Operation Bite Mark, aka Murphy, Warren, Addy, Mack, Doc, and 10K had stopped at what they assumed was an abandoned hotel. However, when they had gotten close to the door, they discovered it was barricaded with chairs and lamps. They were going to hop in their beat-up, stolen truck when the pile of junk shuffled out of place and a nerdy-looking, overweight, man with curly brown hair and black glasses let them in.
The group was more than surprised to find a small community living inside. There had to be at least 30 people in there. Men, women, children, old, young, they were all there. Warren and Murphy asked around the hotel about their setup, how they managed supplies, and just how ? How had they survived so long? How did their group become so large? They discovered that a man named Gregory was the appointed leader of the group. Much like Operation Bite Mark, he and his wife, Deborah, were on the road for quite some time. However, they picked new people up here and there, trying to save as many people as they could and prevent them from becoming Enders. So when they found an abandoned hotel with its only residents being a handful of Z's, they took the chance and stationed their group there.
Doc and 10K were walking around to explore the area. The nerdy man from before, who they discovered is named Franklin, guided them. It turns out they had four rooms that were currently available. They had a fairly clean kitchen that was mostly stocked with cans, though some of them were dented. They had a Rec Room with a ping pong table and pool table. There was also a smaller room with tables and books on bookshelves that was most likely a relaxation or sitting room. They used to have a swimming pool, but they were currently drinking it, which disappointed 10K because he "always wanted to swim in a pool." His statement earned him a look of confusion from Doc. However, the old man did not comment on it.
Doc and 10K were eventually separated. Franklin was no longer guiding them. Doc wanted to regroup in the main lobby to tell Warren about the available rooms and ask if they could stay for the night. After all, the group had been walking and driving non-stop for almost two weeks. 10K, however, wanted to continue looking around, so he did.
After their meeting, the adults agreed to stay. Murphy was more than happy at the idea of sleeping in a real bed. Warren, for the first time since she could remember, agreed with him. Plus, Addy had noticed a large satellite dish on the roof when they first arrived, and she figured she could use it to contact Citizen Z. It was perfect. Now all they needed was to find 10K and tell him the good news.
First, they looked in the kitchen, but he wasn't there.
Next, they looked in the Rec Room, but he wasn't there.
Operation Bite Mark ended up breaking off into different groups to try to find him. Addy was on her own. She was going to circle back around and head towards the main lobby when she passed by the sitting room.
She heard a woman's voice echoing from it. She looked in and saw a blonde woman sitting in a floral armchair with children and pre-teens of various ages sitting around her. She had a book in her hands and was reading it aloud.
Addy recognized it. It was a middle school classic that she'd seen some people carry into freshman year of high school. However, of course, as you got older, the characters were less relatable and the story made less sense. But even she remembered reading and rereading it in either eighth or ninth grade, though she couldn't quite remember which one it was because it was such a long time ago.
She was about to pass by it, not wanting to listen to the book and find 10K, when Addy spotted him.
He wasn't in the group and was keeping his distance, but he was still in there. He was leaning against one of the egg-shell white walls and seemed to be watching the woman read the book intensely. Dare Addy say, he seemed to be enjoying it, if the grin on his face and chuckle from his lips had anything to say about it. Addy couldn't understand why this young man would still be interested in such a thing. They were well into their adulthoods, were they not?
And then she remembered. And it hit her like a giant cheese wheel.
10K acted mature and older. He was never afraid even though he looked death in the face almost every day. But that's when she remembered that he wasn't older. He was still a teenager- a mature teenager living in the zombie apocalypse, but a teenager nonetheless. She wanted to kick herself. Of course, he would like the book!
She told the others that she would get him and that they could go check it. They agreed and left. Addy took another look at 10K. She slowly made her way over to him. Not wanting to disturb the reading for anyone else, she only shook his shoulder to get his attention silently. He looked at her with something of annoyance in his eyes. She was going to tell him, she opened her mouth to tell him, but she sighed in defeat and shook her head. She can tell him later. She looked back at the woman, and so 10K did too. It was almost like magic as she saw the wonder fill his eyes as he listened to the story. Yes, she would tell him later. But right now in the messed-up world known as the Zombie Apocalypse, she would let him have some fun.