I wake up with a jolt after having a sick nightmare of being chased and eaten by zombies. The skylights in the ceiling are still dark, so I must've been asleep for just a couple hours. I find that my hand is still firmly attached to Lucy's and it comforts me. In the half-light I can see her face clearly. The slope of her nose, her dark eyelashes, the soft curve of her slightly parted lips. She moves in her sleep and her face tilts towards me more, some stray hairs falling over her sleep softened features.

I get the sudden urge to reach out and touch her skin, to feel her smooth cheek under my fingertips. I feel so drawn to Lucy, ever since I made eye contact with her in the crowd, there was this connection I could feel and I grabbed onto it, not wanting to let it go. But that's silly Alex, you haven't even known her for a day, how can you feel that way?

I look at her face again and smile. She's special, I can just feel it, I want to protect her and keep her safe. I inch my face closer to hers and close my eyes, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before drifting off again, more content than before.
* * *
Lucy's POV

I'm in that half-asleep half-not state and I can hear quiet voices talking. I try to shut the voices out but to no avail. But then there is another voice, one fainter yet clearer than the others. It's familiar and I reach for it, but it slips away.

I force my eyes open and I'm surprised to find Alex's face just inches from mine, and that our hands are still linked, this makes me smile. His closed eyes flicker back and forth, he must be dreaming.

I glance up at the ceiling and see that the skylights are well lit. I pull my cell phone out of my back pocket and see that it's 12:36. Damn, we sure slept in, I think as my stomach growls fiercely. The sound seems so loud due to the eerie quiet of the store, except for a few snores from the guys. I sit up quietly, and see that nobody else is awake yet. I try to pull my hand from Alex's but that just causes him to tighten his grip. I look at his face in time to see his eyes flutter open.

He sees me and smiles, releasing his grip on my hand. "Morning." He says, sitting up and stretching. "Anyone awake yet?"

"It's actually afternoon, and nope not yet." I turn and look at Jack, still peacefully sleeping, his long eyelashes caressing his skin. My stomach growls again and Alex laughs quietly.

"Wanna get some food?" He whispers with a smirk.

"Yea, some food would be nice." I say, blushing lightly.

We quietly make our way through the sleeping bodies and start our search for food. Of course, it really isn't a search considering we're surrounded by it. We come to the cereal aisle and marvel at the feast in front of us.

"Hey do you think any of the milk is still good?" Alex asks.

I shrug. "I don't see why not, the power was probably only out for a couple hours."

"I guess we'll find out, I'm gonna run and get some real quick."

I watch him go, and then I look at the countless colorful boxes that stand before me. I grab a box of Cocoa Pebbles and Frosted Flakes, tucking them under my arm. Then I go down the aisle even further and see rows and rows of Poptarts.

"Oh this is fabulous." I muse aloud. I grab several different boxes of the frosted pastries greedily, knowing that I won't eat much of it but not caring. I sit down and start opening things, wondering what's taking Alex so long.

Just as I start to get worried, I see him jogging back with a gallon of milk and a bunch of paper bowls.

"Figured we'd probably need these, and these." He says, handing me a bowl and ripping open a package of plastic silverware. I take a spoon as he picks out his own cereal, taking a seat beside me.

"So Lucy, you probably know a lot about me," he says with a knowing smile, pouring himself a bowl. "But I want to know about you."

I pour myself a bowl as well. "Well, what do you want to know?" I ask, tucking some hair behind my ear, looking up at him through my lashes.

His smile only gets bigger. "Anything. Everything. I want to know you."

I draw my attention back to my food and start talking about myself, which is not something I do often. We eat peacefully as I tell Alex my life story, which is pretty boring in my opinion. He eats his cereal and listens intently, only interrupting a few times to ask questions about other things. I tell him my hobbies and aspirations, and I also spin the conversation to him, since there's so much I actually don't know about him yet.

"I actually don't know all that much about you Alex

I absorb his words but can't help getting a little lost in his eyes when he talks. It sounds pretty corny I know, but the way he laughs and smiles a little at certain subjects, and how he lets his hair fall over his eyes and then flicks it back.

He catches me staring at him and we both smile and look away. "Well, that's all I can really think of, anything else you wanna know?" He raises his eyebrows suggestively, but then we're interrupted by a flamboyant voice.

"Yea, do these Walmart pants make me look like I have no ass?"

Alex and I turn to see Jack sticking his butt out at us. "Well they definitely don't compliment your figure that's for sure." I say critically with a smirk.

"Damn. Walmart has shit for jeans. Think we can get back on the bus in a while and grab some of our stuff?" Jack asks, grabbing a box of Cookie Crisp off the wall, making himself a bowl.

"Well, we'll have to discuss it with everyone else. But there is some important stuff that we left on the bus." Alex says, finishing his cereal and pours himself second bowl.

"Yea, like a shower. Pretty sure Walmart doesn't carry those." Jack says with sarcasm.

It suddenly dawns on me, a previously discussed but since forgotten question. "How long do you think this will go on for?" I ask, staring into my lap. My question is met with silence. I've momentarily shattered the curtain of false security we'd been lulled into. I look up and see that Alex is looking at me, his eyebrows drawn together.

"Until there's a cure maybe." He says with a bitter laugh.

"Or until we blow the brains out of every single zombie!" Jack says determinedly, lifting his spoon in the air. The tense atmosphere I'd created passes as we hear more footsteps approaching on the tile.

"I figured you guys would be here." Flyzik says as he appears with the rest of our party, a few of them carrying their weapons. Soon everyone is plucking boxes off the walls, and Alex and I decide to make a milk run.

"Hurry up!" Vinny shouts with a laugh as we're walking away.

As we're walking, my hands involuntarily creeps up to the necklace around my neck. My fingers play with it and Alex notices.

"Were you always wearing that?" he asks.

I look down at my hands, twirling the necklace. "No, I grabbed it from my house last night." I say, pausing. "It's my mom's. It meant a lot to her, I didn't want to leave it."

Alex takes one of my hands in his and gives it a squeeze. I hadn't noticed the silent tear that had escaped from my eyes. I wipe it away and smile at him.

We're met with cheers as we come back with the milk. There's a few moments of silence as everyone is happily eating away.

"Matt, do you we could make a trip out to the bus? We could take showers and grab some of our stuff." Jack asks, looking at Flyzik.

"Well, I guess we could. A shower would be nice." Flyzik replies, then his face becomes thoughtful and he looks at me. "Do you think there's a way to get on the roof Lucy?"

I'm taken by surprise at this random question. "Oh um I'm sure there is, it's probably in the storage area or somewhere in the back. But I really don't know Matt, I don't work here." I add with a laugh.

"True, sorry." He scratches the back of his neck and laughs too. "I just think it would be a good idea to get up there and have a look around. It'll be easier to see if the area is clear or not." Flyzik says, finishing his late breakfast.

"You're so clever Matt." Danny says, patting him on the shoulder. Everyone finishes their food and we stick our bowls in one of the shelves, then we start our search for the way to the roof. We split up and it takes at least half an hour until someone finds it, hidden in one of the back rooms near the loading dock. We regroup and tread the staircase carefully.

"Door's locked." Colussy says after trying the doorknob. "Anyone bring their gun with them?"

"I got it." Zack steps forward once again, wielding his weapon, bringing it down on the knob without warning. The door opens and Jack pats Zack's shoulder.

"Good ole' Zack." Jack says, patting Zack on the back.

We step outside into the chilly October air and have a look around. The air smells heavily of fire, and I look to the sky and see it's black with smoke, and with the promise of rain.

"Damn, it's chaos out there." Alex says quietly, observing the distant orange glow from a town a few miles away. He and everybody else move about the roof, scanning the area below for zombies. I stay near the door, for fear of what I might see.

The first drops of rain start to fall and I hear a strange noise, a dragging noise, like heavy footsteps. Alex looks back at me and his eyes bulge, the blood drains from his face.

"LUCY BEHIND YOU!" He shouts.

I feel a hand grip my arm and I spin around to see a drooling, gaping zombie, a horrible wound on his neck, and an even more horrible stench coming off him. I can't help it, I scream. Then I try to twist away from the disgusting creature, but it's grip is tight. There's a deafening gun shot, but the grip on my arm doesn't loosen. Another shot rings out and I watch as the bullet lodges itself in the zombies head, spattering blood all over me. I fall under the weight of the body and gag and retch at the smell that buries itself in my nose. Alex runs over and shoves the corpse away from me, helping me up.

"Are you okay Lucy?" He looks me dead in eye. He searches my panicked face and waits for a response.

"She wasn't bit..right?" Someone asks.

I snap out of it and shake my head vigorously. "No, I'm okay. That bastard just had a strong grip." I say, rubbing at my arm where bruises are already forming. "How the hell did he get up here? The door was locked.."

Alex shakes his shake. "I have no clue. Maybe he was already up here. Got bit and tried to escape or something. But he's the only one around so far. Thank god Zack's not half bad with a gun." Then his eyes scan my face again, differently this time. "You wanna go to the bus and get a shower..?"

I note his tone and remember that I'm covered in zombie blood, it's stench still filling the air. "Um yea, a shower would be great right about now.."

We go back downstairs and remove the barricade from the door we first came in from, opening it and checking that the way to the bus is still clear. We file out, staying as quiet as possible. I catch up to Zack and touch his arm.

"Thank you for saving me, I wasn't ready to die yet." He smiles down at me softly.

"Yea of course, I had do something.." He says, rubbing at the back of his neck.

The smell of smoke is everywhere, I think it'll stick in my nose forever. One last area check and then we're all on the bus, getting things together.

Alex pulls me aside. "The shower is down there." He says, pointing to where the walkway through the bunks, he casts his eyes down. "It's pretty small, I hope that's alright. Should we get off the bus so you can have privacy?"

I shake my head. "No no, it's okay. There's a door I can close right?" He nods. "Then yea, it's fine.."

Adding to the awkwardness of the conversation, he says, "Want me to get you a towel?"