I awoke to the sound of birds chirping and the quiet hum of the rushing stream below us, the sun was beating down on my face and my eyes burned from the intensity of the light. I'm laying on my side and scan the area of the clearing in my immediate vision and panic inside when I realize I don't see 10k. I swear to God if anything happened to him I will rain down a fiery fucking fury on whoever did it. Just as I was about to sit up I hear a light snort from behind me, it was 10k. I could tell because his arm was draped on my waist.
Immediately I blushed and a tidal wave of thought ran through my mind.. What happened last night? Did we kiss? When did we fall asleep? What if something happened and he doesn't remember? Then we'll never know! Oh shit he's waking up!
He grumbled in pain and turned onto his back, pulling his arm off of my waist and my giddiness slowly disappeared as the sensation of being held was no longer there. It had been years since I experienced intimate physical contact and anytime I get the slightest embrace from someone it feels like an electric current is running through me. It was nice. As he regained consciousness he placed both hands over his eyes and groaned, "I hate the sun"
I sat up and crawled over to my bag on the other side of the fire and pulled out a bottle of water. I took a few drinks and then held it down to him "drink. You'll feel better" he peaked out from his hands and eagerly grabbed the bottle and slammed about half in a few giant gulps. He sat up and hunched forwars, face in hand and let out another agonizing groan "my head is killing me" I dig through my bag again and toss him the bottle of ibu and he takes about four. I guess I should have warned him how fun the morning after is.. Whoops.
"How ya doin' buddy" I say as I bend down and place a hand on his shoulder
"Fuck you" he chuckles before taking another big swig of water
"Hey, happiness comes at a price" I throw my hands up in a defensive stance and laugh at his current state.
I stood up and assessed the damage done to myself. I was a little groggy and had a slight headache but I was fine, nothing seemed awkward so that was a good sign... I wanted to wait until we were on the move to ask about last night. He gathers himself and we manage to pack up everything up and start heading in the direction we think we came from town so we can get back to the truck. I was leading and glancing back very few minutes to make sure he was still doing okay. Finally I worked up some courage to ask. "So... What do you remember from last night?" I didn't look back because I didn't want to see his reaction, God forbid it be bad.
"After we laid down facing each other, not much" He said, exhaustion still in his voice.
Damn.. Now we'll never know.
After about an hour of walking, stopping, and back tracking we finally broke the tree line and found my truck, sitting about 20 feet to the left. I guess Sam and the rest of them had decided to let us go, after all, we were just two scronny teenagers trying to stay alive.
"My baby!" I yelled before breaking into a Sprint towards my prized vehicle
"Oh c'mon! Don't make me run!" 10k slouched forward and groaned in protest
I reached the drivers door and pulled out the keys and unlocked the door. I hoisted myself up into the seat and let the smell of leather, old blood, and dirt fill my nose once again. This truck had been the only consistent thing in my life since this god damn apocalypse started. 10k finally reaches the passenger side and practically crawled up onto the seat. He sprawled himself out and with a final burst of energy scooted his head up to rest on my lap. I'd started to notice that every time we touched I got the same rush of feelings. Comfort, compassion, and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on.
He let out an exhausted sigh and sleepily wished me goodnight before he passed out again. I chuckled under my breath and whispered back "goodnight 10k"
We'd been driving for about 2 and a half hours when I heard a *ding* I looked down at the dash to see the gas light was on. The last town we passed was about an hour behind us and there was nothing but open road in front of us for as far as the eye could see. There has to be some sort of gas station or farm house somewhere around here. I decided to let 10k sleep until we either ran out of gas, or found somewhere to camp out for the night.
Finally up ahead I saw a big wooden archway on the side of the road with a plaque on top that read "Williams Ranch" this will have to do. I turn onto the dirt road that led onto the property and the sudden bumpy road jerked 10k out of his coma. He slowly sat up and assessed his surroundings.
"Where the hell are we?" he asked grogily while searching in his bag for water.
"Williams Ranch" I replied, as if he knew exactly where that was. I looked over at him to see a blank expression on his face. "The gas lights on so I turned into the first sign of civilization I saw" giving him the explanation he was waiting for. We pulled up onto a huge ranch house surrounded by old car parts, farm equipment and fenced off areas that once held cattle and horses I'm assuming. "Home sweet home" I say, scanning the area. I pull my gun out of its holster and check the clip; all full. I slide it back in and cock it back and look at 10k and nod. We both hop out and round the truck to meet at the front.
"Okay, here's the plan. Since you're a bit... under the weather-" I paused to giggle and received a death glare in return "I'll go in first, scope out the upstairs, and you take the ground level, sound good?" he nodded and readied himself.
I grabbed the handle and quickly opened the door, leading with my gun in hand. I sweep the area and don't see anything but old furniture, I look back at 10k and he's already walking around the corner to the living room with his rifle up. I slowly climbed the stairs and see three doors on one side, and two on the other, with one at the very end of the hall. One by one I kick them open and aim for any potential Z's hiding inside. Door #1: clear. Door #2: clear. Door #3: clear. I take a deep breath and face the door at the end of the hallway, I kick the door open and point my gun at the empty room. Empty except for the decomposing bodies of an older gentleman, and a heavy set older woman laying on a master bed, embracing each other. The man's right arm was tucked under his chin, and a pistol lay in his lifeless hand.
I cover my mouth and nose with my hand and turn away, trying not to sob... Or puke. For as long as I've been living in this hell filled with the undead and living, all trying to kill each other, I've never gotten used to... The alternative. Just as I was about to close the door and walk away, I heard a small scurry and animal whimper. I turn around to find a husky, not much older than a year, slowly crawl out from under the bed. The small, helpless animal fully emerged and I could see just how badly starvation had ravaged its tiny body. It was practically skin and bones at this point and all I could do was stare as tears welled in my eyes from the sudden assault of emotions.
Finally, I came to my senses and slowly knelt down and extended my hand for him to sniff. He lazily dragged himself over to me with all the strength he could muster and gently licked my hand before laying down at my feet. I carefully picked him up on my arms and didn't even bother to check the other two rooms before heading back downstairs to find 10k. As I rounded the banister I saw 10k rummaging through the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen. He hadn't acknowledged I was there until he lifted his head a bit, but left his gaze in the pantry he was looking through, "all clear up there?" he asked "nothing down here"
My lack of response caused him to stop what he was doing and look up at me. He stopped in his tracks when he saw me, tears streaming down my face, holding the near lifeless body of this poor dog. "Water" was all I could manage to say. He understood and ran to the table behind him and pulled a water bottle out of his bag and found a bowl in one of the cabinets. He set it on the ground and poured some water in and looked up at me sympathetically. I kneeled down and slid the puppy onto the floor and held his head above the bowl. He sniffed a few times and once he realized what it was, desperately drank all of it before collapsing once again into my arms. All I could do was sit there and gently pet his head, with thoughts of how everything innocent and good left in this world was reduced to neglect, suffering, and heartbreak running through my head.
10k scooted forward and put a hand on my shoulder and leaned his forehead against mine. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath before I wiped my face and cleared my throat. I stood up carefully and carried the small pup to the living room and laid him down on the couch. I stood up and turned around to see 10k leaning against the frame of the door to the kitchen with his hands on his jacket pockets, unsure of what to do. He had yet to see me this upset about something so he was just awkwardly lingering in case I said something. I walked past him silently to find something for the dog to eat, anything to give him the strength to keep fighting. I found a can of beef soup and cracked it open with my knife so I could poor it into another bowl. Just as I reached the doorway I stopped to see 10k sitting on thrbfloor in front of the couch softly petting the puppy and whispering to him. I couldn't hear what he was saying so I inched my way forward trying not to disturb them. I got close enough to catch the end of a sentence "...just like she took care of me, you'll be just fine little guy" he looked up at me with hopeful eyes and nodded before scooting over so I could feed the puppy. I sat down next to him and scratched behind his ear to get his attention.
"Hey buddy, I got some food for you" I said gently. I snuck my leg under his head so he could get his face in the bowl easier. He seemed so exhausted from drinking the water that I wasn't sure if he was going to eat, so I dipped my finger in and brought it up to his mouth. He sniffed and licked it clean before eagerly sniffing around for more. I guided his head to the bowl and he slowly ate the rest of it. Once he finished I slid my self back onto the floor next to 10k and let our new team member get some well deserved sleep.
"Are.. Are you okay?" 10k asked, hesitantly
"Yeah, I- I'm fine I just... Its been a while since I've seen something like this. I had a dog before all this and one day she ran into the street and got hit by a car... I saw the whole thing, and when I saw him I just felt so many emotions and couldn't stop thinking about my life before and how everything I love is taken from me!" hot tears started falling from my eyes again and I could feel myself getting worked up. 10k could too so he quickly grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into a hug, and I practically threw myself onto him. I immediately felt safe with his arms wrapped around me and I tightly hugged his shoulders before sliding down and resting my head on his lap. He slowly stroked my forehead and played with a piece of stray hair. All I could feel was calm, every part of me was relaxed and warm and all I could hear was my breathing...
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I'm so sorry its been forever since I updated! I sort of lost motivation when the show went on hiatus but it's back now and so am I! I hope you guys are still interested in reading I'm sorry it took so long 😭