Chapter 2

I woke up to find myself laying on something living, someone. I didn't need to look up to figure it was the Smoker, but I stayed where I was. He was warm, and with his arm around me, I felt... protected. I don't exactly know why, but I felt safe around him. Maybe it was because he saved me from the Tank and the Hunter. Maybe it was because he had his arm around me. Maybe it was because it was the first time I felt cared about since the whole thing began, nevertheless by a zombie. He began stroking my hair gently, so I knew he was awake.

There was a clatter on the other side of the room, and I raised my head to see if I could see it. He removed his arm from me, and I sat up, and looked at him. He was shirtless, with black cargo pants on. I looked to the side, and saw a small pile of clothes and my guns. I looked back at him, then at myself, and blushed slightly when I noticed I was still naked. He stood, and walked to the doorway of the room.

He looked at me. "I got what I could, if ya wanna leave." He spoke with a Southern accent.

I tilted my head slightly. "I have... questions..."

He smiled slightly. "I'll answer what I can, s'long 's ya stay long enough fer me t'answer 'em."

I nodded, and sighed softly. "Do you have any food here?"

He chuckled softly. "Yeh, I was gonna put som'thin' together raht now."

He left after that, and I got dressed. There was an orange T-shirt, gray shorts, a pair of purple panties, and black skate shoes. I put everything but the skate shoes on, and sighed softly. I walked out after, finding myself if a very large room, and figured that I must be in the warehouse. It was mostly rather empty, filled with naught but the basics. A table with chairs, a gas barbecue, and a large ice box. I saw the Smoker cooking something on the grill, and smiled softly. He must not have noticed me, or chose not to acknowledge me, as he didn't. I sat at one of the tables and watched him.

He presented me with a bowl of ramen. I guess he cooked it on a pan on the grill. Odd way to do it, but I guess he made do with what he had. He got himself a bowl too, and sat across from me. We ate our meal in silence, except when I decided to continue questioning him at the end.

"What's your name?" I asked

"Why d'ya want t'know?" He replied.

I thought. "So I can know who saved my life."

He blinked. "M'name's Marcus. Ev'ryone use' t'call me Marky."

I smiled. "Thanks for saving my life, Marky."

He shrugged. "T'wasn't nothin'." He sighed, and mumbled, "I owed it t'ya anyway."

I blinked, hearing him. "What do you mean by that?"

He looked at me. "I mean what I say."

I blinked rapidly, and shook my head. He sighed softly, and got some water from the ice box to wash out our bowls. I watched him and did the same, then sat back down, looking at him. I sighed softly, and continued my interrogation.

"Why were you following me?" was my starting question.

"So I could make sure ya was okay."

I tilted my head. "And why were you doing that?"

"So I could apologize."

"You don't need to apologize... If you had, I would've killed you before you got the chance, anyway. And then I'd be dead..."

He frowned slightly. "Then I'm glad I followed ya."

"Are you glad you did what you did?"

"I... No."

"You know, you could've done a lot worse..."

He nodded. "Yeh, I know."

"Why'd you do it?"

He frowned deeply. "A mult'ude of reasons."

"Which include...?"

"Mah infection, me, yer beauty..."

I blushed slightly at the last one. "Uhhuh..."

He sighed softly, looked at me for a bit, then went off into a side room, closing and locking the door behind him. I sighed, and looked around. There just wasn't much to do. I went to the room with my things in it, and gathered them. I sat down, and considered leaving. It was as I was coming to my conclusion that Marky came into my room, and locked the door behind him.

"Wha-" I started to ask, but was cut off my him covering my mouth with his hands.

"Shhhh... Lis'n." He ordered.

I did so, and heard gunfire coming from just outside the warehouse. I whispered, "Are they coming in?"

He adopted the same hoarse voice. "I dunno. Som'times they do, others they don't." He laid against a wall.

I nodded, and sat next to him. The gunfire gradually got closer, until it stopped inside the place. I heard footsteps coming close, and I involuntarily pressed against Marky, who put his arm around me protectively. The steps got closer, until I could hear voices. The door got pulled on, and I tensed. I heard a hearty voice, a woman's voice, a smooth man's voice, and a voice like Marky's.

"Should we try and break it?" asked the hearty voice.

"'Ey, I don' think so. We alre'dy got some stuff, let's go." said the one similar to Marky's.

"For once, I agree with the kid." said the smooth voice.

"Yeah, Ellis's right, Coach. We should go." said the woman's.

"Alright then, let's go." said the hearty voice, with a tone of finality.

The footsteps moved further away, and the voices continued, though incomprehensible. I sighed when I heard the door to the warehouse close. Marky rubbed my arm gently, and I smiled up at him, then sat up. He removed his arm from me, and sat up as well. I examined him more closely, now that I had the time.

Every bit of his face ended in an edge, not a single part was more round than it had to be if it could avoid it. Probably the only exception was his nose, but even that wasn't overly round. He had some freckles to him, and a few pimples. His hair hung around his neck, a darker blonde in color. And there was something else about him. Some thing that I couldn't explain, something special that just made him more attractive to me.

It took me a while to realize that I was staring, and I looked away. I saw him smile in the corner of my eye, and he rubbed my arm gently with the back of a knuckle.

"Ya know, starin's not rude 'f th'oth'r person's doin' it too." He said, still smiling.

I looked up at him. "Yeah, well, I wouldn't've done it if I wasn't spacing out."

"Spacin' out? Thinkin' 'bout somethin'?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh. 'Ey, what's your name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"So I c'n know who's life I saved."

I chuckled softly to myself. "I'm Opal."

He held his hand out, and smiled wider. "Pleasure to meet you, Opal."

I shook it. "The same."