No Longer Saving Yourself

Zack's feet moved tentatively and quickly behind Annie's long strides. Her steps were more confident and natural while his were much more timid. He easily kept up with her pace, and watched her body for signs of danger rather than his surroundings. Annie's hips swayed lightly as she stepped carefully over some broken glass. Zack's eyes roamed her body shamelessly. Annie knew it too, and was adding that extra something to her step.

The last fifteen minutes they had moved in silence. The buildings were silent too. It wasn't a comforting silence; it was eery and if Annie was being completely honest with herself, down right creepy. She stopped walking when they reached the edge of the building. The final building.

"Should we stop again?" she asked the boy next to her. He shrugged.

"Would waiting until morning help? We're so close to the hotel." Zack looked over to where the hotel stood and tried to calculate the distance from where they were.

"The distance is too great. And then once we get back to the hotel, we have to worry about getting out of here. Being here is just a big fucking pot of a bad idea. Honestly, I don't know that we're all making it," Annie said, digging around in her satchel.

"If we're being honest, I'm scared," Zack admitted, looking out over the buildings at the moon. Despite everything that was happening on Earth, that was one thing that hadn't changed: space.

"I think I'm beyond scared," Annie replied, pulling out a box of cigarettes and a lighter.

"Want one?" she offered, holding out the half empty box.

"Um," Zack trailed off, not sure how to respond.

"Trust me, it helps." Annie took one out for herself and lit up, waiting for Zack to attach his fresh cigarette to her lit one.

"God this sucks." Annie exhaled a ring of smoke, reminiscent of the caterpillar's in Disney's Alice in Wonderland.

"You're telling me," Zack said, mimicking her motions.

Looking down at her watch, Annie noticed it was still several hours before the sun rose. For some reason, these creatures didn't like the sunlight very much. Annie figured it was a mutation of the original virus. Who knows what would happen next. If things progressed rapidly, it could become airborne. It was already iffy to try the water in big cities like this. She had found some remote areas with streams that seemed to be safe. Bodies of water that housed fish and other aquatic creatures that were alive were a good indicator of what was safe. Annie hoped to find a few as they moved North.

"So tell me your life story," Annie said, taking another drag of the cigarette.

"Um. I dunno. What do you want to know?" he replied.

"How old are you?" Annie decided to start with the basics.

"Twenty two. You?" Zack searched her face for any indication of her age.

"Same." The blonde's reply surprised him. He expected her to be at least twenty five. He thought about his own appearance and decided he too probably looked aged as well. It had been a while since he had bothered to shave and there was no doubt a little stubble.

"When's your birthday?" Zack sat down by the edge of the building.

"March," Annie replied, joining him.

"April." Zack ground the butt of the cigarette into the ground before tossing it behind him. Over the edge could draw attention.

"Where are you from?" Annie asked, handing him a whole pack of cigarettes this time and pulled out the half empty one for herself. He gave her a questioning look.

"I try and keep stock of these. Nervous habit. Figure no one can have a fit over me smoking during an apocalypse. Cancer is the least of my worries." The two adults laughed quietly at her joke.

"So where are you from?" Annie repeated as they both lit up.

"Maryland. Outside Baltimore. Damn I wish this was pot," he said, looking at the cigarette sadly.

"You and I both," she muttered, sending them into a light laughter.

"Where are you from?" Zack was finally relaxing for the first time all night. No adrenaline due to fear or sexual urges, just plain relaxed and calm.

"Originally Michigan, but I was at school in Chicago when the outbreak started." Images from those first few weeks flashed in her brain and she grimaced.

"Any family still out there?" he whispered. Annie shook her head. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

"At least you know," Zack said. "I'm dreading the day when I might run into one of them and they're, well, you know. Undead."

That did it. Annie let the tears fall, choking slightly. She didn't have to think about it before now. Telling someone about what she had to do to survive was never a conversation she thought she'd encounter. Annie had gotten used to being a loner.

"What's wrong? I'm sorry Annie." Zack stared the girl in front of him. Her sudden emotional outbreak surprised both of them.

"I went looking for my family. I found my sister," Annie said once she had calmed down a little. Zack nodded, urging her to continue.

"She had already been changed. She was in our house. She came after me. I had to, had to." Annie's voice trailed off, unable to speak the words.

"You don't have to," Zack started, but Annie continued, needing to get it out of her system for the first time.

"Lizzie was my baby sister. She was nine. And I killed her. I broke her neck. I twisted it until it broke. Oh my god Zack I killed my sister." She began sobbing this time, her body shaking in emotional pain.

"Shh, it's okay. Like you said, you can't think of them as being actual people. They aren't anymore." Zack pulled her to him and rubbed her back soothingly.

Annie didn't think someone saying the words she had been telling herself for over a year would convince her anymore than her own unsuccessful attempts. But his words, his reassurance of her actions, her necessity to murder, made a world of difference.

"Thank you," she whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes. Her body had regained composure and she was finally able to sit up on her own.

"Sorry about that. Haven't been around people a lot." She laughed at the end, her voice still that strange pitch from cry but it was returning to normal.

"I'm sorry you had to do that," he said, rubbing her arm. They were sitting facing each other, forehead almost touching. It would have made a fantastic photograph because the moon shone at just the right angle and their shapes made black silhouettes worthy of a romance novel cover.

"I'm tired," Annie said, moving her head to rest in the crook of Zack's neck.

"Me too" he said. She placed a kiss on the bottom of his neck and slowly moved up and over his jaw until she reached his lips, Zack making noises of approval the whole time. Right before her lips would have touched his, she pulled back.

"I'm awake now, are you?" Annie teased. Zack groaned, rolled his eyes.

"Look. We've got some time. Let's sleep. Right here seems safe," Zack suggested. Annie sighed, knowing he was right. She just wanted to have some feeling of safety. Being on the roof of a building that could hold an ungodly amount of infected zombies that could come rambling through the door at any moment wasn't doing a whole lot in that department.

"You look exhausted anyway," Zack said.

"I don't sleep a whole lot," she mumbled.

"Well, now you've got people who can watch out for you. You don't have to sleep so lightly." Annie smiled up at him before she removed all the guns and pulled her backpack into a form so that it could cradle her head. To some it may have looked uncomfortable, but Annie had learned to sleep in difficult places. She lay down and curled up to the makeshift pillow.

Zack laid down too, bringing her back to his chest and put his outside arm around her in a protective manner. Annie let go a sigh of relief, feeling a little bit safer.

The two quickly drifted to sleep, ignoring the horrible surroundings and the past year's events.

For the first time in a long time, Zack and Annie slept without fear.