Zoey looked about the ransacked store frantically, her dual pistols out in front of her, her only defense against the zombie apocalypse. Which, until yesterday, she had been surviving through with three others. Then that damn Hunter had pounced her, luckily (or not so luckily) missing her torso, hitting her legs instead as Louis, Bill, and Francis fought the horde attracted by a car alarm set off after a careless shot at a straggling Common Infected.
Now, her leg was practically ripped to shreds, blood simply pooling out of the grievous wounds she had received. She could still walk, but she had to lean on the wall for support and quite often had to stop and rest, her pace about as slow as a decomposing zombie.
The sobbing she had heard moments before entered her ears again, and she leaned heavily on the broken shelf behind her, wishing she hadn't given her only flashlight to Francis as a back up after forcing them to move on without her. She hadn't wanted to slow them down and lower their chance of survival. The old veteran, Bill, took forever to convince, and even then, she could tell he, as well as the other two, hadn't wanted to leave her…all alone.
As the crying continued, she felt both relief and worry at the sound. She wasn't alone after all. The problem: was it another survivor, left alone as well? Or was it a Witch, ready to rend her very flesh from her bones if she dare approach? She took a chance, and readied herself to inch closer to her target. Looking down at her wounds, she sighed. Hell, she was dead anyway. At least if it was a Witch, it would be relatively quick…unless it didn't aim very well. If it was a survivor, at least she had someone with her.
As glass crunched underfoot, the crying stopped, and Zoey froze, a pained grimace on her face as she was applying pressure to her injured leg. After a moment, the sobbing resumed, and she carefully continued, being sure to step over glass shards from the broken window. Whatever it was, it was behind a counter, which obscured her view. She would have to go around it, and as such would come immediately face to face with it. Tucking a strand of stray brown hair behind her ear, she took and deep breath. Then she stepped around the corner…
And fell down in shock, causing the thing on the floor to take notice of her, red eyes flashing madly as they took her in. The creature slowly stood up, growling lowly in its throat, and Zoey felt the blood drain from her face. Above her stood a Witch. The Witch lifted her claws, readying for a strike as she came nearer…but suddenly stopped.
A whimpering sound came from her, and she tilted her head to one side, her limp white hair falling in her gaunt face. She pushed it aside, and crawled on her hands and knees until she was almost on top of Zoey, sniffing her much like a dog, showing interest in the gashes on her legs.
Oh shit… Zoey thought, too scared to move. She smells my blood, she sees it, she knows I'm hurt… Is she going to eat me? Or just kill me? The girl whimpered in fear, managing to weakly pull herself closer to the wall, which seemed to intrigue the Witch, as she followed. Zoey closed her eyes tightly, expecting to feel a stabbing pain any second…
She jerked when an ice-cold hand touched her cheek, her eyes flying open in surprise to see the infected girl staring at her through sad, bloodshot eyes. Being mindful of her claws, which could cut at a simple touch, the Witch probed the living girl's body, curiosity in her gaze as she poked and prodded, just gently enough so as not to puncture Zoey's fragile skin. When she came to her legs, the Witch gave a slight snarl, causing the other girl to jump. Ignoring this, the Witch reached forward and fumbled with the zipper on Zoey's jacket, finally hooking her claw through the square hole to unzip it.
Then she sat back, staring at the girl expectantly. Confused, but willing to oblige so as not to anger her, Zoey took a guess and slid off her jacket, leaving her with only her white undershirt on. She snatched the jacket out of her hands, missing skin by mere inches, and immediately set to work ripping apart the red cloth. Tearing it into several long strips, she used these to bandage the wounds that hadn't already been tended to.
That job done, she seemed to have mainly stopped the bleeding. Well, at least I won't bleed to death… Zoey remarked silently, then gasped as the Witch grabbed her, picking her up with surprising strength as she positioned herself in the corner, placing Zoey in her lap, the girl's head resting on her chest. Brown eyes wide, she sat still as the Witch hugged her tightly, her face in her hair before moving a bit, and she could have sworn she felt a tear hit her face.
"You…" she choked out, and the Witch turned to look at her. "You're…as alone as I am, aren't you…?" The infected girl only responded by clutching her new companion closer to her. So that's it… Zoey sighed, allowing herself to breathe normally for the first time since meeting the Witch. You're as scared as I am, aren't you? Maybe even more, since you get strange living people waving flashlights and guns at you when they come across you. So…maybe you aren't a ruthless killer after all…just a scared girl, who happens to be able to shred anything that threatens her. Zoey relaxed in the Witch's embrace, feeling her hot breath on the back of her neck.
"That's okay, girl," she reassured, and the Witch tilted her head to listen to her strange nonsense, as she couldn't comprehend a word of what was being said. "You're not alone anymore…I'm here…I'm not going to leave you. I'm not…alone…anymore…" A single tear fell from her face, but her new companion quickly wiped it away. Smiling, the two soon fell asleep, arms around each other, their faces peaceful, for the first time in a long time.