Alex's P.O.V

We all sit and wait in the front lounge as Lucy takes her shower. The sprinkles from earlier are now a full on downpour. Everyone is pretty quiet, listening to the sounds of the running water and probably trying not to picture the naked girl in the shower not twenty feet from us. I'm unconsciously reminded of how long it's been since I've had sex, but as soon as the thought appears I mentally slap myself for it.
You're such a horny pig Alex, yells my common sense. Lucy is different, I have to protect her.

While the mental battle wages on in my head, Flyzik speaks up. "The rest of us are taking quick showers okay? We're not covered in zombie filth. Got it? We need to get back in the store."

Everyone nods, but Rian perks up. "What about that fire we saw? It didn't look very far away."

"Yea," Vinny agrees. "What if it's coming this way?"

Colussy stands up and paces a little. "Maybe the rain will put it out. But if it does start to get close, then I guess we'll have to move on."

"One more question." Jack says. "We're having alcohol tonight right?" His question brings laughter and agreement, and dispels most of the tension in the room. That is, until we hear the shower turn off.

"Soo who's got the shower next?" Evan asks.
As the guys figure out the shower schedule, Lucy opens a door and steps out in white skinny jeans and a light blue buttoned up shirt, the top two buttons left open. With her towel, she rubs at her long wet hair, trying to get it to dry faster.

"Who's next?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.

Lucy sits next to me as I patiently wait for my turn in the shower. The smell of her sweet shampoo fills my nose and I breath it in, hoping she doesn't notice when I lean a little closer to her head.

"Alex are you trying to smell my hair?" She asks with laugh and an amused look.

I feel my cheeks heat up a little. "Well uhh, yea I guess I am." I pinch the bridge of my nose and laugh. "It smells really good, okay? Don't judge me."

She just continues to laugh and twirls her hair into a messy bun.

"Alex, your turn dude." Zack says, running his hands through his freshly washed hair.

I nod at him and get up, seeing that Jack takes my place next to Lucy. He pokes her in the side, trying to be cute and charming, which makes me feel a twinge of frustration. Lucy just giggles at him as they disappear from my view.

I grab a towel and fresh change of clothes, turning the shower to warm, almost cold, so the others could have warm water too. Once my clothes are off and I feel the water splash onto my back, the thinking cap falls over my head, uninvited and unwanted. I don't feel like doing any deep thinking right now. So instead of letting my thoughts wonder about my family and my dogs, or where we're going to go after a few days, I think about Lucy. Her long black hair, those big gray eyes and dark eyelashes, the soft curve of her full lips, the way her hand felt in his and how their fingers laced perfectly together.

The thought of her is calming and reassuring. And maybe just slightly arousing. Especially when I involuntarily think of her in this very shower just a short while ago, the streams of water hitting her bare skin, running down her body-

I reach out and turn the water all the way cold suddenly. "You horny fuck." I mumble.

When I come back out to the front lounge and see Jack trying to tickle Lucy while the rest of the guys look on with amusement. Lucy's silvery laugh fills the room as Jack finds her spot, a mischievous from breaks out on his face.

"Oh my god Jack, cut it out! Not there!" She just barely gets out between breaths.

I clear my throat and Jack relents from his attack, letting Lucy catch her breath. "Who's next?" I ask. Flyzik stands and heads for the shower. I walk over to sit on the other side of Lucy, using my towel to fluff my hair dry. Thank god I just got a haircut the other day.

"May as well forget drying your hair," Lucy says, turning in her seat to look out the window. "It's pouring out there."

I shrug my shoulders. "Oh well. Maybe I'll find an umbrella." I say with a smile.

She laughs. "You're so set on having your hair look nice." She runs a hand through her own damp hair.

Everyone finished their showers and we're ready to leave the bus. It's still raining pretty heavily, and the air still smells faintly of smoke. We file out of the bus and walk quickly through the rain.

Suddenly there's a shout behind me and I look around to see Grieco on the ground, pinned by a zombie. Another zombie appears from behind the bus and rushes Flyzik, bowling him over.

"Matt no!" Danny tells and rams into the zombie attacking Flyzik, knocking it away. He then pulls out a pistol from his pants and promptly shoots the creature in the head, almost missing.

There's an agonized scream and I see Grieco bleeding out from his neck, a gushing bite mark from the zombie still pinning him down. Just as Zack raises his gun to shoot, the zone or rips open Grieco's stomach, making the puddle he's laying in turn dark red. Zack fires but it's too late. Grieco turns his head slowly to look at our group, his face drained of color. I feel myself moving towards my dying friend. My throat constricts and no sound comes out as I kneel down and take his cold hand. The life slowly leaves his eyes and I now my head. This could've been prevented, if we'd been a little more careful and watchful.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and look up to see Lucy standing there, her face scrunched up in sadness. I also feel the hand on still holding tighten around mine and I loom back at Grieco to see that his eyes are open and filmy white. He's looking right at me. He pulls at my arm and tries to bite it but I pull away. I feel the tears start to burn at my eyes.

"Somebody do something! I can't!" I shout, scrambling away from Grieco. I feel my pistol disappear from the back of my pants and hear it fire. The bullet hits Grieco in the stomach and he gets up, stumbling towards us. The gun fires there more times and Grieco finally goes down, a bullet lodged in his head.

I look up slowly and see Lucy holding the gun with shaking hands, here eyes wide and lips trembling. She drops the gun and starts to cry, obviously not sure what to do with herself. I stand up and pull her into my arms, feeling a few tears escape my eyes as well.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She whispers. "I had to, he- he was going to hurt you."

"Shh I know, someone had to do it." I reply miserably.

Colussy pulls us both away and towards the store. But I push away from him.

"We can't leave him there like that!" I yell in Colussy's face.

"Where are we supposed to put him Alex? We can't bury him now, we need to get inside." Colussy diverts his eyes to the ground. Everyone else is scarily silent.

"Well we can at least pull him out of the rain so we can bury him later." I say harshly, walking over to my dead friend and looping my arms through his in an attempt to pull him out of the rain. Zack and Jack join me, the three of us easily lifting Grieco up and walking over to the loading ramp, laying him carefully where he'd be dry.

I walk back to Lucy and slide my arm around her shoulders, pulling her along with me to the store. Everyone is still very quiet.

"I'm getting drunk tonight." I mumble somberly, heart aching from my loss. I feel Lucy reach up and hold the hand that's around her shoulders.

We leave the dangerous outside and are welcomed back into the brightly lit arms of the store. I hear the others readjusting the barricade. We make it to the beds and I plop down, burying my face in my pillow, not knowing what to do. Then I think of Lucy and what she's already been through. She lost her parents and her best friend on the same day. How she still manages to smile is a mystery to me, she's so strong. I have to be strong like her. Grieco wouldn't want me becoming a flake and getting killed over it.

I feel a hand on my back and it starts to rub slow, comforting circles near my shoulder blades. I don't bother to look at who it is, I know it's her. I close my eyes and let my thoughts drift. My mom used to rub my back like this when I was young, especially when I had bad dreams. I feel myself slipping, and I allow myself to fall asleep.

* * *

I hear my name being called, faintly, far away, as if the voice is coming from a tunnel. I reach for the voice, and it reaches back pulling me up until I feel my eyes flutter open. My eyes focus on a figure sitting beside me and I see Lucy smiling down at me softly.

"Hey sleepyhead. Have a nice nap?" She says quietly.

I nod. "How long did I sleep?" I ask, running a hand through my hair.

She checks her phone. "Well it's 5:30, so like two and a half hours."

My stomach responds with a long growl. "Is it dinnertime yet?" I ask with a humorless laugh.

I look around and notice we're the only ones around. I look back at Lucy questioningly.

"They're in the electronics, trying out the TVs I think." Her eyes dart down to the floor suddenly. "I'm really sorry about-"

"Shh don't..just don't say anything about it." I close my eyes tightly.

"O-okay..I'm sorry.." She sounds crestfallen, probably regretting mentioning what happened

I open my eyes and look at her sad face. I sit up and wrap my arms around her neck, touching our foreheads together. Her eyes widen a little and her breath hitches. "Please don't apologize anymore, it's not your fault. Okay?"

She pulls away slightly and nods, her cheeks a warm shade of pink. "Y-yeah, alright."

I stand up and hold out my hand for her to take. "I think it's time to eat and get drunk. What do you say?"

She takes my hand and I pull her up. Her smile is hesitant. "Yea sure, sounds good."

I look around until I find a shopping cart and head for the liquor aisle, towing Lucy along beside me. I start plucking bottles off the wall, finding some of my favorites, and the the others' go-to choices, putting them in the cart.

"What do you usually drink Luce?" I ask without looking at her. When Lucy she doesn't answer, I look down and see her regarding the bottles warily.

"I've never had alcohol before.." she whispers. My eyebrows raise and she looks up at me, starting to blush.

"You don't have to Lucy, I wouldn't make you." I tell her softly.

She bites her lip and looks at the rows and rows of assorted liquors. She reaches out and rips open a pack of Stella, popping a can open and lifting it to her lips, taking a long swig. A long swig turns into an even longer one, and before I know she's drank the whole can.

I look at her face, taking in her reaction to the alcohol. "Damn Lucy."
She looks up at me with flushed cheeks and wide eyes. "That was great. Is it supposed to burn like that?" I nod and smile slightly, she smiles back and goes for a another can, grabbing me one as well.

Her smile fades and she lifts her can a little. "To Alex."

I tap my can to hers. "Amen." We chug our beers and finish filling the cart with food. I run off quickly to find a convection oven to heat dinner up with. Lucy smiles in approval when she sees it.

We head to the electronics and everyone is still there, mostly just sitting there being miserable, trying to repress what happened. Flyzik still looks really shaken up, even though I'm sure Danny has been comforting him as best he can. I see that someone has put in Home Alone and Jack is sitting on the floor with a giant pillow, watching in silence. These guys are in desperate need of alcohol.

"Soup's up!" I shout, finding a nearby outlet for the convection oven, attracting everyone's attention and a few reluctant grins. The guys get up and take their choices of liquor. I rip open a box of wine glasses I had picked up.

"Alex did you happen to grab a cork screw?" Evan asks.

"Sure did." I hand him the metallic object. "Let's have a toast guys." Everyone opens their bottles and fills their glasses, the atmosphere somber and serious now.

Colussy speaks up, face scrunched up with grief. "To our good friend and brother, Alex Grieco. You should still be here, drinking with us."

"We love you man. Rest easy." Zack says, raising his glass. Everyone follows suit, raising their glasses high. I feel Lucy lace her fingers through my free hand, I tighten my hand around hers. We tip our glasses and drink to this messed up world we now live in, not knowing what to expect or who could go next.

Flyzik's P.O.V.

Matt Flyzik sits on the floor and looks around at all of his drinking friends, an untouched glass of red wine and plate of food next to him. He's shaken up to say the least. He'd almost died today, almost taken from his best friends, almost been made into a flesh-eating monster. Instead, Grieco had been the unlucky one. And Matt couldn't help but feel guilty for his death, even though it wasn't his fault, but he didn't see it that way. If only he had just reminded everyone of being watchful and careful. But he hadn't, and now Alex was dead because of it.

It's my fault. It's my fault he's dead. Everyone was depending on me and I failed them, Matt yells at himself inwardly.

But Danny had been there to save him, nobody saved Grieco. And Danny's still there, sitting on Matt's other side looking anxiously at him. He hadn't left Matt at all since it happened and was constantly asking Matt if he was okay and if there was anything he could do, and just trying to comfort Matt. Danny worried too much, but Matt still loved him.

"Matt, aren't you going to eat?" Danny asks, looking at the dark haired boy with worried eyes.

"Yea in a minute.."

"Matt." Danny's voice has an edge to it now. Matt looks at him curiously but doesn't say anything. "Matt, I know you're blaming yourself for what happened, but you can't do that. It wasn't your fault. Stop beating yourself up over it. Do you really think Alex would want to see you like this?"

Matt looks down at his lap. "No.." He balls his hands into fists. "But I was supposed to remind everyone to be careful! I've let you guys down..I'm just-"

Danny stops him mid-sentence by placing his hands on either side of Matt's face and looking him dead in the eye. "It's not your job to keep us alive. Stop blaming yourself." Danny says with finality before planting a light kiss on Matt's cheek and pulling him into a tight hug. "Please Matty, I can't stand seeing you like this."

Matt hugs the light haired boy back tightly. "I know..I'm sorry."

Danny pulls back and examines Matt's face. "Can you please eat something now? And a little alcohol could probably do you some good right now."

A hesitant smiles forms on Matt's face, and he goes to pick up his plate to eat, not fully letting himself off the hook for what happened. He still blames himself, he just won't let Danny see it, he owes him that.

Notes

Sorry for killing someone :( Grieco won't be the last I'm afraid.