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Rated T

Drama / Adventure / Friendship

Zoey & Bill

English

Alive

Chapter Ten

"Well, thank god that's over." The cheery voice of Sam washed over Zoey's still ringing ears. Zoey squeezed her eyes tightly shut in emphasis of the tinnitus playing on inside her head. "I know, I can still damn well hear it." The brunette shook her head, her bangs falling into her eyes.

"How the hell do you think I feel?" Louis stared blankly into the space in front of him. He held his cup of untouched coffee in hands which if weren't tightly holding something would most surely be shaking all over the surface of the table. The 'magical' black liquid seemed to have lost his effect on the computer analyst. Either that or his little encounter with the infected earlier on in the day had taken away its abilities.

"I'm sorry, Louis. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." She gave a sympathetic smile and turned to the collection of humans around a table in the main.

"Thanks, Zoe'." He replied, a dumb nod followed his reply.

"But..." Samantha continued, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck with a shaky hand. "Um, I think you were real brave today. Like James Bond brave or somethin'." She nervously finished, a small flutter in her stomach set her question of what possible emotions she should be feeling into the abyss.

"Well, the outer hull hasn't caved in just yet." Sam touched her arm to his, in a friendly nudge which earned a smile to creep its way onto his lips.

"It that Samantha Frost speak for saying thank you to me for risking my ass?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yup, well, I was trying to cheer you up." Sam blushed slightly and pulled his mug closer to herself and took a sip of the one constant in a world of change.

"Well, it worked. Thank you and you can have that." Louis nodded up at Sam's cheery expression. It seemed to make everything just a bit better, more colourful, more vibrant after facing something close to a near death with cold, grey expressionless walking corpses.

Sam cleared her throat.

"Wow, boy is this awkward." Zoey felt her eyes widen involuntarily as the words started flowing out of her mouth, which remained still after landing on the floor with a silent thud. "Um, c'mon guys. Let's leave them to it." She then ushered her friends out of main to go some place else, away from the IT analyst and his new muse.

"Before this, you." He looked Samantha straight in the eye and sat up, adding a few inches to his height. "I thought we were the only ones still alive." He frowned and stared intently at the lipstick mark she'd left on his mug. Simple symbolism. She was alive, plain and simple. With the heart beating and the synapses firing all tied together in one neat, intelligent red-headed package. One of which had a wicked sense of humour and a head shot – according to Zoey.

"I thought the same, honest." She breathed. The air-con, pumping artificial oxygen – or something infinitely close to it into the spacious metal bunker with the high, still ever convincing fake sky line view on the wall above the entrance still fooling the inhabitants of said metal bunked whirred with each passing moment. Made each of them passing second drag their sweet old time. Made the vast bunker all the more maze-like thanks to the terror still outdoors, beyond some simple steel fences and gates.

"Anyone else baffled by that or is it just me?" Zoey threw a face which even Francis doubled back on and looked her over.

"Took the words right outta my mouth." He nodded at her in agreement then gestured his shock and somewhat empathy at her words.

"What're we gonna do now? Our work today's been cancelled due to them moaning bastards deciding to pay us a little visit." Bill put in after fearing the 'kids' might cause trouble in their new home with themselves and/or with others.

"I have a deck of cards." Francis raked a hand down his bearded mouth before jutting out his chin in a sign of being deep in thought.

Zoey rolled her eyes at the taller and considerably wider biker though interjected. "You know how I feel about those and I have a room with a spare bed which is currently not getting used."

Bill looked at each of his 'kids' in turn before motioning with both of his hands. "Right, ladies. Let's have this day off. All we've done since we got here was work, work-"

"And get served crappy food." The biker added with a grimace, cutting the old man off.

Sure enough, the newly formed team of zombie fighters took a day off. Unknown, unaware of the horde. They knew of the terror the carnivorous beings installed so easily in humans and animals alike. Knew, too of the strength and speed but also of the stupidity of the creatures. Chuck Hall took a bite out of a freshly made sandwich, heard the all too familiar creek of his office chair as he pushed his burly weight into the back rest and crossed his ankles close to the monitor, flickering back and forth of live images taken of the outside perimeter and the runway and make shift garage. With the keyboard resting on his lap, the other half of his sandwich in grabbing distance, he saw the monitor change to a diagonal, black and white image of the gate to the runway zone of the science base. Soon after laying his eyes on what danced briefly before his eyes, Chuck's food was forgotten...

"Come on, Francis. Let the lady sleep." Bill grumpily told the only other male in the room soon as Sam opened the door and looked at each person in turn before making her way to her bed. Casting a glance at Zoey as she slipped off her shoes, Samantha paused to bid the men a fond farewell after the day from hell which both mentally and physically still rang in their heads. They both then left, silently.

"It's nice to get some peace and quiet after all that this morning, huh?" Sam whispered and moved her hands to free her hair of its band before slipping under the covers. Sure enough, like clockwork and as smooth a transition that could tack place in a blink of an eye – the lights switched off for the night.

"So, you and Louis, huh?" Zoey rolled over to her side and snuggled under the covers that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and had been draped over her. Raising an eyebrow as well as opening the eye underneath, Zoey aimed her sleepy vision at the darkness where her friend and room-mate was in.

"Me and Louis, what?" Sam pursed her lips and frowned, confused and somewhat concerned. Had this so-called zombie apocalypse finally taken its toll? Not just on the world but also on the survivors who battled though it?

"Nothing!" The brunette cocked her head at the doctor, as even in the darkness, the white was illuminated. Which made a crumpled outline of the person in the opposite bed. Her voice, hinted of something she didn't wish to share. Not just yet, anyway. Her features pulled into a cheeky expression which only the college girl knew existed.

The new family settled well into their first night's sleep as survivors of the base. Of course the earlier night, full of blaring sirens and the infected putting two and two together and finding out their next meal was going to be a metal wrapped banquet. Still using the candles and torches to find their way around the complex. Something as simple but as terrifying as a zombie apocalypse does strange things. Samantha mused to herself as she checked over the youngest of the new family.

A small brown haired and brown eyed child, no older than six was giving her trouble as she tried to check her over and take blood. There was a file of everyone on the base's computer records. Taken willing or unwillingly, there had to be a thorough check of each man, woman or animal that passed underneath and into the bowels of the city.

"I know, it's nasty. It's sharp and I bet you hate me." Samantha crouched in front of the little girl, placing the needle in a Petri dish away from worried eyes from the meantime. "But, you know what? I've had one too. But I didn't get a lollipop after mine." Sam tried her best child-coaxing voice on while the rest of the family stood in line to be checked over next.

"No..." The young child stuck out her bottom lip and swayed slightly on the medical chair. "I don't hate you." She whispered as Sam looked her over.

Seeing no obvious signs of injury and/or injection from the undead, Samantha patted her knees in a sign to get the youngster's attention and stood up, keeping the injection equipment at bay but hiding it with her hand away from the girl. "You know what, you look okay. I'm gonna put off your medical exam further. But, seeing as you're such a nice girl." Samantha reached into her lab coat pocket and gave her a lollipop. The youngster's eyes lit up and she smiled a sparkly butter-wouldn't-melt smile complete with missing teeth.

She ushered her out of the room and asked for the next patient to come on in. Just before closing the door and watching the little girl run up to her Mother, making her skin tone down to a 't', Samantha saw the backs of her new friends, a khaki jacked man stopped to talk to one of the guards. His expression was grim, even for him. He paused and furrowed his brow further, looked around after shaking his head and look on a whole new motivated demeanour. Something was definitely up. But, regardless, Samantha smiled, remembering the young girl, not half a hour before.

"Hey, excuse me, Doctor red-head? We gonna do this or what?" Her next patient insisted. Life continued.

"Of course." Sam replied. I might even shove in to your ass... She laughed inwardly.