"Hey... Hellooo...? Hey, I know yer tired an' all, but I need you to get up."
Zoey sat up quickly in surprise at the voice, and immediately regretted it. The two moaned as their heads collided, and they jerked back to rub at their throbbing heads.
"Ow... Now why would'ju do that?" The southern accent interrupted the slight ringing in her ears. She glared at nothing in particular, and turned to the man kneeling in front of her.
"Can I ask you what I'm doing here?" She asked while scanning the room with her eyes.
He raised his brown eyes to the ceiling and pressed a thumb to his lip to bite at a nail in a terrible habit, pretending to think about his answer carefully. "Well, you just came here by yourself. I just showed up and brought you in after you decided to pass out over nuthin'." He clapped her on the back and laughed, standing up to move away from her and sit at a wooden chair in the corner of the room.
She hummed, sitting up slower than before, and rested her weight on her hands. "What's your name?" Zoey asked the red-head as he chewed and smacked loudly on some gushers he'd picked up off of the small table beside him. He held him out in an offer as he swallowed and cleared his throat, and Zoey shook her head in the slightest of disgust.
"Well, my name," He smiled, taking off his hat and shaking his long-ish hair around. "is Keith. Pleasure to meet ya, miss."
She nodded and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm Zoey." She introduced slowly, and thought about the man's name and face.
That hat, it looks just like Ellis'... Wait a second...
"Hey-" She started, wanting to ask if he knew-
"Oh man, a story would be real fun righ; now, don'tchu think? Well, I got one. See, I have this best friend- well, I had. I don' know where the hell he is right now," Keith laughed forcefully, "but he's pretty awesome. You'd love him if he met him. See, his name-"
"Is Ellis?" Zoey interrupted, raising an eyebrow.
His eyes widened behind his dark red bangs. "Well, guess you... guess you already met him." He snorted. "That's amazing! So you know where he is? I can't believe the kid's alive! Well... not really surprisin', even if I was the tougher of us two..." the southerner trailed off. Zoey nodded and sighed.
"Well, he and I were with the rest of my- our group...s.. and I kinda got separated from them when I was dragged off... I've been calling out for them since-" She stopped herself to look out a window, and noticed it was early daylight. "-since yesterday afternoon. We had just gotten out of the forest when I was pulled back in and got lost in it." Zoey took in a huff of air and looked to her feet on the floor.
Keith's lips curled into a small frown, before he half smiled and took in a breath to talk. "Well, ain't gonna do any good sitting around here! Why don't we pack up some shit in here, and go out an' look fer them! I'll bet we can find them in no time, together." He grinned and got up from his creaky seat to return next to Zoey. He offered a hand to her, and she pulled on it to stand.
"And that, we shall." She chuckled.
"Do you think she went through here?" Nick asked, plucking the empty hand gun from the dirty water.
"No doubt. She has to be near by, an' if she ain't-"
"Isn't." the conman corrected.
"... isn't near us, then she must be pretty damn fast for coming all this way in one day."He said, wiping some sweat from below his nose.
Nick rolled up his sleeves after getting too hot for the humidity from the rain storm last night. It had both put a dent in finding Zoey and staying safe in the dark while being blind of the heavy water falling on them.
"We'll give it a shot. Just, who knows how far she's gone, now."
"... You guys realize just how fast she went when she was trying to find you guys the first time, right?" Bill commented, remembering how excited she had been when she first heard Ellis' voice and discovered that there were more survivors close by.
"She doesn't really have a reason to go so fast, this time. She's LOST, and unless she were being chased, you'd think she wouldn't get too far." Ellis argued.
"... Alright. Let's just get out of this hillbilly pig stye and get back on the toad. I didn't like the idea of coming into a swamp the first time, and I sure as hell don't like it the second. … with my goddmansuitbeinghorriballyde stroyed..." Nick carried off his sentence as he waded through the murky water, bickering silently about his ruined suit.
"Cut your bitching, Nick. You could always get another one." Bill grumbled, and Ellis laughed to the side at the middle finger the conman tossed at the eldest.
"Do... you wanna- wait- don't you wanna heal up first...?" Keith was trying to get her to listen as Zoey threw cans to the side in piles.
"Can't, need to pack." If she was going to find her friends, she was going to find them as soon as possible.
"Well, I ain't doing it for you." He raised his hands in the air and shook his head, leaving the room.
"... He's weird." She chuckled. Zoey went back to rummaging through the cabinets, tossing the expired and unuseful food to her left, and piling the good to the right where she could sort through and pack up later. She threw the last two cans to the left and climbed off of the counter. Her knees buckled from her weight resting on them for so long, and she nearly fell to the floor had there not been a wall next to her to catch her balance.
Zoey straightened up and stretched herself out, locking her fingers together and raising them above her head. Keith walked back in, popping his knuckles loudly and started chattering on about how warm it was outside. She blinked, hardly listening.
"-and you might wanna tie that jacket around yer waist or somethin', because if you go out with that thing on, you'll fry and sweat like a freaking pig. Carry light, too. It's never fun lugging around so much shit when it's that hot outside."
Zoey nodded, stripping her red jacket from her arms to hold it in her hand. She scrunched up her nose at the stench taking off a piece of her clothing made. Man, she needed a bath.
As if reading her thoughts, Keith was rambling on about that, too., "The water is working here if you wanna get in the tub and wash all of that gunk off. I ain't one to complain, but... I think we all know ya need one." Zoey turned back, and laughed embarrassingly at how he was waving a hand in front of his nose to prove his point of her odor.
"I'm sorry, it's been a long while since I've last seen a shower with working water. Thanks." She nodded, and Keith pointed in the direction of the bathroom. Zoey walked off, snatching a towel from the hallway closet on her way there, She pulled her hair out of it's pony tail once she was in the room and closed the door behind her to started peeling her revolting clothes from her body.
She slightly jumped at the knock on the door, and turned to it as if it;s only going to respond if she were looking. "Um.. Yea?"
"Hey, Zoey? I can wash your clothes for you while you're cleaning yourself, if you want." A muffled voice asked.
"Alright." She accepted the offer gratefully and grabbed her clothes off of the floor. She cracked the door open and shoved them through, grinning at how nice he was to her. "Thank you, Keith. Really."
"You're very welcome." Was all he said before walking off to the laundry room. She closed the door once more after withdrawing her hand, and walked over to turn on the water. The shower hissed briefly before smoothing out and running the clean water around the bath tub. She flipped the plug so the water ran through the hot shower head and turned it to the 'H' for hot setting.
Zoey strode back to the mirror, and was surprised when she saw just how exhausted she looked. Faded pink scratches ran along her thin cheeks and neck, her skin looking worn and slightly swollen. There were the faintest of bags under her eyes for the lack of sleep during restless nights since day one of the sickness. She removed her towel, looking at the rest of her figure. Zoey gasped when she saw faint bruises on her hips and stomach from her first hunter attack, and ugly scars running along her back and thighs. A deep wound on her right leg stood out from when she was badly beaten during the car alarm incident. Bile and blood surrounded her body all together, and she shivered, not wanting to look at herself any longer.
She turned away from her reflection and tested the water with her hand. She climbed in when it reached a satisfying temperature, and had to stiffle a moan when she felt just how amazing the hot water felt on her skin. The young woman dipped her head into the water and scrubbed at her hair, slightly disgusted at how the water turned a deep pink before fading out and changing to a light color of green and yellow.
Zoey hardly realized until now how heavy her hair was from the vomit and gore as it washed away, and she began to hum her own little tune as she cleaned the rest of her thinning body. She bent down in the tub to brag a rag off of the floor and wipe at her dirty feet with it. She brought it back up to wash at her neck, hissing quietly when remembering her cuts the hard way. Zoey's skin slightly stung and throbbed as she washed behind her ears and her shoulders. She sighed, wishing she could stand a little longer in the warm shower, but turned to put the water out.
She stepped out of the bath tub, squeezing some water out of her hair and grabbing her towel off of the closed toilet seat next to her. Zoey wiped at her face, sniffing in and closing her eyes in the cloth. Being clean felt... awesome.
She dried the rest of her body and wrapped the towel around herself before walking out of the humid room. The young survivor looked both ways down the hall, and headed for one of the rooms to search for temporary clothes to wear while her others washed. She walked across the room and yelped when she tripped over a metal box.
Zoey tilted her head in curiosity, holding the towel up at her chest with one hand as she stared at the black little box down at her feet. She crawled over on the rough carpet to pick up her finding, and frowned when she discovered that it was locked. She looked around the room, searching under the large bed and fumbling around in drawers. Zoey 'Aha!'d silently when she picked at some keys, and pulled them out. Zoey shoved them in the little slot and turned the lock this way and that before finally managing to open it.
The metal box rattled as coins and other small objects slid around in it. Zoey's eyes widened with a slow smile as she pulled out a hand gun from the box. She dug around some more in it, finding only two clips for the gun. She shrugged, shoving one of the clips in and moving the other to the side. The rest of the stuff in the box were no use to her; only a few twenty dollar bills and a note.
Dear Kelly,
We left this gun and some money for you, with this dangerous flu and all.
Take care and hope to see you soon, Mama.
Zoey crumpled the paper and tossed it to the side. Well, Kelly, you were a little late.
She crawled over to the large dresser and stood up next to it before opening each drawer. Socks. Underwear. Clothes! The dull-colored pants and shirts weren't her style, but she'll make do with the sweat pants and loose tee.
Zoey walked across the room, shut the door and locked it for privacy, She let her towel drop to the floor and turned on her heel to start putting on the baggy clothes. There was a knock on the door right after she had finished pulling on the shirt, and Zoey opened it faster than she needed to.
Keith had his fist raised in the knocking position, and he jumped in his place. "Oh, hiya." He smiled. "jus' came by to tell you that your clothes are drying now, so it'll be done in... maaaybe an hour. You doin' okay?" He tilted his head slightly, and Zoey nodded.
"Just great." She smiled back.
"I can cook somethin' up if you want, or make you some-"
"Keith, please. This is too much. Besides, we need to head out on the road, if that's alright with you."
The southerner nodded in understanding, grinning. "Okie-Dokie. You sure you still want your other clothes, though? 'Cause... They're torn pretty bad."
Zoey curled her lips into a line and knitted her eyebrows together in thought. She nodded quickly. "I wanna keep the clothes until we get to safety. They're... Like my.. Like my little battle outfit." She chuckled. Keith laughed back and tugged on his own shirt with two fingers.
"Same here."
Nick ran a hand through his long black hair, sighing. Everyone was confused on whether they wanted to be happy or nervous that Zoey was dropping her stuff all over the place. Louis had gone ahead of them at one point and found her almost-empty rifle on the pavement they were walking on.
"... Maybe she's down the road, or something. We know Zoey well enough to know that she couldn't stay out in the dark by herself, no matter how talented with self defense and guns she is. I'm guessing she went and got some shelter, if her missing presence isn't enough of a clue." Rochelle pointing to the houses to prove her point, and a few of the men looked to where the reporter was gesturing. Coach nodded.
"Then what are we standing around here for? Let's start looking in the houses!"
Bill began to lead the group with a jog towards the first house excitedly. If she were gone any longer, he just might go even more a little insane.
Ellis began to trot to catch up to him, a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach, telling him that he had a surprise waiting for him.
Keith set down the binoculars on the small coffee table next to his chair, looking away from the back house window. "Hey Zoey, we got company. Get your gun."
"... But, I don't have my gun..." She said, quickly remembering how she had left her rifle out on the street. She was looking out the same window as she spoke, and was surprised when she was handed an AK47. "Isn't this yours?"
"Nope. I just borrowed that one from where I found it here by the front door. I have another two hunting rifles in the back closet." Keith said with a nod towards the said closet. Zoey nodded, looking down at her new weapon in her hands and frowned. "You're alright with usin; that one, aren't you, Zoey?"
"... I've always used a rifle, so that's always been my comfortable case." She said hesitantly, and Keith only kept that same grin he'd been wearing since she met him.
"That's okay. Just gimmie a second to get them."
Zoey nodded as the southerner trotted off around the corner to retrieve the said weapons, and she looked out the window, noticing the growing pack of infected ready to break down their door. There were already loud bangs at the metal entrance, and Zoey nearly winced at both their stupidity, and sad hunger for human flesh. She could smell the decay of their own skin from even in here, and was hoping Keith would be back any second.
There was a sigh and footsteps heard as the southerner walked back to her with guns in his arms, and he tossed one to her. "Ready to blow off some heads?" He smirked. Zoey giggled and nodded, checking her ammo. There was a full clip ready for her in the weapon, and she nodded to herself while pushing it back into place. She looked back at the door, resting her arm by her side.
"How do you think they figured out we were here?" Her eyebrows knitted together.
"I... don't have a clue." The southerner said with semi-wide eyes.
Zoey looked down to her feet, not really knowing what to say, and shrugged. "... Well, we don't really have time to worry about it," she pointed to the two windows on either side of the door. "because it looks like they're about to get in."
Keith nodded, holding up his weapon and pacing quickly to the door. He looked back at the younger of the two and half-smiled. "Now yew ready?"
Zoey chuckled and nodded back. "Ready as I can be." She didn't care if she had been killing those bastards for countless weeks. She was not, and never will be ready to fight them.
The southerner took a deep breath, unlatched the door, and he began to tear bullets into the infected.
"Zoey, yknow what would be awesome?" He asked, grunting as he threw the end of his weapon into the twisted face of a stubborn zombie.
"Huh?"
"Is if you helped- OW- me!" He shouted. Keith yelped again as an infected sunk their teeth into his arm, and tore some skin and muscle off. He hissed loudly and screamed, dropping his gun and grabbing his bloody limb.
"Keith!" Zoey yelled, finally giving herself the adrenaline to shove off the sick and kill them. She ran at her new friend, pulling him back inside, before closing the door and locking herself out with the hungry flesh-eaters. "How does this feel?!" She shouted. Zoey kicked an infected in the stomach to knock them away, and fired at two others that were clawing at her.
"So.. Depeche Mode, huh?" Nick asked, looking down at the reporter's shirt. He realized the conversation wasn't going to get anywhere interesting, but noise was all the conman wanted to hear.
Even Ellis was not talking.
Rochelle nodded, not looking back at him. "Yea, I've always liked their music as a kid."
The card shark opened his mouth to reply, but froze with the rest of the group when loud, repeative gunfire was heard close by. "Do you think it might be...?"
"It has to be Zoey. Who else?" Rochelle smiled with hope.
The other companions grinned at each other, and all at once like something had cued them, they took off towards the source of the noise.
"She shouldn't be too far..." Francis' voice shook as he ran.
"And being alone, she had to have stopped for some reason." Louis added.
The gunshots became louder, and the closer they got to the sound, the more... agonized they sounded. Infected were faintly heard screaming, and although they knew it was supposed to be panic or rushing of some sort, it just sounded like noise. But there was something that caused the horde to be there. Something that attracted the infected. Something that did sound like panic.
"Zoey!" Ellis bellowed, spotting the bright red in the dull, hungry crowd. Her face looked contorted of pain, anger, and concentration all at once. She seemed to swing around her nearly empty rifle harder with each blow, but at the same time, seemed to grow weaker with each punch taken to her body. Ellis shot carefully at a few of the infected that were clawing at the younger's clothes, and a few of the other survivors joined in to help.
Zoey heard the other shots. Even over all the chaos shoving her around and screaming in her ears. But she couldn't look at her friends right now. She wasn't allowed to. She just needed to get the job done and tear the enemies down before she can reunite with her friends.
She whined as the infected she was swinging at dodged the attack and smacked her in the face. She grunted when another sick ran for her, but tripped over itself and landed hard on Zoey's own feet. She hissed from a kick to the stomach. She moaned at a scratch to her back. She yelped when she was punched in the temple. She screamed when she got bitten. She cried when she fell. She blacked out when she was beaten into the cement ground.