Chapter 29
"Jane," Maura whispered softly while she clung to her wife, "I'm scared."
Jane strengthened their close embrace. "They're busy with the deer now, Maura. They're probably not even seeing the house."
"Yes, for now. But it will draw out more walkers. The herd will get bigger. What if it gets too big, Jane?" She said as she lifted her head to look at the dark haired detective.
Jane sighed. "I don't know." She whispered, her voice barely audible.
Jane felt a sting in her chest and the knot in her stomach tighten. They had no choice but to stay in the bathroom. They didn't have guns; going outside would be suicide. It would be impossible to take on the herd with just knifes; even if it was a relatively small one. The only thing they could do was sitting it out.
"I need distraction." Jane said, shifting next to her wife, looking around for anything to distract her from the hurling, snarling sounds coming from outside of the cottage. She needed to keep her thoughts off the situation they were in or she was going to lose her mind.
"Do you remember our first kiss?" Maura asked, trying to find a talking subject. Jane looked at Maura and saw the doctor looking at her with loving eyes.
She eased down a bit. "Yeah, I do." She smiled, remembering the moment. "I think that was the scariest moment of my life." Jane said, blushing. "But it was also the best moment of my life."
"Really? Kissing me was the scariest moment in your life? After surviving in a world that is taken over by dead creatures trying to eat us?" Maura smiled adoringly at her wife leaning against the bathroom wall.
"Yeah." Jane laughed. "I was so afraid you'd reject me and I'd ruin our friendship. I was madly in love with you and I didn't even realize it for so long."
"Little did you know that I had been in love with you for even longer." Maura smiled, placing a sweet kiss on Jane's cheek.
"How was I supposed to know? Yeah, it was pretty obvious afterwards but not at the moment! I just thought those adoring looks and lingering touches were signs of a good friendship. Not any friendship that I'd ever been in, but still…"
Maura laughed and put a strand of dark hair behind Jane's ear. "Oh Jane." She kissed her wife's temple. "It took us both a while, but it was all worth it."
Jane let out a soft laugh. "I was so indescribably happy when you accepted that kiss."
"I was indescribably happy when you finally kissed me." Maura pressed her lips to Jane's. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my feelings sooner."
"It's a little late for that, Maur." Jane grinned as she kissed her wife back.
"I'm still sorry. We could have had so much more amazing moments if I would have admitted my feelings sooner."
"I wasn't ready back then." Jane shrugged. "I was so overwhelmed by my feelings for you. I needed time to figure them out, and I needed time to adjust to the fact that I was in love with a woman." Jane sighed, the air thickened with emotional pressure as she went on. "I needed time to realize and accept the fact that I've actually been attracted to women my whole life."
Maura kissed the corner of her wife's mouth, letting the kiss linger for a moment. "I know, my love."
Jane knew Maura had known all her life that she was attracted to both men and women. She had been with both before. Jane had only been with men, but nothing ever worked out. Which wasn't surprising, considering the fact that she wasn't attracted to men at all. None of the relationships she ever had felt like what she had with Maura. It didn't even come close.
"I'm glad you took the time. It led to the best time of my life." Maura said softly, interrupting Jane's thoughts.
Jane smiled. "Mine too." She kissed Maura softly on the lips. "I mean, I wouldn't exactly call this the best time of my life," she said, referring to the monsters outside, "but you made my life so much better."
"I love you, Jane." Maura smiled and pulled Jane into her arms, pressing a trail of wet kisses down her wife's neck.
Jane let out a soft moan. "I love you too, Maur." She said softly, her hands massaging Maura's hips.
"I love your neck." Maura purred. "Especially this spot." She pressed open-mouthed kisses to the crook of her wife's neck.
Jane hummed as she felt her arousal built. "You better stop that or else I'm not responsible for my actions." She said in a soft, husky voice.
"Maybe I don't want you to be." Maura replied in a seductive voice.
"Don't tease if you're not gonna do anything about it, please." Jane took Maura's head in her hands, placing a sweet kiss on her lips.
Maura smiled and looked lovingly into her wife's deep, brown eyes. They both knew they had to be quiet and alert; it wasn't the time for things like this, no matter how much they longed for it.
Maura hummed, leaning in for another light kiss. "I know."
"I should check outside." Jane said, reluctant to break the contact.
Maura smiled at smoothed Jane's unruly curls. "Okay." She whispered as she placed a last kiss on her wife's cheek.
Jane climbed up on the toilet again, looking out of the small window. Immediately, her muscles tensed up and she sucked in a sharp breath. The herd had grown. And not just a little bit. There were probably more than fifty monsters out there. The deer was being torn apart by dozens of walkers; there wasn't much left of the animal.
"What's happening, Jane?" She heard her wife ask with a concerned voice.
"It's bigger." Jane answered as she placed her palms on the wall in front of her. "There are too many."
"What do you mean? Jane? Are we okay in here?" Maura grabbed Jane's wrist, urging her wife to look at her.
"We don't have a choice." Jane said, turning around. Her shoulders fell as she looked at Maura with sad eyes. "We can't go out there. We're stuck in here."
Maura tried to speak, but got interrupted by a scratching sound coming from downstairs. Her eyes were wide as she looked at Jane with a shocked expression. "What was that?"
Jane closed her eyes as she slid down the wall. "The front door, probably."
Maura stood up, looking down at her wife with a panicked look. "What do you mean the front door? How can they get up the stairs?!"
Jane hissed and stood up to face her wife. "For God's sake, be quiet, Maura!" She whispered. "It's not a steep stairs leading up to the house! If there's enough of them, they can get up."
"But why would they? Have they seen us? Smelled us?" Maura kept her voice down but Jane saw she was still panicking.
"I don't know. Maybe we left a scent or something, I don't know. I don't know how these creatures work."
"Their senses are not strong enough for that." Jane saw Maura's big brain working, trying to come up with an explanation.
"The chances of them getting to us are very small, Maura." Jane whispered, trying to soothe her wife's panic. "The front door is pretty solid, and even if they get through, the stairs to the bathroom are pretty steep."
"We have to get out!" Maura whispered.
Jane grabbed her wife's arms, seeing tears shimmering in her eyes. "We can't. We're surrounded by monsters. We have to sit it out. They'll pass eventually."
"I'm going crazy, Jane. I can't sit here while monsters are invading the house!" Tears were now streaming down the doctor's face.
"We don't have a choice! If we go outside, we'll get attacked and we die. Period. There are just too many of them." Jane softly wiped her wife's tears. "They'll lose interest eventually. They'll move on."
Maura wrapped her arms around Jane's neck and clung to her wife. "I'm scared." She whispered through her tears.
Jane sighed as she stroked Maura's back, burying her head in blonde curls. "Me too." She said softly. "Me too."
