A/N: I already miss this show. But at least I've got this story, man! Yeah, I totally own Leverage. Only not really.
"Where do you think they came from?" Parker asked.
"I dunno."
"Are they everywhere or just here?"
"No clue."
"What turns you into one?"
"Parker, I don't know anything about any of this! Just can it, will you?" Elliot shouted.
"Fine," she muttered sullenly, shrinking back into herself, and immediately the cowboy missed her chatter. But both were too proud to apologize. Instead, the two crept down the deserted alley refusing to make eye contact.
"No one's on the streets anymore," Elliot decided at last. "No one still alive, anyways. Let's check inside houses, okay?"
"I call this side of the street!" she exclaimed, turning and racing to the left. Shaking his head, too tired to argue, he headed up to the houses on the right.
"Hello?" he called in the front door. For a heartbeat, the only response was silence, then he heard a baby wail. "Perfect. That's just perfect." Glancing from side to side, he crept inside, heart pounding, knife held high. The crying came from just down the hall. Sticking the blade in his waist band, he straightened and quickly walked into the nursery, decked out in blue with white clouds painted on the walls. He took a deep breath and peered into the bassinet.
The baby was normal, thank god. He didn't what he would have done if it was one of them. He hoisted it up in one arm and it quieted immediately. It looked to be about a year old.
"Come on, come on, almost there," he repeated, nearly a prayer, as he hurried back down the hall. But of course his luck couldn't last. Nearing the end of the hallway, he saw the silhouette of a zombie looming in the front door. He swerved lightening fast into the living room, crouching down behind an enormous armchair. "Shhh," he whispered to the baby as tears welled up in its eyes. And immediately it started screaming.
Elliot heard the zombie stagger into the room, and set the child on the floor facing the wall so it wouldn't see a thing. Then the dead face appeared and there wasn't even a split second reaction time before the hitter lunged.
"Anyone here?" Parker shouted, voice echoing through the hallway. "Helloooooooo?" She grinned and giggled, liking the sound. "Hellooooooooo," she tried again.
"Help!" came the reply and the thief jumped. "Help me!"
"Where are you?"
"Kitchen," the man panted. "Second door on the left."
"Second…" Parker entered the room and looked around, eyebrows raised. It was destroyed. Table smashed, drawers dumped on the floor, fridge upturned. The man was trapped under said fridge, waist and below pinned underneath. Two zombie bodies lay nearby.
"What happened here?" she asked bluntly, examining the area for any sort of bar she could use for leverage.
"They… they attacked me," the man stammered. He looked to be in his mid twenties, brown hair and a small mustache. "I got them both, but the fridge toppled on me. Who are you?"
"Someone who's here to help," she said, giving him what she hoped was a comforting smile. Just like Sophie had shown her back when things were normal.
"I meant what's your name."
"Oh. Parker. I'm going to try to lift it as much as I can. You need to get out quickly, I can't hold it up for too long."
"Alright, on your count," he said, reaching out and grabbing a corner of the counter.
"One… two… three!" she exclaimed, pulling up with all her might. Slowly, it rose an inch… two… a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead as she leaned back, straining.
"I'm out," he said after what felt like an eternity. She dropped it with a crash, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.
"That was fun," she decided at last, leaping to her feet. "Let's go."
"I'm Parker, too, by the way," he added.
"Parker 2? Really?"
"No, I meant… Parker… also…" But she was already gone.
"Alright, so I'm in the security system," Hardison explained to Sophie. "I've got the doors locked so our moldy friends outside can't get it, which is good, but it means I have no idea how Elliot, Nate, Parker, and whoever they pick up are gonna get in, which is bad. We have gas and electricity until the places it's getting it from fall apart. No idea when that will be, so until then, we're eating meat, dairy, and whatever the hell else will spoil."
"That's all well and good, but we can't exactly stay here forever," Sophie pointed out. "What we need to think about is how we're going to get rescued."
"I mean, I've sent out a couple distress signals, but whatever this is is all over the States, and might even spread to Canada and Mexico in a few days. They're trying to evacuate government officials first, then big safe houses. A grocery store on the outskirts of Boston is hardly a high priority. And even if we do get out of here, everyone is being quarantined in case it's some sort of bug."
"Is it some sort of bug?" Julia asked, poking her head around the corner of one of the isles to where Sophie and Hardison were seated. "Here." She tossed them each a yogurt and a plastic spoon. "We should be reusing silver wear too."
"Great idea," Sophie said, giving the teenager a huge smile. "I would never have thought of it." And Hardison didn't know what was more frightening- Sophie's enormous bordering-on-hysteria smile or Julia's timid bordering-on-giving-up grin.
So instead of watching the two females trying to keep from falling apart, he rose and walked back to the front of the store, frowning at the front doors. Lord only knew how long they were going to hold, what with zombies bashing themselves against them. What they really needed was Parker's flamethrower. Or maybe…
"Hey, Sophie and Julia, I need a fire extinguisher," he called. Better to let them make themselves feel useful.
"What for?" Sophie asked as Julia raced off. He realized of a sudden just how frail she looked, just how ready to break. He put an arm around her shoulder and she practically collapsed against him.
"I want to see what the shit inside does to zombies," he explained. "It could solve our uninvited guests problem. He felt her nod against his side and something inside him cracked. If Sophie, always strong, always unreadable, was already falling apart, how long were the rest of them going to last?
"Alright," she said softly. "Let's go steal..."
"A chance," he finished. "A chance to live."
A/N: Sorry it took so long... school, homework, yadda yadda yadda. Please please please review! Or I may have to sic Elliot on you, and nobody wants that.