So here's chapter nine, for those of you who have been ever-so-patiently waiting for me to get my act together.

I won't bore you with an explination of where I've been in this story, because you guys probably don't particularly care about that, but I plan to upload a one-shot here pretty soon with the explination. Because there is one.

Promise.

Okay, so, I don't own Danny Phantom or anything else you may recognize. Thank you for sticking with this story, I promise, there's more to come.

Awww yissssss. Moar writies.

Wide Awake

Chapter Nine

March 26, 2013

"I think Sam knows who I really am," Danny murmured to Valerie. They were standing at the bus, which was parked on the opposite side of the stadium from where the house sat, loading various weapons and ammunition into the back for later use. Valerie paused, the three rifles in her arms clanging together. "I know what you're gonna say, but...I don't know, we were talking a little while ago and it seemed like she kind of knew who -"

"Danny," She said softly. He fell silent immediately, dropping his gaze to his feet. "Look, I know you want her to know. I know you want both of them to know. And trust me, eventually, they'll figure it out. But you've only been here, what...eighteen hours? They don't know yet, they haven't been around you long enough to recognize you yet. It's been a year since they've seen you, and they've been thinking that you're dead for this entire time. Remember the way you felt when you realized they were still alive?"

"Yeah, I do. I felt like I wanted to see them both more than I wanted air to breathe." Danny snapped. "I get it, okay? I get the whole being gentle thing and easing them into it thing but...Jesus Christ, Val, why can't I just go ghost in front of them and be done with it?"

Her gaze was one of pity. "If it was that easy, I would have told you to do that last night. Danny, Tucker and Sam are animals right now. They are. We all are. We've been fighting for our lives for so long now that we don't remember how to act in any other situation. I told you when we first found each other, Tucker and Sam are in the mindset that the only thing they have to lose is each other. The only significant thing in their lives right now is each other. And they will fight to the death to protect each other. I think," she said, slinging the rifles into the back of the bus and turning to lean against it, "on some level, they do know already. They know it's you. And they know that you want to help them protect each other. I think that's the reason why they're being so flighty with you, especially Tucker."

"What, they don't want my help? They don't want my protection?"

"That's not what I said. There's something you should know about Tucker, though. He told me, a few months ago, that he would die before he let anything happen to Sam. D'you know why?" Danny shook his head. "He said, and I quote: 'I have to keep her safe for Danny. Years ago I promised him that if anything ever happened to him that made him not be around anymore, I would protect Sam. I would keep her safe.'" Danny felt heat rising in his face and tears pricking at his eyes. He had completely forgotten about that conversation, "Tucker's being territorial and protective of Sam for you. He loves her, believe me, but if you guys had found each other that night, you can believe that Tucker wouldn't be nearly as aggressive about her. About anything, really."

Danny was quiet, so she knelt down and began gathering weapons again. "He's doing this as homage to you." she grunted, lifting a fifty-pound case of ammunition by herself. "Do you get that?"

"Yeah," Danny breathed. "I just wish he would let me in, is all."

"He's working on it. I know it doesn't seem like it, but he is. I think he'll be a little more civil toward you after tonight, though, since you're coming with us on the raid."

"What makes you think he's gonna chill out with me?" He asked as he hoisted more ammunition into the bus. His muscles were burning, he realized in dismay.

"Anyone who survives a raid with Tucker and Sam is alright in Tucker's book." Valerie said. "Those sons of bitches are crazy on raids."

"Should I bother asking you to explain?" He huffed.

"You'll see for yourself." She said cryptically, slamming the backdoor of the bus shut and grinning mischievously.

They gathered about half an hour before the sun set, on the side of the house where the apple tree stood. The familiar rays of the sun, which for so long had been nothing but heartless reminders of everything he lost, were suddenly warm against his skin again. He watched the sun dip slowly, tuning Valerie out as she rambled on about safety procedures. He turned back toward the group, though, when he felt eyes on the back of his head. He found Sam watching him.

"So is everyone clear on where we'll be, tonight?" Valerie asked, drawing his attention back toward her. There was a small murmur of agreement from the group, but most remained silent. She sighed impatiently. "We're going to the east end of Bosque, where the ranches are. Okay?" This time, everyone nodded and mumbled some consent. "Alright, let's load up and head out."

They began to migrate toward the bus, mostly silent save for a few quiet conversations murmured here and there throughout. Tucker and Sam were several yards ahead of where he was walking, apparently deeply absorbed in their own conversation. He could not tear his eyes away from them.

"I drive the bus, so you'll have to sit by yourself. Is that gonna be okay?" Valerie murmured, drawing his attention back to earth. He nodded, glancing at the ground as they walked. "It won't be too bad. You're gonna be with me, Tucker, and Sam on the raid."

"You don't think Tucker's gonna try to kill me?" Danny asked bitterly.

"I've already talked to him about it. He realizes that this is Seth's first raid, and he promised that he was gonna be nice. Besides, his focus right now is to find food and medicine. He knows we're running low, and I've asked him to replenish. It's mostly gonna be you, me, and Sam. Tuck will be doing his own thing."

Danny nodded, feeling only slightly more reassured. His gaze drifted back to Tucker and Sam. "What if there's a nest over there?" He asked.

Valerie was quiet. He glanced at her, to find her gaze firmly planted ahead. "There isn't." She said.

"But what if -"

"There isn't."

He did not speak again.

When they loaded themselves onto the bus, Danny ended up on the row directly behind the driver's seat. He turned sideways in his seat, so that his back was against the windows, and watched the rest of the bus move and quake. Tucker and Sam were in the furthest row on the opposite side of the bus, still wrapped up in each other. He tried to bite back a swell of jealousy, busying himself by examining the bus instead.

While the outside was rusted and a fading pale yellow, the inside was painted all different shades of vibrant colors, in no particular pattern, giving the bus a deceptively cheerful appearance. Someone (Tucker, he guessed) had installed speakers all throughout the bus, one mounted on every other row, which seemed to connect to some sort of iPod in the back, somewhere near Tucker and Sam, he assumed. He glanced back at the couple.

They were both absorbed in something Danny could not see, that Tucker seemed to be holding. Sam pointed and said something to Tucker, who laughed and nodded. Her grin was blinding.

And suddenly music was blasting from the speakers. Danny leaned his head against the window just as they reached the bottom of the hill on the property, closing his eyes and letting the sounds of the thudding bass soothe him. It had been so long since he last enjoyed any music. This was a blessing.

They stopped once, long enough for some of those staying behind to push the main gate open, and then they were off. Sam seemed to have selected a playlist full of strange electronic classical hybrid music that Danny found strangely relaxing. He opened his eyes once in the trip to east Bosque, when he felt someone watching him again. He glanced to his right to find Sam's amethyst eyes bright and trained on his face. Her face was illuminated for a brief moment in the last light of the sunset, before darkness fell and she turned away.

Valerie parked the bus in the center of a wide field that may have once been part of someone's land. Tucker unplugged the iPod and the music cut off and all attention turned to Valerie, who was now standing at the very front of the bus. "Remember what we talked about. Be safe, keep each other safe, and gather as much as you can carry. Second trips are not prohibited, but they are highly frowned upon. We're leaving in an hour, I suggest you guys be here when that hour expires. We will not wait for you. Let's go."

Danny allowed her to pull him off to one side once they were both off of the bus. They stood, watching the rest of the group split off in different directions, waiting for Tucker and Sam to vacate the bus. They were the last ones off.

The four of them set off wordlessly toward the northeast. He walked slightly ahead of Tucker and Sam, in line with Valerie.

The walk to the ranch in question was quiet. Occasionally Danny caught snippets of murmured conversation from Tucker or Sam, but the wind blistering his face carried their words away before he could really understand them. After about ten minutes, the outline of an abandoned ranch appeared in the distance.

Valerie brought her arm up, catching Danny around his chest and bringing him up short. "Okay, see the shed there to the left of the house?" She asked, turning her head back to Tucker. Tucker sidled up between Valerie and Danny, squinting at the shed, before nodding. "You check that out first, and then there's a barn behind this property that I want you to look at, okay? Me, Sam, and Seth are gonna check the main building out. It's big enough to keep the three of us busy, but if you have trouble, give us a yell."

Tucker nodded again, his gaze hard and fixated on the shed. "Sam, you good to go?"

Sam turned her gaze toward Valerie, and Danny could see apprehension and worry flickering deep in her eyes. But she nodded. "Good. Let's go."

Tucker split off from the group the moment they were inside the fence surrounding the property. Danny watched his retreating figure, before he felt a tug at his sleeve. Valerie was all but dragging him toward the house. "Stay focused," She hissed over her shoulder.

Sam was already on the front porch, her shoulder to the wall, when Danny and Valerie made it to the bottom of the small staircase leading to the front door. A small-caliber pistol was in her right hand, her left gripping the handle of the door.

"Okay, Seth?" Valerie whispered when they were situated on the other side of the door. "Sam's gonna go in first, check the place out, and when she gives us the signal, we're gonna go in after her. That way she can check for any stray zacks or other surprises, and we can watch the main entry point while she works."

Danny nodded, unable to tear his gaze away from Sam's face. She was staring back, her nostrils flared, waiting for Valerie to give her the signal that she could enter. "Go," Valerie whispered.

In the split second it took him to blink, she was gone, vanished into the blackness of the house. He was left to stare at an empty space beside a lightly creaking front door.

The silence that followed was thick, almost too thick for Danny to bear. He could hear his blood rushing through his ears. "I don't like this," He whispered, and it sounded brutishly loud.

"Just relax. This is your first raid, I know it's scary, but trust me. We've done this hundreds of times. We know what we're doing." Valerie was leaning hard against the door frame, her ear cocked toward the inside of the house as she scanned the horizon. "This is routine."

"Sam wasn't acting like this is routine." Danny muttered. "She's kind of freaking out right now."

"No, she's not," Valerie said firmly. She sighed, before lowering her voice significantly. "Her nerves are just a little frayed because we've been seeing more and more of Lars lately. And then you throw in the fact that you, the spitting image of the guy she was in love with before the apocalypse, have mysteriously appeared out of no where...she's just stretched a little thin right now. Don't worry about it, when she gets into raid mode, all of that goes away. Same with Tucker.

He dropped his gaze to the wooden porch beneath his feet, examining the grains and grooves in the planks. They were quiet for a moment more, before a sudden movement at the door drew his attention back.

"We're clear." Sam murmured. Her skin was pale and glistening ever so slightly in the decreasing light, but her eyes were clear. She stepped aside to let Valerie and Danny in, before shutting the door behind them. "I found a pretty sizeable hole in the kitchen, but I blocked it and checked the rest of the house out. It looks like whatever lives here is out at the moment, and as long as we can get out before they get back, we'll be okay."

The room was fairly large, the ceiling high and vaulted with exposed beams running across. A carpet thick with dust crunched beneath his feet, and the leather furniture was all but rotted away. A desolate fireplace stood - probably once proud - toward the center of the room. It seemed as though they were standing in what was once a grand living room. He wondered how many people trooped through here, how many grandchildren sat with grandparents and listened to their stories. He wondered where they were now, if they were still alive. Everything was thick with dust; even the air was hard to breathe.

"I haven't found any food, but I found a pretty big gun vault in the master bedroom. I didn't stop to check it out, I just noticed it as I was doing my run-through." Sam explained as she lead them down a hallway. Danny started noticing long trails of blood, smeared around as if someone was dragging their feet through it. "I wouldn't go in there," Sam whispered as they passed a closed doorway. Bloody handprints mingled with deep scars left by fingernails digging through the wood on the once white paint, and a distinct stench of death was emanating from the room. "I shut the door as I went by...you don't want to know what's in there. 'Specially you, Seth."

Danny nodded, desperately fighting the urge to vomit, before moving past the door as quickly as he could. "Master's back here, with the vault."

The master bedroom door was slightly open already. The darkness made it hard to see, but Danny could make out the outline of a large, king-sized bed in the middle of the room. He turned to his left and saw the outlines of Sam and Valerie, crouched before a large safe. "I think it's unlocked." Valerie murmured. "I just can't find the...oh!"

Sam yanked a handle up, sending a loud metallic click echoing through the room. The three froze, listening intently for any additional sounds, to find the house completely quiet. "Go." Valerie whispered.

The door groaned a little, but it seemed to swing open easily enough. "Holy shit." Sam muttered.

"Seth, come here," Valerie ordered. He stepped forward, just to have five rifles slung into his arms. "Dump those on the bed," She instructed. Danny did as he was told, coughing when the rifles brought an explosion of dust from the ancient blankets strewn across the bed. He turned to find himself chest-to-chest with Sam, whose hands were full with boxes of ammunition. She gazed up at him, her eyes wide. "Sorry." She whispered.

Danny stepped out of the way immediately, moving slowly back toward the vault as Sam dropped the boxes on top of the rifles. "You guys empty this thing out, I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

"Seriously, Val?" Sam asked as Valerie skittered toward the bathroom. "Why didn't you go before we left?"

"I didn't have to go then!" Valerie shouted over her shoulder. There was just enough light left for Danny to see Sam roll her eyes, which drew a chuckle from his lips.

"She is hopeless." Sam muttered. "Check for meds while you're in there!" She called.

"I'm already doing that!" was Valerie's muffled reply. Sam nodded in approval. He felt her watching him as he stooped to gather up what felt like hunting knives.

He glanced up at her, confirming that feeling. "What's up?" He asked.

"Nothing. Um...I'm gonna go check on Tucker, okay? I'm just going to the window, I'm not leaving or anything,"

"That's fine." Danny tried to give her a reassuring smile. She nibbled her lower lip, her eyebrows knit in concern, before nodding and turning toward the window on the right side of the bed. He watched her peer through the blinds furtively, before turning back toward the vault and resuming his attempt to gather up the knives.

"Shit." Sam whispered after a few minutes of silence. Danny turned back to her, having just knelt down to scrape his fingers along the bottom of the vault. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit."

"What's wrong?" Danny was on his feet, striding toward the window quickly. Sam turned before he could reach her, though, so he stopped a few feet short.

"There's a zack out there. I'm not concerned, but I don't think Tucker's noticed it yet, and the worst thing that can happen to anyone is getting caught off-guard by a zack." She turned back to the window, allowing Danny to look out over her shoulder. He spotted the zombie a few yards out, trotting rather quickly toward the house. He paused, turned his nose up to the air and sniffed. Danny swallowed hard.

Sam turned back toward him, her face creased in worry. "You act like you've never dealt directly with a zack before," She murmured.

"I, uh...I hid a lot. I don't like fighting them, y'know...I was running with my mom and whenever they would come she would make me hide until she could get rid of them."

Something flickered in her eyes, but she blinked and it was gone. "So you haven't really dealt with them, have you?"

"N-not if I could help it." He stammered. She examined him a moment longer, before nodding.

A distant gunshot drew their attention back toward the window. Sam swore under her breath. The zombie was on the ground, twitching slightly, and Tucker was standing over him. He saw Tucker kneel down and examine the zombie, before standing back up and shooting it for a second time in the head. It stopped twitching.

"Alright, that sounds gonna draw them in. We've gotta head back now before we have a clan of 'em on us. Val?" Sam strode quickly toward the bathroom door and banged the heel of her hand against the chipped wood. "I know you heard Tucker make that shot, we've gotta go."

"I need another minute," Valerie said, her voice quivering with some strange emotion. Sam threw an incredulous look back at Danny, before banging her hand against the door again.

"We don't have another minute, we've gotta go."

"Find another minute, I'm busy right now."

"What the hell are you doing in there?" Sam's voice was starting to rise, her panic becoming a tangible thing in the room, threatening to choke them all.

"Go help Tucker!" Valerie screamed.

"Oh my God." Sam hissed, turning away from the door and rushing back to the window. Tucker had disappeared back into the barn while they were talking, leaving the zombie sprawled out on the ground.

"There's nothing out there, we've got time -"

"No, we don't," Sam snapped. "They've heard the gun shot, they've caught our scent. We've just sentenced ourselves to death. God, Tucker knows to use a knife when we're on raids! They're drawn to human noises, they can smell our flesh. They're on the way here, if they're not already here."

"Let's start getting the weapons together, that way when Valerie's ready to go we can just run right out the front door," Danny suggested. Sam eyed him, before nodding.

They rushed to the bed, gathering the supplies quickly. For a moment the only sounds reaching them were the sounds of weapons clacking together and their own labored breathing, but a muffled gunshot silenced them both. They froze in place, ears pricked, and after another beat of silence a second gunshot reached them.

Sam sprinted toward the window, before letting out a strangled growl. "Fuck, I fucking knew it!" She screamed. She raced to the bathroom door, beating the wood with her fist. "They're out there, they've got Tucker trapped, now hurry the fuck up so we can get the hell out of here!" And before Valerie could respond, Sam was out of the bedroom and tearing down the hall.

Danny edged toward the window, staring in disbelief at the scene before him. Dozens of zombies had converged on the barn, forcing Tucker to climb up the side of the structure. He was perched on the roof, carefully aiming his shotgun down at the mob below him. He could hear Valerie cursing distantly, but he paid her no mind. Sam appeared at the back door of the house, her part of their load on the ground, as she fired her pistol into the mob of zombies. Four of them dropped instantly, creating confusion among those still standing.

He swallowed hard when they started to rush at Sam, but she did not appear even slightly concerned. She twisted deftly and shot them all down, crouching to trade her pistol for a rifle between waves. Tucker, meanwhile, was still firing into the dwindling crowd on the ground, his laughter only slightly audible over the sounds of the attack.

Danny spotted it before Sam or Tucker. On the opposite side of the barn from where Tucker crouched, a rope was dangling down, tied securely to what looked like the chimney. A rather nimble zombie was taking advantage of it. He was yanking against the rope with all of his might, and already the decrepit chimney was starting to crumble.

"If that thing goes down, the whole thing goes down. Including Tucker." Valerie murmured to Danny's right. He jumped.

"When the hell did you get out of the bathroom?" Danny gasped.

"Does it matter? We've got to stop that thing before it kills Tucker." Valerie said. She shouldered her way past him, yanking the blinds up and unlocking the window. "You've got to cut the rope." She grunted as she forced the window up. The sounds of the fight were no longer muffled.

"With what?" Danny demanded.

"Ghost powers?"

"They'll see me," He said slowly. "You've been so insistent that I stay Seth, but if I use my ghost powers to save Tucker, they'll see it and they'll know it's me."

"I'd rather see him pissed as hell at both of us than dead and none the wiser. Don't you agree?" Her face was hard. "Cut the rope."

Danny turned back toward the window, waited until Tucker and Sam both seemed preoccupied, before shooting a small ecto-ray at the rope from the tip of his right index finger. The rope snapped and the zombie fell backwards with a defeated snarl.

"C'mon," Valerie pulled him by his elbow away from the window. "They're pretty much done, and we're getting close to leaving time."

They gathered the remaining weapons and trooped toward the back door. Tucker was just shimmying down the gutter as Valerie and Danny traipsed out the back door.

"Shit!" He shouted. "Where the hell were you guys?" His grin was wide, his excitement still evident in his eyes. "We were just havin' a party out here!"

"I see that." Valerie observed, glancing over the piles of motionless zombies with a distinct air of disinterest. "It's almost time to go, did you find anything?"

"Nah, someone else emptied this place a while ago. I see you guys were a little more successful," He glanced over the piles of weapons in their arms. "Not exactly what we were looking for, but it's almost better. Where were they?"

"Vault in the master suite. Whoever emptied this place must have run into whichever one of those bastards lived here and didn't make it inside." Tucker laughed appreciatively. "Wanna help us out?"

"Sure," He took two rifles from Valerie's arms, before turning to Danny and holding his hands out. Danny peered nervously up at him, to find his eyes were bright and almost happy. "Don't worry, dude, I don't bite."

Danny chuckled, before handing his old friend three hunting knives. "Alright, let's get outta here. Sam, you ready?"

The trio turned to Sam, who was still beside the barn. She had picked her way through the bodies. In her hand was the rope tied to the crumbling chimney.

Her eyes were fixated on the burned end of the rope, which was still smoking.

Jacob: Tori, have you seen the X-Mens movies?

Me: (laughing) Yes, I have seen the X-Men movies.

Jacob: That's good. Did you know that there are three X-Mens movies?

Me: Yes. I own all of them.

Jacob: Did you know that Wolverine is one of the X-Mens?

Me: (still laughing) I did.

Jacob: And did you know that they're making another X-Mens movie?

Me: (struggling to breathe from laughing so hard)

Jacob is twenty-one. Just saying.

Thank you for reading, my pretties.

Tori