➳(y/n) had always known things happen for a reason, no matter how horrible they seem in the beginning. Even the apocalypse had happened, and the girl liked to believe it was to show her her true family, and maybe this was the kind of world she belonged in.
However, less and less lately, had she believed this to be true. With everything they'd encountered since adopting this mission, the perfect synchronization of the universe had seemingly fallen out of balance.
But, then again, maybe she was wrong.
"No Zs in sight," Mack, back from watch, told everyone. They'd stopped for a rest break for their "special cargo", for the 3rd time that day. They hadn't even had much water - she wasn't totally sure she understood how it was possible for him to have to keep stopping. She also wasn't totally sure if she wanted to know.
"Anybody else worried about Mr. Sunshine out there?" Doc asked no-one in particular, but he was speaking their thoughts.
"I know," Garnett gave his opinion distractedly "he's been looking worse." Roberta nodded.
"Yeah, and he was pretty creepy to start out with," she said honestly, the bluntness of her tone bringing a ghost of a smile to (y/n)'s lips.
"Come on guys," Addy said, trying to defend him. "give him a break; it's the apocalypse, none of us look our best." (y/n) nodded sagely.
"It's like one long, horrible bad hair day." She commented sadly, missing with a pang luxuries she'd taken for granted before the apocalypse.
"Speaking of hair," Mack piped up "what's with all the bald patches?" (y/n) shrugged, but Cassandra answered.
"Maybe that vaccine is like zombie chemo?" she guessed, a shot in the dark. 10k frowned.
"Maybe the vaccine isn't working." He pointed out, very fairly. More and more each day he was beginning to look a little too un-dead for (y/n)'s liking. As if he could sense them talking about him, the man in the field turned around to stare at them.
Each of them continued looking on, not even trying to hide it.
"What do you think, Doc?" Garnett asked his opinion, being an almost-doctor and all. The older man shrugged.
"I've seen Zs look better than him," he informed - which (y/n) could confirm with a little shudder. Zs that look almost human - normally freshly turned - but it was the eyes that gave them away.
Well, that and the growling.
"Will he make it to California?" Garnett mumbled, not really a question, more like a thought.
"If we haul ass," Doc commented, most of his humor gone. (y/n) snorted.
"Yeah," she scoffed "and I'm the tooth fairy." she muttered, and 10k chuckled lightly - which was about as much as she'd gotten out of him since their little stargazing expedition.
"Dibs on piking him!" Warren said, a little too quickly, after Garnett mentioned something about putting him down.
"Hey, I'm next in line," The girl joked, pointing her finger to her chest "he ate my Twinkie." Warren inclined her head to the girl respectfully.
"Alright, girl," she sighed "but that's only if I'm too busy." Murphy finally zipped it up, and they were back on the road. (y/n) opted to sit down and admire the somewhat boring Kansas landscape while they drove, trying to ignore the sharpshooter who kept glancing back at her with those blue eyes she loved, but loathed all the same.
➳The group, a few hours later, had ended up outside of the gate leading into Province Town, a small community just outside of Kansas City.
"Surrender all weapons?" 10k read a sign posted on the front gate, which unnerved (y/n) more than she cared to admit. "Are they serious?" The girl shrugged when he turned to give her a look.
"Looks like it," she sighed, standing up to get to ready to stretch her aching shoulders. "time to give them up, if you want to eat." 10k considered this, but still had a pout on his face.
"Stop right there!" A female voice bellowed, coming from a woman in sunglasses, holding a rifle pointed directly at them. Lovely.
"Oh, this must be the welcome party," (y/n) chuckled, nudging Addy - who cracked a small smile back, but something about her was off. Completely off, and it scared her. Garnett stepped out of the truck to negotiate with the woman, and told her of a friend he knew before the Zs took over. Within minutes, this "Joe Williams" stepped out of an adjacent building to greet them.
"Come inside and tell me your story," the man invited kindly "we'll get you some food." (y/n)'s stomach growled, reminding her of how long it had been since she'd had anything to eat. "And, of course - you'll have to check in your weapons." The girl's heart sunk, not feeling to enthused at being parted from the knives that had saved her life on multiple occasions.
"I'd kill for a muffin right now," she groaned, and 10k didn't look at her when he replied.
"I really miss Oreos," he sighed, hopping down from the truck. As they got in line, conversation and chatter ceased - like usual. Garnett went first, surrendering his belt and hammer. Mack and Addy followed, and (y/n) was a little disappointed at how little they carried on them.
Maybe she should teach them to throw knives, one night once they'd found a place to stay. Cassandra, who only had one knife due to low supply of actual guns, had taken (y/n)'s pistol - which she surrendered as well.
"Just like Dodge City," Doc mentioned, casually, but Joe seemed to take offense.
"We have our reasons," he said, making the boundary clear. (y/n) stepped up to her turn, and she heard Garnett speaking.
"Makes sense," he offered, obviously trying to be nice so their group could rest a while here. As she gave the man behind the window her rifle, she figured the place was safe enough - judging by the fences and large number of people they'd seen.
The man seemed to admire her rifle. "Yours?" he asked, inspecting it. The girl arched her eyebrow.
"Obviously?" she chuckled, grabbing her axe from her belt and starting with her knives. As usual, two in her left boot and two in her right. And, the thigh holster for a hunting knife Garnett had given her last week.
It was black, to match her pants, and was made out of an old belt - she was pretty sure. But hey, it worked.
She stepped forward after begrudgingly giving up her weapons to be scanned by the same woman who 'greeted' them earlier. The machine swung along her legs nicely, but beeped loudly once it reached her chest. From the corner of her vision, saw Garnett raise his eyebrows at her.
The female guard glared at her, and she smiled sheepishly - gesturing to her chest and the bra beneath her navy blue shirt.
"Underwire," she explained, pretending to be embarrassed. The female guard rolled her eyes, but let her pass.
"Better be," she muttered, then turned to watch 10k remove his mini-arsenal. (y/n) stepped out of the weapons check-in point to meet up with the rest of the group, who was watching 10k hand everything over - a process that yielded much more than the girl had anticipated.
When he stepped forward to be scanned by the guard, however, the machine beeped near his pants. Mack snorted and hid it behind a cough, while Addy punched him lightly on the shoulder.
With annoyance plainly written on his sharp features, the dark-haired boy pulled a chain from his pants. (y/n) shook her head, putting one hand to her forehead as she did so.
"Of course," she chuckled as he joined them to walk beside her "only you would do that, you know." He gave her a side glance and smirked at her comment.
"You never know," he said mock-defensively, and she shook her head again.
"You're so weird," she remarked bluntly, and he flushed a dark red on his cheekbones.
"Thanks?" He said awkwardly, before slowly his pace - as the rest of them did - when Joe stepped away to talk to that woman who scanned them.
(y/n) felt the knife concealed behind her shirt almost burning into her skin, but she wasn't willing to risk anything - not even here. "Major, you're not gonna believe this," the woman huffed "three of Jacob's flock are back." The Major stepped aside to look at the aforementioned humans, all 3 of them being not much older than (y/n).
"Major, we'd like to come back," one of them pleaded - a boy who spoke to the general but was staring at her. Unease roiled through her stomach, and she glared at him.
"We were wrong to leave," a dark-haired boy said pitifully "Jacob turned out to be some crazy cult leader."
A girl, holding a basket of fruit, piped up. "We brought food!" She exclaimed, obviously trying to weasel her way in. Something about them was wrong, (y/n) thought, horribly wrong. Cult members don't just up and leave a cult - they're either in it for life or not at all.
According to Doc, that is.
"What do you want us to do?" The woman asked, in regards to the young people at the gate. The man sighed.
"Fine, if they're clean - let them back in," he announced, almost tiredly "they probably won't be the last of his sheep to come running back." The woman did as she was told, while the girl behind the gate stared at Ten Thousand.
He stared back, hardly paying attention to the group that was now leaving. "C'mon, loverboy," (y/n) called over her shoulder sarcastically to the boy. He jogged to meet back up with them, as Joe explained what Jacob had done.
➳"Really?" (y/n) complained after they'd each grabbed a plate of food and sat down. "I mean, come on, zombies are not angels. Trust me." The rest of the group nodded, munching on various fruits and veggies and - (y/n)'s personal favorite - bread.
"Kid," Doc mumbled through a mouth full of food "if there's anything I know about the apocalypse; is that it drives people crazy. Like that guy." The girl shrugged, and stole a look at the sharpshooter who was munching loudly on an apple, and staring at the girl.
By now, she'd mostly grown used to it and was perfectly fine pretending it didn't bother her.
"I don't like the vibes those three give of," (y/n) mumbled, biting into a strawberry. Cassandra nodded.
"Something about them is definitely weird," She assented, gesturing with a carrot, but stopped abruptly when she watched 10k, who was following the girl as she left through a door. Alarm bells went off in (y/n)'s head, but Warren had sat down and was starting to talk.
"So, we got the lowdown on the sleeping situation," the woman informed, settling in with her meal. "There's a room two of three of us can share, and then a communal bunk."
"Dibs on the room!" Murphy called, completely un-selfishly, of course. When everyone glared at him, he looked around in confusion. "What? Be less risk of people figuring out who I am." His argument was very poor, (y/n) shook her head, smiling.
"I think we should give it to those two," Doc pointed - gesturing to Warren and Garnett. (y/n)'s eyes lit up mischievously. She'd been rooting for them since she'd met the pair.
"What?" Garnett stuttered nervously, it was comical. "No, no, no, we're not a-" but Addy interrupted him with a loud laugh.
"Yeah," Mack told them "you guys take it." Their leader - strong and fearless when it came to zombies but completely weak for Warren, apparently - was still acting very nervously.
"Is it that obvious?" he asked self-consciously. (y/n) grinned at her favorite people in the world.
"Yes," she answered quickly "painfully so. But, we're happy for you." Warren wiped off her hands and set them beneath her chin.
"Well," she sighed "if we're gonna do the time - might as well do the crime." Garnett's jaw nearly dropped open, and Doc guffawed at his stature. They couple made quick work of leaving the room, and (y/n) went back to her meal - contently.
"Are you serious?" Cassandra whispered quietly, and Addy laughed.
"Yes, that was funny!" (y/n) couldn't agree more, and she noticed that her guard had fallen, and she felt safe here. Like it could be a home.
Behind them, a small group of men had gathered around the outcast's table, talking rather loudly about how the Major was so kind to let them back in.
"You know," Doc pointed out "that fella's awfully popular for being kicked out of here." (y/n) nodded, eyeing them suspiciously.
Suddenly, the boy who'd been staring at (y/n) earlier jumped onto the table to address the people eating. The dishware clattered as he began his speech, giving it an ominous tone. "Listen to me, all of you," he commanded loudly "for I have good news. The major didn't believe in the word of Jacob, but he will. All of you will be given the chance to join the Resurrection church."
"What are you doing?" A man panicked "get down from there!" The boy didn't listen, but pulled at a wooden cross on his necklace.
"He's got a weapon!" The cross had revealed a small but long blade, hidden within the relic. (y/n) stood quickly, as did most of the other patrons, while the girl thought out what needed to be done.
Everyone reached for their weapons, only to remember they were left back at the check-in. Multiple men tried to fight him and stop him from doing what they all knew was coming, and he continued to speak throughout the ordeal.
"For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life; so also the Son gives life to whom he will!" And, with that, the boy slit his throat, his eyes a mixed-up fury as his body convulsed.
"He's gonna turn," (y/n) yelled, reaching under her shirt to pull out the previously-concealed blade. Thankfully, it was thin enough to avoid much suspicion. Without it, she wasn't sure if she'd survive.
The girl took a few running steps forward to do the dirty work, but found his violent death had already turned him and he was reaching to bite another person. Into the back of her skull went his blade, but by then his rotting teeth had found a home within a human throat.
➳Chaos erupted after the shocking violence, and the sheer enormity of what was going on kept (y/n) from breaking down when her emotions threatened to do so. The freshly-turned zombies were always fast, and thus it was different to pike them with just a blade, no guns.
Everyone was running and screaming, and (y/n) watched a woman get knocked down by a Z. The girl rushed over to pike the monster, but it was too late. Of course it was too late. Both zombies stood up to face down the girl, and the meek part of her nearly whimpered in fear.
She clutched her knife the way her father taught her, and braced herself for the worst. The two of them came running at the first time, and she sidestepped to the right, using their momentum to send them careening into another table. From behind, she put her knife through the skull of the first one - only to realize it had been the original zombie boy within the dining hall.
The anger she felt in lieu of the situation only fueled her further, and the second zombie didn't stand much of a chance.
"Murphy!" She heard Doc's voice ring out, and she glanced back in a panic - a deadly mistake. Another Z who'd found itself unhappy with its last meal slammed into her at full force, and she screamed as she kept its gnashing teeth away with her right arm.
Out of her tunnel-vision focus, she could hear someone calling her name - sounding so far away, when in reality she imagined it was only a few feet. Groaning with the effort of keeping the zombie at bay, she finally switched the knife to her free hand and stabbed in through the ear - one of the easier spots to kill the brain from.
She whipped around to face her friends, who she prayed we still alive.
Doc and Cassandra were calling out to Murphy, who'd disappeared through another door.
"Get out of here!" She yelled to them, sprinting through the chaos to reach the mission up a flight of stairs.
"Murphy!" She yelled, taking the steps two at a time to catch up to him. He'd never been a quick runner - way too lazy. "we have to get out of here!"
"Yeah no shit!" He yelled back, panicking. They crept through the hallways, (y/n)'s knife at the ready. Eventually, after a few minutes of creeping through the dim, horror movie-esque setting, they reached what looked to (y/n) like a communal bathroom.
Sunlight filtered through the dusty air, giving the entire room a haunting feel. A woman leapt out of a stall brandishing a small pipe, and began to swing it at Murphy. "Die, you freaking Z!" She screamed, and the man panicked.
"Human!" He chanted over and over, while (y/n) was careful of the woman. But deep down, she realized the poor woman was probably frightened - like the rest of them.
It broke her heart, that they lived like this.
"Sorry," she apologized shakily "you just look like one of them."
"You don't look so good yourself, sweetheart," he retorted, his voice lacking its usual malice.
"We need to get out," (y/n) told the woman calmly "come with us," The woman nodded, but her expression became less hopeful when snarling was heard in the hallway. (y/n) turned to face the Z, and tripped it swiftly, leaving the woman to finish the thing off.
"Why didn't you help?" The woman sobbed while Murphy stood there helplessly.
"Why didn't it attack you?" (y/n) demanded, taking a few steps forward. The man didn't answer, but two more zombies decided to join the fray - causing (y/n) to abandon the conversation.
"Incoming!" the girl yelled, and the woman braced herself, although when she began screaming her head off, she got a little concerned.
(y/n) managed to swing her leg out and knock the zombie off its feet, not noticing the other went straight for the screeching woman. While the zombie tried to stand up she placed her boot on its chest and delivered mercy.
The woman's screams had stopped.
"Shit," (y/n) whispered shakily, noticing Murphy having slipped out of the room and the woman twitching on the ground. Growling from the hallway, lots of it, drew her attention the other way. Quickly, she ducked into a shower stall - a cowardly move but by then the woman was already lost. Bile rose up in her throat, and she took advantage of the Zs being distracted to slip out of the room quietly, Murphy style.
➳She turned right, following the man into another hallway. She didn't dare call out for him, being so under-equipped and alone it wasn't worth gaining the attention of more zombies. He had put his ass in gear, though, running faster than she'd ever really seen him.
(y/n) ran past a window, and saw that some of the cult members were wrangling up the zombies, to do God knows what with them. She grimaced at the thought of what might be happening to her group right now.
Murphy was running away from where they'd came, further from the cafeteria. The entire building was like a maze, but she figured it was safer that way - easier to loose anyone or thing pursuing them.
She huffed, keeping up with the man who'd caused them to go into this mess in the first place. If they'd stayed in Camp Blue Sky, maybe it wouldn't have been overrun. Or, maybe, they would have been dead.
Anything was better than this, not knowing where her friends were or if they were even alive.
Eventually they reached a door that led outside, and she could have cried at the feeling of not being trapped within those treacherous halls.
"I need to find the others," she panted, but Murphy ignored her and ran the opposite direction. With a sigh, she stuck close to the shadows of the building in the late-afternoon sun, scanning for her friends and trying to stay away from the cultish psychos.
A few of them were running towards one of the identical buildings, armed and ready to face whoever was screaming. (y/n) crept forward, peeking around the corner of a building, and saw they had apprehended none other than -
Her family. Alive, bruised and bloodied, but breathing not zombies. The anxious knot in her stomach lessened, only slightly as they raised their guns at those she loved. Without much thought, she flung the knife at the man standing in the center.
In the middle of his back, dark bloomed across the blue shirt he was wearing and he slumped forward, dead. The group, hands raised, looked at her knife and the fallen man. Warren looked like she chuckled, but (y/n)'s happiness was short-lived when a woman turned to point her rifle at the girl, and the bullets ricocheted off the siding of the building as she ran around the side of it.
She sprinted along to the back of the building, only to run nearly headfirst into 10k and Cassandra.
"Oh, thank God you're okay," the dark-haired girl murmured, pulling her into a hug - which she reciprocated gratefully.
"You guys are crazy," she whispered, leading them around the structure to a safer spot. 10k ignored her, and strode forward.
"This way. We need weapons." He spoke quickly, running into one of the buildings, presumably, to steal a gun from an unsuspected cult member.
Lovely.
The trio shut the down quietly behind them, taking a few minutes to stalk through the halls, looking for a target. Eventually, they found one. (y/n) peeked around a doorjamb with a broken shard of mirror, and dropped it to get his attention.
When he panicked and turned her way, she grabbed the rifle and pointed it away from herself, and 10k stepped out of the shadows to hit the man upside the head with a small plank of wood. With the man down on the ground, she handed him the rifle.
"After you," she said courteously, and he didn't hesitate to take it from her grasp.
"There's a window over here, 10k," Cassandra told the boy, who nodded and started jogging off in the direction she'd pointed in. They stood, peering out of the glass to observe their friends being held hostage by the "Resurrected Church", and the entire cage full of Zs.
What purpose they served, (y/n) wasn't sure. 10k set up the scope to try and get a clear shot, but grumbled. "I can't get a shot,"
"Wonderful," (y/n) sighed, running a hand through her hair nervously. The boy quickly stood up and started jogging away, staring at the roof.
"I need to get on the roof," he explained "go get the truck." (y/n) scoffed.
"I'm not letting you do this alone," she argued, jogging beside him while Cassandra's footsteps were heard going the other way, towards the main gate.
"Fine," he said "come on." They reached an electrical box on the side of a building - probably for AC, her pre-apocalyptic memories kicking in - to use as roof access. 10k put the rifle down and knelt, so she could step on his hands and be hoisted up.
With a groan, she pulled herself over and reached down to grab the rifle. 10k reached one of his slender arms towards her, and she grasped his wrist to help pull him up. Finally, a little out of breath, they were set up so he could take out the leader once and for all.
"Good luck," she whispered, sending a little prayer up to the universe for their safety. Below, they could see Murphy demonstrating his odd abilities, that (y/n) wasn't aware he possessed until earlier that day - in the bathroom before the Zs killed that poor woman.
Anxiously, she watched the scene roll out like a film. Murphy yelling at the leader, Jacob, and the latter - who pulled a pistol to point it at his chest.
What happened next played out in slow motion, or maybe (y/n) was losing her touch with reality after all. She heard a gunshot, and saw a glimpse of Garnett jumping in front of Murphy. A second shot, from the sniper beside her, took out the head cult guy.
Then, it all began playing out too fast for her to fully comprehend. She saw Cassandra pull up with the truck, having grabbed their weapons too, and everyone start running around like decapitated chickens. Warren knelt by Garnett's side, whispering something the girl couldn't make out.
The girl wailed, seeing Garnett on the ground, losing life so quickly before her eyes. "No," she sobbed, and 10k ceased his shooting to grab her and keep her from running down to him.
"If you go down there," he grit out his teeth "you'll die." (y/n) shook her head, tears tracing violently down her cheeks.
"I have to!" she cried, hitting his hand - but his grip wouldn't ease up.
"I'll go with you, okay?" he said, voice gentler now. Tearfully, she nodded. He rushed to get them both off of the roof, and they hit the ground running full-tilt towards Warren, kicking and screaming while being dragged by Doc.
(y/n) kept one hand up to keep from seeing his lifeless body, soon to be Z. Everyone loaded into the truck, faster than ever before, and Doc slammed the gas - launching them down the road.
All the while, (y/n) stared blankly at her boots, crusted in filth from the day's events.
Notes;
I think "as the world caves in" by matt maltese fits really well with this chapter, which ran a bit longer than i thought but oh well.
Also yes, I'm changing up little details in the plot to make (y/n) fit a bit better, instead of being an awkward character insert! :D
eek y'all have no idea how excited i am to add these little detail about 10k and (y/n)'s relationship it is just pure serotonin<3