"Wow, this place is nice!" Nora said excitedly as she entered the small building, staring in awe at the various books. "I hope they have some good comics in here."
"And survival books. Those could come in handy," Ren nodded as he moved over to examine the bookshelves. "Hmm, it appears that these are owned by someone. There's not a speck of dust anywhere."
"I'm going to go see if they got a copy of any of the 'Adventures of Zwei', later!" Nora waved as she rushed into another room, causing Ren to sigh.
"Here's hoping the owner of this house is hospitable," he muttered as he went off in a different direction, fully confident that Nora could take care of herself.
"Wow, this place is really friggin' big," Nora muttered as she stared in awe at the new room. All the shelves were filled to the brim with comics of all genres ranging from the light-hearted superheroes to the grim dark comics that were far too depressing for her liking. She had never seen such a collection outside of a library or some dork's basement dwelling.
"Maybe this is a library?" she wondered as she browsed through the books, clicking her tongue as she did so. "No 'Adventures of Zwei' though. What a shame," she shook her head in disappointment before halting in her steps.
"Mmm," a groan, not far from where she was standing. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. Great, another zombie to kill. Any other time she would have been glad to smash their heads in with her sledgehammer, but here? Looks like a couple of comics were going to be ruined.
'Just for that I'm going to make it extra painful,' she thought with a sadistic grin, sneaking around the shelf towards the undead groaning.
"Mmm, ugh….Aaaaah," she spotted the zombie, a mess of black hair with red tips. She was actually quite cute, even for a zombie.
'Kinda makes me feel bad for killing her,' she thought as she bit her lip. There was no need to feel bad, the girl was dead and now she could go to heaven. 'Or hell, I don't know, coulda been a sadistic murderer I guess,' Nora thought as she raised her hammer above her head, aiming for the girls head.
"Hee hee," the zombie...giggled? That was new. And what was that in her hands? With a raised brow Nora looked over the zombie's shoulder carefully in an attempt to see what the girl was holding.
"Oh! My! God!" and hollered as loud as her lungs would let her, dropping her sledgehammer in shock.
"Ugh?!" the zombie turned towards her in shock, clenching her comic against herself as she stared in shock and terror at Nora.
"It can't be?!" Nora screamed, a crazed smile on her face. "Is that seriously the newest in the 'Adventures of Zwei' comic?!" she asked, nay, demanded an answer as she grabbed the zombie by the shoulders.
The zombie continued to stare at her, the terror in her eyes slowly disappeared to be replaced with what Nora could only explain as….joy!
"Raaa!" the zombie bounced on the balls of her feet as she shoved the comic in Nora's face. "Rei rsses ra rorces rov rick reeple!"
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Nora screamed in delight as she lifted the zombie, no, not a zombie, but a fellow Zwei aficionado. "I have been desperately wanting to read 'Zwei vs the Forces of Stick People'! It came out the same day as you people!" she hugged her new friend tightly against her chest.
"Raw, ruch a rain," the zombie shook her head as if she were trying to bury the memories of that horrid day, before her eyes lit up once again. "Rrrread! Rrrread rit re!"
"Read with you?!" Nora tore herself away, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "I….Yes, I would be delighted!" she smiled at her comrade, picking up the chair the girl had been previously sitting on and placing it next to another. "This is going to be so much-"
"Nora is everything alri-" Ren rushed in, glaring at the zombie next to her. "Look out!" in a flash Ren pulled out his gun.
Nora watched in horror as time seemed to slow down, the love of her life raising his gun to level it with her new friend's head.
"Noooo!" Nora screamed as she leaped to the side, knocking herself and the zombie over. "Don't do it, Rennie!"
"Nora! What are you doing?!" Ren shouted in horror as he watched Nora clenching the zombie against her body as a makeshift shield. "Let go of her before she bites you!"
"But she's my friend!" Nora sobbed, snot running down her nose.
"Raaaaar, rasty! Rasty!" and onto her friend's face. "Ret ro! Ret ro!"
"...'Ret ro'?" Ren mumbled, staring in shock at the zombie. 'W-was that...speech?' he wondered, taking note of how the zombie, instead of trying to bite Nora, was instead trying to escape her grasp.
"I can't, best buddy!" Nora refused, snuggling closer to the zombie and thus inadvertently covering her hair in more of her snot. "If I do, Rennie will shoot you!"
"Ra rook! Ra rook!"
"The book?!" Nora cried, finally tearing herself away from the girl. "Oh no, was it ruined?!" she stared at the girl's chest, looking at the comic clenched in her hands. "It's...It's…" the zombie carefully held out the comic for all to see.
"...Ro, rits rood," the zombie sighed in relief, handing it over to Nora. "...Ugh," and shuddered as she wiped at her snot ridden face, glaring daggers at Nora, who laughed sheepishly.
"Hee, sorry," she shrugged, reaching into her pocket. "B-but don't worry! This happens a lot so I carry around a handkerchief!" she said as she pulled out said handkerchief and handed it over.
"...Ranks," she nodded gratefully, wiping her face and hair. "Ugh, Rice wirr be roooo rad," she sighed, the handkerchief not being nearly large enough to clean herself completely.
"...So, what's your name?" Ren spoke after a moment of silence, catching both girls attention.
"...Wow, Rennie, rude!" Nora glared at him. "First you try to kill her then you ask her name without introducing yourself?" she shook her head disappointedly at him. "I am so sorry about his manners," she whispered to her new friend, earning a giggle.
"Hee hee, rits ooookie doookie!" she said, her index and thumb coming together for an O. "Mmmmy nammme issss Rrrrruuuuby!"
"Nice to meet you, Rrrrruuuuby!" Nora said as she pat her friend on the back. "My name's Nora! Nora Valkyrie!"
"And I am Lie Ren. Apologies for attempting to shoot you," he bowed, having gotten over meeting a….somewhat intelligent zombie. "I don't suppose you live here?"
"Nnnnoooo," Ruby shook her head. "Thissss rie...brary. Rice rand Rannng maaaake iiiit!"
"You have companions?" Ren asked, mildly shocked at the news. "Can you take us to them? Is it alright for us to meet?"
"You mean I can meet more new friends?!" Nora smiled widely at the idea. It has been far too long since she and Ren found nice people. Most people just wanted to mug them. And then get shot. Or legs smashed. Or both.
"Rrrraaaah!" Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Riiiice wannnntssss…..c-commm….uuunnnni…..teeee!" she drawled out with some difficulty.
"A community?" Ren mumbled. Some semblance of life from before all of this? And if these people were as welcoming as Ruby then….
"Wow, that sounds great! Let's go!" Nora squealed as she began pushing Ruby out the door. "Come on, Rrrrrrruuuuuby! The faster you show us this community the faster-Wait!" she halted suddenly before pulling Ruby back to the table. "Comic first, then community!"
"Nora, the comic can...Wait…." Ren mumbled as Nora and Ruby swiftly became engrossed in their doggy comic. "Okay, I'll just….wait here," he muttered as he sat down in the corner, watching as Nora began reading for Ruby who began giggling at Nora's silly voices.
"Well, patience is a virtue," he smiled, allowing himself to enjoy the sight of Nora happily reading along with the first friend she's made since this whole apocalypse thing first began.
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I've been sick like a dog, sleeping the entire day only to wake up to go to work, then sleeping as soon as I get home. Finally got around to doing this. I hope you guys enjoyed this one, next chapter is the Jaune one!
...Well, it would be if I didn't completely hate him. Next one will briefly mention Jaune(Don't worry, Jaune lovers, I won't abuse him since that would be really petty of me), and will be a bit of Whiterose with a...surprise.