We wake to the light seeping through the cracks of the boarded up windows. At some point in the night, I must have turned over and placed my head on Abby’s chest as I woke up to her embracing me in an almost intimate manner.
Abby rubs the sleep from her eyes as she slowly starts to wake up. “Huh…,” she opens her eyes to find me cuddled up with her and her hand on my head, gently caressing me. At the sight of this, she sits up quickly. “Oh, I’m sorry. I-…”
I giggle, “Don’t be. It was… kind of nice,” I smile warmly as I begin to sit up. “I haven’t been cuddled up to anyone in… well, I can’t even remember.” I blush slightly and look down. My voice is quiet and soft now, “You’re definitely someone I wouldn’t mind cuddling up with again.”
Abby sits up straight, her body tensing up, a flustered look beginning to form. “W-what did you just say?”
“Oh,” I chuckle, “Don’t get your panties twisted, just take the compliment, woman.”
Abby pauses for a moment and I expect her to make no response, as she usually does when she’s put on the spot like this but instead she looks up at me for a moment before speaking. “Yeah, it was actually…nice.” She blushes slightly and gets up. “Eat something for breakfast and then let’s head out.”
I smile up at Abby and get to it.
---
Abby and I make our way through the streets of Santa Barbara, coming across small groups of runners as we go and killing them with ease. After my freeze up yesterday, I was determined to not do that again.
“Hey, you are actually pretty good with that thing,” Abby remarks after we defeat a particularly grueling group of infected.
I smirk confidently, “Find me a bow and some arrows and then you’ll really be impressed.”
Abby smiles towards me as we resume our journey.
We finish up the day at another run down shop, entering it the same as last time with Abby ripping off a rotten board nailed to the entrance. “Show off,” I catch myself smiling unbeknownst to her. We enter and do our sweep catching no signs of infected.
“We should be there by tomorrow morning, I can feel it,” Abby’s face shines brightly even in the dark room.
“You excited? Nervous?”
Abby ponders this for a second, “Mixture of both, I suppose?” She rubs her shoulder, “I have no way of knowing if the information Owen had was accurate or up to date by any means but I had to try.” Abby looks up at me now with a new expression I’m not sure I’ve seen before, “Hey… I’m really happy you’re here, for what it’s worth. I never thought I-…”
“Good, you should be happy I’m here,” I smile back at Abby. “You probably would’ve scared off anyone else by this point, so I’ll take the praise,” I laugh heartily.
Abby lets out air from her nose and throws a pillow at me, “Have you always been this insufferable? Or is it just me that gets the pleasure?”
I look at Abby with a teasing smirk, “Oh, the pleasure is all yours, baby.” I wink and laugh at myself.
Abby guffaws and crosses her arms- still smiling, “You know what? I take it back. I should’ve left you back in Seattle.”
