ZRP-2 Chapter 9: Can We Keep It?

Mira raised her hand
"I'm fine!"

Eve closed her eyes. "Then think we'll ever get to sleep together in a real bed without fear of crucifixion?"

Hibiki finished and returned to the tank. She'd just go where James directed. He had enough shit already.
"...but why does it feel like Michael's death...is just a checkpoint?"

James wasn't alone. Ella climbed in and sat next to him, her hand reaching for his, fingers tangling with his own in a firm grip. "Hey there, friendo," she said, and it brought James back to his high-school days; before the Hell, when he and Ella had been.....close. They had been friends, of course. But as part of the act they pulled in school, to keep her secret a secret, they had on occasion shared kisses. Platonic, always, but as their friendship deepened.....while never becoming romantic, it became a powerful symbol for them, of trust, of being there. Showing how much they both cared. Which was why she gently gripped her friends chin, tilted his head her way and pressed her lips to his in a gentle kiss, parting soon after to say "James....I know it wasn't easy, doing that. But he wasn't your brother anymore."

"I know," James said quietly, loudly enough though to carry over the sound of the truck's engine. He looked away though and said "But it still hurts. Yeah, I have Hibiki and our child on the way......but end of the day Ella, I'm alone now in full. No parents, no siblings. Family's gone, the old one anyway.....and it hurts."

Andrew and Sarah packed into the car with Miranda, Andrew hugging Miranda tightly, grateful she was still alive.

"Maybe," Sam said. "I mean our luck's bound to get better."

Hibiki just drove soon enough. It was all behind them. Hopefully.

Mira just hugged her family back. "I'm okay...okay Andy, you're crushing me and Sarah needs a turn hugging."

Eve nodded. "...think I can be lucky...and get a kiss before I take a nap?"

"How many have you had already?" Sam asked with a small smirk, before leaning down to peck at the girls cheek. "Already taking a nap too?"

"Right," Andrew said, letting go with a small grin as Sarah also hugged Mira tightly.

"Dammit James, don't do that to yourself," Ella said gently. "You've still got me, haven't you? I'm still here, and we were practically family. Better than friends." He sniffed a little, smiling faintly and saying "Yeah, I suppose.....and Mikey was always an ass. Still have some good memories of him though." She chuckled a little, leaning back against the side of the bed and saying "True. Remember when he got those bullies off your ass?" Smiling a little more, James said "Yeah, with a knife and sending them to the hospital."

"I miss my favorite sleeping arrangements Sam...Mommy hasnt let menout of her sights until now." Eve reminded her

Mira kissed Sarah's cheek. "All safe...finally."

Hibiki sighed. "Where the fuck are we going?" She called back. "I really got no directions except forward!"

Sam blushed a little and said "True. Maybe that will change."

"Well," Sarah said, "Until some other threat comes along."

Marcus, who had been riding in the back of the SWAT APC with Hibiki, climbed towards her seat and said "Leitchfield. Should be some signs giving directions, but we're close to it."

Close indeed, for twenty minutes of driving later, they soon arrived at the edge of the town. Despite the sign by the road calling it a city, the placed was more of a large town. The convoy arrived past a mining operation of some sort, dead and unused, along with a storage facility before they came to the first few houses, many of them with space between them. There were a number of walkers moving about, with no runners to be seen. the group parked, and the fighters got out to deal with the walkers that could be seen while others like James went into the houses to sweep for further threats.

"I swear if we gonto Leitchfield Correctional and I find Chapman and Vause, I'm gonna die happy." She said, and was silent the rest of the time.
Pulling to a stop, she filtered out of the APC, sword out, and went to work slaughtering Walkers.

Eve giggled and moved up, moving Sam's face so she could kiss her girlfriend's lips. "Hopefully."

Mira groaned. "Dont say that."

The arrival of the convoy was almost a bad thing really: the noise of so many vehicles had attracted a lot of the undead, many of them already coming into view. It didn't give James and those like him the time or space needed to check any of the houses, so they retreated to around the vehicles to form a loose circle. "Everyone!" he barked, "don't break the line. Let them come to us, then take them out fast."

"Uh, Eve?" Sam tried to say as her girlfriend kissed her. "Not sure now's the time: we've got zombies." With that, she gently but firmly pushed Eve off as she grabbed her gun and headed off the bus to join the fight.

Looking out the car window, and saw the zombies. Saying to Sarah "Now look what happened," he opened the door and left to fight, his sister following soon after.

Eve followed with her P90.
"Not fair. Just started having fun..."

Hibiki settled next to James. "Just like all those towns before us, eh?"

Mira followed. "Never say that again Sarah."

"Close...." James muttered as he readied an arrow. He was low on bullets, and arrows were a thing he could retrieve. Ella was behind a car, leaning over the rear hood with her pistol out, along with Estel standing next to her.

Sam simply jogged to a position to shoot from and said to Eve in a dry tone "Tell you what Eve: next time we end up surrounded by zombies and are doomed to be torn apart or trapped in a fiery blaze and burn to death, you have my permission to do me senseless right there." With that, she took aim and fired a shotgun shell into the closest walker.

"I was just being a realist!" Sarah sighed as she climbed onto the bus, sniper rifle ready. She started taking headshots while Andrew took up the rear.

Hanging her P90, Eve let arrows fly. "I'd rather save the day and screw you senseless in bed. Sorry if you dreamsmof going out with a bang are ruined." She replied just as dryly.

Hibiki used her sword, holding the walkers off if they got too close.

Mira picked her shots carefully. "Don't you dare be a realist again!"

"Hah, going out with a bang," Sam muttered as bodies dropped.

"Hibiki!" James shouted. "Down!" he cried, firing an arrow at a walker coming up in her blindspot.

"Can't make me!" Sarah teased as she fired, but she was running low. "Andrew, doing okay?" she called, as Andrew cut off a zombies head with his machete. "Just doing peachy!" he yelled.

"Thought you'd like that!" Eve said, firing another arrow.

Hibiki ducked. As tye walker fell she stood and sliced a zombie in half from groin to head. As it fell she started cutting melons.

Mira said nothing.

Not saying a word, Sam continued pumping shells into the walkers, but it wasn't looking good for her; she was down to four more shells that were currently on her, and she didn't have a spare weapon. "Please tell me these things are going to run out of numbers soon!" she said.

James waded forward behind his wife, grabbing arrows from nearby zombies before getting close and using his knife for up close attacks, jamming them into heads before pulling the blade out.

"Need a weapon?" Eve asked, ready to pass her P90.

Hibiki grimaced. "Anything? Are we almost done?"

"I can't tell," James growled as he brought down another zombie. However, their ranks were thinning and it looked like there were winning.

"I'll be fine," Sam said when she saw how few of the zombies remained.

Eve let fly arrows like a maniac.
"As you wish!"

Hibiki keptnit up, glad it was thinning.

The last walker fell, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Marcus began shouting orders, telling people to move the cars to form walls on either end of the street. James and a few others headed into the houses finally, to see if there were any walkers that had been missed, while also looking for materials that could be used to form barricades in the large spaces between the houses.

"Okay.....that was a firefight," Sam said.

Eve gathered her arrows. "Yep." She said calmly. Finally retreiving her arrows, she slid up to Sam. "All okay? Not hurt?" She asked, looking Sam over carefully.

Hibiki slumped. "I want a bath now."

"Yeah, of course I'm not hurt," Sam said. So far no one was, which was a good start.

James smirked a little as he stood outside the front door, Hibiki slumped on the wall next to it. "Maybe this place will have some plumbing that works," he said before kicking the door in, thankful the lock wasn't that great in make or quality.

"Because you're my goddess?" Eve aimed to flatter, obviously wanting cuddles.

Hibiki sighed. "We can hope. We can hope."

"Pfft, goddesses wear togas. And I am certainly not wearing one now, or ever," Sam said as she started moving for a separate house.

James walked inside, weapon at the ready while he hoped Hibiki took up the rear.

"Then how about you just be my lover and wear nothing?" Eve suggested instead.

Hibiki was indeed covering the rear.

"How about we clear the place of zombies first, then.....we'll see," Sam suggested.

The rooms were free of any hidden enemies, though there wasn't much to find in terms of food. Checking one of the sinks, James turned the nob....and was surprised to see that indeed, the water was working here. "Holy shit," he said as he turned to look at Hibiki, a smile on his face. "We've got plumbing."

"Deal." Eve said.

Hibiki nearly cried. "A bath."

"This is starting to look good," James said as he turned the water off and headed outside. The sun was still up so they had plenty of daylight hours left. Cars were moving as people in the caravan did what they could to secure the street, and on the bright side there were several dozen cars that had crashed or been abandoned in the area, that were capable of being used as barriers.

Sam helped out some people push a car into position, one side now facing the end of the street.

Eve had climbed atop a building and was scanning the area, bow strung and ready. She was keeping a sharp eye out for threats.

Hibiki stayed next to James. "Think we can stay here awhile?"

"Hopefully," James said. "But we've got a lot of work to do; walls to erect, supplies to gather.....and the Shepherds are still out there."

"We can make a defensible position." Hibiki broke away and waved over a small group. "I'll look for some more gasoline, maybe some remains that we can use for the cars." She headed off to do so.

Eve crouched, watching the group push the car into place. With it there, she looked on the other side.
"All clear so far..."

"Let's hope it stays that way," Sam said.

Nodding, James walked to the bus and found Marcus talking with Clara. "So," James said as he approached them, "what now? Rest....or try and stay here?" The two exchanged a look, with Clara sighing before saying "If we're staying, can't be here; space between the houses is just too wide to set up decent walls. Either we move further in, or rest here for the night before moving on."

"Damn," James said. "Let's put it to a vote, but at the very least we should stick around for the night. Working water in the houses, and folks deserve a shower." Marcus nodded in agreement, and Clara said "Fair enough."

Eve looked down at Sam.
"So...will you catch me?" She grinned.

Hibiki found some gas. As others began to siphon she hunted down James.
"Anything new going on?

"Nope. So spread some wings and fly Eve.....or just turn your legs into propeller engines, I don't know which you'd prefer."

"Apart from an impending vote on whether we stay here or just stay the night, no not much," James said, though he did remember something he felt he should tell Hibiki. "Uh...Hibiki look there's something I need to tell you, since I don't like keeping a secret like this. On the ride here....Ella and I kissed," he said, a little red in the face. "On the lips."

Eve climbed down, sighing. "Fine...so...where to now?"

Hibiki stared at James. Then kissed him.
After reclaiming what was hers, she crossed her arms."so. Can I kiss her to make it even?"

Haley found herself with Ella.
"Hi..." she said softly, cheeks pink.

"Oh, hey," Ella said to Hayley. "Doing alright?" she asked.

"Well, we can either look for a place with a soft bed to take a nap in, or stick with the bus," Sam said, looking from the houses to the bus.

James blinked at first, but eagerly returned the kiss from his wife. He chuckled a little at her request, saying "Uh...I don't know, you'll have to take it up with her. But I think Hayley will be pissed."

"Why would Haley be pissed?" Hibiki asked.

Haley looked around. "Yeah. Kinda lonely..."

"Soft bed." Eve said immediately. "C...can uh.............we nap topless?"

Tyler had his share of biter kills, though he mostly used knives. He wasn't sure when the next time they'd get ammo and since he isn't the best shot... He'd just save it for the Shepherds. For now he was lazing about, wondering what the next move was if it wasn't to stay here.

"Doesn't she have a thing for Ella?" James asked, recalling a previous conversation he had with his friend.

"Missing your family?" Ella asked. "I get that sometimes, memories sneak up on ya."

Sighing, Sam simply said "Let's just settle for a soft bed Eve. My back will appreciate it a lot more than anything else."

"Not sure actually..." hibiki admitted.

Haley shrugged helplessly. "I always have...I just....dont have someone to always be with....you have Estel. Everyone else has their significant other...I have no one..."

Eve sighed. "I cant win them all...okay."

"Well, she seemed interested," James said as if it confirmed the matter. "But if you're still interested in kissing....we can probably find ourselves a private room," he said, eyebrows waggiling slightly.

Ella looked a bit troubled by the statement, and said "Hey...hey come on, it's going to be alright." She walked over to Hayley, saying "Look Hayley, if you think Estel and I are a thing.....hate to break it to ya, but we're not. Just friends."

"Good....now let's find a place to take a cat-nap," Sam said.

Hibiki nodded...then leaned closer. "Sorry. Not until the score is nice and even." She grinned.

Hayley blushed. "I didnt mean that..." she started. "I meant...you have a close friend to be with. Others have a lover...I have no one."

"Meow." Eve said playfully.

"Curses, foiled again," James said with a small smile. "Guess I deserve that though....if it means anything though, it wasn't romantic. It was just....a thing we used to do when we were friends."

"Uh, hello?" Ella said, leaning down a little so she could look straight up into Hayley's face. "Close friends don't have to be in pairs, Hayley. And as for the other thing...." She shrugged and said "Not like I can't see us together."

"You are way too into cats," Sam said.

Hayley went red. "R-really?" She looked away. "...I'm sorry...I'm an idiot." She said shamefully.

Hibiki smiled. "Hey. If I cant get revenge by kissing her, okay." She moved closer again. "It's sweet of you, giving her anproper goodbye. That way you know your time as kids meant something."

"...hehe..." she took Sam's hand. "I am more into you."

"Pfft, we're all idiots," Ella said as she leaned against the hood of the car. "No need to get flustered over it."

"It wasn't a goodbye, Hibiki," James said, a blush creeping up onto his face. He decided to explain a little. "Look, I mentioned that we 'dated' during high-school because she didn't want everyone to know she was a lesbian. Well, during our....guess you could call it act, we would kiss now and then to sell it and after a while...the miss became more than a means to hide who she was. It was at times, a sign of our trust in each other, the level of which we cared for one another.....I guess you could say it was how we showed each other that we loved each other, without it being what you and I share Hibiki." He held her by the shoulders so she faced him, and said "Who and what you are to me.....is on a magnitude greater than her."

"Clearly," Sam said as she opened the door to one of the houses, stepping inside. "So.....regular bedroom, or master bedroom?"

"That's not what I meant with goodbye. Sometimes I can't find the right word." She sighed.

Eve didnt even have to think. "Master."

Haley leaned against the car next to Ella. "...least I feel a bit better." She bumped her shoulder against Ella's. "So. Don't suppose I can capitalize on your earlier comment and ask for a date?"

"Aww......too tired," Ella said with a small grin. "Besides, we've got way more work to do. Gotta get stuff to make a wall. Or better yet...." she trailed off, breaking into a walk as she made her way towards something that caught her eye.

"Master? Really? A regular room will have more than enough space," Sam said as she arched a brow, looking around through the place.

"Then come on," James said with a faint smile. "Tell me what you mean."

"I meant lat - "as Ella moved off Haley quickly followed. "Whats up?"

Eve giggle. "What. I want a bigger bed."

Hibiki frowned. "...I get the kiss was a sort of thing from your past and it was done as a sort of moving on thing. I still want to kiss her back to make us even." The woman leaned forward with this michevious grin.

Ella kept walking to what she saw next to one of the houses in the side yard: clotheslines, strung up between a pair of poles. Old clothes, faded and ruined, hung from the line but Ella didn't care about them, instead taking down the cord and removing the clothing. "Come on, help me with this," she said to Hayley. "We may not be able to make a wall....but an alarm system definitely."

"We're not so big we need a huge bed Eve," Sam said with a roll of her eyes. Still, she was feeling mildly tired and a soft bed would go a long way to solving that. Pushing one of the doors open, she found a bed inside, though the room was a mess as it looked like someone had been going through the drawers, looking for something or perhaps packing.

"Oh, well it wasn't us moving on. It was just....Hibiki, I killed my brother," Jason said flatly. "The last member of my original family, by my hand, is dead. And he wasn't always an ass.....he looked out for me now and then when we were kids. But that kiss was just Ella's way of....well, comfort for a friend I guess. Remind me that not everyone from my life before all this, is gone." Smirking now a little, he started walking away and said to Hibiki over his shoulder "But if it makes you feel any better, you can bring this up with her next time you see her."

"What are you thinking?" Haley asked, helping to remove the clothes.

Eve kicked her shoes off. Moving stuff away she sat on the bed.
"So... dont suppose I could try anything?"

Hibiki hurried after James, taking his hand. "II'm sorry. And..." she leaned closer to James' ear. "I will make sure to ask her about settling the score."

"Get a few cans, some metal stuff we can string together and tie to this, and then string it up between the houses. If there's some more string we can do this a few times in other places, but when a walker comes through, we'll hear about it," Ella said as the last of the clothes was removed.

"You can try. Whether or not I'll be responsive is another matter entirely," Sam said, already collapsing onto the bed. "Besides....it'd be creepy if you tried anything while I was passed out."

"Oh I'm sure she'll love that," James grumbled. "Being asked for a kiss by her best friends wife? She'll die of guilt before she tries anything.....though I think she may already be feeling the guilt now from what she did."

Eve scooted closer, moving Sam and snuggling into her chest. "I'd never do anything without your okay....that would be wrong." She paused. "Will you at least hold me?"

Haley started to gether what she could. "So. After this can I persuade you on a date?" She asked, piling the items near Ella as she found them.

Hibiki rubbed her forehead. "Why is everything so complicated?#