The Zombie Apocalypse with MCR (Complete)

Some Distance

Gerard slumps back into the armchair like he's feeling faint. He's gaping at me. "The bastard did not tell me that. You've been sleeping-"

"That's all." I hold up my hands in surrender. "Nothing more. He was struggling, bone-tired-"

He waves a hand, "He's been like that since the beginning of all this. He's always struggled with his sleeping pattern, even before, I'm sure it's why he's so miserable."

I shrug, helpless and unable to meet his eyes. "He slept okay with me while I was sick, so we figured we'd test. It helps. How can I say no?"

Gerard's nodding, but his eyes are narrowed and he's got his fingers against his temple like he's fending off a headache. "Of course you wouldn't turn him away. It's good that he's sleeping. It's great that you're good enough friends that he's comfortable enough to ask. But Nevaeh..." He gives a big sigh and scrubs a hand through his blue hair. "Isn't this all a little complicated?"

I sit on the floor with my back against my bedframe and my legs crossed. "No. It isn't." I insist against his disbelieving frown. "We spoke about it last night. It didn't mean anything, we both agreed. We're still friends, only friends. It was just... In the moment."

Gerard's eyebrows flick upwards, "Did he initiate it?"

My eyes go to the raised and bumpy scars covering my knuckles. "No."

"You did?" He squawks, and blows out a breath. "That's... Not what I expected."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I squint.

"Nothing." He says quickly, and shakes his head. "You're saying there's no feelings? At all?"

I splutter, "Well, I mean... Obviously I care about him. He's a good man, and a good friend. But I don't want anything more than that."

He looks at me with those stark, honest eyes of his. Almost green. "I'm not saying I wouldn't want the two of you to be happy if you did start something-"

"Which we won't-"

"But if things go bad," he waves me away, "We've all got to live with the awkwardness. In the middle of a zombie apocalypse." His eyebrows go up.

"Okay, all right." I hold up my hands, "I get it. Stay away from Frank."

"That isn't what I'm saying." He rolls his eyes and extends a long leg to give my ankle a gentle kick. "I'm saying stay away from Frank unless you're sure."

"Won't be a problem." I say, crossing my heart with my pinky. "Promise. On my black, broken heart."

***

In the weeks after Stonehenge, as the summer starts to slip away, we settle back into routine. I go scavenging every couple of days, only when it's necessary. Everyone else finds ways to stay busy.

Natalie takes up knitting, which is cute of her. A blanket for the winter, she says. Alissa starts to get pretty good at embroidery, and she takes to decorating her own clothes with elaborate, colourful designs. Gerard starts writing, scribbling at paper just as furiously as I do most days.

As the pearly white clouds of summer deepen and darken, and rain comes more often than sunshine, I take everyone out for supplies. One by one, we venture out into the world.

Ray and I have a difficult job in a music shop, caught by a corpse trapped in a locked room. It takes me off my feet before I know what's happened, and Ray saves my life when he wrestles it away and shoves it over a stand of CDs.

Alissa and Mikey and I go together, and they hide while I fight four corpses in a dressing room Alissa insisted on visiting. Frank tends to my scraped palms and my bloody nose and the gouge of flesh taken out of my left hip.