I do not own…
"I only have three and one was because I lost a bet to my Marine buddies." Vlad smiled
"Then I guess you'll only get to see three." She said "The rest you'll have to find out another time."
He smirked and then slipped off his jacket before taking off his shirt.
Now Alice has seen many nake men before in her life but she had to fight off a blush when she saw his perfect 8 pack abs and rock hard chest. On his right arm he had a Marine crest tattoo on the side. Then one on his collar bone that says' Ghost. He turned around and on his back he had a large dragon, covering the whole thing.
"Not bad. Which one is the bet?" She asked
He turned back around and put his shirt back on. Alice had to stop herself from pouting when he did.
"The Ghost word. That was my nickname they gave me back then. One of them lives in this state, if I remember correctly. A real asshole he was. I had to stop him from starting fights and most of them were with our own teams. But after I saved his life a few times he started to respect me a little. Though, he still acted like an asshole at times." He said
"What was his name? Do you remember?" She asked
"Merle, I believe." He said
Alice nearly choked on her water when he said her older brothers' name and then she started to laugh.
"Oh my god. Merle. As in Merle Dixon. That's my big brother." She laughed
"You're joking, right?" You two look nothing alike." He raised a brow
"Well we had different mothers so that makes half-siblings but we are still blood." She said "He told me about you and how you saved his ass every time. That you were the type that would never leave a man behind. Thank you for that."
"Well that asshole grows on you when he's not on that stuff." He said before he took a sip of his bottle of blood. "So what about your tattoos."
"Okay, but don't think that just because you showed me your bare chest doesn't mean I'm going to do the same." She smirked
"Can't blame a man for trying." He winked
"And here I thought you were a gentleman." She teased
"I am but I can't help myself sometimes when I'm with a beautiful woman." He smirked
Alice rolled her eyes at the comment. She had heard those lines before but with him it kind of works. Lucky for her that it was poorly lit so he couldn't see her blush. She took off her jacket and he saw a tattoo of Chris's name, baby footprint over her chest where her heart is. Then she turned around and he saw a tattoo of a red rose on the back of her shoulder. When she moved her hair over her shoulder and he saw a word tattoo across her upper back that he was familiar with.
'Even Thou I Walk Through The Valley
Of The Shadow of Death
I Will Fear No Evil, For You Are With Me'
"Psalm 23:4" He said
"It was one of my favorite quotes from the bible. Even though I'm not a church person." She said
Vlad started to trace over the tattoo with a hand and he felt her shiver against his touch. He looked back at her just when she looked back at him. With his hearing he could feel how fast her heart was beating. Unable to control his actions he moved his other hand across her cheek and slowly turned around to face him. He caressed her cheek and then his thumb gently caressed her lower lip. Then he looked down at her lip for a moment and leaned down to kiss her but a cough was heard. They turned to see that it was Chris that was coughing in his sleep. Alice hurried over to him and Vlad took in a shaky deep breath when he realized what he was going to do. It was getting harder for controlling his inner demon around her.
It was hunger that was driving him crazy but it wasn't for her blood. His inner demon was telling him to pounce on her and mark her as his so no one else could have her but he wouldn't do something that savage to her. He would court her the right way and won't rush her into something that she wasn't ready for. After he finally calmed himself down he walked over towards them when Chris coughed even more. He placed a hand on the boy's forehead and cheeks and felt how hot he was.
"He's getting warm." Vlad said
"Then why is he shaking?" She asked
Before he could answer a noise was heard outside and Lucifer started to growl. Vlad turned off the camp lamps and took out his sword before going out the back door to the backyard. He carefully opened the gate door and closed it behind him silently. He saw a few dead roaming around but they weren't the ones that were making the noises. He saw two people by the front lawn. A man that looked to be around in his late thirties and a boy that looked to be around 12 years old. The man was fighting off the dead with a shovel and ended up killing two. The boy spotted Vlad but before he could alarm his dad Vlad quickly placed the edge of his sword to the man's neck.
"Take one more step and I'll slice your throat. Now drop your weapon." Vlad said
The man dropped the shovel and put his hands up in surrender.
"What are you doing here?" He demanded
"Please, my son and I just need a place to stay for the night. Our house got overruned." The man said
Vlad looked at the man and saw that the man still had his humanity in him and could sense that he wasn't a danger to Alice and Chris.
"Do you have any other weapons on you?" Vlad asked
"I have a gun behind my waist. That's all." The man said
"Take it out and hand it to me slowly." Vlad said
The man hesitated.
"My wife and son are inside and I will not let anyone inside with a weapon." Vlad glared before thinking. 'Did I just call them my wife and son?'
The man slowly reached behind his back and took out his gun before handing it to the vampire. Vlad took it and lowered his sword. He looked around to make sure none of the Walkers were around and gestured to them to follow him to the back of the house. When they got to the backyard he knocked the secret code on the door and Alice appeared with a bat in her hand. She opened the door when she saw Vlad but tensed when she saw the two people behind him.
"It's okay love, I checked them. They aren't dangerous. They just need a place to stay for the night." Vlad said
He showed her the gun that he took before taking it apart.
"Who are you two?" She asked
"My name is Morgan. And this is my son Duane." Morgan said "We were hiding in a house a few blocks away from here but Roamers got in somehow."
"Roamers?" Alice asked
"The dead that's walking around. That's what we've been calling them." Morgan said
Chris coughing caught their attention again and Alice rushed over to him.
"Was he bit?" Morgan asked
"No. He just has a bad cold." Alice said
Chris coughed again and this time it was way worse than before as he started to wheeze. Vlad quickly went to their side and sat him up so he could listen to his chest.
"I don't think it's a cold, love. I think he might have pneumonia." He said "He's gonna need antibiotics soon." Then he looked at Morgan. "Is there a hospital nearby?"
"Yeah um there's one not that far from here. But it's over run by Roamers." Morgan said
"I'll be back by morning, I promise." Vlad said to Alice.
He cupped her face and kissed her forehead.
He did tell the man that she was his wife so he had to keep up the appearances. She raised a brow at his action but he gave her a look that told her that he'll explain later.
"You're mad. Going into that place is madness in the day time but going in at night is suicide." Morgan said
Vlad didn't listen as he grabbed a bag and packed some weapons.
"What if that was your boy? Would you do the same thing?" Vlad asked
"Yes. Of course I would but not at night." Morgan replied before sighing. "Look, if you want to do this then I'll go with you but in the morning."
"He's been coughing like that for two days. His wheezing is getting worse and his heart is beating faster than it should be." Vlad argued "I don't want to risk him getting worse so you could either tell me where the hospital is and stay out of my way or come with me."
Morgan looked down at the boy as he was now shivering and his wheezing worsens, making it harder for him to breath. He couldn't help but felt sorry for him and sighed in defeat.
"Alright I'll show you where it is?" Morgan said
His son cried, begging him not to go but Morgan assured him that he was coming back.
"Can you watch over him?" He asked Alice.
"Yeah don't worry about him? I'll keep him safe." She said
Vlad took out an axe from the bag before handing Morgan it.
"Would you like your shovel back or would like to take this?" Vlad asked
"I'll take the axe." Morgan said, when he took it.
"You know how to use it?" Vlad asked
"It can't be any different than swinging it like a bat, right?" Morgan asked
"Kind of." Vlad said
Once they were ready they headed to Vlad's car and Morgan told him the direction to the hospital. When he pulled up to the place it was dame right creepy. It looked like something you see in horror movies.
"So...do you have a plan?" Morgan asked
"Well I was planning on using the front door since there's always a map inside. But from what I can see from here the doors are locked. So whatever is inside is still there." Vlad said "You know if you're scared you don't have to come. You could just wait here in the car until I come back."
"Aren't you worried that I'll just take the car and leave you here?" Morgan asked
"Not really, I left my wife with a shotgun just in case something happens. Plus, our dog will attack you with no orders if I'm not with you. Alice is smart and she will shoot you for leaving me." Vlad smirked
He took out a handgun from the bag and handed it to the man.
"Use it only for emergence. The sound alone will be like ringing the dinner bell for them." He said
"You don't have to remind me of that." Morgan muttered
They got out of the car and looked to see if they could find a way in. Just like he said the front was already chained up so they checked around the building. They came across a burn down helicopter before walking down an area where there were dead bodies covered in white sheets. Vlad saw the door and checked to see if it was opened and it was. So he opened the door as he unsheathed his sword and brought out a flashlight for Morgan. He could normally see in the dark well but he had to pretend to be human in front of the man. The door led to a bunch of stairs and they went up before entering the place. Vlad walked around and looked by the elevator where he found what he was looking for.
The map.
"Okay so we are on the second floor, it seems. Now all the meds and antibiotics should be in the pharmacy section. And it's not that far from here." Vlad said as he looked at the man and something else caught his eye. "The kitchen is on the other side from here. We can head there afterwards, hopefully no one has taken anything."
The two hurried to the pharmacy office and were able to find the antibiotics Vlad was looking for and other meds just in case. They were able to find some Band-aids, wraps, surgical tools and other things that could be useful. After that they went to find the kitchen but the doors to the other side were chained up and spray painted on the doors was 'Don't Open. Dead Inside.' To prove it's point the door tried to open as the dead were trying to open it.
"That's a damn shame." Morgan sighed
Vlad wasn't going to give up though. He went into one of the rooms and broke the window before climbing out of the building.
"What the hell are you doing?" Morgan hushed whisperly
"Just give me thirty minutes." Vlad said before he continued walking on the edge.
There was a big gap between him and the other side so he had to leap over it. He landed on the other side gracefully and continued on walking to the other window. When he reached it he used his nails to cut through the glass before pushing it out. Once it was opened he took a deep breath before going inside.
So far nothing.
There were no dead in the room.
Then he opened the door, which made noise and got the dead's attention. There were about fifty of them.
When they walked up to him they all walked passed him and tried to search for something that smelled alive. He shrugged it off before smashing and crushing some that were in his way. After maneuvering around he was able to reach the cafeteria.
"Bingo." He smirked
Morgan stood there by the door waiting on Vlad while keeping an eye out for the dead. His grip tightened around the axe as every noise got him on edge. Fifteen minutes had passed and Vlad still hasn't shown up so Morgan started to think of the worse. That was until he heard a noise coming from the window. A full bag of things was thrown through the window, which scared the shit out of him. Vlad appeared by the window with a big smile on his face, laughing while holding a big water jug.
"Oh very funny asshole. Did you find anything?" Morgan glared
"I hit the jackpot. There was still a lot of canned food and other stuff inside. I was only able to get some of it before the bag got full." Vlad said, stepping inside the room.
He grabbed the bag with ease and they headed out.
"How did you get passed the Roamers?" Morgan asked
"Let's just say I cut their numbers down to size." Vlad said
Morgan looked at the man's hand and clothes and saw that they were covered in dead blood so he decided to leave it. Once they made it outside they placed everything in the back of the car and headed back to the house.
When they returned to the house the sun was already rising. They went into the backyard and Vlad knocked the code on the door. Alice was relieved to see them and quickly opened the door. To Vlad's surprise she attacked him in a bear hug which made him drop everything.
"Something tells me that you missed me." Vlad teased
He got another surprise when she grabbed his face and kissed him on the lips.
"Don't push your luck, Marine boy." She smiled and hugged him again. "I was very worried about you. I'm glad you're back. Thank you." She whispered
Vlad wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back with a smile.
"I'll always come back for you and Chris. Like it or not, you're stuck with me." He smiled