They ran through the woods, branches and twigs alike snapping under their feet. They were in a tight knit formation, much like a wolf pack, the slowest towards the front, and the quicker, more agile in the back, ready to catch those who pass out or trip.
After the world as they knew it crumbled, the dragonslayers, their mates, and closest friends were among the strongest and were able to survive.
The zombie apocalypse had halted all technology and development in Fiore, perhaps even all of Earthland. Laxus, Gajeel, and Sting kept up the back of the pack. Natsu led the pack, as his nose was among the stronger ones and they'd decided he'd be the best one to choose a route to their next camp.
Lucy looked keeping her eyes trained in front of her, often shifting from side to side, watching out for any surprises lurking in the dark. She was towards the back of the middle of the pack, with Levy tied tightly to her back with some heavy duty rope. Lucy, along with most people in the group had bulked up in muscle over the last few months of chaos, her average height and newly toned muscles made it far easier to carry her small friend. Levy had passed out from sleep deprivation after her third day with no rest, and fourth hour of continuous running.
Honestly, Lucy would've let one of the dragon slayers carry Levy, however, almost all of them were exhausted since the entire group relied on their senses. They were usually the ones to stay up and keep guard, lead the pack, and carry their tired companions, so Lucy decided it was better for everyone if she helped out a bit, okay, maybe more than a bit. Levy's tiny frame and light weight made her easy to carry, despite her losing a lot of fat, she gained more muscle, though still lighter than she had been before the beginning of the end.
Lucy looked around once more, eyes brushing over her friends, who were really her family at this point. Natsu had huge bags under his eyes, everyone did, Cana had lost her glowing tan and was a sickly pale color, perhaps from withdrawal. Rogue hadn't changed much, though he seemed much more group oriented than he'd been before the end. Sting looked leaner, Yukino's hair was ragged, since she had to cut it off once a lurker had grabbed the small ponytail that she'd grown out since the apocalypse began. Cobra's hair no longer stood up like it used to, he had taken to tying it back into a ponytail. Gajeel was one of the few who hadn't really changed, along with Laxus, both of which physically looked about the same, but had become much more perceptive to the wellbeing of the others. Wendy had definitely grown a few inches, and her light, naïve nature had been replaced with a rough, but caring, attitude. Gray had become more of a quiet person than before, only speaking when spoken to. While Mira, who was on Laxus' back had been one of the only people who didn't get stronger, she had become depressed when both of her siblings got caught in the first few weeks of the crisis, she had been steadily growing weaker and weaker with each passing week, though Wendy suspected she was starting to get better and her shock would wear off soon.
Lucy pressed on, her chest heaving, as if her heart would stop any minute, but she knew it wouldn't, she'd been running like this for weeks, for hours and hours on end, searching for places to sleep or scavenge food. Levy's head seemed to always bob, constantly hitting Lucy's back, not that she minded, Levy was tired, and her best friend, Lucy would do anything for Levy. Natsu raised his left hand, signaling they were nearing the place he'd sniffed out. Then after another 2 minutes or so he lifted his left hand back into the windy, night air and waved it twice.
The group exhaled at the same time as they slowed to a light jog then a brisk walk. Soon a quaint farm house appeared in a small clearing, Lucy doubted it would comfortably fit all 13 of them, but it was safe, as Natsu had smell-checked it, so they would gratefully pack in on the floor like sardines if it meant a safe place to sleep, maybe there'd even be food.
They made their way up the wooden stairs onto the large porch and stepped aside as Rogue swiftly kicked the door in, the door stayed on its hinges but the locking mechanism broke off and stayed in place. The pack piled into the small house with a purpose and shut the door behind them. Lucy went off to check for and ration food, Sting scouted the house, Cana checked for running water, while Cobra searched for a toolbox to nail the door shut, they'd have to use the side door as a main entrance and exit. They had figured out a system for efficiency within the first few weeks of the end.
Lucy checked the fridge, knowing it had been off for a long time, but some sauces don't go bad at room temperature, and sauces could easily make bad food more edible. There were mounds of rotting meats in the back of the fridge, Lucy didn't even flinch as the smell rolled over her. She grabbed some hot sauce, bbq sauce, soy sauce, and ketchup, they all smelled fine to her. She moved on to the pantry, pleasantly surprised to find many canned soups and dried pasta in bulk, she figured they could stay holed up in the house for at least two weeks and be fine food-wise, if they rationed properly. She moved into the living room by the front door, where the rest of the group had rejoined.
"There's enough food for a couple of weeks." Lucy grunted, "there's running water, for now." Cana reported with a dull look on her face. "The front door is secure." Cobra input, Sting looked up from the floor, "there are three bedrooms, two with single king sized beds and one with two bunk beds." We could fit two or three people in each king size bed and one or two per single mattress in the bunk beds."
During the first month, they'd tried to separate the sleeping arrangements by sex, but after a certain amount of time they didn't seem to care anymore about modesty, they often bathed together, doubling or tripling per shower/bath to preserve possibly limited water supplies. Lucy and some other conscious mages began to strip and pile up their clothes in front of Yukino, who usually did the laundry. Lucy gently woke Levy up to ask if it was okay to take her clothes to have them washed, Levy sighed, and grunted while nodding her head, drifting back to sleep. As soon as everyone's clothes had been collected, Yukino wrapped her arms around the pile, and walked to the back of the one story home to the bathroom. Rogue came in and left her a kerosene lamp he'd found under the sink and promptly exited. Yukino began dumping the clothes into the tub, placing the cork to block the drain and began running the water. Only cold water was used for laundry, so they could preserve the gas for cooking and bathing, they'd all already figured out systems and methods of being more efficient. As the water ran, Yukino went looking for a laundry room to collect detergent, she couldn't seem to locate the laundry room and called for Rogue to find it for her as she returned to the bathroom, she stopped the water, which was already brownish grey and murky. Looking up when Lucy showed up at the door holding laundry detergent, "Rogue gave this to me to give to you, he's tired as hell so I sent him to bed. Want help?" Lucy bluntly drawled, feeling fatigue rack her body, but knowing Yukino felt it too she wanted to help out before she passed out.
"Yes please." Yukino's lean, pale frame leaned over the edge of the tub, her naked skin quivered each time she made contact with the cold porcelain or the chilled water. Lucy nodded and joined her, not reacting as her skin touched the freezing bathtub, she scooped out four scoops of detergent into the water and mixing it into the dark water, both of them rubbed at the clothes with sponges and their hands until they were satisfied with their work and set the dripping clothes they deemed "clean enough" into a pile between them.
After what seemed like hours but had probably been roughly 45 minutes, they were freezing but done with their task. They silently collected the damp clothes and brought them to the living room, Lucy juggled the lamp in one hand as she attempted to carry her lump of clothes, often coming close to tripping or dropping something, draping the wet clothes over couch arms and backs, on lamps and over the coffee table, and even though there were no more places to sit or space at all really, they were done for the night.
The girls checked the bedrooms, ready to crash for the rest of the night. In the master bedroom, Cana and Mira were wrapped around each other, in the second bedroom Gray and Gajeel shared one king size bed, sleeping next to each other but not quite cuddling. The third bedroom was a bit on the small side, in the first bunk bed to the left, Levy was curled up on the bottom bunk, while Rogue and Sting were hugging each other in their sleep on the top bunk, on the bunkbed to the right, cobra slept on the top bunk as Natsu and Wendy spooned on the bottom bunk. Yukino climbed in next to Cobra and almost immediately fell asleep. Lucy made one lap through all the bedrooms, making sure every single person was tucked under the cozy comforters that were on each bed. Once she was satisfied, she slid in next to Levy and closed her eyes, her body was ready to rest, but her mind was wide awake. Eventually Lucy's body won the fight and she drifted off into deep dreamless sleep.
The group was so used to being naked around each other they basically only wore clothes in memory of the time before the mess of the present, that and protection from the cold. Even though pretty much everyone who shared a bed with someone else huddled together for warmth, it wasn't sexual, despite them being completely bare. The pack had evolved from nakama to a group of tightly secured family. Even the few couples in the group (Cana and Laxus, Cobra and Yukino, and Natsu and Gray) rarely had sex drive for each other or anything really, there was simply rarely time or energy.