Bite {Niall Centric}

Day 189

Another thing that made Niall proud was that they even put to use their very limited knowledge of gardening; on the roof, under a large blue tarp were little plots of soil. Harry had found packets of fruit and vegetable seeds, and Niall had been given the task of planting them because he didn't have to be on his feet very much to do so.

Having a mall as their base had many advantages, but one downside was that there was simply too much territory for them to protect. If raiders were to ever come, would they be prepared?

Zayn stood in front of Niall, blocking his view of the mall. Niall felt Zayn press his thumb against the crease between Niall's eyebrows just like he had done on their way to the mall. "You're thinking too hard again.  Come."

Zayn took Niall's hand in his, leading him to a set of couches where Harry lounged against one. On the coffee table in the middle of the staged area were several water bottles and three steaming cup noodles. "Found these in the break room," Harry gestured to the noodles. "Which flavor do you want?"

Whoever had bought the cup noodles had an eccentric taste for the only available flavors were lime with shrimp, lime with chicken, and cheddar cheese. "Um. . . lime with chicken I guess." (a/n: i looked up flavors of of maruchan cup noodles and cheddar cheese is actually a flavor. . .)

~.~.~.

When Liam and Louis were finally awake and fed, they all went up to the roof and gazed at the miles of landscape they could see.  The roads were unsurprisingly barren as well as the area around them. The sun was hidden by a mass of clouds, and Niall could only hope for rain because he didn't feel like manually watering the garden plots.

After Niall was done staring down at the spot where the pile of burning zombies had been, only scorch marks left as a grotesque reminder, he turned to find the boys already looking at him. He blushed under their usual intense stare, trying not to think about how he had become the sole recipient of their romantic affections.

"Niall," Liam began, and Niall knew he wasn't going to like whatever was coming next. "You have to choose one of us. You already know how we feel about you, but who do you care deeply for?"

He had originally hoped time would decide for him, but time only hastened decisions, not make them. He wished then that he had more time, but the wish was left ungranted and trapped in his throat much like any reply he could think to answer.

He cared deeply for all of them. All of them cared deeply for him. Why couldn't they simply be content with that? Niall knew the answer to his unspoken question, but he wanted it to be different. It wasn't fair to him. It wasn't fair to them.

"I care deeply for you all."

"But who do you care about the most?"

That was the million dollar question; and the million dollar answer was simple. It came to him so suddenly, it nearly made him dizzy.

"Me," Niall answered. "So I guess I choose none of you."

The looks on their faces made Niall reevaluate his decision; would they not accept his rejection? He knew it hurt them because he was hurt, too.

It wouldn't have been fair to pick one when he wanted all of them. How could he devote himself to one person when he had mutual feelings for three others? So despite the fact that they were all left hurting, none could deny that perhaps it would be for the best.

~.~.~.

Evening passed, the moon visible in the ever-darkening sky. Niall requested to be left alone for the sake of his sanity, and after convincing the boys they had nothing to fear in an empty mall, he was left to his own devices. One of his said devices was a bow he had found in the hobby store, along with two quivers of arrows courtesy of Zayn. Random zombies passed along the terrain as frequent as twenty throughout a day.

Niall had killed three in the last four hours; two arrows he had missed on the first zombie because he hadn't got his aim quite right yet. Then he had took deep breaths and steadied his arms, reaching as far back as he could go. He let it go and watched the arrow fly through the air before lodging itself into the zombie's throat. The next two zombies were killed just as successfully.

Niall decided to call it quits, going downstairs to find the boys. He saw them in the electronics store, huddled around a flat screen playing an animated movie he had seen the trailers for two years ago. Upon his entrance, the movie was paused, and their heads turned to him.

"Hey," Lou greeted, looking quite somber. "We were watching-"

Screech!

All of the them were on high alert, but it was soon revealed by the flick of the light switch that the screeching noise had only been a fallen beam. Niall settled in between Louis and Zayn, laying back against his backpack. He didn't care to watch the movie; he had only wanted to be near them.

He felt fingers comb through his overgrown hair, gently detangling the brown locks. If he had been a cat, he would have purred at the pleasing sensation. He looked up momentarily to see that it was Zayn doing it; he was quite the handsy lad.

Niall let a small smile take over his face, pretending to not see the other boys get jealous. The movie was playing again, casting shadows across Niall's closed eyelids. He heard mumbling from the boys, but it was too low for him to hear.

~.~.~.

now do you see why i said it was "shooking"?! i sprinkled drama in their like saltbae sprinkles salt 👌💪

also, how do you feel about niall's decision to pick none of them?