"Is this entire state uphill? Where are we anyways?" Murphy complained.
Currently we are somewhere in the woods of South Dakota. We had to abandon our new truck back there when it ran out of gas. After the Nebraska incident Murphy turned back to his normal, complaining, asshole self and quite frankly I like him better this way. At least when he's an asshole I know what to expect.
"According to this map we are in the Black Hills of South Dakota." Warren says as she looks at the map.
"I miss the truck." Cassandra complains.
"Yeah, well ,at least we're out of that damn horde." Warren counters.
"There's nothing to kill out here." Tommy complains and I shove him playfully with an eyeroll. We haven't talked about the kiss, but things have definitely changed between us. He is goofier around me and more cuddly.
"That's fine by me." Warren says.
"We need to find a place to make camp soon, my dogs are getting tired." Doc complains.
"Well there's supposed to be a little town nearby called Edgemont. I'll take a compass reading at this next ridge up here." Warren says. I can tell she is getting annoyed by all the complaining but she is trying not to show it.
"Can't we just take a break?" Doc asks and Warren rolls her eyes.
"A quick one." Warren says.
"Aren't we near Mt. Rushmore?" I ask and she looks at her map. "I've always wanted to see it."
"Well Den,a this is either your lucky day or your not so lucky day." Cassandra says. I turn to look at her confused when I notice what she is looking at. It's just like the Liberty Bell someone went and took red graffiti to Mt. Rushmore.
"Now who in the hell did that?" Warren asked.
"Some daredevil with a sick sense of humor." Doc says while shielding the sunlight out of his eyes.
"This is why we can't have nice things." Murphy says while scratching his head.
"It was probably the same jackass that tagged the Liberty Bell." Doc says disappointedly.
"I think it's awesome." I say in awe and Tommy smiles at me. I mean old white guys carved into a mountain is cool but when someone made them look like zombies it made it even better. Doc shoves me and Warren laughs.
"If I ever catch who did that, they're gonna get a whoopin'." Warren says. "Come on let's find that town. It's going to get dark soon."
Everyone turns to leave but I stay and admire the artwork for a little bit longer. Tommy notices my absence and pulls me after the rest of the group.
"Admit it, Columbus, you're lost." Murphy says annoyed a few hours later.
"Oh give it a rest, Murphy! Warren knows where she's going!" Doc exclaims before whispering to Warren, "You do know where you're going, right Warren?"
"Well we should have hit the town by now." Warren says and Murphy throws his hands up in exasperation.
"Calm down, Murphy. Columbus was lost when he discovered America." I say and he rolls his eyes at me.
"Yeah, and look how that turned out." Murphy counters and this time it's my turn to roll my eyes.
"Hey, check this out." Tommy says nudging me and nodding towards an open gate and a yellow truck.
"That's not a town." Murphy says annoyed.
"Yeah, well it's better than nothing." I say and we start towards the clearing.
"You know this might actually be a safe place for us to rest and load up on supplies." Warren says as we sweep outside the small storage units.
"I could use an hour of sleep." Cassandra says.
"Why the hell are there still locks in the apocalypse!" Doc exclaims annoyed when he tried to open a door to one of the units, "You got anything useful in that bag of yours, Dena. Perhaps a crowbar?"
"Being Doctor Brightside you're in luck cause I actually have a skeleton key." I say pull a small crowbar I found on the side of the road out of my bag.
"Well, being Doctor Darkside we aren't going to find much food or ammo in here." Doc says as we sweep the room.
"Yeah, if we wanted industrial pipes this would be the place." Warren says.
"Oh look." Murphy says cheerily as he reaches for a gallon of what looks to be water.
"Hey, hey, hold on. You can't just drink that! What do you think this is the local Piggly Wiggly?" Doc exclaims stopping Murphy. "That could be some industrial type water that'll rot your insides!"
"Or it could be laced with rat poison." I say referring to when I threaten to poison his water.
"Oh, spare me the details." Murphy says dismissively as he takes a drink, I don't miss the nervous glance he sends my way though so I smirk innocently.
"Shhh, over there." Warren whispers nodding towards the corner where a glowing zombie entered the room. I have never seen a z glow before and my eyes widen in fear. Tommy gently grabs my elbow and slowly pulls me back towards the others behind a shelf. "Everybody sit quietly."
We watch in tense silence as the z comes near us before wandering in the other direction. That is until Murphy freaking farts. I hold in a gag and pull my bandana up over my nose.
"Sorry, it got away from me." Murphy whispered guiltily when we all glared at him.
"I swear to god, Murphy, if we die because of your ass I am tormenting you in hell for eternity." I threaten quietly as I hear the z start coming closer to us. As quietly as I can I take out both of my axes. The z comes around the corner and snarls at us. Before anyone can respond I am already piking the z with one of my axes.
"What in the living hell? It's glowing!" Doc exclaims stepping closer to it.
"It's like a zombie ghost." Cassandra comments.
"Why is it glowing?" Tommy asked.
"Don't touch it!" I exclaim as I see him reaching down and he quickly retracts his hand. "If you wouldn't touch a normal z don't touch a glowing one."
Another glowing zombie comes around the corner and Warren shoots it once. She goes to shoot it again but her gun just clicks signalling she is out of amo.
"Don't touch them!" A guy in a hazmat suit yells as he comes into the room shooting one of the z's. Another person in a hazmat suit follows and does the same. One of the z's come after Tommy and he pins it to the wall. I quickly pike it as a woman in the other hazmat suit says,
"Step away from the z's it's not safe!" She shoves me out of the way and I glare at her.
"Are they contagious?" Doc asked and the man in the hazmat suit shakes his head.
"No, they're radioactive." He says and my eyes widen. Tommy takes a big step away from the z and backs into me.
"Sorry." He mutters after he stepped on my foot and I mutter a little ok.
"Radioactive?" Warren asked in disbelief, "How is that possible?"
"Come on I'll show you." The man says, leading us out of the building. They bring us to what I believe to be a reactor sight and I hear Doc sigh.
"This is gonna be one of them days, ain't it?" Doc asked and I stare up at the reactor.
"Why can't we just have one peaceful day in the apocalypse?" I ask and he shakes his head.
The two people in hazmat suits are a father and daughter named Wilbur and Amelia. It turns out Wilbur has radiation poisoning and is dying. Amelia checks all of us for radiation levels and then gives us iodine tablets. Wilbur tells us the reactor core is melting down and that if he doesn't get it fixed everything within a 300 mile radius will be taken out.
As they talk I leave the room. I'm really not in the mood to deal with anything today. When I get out to the parking lot I begin to idly kick some rocks around.
"Hey, are you ok?" Tommy asked me while coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Yeah, I just have a lot on my mind." I tell him as I feel him rest his chin on top of my head.
"What's on your mind?" He asked and I sighed.
"Nothing and everything. Sometimes I miss the old days back in New York when things were simpler. All we had to do was get supplies and survive. But then again that got boring and at least with this group everyday is interesting." I say and I feel him nod.
Little does he know that the other big thing on my mind is him. I don't understand what's going on between us. He hasn't brought up the kiss or anything but he has been acting more boyfriendy lately. I just want to know where his head's at but there is never a good time to talk.
"Yeah, I know but at least we're still together." He says and I frown not knowing how to take that. What does he mine by together? Like is he glad we are still in the same group or that we still have each other to rely on? Ugh, I'm way over thinking now.
"Come on you two lovebirds, we have some z's to kill." Doc says walking up to us and patting Tommy's shoulder. When we get back to the reactor Wilbur tells us we have two minutes to get him to the door and cover him and he also tells us not to hug the zombies.
"10k, I need you to stay out here and cover us." Warren says before turning to me, "Do you have a handgun I don't want you getting up close and personal with the radioactive z's."
"No, but I have a rifle so I can cover you guys from the fence." I say and she nods. I see a little bit of doubt in her eyes since none of them have seen me shoot a rifle before.
"Alright, you two stay with Murphy. If we don't come back you get him to California somehow." She says to me and I nod. Doc opens the gate and everyone rushes inside as I shut the gate behind them.
"Do you need me to show you how to shoot that?" 10k asked and I smirked before aiming at a z in front of Doc and shooting it straight through the head. "Nevermind, where'd you learn to shoot like that?"
"My brother was a sharpshooter in the Marines he used to take me to shooting ranges all the time." I say and he looks at me in awe which causes me to blush. I take out a few more z's when I notice Tommy still staring at me with wide eyes. "What?"
"That's hot." He says, causing me to blush and shove him playfully.
"Shut up and shoot." I say to him and he grins.
"Gladly." He says going to lay down on the right side of the fence to shoot. "2,304."
"They're back." I say about two minutes later as I see our friends run back to the gate.
Amelia and Murphy let them back and Tommy keeps shooting z's with me. When Wilbur comes back he immediately turns so Warren has to pike him. I stare at the ground as the realization dawns on me that the mission failed and we were still in the blast zone.
Luckily we aren't out of options yet because Amelia tells us there's one guy named Homer who has been holed up in the woods. He may be our last hope at shutting this thing down. When we get there we see that his whole front yard is booby trapped.
"This is your kind of set up. How do we get in?" Warren asked Tommy as she crouched down next to him.
"Without us getting killed. I do like to keep that in mind." Murphy interjected and I elbowed him before sending him a stern glare.
"Uh well one thing, Homer's setup is aimed at stopping z's, not a team. So, if we keep a sharp eye for landmines, trip wires, we'll be fine." Tommy explains and I feel pride swell through me as I listen to his explanation.
Afterwards Tommy, Warren, Amelia, and Cassandra all get a head start to flank Homer from behind. Forty seconds later me, Doc, and Murphy are moving towards the front of the house. Doc leads us pointing out mines and trip wires along the way. A few times I have to stop Murphy from blowing us all up.
I take the lead and we press against the side of the house. As soon as I turn the corner someone kicks me straight in the chest causing me to fall backwards. All the wind gets knocked out of me and I clutch my chest as I gasp for breath.
"Motherfucker." I groan as I press my hand to my chest where I got kicked.
"Don't move!" The guy, who I'm assuming is Homer, says while pointing his rifle at me. "You have three seconds to tell me what you're doing here!"
"Don't do that sir." Tommy says coming up behind him and putting my knife to the guy's throat. I look up and see Tommy glaring at the guy angrily.
"Go ahead. Do me a solid. Just don't leave me a z." Homer says.
"I would never do that Mr.Stubbins. We just need your help. And I need you to apologize to her." Tommy says while nodding towards me. I can see the worry and protectiveness in his eyes.
"Sorry about that, but it's the apocalypse. You understand, right?" He says and I roll my eyes.
"Yeah, hello to you too, sir." I say sarcastically as I groan while sitting up.
When we get into the house Homer starts talking about how Wilbur was a good man and explains the logistics of how the reactor works. I'm not listening as I dump out my backpack and fill it with supplies. I stock it with rice, beans, water, dried fruit, and ammo.
"Are you ok? I really am sorry about kicking you." Homer says to me and I nod.
"It's fine. I must say though you do have one hell of a kick and your form was impeccable. Where'd you learn it?" I ask and he smiles saddly.
"My son used to do tae kwon do. I went to every practice and tournament. I guess I picked up a thing or two." He says and I nod smiling.
"That's cool. I used to do karate pre-z. Those skills have definitely come in handy during the apocalypse." I say.
"Is there anything else I can get you?" He asked and I think about it for a second.
"Actually do you have a cell phone or a two way radio?" I ask and he gives me an odd look.
"I may have an old satellite flip phone somewhere. I don't know what you would use that for. There's nobody left to call." He says as he goes to look in a drawer. He returns with a flip phone that seems to still be in a usable condition.
"That's perfect, thank you Mr.Stubbins." I say and he nods before walking away.
As we made our way back to the reactor I tried to contact Citizen Z. Homer and Amelia keep giving me weird looks. Probably because of the code names or because of the fact I am trying to make a phone call in the middle of the apocalypse.
When we get to the reactor Homer says he needs someone to go with him. Both Warren and Tommy volunteer and ultimately Tommy gets chosen to go. I feel a tightness in my chest caused by worry as he suits up.
"Tommy, be careful in there." I tell him since we are standing quite a ways away from the group I use his real name.
"Don't worry, Del, I got this." He says with an easy smile.
"You have ammo now, but not an infinite supply so be smart." I say while crossing my arms and he zips up his suit.
"Don't you worry about me. Just try and contact Citizen Z." He says before cupping my cheek and planting a small kiss on my forehead. I blush at the action since it is something he has never done before, but I want him to do it again and again.
"I will always worry about you." I say while looking up at him and repeating the words he said to me all that while ago at the army base where we tried to get a chopper. I put his helmet on him and he smiles.
Soon after that I watch Tommy and Homer run to the reactor core and the tightness in my chest increases. I stand there anxiously for a while until something else catches my attention.
"Delta X Ray Delta, this is Citizen Z do you copy?" I hear Citizen Z's voice through the phone and I do a little happy dance.
"Northern Light, this Pasadena speaking and may I say it's great to hear from you again." I answer with a huge grin.
"Hey, Pasadena. Good to know you guys made it out of the zunami alive. What's the status of the package?" Citizen Z asked and I look over to see Murphy drawing a smiley face on a rock as he pees.
"Package is secure." I say while rolling my eyes. "I do need something from you though."
"You need something from me?" He stutters.
"Yeah, I need any information you got on glowing zombies." I say as I see Warren pike a zombie that got a little too close to the fence.
"Okie dokie checking zombie-pedia." He says and I furrow my eyebrows.
"You're joking right?" I ask and I hear him laugh over the phone.
"For now but it's really not a bad idea." He says and I chuckle.
"Keep in mind, brainiac, that you're pretty much the only one with internet access 24/7." I say and he laughs on the other end.
"Ok, glowing zombies are called 'Angel's Glow' it comes from a nematode bacteria. Somehow the radiation affects the zombie skin and let's bacteria grow there. The bacteria glows when exposed to high levels of radiation. First observed at Fukushima." Citizen Z says.
"I just need an answer: are they hot or not?" I ask not really understanding all the fancy biology terms he used.
"Uh, just don't let them um splatter you." He says and I nod.
"Hey, Warren! No machete!" I call and she nods pulling her hand gun out.
"You still there?" I hear Citizen Z's voice over the radio.
"Yeah, I got nowhere else to be." I say.
"Ok, I'm picking up readings that you are in a highly radioactive area so I suggest you guys get out now." Citizen Z says and I stare up at the reactor.
"That's not gonna be possible." I say and there's a pause. I can practically feel his confusion, "Does that map of yours show me near a nuclear reactor?"
"Uh yeah, what are you guys doing so close?" He asked and I anxiously watched the door waiting for Tommy's return.
"There's a problem scramming one of the reactors or something so we have to stop it before the reactor blows and everything within a 300 mile radius becomes radioactive for the next 10,000 years." I say and I hear him gasp.
"You guys gotta get Murphy out of the blast zone." He says and I sigh.
"Yeah, we're working on that." I say as I see Tommy and Homer run back. "Hold on, I'll be right back."
I leave my conversation with Citizen Z as I jog over to greet Tommy and Homer. They tell us the plan failed and someone has to go in manually. Tommy and Homer agree to where the heavy duty suits while Doc and Cassandra wear the normal ones and cover them. Warren, Murphy, and Amelia are going to try and get the plane up and running so Amelia and Murphy can fly out of the blast zone.
"Pasadena? Delta X Ray Delta do you copy?" Citizen Z says over the phone again. Whoops I totally forgot about him. Right now I am sitting alone outside of the reactor waiting for the others to return.
"Northern Light this is Pasadena I hear you loud and clear." I respond.
"Great, how are you guys getting the package out of the blast zone?" He asked.
"We have a pilot who is going to fly him out of the blast zone. The rest of them are going to try one more time to stop the explosion." I say nervously as I stare at the reactor. I don't like that I don't know if Tommy is ok or not. "How have your profiles been coming along?"
"Well, that information about Mack was pretty helpful and I was able to finish my profile on him. But I still have an unidentified male in his 50's to 60's, an unidentified female in her 20s, an unidentified male I've named the sniper in his 20s, and then well there's you who is known only as Pasadena in my files." Citizen Z explained causing me to chuckle.
"I can help fill in some of those blanks. The male in his supposed 50's is Steven Beck aka Doc. He's not an actual doctor. He's more of an amaeture pharmasutical and he's watched a lot of E.R." I start.
"Steven Beck, says here that he is an ex-sailor for the Navy. He's also an ex-addict and pre-z he was an AA counselor." Citizen Z reads. In that moment I learned more about Doc's past than I have in the months I traveled with him. For some reason it makes me uneasy to learn about him from a computer. Like I'm betraying his trust somehow.
"Huh, I didn't know that. Anyways the unidentified female is Cassandra. I don't know her last name but we picked her up in New York but she spent Black Summer in Philly. And the sniper's name is Ten Thousand or 10k for short." I explained.
"Ten Thousand? That's not much for me to work with. What's his real name? I can look up his social media or something." Citizen Z says causing me to laugh.
"Good luck with that. None of us no his real name. But from what I know about him he grew up off the grid. He once told me his Dad only used the internet to buy hunting rifles." I chuckled fondly.
"Alright, what about you? Can I find you anywhere in my system?" He asked and my mood immediately shifted.
"You said you're what's left of the NSA right?" I asked and he hummed in response. "If you're so good at your job why don't you figure out who I am with all your computers and what not."
"Well, you have to give me more to work with than just some rough images of your face I picked up through security footage." He tells me.
"Ok, I'll give you two clues. I am twenty years old and Pasadena isn't only my nickname but it's the town that I am from." I say.
"That's not much to work with but challenge accepted!" He exclaimed. "So, how's everyone else? Have you been documenting your adventures?"
"Yeah, I'm regularly writing about all the stuff we see or encounter. Oh, can I ask you a favor?" I asked suddenly remembering Addy and Mack.
"Sure, what is it?" Citizen Z asked.
"When we were in Kansas we got separated from Mack and Addy. Can you do your magic NSA thing and help me find them?" I asked.
"Of course, I'll keep an eye out for them." He tells me and I thank him as I watch Warren drive up in a long golf cart.
"Hey, I gotta go. Talk to you later." I say as I stand up to meet Warren. He bids me goodbye before signing off.
"Dena, have you heard from Doc yet?" Warren asked and I shook my head. She pulls out her radio before saying, "Doc, this is Warren, coming in the same way. "
"Hello, Roberta. Welcome back." Doc's voice sounds over the radio. "Please be advised we're now entering the reactor core on the other side of the facility."
"Is there something Dena and I can do?" Warren asked.
"Oh, just the usual prayer. What's the status of that precious cargo? Has the mouthy package taken off? " Doc asked and Warren reassured him that Murphy is up in the air. After that Doc signs off.
"I feel so useless just sitting out here doing nothing!" I exclaimed worriedly as we wait for the others to return. Warren watches me with concern as I pace back and forth worriedly on the gravel road.
"He's going to be ok." She reassures me and I stare up at the sky blinking tears away.
Only once in my life have I felt fear like this before. It was when my mother died and I was heartbroken and alone, not knowing what was coming next. I am in a similar position now but this time I won't entirely be alone. But at the same time my fear of losing Tommy is almost worse, it's so intense that it scares me.
"How do you know that?" I snap tears brimming my eyes. Warren stands up and pulls me into a hug.
"He's a tough kid and a smart one too." Warren says and she pulls away slightly to look at me. "And he cares about you too. He'll find a way to come back to you."
"What if something happens to Homer before the reactor is stopped. You know 10k won't leave he will stay to save us all even if it gets him killed!" I exclaim putting my hands over my face and sitting down. "I can't lose him now."
"You love him don't you?" Warren asks while crouching down in front of me and placing a hand on my shoulder.
"I don't know." I whisper. I haven't really put that much thought into it.
"I can see it in your eyes you know and I'm willing to bet you know his real name and he knows yours." Warren teases me and I blush looking away. "He loves you too even if neither of you realize it."
Before I can answer voices can be heard on the radio again,
"Homer it worked!" Tommy exclaims happily and a small smile creeps its way onto my face.
"How about that? We did good." Homer says and there's a certain weakness in his voice causing me to frown.
"Alright now let me get you out of there." Tommy says.
"Shoot me now." Homer's weak voice says and my eyes widen.
"I already killed my father. I don't want to kill you too." Tommy says and I can hear the pain in his voice and it breaks my heart.
"Then I'll make it easier." Homer says and then I can hear Tommy painfully screaming "No" over and over again. There's a splash heard over the radio and I know Homer is gone.
Warren and I hop into the golf cart and hurry towards the gate. My leg bounces up and down anxiously knowing that Tommy will be there shortly. When I see him my heart breaks at the sight of such pain in his eyes. He storms past Doc who tries to stop him but he doesn't stop until I go up to him.
"Hey, hey, hey, take a deep breath." I whisper putting one hand on his cheek and the other on his chest above his heart where I can feel his heartbeat thumping erratically. I force him to look at me and he looks close to tears and that tears me apart.
"I couldn't save him. Just like my dad I couldn't save him." Tommy says his voice cracking and I pull him into a tight hug.
"I know we heard. You did everything you could, Tommy." I whisper quietly into his ear and his arms wrap tightly around my waist. He buries his face into the crook of my neck and I can tell he is trying not to cry.
I look past his shoulder and see the others watching with pity in their eyes. Cassandra looks worried and I try to send her a reassuring smile. Warren and Doc start to talk but ignore them and focus on Tommy. I pull away from him and he looks at me confused but I just grab his hand and pull him towards the trees so we can have a bit of privacy. He watches me with a lost expression as I rifle through my backpack.
"You should drink something. I have vodka and water, it's your pick." I say holding up the two drinks. He takes the vodka from me and takes a big drink before sputtering and coughing.
"I thought that was going to taste different." He says handing back the bottle of alcohol in exchange for water and I laugh.
"Have you never had vodka before?" I ask and he shakes his head.
"And you have?" He asked and I shrugged.
"My brother was five years older than me. He used to keep alcohol in the house and I may have stolen some once or twice." I say with a smirk.
I notice that the others can't see us because of the trees so I quickly stand up on my toes and kiss him. He is surprised at first but quickly comes to his senses and pulls my body closer to him by the waist.
"You really gave me quite a scare today." I say when we pull away from our kiss.
"I know and I'm sorry but Homer couldn't do it himself and I couldn't let us all die." He says resting his forehead against mine. He caresses my cheek and I lean into his touch.
"I know and your selflessness is one of things I love about you." I say and his eyes widen.
"You love me?" He asks while brushing his thumb over my lip and studying my face.
"Yes." I say quietly before pressing a small kiss to his thumb. "Of course I do Tommy, what's not to love about you?"
"Will you be my girlfriend?" He stutters out quickly while blushing and looking away. I lean up on my toes and give him a quick kiss.
"Of course I will snipper boy." I say and he grins widely.
"Delilah Miller." He says and I wonder how he learned my last name before I remember it's on the faded patch of my jacket. "I love you."
My heart flutters at his words and I kiss him one more time.
"I love you too." I say and he picks up my backpack and slings it over his shoulder. I make sure my axes are securely in their holsters and my knife is in my jacket. I grab Tommy's hand before saying, "Now let's get back to the others."
"Is this a battery charger?" Doc asked Warren as we rejoined the group.
"Yeah, I couldn't find a truck that would start so that'll keep us going for now." Warren explained and I looked at the long golf cart uneasily. Yes, it would be better than walking but it provides now protection from z's during the night.
"So, we can get back on the trail, but where to?" Doc asked. "You know given the fact that we lost patient zero."
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Cassandra say as she nudged my side. I looked up to see Murphy coming up the hill.
"Great news! The vodka made perfect fuel for ten minutes!" Murphy exclaimed sarcastically.
"What happened?" Warren asked.
"Crash landing, about one hundred miles out of town." Murphy snapped.
"Yeah, right." I snorted and Murphy glared at me.
"Wow, you covered a lot of ground. Did you hitchhike?" Doc laughed as Murphy threw his jacket and his pink children's backpack onto the golf cart. He himself then collapsed across one of the seats.
"Ten miles, whatever. It felt like a hundred miles when you're walking." Murphy said sarcastically.
"So, what happened to Amelia?" Warren asked as Murphy began to drink from a bottle of vodka. He dramatically gestured the way he came and we all turned to see a zombified Amelia coming towards us.
"You didn't give her mercy?" Doc exclaimed as I got out my knife.
"It didn't feel right somehow." Murphy shrugged.
"So, you. just let her follow you?" Warren asked.
"That felt right somehow." Murphy muttered.
"That's sick, man. Even for you." I said in disgust as I moved forward to mercy the poor girl. Suddenly Murphy ran in front of me stopping my actions.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no! She is not hurting us! I don't know. Maybe it's time for a different kind of mercy." Murphy says while looking at me pointedly.
"Fine. We should head to Homer's house for tonight." I say as I turned back to the group. Tommy has a pained look in his eyes when I said this. It was like I was rubbing salt to his wound. "It's going to be dark soon and that golf cart isn't going to give us any kind of protection."
"She's right. Let's load up." Warren says and with one last look towards Amelia we all pile into the golf cart.
Later that night Cassandra and I are on first watch. The others are all inside resting except for Tommy. He is sitting in the rocking chair on the porch staring out blankly into the horizon. Being back at Homer's house is painful for him and normally I wouldn't do anything to cause him pain but this was the safest place for us to stay tonight.
"Do you think he's going to be alright?" Cassandra asked me as we went around the yard marking the traps with little blue flags. We figured it would be safer for us if we knew where not to step in the future.
"He will be. He just needs time to process. I just hope he doesn't try to bottle things up." I tell her worriedly.
"You guys are good together. I'm glad you guys have each other." She says with a smile causing me to blush at her statement. "I wish I had what you guys have. Or what Mack and Addy have. Do you think we'll ever see them again?"
"I hope so. CZ said he'd keep an eye and ear out for them. If he finds them he'll help us all come together again." I say hopefully before looking out at the large expansion of yard ahead of us. "This will go a lot faster if we pick sides. I'll go left you go right. We'll meet at the back of the house."
"Sounds good to me." She nods and we move our separate ways. I finish my area quickly and start heading back when I hear Cassandra scream out in pain.
"Cassandra!" I yell as I hastily make my way towards her.
I move as fast as I can while still being careful to avoid the mines. When I round the corner I see Cassandra on the ground clutching her leg. It looks like she accidentally activated a mine full or rusty barbed wire and it was now digging into her leg. What's worse is that her screams of pain brought zombies our way. I run in front of her protectively as I use my axes to pike some of the zombies looming over her.
"Pasadena! Cassandra!" 10k yelled as he rounded the corner. Behind him the others follow and he quickly shoots the rest of the zombies using his rifle.
"Hurry! We need to get her inside. She is probably going to need stitches and definitely antibiotics." I say hurriedly as I pull the pliers out of my utility belt and begin to gently and hastily remove the barbed wire from Cassandra's leg. "This is going to hurt."
"Just do it!" Cassandra gasped in pain and I nodded.
Eventually I get her free and Doc and Tommy carry her inside. Hopefully we can get her patched up quickly. Worry fills my chest when I see how rusty and gross that barbed wire actually is. There's a good chance antibiotics won't help if tetanus sets in. Then there won't be anything we can do except show her mercy.