murphy. I was quite surprised that he called him his friend. Although it would be unlikely for this man to give us any information if we said one of us hated the guy.

The man shook his head, "Haven't seen anybody," He replied.

"He’s a tall guy. Kinda weird blue-ish skin," 10K described.

"Blue-ish fella? Is he ill?" The man asked.

We both ignored his question, they was obviously something off with the guy. Neither of us trusted him. "Are you the only person in this town?" I asked, sceptically.

"Just me."

"Anywhere else our friend might have gone?" 10k urged, trying to get anything out of the guy. But to no avail.

"Sorry. Good luck," The guy wished, not moving a muscle as we walked back down the steps. We walked around the corner so that we were out of sight and earshot.

"He’s definitely in there," 10K mumbled, putting his gun and backpack against the wall. I did the same with my bow so that we only had our hand guns on us.

"Yeah, no shit. We need to hurry, he'll do something to him now that he's seen us," I agreed. We both made our way further along the building trying to find a clear, quiet entrance. We walked into a hallway with these weird posters on the walls, this guy was definitely a zombie fanatic.

"Murphy," 10K whispered.

We left the eerie hallway and ventured up another flight of stairs. 10K wrapped his arm around my shoulders, squeezing it in reassurance until we entered a very red room. His grip fell as we both stood there in shock and confusion. It was red and smokey and only got worse as we slowly walked through, examining all the different types of Zs on the stages. If the zombie walked too close to the edge, they would get zapped back. The guy even had blasters and the phyto zombies.

At the same time, we both noticed Murphy bound to a chair. "Murphy, are you okay?" I asked, filled with concern as I examined him and the needles that were attached to his skin.

"What is this?" 10K questioned from the bottom of the stage. As soon as I turned from Murphy to answer the boy, we were both electrically zapped and passed out to the floor.

***

When I woke up, I was hanging from the ceiling by my hands. Well I wasn't exactly hanging because my feet were planted on the floor but it wasn't really comfortable. I glanced over to Murphy to find 10K laying weakly beside his throne. I called out to him in a whisper before he finally came around but before I could say anything else, the man from the door wheeled out to us in a wheelchair.

"You bleed slowly," He moaned, "Anybody ever tell you that?"

"Yes," Murphy answered bluntly.

"Look who's Mr. Agreeable all of the sudden," He countered, standing from his chair to hold up a sign over his head in front of Murphy, "The Murphy and his amazing zombie boy," He exclaimed.

"No!" I called out, causing his head to snap to me.

He smirked, "Oh, don't worry, princess, I have plans for you."

I craned my head around to see a huge glittery sign above my head that read 'ZOMBiE PRiNCESS.' I rolled my eyes as I also noticed the ugly pink dress I was wearing over my clothes. I looked back at the man, my nose upturned in disgust at the frilly monstrosity I was wearing,

"I literally look like the bitch from Mario."

He ignored me and continued to discuss his plan to 'The Murphy', "I want to see what happens when you bite a human. Quit lying to me and show me."

"Murphy, you don't have to do this," 10K begged, his voice hoarse from just being electrocuted.

"Yeah, he does."

"Do not let him turn me into one of those things," He yelled.

"Oh, he's not turning you. He’s turning her. You’ll just be a plain old, regular zombie," The man answered, grinning like a maniac as he pointed to me. He then quirked his head to the side in questioning, "What do you mean 'one of those things'?"

"I dunno what he's talking about," Murphy answered then the man zapped the three of us, forcing me to scream out in pain as the volts shocked through my neck. It hurt even worse with all the blood draining from my arms.

"Patronise me again and you will limp for the rest of your undead life!" The man threatened, brandishing a gun carelessly.

"I’m too weak," Murphy muttered, squeezing his eyes and fists shut.

"Just kill me. Just shoot me in the head," 10K wheezed, recovering from both the shock collar and the original zap that had knocked us both out.

"I want to see what happens when Mr. half-zombie man bites a living breathing human being. And it's gonna happen now or I’m gonna start putting holes in people!" He warned, growing crazier by the second.

Murphy got out of his chair and slowly walked over to me, "There’s nothing to fear," He remarked to 10K before he left the stage. Murphy knew I felt no fear, only anger if he turned me into what Cassandra was. I understood their kind more than 10K or anybody else did.

"I don't fear you. I hate you. For everything you've put her through," 10K snapped, glaring at Murphy as the blue man turned his back on him.

Murphy then stood in front of me, "It won't be that bad," He shook his head.

"What you did to Cassandra was worse than death," I countered.

"Just let it happen, Princess. You won't be afraid anymore."

Although my life was being threatened in that exact moment, I couldn't help but find it slightly ironic that Murphy had previously nicknamed me princess and that was also my name for his guy's fucked up zombie collection. Seeing as we were taking so long, the guy zapped the three of us threateningly. My shackles had come lose and I dropped down to my stage harshly.

"Murphy, if you bite her I will kill you!" 10K threatened as he collapsed to the ground. I was debating pleading but I knew it'd be no use. Murphy leaned in closer to my face, kneeling down, mouth open until the man stopped us abruptly.

"Bite her on the cheek!" The man instructed excitedly, so that everything in his vision was perfect. Murphy glanced back at the man before catching me dead in the eye - He was up to something. He began to lean in again but instead of his teeth connecting with my cheek, it was his hand smashing against the floor of the stage. Two zombies from the stages pounced on the man in an instant, biting his neck from behind.

10K helped me up from the ground, wrapping a protective arm around my waist as he kissed my cheek. We walked over to Murphy and the three of us watched the man being devoured by zombies. "Look at me!" Murphy yelled, "Now you know what it feels like to be me. There’s no mercy in my world. Don’t watch this," He warned so the two of us walked away from whatever Murphy was about to do. I mean, the guy couldn't really complain - he was getting his wish after all.

Murphy then fell back into the wheelchair, looking weak from all the blood that was taken from him, "I’m glad you two found me, now get me the hell out of here," He instructed, before falling limp.

"Murphy? Murphy, you okay?" 10K asked, shaking him but he wouldn't awaken.

"Uh, 10K, we might have a bigger problem," I whispered as the man's screaming had stopped and now the Zs were slowly approaching us. Murphy was no longer controlling them, meaning we were definitely in some shit.

We backed up, matching their pace to prevent provoking them. "Hey, we're with him," 10K said awkwardly, pointing down to Murphy.

"Guys, draw them over this way!" We heard Addy call out, shooting at the Z's from the top of the room.

***

We had reached the car again, Doc and 10K were just getting back from retrieving Murphy's extracted blood. Vasquez had already cut off the collars from me and 10K, and had now moved onto Murphy.

"I have half a mind to leave this on," Vasquez remarked.

"Yeah but we don't have the remote so it'd be no use," I shook my head, Vasquez rolled his eyes at my over-analysing of his mindless statement. Doc hooked Murphy up to his blood so that it went back into his system once his shock collar was released. We all walked off to give Warren the chance to speak to him, but I definitely didn't miss their little moment.

Yep, I 100% ship them.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER ELEVEN. ALIENS & UFOS.

Driving down the road, soft country music played on the radio. 10K and I were in the back of the jeep as everyone else was sat inside the vehicle since there was obviously limited seats. Vasquez broke the contented silence, "We need to get off the road."

"I don't like being so far in the Zeros territory, but I guess we really don't have a choice," Warren muttered, as the music was glitching out of sync.

"Wait, what is that?" Murphy asked randomly, referring to the body on the side of the road. Warren slowed down as everyone peered to get a closer look. It was cut in thirds, but still alive since the brain hadn't been killed.

"That is a new one," Addy commentated.

"I want whatever did that," 10K smirked.

I glanced at the boy, smiling playfully, "You’re cute when you talk about your little toys," I mumbled. 10K gazed at me with a big grin appearing on his face.

"Some things you just can't unsee," Addy shook her head before ducking, clogging her ears, as 10K shot the zombie.

"4234," He counted, "...And a third."

"Take the whole kill. You deserve it, kid," Doc told him.

"Thirty-five," He corrected before continuing, "You know they used to find mutilated cattle out here back Pre-Z," 10K informed.

"Mutilated cattle?" Warren repeated, "Like x-files mutilated cattle?"

"Yeah, my uncle knew all about it. Aliens did it," He answered confidently, making me chuckle.

"Have you been smoking my Z weed?" Doc asked, turning his head slightly to look at the boy.

"No."

"Well maybe you better start," Doc suggested, not believing 10K’s story.

"You believe in UFOs?" Murphy asked, also turning to look at him.

"Sure," He shrugged.

I raised an eyebrow at the blue man, "You don't?"

"That’s ridiculous. Aliens don't exist. If they were smart enough to get here, they wouldn't put up with the dumbass human race for a minute. It’s pure science fiction," He remarked, causing me to roll my eyes. There’s no such thing as being openminded anymore.

"That’s what people said about zombies," 10K reminded, justifying our point.

"Well, I mean maybe there's zombies. But there sure as hell ain't no aliens," Murphy refused.

"Yeah, maybe they just don't like you, Murphy," I remarked, smirking playfully.

The radio then muffled to a low static. Not long followed by the click of the engine as the car stopped entirely. In the middle of the road. In the dark. Warren kept trying to revive the small vehicle but failed.

I tutted, "It’s cause Murphy talked shit about the aliens." The situation was too perplexing for me to win a remark, instead I just gained a glare from him.

The static then morphed into some muffled voices, almost sounding exactly like stereotypical aliens. I was starting to get freaked out myself, we were joking. or, at least, I was anyway. "What the hell kind of language is that?" Vasquez asked in disapproval.

"Sounds like alien cross talk to me," 10K answered, all amusement vanished from his tone.

"Now you're just saying that to piss me off, aren't you?" Murphy snapped. 10K and I glanced to each other, smirking at our success.

The unintelligible garbled sounds from the radio continued as we all sat there in stunned silence. "Am I the only one a little creeped out?" Doc asked.

A bright light suddenly appeared in the sky, shining brightly as it lit the road. "Oh, look, a UFO," I remarked jokingly, pointing. We all gazed at the light for a few moments, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Then it flew above us at high speed, almost blinding me. We watched as a beam escaped the light, looking awfully like one from an alien space ship. My eyes widened in shock before there was a distant boom, and the light disappeared into the sky. I really hoped we hadn't witnessed a real life abduction.

"I was kidding..." I mumbled, referring to my stupid UFO joke from mere moments ago.

The music resumed, quickly followed by the lights and the car engine turning back on. Just like when they were switched off. Warren chuckled in relief.

"Well that was exciting," Doc said.

"I don't want my apocalypse any more exciting than it already is, thank you," Murphy scoffed, adjusting his jacket around his body. He was definitely creeped out.

I clicked my fingers in Murphy's direction, proceeding with my teasing, "I fucking told you it was aliens," I blurted out.

Murphy huffed in annoyance, "Oh will you shut up about the damn aliens?" He responded as we continued down the road.

"Angel might be onto something here," Addy agreed, "Does somebody wanna go ahead and tell me what that was?" She asked around the group.

"A plane?" Doc suggested.

"Been seeing those contrails for a while," Vasquez informed. Wait he's been seeing aliens and didn't think to tell us!?

"Is that possible?" Warren questioned in awe, hopefully considering the possibility of aliens.

"Somebody flying something."

"Listen. My dad was this no bullshit, tell it like it is, Air Force pilot. He told this story about seeing this brightly lit craft buzzing over him in northern Nevada," Warren told us, "And it made him a total believer. And even as a little girl, I like, I wondered."

"Well wonder no more. Zombies got here first. there are no aliens," Murphy argued.

Doc shrugged, "Well I dunno. A UFO seems more likely than somebody still able to fly a jet today. Especially one that can do that."

10K shook his head at them all, "I’m telling ya."

"Don’t make me bite you," Murphy growled instantly. I furrowed my eyebrows, giving him a look as I kicked him in the shoulder. Way to kill the mood.

"Kidding," He corrected quickly at my reaction. It was a bit too early to be joking about biting people after what happened to the three of us in that guy's basement.

***

It was now the morning after our weird run in with a potential alien ship. We were parked on the side of the road, getting a closer look at the upcoming town. Roswell. Or RoZwell now.

"10K, let me see your scope," Warren ordered, and he handed over his gun to her. She peered through the scope for a while, examining little details of the area we were about to drive into. "Looks like something crashed alright," She revealed.

"If it was a plane, we should definitely find it and fly it the hell out of this apocalypse. It’s a lot faster than driving," Addy suggested sarcastically.

"No thanks. Last time I got in a plane, it didn't end so well," Murphy grumbled, referring back to the time when Amelia tried to fly Murphy away from the power plant and radioactive zombies. They were called Angel something, I can't really remember now. It was cool at the time.

"Does anything in your life?" Addy remarked.

"Yeah, well it didn't look like any plane I've seen," Warren said, handing 10K back his gun, "And we are in Rozwell," She reminded.

"With a Z," Doc added.

"Murphy's right. Whatever it is, it isn't extraterrestrial," Vasquez agreed.

"What, some kind of drone?" Warren asked.

Vasquez shrugged, "Maybe."

"I’m telling you, my uncle-"

"Don’t say it" Murphy snapped, cutting 10K off. We all walked over to the remains of the 'plane'. I walked with Murphy, just to piss him off more. I was in that type of mood that day.

"You’re just jealous that you're not king of something cool like the king of the aliens. Instead, you were stuck with the zombies," I teased, giving him a charming innocent smile. He slapped me over the head, rolling his eyes at my antics.

"Ow! That hurt, Smurphy!"

Murphy raised his fist in a threat as I sprinted away to 10K’s side, chuckling loudly.

We arrived at the site of the crash landing and examined the damages. There were metal debris scattered everywhere. Warren was right, it did not look like a plane. "Well it's definitely been here awhile," She muttered, not thinking it was the thing we saw last night, "Probably crashed when everything was bad."

"It’s not a plane. There’s no wings," 10K observed.

"Helicopter or something," Vasquez suggested.

"Yeah, but where are the rotors?" Warren asked.

"Guys what is it?" Addy questioned us all, standing in the middle of the circular dent on the ground.

"If anyone says flying saucer, I’m out of here," Murphy remarked.

"Flying saucer," I mumbled, receiving a growl from Murphy.

"Well whatever it is, it's not the thing we saw last night. So lets keep going," Warren instructed, her hands planted on her hips.

"Into Roswell?"

"We need supplies," Warren answered Murphy's complaint.

Murphy sighed, throwing his hands up in the air, "Great. More alien huggers."

Growling was sounding behind the group as we all made our way back to the jeep. "Nevermind aliens. Puppies and kittens, people," Warren warned. Her and Vasquez shot two of them until they were both out of ammo. There were still two left. "10K , you're up," Warren shouted to him. He pulled out his sling shot, shooting the second zombie but flying straight past the first.

The Z was getting closer to him and he was struggling to grab a weapon. panicking, I pulled out my bow, aiming at the impending zombie. But in the mean time, 10K had thrown away his slingshot and hit the zombie with one of his fancy new weapons. Despite him almost getting killed, he did look hot. 10K glanced over at me as I lowered by bow and grinned.

***

We were driving in the newly named town of RoZwell and pulled up to a place with a large UFO on top of the building. "Three o'clock," Doc pointed out as he exits the vehicle. 10K shot the zombie almost immediately with his sling and added to his count as the rest of us followed suit with Doc.

"Kids on a roll."

We all followed Warren behind as she looked inside the window, "Looks like we got some believers inside."

Addy, 10K and I hung to the back as a man greeted us with a clipboard. "Are you here for the visitors?" He asked, I hoped he was referring to aliens.

"Visitors?" Warren repeated in questioning.

"Have you been touched by Bernadette?"

"Who?" Warren inquired again.

I couldn't help but snort at the man's suggestive question - my mind, of course, being exceedingly dirty. "I think I'd know if I'd been touched by some random lady," I countered with a laugh.

Whilst ignoring my comment and staying enthusiastic, the man introduced himself, "Don’t worry. I’m Roy. I’ll help you with the orientation."

"Orientation?"

"Yeah. For the exodus," Roy replied.

"Are we supposed to understand what the hell you're talking about?" Murphy asked with a frown.

"You’ve been drawn here by inexplicable visions of leaving the planet on a chariot of fire. Right?" Roy assumed.

"No. We were drawn here by inexplicable visions of finding food and gas," Doc corrected.

Bored of the conversation that was going nowhere, I decided to scope the place out. To my humour, it was all pretty much alien merchandise. I picked up an alien neck pillow and placed it around my neck. I also found a bubble gun which I adjusted to my belt to play with later. I was then tapped on the shoulder by Addy and when I turned, I burst out into a fit of giggles at the sight of 10K wearing some swanky green alien glasses. He looked adorable.

"We did see some really strange lights in the sky last night though," 10K added to the inexplicable visions we had seen before coming here, completely oblivious to how stupid he looked.

Murphy walked up to 10K, "Everything's strange to you. You grew up in a cave."

Our group then proceeded to follow the man outside, greeted by a bunch of people also known as Xtronauts. "We will be the first humans to explore the alien world," Roy concluded.

"So, um. How do you plan on doing that exactly?" Murphy inquired, sceptical.

"The visitors are coming to save us from the apocalypse. We have been chosen, and they're almost ready. Bernadette is in close contact with them," Roy answered as a woman dressed in white walked up to us, presumably Bernadette. Who was apparently the only one who could communicate with the aliens telepathically. I know I said I believed in aliens, but something tells me these 'aliens' she talks to are merely hallucinations.

"Finally. They are here. It’s happening just like they said it would. Strangers have arrived. Among them will be the one the visitors are waiting for. They said he would help us transition to the next reality," She mused, eyeing up each one of us before going onto Murphy, "And here he is. The Emissary." She pulled Murphy into a tight hug as everyone around us started to clap.

My eyes widened in surprise, "Wow. Guess you are king of the aliens," I shrugged, looking to Murphy.

***

10K and I had climbed our way on top of the UFO that caused the building to stand out. Obviously it took a lot of persuading on my part and the selling point was that he had a better advantage of getting the zombies on the UFO than the roof of the truck. So 10k laid down as I bopped violently to random rock music that was blaring out of the headphones I had connected to a Walkman I had found. It had pretty decent 80s music on there - Too bad the skip button was jammed so I had to listen to every song. Then, Africa by Toto came on and I clapped my hands excitedly.

"I love this song!" I yelled cheerfully.

10K shrugged, leaning over his shoulder to glance at me, "Never heard it," He admitted. I raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh yeah, I forgot you only listened to boring music before the apocalypse," I joked.

I danced smoothly before the song had finally got to its chorus. "It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you!" I sang at the top of my lungs, earning some pretty weird glances by the passers by. For a split second, I was self conscious then I remembered they worshipped fake aliens so I carried on screaming.

A few songs later, Bust a Move came on - another one of my classic 80s favourites. I swung my hips in tune to the music and out of the corner of my eye, I saw 10K stiffen. I mumbled comments to him every so often as I judged the people surrounding us but he refused to look at me. It was because he was jealous of my music taste. Obviously.

I sighed, walking over to 10K, "Come on. I’m your girlfriend, you have to pay attention to me otherwise I’ll self distruct and blow up," I joked but still, nothing. I pursed my lips together in a sulk, one silent treatment was enough for a lifetime.

Almost perfectly on time, Careless Whisper came on. I always hated this song before but I decided to go along with it partially for the meme but mainly because I couldn't fucking skip it. "Well this is convenient," I smirked, referring to our one-sided conversation mere moments ago.

To his annoyance, I dragged 10K away from his gun, swaying my hips as I forced him to dance, draping my arms around his neck. I wrapped one leg around his waist before he quickly lowered us down and muttered, "No more dancing, Gel."

My eyes widened as I finally realised what was wrong. I knew I was a good dancer but I didn't think I was that good. I smirked, finally getting the attention I wanted, "Why didn't you say so?" I teased before we proceeded into a heated makeout session in the dipped part of the UFO so we didn't have any pervy watchers.

***

I grabbed a chair and sat around a table with the others, as did 10K. They were discussing how we needed to get out of this freakshow, and soon. "There’s an Air Force base here actually," 10K informed as we joined the conversation, "They abandoned it back in the 60s. But that's just a cover story."

"Well I wanna believe in UFOs. I mean if somebody wants to fly my ass off this god forsaken planet, I'm cool with it," Doc added and I nodded my head in agreement.

"Are you serious?" Murphy asked the both of us, "Are we actually talking about going to an abandoned Air Force base in Roswell to see if we can find a UFO to fly us to California?"

"Well when you say it like that," Doc mumbled as he continued to eat his food.

"You mean in English?" Murphy remarked.

I raised my hands slightly in surrender, "Okay, I’ll admit it's maybe not a UFO. But if its a spherical aircraft we can just pretend its one," I shrugged, smiling while Murphy frowned at my suggestion, "What? It’s better than driving."

"I can show you," Bernadette suggested, unexpectedly joining in on the conversation beside me. I jumped back, clinging onto 10K’s arm with my eyes wide as Vasquez aimed his pistol at her. I didn't like her.

"Oh my god. How long have you been there?" Murphy asked, just as startled as the rest of us.

"A while," She replied with a knowing expression, "I can show you where the base is. It’s not far. I go there all the time. That’s where they contact me."

"The aliens?" Warren asked.

"They prefer the term visitors," Bernadette corrected. Of course they do.

Warren hummed in amusement, "Who knows, maybe we'll find a plane and a radio."

Murphy laughed mockingly, "Or Bigfoot."

"Hey, don't laugh. My uncle had a Sasquatch pelt," 10K told him with a cheeky grin. Murphy just growled at him in return.

***

Bernadette led us to the abandoned base that wasn't too far from the Xtronauts headquarters. We entered the building with paper scattered everywhere on the floor. Bernadette wasn't too weary of any nearby zombies since the 'visitors' would protect her, of course. Murphy prodded at an old phone, unimpressed. "Wow. Look at this high tech alien technology," He muttered.

I rolled my eyes at him, "Well they're obviously not gonna keep it in the first room. It’ll all get stolen then," I countered.

Murphy turned to look at my dead in the eyes and with complete seriousness said, "You never fail to amaze me every time something comes out of your mouth," He remarked.

I gave him an innocent smile, "Thanks."

Warren then asked Bernadette if there was a radio around so we could try to contact Citizen Z and she guided Addy to a side room as the rest of us checked the place out. There was no radio.

The girls found us in a garage - the place being completely empty. There was a message to ET on the ground by the landing bay though, which gave me quite a chuckle at least. Bernadette was telling us about the voices she had heard and how only a few people who were called could be taken with the aliens.

"What about the top secret areas?" 10K asked but gained no reply from Bernadette. "You know more about this base than you're telling us, don't you?"

Warren raised an eyebrow at the woman, "Bernadette, is there some kind of hidden base that you're not telling us about?"

"They told me only to bring the Emissary," She replied finally.

"And what do they want with me?"

"They didn't say."

"Maybe you're the alien cure too," Vasquez remarked, earning my laughter but a groan from Murphy.

"So how long have you been in contact with these visitors?" Warren asked, standing with her hands placed firmly on her hips.

"At first, I was like everyone else. I saw the lights in the sky, but I had no idea what they were. And then one night, I was about to be killed by Zs. I was ready to die. And then the light came and it spoke to me and protected me. They led me here," She explained but not exactly answering Warren's question as to how long this had all been happening.

***

Bernadette led us to the room where she could hear the voices. Doc immediately found cigarettes and gum in a machine.

"Try the gum," Bernadette suggested.

I scoffed, shaking my head, "No get some cigarettes."

"Do you smoke?" Addy asked.

"Nope. But it's not too late to try, right?" I raised an eyebrow as she chuckled beside me.

"The gum is free," Bernadette added. Wow, she really wanted Doc to get the gum.

"It’s the apocalypse, everything is free," Doc answered, dismissively.

Addy and Warren noticed something weird with the room, "No!" Warren shouted as Doc hit the gum button and the windows and door shut all around the room with a loud slam. Fuck. We just wanted some gum, man.

The room started to fall and the group was screaming. Everyone was holding on to something but the group just fell to the ground as the room stopped at the bottom. We stood up to follow Bernadette out of the room and entered a wide hallway. I decided in that moment I was never going through something like that again.

"Well kid, your uncle was right about the secret base part," Doc said.

"I’m telling you, it's all true," 10K remarked, still trying to prove his alien point.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Murphy asked, sceptical and grumpy as usual.

"He’s got a point," Vasquez added in agreement.

Then there were voices. "It’s them, those are the voices," Bernadette said before running towards the strange voices with the group following close behind. An alien creature was kneeling down, slowly standing up at the end of the hall. Before anybody could comment, it then started to run after us. Fast.

I took out my gun and so did Warren, Vasquez and the others, proceeding to shoot at this thing. Luckily, 10K shot it in the head and it was dead within a second. Maybe he should change his name to One Shot Wonder.

An urgent beeping then filled the hallway.

"Get down!" Warren shouted and everyone scurried away from the body as it exploded. Then, there was a faint beeping in the distance. A much more comforting sound than the previous one.

"I’ll check it out," Addy offered and she went to check whatever the beeping was. The rest of us stood back as we looked at the blood and guts everywhere on the floor. Why do we always make such a mess?

"What is it?" Vasquez asked.

"Zombie guts, alien blood," Doc answered, casually.

"Obviously," I added. That thing was definitely an alien. Nobody could persuade me otherwise.

"Why did you kill him?" Bernadette asked, looking at 10K.

"Because that's what we do," Murphy answered, bluntly.

My eyes widened in mock offence, "Wow, Murphy, you make us out to be stone cold killers!" I remarked.

"You can't kill what's not alive," 10K said in reply, but also aiming it at Bernadette's previous question.

"Yeah, he's right about that," Warren agreed. Addy turned the corner, "Guys, you might want to see this." Please be alien technology.

We hastily followed Addy to this room with sci-fi technology of some sort. No, actually, alien technology. Addy started to play around with it. She clearly seemed to know what she was doing. "Wait, I know this..." She mumbled. Warren questioned her but, to my dismay, her response was, "No, I went to art school."

Not gonna lie, it would've been pretty cool if she had known what it was.

"Doc, you stay here with Murphy, while Addy tries to make contact - and let's go," Warren ordered, addressing them first before 10K, Vasquez, Bernadette and I.

"Addy, contact some aliens!" I exclaimed as I followed after Warren and the others.

"I highly doubt that she will," I heard Murphy mutter as I turned the corner.

"You don't know that!"

Teasing Murphy was definitely the best part of that day.

As Bernadette proceeded to lead us down loads of hallways, we eventually stumbled over some more alien technology. Among that, was some sort of extraterrestrial gun that flashed purple. 10K, naturally, picked it up.

"Does it work?" Vasquez questioned.

10K shrugged, raising the gun, "I don't know." He was interrupted by the familiar sounds of zombie moans. He took that as his chance to test out the gun, practically obliterating the zombie. 10K’s eyes widened at the power of the gun, "I guess that'd be a yes," He finally answered Vasquez.

My smile rose to my lips, "Dibs!" I declared, taking the gun from him as we moved on.

Until eventually, we found a door which led to exactly where we had come from. So we went through that fucked up room elevator for no reason. Great. I think I’m gonna have motion sickness for weeks after that.

After questioning Bernadette on who exactly these voices belonged to and the extent of their plan, we were soon joined by the rest of the group. But that wasn't all. We were also greeted with a giant freaking UFO right in front of us.

Bernadette had a blue light shining on her as if she was about to be beamed up. We all ran off for cover but I noticed Murphy walking closer to it. Like he, too, was attracted to the light. Like moths. Moth Murphy.

"Murphy, don't do it! Don’t go!" Doc called from his safety opposite me, "They’re gonna probe you for sure! And not in a good way!"

I have Doc a weirded look, "There’s a good way to be probed!?" I exclaimed before I was pulled away from my confusion by Warren's orders.

We all tried to grab Murphy away from the lights and the UFO but only ended up getting zapped from the ship in the sky.

"Angel, don't let them get him!" Warren shouted and I shot the UFO in the sky with my super cool gun. I actually hit it but my moment of glory was short lived as they retaliated by zapping me in the arm. Although that was hardly fair - me with a little gun, them with a full on laser.

10K pulled me away at the sight of my injury, causing me to drop the gun. Warren picked it up immediately, shooting it in the exact right spot and the UFO came crashing to the ground making a big explosion and sparks flying up in the sky.

"Happy Fourth of July," I remarked and earned a weird glance from the rest of the others, "What? That was funny!"

The group walked closer to the fallen UFO at the site of its destructive crash. Warren and Bernadette removed the mask from the body of the alien.

"Dan Scully?" Bernadette inquired.

"That nut job from Pluto?" Murphy asked. I had no idea who the man was other than the fact I had seen him leave the table when 10K and I got back from our... session.

The alien imposter and Bernadette talked for a bit until he eventually turned Z and Bernadette mercied him. I didn't think she had it in her. But then it finally set in that the aliens were fake after all. These aliens were at least, because aliens are real. And I’m determined to prove that before I die.

"Told ya so," Murphy retorted, triumphantly thinking he had proven us wrong.

"This proves nothing," 10K remarked.

10K was right. This does prove nothing.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWELVE.  THE Z NATION.

We were driving in the RV that we had stumbled across a few days back. Doc was driving, Addy and 10K were trying to figure out how to use the radio to contact Citizen Z while the rest of us were taking a nap. Well, I was resting my eyes at least.

Warren awoke with a start, as if from a nightmare, before checking her surroundings and straightening up from Vasquez. I opened my eyes too as she asked, "Where are we?"

"About a hundred miles north of Flagstaff I'm thinking," Addy replied.

"I dunno how much longer this old bucket of bolts is gonna keep running," Doc informed as we continued to venture down the long, winding road.

"Talking about yourself or the rig?" Addy questioned playfully.

Doc laughs, "Both," He chuckled before remembering something, "Hey, I think we're getting near the Grand Canyon."

"I went there once when I was a kid," Murphy stated, also awakening at the sound of conversation, "It was beautiful."

"Beautiful?" I questioned, a look of slight disapproval on my face, "Isn't it just a big hole in the ground?"

Murphy rolled his eyes, mumbling, "I always knew the British were uncultured." He then noticed the look of surprise on everyone else's faces, "What? Can't believe I was a kid once?"

"Oh, I believe it. You was that one kid who was an arsehole to everyone," I remarked with a smirk as Warren got up and sat at the front with Doc, discussing the massive ongoing cloud of dust that seemed to be following us. I was really hoping it wasn't that Zunami.

"I think you're talking about yourself, Princess," Murphy countered, ignoring Doc and Warren's conversation.

"Hey! I was a great kid! Everybody loved me!" I defended, unable to contain my etching grin.

"How's that radio coming?" Warren asked, looking over her shoulder to address Addy.

"About to find out," She answered, mumbling something to 10K before he walked to the back of the RV and opened the top window.

Addy tried to make contact with Citizen Z but with no success. He still wasn't responding. Luckily, after a minute or so, his voice filled the radio. He informed us on a massive zombie storm coming our way. Although we could already guess that. He also said we shouldn't go west, unfortunately that being the exact direction we had to go in. Warren referred to it as 'the end of the world.'

After driving down the road for another twenty minutes, the RV slowed to a stop. Permanently. It had broken down. Just as we stopped, we found two ATVs, though. But there was only room for two people per ride.

"Me and Doc can make higher ground on foot," 10K suggested.

Warren looked to me, "you okay with that?"

My eyes glanced to the ATVs, "I thought there was only room for two other people," I questioned.

"You're a lightweight, you can be in the back," Vasquez called over his shoulder. I tentatively looked to 10K before muttering,

"You know, I'm gonna go with Doc and 10K. If that's okay."

Warren nodded with a soft smile, pulling me into a quick hug before getting on the ATV with Vasquez. Addy also hugged the three of us in turn, urging us to stay safe. We watched as the four rode off before moans grew louder beside us.

"Looks like you might be getting to ten thousand a lot sooner than you thought," Doc remarked as we ascended up the hill to higher ground from the horde.

After a slight while of walking, we came across a huge rock wall, with just enough ledges for us to climb up. And luckily for me, I was pretty damn good at rock climbing. After a good twenty minutes of solid climbing, with a few falls from Doc which gave me more heart attacks than I would care to admit, we finally made it to the safety of the top. We turned around an admired the view that went on for miles.

"Makes you feel kinda small, don't it?" Doc asked, gazing off.

I crossed my arms over my chest, I still didn't know the big deal about this landmark. "Its a bit of an anti-climax," I remarked in disappointment.

Doc was in shock beside me, "An anti-climax?" He asked, eyebrows furrowing,  "Its huge!"

"I guess that's why they call it the Grand Canyon," 10K added. We were cut off from our daze by the sound of a twig snapping in the distance.

"Zombies?" Doc questioned immediately.

10K and I shook our heads, "I don't think so," He replied.

"Too fast to be zombies," I finished.

The next thing I knew, Doc was wrapped in some netting around his ankles, falling down onto a smaller ledge. 10K and I glanced at each other before quickly checking on him, his head was bleeding. That was gonna leave a concussion - trust me, I already knew. Before I could say anything, 10K and I were simultaneously zapped in the back by some electric stick. Excruciating pain jolted through my spine as I dropped. The last thing I saw before blacking out was a horse and a dark silhouette.

***

We were awoken from our induced slumber by some sort of Indian tribe - the horse figure among them, leading them. They chained us together the best they could with some rope, coarse enough to give us rope burns anyway and dragged us away wordlessly.

"What are you gonna do to us?" 10K asked, turning back as he walked.

The leader only responded with, "You'll be treated exactly how you deserve to be." Deserve to be? We didn't do anything wrong!

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped, glaring at him as he dismounted his horse. Of course, he didn't reply. I should've seen that coming.

We rounded a corner and was met with some foreign chanting. Not menacing at all.

"What are they saying?" 10K asked, as if reading my mind. Although, I highly doubted Doc knew the answer. It was probably Latin or something.

Doc shook his head, answering in a whisper, "Can't make it out. Something in their native tongue."

I rolled my eyes, "We both could've guessed that, Doc."

"What does zendigo mean?"

The leader stopped in his tracks and spun around to face us, "I'll tell you what zendigo means. It's a plague you people carry. White man's disease."

My mouth widened uncontrollably, "White? I have Spanish heritage!"

"Look, I dunno what you're talking about," Doc pleaded, "But I can assure you we've all had our shots."

The leader took a step closer to Doc, "Your people infected us before. Zendigo nearly destroyed my people. We vowed never allow that to happen again." The three of us shared glances before continuing. I really hope they weren't talking about zombies. But then again, it would explain a lot. White people ruin everything.

We approached a clearing, the chanting never ceasing. An uneasy feeling planted itself inside me as 10K and Doc were forced to kneel on the ground. Myself, on the other hand, was held firmly in a man's grip so I couldn't escape. Or help as the tribe began to beat them as an interrogation on why we were trespassing. And blaming us for leading the horde towards them. I guess that's what isolation does to people - makes them utterly fucking stupid. Angrily, the leader grabbed 10K by his shirt and pushed him up against a rocky wall.

"No!" I yelled out, "Don't hurt him!" But my cries were cut off as the guy's hand clamped firmly over my mouth. I was debating on biting just as a girl's voice echoed through the trees, "That's enough!"

"Gordon, you've got to give this zendigo bullshit a rest," She continued, quirking an eyebrow as she approached him.

The leader, or, Gordon dropped 10K to talk to her. "You know I don't go by that name anymore."

"If mom was still alive, she'd smack you upside the head. It's great to tap into our heritage and all, but give me a break," She huffs, rolling her eyes before giving my capture a look to release me. He obliged immediately.

An older woman took Doc and the sister gently took hold of my arm as they led us to safety, gesturing for 10K to follow behind. We approached some sort of infirmary as the girl tended to 10K's injuries. The girl who's named we had learned to be Ayalla.

"Thank you for helping us," He said as she started to patch up his arm.

"Its the least I can do. You got to forgive my brother. He doesn't mean to be such a jerk. He's just trying to protect us," She explained, offering us both a smile.

I quirked an eyebrow up in questioning, "He does know the zombie virus affects everyone, right?"

Ayalla chuckled softly, "My brother's no fool. He was a professor for the Native American Studies Department at the University. He thinks that if we can avoid contact with the outside world that eventually the zombies will die off and somebody will synthesise a cure."

I glanced to 10K, smiling knowingly, "I wish it was that simple," I trailed off before glancing around at the many people off at their own business, "So is this all that's left of your tribe?"

"This is half of our tribe," She replied, "Gordon, I mean Red Hawk, and my dad don't exactly see eye to eye. My dad was Chief and CEO of the casino. When the apocalypse happened, half of them stayed with my dad while the other half followed my brother up here to where our ancestors first settled."

"Wow, imagine working at a casino," I smirked in amusement, "That's pretty cool, I would've definitely gone with him. No offence."

She laughed, "Yeah, I guess it is quite cool."

"So what does zendigo mean exactly?" I asked.

"It can mean a lot of things. But it usually refers to the disease of the soul. Its when a person takes without regards to the damage it causes to others," She placed her hand to my chest, where my heart is, "But it really never fills the hole inside of them."

I chuckled, "Yeah, that sounds like the zombies alright."

Ayalla's expression then furrows with concern, "You look really dehydrated," She points to a container with what I assumed was water inside, "There's some water over there," She advised as I nodded and took her advice. I didn't even realise how thirsty I was until she had mentioned it. As I left to the side, I heard Ayalla and 10K speak in hushed voices.

"You always stare so much?" She asked, chuckling.

10K looked at her sheepishly, "Only when I'm really interested in what somebody's saying," He answered. I hoped they were talking about me. Although I never noticed 10K staring at me - does he do it often?

"She must say a lot of interesting things then."

10K laughed lightly, nodding his head in agreement as we made eye contact. I smiled, acknowledging what he was saying about me as his face melted with affection.

***

The two of us were talking with Ayalla as Doc spun up to us, twirling his arms. I couldn't help but chuckle at his behaviour.

"Hey, kids," He greeted woozily, "I tell you, you got to go talk to their ancestors. I'm telling you, they're some of the coolest people you'll ever meet."

"What have they been giving you?" I asked with a laugh. but it was cut short as the three of us were each grabbed by some tribal men with machine guns aimed at our heads. Not again.

"What the hell's going on?!" Ayalla asked in distress. I would've liked to know the same thing.

"You patched them up. Now it's time for them to go," Gordon answered bluntly, "Their presence here puts us all in danger. I'm not about to let that happen."

I offered one last look to Ayalla before being dragged off to yet another clearing in the woods. Deserted from all the tribe members. They pushed us away as Gordon gave his cold, stony farewell,

"This is as far as we go. Go back to your people."

"We're free to go?" 10K asked sceptically.

"Take yes for an answer, kids. Come on," Doc muttered, turning to leave. Doc then stumbled back, his limbs tangling up as a rope engulfed him. 10K and I stepped to get him down but unfortunately stepped inside a loop of a rope. We were both swung upside down, hanging from a tree branch as the blood quickly rushed to my head. I could almost hear it.

Gordon smirked as he strutted towards us, "Thanks for volunteering to be our early welcome alarm," He taunted.

"This is crazy! Let us go! You'll never see us again!" 10K yelled out, his voice slightly distant in my ears despite being right beside me. Being upside down was always a cringe of mine. I just about understood that Gordon was accusing us of going to go back to our people to return and attack them again. He was more delusional than I thought.

My vision of 10K started to blur as he thrashed around, trying to untie his ankle. Doc was muttering to himself about stars so whatever they gave him, it was strong.

"What is wrong with you?" 10K asked, his breath faltering at his effort to escape.

"Not a thing, man. In fact, I'm more at peace now than before the whole world turned fubar."

"I'm getting dizzy," 10K revealed, "We're gonna need to try to get free before we black out."

"Too late," I mumbled before I let the enclosing darkness consume me.

***

I woke up, my ankle untangled as I laid on the solid ground. Ayalla was leaning over me with a smile as I came around. 10K was glancing over her shoulder worriedly as my heart leapt at the sight before me.

"Are you okay?" She asked, offering me a hand so I could sit up, our knees bumping together delicately as I did so.

I nodded slightly, "Yeah, I'm okay," Before chuckling out, "Wow I'm such a pussy for passing out so quickly. I can barely do handstands because I hate the feeling of blood rushing to my head, it's literally one o the worst feelings on Earth... I'm rambling aren't I?"

Ayalla giggled at my tangent, "A little bit," She replied, getting up and walking over to her horse as 10K helped me stand.

As soon as I did he wrapped his arms securely around my waist as my arms made their way around his neck instinctively. I pulled away after a moment, glancing at him for injuries, "Are you hurt?" I asked and he shook his head in answer.

"I don't know how we can ever thank you," 10K said as we followed Ayalla to her horse.

She paused, turning to us, "I need your help," She stated. I shrugged my shoulders, "Sure. What's up?"

"Our people at the casino are just as stubborn as Red Hawk. They won't believe me if I tell them what's coming. But they might believe you," She explained.

I smirked confidently, "They probably will - I have that natural charm," I teased before looking to 10K, "And we might find Warren and the others too."

Doc rode up to us on his newfound white stallion, declaring his approval of the plan. 10K and I looked at him in question,

"Since when do you know how to ride a horse?" The boy asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I don't. This is my first time. I've got some friends telling me what to do."

I chuckled, rolling my eyes at the man I had grown to adore over the year or so. "Oh, god," I muttered, "You're riding with him," I stated to 10K before taking Ayalla's hand to get on her horse with her.

***

We rode across a large field on our way to the casino. It felt like we were in a shitty country movie. I always loved to hate those movies Pre-Z. We finally stopped at the entrance of the casino, some men were already outside fixing up their defences. They must've already known about what was coming for them. Ayalla called out to a man in a grey suit - her father.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were with your brother."

Ayalla dismantled her horse to approach him, "We came to warn you."

"I'm well aware of the Derecho," The chief explained, "We've withstood many of these storms before."

"Brother, you got a 10.0 zombiequake headed your way," Doc added, trying to prove the severity of the situation.

"Dad, you should listen to them."

"I mean, your defences are good but it ain't got nothing on what's coming," I nodded behind me.

The chief looked to me before back down to his daughter, "Quick. Lets go inside."

10K helped me off the horse after swiftly getting off his own, immediately intertwining his hand with mine as we followed the chief inside. I sighed in delight at the instant sense of comfort which flooded through me.

Before I could even read the room properly and register who was inside, I was engulfed in a hug. My hand still linked to 10K's as I wrapped my free arm around the girl. Addy. I pulled away as she went to hug the boys, my eyes wandering over to Murphy who offered me a subtle nod. He definitely missed me.

A voice then fizzed through the radio static. "Hey Warren. How hot does this battery have to be?" Citizen Z.

"As hot as you can get it," Warren answered. He must've been having some zombie trouble.

A few minutes passed as we listened to the struggling of Citizen Z through the radio in hushed concern - knowing full well we couldn't do anything about what was happening. Until a massive explosion erupted through the static, breaking the silence.

"Zombie down. Repeat. Zombie down."

Everyone in the room clapped and cheered for him. "Time to go," Warren ordered, after knowing Citizen Z was okay.

Murphy stood up abruptly, his eyes wide in panic. "They're coming. I can feel it," He informed.

Warren walked over to the chief, "Please, come with us."

"If we leave now, we stand a chance. If you stay..." Vasquez trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence because we all knew what he was going to say. I looked out of the massive window wall at the cloud of dust etching even closer to us. Ayalla tried to persuade her dad to come with us but it was no use. We needed to leave.

We all rushed outside and hopped into multiple vehicles. 10K, Murphy, Warren and I were in a vehicle, while Doc stayed with his horse and Vasquez and Addy were on an ATV. The other tribe had piled into a truck.

"We need to hurry," Murphy ushered, "They will kill all of you," He warned. But despite everything, Ayalla's dad still refused to come with us. He wanted to die with his casino, with his wife's spirit. My heart ached for Ayalla but I didn't blame her father for being so connected with his casino.

As soon as we got far enough, we watched as the casino came crumbling down. The zombies were taking over as we finally made a break for the sacred cliffs. As soon as we got back to their camp, Ayalla didn't wait around. She stormed straight to her brother to alert him of the tragic news. Even if Gordon did hate his father. The old medicine woman who Doc had befriended earlier led us up a small hill as we saw Ayalla and Gordon hugging. I recognised the hill as the place where 10K and Doc were interrogated.

Gordon looked to us as we approached, "You are welcome here. All of you. We should be safe here. We blocked the only narrow passage in - and zombies can't climb," He opened before walking over to Doc and shook his hand, "I'm sorry."

"It's cool, brother. In the end, all is forgiven," Doc replied as Gordon moved onto 10K, also shaking his hand and apologising. 10K nodded in acknowledgement. Gordon finally got to me, bowing his head, "I'm sorry for how you were treated here."

I shrugged, but with a smile, "I forgive you, I guess," I said playfully.

Then, there was an abrupt crash as a zombie thudded to the ground. It had fallen from the cliff and started to crawl its way to our group, but Warren gave it mercy before it could go any further.

"The fast ones. They're starting to arrive," Murphy informed. Then another Z fell from above and this time Addy piked it with her Z Whacker. Blasters.

Murphy continued describing the great peril that was coming for us, "In a few hours, the entire zunami is gonna push over the cliff and into his canyon."

"We need to divert them somehow," Warren added, conversing with Gordon.

"Hey! Do you think zombies are as dumb as buffalo?" Doc asked, making us all turn to look at him in front of the tribe wall in confusion. Doc had a plan.

***

The plan was to set fire to the ground so the Zs would eventually get burned as they ran to us. I had to admit, setting the fire was pretty entertaining - working with flares and stuff. Every one of us aided in greatening the fire, making an extended line of flames as it crossed part of the Grand Canyon. We waited for a few minutes before the zombies started to come.

The fire crackled softly as Murphy screamed, just before the zombie horde came into contact with the fire. "I have to save them!" He yelled, running towards them, desperately warning them to turn around.

"Murphy, no!" Warren called after him and started to run after him, followed by Vasquez. Without even thinking, I jumped down from the vehicle to run towards Murphy as well, quickly passing both Warren and Vasquez.

I jumped in front of Murphy, stopping him in his tracks as he dropped to the floor in agony. I dropped with him, stopping him from getting up to run again. He wouldn't stop screaming about wanting, needing to save them. He needed to save his tribe.

"Murphy, I know they feel but I promise they won't get hurt. They'll turn around, okay? They'll be fine," I reassured, fighting to be heard over Murphy. And luckily, I was right. At the sight of the fire and heat, they did turn around and fell right into the canyon. Warren and Vasquez dragged Murphy as our group rushed to higher ground. We watched as millions of zombies fell down to the bottom, their groans echoing in the distance.

"Wow," I muttered, breaking the stunned silence, "I didn't think we'd be the cunts who ruined the Grand Canyon."

***

We headed back to the camp, nobody wanting to make eye contact with Murphy. Although we saved them from burning in the fire, we did still trap them in the Grand Canyon. The tribe drew some new symbols to their tribe rock. Gordon then turned around and looked to us, "On this day, in generations to come, our people will remember you of the Z Nation - who fought with us here today. They will know who you are and what you did," He declared, shining with pride.

Ayalla, 10K and I were saying our goodbyes and as 10K walked off, Ayalla placed a beaded necklace in my hands.

"For your journey to protect you. Come back and see us sometime," She offered, smiling before pressing a kiss to my cheek.

I nodded, returning her grin, "Of course. I'll see you soon," I said, hugging her before walking off with 10K.

"Was she flirting with me this whole time or am I imagining things?" I whispered to him. I didn't mean for my niceness to come across as flirting. Maybe I should stop being nice. 10K only shrugged in response. Of course, he was clueless.

After saying goodbye to everyone we had met on our stop, we headed down the hill to the vehicle which had previously belonged to the casino tribe. Murphy was pretty messed up, he was gazing off out the window as Warren stepped inside the vehicle for a talk alone. I felt somewhat guilty about the Grand Canyon but those zombies did have to die.

It was the apocalypse, after all.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.   POPCORN.

The group was in the woods with a reddish colour filling the air, making it hard to breathe for our group of survivors. We have clothing material over our mouths so we wouldn't breathe the toxic air in. There was still too many Z's out in the woods and we were trying to kill most of them.

I pulled out my bow and arrows and aimed it at the heads, not missing one kill. At least, I no longer had to worry about running out of arrows because I made them myself. After we killed the zombies, we regrouped together and walked up a hill where a hotel looking building came into view.

"It looks like a hotel," Warren stated.

"I thought we killed all of these Zs last week," Doc muttered, referring back to the Grand Canyon.

"Maybe the Grand Canyon filled up," Addy suggested.

"Not funny," Murphy remarked, glaring at her.

"I wasn't kidding," Addy retorted.

We coughed and spluttered as we approached the entrance of the hotel. Warren pounded on the door to see if there was anyone in there.

As Doc and Warren tried to open the door with a crow bar that Doc had, "You think it's deserted?" He asked.

I shook my head, "Doubt it, look at the defences," I muttered, gesturing to the boarded up doors. 10K turned to me,

"I'm glad you're all healed up now."

"Aw, does someone miss carrying me around all the time?" I said, in a joking tone.

"You know you love me," He mocked.

"Keep telling yourself that," I winked, leaving a frown on 10K's face. I let out a giggle and soon my focus was now on the door being opened by a guy inside. We entered the hotel and quickly pulled out our guns as there were even more survivors on the top of the stairs.

"Turn around and go back the way you came," A man called out.

"Look! We don't want to hurt you, but we cannot turn around," Warren stated, "There are way too many Zs out there."

"Not much oxygen either," Doc added.

"Who's in charge?" Warren inquired as zombies started to thump against the doors.

"My name is Gideon Gould. I'm the facilitator here, but we really don't have a leader," He introduced as he walked down the stairs, "Cause everyone here participates in our decision making."

"Great. We just need some shelter until the smoke clears, and some of those zombies move on," Warren told him.

"Okay. I think in order for us to put together a mutually beneficial agreement we're gonna have to create a little framework of trust here," Gideon said. I hate him already.

"Buddy, I'd have a lot more trust if you all pointed your weapons some place else," Murphy remarked.

Gideon nodded and turned to his people, "It's okay, everyone."

Warren hummed in acknowledgement, standing firmly with her hands on her hips, "What you got in mind, Mr Gould?"

"Popcorn circle process?" A woman suggested before walking down the stairs to join Gideon.

"You know what? That's exactly what I had in mind," Gideon agreed, gesturing with the stick.

Murphy leaned over to me sceptically, "What the hell is it? Movie night?" He muttered.

"Ooh I hope so, I love popcorn," I exclaimed back, grinning. Murphy only rolled his eyes at my enthusiasm.

The blonde woman took the large staff from Gideon into her hands, "Don't worry. It's not a weapon. It's a tool. We call it the talking stick. We use it to facilitate dialogue. When we make decisions, we pass it around the circle like a bowl of popcorn. Only the person who is holding the stick is allowed to speak. It makes it so much easier to be heard," She reassured and explained, before passing the stick back to Gideon. I did not like that idea one bit.

"Hopefully we can all build enough trust here that we'll lower our weapons, okay? We're gonna play a little quick game here. It's called honesty inventory. I give you my first impressions of all of you without filtering anything," He introduced.

I raised my hand, grabbing the stick when Gideon passed it over. I looked at it with some distaste before continuing, "So no popcorn?" I only received weird looks from everyone. I sighed, throwing my hands in the air, "What? It's a valid question!"

Gideon chuckled before taking the stick from me and then pointed to Warren first. Vasquez aimed his gun as Gideon stepped closer to Warren.

"You. You are the leader. You're a natural and you have a wisdom, but it's born of loss," He interpreted and moved onto Vasquez, "You are the enforcer, brother. You're tough, but your scars can cloud your judgement."

He then proceeded to walk over to Addy, "You are the strong one. But there's a lot of loss in those eyes. I think it's more loss than you can handle." He glances over to Warren for a moment, "She relies on you."

He took a step over to Doc, "Brother sir. You've got a face that's etched with sadness. And yet... Somehow... You managed to keep your sense of humour," He said before hugging Doc. I hoped he didn't hug me.

Then, it was my turn. "You're the same," He introduced, placing a firm hand on my shoulder, "You, too, also use humour to divert people's attention away from your weaknesses."

I shook my head defiantly, crossing my arms over my chest, "Nah, I'm just a naturally funny person. Stuff just comes to me - I have a gift."

"Miss, please wait until you're holding the talking stick to start speaking," Gideon reinforced.

Still, I remained stubborn, "My gift can't be restricted by some stick, Mr Gould."

However, much to my dismay, he ignored my antics and continued talking, "You've got yourself in a lot of trouble, sweetheart," He glances over to Murphy, "Did he hurt you?" My expression remained monotonous. "He did, didn't he? And you forgave him. You don't do that often."

Next, he moved onto 10K beside me. "Son. You got a good heart, but you're a little bit angry," He pointed to Murphy, "You don't like him. You two don't like each other, that's what it is," He then looked back to me, "Because of you. I already sensed the connection between you two as soon as you entered the room."

Gideon then walks past Doc and Addy over to Murphy. "You got the weight of the world on your shoulders, don't you? I can see it. You do more for these people than they even realise. And you never really get the respect that you deserve either."

He turned back to Warren again and passed her the talking stick, "What do you think?"

"We'll stand down," She answered, gesturing for our group to put away our guns. I still didn't completely trust those people but if Warren thought it was safe, I wouldn't argue.

Gideon smiled, pleased, and looked around at our group, "Any questions?"

I raised my hand again and the stick enclosed in my grip, "If a bear and a shark had a fight, who would win?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Any legitimate questions?"

"Is there anywhere we could get some food? Now that we're all friends and stuff. I'm starving," Murphy questioned, offering Gideon a fake smile.

"Preferably popcorn," I added, "Like that's not even a joke. I really want popcorn now."

Warren and Addy went off to negotiate some terms on food and other specifics with Gideon and Dana - the blonde from earlier. Just as he went to leave the room, Gideon turned to look at me with a smile, "And for the record, if it's on dry land I'm betting on the bear."

I only scowled in return as Iggy, the man who opened the door for us, brought Doc, 10K and I to the kitchen. 10K intertwined his hand with mine and offered me a smile which melted my heart. I pressed his hand to my lips as we continued to follow.

"You guys have been here the whole time?" 10K asked, trying to make conversation.

Iggy sighed, "We thought about going. At least I have. But the group always vote me down. My company sent me here for a weekend retreat to work on my people skills. That was four years ago."

"Well I don't blame you for wanting to leave," I muttered, looking around at the relatively empty kitchen.

"May I?" 10K asked, pointing to the water. Iggy nodded his head and sloppily poured a cup for the boy.

"I never stayed in a hotel before," 10K admitted, "You guys have a pool? I always wanted to swim in a pool," He said and took a sip from the water.

"You're drinking it," Iggy revealed and 10K's eyes grew wide as he froze.

"Ew there's chlorine in here?" I exclaimed, taking the glass off of 10K and placing it back on the tray.

"No, don't worry. We filter and boil everything," He reassured, showing us the equipment which did so.

"Let me show you where we keep the food under lock and key," Iggy said then skipped passed us to a vault door. He unlocked the door and Doc peeked inside before closing it and locking it back up again.

"Why don't you guys relax in the ballroom?" Iggy suggested to us before leading us into yet another room. He was obviously excited to have visitors.

It wasn't long before there was a gunshot which rung throughout the building and the three of us hastily rushed over in the direction of which the gunshot was fired. When we got there, we were greeted with chaos as Warren and Vasquez were hovering over a body. Murphy's body. Luckily, he wasn't dead but he and another guy were shot. They brought Murphy and the other guy downstairs to the bar where there was more light where they were laid down on a table.

"10K, make sure nobody leaves. Addy, cover the door," Vasquez ordered.

"Who made you in charge?" Gideon asked.

"I did. I was a cop for ten years. This is a crime scene," Vasquez replied bluntly. He was a cop? That explains a lot.

Everyone was surrounding the two bodies on the table. They were arguing about whether or not to mercy the other guy, but he wasn't turning even though he should've died. As the other group were tying their man down, Warren, Doc and I were examining Murphy. The bullet passed straight through him but he did have quite a bad head wound - which concerned Doc more.

"He's definitely got a concussion. Maybe worse," Doc diagnosed.

"Karmas a bitch, I guess," I muttered to myself.

Vasquez strapped Murphy down with duck tape too and went back to check on the 'crime scene' as Doc stayed to watch the two on the table. Gideon ushered the rest of us into the room next door. 10K, Warren, Addy and I walked into the room where Gideon and his people were sitting with their chairs in a circle. A 'trust circle'.

"We're gonna resolve this conflict peacefully. Without violence," Gideon said calmly.

"Well that's not gonna be easy. Considering one of you just shot one of us," Warren answered back.

"Please sit down," Gideon pleaded before we all finally obliged. I sat between 10K and Addy. Almost immediately, two men started to accuse 10K of sneaking around after the gunshot. They couldn't possibly be implying he shot Murphy?

Gideon took the stick off of the two men to address 10K. I had to physically bite on my tongue to keep me from talking as anger started to bubble inside me. Whenever I spoke, I always seemed to make things worse so the best thing I could do for 10K in that moment was to keep quiet. Even if he was being wrongly accused. "So clearly there's some unresolved conflict between you and Murphy."

"10K doesn't miss," Addy spoke out, defending 10K when I couldn't. But then, I snapped.

"Fuck this!" I snapped aloud, standing up so abruptly my chair was pushed a couple of inches away from its original position. I regretted what I was about to do the moment I rose from my seat, but for some reason I couldn't stop myself, "You don't know shit about 10K."

"The stick, Angel. Please," Gideon reaffirmed, almost shoving the stick into my hand. I had no idea how he knew my name but I was too angry to ask.

I lowered my voice slightly, "You're right, you're right. I'm sorry." I paused for a moment before a smirk found its way to my lips, "Fuck your stick!" I shouted out, dropping it to the ground with a harsh crash, "And fuck this 'trust circle'. It's all bullshit. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go find out who actually shot Murphy," I snapped, flipping them all off with both my hands as I stormed out of the room to Doc.

Behind me, I heard the crashing of chairs as they tried to go after me. Addy stood up, preventing them from following me as she continued, "If 10K wants something dead, its dead. And he would never try to kill Murphy."

Her voice faded out as I stopped beside Doc, who was looking over Murphy's injuries. Doc noticed my sadness immediately,

"What's wrong, kid?" he asked, placing his hand over mine as I lent on the table.

I sighed, "Sometimes I think I ruin things."

"What happened in there?"

"They were accusing 10K of shooting and trying to kill Murphy. I tried to help, Doc, but I think I just made things worse," I explained, rubbing my eyes as they began to water.

Doc smiled warmly at me, "Don't beat yourself up about it, sweetheart. A lot of people snap when others are hurting someone they care about," Doc said, trying his best to reassure me. It worked for the most part. I decided to change my subject and keep my mind off of what happened back there,

"How's he doing?" I asked, referring to Murphy not the other guy. Obviously.

"He's still unconscious but his breathing seems stable," Doc informed as Murphy started to moan. As if he was having a bad dream.

After a while of examining our two patients, Doc seemed to have an idea. An absolutely crazy one, naturally. "Hey, if Murphy's blood has stopped this guy from turning. What do you think would happen if he ingested more blood?" Doc questioned, soaking a rag in Murphy's blood.

I shook my head tentatively in reply, "Doc, I wouldn't do that. Remember what happened to Cassandra?" I reminded him, wincing slightly at her name.

"It'll just be a little bit. Maybe it'll help this guy?"

My eyes flickered between the two men who were unconscious on the table before eventually sighing, "Fine."

So after a while of sucking on Murphy's blood, the guy was actually getting better. Much to my surprise. His fever broke and he was breathing pretty normal for someone who had been shot in the chest. Doc and I exchanged proud glances just as Warren and the others came back from the 'trust circle'.

10K caught my eye and I already knew he wanted to talk. I couldn't avoid him, I just hoped he wasn't pissed at my outburst. As I approached him, he must've already read my mind because he opened with,

"I'm not mad at you."

"I know," I mumbled, barely meeting his eye so I couldn't show my relief.

"Do you?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow as he took my hand in his so I would look up at him.

I sighed, "I tried to help, I really did. I just didn't want you to get punished for something you didn't do. Especially when its my fault," I admitted, tears brimming in my eyes again.

"It's not your fault, Angel. Sure, I hate him for what he did to you but that's on him. Not you. There's nothing you can do to make me hate you," He smiled and wrapped his arms around me in a tight, comforting hug. I sighed contently against his chest before he had to leave with the others again. I decided it was probably best for me to stay with Doc so I didn't start any shit again.

***

We were tending to the two half-zombies when a gunshot sounded from behind me. Before I could spin around to see the culprit, Doc dropped to the ground dragging me down with him. I couldn't tell whether it was adrenaline but I swear I felt the bullet just scrape past my shoulder. A few more gunshots aimed at us until I heard the shooter sprint off. The others were coming.

"What happened?" Warren asked, her voice laced with concern as I helped Doc stand from our hiding spot.

"Some zombie loving bastard took a shot at us!" Doc exclaimed.

"Did you see who it was?" Vasquez inquired.

I shook my head, "No, but they went that way." I pointed in the direction which I heard the shooter head to.

"Lets go, Addy. 10K, stay with them," Warren ordered as they all ran off quickly in the direction I pointed in.

10K knelt before me, checking me over for bullet wounds. "I'm fine. He missed," I reassured with a smile.

Doc continued to feed the guy some of Murphy's blood through his thumb as 10K watched the door. I gave him a look, Murphy would've hated us if he knew what we were doing to him. But I did feel bad for him, though. He looked like he was experiencing some intense nightmares.

Suddenly, screams could be heard from the other room where everybody else was situated. I glanced at Doc before rushing off to the sound with 10K to find more Zs breaking into the compound from inside the hotel. There were cracks on the windows caused by the zombies' thumps. Everybody knew those windows wouldn't hold for much longer if we stayed in there.

And soon enough, the window smashed open with multiple zombies entering through the glass. We all rushed back into the room where Murphy was located. Doc made a small, innocent remark about positivity which then set off two other people, taking full offence. This then resulted in practically the whole room starting to yell over each other. 10K and I knew to stay out of whatever they were all arguing about. I pinched the bridge of my nose, knowing all this shouting would just attract more Zs.

Warren stood up on a podium or something, opening and closing her mouth as she tried to speak over the noise. I rolled my eyes and screamed as loud as I could, "Shut up!" Everyone fell silent abruptly as I gestured to Warren, "She clearly wants to speak, for fucks sake."

Warren nodded to me in thanks before proceeding, "Now do your little stick thing," She instructed to Gideon. He then started to go on about some sort of journey of discovery about who the real killer was. I kind of zoned out as soon as he started to speak. So it was then when I realised Iggy wasn't around - 10K later explained to me that he had been thrown out under suspicion of stealing food and potentially shooting Murphy. Poor guy, I liked him.

"Or we could just ask Greg who shot him," Doc suggested with a smile, "Look who just woke up. Greg. Who... shot... you?" Doc asked, dumbing it down for the new blue half-zombie.

Hazily, Greg pointed in the direction of the killer to which the guy was already aiming two guns at our group. The same guy who accused 10K of being responsible.

"Not surprised a zombie figured it out before you corporate morons," The guy snapped.

"Who you calling corporate?" Doc exclaimed back.

The man aimed his gun at Doc, "Shut it. And if anybody moves, I will not hesitate to kill you... Dana, get over here," He ordered. Addy looked over at her, shocked.

"I never wanted anybody to get hurt!" The blonde cried, making her way over to the real Greg killer.

Gideon stood in front of Dana's partner, looking utterly confused. He refused to let her go anywhere.

"I would rather take my chances out there than die in here listening to you," She spat. Gideon tried to persuade her to stay but the gun guy, who's name was Travis pointed one of his guns to Gideon's head.

"He got my gun!" Doc exclaimed, and my head flicked over to Greg who in fact, had Doc's gun aimed at Travis. Travis didn't hesitate to mercy Greg and Greg did the same at the same time. Everyone raised their guns fearfully. Dana cried out as Travis turned Z but was mercied by Addy. Everyone hushes into a stunned silence until there was a knock on the door behind me and 10K.

"Is that somebody knocking?" 10K asked, perplexed.

"That's impossible," Gideon muttered. That was not a Z.

"10K and Angel. On three, open the door," Warren ordered. Everyone else started to beg us to stop but I ignored them all. I only answered to Warren.

Warren counted down and we both opened the big double doors on one to reveal Iggy, absolutely caked in dried blood. We shut the door to prevent any zombies entering as Iggy stepped into the centre of the room silently. Gideon tried to apologise for locking him outside with the zombies but Iggy wasn't having any of it. He took the stick from him and whacked him on the back of the head, killing him. Vasquez restrained him instantly as Iggy started to snap at the dead Gideon.

"Wow, go Iggy," I whispered to myself.

Once Iggy started to calm down, Murphy moaned from his table. He was finally awake. "What did I miss?" He asked sleepily.

I shrugged, smiling, "Not much really."

***

Doc and I were sitting behind 10K in our vehicle as he was the driver. The people at the hotel were thanking Warren for freeing them from Gideon's control. Vasquez and Murphy were sitting in the seats behind Doc and I - Murphy still moaning about his head. Addy stayed back to say goodbye to Dana, considering there was definitely some romantic chemistry going on between them. Addy was officially a bicon.

Warren got in the passenger seat next to 10K. "How you feeling, princess?" She asked, turning her head to look back at Murphy as he clutched his forehead.

Murphy groaned again and rubbed the back of his bald head, "I have an apocalyptic headache."

"Oh, suck it up, buttercup," I joked with a smile, making Warren let out a laugh with me.

"I'm glad I didn't have an office job. Those people were messed up," 10K remarked.

"It's the corporations, man," Doc chuckled.

I chuckled. "You should be glad we haven't had to work a day in our lives," I reminded him. Having to experience the apocalypse young had both its pros and cons. Of course, 10K and I hadn't actually been able to fully experience life yet but no work, so our situation couldn't have been that bad.

Addy then opened up the side door and we all looked at her, raising our eyebrows with knowing smirks. Addy rolled her eyes and sat beside me, smacking me playfully on the shoulder.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.   MEXICAN MAKEOVER.

We were now in Mexico and Murphy was still too weak to walk on his own, so he had Addy and Doc by his side to aid him. We were surrounded by Zs, shooting at them as best as we could but there too many to kill them all and we were rapidly running out of ammo.

"Spread out," Warren ordered and everyone went our separate ways to try and keep distance between us and the zombies. It wasn't long before I ran out of arrows and had to move on to my hand gun which had a full clip. I started to shoot at more Zs before Warren and the others passed by.

Warren called out for me to follow. Soon Murphy collapsed to the ground, coughing and spluttering, so we all had to stop and wait for Murphy to recover.

"This really the border?" 10K asked.

"About 2000 miles of it - No way around," Vasquez answered, obviously knowing a lot about the Mexican border.

"Here comes the goon squad," Doc warned, referring to the zombies closing in on us.

"Ammo?" Warren inquired.

"About half a clip," Vasquez replied.

"Three," Addy added.

"Four and three in my pocket," 10K answered.

"I have a full clip," I responded.

"Don’t look at me," Doc denied.

Warren checked her own, "One - Save your ammo," She told us all and helped Murphy to his feet again. He attempted to control the zombies to give us another head start but it wasn't working, he was too weak. Suddenly, explosions started to sound out of nowhere. We all started to look for where the explosions were coming from, seeing some masked figures abseil down the walls. Zeros.

We all turned our heads again when we heard a whistle, "Down here," Escorpion called out and popped his head from some underground bunker.

Realising following Escorpion was the best option of survival for us, we all reluctantly followed Warren down the hatch. We quickly climbed down the ladder as the Zeros covered for us up above but as soon as we got underground, we were surrounded by Escorpion and other Zeros, their guns aimed in our direction. We did the same, our guns cocked at a corresponding Zero.

"In the name of La Reina de los Muertos, Queen of the Zeros Cartel, I strongly suggest you lower your weapons," Escorpion stated calmly.

La Reina. Queen of the Dead.

"Like the Z Weed Zeros?" Murphy questioned.

"That would be us."

"Then I believe you are looking for me. I am The Murphy," Murphy informed, stepping forward with his arms raised in surrender.

"This man is our prisoner," Warren reinforced, "That CDC bounty is ours. If you try to take him away from us," She then aimed her gun at Murphy, "I will blow his brains out."

"El Murfi isn't worth a damn if he's dead," She added, "Now back off!"

"Just want to make sure he's the real Murphy," Escorpion explained.

"You wanna see the scars?" Murphy asked with a smirk.

"I do."

"Not until you lower your weapons," Warren instructed.

"Put them down," Escorpion ordered and his Zeros obliged, although we didn't.

Murphy then removed his jacket and shirt, revealing his scars which were slightly healed over since he shed his skin. Murphy spun around to show them off to everyone. 

"It is true then. If you lower your weapons, you have my word you'll be safe," Escorpion told them, after seeing that our story checked out. "Look, if I wanted you dead, we would have left you out with the zombies. But La Reina is looking for you. She will give you the reward," He added. Warren nodded at us to lower our weapons, but still remembering the mission.

Escorpion led us down the tunnel to meet with La Reina in her garden. "It’s a great privilege for you to see this place," He introduced, "I bet now you're glad we dug tunnels underneath the border, aren't you? We’ve been tracking you for a while. Every time there's some crazy bullshit going on, its you people."

I chuckled, "Sounds about right."

Escorpion continued, "It’s not hard to follow you. What’s hard is guessing what you're gonna do next. Lucky for you, one of our drones spotted you shortly before a zombie knocked it out of the air."

Woah, these people have been following us with drones?

Escorpion stopped before a woman standing at the edge of the garden. La Reina. She turns around to address our group, "El Murfi - The saviour. I’ve been looking for you for a very long time."

I didn't like the way she was talking about him. Calling him my Murphy or slippery prey. It made me shiver slightly.

She walked up to Murphy to examine him. "You said you have been looking for me - Sent your men to hunt and capture me, care to tell me why?" Murphy inquired.

"No. I’d rather show you," She answered with a hum and a giggle and walked over to the rest of us in the back of the group, "You don't need no weapons here," She said and brushed passed us. Warren nodded at us to give the Zeros our weapons. I groaned as I reluctantly gave the Zero every weapon I had on me, although I kept the knife hidden in my boot just in case some shit went down. Which likely would do.

We followed La Reina out of the garden and to a room where she stopped to look back at us again, "All we need is the blood of El Murfi to make my dreams of creating a cure a reality," She said before leading us to a different room with white walls and medical supplies. A lab.

We all looked around and examined the room until a door opened the none other than Doctor Kurian stepped out. Murphy addressed him bluntly.

"So this is where the Zeros took you," Warren said before chuckling, "I thought they were gonna kill you. Glad they didn't. Now I can do it myself," She snapped, threatening to step forward but Addy held her back. Besides, she didn't have any weapons to kill him with anyway.

"You two know each other?" La Reina inquired.

"You hear about the nuclear strike in Colorado?" Warren asked her.

"Colorado? That’s where you disappeared with all my research and my money," La Reina realised. Damn, Kurian really is an arsehole.

"You brought me here to atone," Kurian said in reply, "I am atoning."

La Reina walked over to Warren, "Lieutenant, I understand you. If someone tried to kill me, I would not rest until I took my revenge. But you're not going to kill my doctor, are you?"

"No." I could see how painful it was for Warren to keep the peace and not retaliate.

"Why not? I would," La Reina remarked and my eyebrows furrowed at her mood swings.

"Because you took my gun," Warren answered, completely monotone.

La Reina laughs, remembering, "Yes, I did." She clapped her hands together before walking over to Murphy, "Now this one is no ordinary man who will sacrifice himself for the sake of humanity. Santa Muerte is going to smile upon you, Mr Murphy."

"Sacrifice?" Murphy repeated, taken aback.

"I thought you only needed his blood. You’re not gonna hurt him, right?" Warren asked.

"I’ll try not to," Kurian answered. I forgot how much I hated that guy.

"Let’s leave them to their work," La Reina said, leading the rest of us off again.

***

"Now then, your reward. I can equip you with a decade worth of gasoline, bullets, a vehicle - six vehicles," La Reina listed upon leaving Kurian's lab.

"Yeah, we'll take all of that," Addy remarked.

"Take them where, do you think?" La Reina asked.

"Somewhere without zombies," Doc answered.

"And where's that?"

"You have zombies here," Warren reminded.

"Sure, we do. But thanks to you, not for long. You see the potential here, yes?" La Reina asked rhetorically, "Well I see potential... in you. So I could send you back into the apocalypse or I can offer you a place here," She suggested.

"As a part of your drug cartel?" Addy inquired, unimpressed. To be honest, I had always wanted to be part of a drug cartel.

"As part of a new society," La Reina corrected, "The beginning of the first post-zombie society. The cartel, the organisation is only a means to that end. It’s a small price to pay to begin again. Sacrifices are often made for the greater good. But the choice is entirely up to you."

"You are more generous than I could have hoped for. We’ll stay," Warren told her, taking Vasquez's advice, before my vision was stolen from me by a potato sack being thrown harshly over my head.

***

After being pushed and prodded by some Zeros, the sack was finally pulled off of my head. I looked around to see the same had been done to the others. We were in some sort of arena, with the Zeros and Escorpion looking down on us.

"What kind of test is this?" Warren asked.

"It’s called kill the zombies. Last man or woman standing is to join the ranks of our loyal order of La Reina de los Muertos," Escorpion explained.

"What if we don't want to play?" Warren challenged.

"Then we shoot you."

Warren reached over to the weapon table and took some knuckle dusters and a dagger. "Game on," She muttered and the arena erupted in Spanish chattering. I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying - But it was enough to know they were placing bets.

"I hope they're putting their money on me," I muttered, followed with a light laugh. 

"No, they're betting against us," Vasquez corrected as I sighed. He always ruined my fun.

I was the last person to grab a weapon from the table. I grabbed a dagger like Warren and a bat wrapped with sharp barbed wire. I was surprised Addy didn't go for that one. I spun around to face the others, a smile on my face due to resemblance,

"Hey, look. Lucille!" I exclaimed but was only met with blank faces, "Did none of you guys read The Walking Dead?"

The chatter of betting soon died down as Escorpion raised his hand to silence them. "Round one," He announced.

"Round one? How many rounds?" Doc questioned, abruptly cut off by a loud buzz and familiar growls coming from the other side of the cage. The cage door opened and a lone Z stumbled in. Addy killed that one.

"This will be the final round."

The same buzz occurred but this time was followed by a lot more growls. But it was nothing we couldn't handle.

"I’m gonna do you a favour. To speed things up, why don't we kill the lights?" Escorpion uttered as we descended into pitch-black darkness. The cage rumbled open as the zombies eagerly made their way through. I swung my bat in the air almost blindly, hitting a zombie in the head as I let my eyes adjust to the sudden darkness. My focus was mainly trained on distinguishing zombies from my group members, not wanting to whack one accidentally. The lights then flickered back on, signalling the round was over. Every one of us was caked in blood.

La Reina clapped her hands slowly and chuckled, "No wonder you survived so long. We could really use some Zeros like you."

"Do we get to join your club now?" Warren questioned, just as breathless as the rest of us.

***

After being blessed with a hot shower, I got quickly changed into some new clothes that were handed to me. I was wearing some tight, black skinny jeans with a corset type crop top. I paired that with a red leather jacket, some skull earrings, a pointed choker and almost knee height boots. Afterwards, I was greeted with an old Spanish Zero woman. She introduced herself as the woman who would do my hair and makeup, but not with her actual name. I hadn't done my hair or makeup since the last day of normality, only plucking my eyebrows with 10K and Addy ever since. The feeling of concealer on my skin felt so sticky and foreign to me. The Zero lady chatted mindless to me about some of her makeup tips, what it was like being a Zero and how her birthday was next week. Once my new makeover was revealed, I was utterly speechless. That woman was good.

I reached my hand up to fluff my hair but the woman snatched my hand back, her reflexes better than mine. "no arruines tu cabello, jovencita," She snapped sternly. Don’t mess up your hair, young lady.

My eyes widened as I placed my hands in my lap, "lo siento," I muttered in apology. 

The lady led me to another room where the rest of the group were waiting for me. I entered smiling wildly as I turned to say goodbye to the Zero woman, "adios. gracias por las puntas de las unas. feliz cumpleanos para le semana que viene!" Goodbye. Thanks for the nail tips. Happy birthday for next week!

Vasquez looked at me, an eyebrow raised as to why I was even having a light-hearted conversation with a Zero.

"Lovely woman. Doesn’t speak a word of English, though," I explained with a chuckle as I watched 10K's eyes widen as he took in my new outfit. I looked him over as well, I didn't realise how attractive he looked in black until that moment.

"Wow, you look..." He trailed off, not finding any words.

I smiled warmly at his awkward nature, stretching up to kiss him on the cheek, "Thanks."

Then, Escorpion and two other Zeros entered the room - Also somewhat dressed up. "Come with me," He ordered and one of the Zeros wordlessly pulled out a potato sack. I huffed and groaned audibly, knowing what was coming next. I instantly felt guilty as the sack was pulled over my head again. It was probably going to ruin that poor woman's makeup. 

The sack was ripped off my head once we had stopped walking and I looked down to notice we were on a balcony. The rest of the cartel were clapping as La Reina was on the other side of the room on an opposing balcony. Hers was much more fancier than ours, obviously. 

"El Murfi has been delivered to our doorstep. Thanks to the valiant effort of Lieutenant Roberta Warren and her courageous crew. And so tonight we will give them the greatest honour that we know. We will make them one of us," La Reina spoke, everyone falling silent to listen to her. My eyes fell to Murphy, who was sitting comfortably in a padded chair, smirking smugly at us. 

A Zero came past with our weapons that we had handed to them in the garden earlier, returning to me my hand gun, dagger and bow with some new arrows. I also noticed my hand gun had been reloaded since I was only down to a few bullets. The Zeros started to cheer in celebration, as La Reina made her way down to her throne on the floor.

"I’m a little hungry, anyone else?" Doc asked, walking off down the stairs. 10K and I glanced at each other and shrugged, deciding to follow after the man.

We found where the food table was and the boys placed some food on their plate. I wasn't really hungry, more nervous as to how we were going to get ourselves out of that situation more than anything. When the three of us turned around to walk back, watching as the Zeros exchanged countless gifts to Murphy, we stopped in our tracks as a girl with elaborate skull makeup was staring in our direction. More specifically, at 10K. 

"I think she likes you," Doc joked.

"God, I hope not," 10K mumbled.

"Yeah, I hope not too," I added, wrapping my arm in his making the girl advert her gaze. That’s what I thought, puta. 

"Sometimes, kid, the best women are the ones that terrify you," Doc said, looking to me.

"Hey! I’m the least scariest woman in here!" I defended.

Doc shrugged, "I dunno. You can be pretty scary when you're angry." I only chuckled in response, knowing he was right. 

Doc walked over to talk with Addy, who had re-entered the room. I was about to follow when I sensed 10K’s gaze on me. I turned my head up to look back at him, "You’re staring again," I whispered, smiling uncontrollably.

"I mean, how can I not?" 10K smirked back.

I was just about to reply with something just as witty but I was cut off by some ruckus near the centre of the celebration. I watched as Vasquez aimed at gun at either Escorpion or La Reina. I had a fair guess as to who it was. Before he could shoot, Warren grabbed it from him and aimed it back. The Zeros were on him in an instant, restraining him and taking him somewhere to be interrogated by Escorpion. 

10K and I walked over to Doc and Addy, who also stood there to witness the whole ordeal. Everyone at the party saw Vasquez attempt to 'assassinate the queen.' Or that's what everyone thought, at least. 

"The fuck do we do now?" I asked in a hushed tone, crossing my arms over my chest.

"We gotta get out of here. Like now," Doc answered.

"But how do we do that?" I replied, raising an eyebrow, "We can't leave without Murphy but they won't let us just take him."

"Yeah, well I would maybe know what to do if I knew what the hell was going on," Addy whispered. 

"Yeah, did Vasquez really try to kill that queen lady?" 10K asked, shocked slightly.

Doc shook his head, "No. Why would he do that?"

"Yeah, and how was Warren right there to stop him?" Addy added.

I shrugged, deciding to propose my theory, "They seem to tell each other a lot of things. Maybe Vasquez wasn't actually trying to kill La Reina."

"Then who?"

I began to reveal to Addy my answer but was cut off as Doctor Kurian entered the room. "I have it. I have the vaccine. The zombie plague is over. I have the cure," Kurian informed with a proud smile. The four of us exchanged sceptical glances.

"Dime. Tell me, what have you done?" La Reina asked.

He held up a small tube, "My queen, I present to you your H1Z1 vaccine. This serum makes the zombie virus virtually impotent. Now a zombie bite will be like... nothing."

"And when you die?" La Reina questions.

"You stay dead."

"Show me. Show me how this works."

"Of course. I will just need a volunteer," Kurian remarked. His confident tone made me trust him even less.

Escorpion pushed a slightly beaten Vasquez to his knees, "I have just the man for you, Doctor Kurian."

"He’s still alive?" La Reina asked, unimpressed.

"Not for long."

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.   EL CAMINO.

Doctor Kurian etched the needle closer to Vasquez's neck and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Warren murmur something to La Reina. "One moment, doctor," The queen called out, "On second thought. It is such a monumental accomplishment that the honour of the first dose should really go to you."

"I can't. I would presume to take-" Kurian said, nervousness evident in his tone.

"Oh, please. I insist."

Kurian stepped back from Vasquez and over to La Reina, "I'm not worthy, my queen. If anyone should have the honour of the first dose, it should be you. Don’t you think?" He inquired, trying to take the attention from him.

"If that's what I thought, doctor, I would have said it," La Reina remarked. I was starting to actually like this woman.

Startled by the queen's answer, Kurian looked aimlessly around the room, anxiously as his eyes darted in all direction, not knowing what to say or do. Obviously, there was something wrong with the vaccine for him to be so cautious to take it.

"Do you need some help, doctor?" Escorpion asked.

"No," Kurian answered, shaking his head and pulled up his sleeve, reluctantly forcing the needle into his vein. He collapsed onto the ground after a moment, groaning in agony.

"Kill him," La Reina commanded to Warren.

Warren aimed her gun without hesitation, causing Kurian's hand to fly up. "Wait! I’m good," Kurian revealed, getting up from the ground. Right. So he’s a full on drama queen.

"Test him," La Reina ordered her Zeros.

Escorpion brought out a closed box and forced Kurian's hand inside. The doctor screamed out and removed his now bloody hand. Finding that the vaccine was legit, La Reina allowed herself and other Zeros to be injected by Kurian. Soon, it was Warren's turn - insisted by La Reina herself.

Murphy stood from his chair for the first time since the party started. "My queen, if I may... If you will allow me. Lieutenant Warren, you're right. I would never have gotten here without her. Would you please grant me the great honour of giving her the vaccine myself? And save her life as she has saved mine so many times."

The queen agreed quite passionately and Murphy injected the vaccine into Warren's arm. At least, that's what it looked like since Murphy had his back arched across Warren's arm. From his abruptness and absolutely sappy speech, I could guess that Murphy didn't actually give Warren the vaccine. He was acting.

Escorpion went off with Vasquez again, trying to find evidence that we were out to hurt La Reina. He was probably just jealous that Warren got the vaccine before him. Afterwards, Warren returned to our group.

"You feel okay, Roberta?" Doc asked, considering everyone else got dizzy after being injected, "Is it working?"

Before Warren could answer, Murphy stepped in, "She didn't get injected, stupid," He hissed.

"I thought that was obvious," I muttered. Clearly I was the only one who could see through Murphy's scene with Warren.

"What?" Doc questioned, furrowing his eyebrows, "Why not?"

"That’s exactly what I intend to find out," Warren stated, looking to Murphy, "What is really going on here?"

La Reina then called out to her people about feeling stronger and wanting to share their newfound strength with the rest of the world. All whilst sitting in an animalistic like position, as if ready to pounce. Just like Cassandra.

Murphy and Doctor Kurian were rushed back to the lab to make more of the vaccine for everybody else. Warren looked to us, a plan already set in her mind, "I got Murphy. You guys find Vasquez."

***

The four of us looked everywhere for Vasquez, but couldn't find him anywhere. It would've been a lot easier if there weren't Zeros guarding everywhere. Warren got back from talking to Murphy and met up with us in a room away from the party. She was staring off into space, lost in thought.

"Murphy?" Addy questioned, leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah, Murphy."

"What did he do now?" Doc asked expectantly.

"Conspired with Kurian to make a fake vaccine that turns people into zombie blends that he controls," Warren explained, making my blood run cold. So that was why he didn't inject Warren. I knew it was bad but I didn't think it'd be as bad as that.

"Kinda like a zombie slave army?" 10K questioned.

"Exactly like a zombie slave army," Warren agreed.

"So zombie slave strippers weren't enough," Addy added.

I rolled my eyes, "Great - more Cassandras. And even worse, they're all part of a drug cartel," I mumbled.

"Yep," Warren nodded.

"So no California?" 10K asked.

Warren stood up, "No, we're still going to California," She stated firmly, "All of us. Absolutely. Even if we got to take Murphy by force. Again."

"What about the zombie slave army?" Doc reminded.

"Yeah, well, seems like there's an incubation period before he has total control. We got to get out of here before then," Warren explained.

"And then there's Vasquez."

"Got to get him, too," Warren said, adding to the plan.

"Are you sure about that, chief?" Doc asked, raising his eyebrows, "He damn near got us killed."

Warren sighed, "He let emotion get the better of him. But he'd come for any of us. We can get him."

"My brains. 10K’s guns. Doc's..." Addy trailed off from her list.

"Dumb luck? Good karma? Funky mojo?" Doc suggested, making some funky hand gestures.

"Yeah, that. And Angel..." She trailed off again. Thanks, Addy.

"Natural charm? The ability to get myself in trouble no matter what I say?" I put forward, copying Doc.

Addy chuckled, "You’re pretty sweet with a bow, though," She reminded.

"Oh yeah," I laughed with her, "I love how that's my only good quality," I joked before turning to Warren, becoming serious again, "Either way, we'll be able to get him," I reassured.

"Good. Let’s do it," Warren ordered. Then, there was a knock on the door which opened to reveal a masked man with a white suit. Warren walked out with the man, already knowing what he wanted, leaving it up to the rest of us to find Vasquez again. This time, with more purpose due to the new knowledge of the developing zombie slave army.

***

After nearly an hour, we finally found Vasquez in some sort of warehouse in the tunnels. Killing the Zeros guarding him, we dressed up in their clothes to prevent from being recognised and tried to break into the box where they were keeping Vasquez. As well as a live zombie.

"Kill them!" We heard a voice command from behind us. The four of us spun around quickly and removed our hoods and masks, displaying our true identities to Warren and a captured Escorpion. Addy and 10K yelled out to Warren in sync to stop her from shooting.

Suddenly, the Zeros with Warren started to spasm and turn into actual zombies. Addy and 10K killed them with their Z Whacker and sling.

"Let me guess. Murphy's zombie army plan went horribly wrong?" Addy asked Warren, pointing her Z Whacker to Escorpion to stop him from escaping. Warren nodded.

"Could be worse. Coulda gone right," Doc added as we finally got the door to the cage open for Vasquez. Luckily enough, the man remained uninfected. Escorpion took Vasquez's place inside the zombie cage - Everyone hoping he would die a slow and excruciating death.

***

We rushed through the tunnels as Warren and Addy went to go retrieve Murphy, Vasquez was too weak to walk so 10K and Doc had to help him run causing our escape to be a little slower than we intended. I led, making sure we didn't run into anymore Zeros. Or worse, zombie slave Zeros.

As we walked further through the tunnel, howling echoed up to us. "I think that's our que to get the fuck out of here," I spoke, turning back to see if we were being followed. I couldn't see anyone but that didn't mean the Zeros weren't far behind.

"We’re gonna need something to slow them down," Doc wondered, muffled growls catching his attention as he unwrapped his arm from around Vasquez. The man approached the container with zombies that we had passed earlier that day. "What better way to fight half zombies than with full zombies," He muttered, explaining his current train of thought.

I shrugged, nodding approvingly, "Gotta love the OGs."

"It’s a multi door release just like in prisons," Doc explained. 10K and I glanced at each other with our eyebrows raised. "Another story for another time, grasshoppers," Doc said as he tried to open the hatch with no luck. We decided to wait for the other three but the howling only got closer.

I groaned anxiously, "They should be here by now."

"Don’t worry, kiddo. They’ll make it," Doc reassured me and soon enough, the other three came running around the corner.

"What are you guys doing? We got to go!" Warren exclaimed.

"No way to outrun those things," Vasquez muttered weakly, referring to the howling from the Zero slaves.

"We had a plan. Except we couldn't get the doors open," Doc answered, as Murphy placed his hand on the hatch, twitching as he felt more connected with the contained zombies.

"Open the doors and let them loose?" Warren questioned. Doc nodded. She then stepped closer to Murphy, "Let your people go."

Murphy stepped back slightly and raise his arms, slowly separating them as he did his zombie control trick. The container door began to shake and rattle as La Reina got closer, this time we could hear her calling out for Murphy. Warren yelled at us all to run as the zombies were let loose.

We finally made it to the entrance ladder and we all climbed up to see that outside was completely quiet and zombie free. The Zeros really did a number on all those zombies earlier. After a few moments of examining the outside, Warren and Murphy joined us up the ladder. Just as we were about to leave, a new figure made their way up the ladder, absolutely caked in blood from the mouth down. Escorpion.

Warren was about to shoot him but Vasquez raised his arm to stop her. He had to finish things himself because of his past with Escorpion. Although he was weak, Vasquez put up quite a good fight. After Escorpion got a few hard hits in, 10K raised his sling.

"I got a shot," He announced but Warren shook her head, turning him down.

"Why not?" I exclaimed to Warren in a hushed mutter, "Vasquez is gonna get his arse beaten if we don't do anything!"

"No, he's got to do this. We got to let him," Warren stated, her eyes never wandering from the fight.

At that point, Vasquez was on his knees and he looked like he was too weak to go on. But after a few knees in the groin and headbutts, he finally gathered enough strength to throw Escorpion down the hatch to the zombies which pooled at the bottom of the ladder.

We all looked down the hole, watching him suffer and scream before we walked away wordlessly. He got what he deserved. Not far from the Zero tunnels, we stopped in front of five swanky cars. "El Camino," 10K grinned.

"Me and 10k get the red one!" I immediately dibbed, a grin that mirrored his.

We all excitedly hopped into each car, 10K and I threw our weapons in the back seat. The wind was making my hair blow into my face but I didn't mind, it felt refreshing compared to the hot interior of the car. The car obviously didn't have air conditioning but beggars couldn't be choosers. That was also why our two windows were open because the 30 degree heat outside was cooler than inside that car.

I placed my feet on the dashboard, 10K grinned at me, before adverting his attention back to the road.

A while down the road, I gestured to a drone that I noticed following us. No doubt a Zero drone that they were using to track us again. Without hesitation, 10K opened his door and swung out with his sling - taking down the drone within seconds. My eyes widened as I bit my lip slightly. With a chuckle at my reaction, 10K sat back down and continued driving, bringing one hand from the steering wheel and resting it on my knee casually.

"That was so hot," I mumbled, reaching to scratch my nails lightly against his bicep, trying to distract myself from his hand on my leg. He just shook his head at me and smiled, not bothering to respond.

Having fun with it, I smirked, "How would you feel if I took my shirt off, right here right now?" I asked him, wanting to get a reaction out of him.

"I'd probably crash the car," He responded, looking at me and gripping my knee tight. He had already caught onto my little game. I was usually the creator of all games, any tease, any naughty attempt of getting a reaction from someone, I was the one who did it first. But more recently 10K had started to instigate any intense flirting, too.

"I hope you're not seriously thinking about it," He chuckled after a moment, eyeing me for a long time, the empty road in front of him allowing the slightest bit of distraction. I bit my lip and smirked, leaning forward to clasp his earlobe between my teeth, nibbling on it gently before kissing his neck.

"Car sex does sound awfully appealing, don't you think?" I drawled, sucking a spot behind his ear that always gets him going. All of a sudden the car was swerving left, 10K looking at me with lust and determination.

"Angel, we can't pull over. What about the others?"

"I never said anything about pulling over. Keep driving," I smirked, unclipping my seatbelt as I clambered on top of him.

10K pressed his lips to mine passionately, invading my mouth with his skillful tongue as soon as he had the opportunity to do so. I moaned against him as I felt his hips grind against my core, his cock hardening the more he moved against me. My legs tightened around his waist making the friction intensify by a hundred.

"Tommy," I moaned, my eyes rolling back into my head as 10K attached his lips to my neck, running his mouth along my collar bones and leaving hickeys as he went along - His eyes remaining on the road the entire time. As soon as my shirt was off we worked on removing 10K’s which hardly took any time at all.

"And you didn't want me to take my shirt off," I hummed jokingly, running my hand down 10K’s chest and rubbing his cock through his tight trousers.

"You’re such a tease," 10K groaned, tilting his head back when I slipped my hand into his boxers, wrapping my hand around his length and jerking it slightly.

"You love it," I responded with a smirk and a wink, peppering kisses along his collar bone, knowing that's exactly where he likes it. He let out a moan and pulled my hand from his boxers, grabbing my other wrist and pinning them against the car door.

"I do," He moaned again, pressing his lips to mine once more. I groaned in pleasure and wiggled in his grip, winding my fingers in the mop of thick black curls on his head. With his other hand he ran it down my body, taking his time to feel my curves and hook his finger along the waistband of my underwear.

I love this boy.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER SIXTEEN. DAY ONE.

After a long and harrowing trip, we finally made it to California. And it had finally dawned on me that 10K and I had been with these people for two years. We only wanted a ride.

California was dry, the sun beaming through the clouds. 10K was checking the motor in one of the cars but smoke filled the air.

"I think it's dead," 10K informed and I sighed in disappointment.

"Well we couldn't drive through that crap anyway. Adios, El Camino," Doc said, slamming down the hood of the car. Always the optimist.

"Alright, it looks like we're on foot. Grab what you can. Let's hit it," Warren ordered. I grabbed my bow and backpack off the ground, following the group.

Warren turned around as Murphy remained sitting on a pile of junk. "Come on, princess," She claps twice, "Let's go."

We had been walking for quite a while through the junk yard, nothing but trash and dusty land for miles. "How much further to this supposed rendezvous?" Murphy asked.

"A days walk. Maybe two," Addy answered.

"Everything looks the same," Murphy complained.

"Yeah. Well four years of zombie apocalypse and a nuke will do that," Doc replied.

Soon we came across huge blocks of cement all stacked up into one big cement hill and climbed over it. 10K and I stood at the top, looking out in the distance. Murphy did have a point - The rendezvous spot seemed ages away.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" Murphy asked.

"Somewhere in sunny southern California," Addy answered.

"Seriously, how much further? I don't feel so good."

"You don't look so good, either," I muttered under my breath before adding his nickname, "Smurphy." I hadn't called him that in a while. He just glared at me, too tired to argue.

"Well we could take a break," Warren suggested, "I'm curious myself."

We all sat down on a rock each and Addy picked up some debris, groaning in recognition. "It can't be," She mused, causing me to lean over and see what she was looking it. I recognised it too.

"No. Don't tell me this is-"

"Disneyland," Addy finished for me.

"What?" Warren asked, utterly perplexed.

Addy hummed as she nodded, "Uh huh. Hard to tell for sure, but I think 'Its a Small World' would have been right over there," She explained.

Vasquez looked over to me and 10K, "Sorry, kids," He mumbles.

I shook my head, a smile present on my face, "Oh, don't worry. I already went to the one in Paris," I revealed.

Warren sighed before getting up and walking down the cement hill, "Break time's over," She announced.

As we were walking, I looked over to 10K, chuckling slightly, "I bet you didn't even know what Disneyland was," I joked.

"Yeah, I did," 10K nodded, "I always kinda wanted to go," He admitted.

"Well, technically you're here but you just can't go on any of the rides," I told him, raising an eyebrow with an innocent smile on my face. He rolled his eyes at me with a smile and lightly shoved me as we continued to follow Warren and the others.

***

As it was getting dark, we found an abandoned building that we could camp out at until morning when it was safe to travel again. 10K was standing at a big hole in the wall as he looked up outside at the birds flying in the sky. I smiled warmly at him but my gaze was drawn away by the sound of Murphy spitting out his food. "This sucks," He spat, quite literally, "Even for us, this sucks."

"You suck," I retaliated, not in the mood for his pessimism that night.

***

Another day had passed and nightfall came upon us once again. We had travelled to a town and found some shelter underground from the Zs roaming the streets. 10K set up a fire and everyone laid down to rest as we were all exhausted from all of the walking we had done that day. I placed my head on 10K's lap and closed my eyes as he stroked my hair comfortingly.

His hand eventually stopped stroking and just rested on my head, signalling he was asleep. But sleep never came for me. I had too many thoughts swimming around my head about what was going to happen when we got to the rendezvous point. I was wondering what would happen to Murphy, whether he'd be safe. I heard someone get up and walk over to where Murphy was standing, staring at the passing Zs. I opened my eyes to find it was Warren.

"Can't sleep?" She murmured.

"Can't dream either," Murphy replied with a shake of his head.

"When did that happen?"

"Long time ago. Long time," Murphy answered, his eyes not drawing away from the zombies.

"You gonna be alright?" She asked. I was glad I wasn't the only one worried about Murphy.

Murphy looked down at Warren, shaking slightly. I wanted to let them know I was awake too but I also didn't want to ruin their moment. "I don't think I can do this," He admitted, his voice shaky.

"You can."

"Just take a couple pints of my blood to satisfy the masses and let me slip out the back door or wherever the hell we're going," Murphy pleaded, finally feeling the pressure of being the saviour of humanity. I wouldn't have wanted to be that person. "If you were really my friend, you would help me," He continued, his tone desperate. 

"But I'm not your friend," Warren shook her head, "I promised some people that I would get you to a lab in California, and I'm gonna do that. Come on. We're almost there."

"They're gonna hurt me. You know that, right?" Murphy added.

"I won't let that happen."

"You can't stop it if you're not there," Murphy argued. A valid point.

"Murphy, this is the apocalypse," Warren stated, stopping his rambling, "Look, I can't tell you it's not gonna hurt. The truth is eventually we're all gonna get hurt. There isn't a happy ending for any of us. But you... You are the one person that can change that. You got to do it alone. Even if it hurts."

I didn't care if Warren didn't consider Murphy a friend - They were still cute. Then, something reminded me. Sleeping was how I started my day one of the apocalypse. At 11:27am.

***

"Fuck! I overslept," I exclaimed, rushing out of bed. It was the third time I was late that week. I didn't even have to check the house to know that my dad and sister had already left. My school started a little later than Lillie's and Dad started work at the same time so I had to wake myself up and get ready in an empty house almost everyday.

I quickly jumped in the shower, not bothering to adjust the temperature. I always preferred cold showers, anyway. I even brushed my teeth in the shower to save time, too. I got changed into a long red hoodie that came down to my knees and some black leggings. I didn't bother with a fancy outfit that day - and I was glad I did.

As I was drying her hair downstairs, dancing to some Queen loudly in my living room a loud bang sounded from my kitchen extension. The extension had glass double doors that led to my garden and as I went to examine the noise, I almost jumped out of my skin at the sight I was greeted with. A man stood with his blooded mouth and body pressed against my door, banging on it repeatedly.

I rolled my eyes, too tired to register the state the man was in - I had just assumed he was drunk. I recognised him to be one of our neighbours but I didn't have a clue what his name was. I opened the door, muttering, "I really don't have time for drunk idiots in my garden today. Get the fuck out of my-"

But before I could finish my sentence, he lunged at me, clawing and biting at me. I let out a scream, Bohemian Rhapsody still playing loud as my whole body smashed against the tiled kitchen floor and my neighbour began to climb on top of me.

I screamed before smashing my blowing hairdryer against the rabid man's head in a panic. After a few swings, the man fell limp against me, his already bashed head smashing to the floor next to mine. It took some effort to push the man's heavy body off of me before I could finally stand before him, running the whole scene back again through my head. Until I realised I had killed him.

"Shit," I muttered just as Killer Queen started to play. I rolled my eyes at the irony. Although I had admitted to myself what I had done, the severity of my actions hadn't actually sunk in yet. With my head still fuzzy from both sleep and adrenaline, I dragged the man by his feet out of the double doors he had entered through. And shoved his decaying body into my garden shed.

Right, I definitely need to stop pratting around and get to school. But first, I have to send a message to Dad,

"Hi dad, don't panic. I definitely didn't oversleep again," I greeted cheerily and whilst keeping that innocent tone, I continued, "And I also haven't just potentially knocked someone out with my hairdryer. Well, not knocked out - Maybe killed. And it wasn't just anybody - it was a burglar! Our neighbour - the burglar! And now he's locked in the shed, have a nice day at work!" I exclaimed before placing down my phone, the last part of my message said incredibly quickly.

—

Naturally, upon arriving at school, I was really hungry. The adrenaline had finally caught up with me and I was becoming more hungry and more tired as the seconds passed. Even though I had woken up less than an hour ago at that point. I walked over to the nearest vending machine, deciding on a chocolate bar to start my day before I made my way to class.

I checked over my shoulders to see if anybody was approaching before proceeding to bang against the glass of the vending machine. Everybody did it and besides, I didn't have any money anyway. I just wanted a chocolate bar, man. However, I'd forgotten that the school counsellor's room was just around the corner.

After a few more prominent bangs, my selected bar finally dropped. And there was a great crack down the glass, but it was hardly noticeable. At least, that's what I told myself at the time. Just as I turned, unwrapping the chocolate bar and started to walk back down the hall, there stood Beverly. Biting into my breakfast, I gave the man an innocent smile. Yes, Beverly is a man. No, he isn't transgender or anything. His parents consciously decided to name him Beverly.

"Hello there, Beverly. Fine morning it is," I greeted.

Beverly crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head at me. "First, you're out of class. And now you're stealing. And you've broken the vending machine. Come, to my office please Miss Ivory. I think you and I should have a little chat."

"Hey!" I called out, stopping Beverly from taking me to his office, "You have no proof I stole! I actually bought this with my own money. And the machine's hardly broken, you can still use it."

Beverly rolled my eyes, "It's considered a safety hazard. Now, come." I sighed and followed him reluctantly. Anything to get out of Chemistry.

I entered the room, having the final bite of my chocolate bar.

"Stop eating it!" Beverly commanded.

I rolled my eyes, throwing the wrapper to the ground before taking a seat in the desk in front of him as I started to play around with his stapler. "For the last time, I paid for the chocolate bar! Then, it didn't fall out. So I decided to shake it a bit like everyone else does. That's it," I explained, trying to plead my innocence. Lying to Beverly was always fun considering he was one of the worst school counsellors I had ever seen.

Beverly sat back, hands linked as they rested on his desk, "I was like you when I was younger. I thought I knew everything. I was a cocky little asshole."

"And look where it got you!" I smiled, raising the stapler in my hand, "You've got a big office, you've got a staple gun. You're living the dream, man!"

Beverly scoffed at my attitude, "You think you're better than all this?"

I lent back in my chair, smirking, "I know I'm better than this because, Bev, if I'm not, I'll probably have to off myself."

This time, it was Beverly's turn to roll his eyes at me. "You haven't got a clue," He muttered, shaking his head.

I smiled, starting to become more annoying as I pointed the staple gun upwards so it shot staples out at him. I threw my hands up in surrender as he snatches it away.

"Look, I'm done fucking around!" He exclaimed, placing the stapler back firmly beside his laptop.

"As a school counsellor, I don't think you're allowed to talk to me like that." And he should've been concerned about my suicide comment, as well.

"Listen here, young lady, you either pay for the damage on the vending machine or I'll call the police. What's it gonna be?" Beverly challenged. I had almost forgotten why I had been in there in the first place.

I looked as if I was contemplating my options for a moment, when I had already known exactly what I was going to say. He had yet again set himself up. It was as if he wanted me to be annoying. "Call the police!" I declared triumphantly.

Beverly instantly picked up the phone as I sat forward in my chair, "No, wait, hold on," I sighed, "I'll pay the damage, alright?"

Satisfied, Beverly placed the phone back down. I shrugged, "Actually... You know, forget it. Call the cops."

Beverly did exactly as I told him to, again. I launched forward once more, this time slamming the phone down on him, "No, wait, don't! I'll pay. I'll pay!" I insisted, trying desperately hard not to laugh.

"Stop dicking around!" Beverly complained, looking genuinely tired at my antics.

I then opened my bag that rested beside my chair and pulled out my purse, handing him my credit card. But as Beverly reached for it, I slowly pulled it away from him and towards my chest with both hands. "Just take it. Just take it!" I cried.

"Give me the card!" Beverly strained before finally snatching it away and falls back into his chair as I was violently pulled forward. We both took a moment to adjust ourselves before Beverly stood up to leave the office.

I smirked, reaching over to clasp at his chubby hands. "Hold my hand, Bev!" I pleaded, this time unable to contain my incoming laughter. Beverly pulls his hand away as he leaves, slamming the door firmly shut behind him.

The smirk remained on my lips until everything that had happened that morning seemed to catch up with me. I frowned, staring off into space. "Fuck, what do I do now?" I whispered to myself, internally freaking out.

Beverly came back after a while, sitting back down in his chair before me. He looked somewhat calmer now. "Okay, your dad's coming to get you," He explained, "He seemed a bit pissed off that he had to get dragged away from work, though. No mom?" He questioned. He's the school counsellor, surely he should know?

"My mum's in prison, actually," I mumbled, not meeting his eye. I suddenly no longer had the desire to be annoying anymore.

Beverly chuckled, finally getting his own back, "Well you guys seem close."

I rolled my eyes, "Shut up, Bev," I snapped, before grabbing the staple gun back and pressing it firmly in his hand.

Beverly instantly cried out in pain as he pulled it away, and sure enough I could see the silver metal of a staple punctured into his hand. Still screaming and cradling his hand, Beverly ran out of the door. I started to laugh at myself before something came smashing against the door. I recognised the screaming to be Beverly, again. How hard was it to open a door? He only had a staple in his hand, it wasn't as if I'd cut it off.

I opened the door with a huff before exclaiming, "Fucking shut up!" But all I was met with was two bodies crashing to the ground in the office. The other person looked eerily in the same state as my neighbour. "Oh, not another one!" I cried out, carefully stepping over the two to leave the room.

I had only walked down a few hallways, picking up my pace to a brisk walk as I wondered what the hell was happening. The whole scene looked like something from a movie. A zombie movie. But I refused to let my imagination run away with itself. Suddenly, my dad's voice pierced through the distant screams. I spun around to see him jogging towards me,

"Angel, get over here!" He yelled, gesturing me into a quick hug before pulling me by the hand to the school's back exit, "Come on. We're getting Lillie and we're leaving."

"What the fuck's happening?" I asked, "Did you get my message?"

My dad stopped to address me seriously for the first time in years and spoke the words I would never forget,

"It's a fucking zombie apocalypse."

***

After the streets were cleared from zombies, we headed to the woods. "Are we there yet?" Murphy complained.

"You've been asking that for the past 3000 miles," Warren reminded.

"Yeah, I know. But this time I really mean it," Murphy remarked, "I mean, seriously. Shouldn't we be there by now?"

"Yeah, we're close," Addy groaned.

"How close?" Doc inquired, also getting tired too. We all were but others had the decency to refrain from complaining. Unlike Murphy.

"Like should be through those trees close," Addy informed but breathing in, "What's that smell?"

Warren breathed in deep too, "That is fresh air, girl."

"Its the ocean," 10K observed as he looked in the distance and sure enough, there was an ocean.

"Damn. Pacific Ocean," Doc mused.

My nose turned up in disapproval, "I forgot how much beaches smell," I muttered causing Doc to turn back at me,

"You don't like the smell of the ocean?" He asked, shocked.

"Nope. Stinks."

We walked further down as a restaurant soon came into view. We all looked at it in disappointment.

"That's it?" Murphy asked.

"According to the GPS," Addy replied with a shrug.

"Are you sure?" Doc asked, leaning over to check Addy's GPS, "Doesn't look very high tech," He commented.

"Maybe it's just another front for an underground lab," 10K suggested.

"Maybe it's exactly what it looks like, an abandoned greasy spoon," Murphy remarked, throwing his hands in the air, "One last cosmic joke at my expense."

I shrugged, "Either way, abandoned greasy spoons have toilets and I really need to pee," I admitted.

Warren stepped forward, placing a hand on my shoulder, "We're gonna have to check it out first," She said, looking back at us, "You guys, stay here with Murphy. And get him into this," She ordered, tossing Addy her backpack with some clothes inside. I wasn't too sure but they looked like female clothes.

"Oh hell no," Murphy snapped so judging by his reaction, they probably were.

"Oh hell yes. I don't want anybody recognising you. Probably some bounty hunters lurking around that heard one of those broadcasts. We did not get you this far to lose you to neo-nazi-numbskulls."

Murphy sighed at her, "Yes, dear. Anything you say, dear."

"Thank you," Warren said mockingly before turning to Addy, "If we're not out in ten minutes..."

"We'll come busting in after you," Addy continued.

"No. You protect the package," Warren corrected, "Contact Citizen Z for instructions."

"After we come busting in after you," Doc interjected.

"Ten minutes. Then GTFO," Warren enforced before her and Vasquez stayed low as they approached the restaurant. 10K pulled out his sniper to cover Warren and Vasquez if anything went wrong.

I took a further look at the restaurant, looking at the sign. "Ew, a crab logo. That means it sells sea food," I observed with an eye roll.

"Angel, its by a beach - What did you expect?" Doc asked with a little chuckle.

I shrugged, "But seafood sucks."

Chapter Text

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.   FINAL FAIRWELLS.

Murphy sighs after a while, "What is taking so long?" He hissed.

"I hope its not another top secret underground lab," Doc added, "The last elevator made me nauseous for a week." I agreed with him, just thinking of the elevator brought back those memories of pure nausea.

"Whatever it is, I just want to get it over with," Murphy muttered, placing his bucket hat firmly on his head. I chuckled slightly at the sight of his costume.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Warren came out and gestured the five of us inside. "Come on, Ethel," I muttered to Murphy as I made my down the small hill to the restaurant.

"Ethel?" Murphy questioned, a look of distaste painted on his face.

I shrugged in reply, "What? You look like one."

When we entered the room, Warren was sitting at a table with another lady - The owner of the diner. Vasquez was still scoping the place out for any unwanted surprise guests, which I didn't entirely blame him for. The others and I sat down at the table with Warren as Murphy sat on one in the back by himself. The owner placed mugs of tea for us on the table,

"So where are you folks from?" She asked with a friendly smile.

"New York," Warren answered.

The woman's eyes widened, "New York? I didn't know anybody could still be from New York."

"Upstate. The city's gone 100% Z," Warren informed. The woman proceeded to ask what it was like during our journey, I doubted she left the restaurant that much. We explained that there were a lot of zombies and a few far communities.

"So what does bring you to California?" She asked, innocently. Before anybody could reply, we heard approaching cars as their tires scraped on the gravel outside.

Vasquez peered out the window, "Bounty hunters," He concluded. I rolled my eyes, I was not in the mood for hassle. Which there was guaranteed to be.

Wordlessly, the four men sat down on a table in the front with a chained Z. The zombie had a blue tinge to its skin - I could already predict they were claiming it to be The Murphy. Just as the owner was going around the back of the bar to get the men some brown liquor, one of the them asked,

"Are you Auntie?" He was obviously the leader.

'Auntie' stopped in her tracks and turned back around, "I am," She nodded.

"We heard you're the one to talk to about The Murphy," He continued. I fucking knew it. We all exchanged knowing looks with each other and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Murphy had already covered his face with his scarf. One of the men uncovered the blue zombie, chained around the neck.

"We're here to claim our bounty."

Auntie looked slightly shocked as she continued to get the men their drinks. I really hoped she didn't actually believe them.

***

The men were on their second drink when they decided to address us, particularly Warren. We had all sat silently, avoiding them until then.

"Hey. We're celebrating over here. How 'bout I buy you a drink?" The leader asked her, making me gag slightly.

"No thanks," Warren answered, brandishing her mug, "I already got one."

The leader then stood up from his table and started to make his away over to us. "Well if you won't come drink with me, you won't mind if I just mosey on over and have a drink with you," He stated as we all stood up ready for an attack or something. This was obviously a man who wasn't told 'no' very often. He even offered to buy drinks for everyone and told us not to worry about 'The Murphy' since they had him sedated. I didn't even want to ask what he meant by that.

The three other men started to follow their leader over to us. One was already sitting next to Addy, causing me to step closer to 10K. To my relief, he wrapped a comforting arm around my waist as I watched the other two sit besides Murphy. Which made my heart beat a few more pumps per second.

"You sure are a shy one," The man commented to Murphy. Our group watched with anxiety as the man continued to pursue Murphy, "How 'bout a dance there, shy girl?" He asked, standing up.

Murphy bashed his hand away to get the man to leave him alone. Unfortunately, the zombie copied Murphy's actions, his chains rattling at the movement. I prayed the men were too stupid to notice. The man placed his hand on Murphy's arm, trying to drag him up.

"No, no, no," Murphy denied desperately before taking his tone up a few decibels, "I don't dance."

We all tightened our grip on our weapons as the leader walked over to Murphy hastily. Shit was about to go down.

"Hey, shy girl," The leader snapped, "Think fast," He said before throwing Murphy his glass. Murphy caught it instinctively, so the zombie did too. After a second, everybody in the room had a gun pointed at them but their gun trained at someone else.

"Interesting," The leader mused, "When shy girl here moves, my Murphy moves the same way. Like they're connected or something. Its interesting. Why don't you take off that hat?" He commanded.

"No," Murphy replied, looking him dead in the eye and no longer pretending to be a woman anymore.

The leader chuckled before trying again, "Take off the hat," He said, etching his gun closer to Murphy's masked face. There was a few moments of silence as Murphy glanced over at Warren before finally taking off his hat to reveal his shaved, blue head.

"That's life-like. That's good work," The leader complimented, claiming he was a fake, "Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were the real deal. You wouldn't be hiding any bites under that dress, would you?" His gun pointed down to Murphy's torso.

"Take off the dress," The leader commanded.

Murphy sighed, taking off his glasses. For a moment, I thought he was actually going to comply. But Murphy flicked his head up and the zombie pounced on the leader, taking a deep bite out of his shoulder. There was a plethora of gunshots around the room until the three other men fell dead. I looked around and luckily none of our group had been shot. That's what I thought at first.

"That's enough of that," Auntie broke the silence as we all turned to her, a massive machine gun pointed towards us, "Put down your weapons. Please."

I did as I was told, placing my gun down on the counter as Murphy revealed his identity to her. I counted everyone left in the room and found one person missing. The most important person of all.

"Where's 10K?" I asked, looking down instantly at the sound of his moaning. I cursed as I scrambled down to the floor, placing his head in my lap as I pressed against his hands that were on the wound, adding more pressure. Tears were stinging as they began to brim in my eyes.

He had been shot.

Doc and Addy were at our side almost as quick as I was. "Don't move, kid," Doc reminded, "I'll try to stop the bleeding." I moved our hands away as Doc pressed his towel down on 10K's wound.

"Auntie, do you have a first aid kit?" I heard Warren ask but her only answer was Auntie leaving the building.

Doc, Addy and I carefully brought him up to the table to examine him further. Our hands never pulled away from each other. 10K winced as he readjusted to the table, tightening his grip on my hand.

"Ow, squeezing a bit tight there," I giggled, my voice only coming out as a whisper, though.

He smiled up at me weakly, "Sorry," He mumbled. I smiled back softly, bringing his bloodstained hand to my lips as I held a wet flannel to his head.

"He's losing a lot of blood," Doc observed, causing my heart to drop considerably.

"Can you do anything?" Addy whispered, trying not to worry 10K but I was pretty sure he could still hear her. I was going to ask the same thing but my throat had tightened to the point where I could barely breathe so I wouldn't waste the little breath I had left on talking.

Doc shook his head, "Way out of my league. Sorry, kid," He apologised, "Maybe the submarine has a surgeon. They're bound to have a sick bay."

Murphy then asked about Doctor Merch and the submarine but I kind of drowned out any background noise, focusing solely on 10K. Until the CDC finally arrived. Two men entered the restaurant, both wearing professional army uniform.

"Cap'n," Auntie greeted as one of the men took off his hat.

"Auntie," He replied, "Looks like you had a busy morning."

"Well, we had a bit of a lunch rush," She muttered, looking down at the bodies of the men which littered around the floor. The Captain's gaze landed on the mercied zombie.

"That's not him, is it?" He inquired.

"No, sir," Warren walked up, saluting him as she introduced herself and Murphy.

"So, you're The Murphy?" The Captain asked as Murphy stood at the back of the room near Doc, 10K and I.

"Actually it's just Murphy," He corrected bluntly. I had forgotten how nervous Murphy had been for this moment. "I don't know where this whole the came from."

"We have a wounded man," Warren added as the other guy, the ship's doctor, made his way towards us.

"Is he gonna be okay?" I ask, my voice rushed and slightly slurred as my entire body was shaking.

The doctor offered me a friendly smile, "Woah, sweetheart. Let me take a look at him first," He reassured before assessing 10K's wound. I stood silently, only glancing up at what was happening around me when a new figure entered. Doctor Merch - The arsehole.

"Perhaps this'll jog your memory," Murphy snapped, drawing my attention back to him as he rushed down to Doctor Merch, a flame of fury in his eyes, "Pike me. Pike me! Or I will hunt you down and eat your brains!" He screamed violently.

"That's him," Merch muttered, still with fear. As she should be. From what Murphy had told me, I already didn't like her.

Murphy looked up at the Captain, "Satisfied?"

"Very."

The Captain and his soldiers rounded Murphy and everyone up as they escorted him to the vehicles that they were travelling back to the submarine in. The ship's doctor and Doc, lifted 10K onto the back of another vehicle in a stretcher as I followed behind worriedly.

I looked down at 10K, cupping his head in my hands as Doc and I reassured him.

"10K, you're gonna be okay," I said, mostly trying to reassure myself more than him.

"They got a real surgeon," Doc added with a smile.

"They'll fix you up, I promise," I looked up the ship's doctor, "Can I come with him?"

"Sorry, miss. We barely have room for these two," The doctor said firmly so I knew there was no negotiating. I started to tear up once again, my breath quickening as I struggled with myself to stay stable. Doc wrapped an arm around my shoulder to try and calm me down.

"What? I can't just leave him. I have to-"

But my rambling as cut off as the doctor placed a comforting hand on my arm, "Don't worry. We'll take good care of him."

I nodded my head reluctantly, stepping back lightly so the others could say goodbye. Doc went off to say goodbye to Murphy as I cupped 10K's cheeks with my hands again. "I'll wait here for you, okay? I'm not going anywhere. I will find you, wherever you are. I'll wait right here," I promised.

10K smiled warmly, even his eyes were glistening with tears, "Just like always."

"I love you."

"I love you, too," He replied, "Stay safe." Those two words made that goodbye even more painful - only 10K would be concerned about my well-being when he was the one who was shot and bleeding out.

I pressed a firm and lingering kiss to his lips, as mine trembled against his. All the emotions I felt in that moment were put into that kiss. The kiss was passionate to show our equally reciprocated love for each other. I pulled away, gazing into his deep brown eyes realising for the first time how beautiful they were. I noticed the flecks of gold surrounding his irises. I noticed the passion and emotions pooling beneath the surface. I noticed his strength and bravery in the reflection of his corneas. I could see so much about him just in his beautiful brown eyes. I pressed one last kiss to his lips, whispering out a tender goodbye before walking over to Murphy. I knew that if I didn't walk away in that moment, I would never bring myself to let him go.

Tears still streamed endlessly down my cheeks, pooling at the top of my shirt as I pulled Murphy into a tight hug before he could refuse. "Take care of him down there. Please. For me," I pleaded in a whisper.

"Sure thing," He muttered.

I pulled away before chuckling, "And remember, I want at least two chapters dedicated to me in your autobiography when you become famous," I joked despite my weak voice.

Murphy raised an eyebrow at me, "Two chapters? That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" He remarked.

I rolled my eyes, "Fine. One and a half but that's the lowest I'm going," I stated as we both laughed together before seriousness took over, "See you later, Smurphy."

Murphy smiled down at me, like an actual genuine smile, "Bye, Princess."

After Warren's final goodbye, Murphy got into one of the military vehicles and the five of us watched as they drove him and 10K away. I didn't want to admit it in that moment but I was really going to miss Murphy.

"So that's it then, huh?" Vasquez muttered.

"I hope the kid's gonna be okay," Doc muttered, his arm wrapped around my shoulders.

Addy nodded her head, smiling to the two of us, "He will," She reassured.

"Lets get these bodies out of here," Warren commanded as we all walked back inside the restaurant.

***

Doc and I pulled out the last body - The fake Murphy. I had his legs whilst Doc carried him by his shoulders. "What about this poor blue son-"

But before Doc could finish, a bullet pierced straight through the already deceased zombie's skull. Doc and I dropped him immediately and ran for cover behind some of the trucks with the others.

"Were they aiming for me?" I hissed, it only narrowly missed mercying me.

Automatic gunfire sounded out as we were drowned in the sound of heavy machine guns. At first, I thought it was bounty hunters but then I took a look at their skull masks. The Zeros had returned. Lots of them.

We heard La Reina call out for Warren in the distance. I peaked a look at her as she lifted the hood from over her head. She looked rough, even for a zombie slave. Her hair was matted to the top of her head in large, crazy knots and her makeup was smudged all over her face and not to mention her chapped lips, almost scarring.

Vasquez tried to fight back against the powerful, never-ending gunfire but his small handgun didn't even make a dent. The gunshots started to become closer as the Zeros ran towards us. I whipped my head around to see Auntie standing just outside her diner, with her own automatic machine gun. We all rushed back inside as she covered for us. Vasquez barricaded the door behind us before yelling out in frustration,

"How the hell did they find us?!"

"Maybe they're attracted to Murphy? He only left two minutes ago," I suggested with a shrug.

We checked our ammo but it wasn't looking good for us. Although Addy and I were okay, Vasquez was out and Doc left his bag outside so he only had a crowbar on hand. Then, Auntie's voice rang out among the restaurant,

"Well if you just asked nicely," She said, pulling on a lever which looked like a beer bottle and a compartment of heavy machinery revealed itself.

"Well aren't you full of surprises," Doc exclaimed, nodding his head - impressed. I was too, I really liked that woman.

I took another handgun and an intense looking machine gun, accompanied by my bow if I found myself up against a Zero and my other already loaded pistol.

Warren walked towards the blocked window to see what La Reina and the Zeros were up to, "The fact that they haven't started beating down these doors yet worries me more than if they just kept attacking. Mindless mayhem we can handle. Whatever the hell they're planning, I'm not so sure," She explained.

After a short while of waiting at each window for them, La Reina started to shout out in Spanish distantly. "Now what are they up to?" Warren asked quietly.

"I think they're going to attack soon," I muttered in reply, "She told them to cover up."

La Reina started to shout again but this time addressing Warren, she was right next to the parked vehicles, "It's not you I came after. Just Murphy. I only want Murphy! You give him to me, and we can still be friends."

"Too late, Chica! He's gone!" Warren shouted back.

It was like the queen took a deep breath before asking again, "dondé està Murfi?"

I rolled my eyes before yelling out to her, "el no està aquí, puta estupida!" He's not here, stupid bitch. I couldn't resist. I love insulting people in Spanish.

Following my insult, Vasquez shot at La Reina, the bullet just scraping her ear. He missed. La Reina started giving orders before the people in the second line pulled out their machetes and sliced it through the first line of guns.

"Did they just stab their own men?" I exclaimed in shock, aiming my gun ready as the machete people used the bodies as a shield as they shot towards us. This time, we could shoot back.

Auntie started to really get riled up, shooting at three Zeros a time. Doc complimented her on her shooting as I watched her stumble back out of the corner of my eye. Then, she lunged at Doc - biting and scratching at him. Auntie had turned zombie.

I turned from the window, trying to help Doc with newly zombified Auntie, "Keep her still, I can't get a shot!" I yelled, trying to adjust my gun at every movement so I wouldn't shoot Doc. However, Doc pushed her against the wall as an axe sliced straight through her skull, mercying her. I shrugged, "Or do that, that works too."

***

The fight with the Zeros was over, all of them were dead. Even La Reina - Warren and her that gotten into a big fight which I was slightly disappointed that I missed. However, Warren was losing before she was saved by someone. Escorpion.

Doc, Vasquez and I went to find Warren after the gun fight and found her with Escorpion, before knowing what had actually happened. Vasquez hit the Latino with the back of his gun, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Never leave a zombie to do a man's job," Vasquez snapped, aiming his gun at the fallen Escorpion.

"He saved my life," Warren explained, breathless from her previous standoff with La Reina.

"I don't care," Vasquez replied bluntly.

"Well ding dong. The bitch is dead," Doc said, referring to La Reina, blooded on the floor. I couldn't help but laugh despite it being a terrible moment to joke.

"You killed your queen?" Addy questioned.

"Why?" I added, crossing my arms over my chest.

Escorpion sighed and shook his head, "She wasn't my queen. Not since she got that cooked batch of Kurian's vaccine. I followed them here through all their death and destruction. She wasn't human anymore. None of them were."

Images of Cassandra flashed through my brain. I nodded in agreement, knowing exactly what he was talking about, "Yeah, that happens," I spoke out weakly.

Escorpion turned to Vasquez, still on his knees with his hands raised in surrender, "I won't rob you of your revenge. You've earned it. Escorpion deserves to die for what he did to you- What I did to your family." Vasquez's expression remained emotionless as Escorpion continued, "If you want to kill me, you go right ahead. I've been a one man apocalypse all my life. I'm not afraid to die, loco. Death, shit, that's all I know. I know it don't mean shit, but I apologise. I'm not that man who killed your family, man. That man is dead. Killed by the Zs when you threw me down that hole. In that one second, I saw every horrible and malicious thing I ever did. And I wanted to die right there and then. But I knew if my life were to have any meaning, I had to get out of there. I had to survive and makeup for all the things that I did. Maybe this is how I do it. Do me a favour, man. You pull that trigger."

Damn that was a long speech.

Vasquez cocked his gun, getting ready to kill Escorpion once and for all.

"Do what you have to," Warren nodded, stepping closer to him, "But who are you gonna be after you pull that trigger?" She walked off, leaving the two alone, gesturing for us to follow.

We had barely left the building before a gunshot rang out from the room we were previously in. Our heads snapped to the entrance to see who would come out. We all exchanged glances, thinking Vasquez had ended things. But it was Escorpion that left through the door.

Doc aimed his gun as the four of us approached him. "Did he shoot himself?" I asked, utterly shocked. Hector nodded his head inside the building and Warren followed after him. I was guessing he didn't shoot himself, then.

When Warren walked back outside, we all erupted in questioning. "What happened?" Doc inquired. "Is he alive?" Addy and I asked in sync.

"He's alive," Warren answered, taking a gun from a dead Zero, "He's not coming."

"Well, what do we do now, Chief?" Doc asked.

"I don't know. I'm not in charge anymore."

Doc and Addy picked up a weapon each like Warren for following her. I gazed out in the direction where the CDC took 10K, debating on whether to do the same. Escorpion slowly lowered his arms and gave me a look of questioning,

"Aren't you going with them?"

I shook my head, "My boyfriend - He was shot. The CDC took him back to their submarine and I said I'd wait for him here," I explained.

"My guess, is that he won't be back for a while. You have enough time to do what you have to," Escorpion suggested, "Now, come."

"Where are we going?" I inquired, raising a eyebrow as he walked off.

"To catch up to your friends," Escorpion replied over his shoulder.

I sighed, figuring he was right about 10K. So I followed him into a vehicle that had gathered some essential supplies. I presumed it was the vehicle he had followed us to the restaurant in. Soon enough, though, we had caught up to the others. We pulled up alongside them and I lent out the window with an innocent smile,

"Need a ride?"

Escorpion leaned further so they could see him after me, "I got enough good, ammo, and Z weed for a month."

Doc shrugged before getting in the back. Warren and Addy reluctantly followed. "We're only going as far as the beach," Warren informed.

"I like the beach."

I looked back at Warren as she continued speaking, "The CDC'll most likely drop 10K off there. So that's where we'll wait." I smiled in gratitude. It was nice to know she was still thinking of him, despite the mission being over and we hadn't known the group beforehand.

We finally arrived at the beach. "Think 10K's alright?" Addy muttered. I didn't want to think about what would happen if he wasn't.

"Big sub like that, they got to have a real medical team," Warren replied, glancing at me as she tried to refrain from scaring me. Which I greatly appreciated - I hadn't stopped thinking of him since he left.

"Well I hope they don't bleed him dry," Doc continued, this time changing the subject to Murphy, "I hate to admit it, but I kinda miss Murphy." I sort of did too - I thought I was the only one.

"Really?" Hector asked from the back of the group, "I didn't get to know him too well, but, uh... He seemed like kind of a dick."

I chuckled, reminiscing on all our jokes we had shared over the past two years, "Oh he was. But somehow you still liked him."

When we approached the edge of the cliff of the beach, we saw the top of the submarine in the distance. It looked like it had flames flickering from it.

"10K..." I mumbled under my breath.

"That does not look good," Warren muttered to herself, raising her binoculars to get a better look.

"Is it submerging?" Doc questioned.

"I don't know about you, Doc, but all the submarines I've seen don't tend to be on fire when they submerge," I answered, my voice cracking with sheer anxiety, worry and fear.

"It's sinking," Warren concluded.

"Is that a boat?" Addy asked, referring to the small black object that was speeding away from the burning submarine of destruction.

"It's Murphy," Warren observed, "He has Doctor Merch and the Sub Captain."

"What about 10K?" I asked, starting to hyperventilate. If he was on there, she would have said his name so my mind was already assuming the worst. I felt Addy's arms wrap around me as I started to become numb to my surroundings, dimming black rims started to close around my vision. Like I was in a tunnel.

I saw a blurred Warren pass her binoculars to Doc. A muffled explosion sounded in the distance as fire started to spit out from the descending submarine.

"Tell me he's on that boat," Addy pleaded, watching as my state deteriorated. Even though she was right next to me, her voice sounded miles away. With no answer, Addy tried again, "Doc, tell me 10K is on that boat!"

"I don't see him."

And that was it. After that one confession, my body started to completely shut down. I felt myself involuntarily collapse to the ground. Addy must've caught me as my fall wasn't as fast as I was preparing for. However, that was my last thought before blackness swallowed up my entire being.

And then came the numbness.