It's been a while...

No it hasn't. What am I even talking about?

Chapter 6: Don't stop

"Hey Louis."

"Yeah man?"

"I ain't dreaming am I?"

"Ouch!" This felt so much like Dejavu for both of them, but it had to be done. Louis really though it would help in making Francis check whether he was dreaming or not by himself, instead of bothering the IT manager when he was steering the boat. It was hard enough that he really was inexperienced in controlling motorized vehicle not-on-land, there was not even any GPS this time around to tell him where he was going. Instead he got this good old fashion map that barely anyone knew how to read anymore. He was not sure whether to curse at the end of the Dark Ages or the zombie apocalypse, as one of them were just as much as annoying as the other to him right now. "God damn it, not so hard!"

"Man, just what the hell are you on about now?" Sparing all the attention he had to listening to Francis' usual rant was one thing, but it had better be worth the time. According to this piece of thousand years old instrument, they were a full six or seven hours away from the Keys and for whatever reasons Louis did not think that Francis would be a suitable replacement to his position behind the wheels. Still, he had some time now to listen to the biker's babbling or else he would be bored to death before passing out of exhaustion.

"I have been eavesdropping on Zoey." The biker simply shrugged off the cold glare his male companion had been giving him. He went on regardless. "Nothing has been happening much, but she suddenly asked Cindy to take off her clothes!"

"You are not serious…" Not only was Francis' story telling unbelievably lacked in finesse and focal points, it also made no sense. Well, that was what Louis thought at first anyways. Sure, the biker was hard-headed, but it really would not mean that he would just make stuffs up, unless he really had ran out of materials to make fun of his teammates with. Louis was just not quite keen on just believing Francis, but what if he was right, what would be happening in there?

"I totally am man, not pulling your leg at all." Another leg joke, classic. What struck Louis as odd though was that the biker did not even seem to be aware of the joke he was making. Would it really be beneficial that it was just let go like that, or perhaps Francis was actually onto something? "I haven't heard they say anything since then, but I here a lot of noises."

"As long as there is no heavy breathing, just presume that nothing is." Louis decided to ignore that. Even though the chances, of it being elaborate bait, were still there, but he did believe Francis, just a bit. However, nothing good would ever come out of them trying to find out. For all he knew, Zoey and Cindy were in private at the moment, and despite him hating to have to deal with Francis and his wild mouth out here, he could not really do anything either. It would only be natural that Zoey would be the one who had the first rest, considering how hard she have been working and taking it. Still, a small part of him knew what both he and the biker were thinking of. "Now get your ass over here and help me not crash this boat."

"Are you wondering just a bit?" Francis seemed to hang on to his whatever theory. However, he had enough morals in him to know that it was highly wrong in trying to butt in Zoey's business, or anyone's, right now. "I mean, wouldn't it be awesome if…"

"It's not our business, Francis." Louis put his foot down, metaphorically anyways. Sure, he might be thinking what the biker was thinking, but he also knew enough about the world to hope that whatever could be happening in here had anything to do with the two males outside. What they had to do now was to get to the Keys safely, and everything else would be decided from there, by no one else other than Zoey. Hopefully they would get there before Bill's body start to stink, but at least the ocean wind was going to help them at that front. "Now get up here!"

"Fine, you're no fun, man." The biker reluctantly had to comply with the order. He was basically being useless anyways, and at least he knew that much. If Zoey was going to hog up the hatch for her and Cindy, then he would do anything to get them to the Keys as soon as possible, so he can finally take a nice, long nap and not have to worry about all of these nonsenses. Grabbing the map, Francis stared intensely at its content. A moment or two passed, his words were. "How do you use this thing?"

"Can you read a compass Francis?" Louis was not sure what help the biker would prove to be. He was not in a position to get off this chair or anything, but without the instructions on the map they could be going the wrong way. With the sailboat in this condition, they would not even able to go against the tides.

"I… am not entirely sure I'm following you." The biker rubbed his chin in deep thoughts. He knew what a compass was, but surely it was not something a hard-ass hustler like him would have to worry about. No, he had GPS for that, if he ever had a car, anyways. He had seen a map before, of course, but was not sure which way to hold it so it showed the right directions.

"Do you see the clock-like print on the edge of the map? That's the compass, man." Louis was not sure whether to laugh or be angry with Francis' apparent incompetence regarding the simplest of navigational knowledge. It was funnier though, since the only reason that the manager knew about this was from being on trips with his boss and driving the luxurious yacht, which looked strangely alike the one they burnt down before coming across this boat. He could scream karma somewhere in between, but decided against it. "Hold it so the needle with the N points upward."

"Ah, there we go; nothing to it." Louis only rolled his eyes as the biker finally was able to hold a map upright. That was incredibly ludicrous in itself, but the manager did not want to be all judgmental about it. Francis did know how to do the rest though. Not long afterwards, he was able to pin point Florida Keys with impressive accuracy of two hundreds miles off course. He knew there was something wrong; at least, that was why he kept quiet. "Erm…"

"Come on man, what is taking you so long?" Louis was losing whatever was left of his patience. It was a good thing that he had a lot to begin with, considering how he had to have Francis hang around in the first place. Looking back for the briefest of moment, he could not really sure what he was expecting. The biker was still there, staring ever so intensely at the directions. "Have you not found where the Key is at yet?"

"Just give me a minute!" Louis sighed. It was a good thing it was still bright outside. It should be some time in the afternoon, but he lost his watch somewhere in the fight, how inconvenient. At least they still have a very slim chance of getting their before dark, if the biker would just get off his ass and read. He would have done it himself if he was not basically bound to this chair and his arms had to fight the wind to just move forward. "Well Louis, if my nerdy calculations are correct, according to this smart ass map, we are going…"

"Zoey?" Cindy was not entirely sure what her friend meant when she told her to undress. Zoey appeared rather nonchalant about the question however, and simply stayed still, standing in silent. The Witch looked back and forth, still was not too keen on following what the teenage girl said, even though if it were anything else, she would have done so in a heartbeat. Maybe it was just some lingering embarrassment left in her girly posture. "I don't… understand your request."

Zoey did not plan to answer at all, as she simply left where she was. Why it was appeared to be scaring Cindy immensely. Was the teenager's lack of response disapproval towards her lack of actions? Was Zoey hoping to do something afterwards, and Cindy disappointed her. Gulping, the Witch felt like she had no other choice. She was not entirely comfortable with it, but she felt like she had to do it. There was less risk of her doing this, considering how Zoey had already locked the door after them when they came in, and now had disappeared somewhere in the back room. Slowly, the Witch squirmed her way out of what was left of the fabrics covering her vitals. It was an unnecessary meticulous process, but no one was there to watch it anyways.

"Hey Cindy." As she turned back, she saw Zoey holding a stack of clothes in her hand, but the Witch herself was wearing none, having just completed whatever task she was just assigned to. Right now, her slender arms and long nails were basically trying to cover up what was left of her clothes tried to. The scene was obscenely funny, at least to Zoey, considering how she tried so hard to hold back her laugh. Cindy went from being embarrassed to extremely mortified. She was not sure whether how she looked was putting the teenage girl off somehow, or was she just looked inherently funny. Zoey noticed the mood though, and hoped to clear the bashfulness off the air. "Oh I'm sorry; I really did not mean to laugh. It was just that you looked kind of cute while blushing like that."

"Do you think I'm cute?" Zoey did not expect that reply at all. It was as if something inside her clicked, and she turned from the image of a valiant leader into a coy teenage girl. Cindy was not sure why her friend was not answering at all, but a lot of what Zoey was doing at the moment did not make much sense at all, at least that was what the Witch thought. "Don't you?"

"Err…" Being extremely awkward at the moment, Zoey was not sure of what she should be doing. She knew that she should not be flustered like this, but she could not help it. If she lifted her eyes up to see her friend, there would be that nude body in front of her, and she should not be enjoying looking at it, but she did. The best thing she could do right now was just to go through with what she originally had in mind though. "You should go take a bath. I have prepared the water for you."

"Oh…" Cindy now understood why she was asked to take off her clothes. Then the clothes that Zoey was holding must be for her. However, stepping into the bathroom, there was just this very apparent problem that none of them had counted on before. "How do I use this?"

The teenage girl was definitely incredulous with that. How was Cindy not able to simply use a shower hose? She wanted to ignore it, but she had to just go in there.

"What is the problem Cindy?" Zoey looked around, trying her best to advert her gaze away from looking at all that skin. Nothing appeared to be out of order as far as she was concerned. She did not really take a shower in here or anything, so there might be a chance something was not working as intended. "I don't see anything wrong."

"I don't know how to turn that on." The Witch pointed at the shower hose hung on the side of the wall. Zoey took it down and inspected. She was nowhere near a plumber though, so there was really nothing she could do by just looking. She tried turning it on by turning up the switch slowly, but no water was coming out. It really did seem like there was something wrong with the system. "How is it?"

"Maybe something is stuck, but I doubt any of the guys out there can help us with this." The teenage girl knew that if she wanted to get this to work, she would have to do it herself. A few bangs of the hose on the metal did not help at all. The other would be connected to the inner workings of the wall, so she could not possibly find out what was wrong. However, she still had an idea. "Hey Cindy, try squeezing the head, only slightly putting force into it."

"Ok…" Zoey knew that the Witch had immeasurable strength compared to her own, and maybe that would help. She would not know, but it was worth the shot. The Witch received the fixture on her hand, as she lightly squeezed down at the metal. It was hard as ever though, as it would not help if she did not apply more pressure. Of course, focusing on doing this, Cindy could not have noticed that there was now nothing really covering her body, and Zoey was losing her own focus trying to not look at that general direction. It proved to be a disastrous decision though, as unexpectedly, the mechanics clicked, unleashing all the water it had been holding up. The stream of liquid sprayed all over the bathroom and on everything else in it. Zoey quickly jumped to shut off the switch which had been up to full power all this time. Both she and Cindy were already wet from that incident, though. Cindy was not wearing anything, but she was.

"Oh damn… my clothes." The teenage girl really did not want this to happen. She cannot risk wearing wet clothes like this, or else it was assured that she would catch a cold as a result. Showering immediately was the best option, but Cindy was still in here. Such a predicament she was in, and she could not tell Cindy to let her shower first either, as the Witch was already wet. "Cindy…"

"Yes?" The Witch showed off an infinitely chaste expression that would simply crash down on her friend. Zoey was definitely not sure what to do, but she had to.

"Do you want to… shower together?" She decided that since they were both girls, there should be nothing wrong. She had already seen Cindy naked after all. There should be nothing wrong if her friend would do the same. However, embarrassment was not to disappear with just that thinking though. Especially when Cindy appeared to be ecstatic towards that notion.

"Yes!" Then the hug came. Under this condition, there really was nothing between the two of them, and everything that could be felt, was. Even though the both of them were relatively dirty from having being out on the urban wilderness for a long time, relatively it was nothing too unbearable, more so since now that was the least of anyone's concerns.

Zoey could feel the blood rushing to her face as she peeled off layers of clothes one by one, down to the very last of them. Nothing could really be savaged, only hung up for later use, as she would have to change soon as well. She was not aware of what Cindy was feeling, but her eyes were still closed. She sucked up air into her chest. She kept telling herself that there was nothing strange about this, and she would just do this like she normally did before this disaster broke out. With that, she finally had the courage to open her eyes. However, what she first noticed was Cindy's owns. Those red pupils were staring at her with intense focus, and they were not exactly staying at one place as well. It mortified the teenage girl to no end, but there was really nothing she could do about it.

"Why are you staring at me like that Cindy?" The Witch heard the inquiry loud and clear, and only then did she realize that perhaps it was not a good idea to indulge in her instincts so passionately. She felt a bit embarrassed as well, as if she was caught red handed doing shameful things. Zoey really did not want to retract herself with a towel or something, even though she felt like she should. "Is there… something wrong?"

"No, I just think you're really pretty." It was the most innocent answer anyone can come up with. Suddenly, Zoey really did not feel the awkwardness anymore. Her new friend appeared to have the mind of a blooming child, more than anything else. That was a good thing, except for the fact that her body was extremely different compared to that. Still, that was nothing to be fearful of. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you did nothing wrong." Zoey sighed contently at that. However, turning around and taking a better look at the bathroom, she realized that there was a huge miscalculation in her plan. This place had no tub, and only one shower. If they were to shower together, they would actually have to share it. That was just the thought, since how they are actually going to do that was still yet to be thought of. "Erm…"

"What's wrong Zoey?"

"I was just wondering how we are actually going to do this." Zoey pointed at the object in question, and it was relatively easy for Cindy to catch on. The Witch pondered for a quick moment, and suddenly had an idea. She took the hose with her as the teenage girl watched with an incredulous expression. Cindy simply moved closer, opening up the stream of water that had recently been unclogged. "Cindy?"

"You did say we are going to shower together." The Witch snuggled up at Zoey's back, as the water washed through both of them. In close proximity was something the teenager really had not mentally prepared herself for yet, but none of it was particular unpleasant, so she kept quiet about it. However, it was not long before something else come up with similarly questionable inquiry.

"What about the soap?"

…

"Ok… that was nice." Zoey, cleaned up thoroughly and fully dressed in a black tank and jeans set she found around. Cindy was given a plain one piece dress to put on, as she looked similar refreshed. They were not sure how long they had been showering, but it certainly was a privilege they had been missing. The hatch did not have much a bed, but there was a couch that the two decided to rest on. Zoey was sitting up, stretching herself in her new clothes, while Cindy settled next to the teenage girl, head planted on her shoulder. "Don't you think so Cindy?"

"Yes." The Witch was not even looking at anything in particular. This was such a sudden change from no sooner than this morning, but right now she felt happy like never before. She did not know anything prior to a few weeks ago, when she woke up like this. She frantically strolled from town to town trying to find answers, instead only faced with destruction and monstrosity of the infection. Since she was one of them, Cindy was never the target of any attack. However, she did have to try very hard to stay out of the way of other survivors, mostly hiding in the warehouse where Zoey found her, since she had not the bloodlust sense that her peers apparently possess. "Can we do that again soon?"

Zoey did not answer. She thought about it. The situation back then was highly questionable, now that she tried to wrap her head around it. Was she really going to develop another close bond with a teammate now that she had found Cindy? The death of Bill had already done a number on her, and she had only barely been able to get over that. Should anything happen to Cindy, or should she turn completely…

A bang on the door cut off her train of thoughts.

"Zoey," It was Francis. "We have a problem."