Thanks for the reviews and to CosmicGunslinger for editing (even when he has exams).

Lara's first kiss had been with a girl named Amanda. She was smart, sassy and confident. They had met at the Oxford quarantine zone - the only one she had been to - and had bonded immediately.

Lara's parents had just died, and Amanda was there with a distraction. Her beauty and her forwardness had made it easy, and they had spent the next week snogging on and off. Then, Amanda had decided to sneak out of the QZ to seek a safer place. She had wanted Lara to come along but she didn't want to leave Roth, who was practically her only family left.

They had kissed one last time that night in the room they had given her, and then she left.

That was the last time she saw her.

Now, she was with Sam.

"Hey wait," Sam said, grabbing her arm before she walked off. "You have something on your mouth."

Lara brushed her fingers across her lips. She couldn't feel anything. "What is it?" she asked.

Sam touched her lips with her fingertips and then kissed her. "Me."

Lara rolled her eyes but grinned. "Smooth, Sam." She kissed her back.

It was different being with her - it wasn't just a fling or a distraction. Sam was her girlfriend now, and she had been there for her during her toughest moments. It was so strange thinking about her that way, yet it was less complicated in real life. They had been so close before, and it only felt natural to progress their relationship to the next level.

Red-cheeked and bashful, they snogged like teenagers every night. Whilst Sam had no qualms about doing it in wherever and whenever, Lara was a little more hesitant. She had never slept with anyone before and Sam's eagerness made her nervous.

Lara knew all too well about Sam's past… adventures. Despite their school's tough policies, Sam still managed to tease and sneak off with the boys at the nearby all-boys' school at night. She didn't know about her... activities after the outbreak, but she had a strong feeling that Sam and Will had slept together before they came to the resort.

Knowing about all these men Sam had been with…it made Lara worry that she wouldn't be able to please Sam in the way she wanted. That was the reason why she stopped her hands from wandering too far when they reached down her pants one night.

"Stop," Lara whispered, catching Sam's wrist.

Sam leaned back from the kiss, breathless and her brow furrowed. "What's wrong sweetie?" She was straddling her across her hips, leaning down over her to kiss her.

"Umm… do you really think you should be doing this?" she asked nervously. "I mean, with your ribs and all that."

Sam laughed. "I've been running around and throwing myself into the ground for the past few days," she said. "If that hasn't worsened my condition I don't think this will." She kissed her again but Lara turned her head.

"Look, I…" She looked down at Sam's stomach, biting her lower lip.

This was so embarrassing…

"I umm…I don't think I'm ready," she said, running her thumb back and forth over her thigh. "I've…I've never done this with anyone before, and I don't know if I want to do this now."

Sam raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "You haven't slept with anyone before?" she asked. "I find that hard to believe."

Lara felt heat rise to her cheeks and she looked away awkwardly. "Look…you know why I haven't, Sam. I just…never really cared about this before. I haven't really until I met you. And I just…don't know what to do…I'm sorry."

Sam rested her hands on her shoulders and stroked her shoulders with her thumbs. Lara still couldn't look up, afraid that Sam would snicker at her.

"You know it's okay to be nervous?" she said softly, getting off her and sitting by her side. "You don't have to be embarrassed. If you don't want to do this then we won't. I'll wait for you until you're ready."

Lara looked at her. Sam was sincere about this, and it made her smile. She had been afraid that Sam would laugh at her but she should have known her friend better than that.

"Thank you," she said. She pecked Sam on her cheek and wrapped her arms around her. This was one of the many times in the past three days where she wondered how she was lucky enough to have her.

It took longer than usual to reach the town as Sam and Lara stayed off the main road. It took a while to find out where they were, and when they reached the main road again they decided it was too dangerous to travel along it.

So, they stayed a good kilometre away from it and travelled through the fields and woods. It was on the afternoon of the third day that they reached the town, and Lara was relieved.

"I don't see Jonah or Reyes anywhere," Sam said, looking around. She placed a hand to her ribs but didn't look like she was struggling to breathe.

Lara had a nervous feeling in her stomach and she drew her gun. Roth's pistol gave her a sense of comfort and she advanced forward into the bunker house. "Come on," she told Sam. "Be careful."

She went towards the back of the house, keeping an eye out for biters or anyone else. The house was quiet and Lara reduced her steps to match the silence. Something had changed in here - it was hard to pinpoint but the place didn't seem the same as before. Could it have been Jonah, Reyes and Alisha who had moved things? Or was it someone else?

The sliding door to the backyard was closed. There wasn't anything interesting outside and everything seemed the same.

Lara slid open the glass and stepped outside.

Something blurred in her peripheral vision and she jumped back quickly. The metal pole which had been about to hit her smashed into the glass door instead and the attacker shouted, "Shit!"

Lara kicked the man back and grabbed him by the collar before he could react. She pinned him against the wall with her arm and pressed her gun against his temple.

"Don't shoot!" he begged, holding his hands up in surrender. "Please, I didn't mean it."

Lara cocked her gun. She had heard that before. "Why shouldn't I?" she asked.

"I have a brother," he said, his eyes darting towards the hidden bunker. "We heard people coming and I'm just trying to protect him."

Lara narrowed her eyes at him and looked him over. His eyes were wide and despite his height, he looked young, maybe a few years younger than her. Lara didn't usually trust strangers but she didn't want to shoot another kid, especially if he was only looking out for someone else.

"Sam. Watch him while I frisk him," she said.

She holstered her pistol and patted down the boy. "I don't have anything," he said. "We have no guns."

Lara found that that was true. She stood up and kicked the pole he had used to attack her away from them. "What's your name?" she asked, turning back.

"Ben," he said, still looking nervous. "What's yours?"

Lara ignored him and walked over to the cellar, drawing her gun. The bushes that she and Sam and used to cover it up were gone, pushed to the side.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Ben asked, panicked.

"Sam and I found this place first," Lara said, pulling open the cellar. "We need food, and supplies." She grabbed Ben who didn't resist despite his height and shoved him in front of her. "Get down there."

Sam walked over to her. "What are you going to do?" she asked her quietly.

Lara knew what Sam was worried about but she wasn't that brash anymore. Her girlfriend had helped her achieve a sense of calm again. "Don't worry," she said. "I won't hurt them unless they try anything."

She followed Ben down the cellar, pointing her gun at him. "Don't try anything," she warned. "I will shoot you."

"Graham?" Ben said. "It's okay." The bunker was dimly illuminated with a lantern. At the corner of the room, a young boy who looked a lot like Ben emerged tentatively. Ben walked over to him and put an arm around him protectively.

"Don't worry," Sam said to them. "We're not going to hurt you."

Lara looked around the room. There was less food than when they had last been here, and it looked well lived in.

"How long have you two been in here?" she asked.

"I don't know," Ben answered, moving in front of his brother. "A month maybe?"

Lara looked at them. They had relied on this place being hidden enough that no one would find it. Staying at this place was the best backup plan they had and now it was compromised.

They couldn't kick Ben and Graham out of this place though - it didn't feel right. She wondered if Reyes and the others had encountered them when they came.

"Did other people come here?" Lara asked them. "A few days ago maybe."

"Umm…yeah," Ben answered. "Two women and one guy. They were the only ones who found us until you guys today."

"What were their names?" Sam asked.

"Reyes, Jonah and Alisha," Graham said, emerging from behind his brother. "They asked for some food and then left."

"Do you know where they went?" Lara asked.

Graham glanced at Lara then back at Sam. "Umm…no. We didn't ask."

Lara sighed. Okay, great. So they were running out of supplies and had no future goal. She shared a glance with Sam who seemed to be as unsure as her.

Lara looked back at the brothers. "We need food," she said. "And a few of those batteries, some painkillers-"

"Woah," Ben interrupted. "We can't give you all those things. We need them."

"You don't need all of them," Lara said. "I also want one of those blankets."

"We can't give you these," Ben said, straightening.

"You gave some food to the people before us," Lara pointed out.

"And that's why we can't spare anymore. What we have now - it will last us about two more months."

"Which is more than enough time for you to think of another plan." She stared at Ben, who was uncertain but still not backing down. "We just need a few supplies. Then we'll leave."

Ben hesitated and looked at Graham. Lara waited patiently, watching for any sign of tomfoolery.

"We want a gun," Ben said, turning towards them.

Lara raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I'm stupid?" she asked.

Ben squared his jaw and managed to look her in the eye. "You're taking something of ours, we want something in return. One of your pistols. You guys have three between you anyways."

"That's not happening," Lara said.

Ben shrugged. "Then no deal."

Lara gritted her teeth and sighed. "Fine," she said. They had another pistol anyways, hidden in her bag. "We'll give you one gun. For the food, some painkillers, a few batteries and one of those blankets."

Relief passed over Ben's face but managed to nod. "Okay, fine."

They made the trade in tense silence. Ben gave them five cans of food, two MRE's, four batteries and one of the mylar blankets. It was a lot for one pistol, but guns were rare in this country and having one was a major asset.

Lara emptied the clip of one of the spare guns before handing them to Ben.

"Thank you," Sam said, standing close by her side. "We'll leave you alone now."

"I-I'll walk you out," Ben said. He was keeping an eye on them.

"A word of warning," Lara told him as he escorted them out of the house. "Hide the bunker. Stay inside for the next week. If you hear people outside be prepared for a fight. It's not safe now."

Ben swallowed. "What? Are you guys wanted or something?"

Lara didn't want to tell him the whole truth but felt like he deserved a warning anyways. "Just stay inside."

Ben frowned at her but left them at the front of the house. Lara relaxed now that they weren't at risk and took a deep breath.

"So what do we do now?" Sam asked.

Lara looked around. It was dangerous staying here when Ben and Graham were right next to them but she had no idea where else to go. It was afternoon and they would need to stop soon after getting on the road if they left.

"We could stay here," Lara suggested. "In one of those houses. "

"Isn't that dangerous?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, but I doubt Ben and Graham are going to come out and attack us." She began walking towards the house furthest from the bunker.

"Were you actually going to shoot them?" Sam asked. Lara could hear the hesitation in her voice.

She shook her head. "No. They're kids. I wouldn't do that." She just thought a bit of intimidation would help.

"Okay," Sam said.

They rested in the master bedroom of one of the houses. Lara pushed a table against the broken door and did a quick search of the house. She changed into a white button up shirt she had found but there was nothing else of interest, and by nightfall they were sharing a MRE whilst covered in blankets.

"It's getting warmer," Sam observed, sitting next to her. She handed her the last of the meal. "Only slightly."

Lara smiled at her. Their only source of light was the moonlight streaming in from the window and it only barely illuminated the room. "I'm looking forward to summer," she said. "No more rain and freezing temperatures."

She finished off the food and put the bag on the floor. Then, she pulled the blanket back over her and Sam.

Sam rested her head on her chest and Lara put an arm around her shoulders. She breathed a sigh of contentment and kissed her forehead.

"Where should we go?" Sam asked. "We can't stay here."

"I don't know," Lara said, stroking her arm absently-mindedly. "I don't really know anywhere safe to go. We could go find Reyes and the others or we could head out on our own."

Sam shrugged. "We don't know where the others are. It might take too long to find them." She sighed. "Maybe we should head to a city or- oh!" She sat up and leaned over her. "We could go find a cabin in the mountains like you always wanted."

Lara laughed and ruffled her hair playfully. She had forgotten about that. "That sounds lovely," she said. "But you were right. I was a bit delusional when I said that."

Sam smiled and leaned back down onto her chest. "I never said that," she said. "And you were so sweet for suggesting it."

Lara smiled and turned on her side so they were facing each other. They weren't exactly in a mountain cabin but they were together and she was so happy.

She placed a gentle hand on Sam's ribs. "Does it still hurt?" she asked. Sam had taken a few of the painkillers before but she wasn't sure how the bones were healing.

Sam shook her head. "Not really," she said. "I'm not sure if all the running made things worse though. I hope it heals soon."

Lara slipped her fingers under Sam's shirt and stroked her waist. Sam shivered and pressed her face into the pillow. "Your hands are cold," she said.

Lara smiled and kissed her lips. "Sorry."

They rested in silence. She was so tired from the past week and being in Sam's arms was so comfortable. This was a rare moment of comfort and peace and Lara could feel herself drifting off.

"Why don't we head to Cardiff?" Sam asked.

Lara was already half-asleep. She snorted and opened her eyes. "Cardiff?" she asked.

"Those guys who kidnapped you; Grant or whatever, they mentioned something about Cardiff. There's a community there I think, with walls, food and water."

Lara frowned. After everything she had been through, she didn't want to join up with a larger group again. She had thought the resort would have been their permanent residence- that they wouldn't have to run anymore. Maybe if it was just Roth and the others it would have been fine, but they had let more people in and it had all fallen from there.

"How do you know that's true?" Lara asked.

"I don't. But what if it is? We could be set for life."

"That's what I thought about the resort."

Sam sat up slightly and looked at her. In the pale moonlight, her eyes looked grey. "I think it's a risk we should take, Lara. We don't have a better idea."

"We could still try to find that cabin in the mountains," Lara suggested dryly.

Sam snorted. "I know you don't like being around people, but we should try," she said. "Wouldn't it be nice to live somewhere safe where we don't have to worry about anything?"

Lara hesitated. The idea of living amongst a large group again made her uncomfortable, but she couldn't fault Sam's logic. And unless she could come up with a better idea there wasn't really elsewhere to go. "Okay," she said. "We'll head to Cardiff."

Sam smiled and snuggled closer to her. "Cool," she said.

Lara sighed and wrapped her arms around her, closing her eyes. Sam must have sensed her worry as she poked her in the stomach. "Don't worry, Lara," she murmured. "I have a good feeling about this."