Resurrected Bond - a ZNation 10K/Tommy fanfiction

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

10K POV

After they'd eaten Ellie had taken his empty bowl and cleaned it using as little water as she could. She'd pulled a book from her shelf afterward and had given it to him to help pass the time since he couldn't do much while he recovered. The book wasn't bad, the story was easy enough to follow but it wasn't glaringly obvious what was going to happen next so it kept his attention which helped time pass a bit quicker. Night had fallen outside and eventually a Z wandered by, he heard the snarling and his body tensed as he raised himself onto his elbows. He heard a shush and turned to Ellie who was sitting at the table and had a finger raised to her lips. He looked to the window and through the curtain saw the silhouette of the zombie as it lumbered by. Just like Ellie had said earlier, it was drawn by the sound of the crashing waves not far from the cabin and it wandered toward the sea not giving their small shelter a second thought. He turned back to his book but found it hard to get as absorbed as he'd been before so instead he watched Ellie from over the top of the pages. She was sitting at the table, a small candle was lit in front of her giving off just enough light for her to work by as she braided thin pieces of leather together into stronger ropes. He watched as her nimble fingers pulled the leather tight making it stronger each time she crossed the strands. When she'd completed three of them she tied them all together in a large knot and each rope hung from it like tentacles from the head of an octopus. Then she took three stones and weighed them in her hand, she must be checking to make sure they're the same weight, he thought as he watched, mesmerized by her work. She then started tying the stones to each loose rope as he looked back to his book. He was glad she wasn't the chatty type and seemed to be more on the shy quiet side like he was. She also didn't seem disturbed in the slightest at having a stranger in her home. It was rare finding nice people these days he thought before another thing occurred to him and he dropped his book into his lap and sat up on his elbows suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Ellie whispered her fingers freezing as she looked up at his sudden movement in concern.

He looked down at the blankets around his waist and the soft bed under him before he looked up at her, "I'm in your bed." He said and she raised her eyebrows silently questioning why there was a problem, "I'm in your only bed." He clarified and her face relaxed, "Where will you sleep?"

"I'll be fine." She said giving a shrug and looking back down at her work as she continued to tie the leather.

"I- I can't take your only bed." He said.

"I'll be fine." She repeated, "And you need it more than I do anyway."

He paused for a moment as his paranoia – thanks for that apocalypse – set in, "Why are you being so nice to me?" he asked and she looked up at him confused, "Why are you helping me at all? Why drag me here from the beach only for me to eat your food and use up your medical supplies?"

"Would you have preferred I didn't?" she asked skeptically.

"No. . . it's just. . .You don't know me. How do you know I'm not a terrible person? How do you know if I've done horrible things?"

Instead of looking worried like maybe she hadn't thought this through she looked oddly calm and asked, "Have you?"

He paused again thinking back to the start of the outbreak, then to everything he'd done as he crossed the country with the others, "Yes."

"Like what?" she asked her question only confusing him more.

He shrugged, "I've killed people." He said his voice a bit quieter.

"Bad people or good people?" she asked with that same composure.

"Does it matter?" he asked raising an eyebrow.