I don't own Danny Phantom.

Wide Awake

Chapter Fifteen

August 25, 2013

Thin fingers prodded into his upper arm, jolting him out of his dreams. His eyes snapped open, at first only processing darkness, but as his senses quickly sharpened he realized Sam was standing over him, a thin eyebrow raised. "Come on, we've gotta go," She whispered.

He sat up as she moved away from him. At some point while he slept she changed out of his old t-shirt to what he could only assume was her hunting uniform: long black pants and a long-sleeved forest green shirt, the sleeves of which were covered in dark stains. She bent and seized his old backpack by one of the straps just as he swung his legs over the side of his bed and yawned. "What time is it?" He asked sleepily, rubbing his face.

"Around four. We need to go, Tucker'll be up soon," She sounded strangely awake for someone who only got two hours of sleep, he decided, as he rose unsteadily to his feet. "Put this on, they'll be able to see you from a mile away," She shoved pants and a shirt into his arms, and as he squinted down at them he guessed they were probably Tucker's at some point. "Seriously, Seth, we don't have all day, we need to be back before the sun rises or else they'll know something's going on."

Danny immediately began undressing, yanking his shorts down to his ankles and stepping out of them quickly. He was about half-way through the process of yanking the pants up his legs when he realized Sam was watching him, unashamed. A faint blush crept across his cheeks, but he pretended not to notice as he buttoned the pants and promptly yanked his shirt over his head. Sam quickly looked away, busying herself by digging a crossbow out of a pile of clothes at the foot of her bed, but he could have sworn she glanced at him furtively once or twice while he struggled to get the new shirt on.

His amusement with capturing her attention evaporated almost immediately when he noticed dark stains on the sleeves of his shirt similar to Sam's.

"You done?" She asked, head tilted to one side. Still too tired to speak, he simply nodded. She nodded as well, a single harsh movement with her neck, and slung a quiver full of bows over her shoulder. "Okay, good. Let's go."

She lead him out of the bedroom slowly, silently warning him of the one loose floorboard that squeaked, through the dining room and front room, directly out the front door. "Stay quiet until we're down the hill," She whispered as she eased the front gate open.

He allowed her to walk slightly ahead of him down the winding path, as she was armed and he was not. Every soft breeze that slithered through the trees made him jump; the shadows danced slowly on the path, making it difficult to discern living from the living-dead. Sam did not appear distressed by it, though he saw her grip around the crossbow tighten once or twice at a slightly stronger breeze.

On the bus ride out for his first raid, Danny was so entranced at the sight of Tucker and Sam being together again that he hardly noticed the geography of the ranch. Had he paid attention, he would have noticed that the footpath leading up to the front gate was only partially covered by a thick ring of trees; at the bottom of the hill the trees grew further apart, until eventually leading out to a wide spanse of empty field. The gate that ran the perimeter of the land was a good fifty yards away from the edge of the trees, leaving nothing more than moonlight to provide cover. The moment he noticed the trees were growing more sparse and the moonlight was getting brighter, his nerves reared painfully, sending his heart skittering in his chest. Sam moved forward without a backwards glance.

Danny smelled it before he saw it. He was looking off to his left when Sam suddenly stopped, and since he was not paying attention he ran directly into her. He began a hurried apology, but before he could even say "I'm" Sam's hand clapped over his mouth. There was a cold, calculating look in her eye that scared him a little; he was used to seeing that sort of look from Skulker. He was about to pull her hand away and ask what was happening when the stench of rotting flesh slammed into him harder than a brick wall. He gagged involuntarily and twisted away from Sam's hand to cover his face with his sleeve. Suddenly he understood the grim look on Sam's face. By that time they were already several yards out into the open, easily spotted. His gaze darted around spastically, expecting at any moment for a creature to come lunging at them from the trees.

Sam grabbed at his sleeve blindly and pointed to their right. He spotted it, a humanoid figure limping through the field, away from them, just barely visible in the moonlight. Danny lowered his arm slowly, completely entranced by the thing. He had only ever seen them hunting, decomposing fingers outstretched and reaching for whatever prey it had spotted. He had never seen one just wandering around.

He was still staring at it when he heard a strange sound similar to a stretched rubber band releasing and then the zombie was laying face-first on the ground, an arrow protruding from the back of its' head. He turned his head down just as Sam lowered the crossbow, a grim but satisfied look on her face. She glanced at him briefly before jogging off the path, toward the creature. With a grunt she yanked the arrow out, examined the tip, shrugged, and wiped it along the ground as she walked back to where he was standing. "C'mon," She whispered as she slid the arrow back into her quiver.

Once they were outside of the ranch, she seemed to loosen up a little. Her left arm swung by her side as she loped down the dirt road, the crossbow tucked into her right side, a peaceful look on her face. They never spoke, but they would catch each other glancing every now and then, and they would exchange a shy smile.

"I hid a car over here," Sam said after about twenty minutes of walking. She pointed to a group of bushes that towered a good five feet over his head, and promptly dug her way through the branches. Danny followed after her a bit more hesitantly, wondering how in the world she managed to hide a car there, as the bushes grew so closely together it was nearly impossible to get through them. Of course, once he got through about three feet of sharp branches, he realized there was a space in the middle, as if the bushes were grown in a circle. In the center of that circle sat a small five-passanger vehicle, the color of which he could not discern in the darkness. The back window was cracked and the passenger's door window was completely gone, as if whoever had been inside it had to break through the window to escape. Sam climbed into the driver's seat without hesitation, tossing the crossbow, quiver, and backpack into the backseat as Danny slid in across from her.

The car started after two twists of the keys and a flurry of cursing from Sam. Her relief was tangible as she pulled out from the bushes, angling the car to the left slightly to avoid flattening any of them.

"So where are we going?" Danny asked as they started down the road, heading in the same direction they were originally walking in.

"Well I stole a little food yesterday while everyone was busy setting up the bonfire. I'm taking it to Lars, and you said you wanted to come..." She glanced up to the rear view mirror, a worried look creasing her brow. "Did you not -"

"No, I did," Danny interrupted quickly. "You shouldn't deal with that guy by yourself."

"You sound just like Tucker." She muttered under her breath. "Well, yeah. I was just gonna drop it off with him." She fell silent, chewing the inside of her cheek, lost in thought. He watched her for a moment, longing to ask her what she was thinking about, before sighing and turning his gaze toward the window.

The drive to the rendezvous point was close to fifteen minutes. The sky was already several shades lighter, Sam observed with another storm of cursing. Tucker would be up soon. She tore off the dirt road, driving the car over an uneven spanse of earth toward another line of trees, before a bright light flashed across the windshield from the depths of those trees. Sam slammed on the brakes immediately, shooting an apologetic look over the console at Danny.

"He never lets me go inside," She murmured, eyes on the motionless trees. "He makes me wait here, in the car. He says I'm too much of a threat." She drummed her fingers along the steering wheel and sighed, an edge of frustration to the sound. "I don't even know that this is where he lives."

"What is it?" Danny asked.

"I have no idea," Sam said as she shook her head. "For all I know it could be a castle on the other side of those trees. That would explain how he's survived this long. But, no, I don't know."

He was about to ask how many people stayed with Lars in addition to the guy who helped him run them down the day before, but he was struck by the realization that less than twenty-four hours had passed between then and now. It felt closer to three weeks ago. He was still mulling it over when finally, they spotted movement at the treeline.

They spotted it at the same time, each reacting in a different way. Sam leaned forward, her grip around the steering wheel tightening imperceptibly, while Danny slouched down in his seat, right hand balling into a fist against his thigh. Lars crossed the distance between the trees and their car quickly, keeping a rifle pointed at the windshield the entire time.

Sam rolled the driver's side window just as Lars came around to that side. He stooped and peered inside, eyebrow raising at the sight of Danny beside Sam. "What, you couldn't ditch your new boyfriend for an hour?"

"Can it, asshole." Sam snarled. "Just take your food." She reached around and seized the backpack, unzipped it, and promptly dumped its' contents on the ground beside the car. Danny grinned at the hollow sounds of cans hitting earth.

Lars stared down at it, his face unreadable. Sam appeared unconcerned, rezipping the bag and shoving it backwards over her head. "Is that all?" Lars asked, upper lip curling in distaste.

"It's all I can manage without people noticing," Sam informed him. "If I take anymore, people will start wondering where all the food's gone."

"I don't care," Lars shoved the barrel of the gun into the car, bringing it right under Sam's chin and pressing it into her windpipe. Danny lunged forward, but Sam grabbed his wrist before he could slap the barrel away. "I told you, we need more food."

"I don't even know how many of you there are," Sam hissed, her entire body motionless. Her head was tilted up slightly, forced to sit at an awkward angle because of the gun. In the limited light, Danny could see the gun was pressed right against her scars. "Maybe if you told me how many I need to steal for I could scrounge up a little more."

"You don't need to know how many people I have," He sneered.

"Then that's all you're gonna get." She stared up at him defiantly, apparently unafraid to have a rifle aimed at her jugular. "If you'll excuse us, we really need to get back to our people."

She never broke eye contact with him as she put the car in reverse. She backed away slowly at first, wary of the barrel, but the moment the gun was completely out of the car she reversed in earnest. She pulled around, threw the car in drive, and floored it toward the road. He was so shaken by what had just happened that he almost did not notice the fact that Sam was still holding onto his wrist, or that her grip was so tight it was nearly cutting off the circulation to his fingers. He glanced at her and found her face pale, eyes wide and wild, and lips trembling slightly.

"Sam?" He murmured, folding his free hand over hers. She jerked a little at the sound of her name, swallowing hard before glancing at him.

"I'm fine," She whispered, as if she did not trust her voice.

She continued holding his wrist as they drove back to the ranch, though her grip loosed considerably when he began stroking her knuckles with the pad of his thumb. She only spoke to mutter that she was not going to bother hiding the car anymore, saying she would figure out some other way to deliver Lars' food to him. The sky was a steely grey by then.

They spotted Tucker in the center of the field as they came around the bend. He was knelt beside the fallen zombie, but his was turned up, eyes on the road. He stood quickly and whipped a shotgun up as they slowed, making Danny wonder if he'd had more guns pointed at him before or after the apocalypse. Sam released his wrist as she stopped the car.

"Relax, it's us," She called as she opened the driver's side door. Tucker lowered the gun upon recognizing her voice, but his expression was wary. "What are you doing up?"

"I had to go to the bathroom and noticed you weren't in your room," He called, his voice echoing slightly through the distance between them. "I looked around for you and couldn't find you up there, so I figured you'd come down here, and then I found that dude."

"Yeah, I decided to take Seth out for a practice recovery," She lied smoothly, shooting Danny a significant look over the roof of the car. "We ran into him on the way out."

Tucker was at the far gate now, eyeing the car. "Did you guys find this out there?" He asked, leaning both arms against the top rail and slinging the shotgun over his shoulder lazily.

"Yep," Sam smacked the roof of the car twice, grinning broadly. "It was in the parking lot of that sporting goods store. You and I never made it through all of those cars, so I figured I'd take Seth over there to test a few more."

Tucker glanced around Sam's head, nodding once to Danny. Danny nodded back, trying to hide his clenched fists inside the car where Tucker could not see them. "Well I'll go open the gate for you guys," Tucker said.

Sam and Danny slid back into the car as Tucker trotted off. "If anyone questions you about directions, just tell them it was dark and you weren't paying attention. Got it?"

"I understand." He said, keeping his gaze fixated on the horizon. He saw her glance at him from the corner of his eye, but he refused to meet her gaze.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought you with me to do that -"

"No, I'm glad you did," He said. "Otherwise Lars probably would have shot you right then and there."

He glanced down only when he felt Sam's hand on his arm. "He wouldn't have shot me. But I'm glad you were there."

He was still formulating some smoldering response when Sam's attention was drawn away by Tucker waving them forward, into the grounds of the ranch.

"So you slept inside with Sam last night, hm?" Eams asked, a sly grin on his face. Danny groaned and buried his face in his hands, trying to ignore Kee's tinkling laughter at the noise. He had managed to successfully avoid the couple all day, hiding each time he heard a British accent approaching, but it was nearly night by then and Danny made the mistake of sitting down on his cot to relax for a moment. Eams snuck up behind him, and now he was cornered, trapped between the curious couple.

"We didn't do anything. We just slept." Danny grumbled into his palms.

"Right. Sure you did." He felt an elbow lightly jab at his ribs. "Just like me and Kee only hung out in the barn. Absolutely nothing else went on in there."

Danny lowered his hands slowly and turned to face Eams, his disgust evident in his face. "What the hell, dude?" He asked, his voice choked.

"Eams!" Kee gasped, clearly humiliated.

"What?" Eams asked defensively. "It was a joke!"

Kee shoved off of Danny's cot and stormed away without another word. Eams gaped after her, jaw completely slack. "Kee, wait!" He shouted, scrambling to follow her.

Danny watched them go, vaguely feeling sorry for Kee. Laughter floated above the sea of voices chatting merrily all around the house, each survivor having finished dinner. Distantly he heard someone shouting and a shrill, childish kind of laughter, and he wondered if Ana-Lucia was playing with Charlie and Libby again. A faint melody strummed on a guitar was almost enough to convince Danny to stand and figure out where Ben was hiding, but his back still ached from carrying buckets of water over a mile from the stream that ran from the top of the hill down to the very back end of the property up to the house to add to the water supply and his cot was so unbelievably comfortable...

When he opened his eyes again, the sky was a pale, sickly blue, the sun a blotchy mess half-visible over the tree tops to the east. The voices were no longer wafting toward him from the house; instead, he was enveloped in near silence, save for the quiet breathing of forty people sleeping all around him, a small cough here and there, and snoring that was not unlike the sounds of a chainsaw a few rows behind him. Eams had returned to his cot at some point in the night, though he was laying on his side, his back turned to Danny. When Danny sat up, he spotted Kee asleep in the cot on Eams' other side.

It seemed that every light in the house was ablaze, creating a warm glow around the building like a lantern in the night. Danny was drawn to it like a moth, rolling off of his cot and quietly making his way toward the back door. He spared one last glance over his shoulder at the peaceful group behind him, before slowly easing the back door open and stepping into the kitchen.

He could see Tucker's shoulder through the kitchen doorway, but he was standing at an awkward angle and Danny could not see the rest of him. He stole forward quietly, feet barely ghosting along the kitchen floor, before rounding the doorway and stopping short.

Tucker and Valerie were both awake, dark circles under their eyes telling him that they had been that way for quite some time. They both glanced up at him when he entered, but Tucker's glare immediately returned to the tabletop beneath his clenched fists. Valerie continued staring at him, eyes full of a profound sadness that made him want to whine. "What's going on?" He asked carefully.

"Sam's gone," Valerie whispered.