A/N: So I originally planned for a longer story to serve as a sequel to Long Way Home. But I couldn't really get them to fit together and quite frankly I kinda forgot about most of them. So I decided to do an anthology of short stories that are not necessarily in order and vary in length. This will be all set after Beca made it back to the Bellas. I hope this is a decent substitute for a longer story. Please in enjoy
Emily groaned as the early morning light filtered through her window. She missed the days when she could sleep in until ten. Of course, she also missed the days where the biggest thing to worry about was finals and not being eaten alive by the undead.
She struggled to get out of bed for a second before realizing what was holding her down. Her lips stretched into a smile as she gently lifted Benji's arm from around her waist and slid out from under the covers. After a little over a year of living in the apocalypse Emily was incredibly grateful to live in a safe place with her friends and an incredible boyfriend.
Her feet hit the still cool floor and she felt her skin prickle. Even though it was late into spring there was still frost outside in the early mornings. Unfortunately for Emily the early morning was the best time for her to go hunting. The forest was quiet and calm, the perfect time to bag some meat for her friends. If it wasn't for her their camp would only eat what they had managed to loot from the surrounding towns and whatever they could harvest from the green house.
It made her feel special, being able to contribute to the prosperity of their little fort. And to think that it used to be nothing more than a retreat for companies. Now it was a well armed, well defended fortress against the living dead. Although, out here in the forest there wasn't much need. There had only been one incident where a single zombie had stumbled out of the woods. It had been quickly dealt with, Aubrey had even seemed excited to get some target practice with her rifle. Other than that, things in camp had been peaceful.
Emily stood up from the bed, intending to make it to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth before setting out for the woods. She only made it a few steps before her vision turned blurry. She stopped moving, trying to keep her balance as her vision cleared.
"That was weird," she mumbled to herself. Then her gut gave a terrible heave and she rushed the rest of the way to the bathroom. She just barely made it to the toilet, relieving her stomach of whatever was upsetting it.
"Em?" Benji stood in the doorway with a concerned look on his face. He knelt down and rubbed Emily's back as she vomited again. They stayed there for almost half an hour until Emily felt well enough to make it back to the bed. "Maybe I should go get Chloe."
Emily didn't want him to leave but she knew that if she was sick then Chloe needed to know. They didn't want to risk some sort of outbreak in the camp that could leave everyone vulnerable. Benji left quickly, sprinting out the door while promising to be back soon. Laying back down in the bed, Emily held a hand to her forehead. It didn't feel like she had a fever but then again it was hard to tell if you were the one that was sick. She took a few deep breaths to get her heart rate down. The idea of getting sick was terrifying to her, to everybody really. While Chloe did the best she could to give them first aid and stuff like that she wasn't a trained doctor. And it's not like there were any doctors left that they could go to.
The door burst opens with Benji and Chloe coming right in. Chloe still looked like she was asleep, hair tousled and wearing her pajamas. "Good morning Emily.''
"Hi Chloe. Sorry for waking you up."
"It's fine." Chloe tried to suppress a yawn. "Let's see what's going on." She put her medicine bag down on the bed and pulled out a thermometer. "Open wide."
Emily did as she was told as Chloe gave her a thorough check up. Benji paced nervously in the background, which didn't help Emily's nerves in the slightest.
"Well," Chloe slid the stethoscope from her ears. "You don't have a fever. Your lungs and heart both sound fine and there's no rash anywhere to indicate hives." Chloe scratched the back of her head as she thought about what might be going on. "Maybe it was something you ate?"
Emily shook her head. They all ate the same food. It wouldn't make any sense for her to get sick and no one else. Plus Aubrey was obsessive with making sure that the food and water they used was clean.
"Well," Chloe looked between Emily and Benji, her eyes widening a little as a thought occurred to her. "Emily, when was your last period?"
Emily broke out in a cold sweat. When was that? She couldn't remember and it was starting to make her panic.
"Whoa," Chloe grabbed her hand to give her a comforting squeeze. "Easy there, I'm just guessing. It could be something totally different."
"I-I can't remember." Emily could feel tears starting to form but then Benji sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"Is there any way to find out for sure?" He asked Chloe.
"Maybe," Chloe stood up, running her hand through her hair. "The girls were planning to make a run to the city for supplies. I'll ask them if they can stop by a pharmacy or something. Which is a good idea anyways since I'm running low on supplies."
"I'm so sorry." Emily was crying now.
"No," Benji kept rubbing her shoulder. "This is my fault. I should have been more careful."
"Hey," Chloe got their attention. " We don't know if you are pregnant. And even if you are, this is the best place to have a kid." She gave them a reassuring smile. "We're safe here. We have clean water and plenty of food. Everything is going to be fine."
Emily considered her words before nodding. Chloe had a point but still. "I'm scared Chloe."
"Don't worry about it." Chloe gave her a hug before giving Benji a look. "You're going to make her an honest woman right?"
Benji blushed a deep red. "I-I well I mean...I was going to but we've been kinda busy."
"Really?" Emily smiled at her boyfriend.
Benji gave her a timid smile back. "Of course."
Emily tackled him to the bed, giving him a huge kiss.
"Easy you two." Chloe joked as she stood back up. "We don't want to double down."
She laughed as the couple blushed. Chloe left the cabin and took a deep breath, things just got a whole lot more complicated.
