I hear a beautiful humming in my ears as I feel myself being pulled from my slumber. Fingers lightly drawing patterns on my skin as I'm laid on my back. My face is turned away from Luke, facing the window. When my eyes finally open I sigh, not wanting to let go of my sleep. I roll my head to the other side and I'm met with blue eyes. He smiles. I tiredly close my eyes again, wanting to go back to sleep as I try to cuddle into his side.
"Nooo." Luke wines. "I've been waiting for two hours for you to wake up now get up." I let out a muffled groan in protest.
He pecks both of my eyelids with his lips and I can't help but smile. "Open them." He says sternly. But when I do, a smile forms on his face.
I lean in for a kiss and rest my hand on his face, playing with his pretty prominent beard. "I know, I need to shave." He laughs.
I shrug my shoulders. "So do I." We both burst out laughing. It is the apocalypse after all, not exactly easy to keep up with your personal hygiene when it's last on your list of priorities. Luke doesn't mind but it's getting to the point where I feel kind of disgusting and just downright uncomfortable. I don't even remember the last time I had a proper shower. We've had to make do with wet rags and whatever soap was left in the house. I'm going to have to pick up some razors, soap and tooth paste. We need a lot of things, reminding me that we should probably start getting ready. But I don't want to leave the bed. Especially after last night.
Luke rubs his fingertips along my arm. "How are you feeling?" he asks, concern all over his face.
"I'm fine." I smile at him.
"I didn't hurt you did I? You would tell me if I did right?"
"You didn't hurt me Luke. It was perfect. You were perfect." I whisper. He smiles, kissing my lips once more.
We get up to get dressed, Luke leaving the room to find some clothes. The weather's getting colder, it might be winter already. I should probably dress a little warmer in case we get stuck out there overnight. I find my softest pair of skinny jeans with the right amount of stretch to move around easily. They're practically jeggings but they're thicker so they should keep me fairly warm. I put on some fuzzy socks and a long sleeved shirt. I dig through my closet and find my denim vested hoodie. After I've put it on I smooth my hair out to make it easier to stay out of my face. I put on a black beanie to keep my head warm and put on my boots.
When I'm all ready, I go downstairs to meet Luke who's already begun packing our things. Arrows, guns, and whatever's left of our food. I stop in my tracks when I notice what he's wearing. He's in his usual black skinny jeans and converse and he has a grey beanie on his head. But the coat he was wearing- it was my brother's. He used to wear it all the time.
Luke stops when he sees me staring and I'm pulled out of my trance. "Sorry, it's just, that's my brothers." I point to his coat.
"Oh, yeah." He looks down at his clothes. "I found it in his closet, I needed one. I hope that's okay."
"It's fine. Just brings back memories." I smile. "Plus, I'd rather you not freeze to death. You need some gloves. We really need to find you something else to wear besides those damn converse." I say playfully and he chuckles.
We grab a few duffle bags for new supplies and stuff them into Luke's back pack. I find knitted gloves and cut the fingertips off to make it easier to work with my bow and I do the same for Luke. I secure my one weapon belt with my bowie knife around my right leg and the one with the gun on my left for easy access. When we're all set we grab our bags and our weapons and walk out the door. I lock it behind me.
I feel a tense in my chest. Luke squeezes my hand. "You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm just a little nervous." I say. It's been a while since we've been out. "Come on, we have a long walk ahead of us." I sigh as I pull him down the stairs.
Our walk is pretty quiet. Not too many walker sightings. I know that may change once we get to the larger part of the city where all of the shops are. I live practically in the middle of nowhere, and the local stores have already been swiped clean. We're going to have to go to the next town over. We walk in the middle of the road hand in hand. Four walkers are about to cross our path, nothing we can't handle. Luke raises his crossbow, taking out one and then the other easily. We simultaneously take our knifes and stab the other two in the head. I watch him as he takes the arrows out of the other's skulls.
"You're getting really good at this." I can't help but say with a slight smirk.
"Well, I learn from the best." He winks, putting the arrows back in his quiver.
I finally spot the drugstore I've been looking for after two hours of walking. "Over here." I motion toward the store. We walk to the main glass doors which are closed.
"I can break the glass." Luke says.
"No need, there's a lock I can pick. We might want to keep this place how we left it in case we need to come back again." I bang on the glass and wait. In no more than 30 seconds a walker bumps into the glass, clawing to get out.
I look at Luke who has his crossbow raised; he nods at me signaling he's ready. I wedge my fingers in the door, prying it open. The walker stumbles out, only to fall to the ground when Luke shoots it. He retrieves his arrow and I take out my knife as we cautiously walk inside. Luke quietly closes the doors behind us. He walks in front of me, ready to shoot at any walker that may surprise us. It's a smaller building so it doesn't take very long to secure. There was one sitting on the floor unable to move anything but its head. I'm quick to put it out of its misery.
"Alright, don't get anything we don't need. You're in charge of food." I say as I unzip Luke's backpack, taking out two duffle bags. I give him his and he disappears into the food isle.
I walk toward the personal hygiene section. I walk slowly down the isle, inspecting every product. I grab two boxes of tampons and some pads and shove them into the bag. I find some baby wipes and figure they could come in handy so we wouldn't have to always use up the water when we want to clean ourselves. As I walk further down I come across practically a wall of condoms. Might as well. But there are so many different kinds I have no idea what I'm supposed to choose.
"Uhh- Luke?" I call out, slightly embarrassed.
"Yeah?" he answers.
"Over here." I hear his footsteps get closer and when he gets to me he stops, waiting to know why he's been called over. But I can't seem to find the words, not wanting to completely embarrass myself so I just motion to the wall. He looks at it and then back at me. He tries to hide his grin when he realizes. I feel my face heat up and fiddle with my fingers, looking at them and not being able to meet his gaze. He chuckles slightly and turns on his flashlight so he can read the different boxes. When he finally settles on a box, he hands it to me with a half grin still on his face. I shove it into my bag and he kisses my forehead before wondering off again.
I find our hygienic stuff like razors, shaving cream, body soap, shampoo and conditioner, tooth paste, new tooth brushes, and toilet paper. I also find stuff for medical purposes; bandages, antibiotic ointment, rubbing alcohol and peroxide, cold & flu medicine, Midol, Advil. When I'm done I go to find Luke. I can't help but laugh when I find him in the candy isle.
"Really Luke? Are you 9?" I laugh. "You didn't seriously put any of that junk in there did you?"
"No!" He says defensively. "....Not yet." He mischievously smiles.
"You get one piece of candy. I can't have you crashing from a sugar rush."
"One?!" He wines. "Do you know how long it's been since the last time I had candy?"
"Fine, three. But I get to choose when you can have them. And grab some gum as well, it wouldn't kill us to have fresh breath." He hugs me and picks out some candy, I do the same.
"So what did you find?" I ask, motioning to his bag.
"Protein bars, granola bars, 5 hour energy's, ramen noodles, mac & cheese, fruit snacks, chips and snacks. Oh, and I found tea bags and some protein drink mixes. You're supposed to use milk but we can substitute with water."
We find the shelves with the drinks on them and pick out two Gatorades for each of us. It would be nice to take home some, but we already have a lot of weight to carry and we still need to look for more things. We have plenty of water we've collected from the rain and streams, so we're okay with hydration for now anyway.
"You ready?" Luke asks and I nod as we head out of the store, closing the doors behind us. "Where to now?"
"There's a police station up the road. They might have some guns left." He slips his hand into mine, intertwining our fingers as we walk.
We spot three figures in the distance and I take out my knife. But as they get closer I notice something. They're walking. Not limping, not stumbling. Walking. Luke notices too. We both stop and look at each other. It's people. I let go of his hand and I remove my bow from where I had it slung over my shoulder. I take an arrow from my quiver and hold it between my fingers, ready to draw it back and aim at any moment. Luke has his ready as well.
They also seem to be ready for attack. I can see one has a gun raised and one has a hatchet or something. As they get closer my heart speeds up with anticipation, I draw back my arrow ready to defend myself if I have to. We stop in our tracks and let them come to us. The three males suddenly freeze as well. I see Luke lower his weapon out of the corner of my eye. I see them lower their weapons too. But I stand my ground. I look at Luke who stands with a look of shock on his face. I lower my weapon in confusion as everyone stands in silence.
The one male in the middle is stood in front of the others, his hatchet dangling to his side.
He opens his mouth to talk, his eyes glistening with tears. "Luke?"
"Ash." Luke lunges toward him, engulfing him bear hug. When they let go Luke goes in for the other two and I stand there slightly confused.
"Right, Sorry," Luke says when he looks at me. "(y/n), this is Calum, Ashton and Michael." He says with such pride and tears in his eyes. His friends he told me about before. My heart melts and I throw my arms around them in a hug as I feel tears fall from my own eyes. They don't question it, they simply hug me back.
"This is (y/n)." Luke laughs from behind us as I let them out of my grasp.
"It's so good to meet you." I smile.
"Luke, we've been looking for you for ages." Calum says.
"I was knocked unconscious after I lost you guys. Woke up and I was in the back of a truck. A group found me and took me in. That was before they left me for dead. Then (y/n) found me." He looks at me and winks. I can't help but smile at the memory. "...Michael?" Luke says to the boy who's got tears in his eyes and looks like he's about to crumble to pieces.
"We...I thought you were dead." Michael whispers in shock. Luke walks to him, his arms pulling him into a firm hug that lasts for a few moments. "Alright, alright, Hemmings you can get off me now." They both chuckle as Luke releases Michael from his grip.
"It's good to have you back." Ashton pats his back.
I watch as the boys walk in front of me, talking and laughing as we begin to move again. I smile to myself watching him with his three best friends. I fall behind purposely to watch him catch up with his brothers, Luke looking back at me every so often.
Calum comes up next to me and leans in to whisper in my ear.
"Welcome to the family." He smiles.
BdR����