S2E08:
"Flashlight, no batteries." Doc said as they took inventory, "Half a bottle of aspirin. Well I got no ammo. Found this." He said holding up a crowbar.
"I got two batteries and four bullets." Warren said adding it to their pile on the hood of the car.
"Let me see those batteries." Bailey said and Warren passed them to her.
"I got two in my gun and two randoms and those." Addy said tossing stuff from her pockets.
"You got gum?" Warren asked and everyone looked up like she just said Addy had a Costco sized supply of cereal.
"For repair purposes only." Addy said sternly.
"Remember fresh breath?" Doc asked and Addy groaned as he exhaled.
"Couple of bullets. " Vasquez said unloading his stuff, "Road flares."
"I got one empty clip." 10K said sadly plopping it down.
"You know what. See if these fit." Addy said taking her randoms and passing them across to him and he loaded them into his clip.
"I've got rope." Bailey said between 10K and Vasquez, pulling out what remained of 10K's noose which she'd untied and neatly folded up, "A handful of assorted meds I got from Burrtown," she pulled out a plastic baggie, "My notebook, handheld radio, a water bottle with maybe a sip. . . or two left and a very crushed granola bar. . . wrapper."
"Might be able to use the notebook to make a fire later tonight." Vasquez suggested.
"Try and I will kick your ass back to Cheyenne Wyoming." Bailey snapped at him, "You want to make a fire? Use your clothes and go the rest of the way to California naked."
"That eager to see me naked huh?" Vasquez replied smirking.
She scoffed, "Please, there's only one guy in this group I'd want to see and it ain't you Javier." She said putting her hands on the hood as 10K blushed and looked down at the clip in his hand.
"Okay, okay enough." Doc said raising his hands, "I know I'm a chick magnet, it's a curse." He said as if Bailey had meant him and they all laughed.
"Okay." Warren said as the laughter calmed down, "I know this looks shaky, but we will find a way to get Murphy to California."
"Well I'm hungry." Doc said going over to where Murphy was in the back seat, "Hey Sleeping Beauty." He called waking him up, "Help me find some lunch. Nuts, fruit, edible tree bark." He said and Murphy looked less than impressed but went with Doc anyway.
"Let me see that." 10K said walking around the car and Addy stepped aside to let him check the map.
"He is Nature Boy after all." Bailey said before anyone could question 10K's ability to navigate. He looked up from the map as she made her way around the back of the car and smirked at her remembering her nickname for him when they were hiding in the morgue way back when.
"I'm your Nature Boy." He said softly for only her to hear as she leaned next to him on the car and it was her turn to smirk.
"Yes you are." She said leaning in and kissing him, it didn't last long though, Addy was right there and started snapping her fingers in their faces.
"Hey, hey. Enough of that."
"Yes, Mom." 10K said turning back to the map and Addy rolled her eyes.
"Oh, it won't kill you two to save it until our next stop, maybe once we find some food, water, shelter or fuel?" she said bringing them back to the situation at hand. They didn't have much and California was still a ways away – further now that they had to go around all the land poisoned from nuke radiation.
"Well?" Addy asked turning to Vasquez as he checked their gas tank.
"Two gallons, maybe three. . . " he said.
"If we get ten miles a gallon. . . " Warren said hopefully from the drivers seat looking at them over her shoulder.
"It'll get us halfway to Plainview." 10K said looking at the map as Doc returned alone.
"Hey where's Murphy?" Warren asked.
"He's right behind me." Doc said turning only to find no one there, "Damn it Murphy!" he yelled and they all grabbed their weapons out of the car and headed into the woods.
"How do you just lose Murphy?" Warren asked and Doc spread his arms, "What do you mean he was just behind you? Really?" she questioned.
They walked through the woods until they came to another road and decided to head into the nearest town.
"I'm gonna be really pissed if my last words are 'Murphy where are you?'" Addy said swinging her Z Whacker as she walked beside Warren.
"We may as well be saying 'here we are zombies. Come and get us." Doc said from next to Bailey.
"Murphy better hope he's not around when I reach 9,999." Bailey heard 10K say from behind her and she looked over her shoulder and smiled at him.
"Easy, kid. We got to find him first." Vasquez reminded the sniper.
"Well I think it's somewhere around here." Doc said looking at the trees, "Oh and don't eat the bark off them skinny trees. Starts out tangy then goes south in a hurry. . . oh, maybe it was over here."
«»
They first came across a few houses in a neighborhood on the outskirts of the town and fanned out to check those. They banged on doors and shouted but got no reply and no sign of Murphy trying to run from them so they kept looking.
"Murphy!" Doc yelled.
"Ghost town." Addy said coming out of a house.
"Nothing but quiet." 10K said looking down the street for any sign of life.
"Nothing. No one here." Vasquez said as he and Warren exited another house.
"Without Murphy there's no mission, keep moving." Warren said as they moved on.
"For as important as this guy is, we sure lose him a lot." Vasquez commented as they headed deeper into town. Vasquez and Warren took the next house while 10K stood back with his eye through the scope of his rifle ready to fire at anything that might jump out at them while Doc, Addy and Bailey took the next house.
"Heads up!" Addy shouted as Doc swung his crowbar at a charging zombie.
"Nobody's here." Doc said and they moved down the block to the next house. Doc went to the front door and turned to them.
"Okay, we're gonna go on three. One two –"
But Addy kicked the door open and a Z ran out grabbing Doc and tackling him, as they fell Addy got the zombie in the head with her bat.
"I said on three!" Doc said from below the dead body.
"If we do a three count at every house we're gonna be here all day." Addy said as Bailey turned and saw another Z in the house run at Addy who had her back turned.
"He had a friend!" Bailey shouted turning and chopping the top of his skull off as he ran at her making the body fall to the porch.
«»
They ended up downtown between all the important buildings, town hall, a bank, church, school, police station, firehouse, post office, all those big buildings and no way of going through all of them quickly.
"Murphy! Murphy! Come on man!" Doc shouted.
"All right. We need to fan out or we won't find Murphy by nightfall." Warren planned.
"Well why we got to split up? I hate that." Doc groaned as they all went their separate ways. Bailey headed for the police station thinking it was ironic and that might be why it'd appeal to Murphy as a good place to hide. She took a deep breath and took out the small yellow radio from her pocket, she'd been holding onto it since Mesa Pharmaceuticals but the batteries had died a long time ago. She took out the new batteries she'd gotten from Warren and popped them in the back.
"Citizen Z, come in Citizen Z." she tried as she made her way into the station searching for Murphy. All she got back was static but she kept on trying. It wasn't until she'd searched the entire place from the basement to the offices to each holding cell and was making her way outside again that she finally got a response.
"This is Citizen Z at Camp Northern Light. Bailey Hawthorne, are you still there?"
"Roger that Citizen Z. I copy you." She replied smiling.
"It's been a long time." He said happily, "How's the mission going?"
"Oh, it's going."
"Is something wrong?" he asked and she didn't want to worry him, confident that they'd find Murphy before dark.
"Just. . . zombie stuff." She said.
"Copy that, it's been getting rough up here too ever since the nukes."
"Yeah a lot's happened." She replied, "We even picked up a new guy." She said remembering that Citizen Z had never even been told about Vasquez joining the group.
"Well my records on Delta X-ray Delta could use some updating, though I'm back to the old school pad and pencil. But lay it on me. What have you guys been up to?"
"Well, what's the last status you had?" she asked and heard him start to shuffle through some papers. As he read them to her she told him what to update.
"Okay, uh. . . Sergeant Charles Garnett, Georgia National Guard, deceased while traveling west with Delta X-ray Delta.
Lieutenant Roberta Warren, Missouri National Guard, currently leading new Delta X-ray Delta deployed on Operation Bitemark, status living.
Alvin Murphy AKA Patient Zero, currently en-route to California via team Delta X-ray Delta, status living." Bailey made a mental note of Murphy's real first name, and told herself to tease him about it later.
Addison Carver, age twenty six, former art student, currently with Delta X-ray Delta, last status living.
Bailey Hawthorne, age twenty three, former creative writing student, currently traveling with Delta X-ray Delta, status living."
"Mack Thompson, age unknown, former college hockey player, currently retired from Operation Bitemark and Delta X-ray Delta, last known location Monticello Utah, status unknown. Unknown members of Delta X-ray Delta: Older male, senior. Unnamed female, possible twenties, Unnamed male, approximately twenty years old – sniper."
"Okay." Bailey said when he was done, "Well you can change the 'senior man' to Steven AKA 'Doc' Beck." Then she giggled coming up with a description, "Amateur pharmaceuticalist. And as for the unnamed sniper, you got his age right but he goes by 10K."
"10K?"
"It's short for Ten Thousand." She explained.
"I doubt that's what on his birth certificate." CZ said, "Damn, I wish my computer was still up, I could do a facial scan and bring up his entire background."
"I doubt he'd appreciate that." Bailey said though part of her was just as curious as Citizen Z was, she'd love to find out more about Tommy, maybe his last name, or where he went to school.
"Yeah, sorry it's just the old hacker instinct in me. What about this new guy you mentioned?"
"Javier Vasquez, former DEA border patrol agent."
"Impressive. That's got to have been coming in handy." CZ said and she heard him writing down everything she'd been telling him.
"Yeah I guess. . . " she said her mind trailing back to finding Vasquez with the Zeros radio, she still hadn't pieced together what was going on there.
"Anything else new?" CZ asked when he'd finished writing.
"Well. . . we've lost some people along the way." She said and CZ got quiet.
"Oh, my condolences, do you mind my asking who –"
"Cassandra." She said her mind thinking back to her friend, "She's the unnamed female in your record. We lost her back in Illinois. . . and we lost Mack in Wyoming."
"Oh." Citizen Z said even softer now, "I'm so sorry. How are you and Addy holding up?" he asked knowing the trio had been close.
"It happened a while ago. I'm doing alright. Addy. . . I'm not sure she's really dealt with it, she kinda just beat the crap out of Murphy then locked away that mess of feelings and hasn't revisited it."
Then a couple of Z's came stumbling out from an alley as she exited the police station, "Hey CZ I gotta go, I've got incoming Z's."
"Okay, kick some ass Bailey!" he wished her as the connection went dead and she took out her hatchet.
10K POV
He was scouting the street after clearing a few more buildings and still no Murphy. He heard a groan and turned to mercy a Z he saw stumbling by when he realized the zombie was ignoring him. Curious, he followed it as it made its way to a particular building and started bashing itself against the door. Murphy had to be in there, why else would the Z choose that building? 10K lifted his rifle and hit it with the butt adding to his count as he stepped up to the door and peered through the glass. There was a man inside with glasses and long brown scraggly hair. He seemed surprised to see another person but since this was a ghost town it wasn't that odd. The man walked to the door but didn't open it.
"Yes?"
"I'm looking for a friend." 10K shouted through the door.
"Haven't seen anybody."
10K took a step away from the door then turned back, this was the only person they'd seen so far, he could know something. "He's a tall guy. Kinda weird blueish skin."
"Blueish fella? Is he ill?"
10K didn't have a good way to answer that so instead he asked another question, "Is there anyone else in this town?"
"Nobody."
"Anywhere else my friend might have gone?"
"Sorry. Good luck." The man said staring oddly at him. He left and walked down the sidewalk a bit, something in his gut just felt off. He took off his backpack and set down his rifle. As he was leaving his stuff in the bushes along the building he noticed Bailey coming down the street.
"I've got nothing." She said, "You?"
"Maybe." He said pulling out his handgun from his belt, "Come on, back this way." He said leading her through the back door. They moved up the back stairs, 10K in the lead with his gun. Bailey had hers drawn too but he wasn't sure how much ammo she had after the shootout in Burrtown. They walked through some back rooms full of metal racks and shelves until they came to a main hallway. There were displays like a museum all in relation to zombie movies or zombies themselves.
"Murphy? Murphy?" 10K whispered as they made their way down the hall and up another flight of stairs. It led to a huge open room where the light was tinted red and everything seemed dusty as they breathed in the stale air. They heard a zombie growl and jumped back from one that lunged for them but was held back by what looked like a. . . dog collar? There was an electric zap as 10K lifted his gun but didn't fire realizing the Z couldn't get them. There were little scenes around each Z, the first looking like he was in a power plant with a sign in front of him marked "Toxic Z", the next – a phyto – had vines as her backdrop and the last, a blaster with a deteriorating brick wall behind him seemed to have his eyes following them as they walked by and 10K internally cringed at the memory of the last time they'd encountered blasters.
"Murphy?" Bailey asked and he turned to see Murphy on a stage restrained to a throne-like chair with a bag of blood on either side of him. They both rushed forward and stopped in front of the Murphy display.
"Murphy, you okay?" 10K asked but Murphy only groaned, his eyes looked straight ahead and it looked like he was having trouble keeping them open and there was a glittering sign in front of him that read 'The Murphy.'
"What is this?" he asked looking at the setup then Murphy mouthed 'behind you.' Just as Bailey's body seized and dropped beside him. He turned and got a cattle prod to the chest and fell back as the room went black.
«»
When he came to the man with the glasses and long hair was in a wheelchair rolling himself toward them. 10K rolled on the floor and looked behind him and saw Bailey start to come around too, she had a thick black collar around her neck and he could feel the same on him.
"You bleed slowly." The man said, "Anybody ever tell you that?"
"Yes." Murphy grumbled weakly.
"Well look who's Mr. Agreeable all of a sudden?" he said smiling and getting up out of the wheelchair and holding up another glittery sign, "The Murphy and his amazing Zombie Kids!" he shouted, "It'll be my most popular exhibit, well, maybe tied with George R. R. Martin."
"The Game of Thrones author?" Bailey asked sounding groggy after being tased.
"Mm-hmm. I was at the last Comic Con when it all went down. Some dirty guy with a crossbow** tried to help George escape. Got eaten and I helped George but he didn't last long without room service. Still, he's my first celebrity Z!"
"You're insane." Bailey said and he pressed a button on a remote and her collar went off.
"Bailey!" 10K shouted as she passed out again from the electric shock.
"I want to see what happens when you bite a human. Quit lying to me and show me." The man said to Murphy and 10K's mind flashed with images of Cassandra, the far off look she always had, how she blindly did everything Murphy said.
"Murphy you don't have to do this." 10K said weakly.
"Yeah he does." Their kidnapper said.
"Do not let him turn me into one of those things!" 10K said turning onto his side, his voice deep and demanding, he'd rather be killed then end up like Cassandra.
"One of what things?" The man asked lighting up.
"I don't know what he's talking about." Murphy muttered then they both got zapped and 10K fell back grabbing his neck.
"Patronize me again and you will limp for the rest of your undead life." The man threatened taking out a gun.
"I'm too weak." Murphy groaned then the man shot in air making them both flinch.
"That's just a warning shot." He said turning the gun back on Murphy who glared at him.
Bailey POV
She heard a gunshot as she slowly entered consciousness again and found herself still face down on the floor. Damn, she'd been hoping it'd been a nightmare.
"Oh, just kill me. Shoot me in the head!" she heard 10K's voice. It wasn't far and the pain in his tone along with what he said left her with a mix of fear, sadness and anger. What were they up against that would make 10K beg for death? She'd only seen one man who didn't look very threatening, or had more shown up after she'd passed out? 10K couldn't die, she needed him! And she'd bury her hatchet in the skull of whoever was tormenting him! It was an odd mix of emotion but she couldn't convey any of it, the electrical shock had been strong enough to weaken her to the point where she was just getting the strength to open her eyes.
"I want to see what happens when Mr. Half Zombie Man bites a living breathing human being." She heard the maniac say, "And it's gonna happen now, or I'm gonna start putting holes in people!"
She opened her eyes and saw him unstrap Murphy so he could get up from the chair as 10K struggled but finally got to his feet.
"There's nothing to fear." Murphy told him.
"I don't fear you, I hate you." 10K said glaring at him, "If you're the key to mankind's survival then we should all just go to hell."
"Finally, something we agree on." Murphy replied then they both twitched and clenched their teeth as they were shocked again, "I'm working here!" Murphy shouted at their maniac kidnapper before he turned back to 10K. "It won't be that bad."
"What you did to Cassandra was worse than death." 10K said trying to take a step back.
"Just let it happen, kid. You won't be afraid anymore." Murphy said walking over to him. Then the electric zapping noise happened again as 10K gagged, clutched his throat and collapsed, landing not far from her and rolling onto his back.
"Stop it!" Bailey cried using all her strength to push herself off the floor and move so her body was over 10K's, shielding him. She could feel him panting under her, probably from being electrocuted so many times. He groaned in pain as he sat up leaning on his elbows.
"Bailey go." He said in her ear, his voice deep and sounding strained, "Find a way out."
Then they both started choking as their shock collars went off again. 10K fell back onto the floor and Bailey fell on top of him, lying across his stomach.
"Don't worry." The man said crouching down and looking at 10K, "You won't be the only one of your kind." He said smiling, "She's next."
"You sick son of a –" 10K began but was cut off by another shock, Bailey got zapped too and rolled off 10K as her body shook with pain.
"Oh, two half zombies!" the man said excited, "Not only can I study what happens when you bite a human I can see how two of them interact, with humans, with each other. . . ooo breeding!" he said taking out a pen and writing down notes, "The possibilities are endless!"
Murphy then took Bailey's place as he leaned over 10K. "No, please Murphy don't. No!" 10K begged, weak from the latest shock.
"Don't bite him on the face! Don't bite him on the face!" the man yelled and Murphy paused.
"I'm tired, you took all my blood."
"Bite him on the chest. . . just like yours." He said with a sick giddiness in his tone. Murphy turned back to 10K and pulled down the collar of his shirt.
"It'll all be over in a second." Murphy said as he leaned in.
"No, God, no." 10K said closing his eyes and turning his head as he braced for the pain. Bailey reached out with the last bit of her energy and took his hand, he intertwined their fingers and squeezed.
"Is this what you want?" Murphy asked turning to the man.
"Yes. Show me what it feels like to be a zombie." And Bailey's eyes widened as she saw the three Z's come up behind him and attack. The man cried in pain as Murphy got up from the floor first, then 10K who helped Bailey up.
"Look at me." Murphy said moving over to where the man was being eaten, "Look at me!"
"Bite me!" the maniac begged whimpering.
"Now you know what it feels like to be me. There's no mercy in my world." Murphy said harshly then turned to them, "Don't watch this."
Bailey just got enough strength back to stand on her own as she grabbed the wheelchair and pushed it toward Murphy who stumbled and fell into it. "I'm glad you found me. Now get me the hell out of here." He said before he passed out.
"Murphy? Murphy you okay?" 10K asked crouching by the chair, "Murphy?"
"10K." Bailey said turning his attention to the Z's who had stopped munching on the man and turned to them, seeing fresh meat. The maniac didn't get up and turn, Bailey knew the blaster probably got his brain and already devoured it so there was nothing left to be turned.
"Murphy, Murphy wake up." 10K hissed to the unconscious blue man as he wheeled the chair back, keeping Bailey behind him. "Hey we're with him!" He said pointing to Murphy giving it a shot as they kept backing up as the zombies kept moving closer. Bailey pulled out her gun and fired but was too dizzy from the shocks to hit a target, then her gun clicked out of ammo.
"Wake up! Wake up Murphy. Murphy, come on wake up! Murphy! Murphy!" they both shouted as they kept backing up.
"Guys! Draw them over this way!" Came a shout and they looked up to see Addy and the others in a high balcony that looked down on the room. Addy drew her gun and got the phyto in the head and the blaster in the shoulder, Vasquez then took out his gun and got the blaster and the radioactive Z.
"Zombie fun pack, collect all ten." Doc said sarcastically.
10K POV
The others took the pints of blood that had been drained from Murphy and hauled him in his wheelchair down the stairs while 10K and Bailey stayed in the main room removing their shock collars. 10K had pulled a small pocket knife from his jacket and was using the sharp tip to loosen the lock on the collar as Bailey had her head tilted back so he could see what he was doing. Every so often his green eyes would flash to the thin scar she had under her chin from their run in with the cult freaks and he was reminded of how many times he'd almost lost her. When the lock finally snapped apart he pulled the collar off and checked for any damage. She had a few small burns that would probably scar but they wouldn't be too bad. He ran his fingers gently over them as guilt knotted in the pit of his stomach, he shouldn't have told her to follow him in, he should have told her to guard the door outside.
"Baby, you're all burned." He murmured as Bailey rotated her head forward so she was now looking at him.
"What did you call me?" she asked curiously.
"Bailey, I said Bailey." He said a little too quickly. She stared at him for a moment and he knew she'd clearly heard what he said as she smirked and he blushed a little. She didn't press it though as she took the pocket knife from his hand and started working on the lock on his collar. When she was done they went to meet up with the others who were just getting Murphy's wheelchair to the bottom landing at the end of the stairs.
"Well what happened to him?" Doc asked, "Murphy can you hear me?"
"He's okay, you're gonna be okay." Warren said as Murphy began to stir, "Oh look who's still alive."
«»
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it." Doc said as they walked back to the car.
"That's why I'm not talking." 10K said keeping his eyes forward as he and Doc brought the bags of blood to where Murphy was sitting in the backseat.
"No, I get it." Doc said dropping the subject.
"Have half a mind to leave this on." Vasquez said fiddling with the lock on Murphy's collar.
"How about a cowbell?" Addy suggested.
"That'll attract Z's." Warren said.
"Yeah well what difference does it make?" Addy said, "He yawns and they come running." Then she made her way to where Bailey was leaning on the back of the car.
"You okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine." She said before the red head hugged her.
"You seem shaken up." She said rubbing her back and pulled away to flick Bailey's hair that was still a mess after their unintentional swim in the Mississippi River and smiled, "Let me do your hair."
10K chuckled as Bailey rolled her eyes but still let her best friend have her way as they all piled in the car and took off.
«»
After they had driven far away from the zombie museum and night had fallen they found themselves somewhere near the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma. They were on an old side road far from any town or city so they decided to camp out for the night at the edge of the forest. They laid some blankets over the low hanging branches to make tents while Warren delegated who would be on watch that night, Vasquez would take the first third of the night then 10K would take over then Doc would cover after him until dawn. For once, they were able to get a good night's sleep without being woken by zombies or bandits or bounty hunters. When they woke up the next day and were collecting their stuff Bailey realized 10K wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Neither is Vasquez." Warren said when Bailey asked her if she'd seen the sniper. Warren had her hands on her hips like a mother ready to discipline her child as they started looking around for the two guys. Doc, who'd been up from the last watch shift, approached them and threw his thumb over his shoulder pointing at the road.
"They've been there since I took over early this morning." He said and they looked to see both of them sitting across from each other in the grassy part on the side of the road. They had their arms held out with their guns balanced horizontally across them as they stared each other down.
"What the hell are they doing?" Warren asked confused as Addy walked over and shared a look with Doc.
"Gambling." The red head replied.
"Not much else to do these days Chief." Doc said, "You gotta make up your own fun."
Warren walked over to them and they all could tell by her walk that she was about to tell both the twenty year old and the grown man off. Addy and Bailey followed her not wanting to miss this for anything as Doc kept an eye on Murphy as they continued to pack up.
"Morning Warren." Vasquez greeted not taking his eyes off 10K. "This kid is stronger then he looks. But his arms are starting to shake."
Bailey watched 10K as he stared at Vasquez not letting the comment get to him though she could see the slight shaking in his arms, his muscles protesting. If it hadn't been for the bandana he was wearing on his head she would have bet he'd have beads of sweat dripping down his face by now.
"And what's the prize of this contest?" Warren asked crossing her arms, "Bragging rights?"
"Candy bar." 10K replied though his voice sounded strained.
"Maybe the last one in the world." Vasquez added.
"You found chocolate?" Addy asked him astonished and a bit pissed he hadn't shared.
Warren ignored the fact that he had kept a chocolate bar all to himself and leaned forward so she was bent between the two of them. "Whoever wins this stupid bet gets Murphy watch for a week."
Immediately both their arms fell and their guns hit the ground. Warren walked away and Addy chuckled at their reaction. Bailey leaned forward and picked up 10K's rifle from the grass as he got up and shook out his arms.
"Now what was that going to prove, really?" she asked handing him back his gun which he slung over his shoulder. He looked a little embarrassed as he kept his eyes to the ground but she still saw the corner of his mouth pull up slightly as they walked back to where they'd left their stuff.
"I was hoping I could get that chocolate bar for you." He said quietly still not looking at her. She turned to him surprised by his answer and saw his face get a little pink.
She scoffed playfully trying to ignore the way her heart was melting at how sweet he was, "That's so cheesy, liar."
"No really." He said looking up at her, "We've been 'dating'" he made air quotes with his fingers, "for a while now and. . . I feel bad I haven't gotten you anything. Isn't that part of my job?"
"10K it's the apocalypse." She reminded him.
"Yeah, and what's a better gift in an apocalypse than a candy bar?"
She grabbed his hand and wove their fingers together, "You."
It was his turn to give a chuckle, "Now who's being cheesy?"
**Anyone else think the 'dirty guy with a crossbow' is a Daryl Dixon reference??