Troubles

Allen Walker

Apparently there were so many survivors living here that the ones in charge -Komui Lee, Froi Teidoll, a woman named Klaud Nine, Reever Wenhamm, and so on- had created a job roster to rotate who worked what, and when they did so.

It made sense, really. They couldn't have some doing all the work while the rest lazed about doing nothing. It wasn't fair that way. In this do-or-die world, if you didn't work, you didn't deserve to eat. That's just how things were now.

My group, along with the Link's, had gone over the list with Komui earlier, and had officially been integrated in.

There'd been paperwork. Like, legit paperwork.

I thought we'd escaped all of that stuff years ago, but here we were in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and we still had to deal with it. Most of it had to do with things like name, sex, age, health problems/physical status (allergies, disabilities, wounds and so on) and job preferences.

That, too, made sense when I thought about it.

They'd need to keep the boys and the girls in separate designated bathing and sleeping areas for obvious reasons to do with privacy. People of certain ages wouldn't be able to perform some of the more menial task, be they too young or old. And the list went on.

I'd signed up for supply runs and patrols, which, unsurprisingly enough, not many volunteered for.

Lala was on gardening, Emilia on cooking and inventory, Narain on doctorial duties and helping out in the main office -which was what the area Komui worked in had been dubbed-, and the kids were doing odd jobs, mainly ones to do with cleaning.

There were other things to do, like mechanics, which usually consisted of performing weekly check-ups on the solar powered generators, and fixing the odd car or two. Another was to actually be in charge of supplies, and that involved sorting clothing, taking care of all weapons, and handing out foodstuffs.

The whole process was well thought out, and everything -be if from work to toiletries- was divided equally amongst the survivors.

It was only our first day here, but I could already tell that it was a good place. Timothy, Jan and Mei-Ling really seemed to like it here, so that was always a plus. It was less temporary, with more space for them to run around and stretch their legs. They deserved this.

They'd earned it.

I smiled to myself, thinking of the looks on their faces when they'd seen the small makeshift playground and surrounding hopscotch chalk drawings.

Tiredly and sluggishly I rolled myself onto my side, and was greeted with the same view as before. I couldn't see a thing; they hadn't been joking when they'd said the lights in this room didn't work.

However, I was fine with that.

As of sometime over an hour ago, I'd sprawled out on top of my new bed -which was unexpectedly comfortable, all things considering-, and was now staring over at the inky blackness that was this room's wall.

Day one had practically ended. It was over just like that.

Everyone should have been asleep by now -excluding those on patrol-, but I just… I was cold, though, that didn't really matter anymore. I'd already given up on warmth a long time ago.

Slowly I closed my eyes, reluctant to do so, but still relinquishing myself to the memories that forced their way through my subconscious and operated on replay time and time again.

I was used to them now.

o

O

Her head nestled in closer to my freezing body. That spikey indigo hair of hers had grown out past her chin, tickling my bare chest.

"You're so warm, Fourteenth…"

Her voice was kind and contented.

"How can you be cold?"

Pretty orbs of amber blink up at me; they were easy to see now that our room had that little lamp in the corner.

"Then I'll just hug you 'til you're warm again!"

Thin arms wrap around my lower body.

"See?"

The heat they gave off wasn't much, but it was enough.

"Now you say 'thank you'!"

Road was a very loud girl.

"C'mon! 'Thank you'! It's ea-sy~"

But I wouldn't trade her for anything.

O

o

The first thing I noticed was my teeth chattering like crazy, and the next was that my body was cold as ice. Or that's what it felt like to me, at least.

I threw off my blankets, shivering in my place. After another moment of freezing agony, I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, bringing my knees to me chest as I huddled up into a stiff ball to conserve what little heat my faulty body gave off.

My eyes, wide and wild, landed on the faint shape of the pile of clothing I'd thrown haphazardly on the floor before I'd gone to bed. I barely had time to process the thought in my mind when I scrambled for it, struggling to pull a black hoodie over my head.

It was among my favourites, the other two sharing that title consisting of a pair of dark grey sweats that I found comfortable to sleep in, and the scarf I'd lost curtesy of my fight with Kanda.

That line of thought cut of as a rather violent shudder ran through me, beginning in my upper body, mainly centred on my chest and back, and ending by reaching all the way down the soles of my feet, which tingled afterwards. It made me feel out of place in my own skin.

Another weaker tremor soon followed, raising goose bumps and making the fine white hairs on my arms and legs stand on end.

I hated this.

From experience, I knew that I should be moving around right now. I had to get my blood pumping, if only just a little.

After checking to make sure I was properly covered, I opened the door to my new room. It didn't even creak.

I unhurriedly padded down the hallway, hands stuffed in the front pocket of my hoodie, head hidden by the hood. It didn't matter where I ended up, not really, so long as I could warm myself.

The halls were pitch black, the doors further down all shut, and when I descended the stairs to the foyer, I could see through the glass entryway that there was a dim circle of yellow illuminating a small area outside. Beneath it was a familiar motionless blond, his arms crossed over his chest.

I pushed past the glass door, feeling the corners of my lips lift as Link started at my soundless approach.

"Walker?" He looked at me, his eyes like charcoal in this light. "You…"

"I'm fine," I quickly dismissed. "You couldn't sleep either?"

For me, this was a common occurrence. Him, on the other hand… Maybe he just needed to get used to the new base.

I sighed, the sound loud in the awkward silence that had settled over us. Not that it was completely silent. From where I stood, I could hear the ocean lapping against the shore.

I knew it was alright for me to be weak around Link; it wasn't like this would be the first time I'd done it. And he was the kind of person who could keep a secret. He wasn't overly caring or considerate of me or anything, but neither was he harsh.

He listened.

"I'm still cold… and… it's getting worse."

He quirked a brow, but otherwise remained quiet, knowing me well enough to wait. That was one of the things I appreciated the most about him.

He was one of those people who were easy to be with. Sort of.

A lot of people… they weren't always the best, but that was to be expected. Humans weren't a very nice species after all.

Still though, I was happy. Even now with this stupid body of mine protesting against every little thing I did, against every place I went, against… well, everything.

"How long will I have to put up with this?"

Truth be told, the outside world was a lot different than I'd remembered. It was scarier. But that didn't mean I wanted to go back. Never again did I want to see that tiny little cell or that dumb grey building or those big white-coat bastards or-

If outside was scary, then that place was worse than the stuff of nightmares. And since I was living a life like this, a nightmare, that really said a lot about where I'd been before.

This world was beautiful in its own odd way. The ocean, too, was nice. Better than my cell at least; all of it was. Even the bad things.

I liked the sky. It was always changing colours. Sometimes it would be big and blue, and others it would be this amazing shade of orange, like someone had set the horizon alight.

Of course, none of that stopped the pain.

It didn't make anything better, didn't make me normal, didn't make me warm.

"What's happening to me?"

IXIXI

Originally, I was gonna throw in a couple more chapters because I thought things were moving too quickly, but to hell with it. Let's bring on the plot!

Sorry this is late. I forgot how to write for a while after being separated from my laptop for over a week. And life got in the way.

So I'm still on hiatus because I'm a bit busy right now, but I really wanted to update this.