"Bridget, Bridget?" Someone's voice woke me from my doze.
"Hmm...what?" I mumbled, raising my head sightly to find Cora kneeling beside me. Still at my side, his hand loosely clutching mine, I noticed Brad had his head lowered. Taking a closer look I gave him a sleepy grin, finding the ZDC agent fast asleep. "Oh...my head right?" I asked, not wanting to move in case I woke Brad.
I spent a moment considering how to move without waking him but when I did shift closer to Cora, I noticed he didn't even stir which frankly didn't surprise me. "Where does it hurt?" Cora asked and I slipped my hand from Brad's (very reluctantly) to let her check. Carefully unwrapping the makeshift bandage, Cora touched the dry blood on my forehead and I winced as she pressed her fingers against the still healing wound. "It looks pretty clean. How did you do this?"
"Actually Brad cleaned it after...well, after I slammed my face into a car's dashboard. Lucky I didn't break my nose." I answered, keeping my voice down and she nodded. Using a clean bandage from a nearby first aid kit, she wrapped it around my forehead.
"You don't need any stitches since it should heal on its own. How is your ankle by the way?" Cora asked, sitting beside me.
"Pretty good apart from the zombie bite." I replied, shifting my leg close to the doctor so she could check it. "But I guess taking Zombrex everyday is better than the alternative." I added with a yawn and Cora smiled, moving back to her spot in the helicopter.
"You should get some sleep, Bridget. It's going to a long trip back." Cora suggested and I gave her a tiny nod, resting my body against Brad's who hadn't stirred once. Closing my eyes I didn't see Brad's brief smile, his hand gently squeezing mine as I drifted off to sleep again.
Some hours later...
"Bridget, you awake?" Brad asked, hearing a faint sigh. "Guess not." He chuckled, gently stroking her cheek with his fingers. She snuggled against him, using his shoulder as a cushion and that brought a grin to his lips. For the longest time Brad watched her sleep, her lips slightly parted as she mumbled something. Curious, he watched as she whimpered. Not knowing what was wrong, Brad wrapped an arm around her shoulders pulling her close and after snuggling into his chest she stopped trembling.
"You two look pretty sweet together." Rhonda remarked and Brad raised his head as the mechanic and her ex-husband Gary walked over.
"We did spend a lot of time fighting to protect each other." Brad explained, looking into Bridget's sleeping face. "After what happened to her family I guess she just needed someone to talk to." He answered, the sight of their lifeless bodies hard to forget.
"What happened to them?" Rhonda asked and Brad sighed, telling them the short version of Bridget's story keeping his voice low so he didn't wake her. "That's horrible. Poor thing."
Oblivious to their conversation, Bridget slept on and that brought a relieved smile to Brad's face before he yawned. "You look like death warmed over." Gary commented, coughing when Rhonda elbowed him. "Bad choice of words."
"Yeah..it was." Brad mumbled, fighting to keep his eyes open. But beween the warmth of Bridget's body resting against his own and the low hum of the helicopter he soon felt his eyes drifting closed.
I woke just as the helicopter was touching down, shifting my legs to find everyone getting ready to disembark. To my side Brad mumbled something, eyes still closed and I smiled at him. "Brad, time to wake up." I whispered and he sighed, opening his eyes to find my face inches from his. "Everyone's already ready to go." I added, a little sorry when his arm left my shoulders.
"Where are we?" Brad asked, rubbing his eyes and I shrugged. Climbing to my feet I waited as he did the same, looking towards the door just as it opened.
"Hopefully as far away from Los Perdidos as possible." I replied, carefully making my way towards the door with Brad not too far behind me. "I hope it's somewhere safe."
"I hope so too, Bridget. I've had enough of zombies for one lifetime." Brad answered and I giggled, stepping through the doorway only to wince. "Bridget, are you okay?" He asked as I shielded my eyes.
"Yeah I'm good. The sun blinded me for a second there." I answered, holding my hand over my eyes. "Come on, let's get that black box the Spec Ops gave us." I added, about to head back inside only to see Rhonda and Gary the latter carrying the black box in one hand. "Or not."
"Thanks for that. Really don't want to leave that behind." Brad said to Gary as he handed it to the ZDC agent. "It's the proof we need to bring General Hemlock down."
"Then you better not loose it." Gary replied, still holding onto Rhonda's hand. "It and that lady of yours." He said and my eyebrows shot up, staring at Brad. "Good luck."
They walked away leaving just me and Brad who coughed, his gaze on the black box in his hands. "Did I miss something?" I asked, tilting my head to one side and Brad shrugged leaving through the doorway. "Hey, wait for me!" I called out, jogging after him when he climbed from the helicopter. We had only walked a short distance from the helicopter when a group of men dressed as soldiers headed our way and I skidded to a halt, eyes narrowed at them.
"Wait, it's okay!" Someone called out and I stared as a man with greying hair headed towards us, holding a clipboard in his hands. "I'm William from the ZDC." He told us and I stepped back towards Brad, feeling a little uneasy.
"It's okay, Bridget. They're going to look after us for the next few days." Brad told me and I snorted, not believing a word. "You should get your head looked at." He suggested and I shook my head, keeping my eyes on the ZDC agent who stared back at me.
It was right at that moment that I could hear a weird buzzing noise. "Can you hear that?" I asked Brad who just raised an eyebrow at me. "It's like a buzzing noise, kind of hurts my ears." I muttered, shaking my head. "Huh, I can still hear...it." I mumbled, not noticing Brad's eyes widen.
"Bridget, stay still." Brad whispered, wrapping an arm around my shoulders to steady me. With a sudden groan I turned my head, my head throbbing in time with my heartbeat. "Hey, we could use some help here!" He called out as I struggled to stay awake.
Many hours later...
"Bridget?" Brad's voice woke me and as I struggled to open my eyes I felt someone touch my forehead. "Hey, welcome back." He said with a tiny smile as I finally managed to get my eyes to cooperate. Looking around I found that I was lying on a bed in someone's bedroom, leaving me a lttle surprised.
"Hey...what happened?" I groaned, hand resting on something soft and he opened his mouth just as someone stepped into view.
"You kind of fell." Nick answered and I glared at him, turning my head as he and Annie walked over to us. "Look we didn't leave you behind on purpose."
"I got the note but how was I supposed to read it? I was sick from the zombie virus." I snapped, eyes closing. "I feel like crap."
"You had a concussion so no wonder you feel like that." Annie pointed out and I sighed, opening my eyes again to see her holding onto Nick's hand. Just seeing that made me think of my parents' last moments and that brought on the tears.
"Hey, don't cry." Brad said, seeing tears welling in my eyes. "We're safe here."
Sniffing, I wiped at my eyes embarrassed to cry in front of strangers. "Where...are we anyway?" I whispered, coughing a little as Brad gave my hand a quick squeeze.
"In a block of flats, can you believe that? The ZDC are looking after us until we can work on that cure. Until then we had supplies and a place to stay." Nick answered and I managed a smile, still feeling a little sick.
Seeing the way Brad was looking at me, Annie tugged Nick towards the doorway. "We'll let you rest. Come on, Nick." She said and I gave them a weak wave, wanting to sleep so badly.
"Why did we leave?" Nick asked and Annie just grinned.
"I just thought those two could use a little time to themselves." Annie answered and Nick raised an eyebrow, looking very confused. "You really didn't see the way he was looking at her?"
"Wait, are those two together?" Nick asked and Annie laughed, pulling him back into the hallway. "Huh never knew that Bridget liked Brad."
"Bridget, I need to check if the ZDC have unlocked the black box yet. Will you alright for a few minutes?" Brad asked and I sighed.
"Yeah...I'll be fine. That information is important to everyone." I answered, giving him a weak smile. "I'll stay here and rest for a while." I added with a yawn, closing my eyes as he crossed the room.
But when I woke, finding an empty Zombrex syringe beside the bed I smiled.
Thanks, Brad. I guess I was nearly my time limit. I wonder where he is right now?
Feeling much stronger and with my headache gone, I climbed from the bed a little reluctantly. It felt good resting on a soft bed but I also wanted to find Brad so I ended up leaving the room. I entered the hallway to find Annie and Nick whispering to each other, their arms wrapped each other's waist and I grinned.
"Hey, have you two seen Brad?" I asked and they looked towards me as I walked over. To my amusement I noticed Nick's cheeks were a little red and I giggled.
"I saw him go into your room a few hours ago. He had a dose of Zombrex for you in his hand." Nick answered and I nodded, looking up when one of the doors in the building opened. "There he is."
"Hey, Brad!" I called out but he didn't really aknowledge me, barely looking at me before he headed past our group. "That was really weird." I muttered and Annie took an arm off Nick to shrug. "Guess I'll wait until he comes back."
"Yeah he's been working on that black box. Maybe he's still thinking about that." Nick said and I sighed, turning back to my friends. "Don't worry about it." He added, seeing me chew my bottom lip.
"Probably has a lot on his mind after the ZDC abandoned us." I said, hearing my stomach growl. "Well I'm going to get some food. Just wish I knew where the kitchen is."
"It's on the other side of the building. The ZDC left us enough supplies for the next few days and they promised to keep us dosed with Zombrex until they start work on a cure." Nick told me and I grinned, waving goodbye before I headed past the bedrooms to search of a good meal.
It took a few minutes to walk to the kitchen, finding the fridge without any trouble. Opening the door my grin grew, finding it fully stocked. After some careful thinking I grabbed an apple and a can of cola, closing the door before I headed back to my room. As I walked I ate, finishing the apple by the time I returned to my room.
On a whim I walked over to Brad's door, lifting my hand to knock only to see him walking towards me. "Oh hey." I called out and he stopped walking, a Zombrex box in his hand. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, Bridget." Brad replied, headed towards his room and I moved back letting him open the door. "Now I have some work to do so I'll see you later." He added, closing the door in my face before I could think of anything to say.
A little shocked, and a little hurt, by his brush-off I chose to return to my own room. I finished my soda while sitting on my bed, fiddling with the empty can. I lay back soon after, catching a few more hours sleep before I woke to find the building quiet.