To Be A Hero

Chapter 20: Lullaby

I hum. "Well, you're not wrong."

"I know I'm not. But for your sake, I won't push our luck."

A small chuckle leaves my lips. "Probably best you don't."

Because I would. I'd do it in a second.

I guess saying that doesn't mean much, seeing how there's multiple people I would die for, but I would, really. If it meant saving Sam, I'd die for him in a heartbeat without any second thought.

It terrifies me how much power he holds over me, and he doesn't even know it.

I raise my hand to wipe the sweat from the upper lip, and wince at the dull ache I feel there. Sam notices almost immediately, and he frowns.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah. My mouth is still... sore from yesterday's events."

He sneers. "Right. Almost forgot about that. I'm surprised you only punched him the arm."

"I told him if he tried that again I'd break his arm instead."

"Good."

I raise a brow. "That's an uncharacteristically violent response."

"I get that way when someone hurts one of my runners," He huffs.

"He didn't hurt me-well, not on purpose. It just wasn't welcomed, but it was apparently the first thing he thought of in order to make sure that if we were to get caught, it would look like we sneaking around for other reasons than me spying on people."

Sam rolls his eyes, having heard all about me sneaking around to spy on Steve. I'm grateful he didn't tell on me to Janine. "Yeah, well you still didn't want him to do... right?"

"No. He's only my fake fiancé. And I'm not really mad at him." I pause. "No, that's a lie. I am mad at him, but I'm more or less worried about how fast stuff spreads around New Canton rumor wise. I mean, I have enough rumors going around about me outside of New Canton. Did you know some people think I'm an angel sent to save everyone? That's literally a theory Kendra told me a few days ago when I went on that run with Maxine."

He snickers. "Whoever made that up must've not known you all that well, because you are definitely not an angel."

"Rude!"

"You'll come to the Cultural Center on your left," Janine says before Sam can reply. "Look for the white building on the corner."

Sam takes a passing glance around. "Aw, man. This is so weird."

"You mean the baby?"

"Oh, I was actually going to say being outside Abel again, but well, yeah, now that you mention it..."

"If you're having second thoughts about fatherhood, Mr. Yao, you're many months too late."

He frantically shakes his head. "No, no! It's good! It's amazing! It's-it's brilliant and I'm so excited. I-I'm going to teach that child to like, whistle, and tell the time, and play the ukulele, after I've learned to play the ukulele." A soft laugh leaves his lips. "I mean, like, it's the best thing that's ever happened. But also, like, my dad-well, he was always saying I behaved too irresponsibly."

She hums, but says nothing, and he scowls.

"Oh, right, thanks for the support!"

"I'm focusing on the zombies, Mr. Yao. There seem to be quite a lot of them in the vicinity of the Cultural Center."

"Oh, yeah. We can see what you mean." He clicks his tongue as we see the six zombies huddled around the front door. Then his face falls. "Oh."

"What?" Janine asks.