AN - Hey Guys and Gals, sorry for the lack of update, i've really been struggling with this illness whatever it is and the last week has been spent sleeping and trying to manage the pain so i havent gotten much writing done and as such havent updated, I apologise for this but it is what it is at the moment. Thank you for all the reviews and pm's wishing me well, I really do appreciate it.

So onto chapter 6, its a bit longer than the others, we find out a bit more about the new group and Arizona and Callie have their first moment together, enjoy and i'm sorry for how the chapter ends... can't all be plain sailing right?

Enjoy and please do leave a review if you can spare a few seconds, it means the world to us readers!

Love always,

AL xxx

-oOo-

After eating their fill, the group took turns in using the two showers in Callie's house, one in the master bathroom and one in the en-suite. It took about two hours, but eventually they were clean and laughing at each other as the paraded around in various items of Callie's clothes whilst Callie put the washing machine on its first cycle to wash their clothes.

"Derek, may I borrow you for a few moments?" Callie asked after watching and laughing with the group.

"Of course," Derek replied, his attention focussing on the Latina.

"Follow me to my office?" Callie asked politely and when Derek nodded, she led the way. Once in the office she glanced at the leader of the new group and saw the worry lines on his forehead for the first time since he arrived. "It's obvious to me that the others look up to you, like you're the leader of the group so I wanted to talk to you, it's nothing bad don't worry" Callie said before motioning towards the pin board where the maps were pinned up on the left and the drawings with the marked houses were pinned on the right.

Callie explained her markings to Derek and asked if he would feel more comfortable with his group staying in one of the vacant neighbour's houses.

"Not at all, you've been very gracious in allowing us to stay. Perhaps tonight we stay here and if we decide to stay tomorrow then we can look at spreading out a little" Derek suggested.

"That sounds fine, so level with me. How bad is it out there?" Callie finally asked the question that she had been burning to ask since the group arrived.

"Think of the worst-case scenario, then double it... we are lucky we made it out alive. There was a lot of us in the hospital. About a hundred of us. We locked ourselves in the cafeteria using the shutters as a barrier, we kept quiet in hopes the infected wouldn't notice us, but it didn't work. We soon ran out of food, we had sick children with us who began to panic the longer we were there, and they got restless and complacent and ended up making a noise which gained the infected's attention. We had to move. We broke up the wooden tables to make stakes, raided the kitchen for knifes... we put the strongest on the outside with the weakest in the middle, the goal was to break free, kill as many infected as we could and get everyone out but the second we got out of the cafeteria all hell broke loose. All that survived is the eight of us, ninety or so good people perished so that we could survive" Derek sighed and rubbed his hands over his face tiredly. "We made it to the parking lot, and Jim announced that he had a van. It was full of tools which we emptied into the carpark after taking whatever we thought would make a good weapon, we loaded up and got the hell out of dodge. Fiona was a patient, Jim a family member of a patient. Millie and Ben were on the Paediatrics ward. I'm a Neuro surgeon at Seattle grace, Mark's the head of Plastic Surgery and an ENT, Addie is my ex-wife and head of Neonatal surgery and Arizona is the head of Paediatric surgery... what is it you do, or did before all of this?"

"I was a landscape architect who also landscaped. I liked to do the designs then complete the work" Callie said proudly, clearly passionate about her chosen field.

"And you secured the estate all by yourself?" Derek asked impressed already.

"I did, I started on day two. I haven't had that much contact with the infected, probably killed a dozen of them and burned the bodies" Callie admitted.

"I wish I could say the same, I lost count after I hit double digits" Derek admitted. "Look you seem like a lovely person, and you have been so generous with us so I'm going to be straight with you... what we have seen out there... the things we have been through and had to do to survive this far, well it doesn't bare speaking about. My people out there are beyond tired, we've been on the run for days now. We ran out of food two days ago and ran out of water this morning. To say that things were looking bleak is an understatement and what you have here... honestly, it's like a little slice of paradise. I'm going to be trying to convince the group to stay here but it's not my decision alone. We are a group and although you think I'm the leader I'm not, not really. I'm just a man who has done everything he needed to do to get this far. Now obviously if we do decide to stay it will be on your terms, this is your home... your safe haven and we are merely guests here"

"Thank you for your candour, Derek. I would be lying if I said I aren't hoping that you all decide to stay. It's been awfully lonely here and it's a fairly big estate I can't be everywhere and do everything and there is still so much to do to make it truly safe"

"What else needs doing?" Derek asked with interest.

"I need to finish searching the houses in zone three. I need to work out how to get into the locked houses without destroying them and check them properly for infected. The walls of cars are good for now but if a hoard of those things come, they will find a way through or under the vehicles. The electricity will cut out soon with nobody monitoring the grid so the refrigerated and frozen food will go first. The canned and packeted goods will go next. We need to plan for the long haul. The field next to the at the school needs preparing for planting. Ideally, we need somebody on watch at the two main entrance points night and day in case infected come, or worse bad people... the list just never ends" Callie sighed.

"Let me talk to my people and find out what they think. I will make it clear if we stay, we have to pull our weight and we will help you with that list of jobs" Derek smiled his most charming smile.

"Thanks Derek" Callie gave her best smile in return.

-oOo-

Callie entered the house two hours later to hear children's laughter and the sound was music to her ears. After spending so long talking to herself or to Axel she had forgotten just how moral boosting having company could be. She entered the living area to find Addie, Fiona and Arizona in the kitchen presumably cooking a dinner, Mark and Derek sat on the couch talking in quiet tones whilst Jim supervised Ben and Millie who were playing a game of snap with a deck of cards they had found in the games cupboard Callie had in the TV unit.

"Hey guys" Callie announced her presence with a kind of goofy smile. Everyone quietened down and glanced towards her timidly. "Go on, go about your business. It's just so nice to have people around"

The kids were the first to pick up their game of snap their giggles and laughter soon filling the air once more. Callie made her way to the fridge and poured herself a glass of water before gulping it down greedily.

"Callie, I just wanted to thank you for letting us stay. If I had gone one more day without a shower I think I may have just ended it all, your shower is amazing by the way" Addie smiled warmly as she spoke, she was a character of creature comforts.

"Of course, I'm just happy to have the company for as long as you guys decide to stay" Callie returned the smile, she already liked this Addison woman.

"But still, you didn't have to let us in. Especially when there is so many of us. And to feed and clothe us too. You're amazing" Arizona piped up, it was the first time Callie had heard her voice and as she looked at the paediatric surgeon, all clean and wearing a pair of her jogging bottoms and a tee she looked and sounded... adorable, sexy, cute... the list went on and Callie felt herself blush as she realised several moments of silence had passed as the blonde looked at her expectantly.

Callie cleared her throat and her blush deepened. "Honestly ladies, it's my pleasure. And thank you for cooking dinner. What are we having?"

"Well, Derek told us what you said about the refrigerated stuff so we raided your fridge and freezer, defrosted some meat in the microwave and chopped up some vegetables and made a couple of stews. Fiona has done the lion's share of the cooking, as much as I love to cook, I don't have much time for it in the real world" It was Addie who answered, she had noticed the looks between her colleague and her host and thought she had best break the silence before they started drooling over each other.

"And I can't cook, I have purely been on vegetable prep" Arizona smiled softly and her dimples popped. Callie's legs almost buckled at the sight. Dimples on top of everything else, this woman must be some sort of goddess sent to tease her. There was no way this gorgeous creature could be gay, or like herself bisexual, as far as she knew there was nine people left in the world, including herself. There was absolutely no way she could be lucky enough to be trapped in the apocalypse with someone who could be remotely interested in herself.

"I'm sure you have prepped the vegetables perfectly" Callie mumbled nervously, then mentally slapped her forehead when she heard the words escape her mouth. What a moron.

"I tried my best" Arizona laughed softly at Callie's obvious nerves. She couldn't help but find the brunette alluring. Not only was she a hero right now, she was drop dead gorgeous and kind hearted to let eight strangers into her home, not only feed but to clean them and clothe them, provide them with an endless water supply and a safe place to rest their heads tonight. She tore her gaze away from the Latina and glanced at Ben and Millie who were laughing as if there wasn't a care in the world and her heart swelled.

Ben and Millie had been patients on her ward, Ben was tall for an eleven-year-old, he had a compound fracture in his tibia playing basketball six weeks ago which had required a stint in hospital. He was just three days away from being discharged when the fall had happened. He had the brace removed from his leg and had been using crutches for days until they had abandoned them during the escape from the cafeteria. His mother had been one of the fellow survivors, she had spent most of her time at the hospital and it now became her grave.

Millie was a dot of a nine-year-old, which made her only look smaller compared to Ben's height. She was a cancer patient and was ten weeks into a twelve week chemo regime. She was one of the lucky people who hadn't lost her hair, it had thinned quite a lot, but on the whole, she had a full head of hair. Arizona just hoped that the chemo that the little girl had gone through was enough to push her into remission. There was no way to know now. Not without finding a safe hospital where they could run tests and measure the size of the tumour in her thyroid. Millie had been alone during the fall, her mother was a single parent, her father had abandoned her when she was just one leaving her mother to pick up the slack, she worked as a waitress and couldn't afford to take any time off so she had been spending her days at work and her nights sleeping in the hospital in case her little girl needed her.

As the fall had happened through the day, her mother had been at work and the little girl had been completely alone. Arizona had carried her to the cafeteria once the announcement had been made to congregate there and she had stuck to the sickly little girl like glue whilst trying to care for her other patients that had made it to the cafeteria. Her eyes began to water as she thought about all the lives they had lost during the escape. All the youngsters that she had managed to get to safety, gone. Extinguished. Snuffed out. It just wasn't fair.

With watery eyes, she excused herself and made her way into Callie's back garden and towards a bench surrounded by crotons, yukka's and various other tropical plants. Callie followed her after a few moments and approached her slowly, her heart sunk as she watched the blonde woman sobbing into her hands.

"Hey" Callie said softly as she crouched down in front of the surgeon.

"Sorry I just..." Arizona trailed off as she sobbed.

"You just needed a moment" Callie finished for her calmly. "Mind if I sit?"

"It's your garden you don't need to ask" Arizona laughed despite her predicament.

"But if you would rather be alone that's totally fine" Callie offered as she placed a hand on Arizona's knee and squeezed it supportively.

"Sit" Arizona more ordered than asked, smiling through her tears when Callie dumped her tired body down on the bench. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments as Arizona composed herself. "Sorry..."

"Don't apologise" Callie cut her off "it's ok to be sad. I haven't allowed myself time to stop and think about what's happened to my family. They are over in Miami, I tried to call them when it first happened before the phone lines went down but all I got was an engaged tone. I have no idea whether they are alive and safe. I mean my parents live in a fortress so I would hope they are safe but I have no way of knowing. And Aria my sister, she lives in an apartment complex and she isn't like me, she can't cook, she can't build things, she is a party girl at heart and is used to living off the hired help that Daddy provided. I'd like to think she is safe but... God does it make me an awful person to think that in this shithole world we have been thrown into that she wouldn't be able to survive, she's just not strong enough"

"No, it doesn't make you a terrible person but I also don't think those of us who have survived have done so because of some innate talent we have, I think it's pure luck. If you had said to me, could I survive a zombie apocalypse, despite growing up as a marine's child... I honestly wouldn't have thought I would survive." Arizona said softly, taking a tan hand in her own and returning the squeeze from earlier. "In the ruckus of getting everyone to the cafeteria, I missed my opportunity to call my parents to make sure they were safe. I hope that with my father being a marine his training will kick in and he and Mom will be safe... I have no way of knowing and I doubt I ever will know now but in my heart, I have to believe that they are safe and surviving. I'm just glad my brother Tim isn't around to see this shit show... we lost him in Afghanistan two years ago... Although he would probably excel in this kind of world" Arizona smiled bitterly.

"I'm so sorry for your loss" Callie said and she meant it, she could tell from Arizona's tone that the two siblings had been close.

"Thank you... I have a feeling in this new world we are all going to face a lot of losses" Arizona confided.

"I hope your wrong, I really do"

"Me too"

"So, can I ask what got you so upset earlier?" Callie finally asked.

"I was just looking at Ben and Millie and thinking of all the other kids we had in the cafeteria. We thought we had a solid plan. We had the children and the weak in the middle and the rest of us on the outside but the second we opened the shutter all hell broke loose. It was an absolute blood bath..." Arizona paused to take a deep breath and sighed it out in frustration. "So many lives, so many prospects and possibilities just gone like that" The blonde clicked her fingers. "I just needed a moment to mourn the losses, it just became overwhelming. We haven't really had time to think about it being out there, on the run. Fighting for our lives every time we stopped to find food or fuel up the van... it was never ending"

The blonde slumped back into the chair, not realising she was still holding Callie's tanned hand in her own. "It's just been a long week, and being here... in the safety you have given us, it's all catching up to me"

"Just take your time, there is no rush on anything" Callie soothed.

"Ladies, dinner is ready" Addie called out the door, offering a sad smile before retreating to give the two women a few more moments.

"We should head in before Mark eats it all" Arizona joked.

"What's with him?" Callie asked as she rose from the bench and disconnected their hands, blushing slightly when she realised they were still holding hands. Arizona mistook the blush, thinking that it was because the Latina had asked about the man whore of the hospital and her heart sunk, she felt a little stupid for thinking that Callie could be even in the slightest interested in her.

"He's a lovely guy... he has a bit of reputation but to be honest there isn't that many of us left so I think his flirting days are over" Arizona said sadly before walking off and leaving Callie to her own thoughts.