29.

The once glossy blond hair of the zombie hung limply over bright pink clad shoulders. Haymitch avoided her grabby still red-painted fingernails and stabbed the other corpse on his left without hesitation. An arrow shot down the one that wanted to take him on his left, leaving him to face the very dead woman in front of him. Her blue eyes looked milky in a way that unsettled him.

It unsettled him less, of course, than the truck that slammed into her and almost flung him on the side of the road. He fell on his ass without any kind of grace.

"Nice touch, Trinket!" Johanna cackled, swinging her axe to dispatch the remaining zombies surrounding the kids' car. Katniss smoothly jumped from the roof when the last one hit the dust, joining Peeta who was waiting not far behind Johanna. Haymitch did a quick visual check but no one looked hurt.

He turned his attention to the woman staring at him, leaning on her elbow though the open window of the truck.

"You nearly ran me over." he grumbled.

"Sorry, sweetheart." she grinned. "I thought you were a zombie."

"Very funny, Effie." He rolled his eyes and scrambled up, wiping his hands on the side of his pants only to make her cringe.

"I believe you are aware of what they say about payback?" she joked but her tone turned serious. "Are you alright? It was awfully close."

"Peachy." he confirmed, picking up his knife and stashing it in his belt. "You?" She nodded so he turned his attention to the rest of the group. "You're okay over there?"

Katniss waved his concern away, Johanna only flipped him off and Peeta smiled reassuringly. He decided that was better than nothing and he stepped around the truck to climb back in. He shot Effie an irritated glance. "You tried to kill me, not nice, Princess."

Effie blinked, the perfect picture of innocence. He wasn't fooled for one single second. "Perhaps now you will think twice before making decisions for me."

His lips twitched despite himself.

"I should have kicked your two million insured ass out of that truck when we met." he replied.

"But think about all the shared moments you would have missed…" she retorted, turning the engine on to follow Johanna who was already driving off. "Not to mention the sex. Rescuing me was the best thing you ever did and you know it."

"There was no rescuing." he argued. "You hijacked my car." Although she had a point, it was easily the best decision he had ever taken. His hand ended up on her thigh – not to start anything, just… to touch, to reassure himself she was still there; he was doing that a lot since they had left the safety of Thirteen behind – she caught it, entwining their fingers, her other hand maneuvering the wheel expertly.

It was ridiculous, he mused, almost a movie-like story.

There they were, the model and the drunk, sitting in a truck they had grown accustomed to call home, while flesh-eating monsters roamed the earth, holding hands, sneaking glances and sharing smiles like only stupid people in love could do.

Haymitch would have laughed mercilessly at anyone else in that situation. He did mock himself sometimes, when he caught himself staring straight at her for more than five minutes, his head full of mushy thoughts. He was a grown man, he was a bitter man.

And he had found a new family.

Over a year ago, he had been determined to remain alone for the rest of his life, waiting for death to pluck him out and now… Now he was never happier than when Katniss managed to muster the strength to give them one of her rare smiles or when Peeta proudly presented them with an edible dish or when Johanna bumped his shoulder and insulted him, her eyes twinkling in amusement. Or when Effie rested her head against his shoulder at night, in front of the fire, and snuggled against him to keep warm.

They were all broken in places, they all had their annoying quirks… But they fitted. He knew with an absolute certitude that they belonged together. As Effie was so fond of repeating, they were a family. They were the grumbling old parents – even though, Effie would probably want to dispute the 'old' statement – and Johanna, Katniss and Peeta were the unruly kids that somehow always got in troubles. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

There was a definite upside to that zombie apocalypse : in a world dominated by the dead, he had found a reason to live again.

The End

And here we are at the end. I know it's a bit of an open ending but I wanted them to end up on the road, where they started.

I want to thank everyone of you who left reviews and support, they all meant the world.

I hope you enjoyed the zombies ride.

Find me again next week in a brand new story called "Running From Snow" =)