Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead or the characters/world therein.
30 Day Challenge 2: Cuddling Somewhere
One of the things Zoey missed most about the good old days was air conditioning, especially during the first winter of the apocalypse. The first few months after everything went to Hell had been almost unbearably hot, especially because she refused to take off her lucky pink jacket, but those days were made tolerable whenever Francis got fed up and lost the shirt. He'd keep his vest, as stubburn about his good-luck clothing as her, but that somehow made the sight more appealing to the ex-college student. Winter meant no more good views of her companion and no possibility of getting comfortable. It was harder for her to get warm than it was to cool down. Losing so much weight from a lack of snack food and the exercise of fending off the undead and foraging for shelter, food, and supplies didn't help at all.
Moving around all night made the cold harder to notice. She didn't have time to miss things like heaters when she was running for her life and doing everything she could to make sure her three other companions lived to see another terror-filled night along with her. It was the days that made her discomfort truly noticeable. Being out in the soft sunlight might have helped, though she honestly doubted that, but it was too risky to move around during the day. Less shadows to creep along made it harder to move around during the days. It was the main reason why the group had become somewhat nocturnal. Whenever it was getting too close to morning, the rag-tag group of survivors wold find a safe place to hold up in and spend the day.
Bill and Louis were taking a shift watching Zoey and Francis' backs to allow them some time to sleep. The two groups would switch halfway through the day so they would all be rested enough to carry on when night fell. It was a good system that had been working well for them once they got into the swing of things, but the whole system fell apart if anyone was unable to get rest. It was a liability to be half-awake and none of them could afford to be sloppy during the nightly journeys. That was why, despite how cold she was, Zoey tried her best to curl into a ball and get warm enough to sleep. The dampness of her clothing from a night of sweating and action made it difficult.
Francis noticed his young companion shivering on the tattered rags they had amassed into a make-shift bed. He didn't much mind the cold, having spent enough nights too broke to afford a place to stay or out in the middle of nowhere and too tired to keep riding his bike to an actual city, or just enjoying the sense of freedom of being away from society, to be used to the low temperature. The biker got up from the spot on the floor he had been laying on and crossed the small distance to the brunette.
Neither of them had been much for cuddling before the apocalypse, but Francis knew the kid would enjoy the addition of his body heat to hers. Zoey didn't even make a snarky remark about him being a big softy under all the scars and tattoos as he took up the position of big spoon. They laid with each other in comfortable silence, strong arms wrapped around a small frame that slowly stopped shivering. Soft brown eyes slid shut as Zoey snuggled back into her leather-clad heater and the two stayed like that for the rest of the day.
The moment was only broken when Francis, unable to help himself, commented, "This reminds me of a zombie flick I saw once with four dudes and a chick, but they were eating her in a completely different way."
Zoey snorted and lazily reached back to give him a smack on the thigh, "Too bad for you this is a horror movie, not a porno."
"Yeah," the biker laughed, "Too bad."