Chapter 4: Three Days after arriving in Little Garden

Let's talk about the layout of Little Garden, now that everyone is present and accounted for. Let's pretend, for instance, that the gateway to Little Garden is at 12 o'clock. Now I know you're telling me that the entrance is not actually the northernmost part of the outpost and the cul-de-sac actually opens at the southeast but I'm going to ask you to shut up because I'm trying to explain things in a simple and easy to understand way.

Starting from the gate and going clockwise, we have Franky and Sanji rooming together. Sanji was predictably not too pleased with this arrangement, but Franky was determined to make Sanji his best friend. They both had a weakness for sexy ladies so they at least had that in common. There was also the fact that Franky lived in the house with the biggest backyard, and therefore had the biggest garden. So Sanji at least had fresh vegetables and fruits to work with.

Next to them was Luffy and Nami, who were completely comfortable with their situation, and next door to them were Coby and Vivi. They were less comfortable and that was primarily because of the dread of having a Talk later.

Next to them were Law and Perona. Their setup was unique in that their house doubled as a clinic. Law was a doctor, if you'll remember, and Perona knew enough about medicine to more or less qualify as a nurse. She could bandage a wound at least, and read the labels off of medicine bottles. She was also loud and bossy, which meant she would do well on guard duty. Meanwhile Law was quiet and brooding so he worked well spending the entire day at the clinic, inside, and only speaking to people when it was necessary.

Next to them were Zoro and Bonney, who only decided to room together because neither of them cared about picking roommates until it was too late and they were the only ones left. It's not like they particularly cared about each other. Which is to say they didn't hate each other. It's just that one's presence in the house didn't affect the other in any significant way. Don't get me wrong, though, they still acted like they hated everything. Bonney was a bit more vocal about it, whereas Zoro preferred to silently brood with a scowl on his face.

And finally there were Robin and Baby. Now, Robin may have acted in haste in her attempt to cockblock Sanji, because rooming with Baby 5 created an issue. The issue was that Robin was unfortunately emotionally and socially stunted due to years of not trusting others and being elevated to near deity status by a cult for some amount of time. And Baby 5 was so very much not emotionally and socially stunted. This was also elevated when Baby learned that Robin also spoke French and decided that their house would be a French-only house.

The last house would remain devoid of people, but still kept furnished. Franky insisted on it serving as a guest house in case any travelers needed a place to crash for a little bit. Aside from that, it was mostly used as storage for anything the group didn't want cluttering up their own houses. The basement was stocked with canned goods and dry food, the garage packed with all the extra gas cans and tools. With everyone moved in and the system set in place, it didn't take long for the group to sink into a daily routine. And once the daily routine kicked in, it didn't take long for most of them to become bored with the daily routine.

Now, all that being said, I told you that story so I could tell you these stories.

Starting with this one.

"Ooh there's one," Bonney said, peering through her scope. "He is wearing a… band t-shirt, looks like… MCR. Aaaand he's got tight black jeans. Looks pretty young, too."

"Ooh ooh lemme see!" Perona grabbed at Bonney's rifle until the older girl passed it to her. This is what passed for excitement when you lived in a cul-de-sac tucked away in an unassuming subdivision and had to pull guard duty in the middle of the day. You commented on the fashion sense of zombies.

Perona scanned the area and brought the scope to her eye. "I see him! Aww, look at him!" she said almost affectionately. "He looks so cute!"

Bonney bit into her mid-afternoon snack, which was a dry brick of ramen noodles with the flavor packet sprinkled on top. "I guesh," she said with her mouth full. "If y'r int' that."

"What, goths?"

Bonney swallowed. "Corpses. If I ever start calling people cute, they're gonna have to be alive. … And girls."

Perona huffed. "I didn't mean I wanted to date him! I just think he's cute! You don't think the zombies are kinda cute? They're like little babies sometimes! Stumbling around and bumping into things~ It's adorable!"

Bonney inhaled sharply. "Man, they're not like fucking babies. I've seen zombie babies before. That shit's fucked up."

Perona had gone back to looking at her cute zombie boy. "If I was going to date someone undead, I'd want him to be a vampire, anyway. Like, a really old one, centuries old! But he was bitten when he was a young, handsome gentlemen~ And I'd be his vampire princess and we'd live in a manor that had been around since he was alive~" She rocked back and forth in her gothic lolita daydream.

Bonney chomped down on her snack. "Yeah. Shucksh 'at we got shtuck wit' zhombiesh," she gulped loudly. "Instead of cool undead. I think I'd be cool with the world ending if we were fuckin' overrun by vampires, or like… cool ghosts or shit."

"Ooh ghosts! Perona squealed. "I'd love to be a cute ghost too! I'd live in a manor and fly around scaring people all day! Do ghosts have princesses? Whatever, I'd be one anyway. Oooh! Or what if we were all werewolves?! I could be a pretty wolf girl with pointy ears and a tail~ Aaah~ Zombies are cute, but… There are so many better undead monsters we could've gotten…" She sounded forlorn.

Bonney nodded, half paying attention. She didn't expect the conversation to steer this direction but, well, there they were. "Werewolves would be pretty sick…" She was silent for a second. "Wait, werewolves aren't undead! They're just regular monsters!"

Perona shook her head, her long pink braids bouncing all over the place. "Nuh-uh! They're undead! They're totally undead monsters!"

"No they're not. They're just regular people who turn into hairy wolf dudes. That's like saying the Hulk is a fuckin' undead."

"Werewolves eat people. That's a classic sign of undead! Zombies eat people, vampires eat people, werewolves eat people." She had finally turned to face Bonney square on, really getting into her face.

Bonney just scowled at her. "Dude, they eat people because they're fucking carnivores! A guy transforms in the middle of a city, he's gonna go for the nearest meal! Just happens to be people! He transforms in the woods, he's gonna eat deer and bunnies and shit.

"You're crazy." Perona huffed and crossed her arms.

"You're crazy!" Bonney huffed back.

"You're both crazy!" A third voice called out to them. They whirled around to see Zoro standing near the ladder leading up to the balcony they were standing on, stonefaced as ever. "I don't mean to interrupt whatever… stupid thing you're talking about, but we're getting everyone together for a town meeting. Come on."

"Fuck you, cyclops!" Bonney yelled, flipping him off. "You can't just interrupt a serious fuckin' conversation like that! Rude motherfucker!"

Perona mirrored Bonney's angry expression. "Uh, besides, we're on guard duty? If we leave, no one will be up here to keep watch! Stupid." She scoffed.

They both watched his shoulders rise and his chest puff out as he took a long, deep breath to keep himself from shouting back. "Look, they want everyone there, I don't know. Just come on."

Grumbling, the girls followed after him as he started walking to the storage house. As Perona descended the ladder, following close behind Bonney, she asked "Hey, you mentioned you liked cute girls, right? So does that mean you're…"

"You're not cute," Bonney said without turning around.

Perona, offended, gasped and was quick to charge forward and shove into Bonney's back with all her strength. Which wasn't a lot, considering Perona was a little thing, but it was strong enough to nearly send the older girl falling onto her face.

They didn't have a town hall, of course, so the gang all gathered in the storage house's living room. They pulled chairs out of the kitchen or just leaned their backs against the wall to accommodate everyone.

Zoro, Perona, and Bonney were the last ones to enter. The rest were all scattered around the room, except for Nami and Franky, who were standing at the front, looking out at the others.

Nami bounced on her heels, "Okay that's everyone…" she said. "We'll make this quick! Franky and I have been talking and the two of us came up with a few guidelines going forward with Outpost Little Garden. Just a couple policies to keep things organized."

"Policies? Who died and put you two in charge?" Bonney scoffed. "You don't get to just decide on things without asking us first!"

Nami and Franky looked at each other uneasily. "Uh, well… No one put us in charge," Nami said.

"Yeah, we're not tryin' to be leaders or anything, we just… had some ideas." Franky looked at Bonney. "Why, did you wanna be in charge?"

Bonney hesitated. "W-well. No… But- I-... Whatever, just tell us your dumb fuckin ideas!" She leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed.

Franky shrugged, brushing it off with a grin. "Well, that was kinda part of one of 'em! Me and Nami ain't really gunnin' to be in charge of this place, but we did want to be in charge of the supply requests. I mean, Nami's Bellemere's kid and I been livin' here for a while, so we'll be the go-to if you need anything special shipped to the outpost. Just let one of us know if you need somethin' added to the list."

"Next up," Nami said, "We wrote up a weekly schedule for guard duty, instead of just picking… Whoever is free. It'll be posted on the front door of the storage house so everyone can see it and there's no excuse. Everyone is on it, and everyone works equal shifts. That includes you, Law!" She stared directly at him.

Law sat up in his seat. "Oh that's bullshit! I'm a doctor, not a hired gun! I don't have the- the physical stamina for that kind of thing!"

"You stand up on the balcony, walk around, take shots at anything that gets close," Zoro said from his spot against the wall. "We all have to do it. It's easy. Stop whining."

"Thank you, Zoro," Nami said. Zoro nodded at her. Law rolled his eyes.

Franky clapped his hands together. "Well, that's about it actually! But uh, while we're all gathered here, if anyone's got announcements of their own, now's the time!"

There was an anticipatory pause as everyone waited for someone else to say something. When the coast seemed clear, they started to stand up. Robin, being the kind of student who would remind the teacher that there was homework after the bell rang, chose that time to raise her hand. "Actually, I do have something I want to share.

There was a collective groan as everyone collapsed back to where they were sitting. "You'll like this, though," Robin said as she stood up and walked to the front. She faced the crowd like a public speaker, raised her arm, and lowered her shirt sleeve, revealing the scarred over bite mark on her forearm.

"I have been bitten," she said with a knowing grin. There was the expected gasps and murmurs. Even Franky jumped away from her in surprise. "Relax, relax, I'm quite obviously fine. It happened years ago, long enough for the wound to heal, as you can see. I've never shown any signs of infection, never been sick. My heart beats just as well as anyone's." She reveled in their terror and awe.

"How? How is that possible?" Law choked out.

Robin shrugged nonchalantly. "There was a time when I would've done anything to figure it out myself. But the answer is, I just don't know. You're welcome to run some tests if it'll make you feel better."

Law scowled. Something about that did not sit right with him.

Perona, sitting next to him, was all sparkles. "That's so amazing~! I'm so jealous, you're like a smart zombie that doesn't rot! The only way it'd be better is if you had cute stitch marks all over~!"

"I'm mostly just grateful I'm not craving human flesh," Robin said with a nonthreatening smile. "I just wanted to let everyone know before someone found out and it became a crisis. I swear, I'm not contagious or anything."

Law shook his head. "I'll determine that myself. Come to my office when we're done here."

"Of course," Robin said. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"That is seriously the coolest thing ever!" Luffy said from his spot on the couch. He was sitting up and grinning wide-eyed at Robin, who stifled her laughter.

"Um… Luffy, you- You knew that already, sweetie…" Nami helpfully reminded him.

"No, I know! It's still really cool! I wish I was immune too! But… I don't wanna test it…"

"And I'm very grateful for that," Nami added.

"I am sure Law would be very interested in Robin's condition!" Baby chirped in. "After all, he is-" and then she was cut off when Law slapped his hand over her mouth.

"Shhhhhhut up! What are you doing?!" Law whisper-shouted.

Baby pulled his hand away, confused. "What is- Oh! Ohhh zhat is right, you wanted to keep that a secret…" she looked mortified, trailing off with barely a whisper.

All eyes were on Law and Baby now. "Keep… What a secret?" Nami asked. "You holding out on us, Law?"

"NO!" Baby and Law shouted simultaneously.

"Well, if it's not a secret, then what are you two whispering about?" Zoro asked, even though he didn't really care. He just wanted to make someone squirm.

"It's nothing! There's no secret, I just don't want to talk!" Law protested.

Perona rolled her eyes and groaned as dramatically as possible. "Oh come oooooonnnnn! We're roommates and you've said like three words to me! Quit holding out!"

Zoro locked eyes with Baby, who now had her own hands slapped over her mouth. "Hey, cough up the details, Baby."

"Leave her alone, you jackass!" Sanji shouted back at him.

The scene was devolving into pure chaos. The more Law and Baby closed up, the more the others in the room egged them on to spill the details. Voices were starting to raise and people were yelling over each other. Coby and Vivi were the only ones who were staying quiet. Coby out of fear of getting involved in an argument, and Vivi because this kind of behavior was beneath her. Eventually, she felt compelled to do something. She took a deep breath and yelled out "OKAY!"

Everyone shut up at once and slowly turned to face the 18 year old and youngest member of the community. Coby scooted away a little bit from her to avoid their gaze.

"Look! It's clear Law has some kind of mysterious secret and we're all clearly dying to know what it is!" She shouted.

Law dragged his hands across his face. "It's not a secret! It's just something I don't really want to fucking talk about! Can we just drop it?! Please!"

Vivi turned her gaze from Law to everyone else. "Yes. Yes we are all going to drop it. We are all going to drop it because we are all decent human beings and we respect people's privacy!" Vivi's voice cracked a little because she wasn't used to using such a harsh tone, but she got the message across.

There was a lot of unease floating around the room. A sort of collective shame washing over everyone that only comes from being scolded by a girl who couldn't legally drink.

"Look, if Law's got information that might-" Zoro started to say.

"Ap-bap-bap-bap!" Vivi stopped him. "It's over!"

"And uh… So is this meeting I think. Let's all clear out and cool our heads, huh?" Franky said with an awkward chuckle. The tension that hung in the room was palpable and everyone was honestly glad to clear out of the house. Vivi and Coby were still sitting on the couch when everyone else left.

Vivi leaned forward and rested her face in her hands. Coby reached over to rub her back in consolation. "That got pretty intense, huh?" He said in a comforting voice. "You handled that pretty well."

Vivi leaned back against the couch, but instead of looking anguished, she was beaming. "Oh my God I can't believe I did that! I got everyone to listen to me! That felt incredible!"

Coby's eyes widened. "W-wait, you're happy with that?"

She looked at him, radiating joy and sunshine. "Why wouldn't I be?! I feel great! I totally defused the situation! I was like a diplomat or a negotiator or something!"

Coby swelled with pride in his wife and leaned in to kiss her. "You know, none of this would be possible if it weren't for you," he said against her lips.

Vivi's eyes widened while she kissed him back. That was true, wasn't it? If she hadn't parlayed with Hancock, they wouldn't be here in Little Garden, would they…?

The kissing started leaning more toward full-on making out, but Vivi's inner conflict about where she and her husband belonged was flaring up again. Vivi could multitask, though.

Meanwhile, Baby had shuffled her way out of the house feeling downright embarrassed at herself. She fought against burning tears stinging at her eyes and couldn't help but sniffle as she stepped off the front porch, trailing behind everyone else who was leaving. Sanji was walking ahead of her and heard her little sounds of anguish, and immediately pivoted around to face her. "Hey, Baby, are you okay…?"

She lifted her head so Sanji could see her watery eyes and red cheeks. When they made eye contact, the dam burst and she broke into twin waterfalls of tears. "Oh Sanji!" she wailed, "I feel just terrible! Law, he trusted me, his dearest friend, wizh such personal information! And I cause such a fuss by nearly spilling my guts!"

Sanji reached his hands out, hesitated, then decided to go for it and held her by the shoulders. "Hey, hey, it's… It's okay, really. Whatever he told you, it's still unknown to us. And I doubt any of us are gonna be pressuring him to talk anytime soon. Y'know, or else we'd be facing Vivi's wrath." He laughed uneasily, trying to elevate her mood.

Baby wiped her eyes, but the tears kept flowing. "Oh but I caused such a commotion! All I want to do is help everyone, Sanji! I want to be useful in zhis community! I do not want to cause trouble between our groups!"

"I know you don't, it's okay…" Sanji said, "Trust me, everyone's gonna forget all about this in a few days. Look, we're all just a little uneasy because none of us really know each other yet. Look, back in Boston, when I first arrived, people were suspicious of me too. But eventually they got over it. Just give it time."

"Really?" she sniffled.

"Yeah! If you just stop talking about it, people will forget." He smiled at her. "Listen, if anyone tries to drag information out of you, just-"

"Punch zhem?"

"Ye-NO! … Maybe." He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "A-anyway, if they still won't leave you alone, y'know, I'll… back you up." He put on the most charming smile he could muster. His teeth practically sparkled.

It seemed to help her calm down. The sniffling came to a stop and she matched his smile, even if her cheeks were still red, which really just made her look even cuter… "Merci, Sanji. You are such a gentleman~" she sighed dramatically. "I suppose I should find Law and zhrow myself at his feet and beg for his forgiveness... " She pulled away from Sanji. "Adieu for now, my gentleman~" she walked with both an air of gloom and an air of perseverance towards Law's house.

Sanji wished her good luck as she walked off, and his smile faded into something more serious. He leaned back against the house's front porch railing and lit up a cigarette. It's true, even he was curious about whatever it was Law kept hidden. Who wouldn't be? But he had been in Law's shoes before. People casting suspicion on him when he was new to a community. But just as Law had put his faith in Baby (which, even Sanji thought was a bit of poor thinking), Sanji had put his faith in Bellemere, and she kept it a secret to everyone else.

But not to us!

Four years ago, back in Funkytown, Sanji found himself sitting across from Bellemere in a makeshift interrogation room. Really, it was someone's unfinished basement, but the concrete walls and uncarpeted floors created the same aesthetic. Bellemere had her feet up on the card table that was between them. She looked relaxed, but in a cautious way. She wouldn't take her eyes off of him.

"You understand why I'm doing this, right?" she asked. "A kid, all by himself, showing up at my front gate? Barely armed, but looking fit and healthy? I mean… you're what, twelve?"

"I'm nineteen…" he muttered. He was intimidated. Beyond that, he had fallen straight into "afraid" territory. He had arrived at the gates of Funkytown just over an hour ago, and after arguing over whether or not he should surrender his weapons, he was escorted (re: forced) into this basement, where a smoking, hardboiled cop with a partially shaved head sat down to interrogate him. Not to mention that this hardboiled cop was also kind of hot in an intense way. God he could use a cigarette.

"Well, either way," Bellemere said. "The point is, you show up and I'm not supposed to be suspicious? Look, I wanna trust you. I mean, I got two girls about your age. So I see someone like you all alone, my maternal instincts flare up and I just wanna protect you. But then there's the cop side of me that says a teenager like you in the zombie apocalypse… probably up to some shit. So, what's your story, little fella?"

Sanji tapped his foot anxiously. "Well, my name is Sanji…"

She nodded. "And you got a last name?"

"Do you?"

Bellemere gave him a look that politely informed him that backsassing her was not proper behavior at this time. He sank in his seat and continued. "I-I mean, I'm from uh… New Orleans…"

"New Orleans," she repeated in a faux-impressed way. "So what did you do there? Before Zombie Day."

"I-I did… whatever. I went to school, I went to work… I dated girls, j-just usual stuff."

"And where'd you work?"

"At a restaurant! I did part time fry cook duties! D-do you grill all of your newcomers like this?!"

Bellemere smiled for the first time. "Heh. Grill. Fry cook. You're funny kid." Somehow it didn't make Sanji feel any better. "So, you just struck out on your own one day? Headed north because you got sick of warm weather?"

"N-no, no, we just kept moving for… various reasons. Didn't plan on ending up here… And I was with a group."

"Where's your group now?"

Sanji swallowed hard. He looked to the floor, trying to hide the glare he was giving the past. "Well, you found me alone, right?"

She nodded. "Good answer."

Sanji ran his hand through his hair. "Are we good now? It's been a long day and I'd really like to fall asleep… Did I pass?"

Bellemere crossed her arms and rocked back and forth, balancing her chair on its back legs. "Not until you tell me whatever it is that you're afraid to tell me."

"Wh-what are you talking about…?"

Cool as ice, Bellemere lit a cigarette and took a long drag from it. "I've interrogated people before. You're afraid. You're afraid of me figuring something out. But it's not something you plan on doing. You're afraid that I'll find out something beyond your control. You look hopeless, not suspicious. So let me tell you how this works. If you stay quiet, I'm going to assume you are dangerous to my people, and I'll throw you out of my town. But if you tell me? Then maybe the two of us can work something out and you can stay here." She leaned back, almost on the verge of falling over backwards, but not quite getting to that point. "Choice is yours, kid."

Sanji was quiet for a long time. "Look, can you at least promise you won't tell anyone else?"

Bellemere shrugged. "Depends on what it is."

He exhaled sharply. "Alright. It's… It's my family. My last name is…" he had to really work to force the last word out. "Vinsmoke."

Bellemere fell backwards in her chair with a yelp, landing flat on her back. Sanji sprang to his feet and rushed around the table to to extend his hand and help her up. "A-are you okay?! Sorry, I didn't know you'd react like that to my name!"

She let Sanji help her up, rubbing the spot on her back where concrete met spine. "What? No, I just leaned back too far. Who the hell are the Vinsmokes?"

Sanji stared at her. "A-... Are you serious?"

She shrugged.

"The… There was a big trial going on in the week before Zombie Day? The Vinsmoke family being linked to dozens of murders? Mafia ties? Assassination? It was… all over the news…?"

Bellemere just shook her head slowly. "Kid, the week before Zombie Day, I was digging into a string of bike thefts around my town. Turned out the culprit was my daughter. Didn't really have time to watch the news. But anyway! You're telling me you're some kind of assassin?"

"Not me! Not me, my family!" Sanji protested. "They were, well, training me, but no, I never killed anyone! I-in fact, I was going to testify against them, but the zombies kind of… Broke into the courthouse."

"As you do," Bellemere said. "So you're the good boy in a family of mafia assassins and you're afraid if people find out, they'll think you're one of them and no one will feel safe."

"Y-yeah! Yeah exactly!" Sanji said, feeling a glimmer of hope. "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth! I never wanted to be part of the… family business! I wanted to be a chef."

Bellemere was studying him now. She could tell when someone was lying. Sanji was nervous, scared, but he didn't look like he was making it all up. "So what happened to your family after Zombie Day? Any of them… still around?"

It was Sanji's turn to shrug. "I know for sure most of them are dead. The ones I'm unsure about… I don't really care to find them."

She seemed to soften up a bit, but still kept her eyes on him. "Alright. You can stay here. I'll put you on a… probation basis. Not going to take my eyes off of you for a while. Stay on your best behavior and there won't be any problems."

Sanji's relieved smile spread from ear to ear. She wasn't expecting him to throw his arms around her and hug her tight. "Thank you! Thank you, I promise you won't regret it! I swear, there's no way anything in my past could ever catch up to me anyway!"

And indeed, for Sanji's entire time in Funkytown, nothing in his past emerged. But Sanji wasn't in Funkytown right now, was he?