Archer leads you down the stairs and into the hospital lobby. "I'll be right back. Stay here, okay?" he says. You
nod, and he crouches and launches himself outside. You look around the lobby, and the uncomfortable chairs
are all toppled over except for a few in the corner. The floor is covered with worn out burgundy carpet. You see
a small, hunchbacked, fidgety man talking to some female infected in the corner. Having nothing to do, and your
curiosity piqued, you listen in to their conversation.
"So that's why I decided to invest my stocks in Wells-Fargo."
"Malcolm. We know you're not that smart."
"Besides, Frank the Tank tried to pull the same trick on us the other day."
"Come on ladies, let's find someone worth talking to."
All three of the infected females stand up and walk out with impressive zombified grace. The little guy jumps out
of his chair, trying to get them to come back. He's jumping up and down, literally. "Oh, come on, girls! Come
back! Please!" You giggle at his silly and unsuccessful actions. He turns to glare at whoever dared to make fun
of him, but before the glare had even fully crossed his twisted features, he stared in shock at you. He then
smiled a devilish grin. "Why hello there, Miss. Were you just listening to that conversation?" He hobbles over,
still smiling and laughing hysterically, as if he's sharing a private joke with you. You instinctively back up a step,
but he keeps coming closer. "Uhm…" is all that comes out of your mouth. He keeps hobbling, smiling, and
laughing closer and closer to you, and you keep backing up. Finally, you hit a wall. You look down at the little
man with a small display of fear and revulsion. "I was thinking…" he says, "Should we have a conversation,
too?" Before you can reply, you hear a strange scream. It drives fear into your heart, and the little guy turns
around to face whatever it is, and he's then pounced by…Archer? "Stay away from her, creep." He growls to
the little man. The little man was now practically sweating with fear. "I-I'm sorry, Archer, Sir! I didn't know she
was off limits!" Archer glares at him, and then climbs off. "Now you do. If you, or any of your little friends so
much as THINK about touching her, they're as good as dead. Do I make myself clear?" he says in a dangerously
low voice. The little hunchback does a clumsy salute, and stammers, "Yes sir! I'll tell them right away! No one's
gunna mess with her, no, no! Don't you worry, you can count on me, Sir!" He then runs out of the room with
surprising speed for such a little…thing. "Stupid Jockey." Archer mumbles. You cast your eyes to the floor.
"Thanks for saving me…Again. …I'm sorry I get into so much trouble…" Archer looks up at you, and all the anger
that had been plastered on his face when he'd faced that Jockey melted away. He shakes his head. "No, don't
apologize. It's not your fault. He's just a perv… I guess it's natural with being a Jockey." He puts his arms
around you. "Besides. I like protecting you. It's what I do." You feel the blood rush to your cheeks. "It's nice
knowing that someone cares about me…" you whisper into the dark fabric of his hoodie. He pulls away to kiss
your forehead. "I'll always care about you. Forever." You blush a deeper red, and then he takes your hand and
says, "The people- er, Zombies, I want you to meet are outside. Come on."
He leads you outside. The sun is setting, casting the land into a violet and red twilight. You look at the small
group of zombies before you. A big, round, and green zombie wearing a once white t-shirt, jean shorts, and
Vans shoes steps forward and holds out his hand. "I'm Chuck. The Boomer." He says. You shake his hand,
careful not to stab him with your claws. "I'm Elfie. The Witch. And I like your shoes." You reply. He smiles
warmly. "It'll be nice to have a new person join the group. Especially one that's so polite!" You smile back. The
guy was likable. He seemed like a regular guy in America; Football on TV, eats barbeque in the summer, and
loves life. Smokey waves at you. You wave back. "You already know me." Smokey says, but holds his hand out
anyway. You shake it, still smiling. "Indeed I do, Smokey. But it's nice to meet you all the same." you say. The
next zombie you see seems to have a bad case of acid reflux disease. She smiles nonetheless, and offers you
her hand. You shake it. "My name's Vivian. The Spitter." She says. You smile back. "Elfie. The Witch." You reply,
again. You glance down at the little man again, for he was next in line. "I'm sorry we got off to a bad start,
miss. My name's Malcolm. The Jockey." He seemed as if it was taking all his willpower not to burst out laughing
and run in circles like a lunatic. "Hi, Malcolm. I'm Elfie, and apology accepted." you reply, eager to move along to
the next zombie. This guy has a huge arm. You resist the urge to raise an eyebrow at it, and a thought crosses
your mind. "Maybe he's compensating for something." you think to yourself, swallowing the urge to laugh. The
guy has a really deep voice. It booms from above you. "My name's Dan. The Charger." You nod, seeing as he
can't shake hands. "I'm Elfie." He smiles. "Nice to meet ya, little one. You might have to put some meat on those
bones of yours. Otherwise, you could get pummeled. By an unwary Charger." he says kindly. You smile back.
"I'll work on it." you promise.
You glance back at Archer, who is studying a roly poly on the ground absentmindedly.
You cough, attempting to get his attention. He's still lost in his own world. You try again. No response from
Archer. You glance at the other infected for help. They all grin. Dan and Malcolm come up to you
and whisper. "You should attack him. Not to hurt him, but to scare the hell out of him." Dan says. A grin creeps
over your face. "Yeah, yeah! You should jump on his back and don't let go!" says Malcolm excitedly. "That's your
thing, though." You say. He shakes his head. "I give you permission to use my move on him. Now go! This could
be very funny to see." He says, clearly holding back his maniac laughter. You grin at them both, and then
silently creep up behind Archer. You launch yourself onto his back, wrapping your arms and legs around him. He
yelps in surprise, and jumps up onto a nearby building in shock. You hand on for your dear life, laughing with
the other infected on the ground. Archer turns his hooded head to look at you. You giggle at his expression
when he realizes it's you. "You scared me!" he cries. You're still giggling. "I'm sorry, Archer! B-but you should've
seen your face!" You manage to say before you burst into another fit of giggles. He sighs in exasperation and
shakes his head. "It can't be that funny." You climb down off him so that you can hold your sides, for you fear
they're going to split open. "It was! It was!" you cry. He crosses his arms. "I disagree." He says. You put your
hands on your hips. "Well, I don't." you reply. He's glaring at the ground now. You step forward and tilt his chin
up so you can kiss him on his left cheek. He brings his hand to where you kissed him and his eyes go wide, his
cheeks red. You smile.
-Meanwhile-
"Look at those two. Arguing like they're married." Says Vivian. They watch Elfie and Archer go at it for a few
minutes, leading to crossed arms and hands on hips. "I swear. Those two are crazy." Says Dan. They all nod,
still smiling. "I think she's good for him, though." Says Smokey. They all turn to look at him. "He hasn't smiled
this much in forever. I don't think I've ever seen him so happy as he is when he's with her." He continues.
Chuck nods. "He does seem to lighten up a bit when she's around, eh?" They all nod, and Vivian says, "His
temper seems to have died down a bit, too. She's really sweet. I like her a lot. I think she'll be good for all of us
in some way." Again, they all agreed. They turned their eyes back to the roof to see Elfie tilt Archer's chin up
and kiss him on his cheek. A unanimous "AWWWWW!" occurred.
Smokey watches as Archer puts her onto his back and takes her down off the roof. A small green flame of
jealousy burns in his gut. He mentally kicks himself and tells himself to knock it off. "My best friend is the
happiest I've ever seen him, even when we were human. I should be happy for him, too…even if my own
feelings must remain a secret for the sake of his happiness…"
-Please Review! Please. :D-
