Radioactive

"I bare my skin, and I count my sins."

---

They had been on the road for thirty minutes before Taniss pulled over and fished the first aid kit from the back. The girls were difficult to take care of, but they managed to change the bandages. Although it was slightly awkward when Matt had to peel Harpers ripped up shirt off and wrap a bandage around her stomach. When they were settled in the car, Matt took a turn driving. Harper settled comfortably with her head on Taniss' lap, and he just glared down at her for most of the ride until he couldn't take it anymore and requested to drive.

It was six PM when Taniss woke everyone up. "I've seen a few signs for a nearby camp ground. We should check it out. Might be a good place to get ourselves together, get rested and healed, ya know?" Matt agreed, although Amaryllis argued that they should keep on the road. Harper kept her opinion to herself.

Eventually Taniss' logic won, and they took the exit that lead towards the camp ground. They drove slow, trying to take in their surroundings. It was surpirsingly empty. They caught sight of one or two RV's, but for the most part it had been deserted. No doubt people thought it was a little too in the open.

"Where are we gonna sleep?" Matt asked, holding up his hands as Harper shifted in her sleep , resting her head on his lap again.

"I saw a few abandoned tents." Taniss said thoughtfully. "We should stop and grab one."

"Or two. You guys probably can't shield your eyes when we change." Amaryllis' pointed out, shifting uncomfortably.

"Right." Taniss said with a grimace. They pulled over and unassembled an empty tent. It was obvious that no one had been inside of it for what could've been weeks, and it had sleeping bags, and even a matt to sleep on. They had been driving for a few minutes when he stopped to pick up another one.

They kept driving until they reached the end of the camp ground, which happened to be a large lake. "Finally, I can bathe!" Amaryllis' groaned happily, clapping her hands together.

Harper hadn't spoken more than twice since they got in the car, so many looks were sent her way as they set up camp. She mostly sat in the backseat and watched them from the window, but no one really felt like getting her to help.

They finished setting up the tents by the time it was growing dark. Matt managed to coax Harper out of the car and showed her the tent she'd be staying in. He left her to change and joined Taniss as he searched for firewood.

By the time they had a fire going, both girls had changed, and rinsed their hair at the edge of the lake. Amaryllis pulled a brush out of her bag, and she sat down by the fire to brush through Harpers hair while Taniss brought them something to eat from the car. After they ate, Harper and Amaryllis' switched roles. While she brushed through her friends hair, Matt and Taniss discussed a few possible plans.

"You and I could go and explore, scout around, make sure this place is safe." Taniss suggested to Matt.

"No, I wanna go." Amaryllis' interjected.

"I don't care." Matt admitted, tossing their garbage into the fire.

"Wanna go ahead and get going? We have some flashlights in the car. I'd feel safer sleeping here." Taniss admitted, getting to his feet.

Amaryllis' followed his lead. "I'll be back, Harp. Just checking this place out."

"Alright." She replied with a shrug, turning her back to the fire to finish drying her hair.

Taniss retrieved their guns and flashlights from the car. "ready?"

"Yeah. Matt, keep your gun near by."

"I gotcha." He replied, waving them on. He stood watching them go until they were out of sight before turning his attention to Harper. He sat down on the ground beside her, the leaves crunching beneath him.

He realized after a moment that she was shivering. "Are you cold, Harp?"

She started, as if she hadn't noticed him sitting there. "I guess." She admitted.

"It might be warmer in the tent."

"I don't want to be in there by myself."

Matt sighed, "come sit in mine until Amaryllis' gets back." He suggested, getting to his feet and holding a hand out to her. She hesitated a moment before taking it. He didn't let go as he lead her to the tent, unzipped it, and she climbed in. He zipped it behind them as she unzipped Taniss' sleeping bag and wrapped it around her.

"Matt," she said after a moment of silence.

"yeah?"

"Sorry about kissing you. Before, I mean."

He chuckled, laying backwards on his sleeping back, his arms folded behind his head. "I didn't mind." He answered honestly.

"I was drunk."

He tried to pretend that didn't hurt him. "I know."

"But i'm not drunk now." She finished.

He raised an eyebrow in her direction, a bit confused as to where she was going with this. "True." She dropped the sleeping back, and crawled forward until she was kneeling beside him.

"I, um," she looked like there was a lot she wanted to say, but before she could, she burst into tears. He sat up quickly, and pulled her into his arms. "Harper, it's okay, you don't need to cry."

But she sobbed into his chest, soaking his shirt for a good ten minutes. Finally, she pulled back, wiping the remaining tears from her face. "Sorry, I shouldn't be crying."

"Honestly, you have every reason to cry." He reached up to wipe a stray tear away with his thumb, examining her face. "I just want you to know that you're safe."

She sniffled for a bit until no more tears threatened to spill. Her eyes were still red and her face was blotchy, but that didn't stop Matt from staring at her. She realized now that they were only inches a part. All she could feel was a dull ache in her chest, and his breath as it fanned across her face. She leaned in towards him, and he wasted no time in meeting her half way. Their lips met, sending a tingling sensation through her body from her head to her toe. Their lips moved perfectly together as his hands tangled in her frizzy hair. The make-out session didn't last long before Harper pulled a part. She opened her mouth to say something but Matt only shook his head, kissing her again. A long, lingering kiss.

This time it was Harper who refused to let go. She gave him a light shove, pushing him back onto the sleeping bag, and he pulled her with him. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her skin heating with desire as his lips moved from her mouth, to her jaw, to her neck.

"Matt," she groaned, her hands tugging lightly at his hair.

"Don't say anything." He mumbled numbly against her collar-bone.

Her hands found the hem of his shirt, and she pulled it up over his head, breaking them apart for only a moment. She didn't give him time to do anything before she pulled her own shirt off and found his belt buckle. "Are you sure about this?" He asked, just to be sure, although he wasn't sure he'd be able to take it if she took it all back now.

"A zombie apocalypse is happening. If i'm sure about anything, this is it." Their lips met again, tasting of heat, desire, and sexual frustration.

Her fingers fumbled over the belt buckle before it unclipped, her hands sliding down to the zipper. He responded with a groan. She slid her tongue into his mouth as his lips parted, his fingers finding their way into the waistband of her pants. A moan wrenched it's way from the back of her throat, and she pulled away from him. His lips found their way to her neck, sucking lightly on the skin there. "Stop teasing." She managed to mumble, shuddering with pleasure.

His hands slid up her back, stopping when they came across the thick fabric of her bra. She shifted slightly on top of him as he unclipped it, tossing it carelessy to the side. She rolled to the side, and his body weight shifted on top of her until he was holding himself directly above her, his lips trailing down her neck, barely grazing the skin on her chest. Her hands found the rough frabric of his jeans again, and she tugged them down. He broke apart with a gasp, kicking them off and to the side in one quick movement.

Her breath was coming in short gasps as he hovered above her again, the tips of her fingers brushing the skin above his boxers. "Matt--" She groaned against his shoulder, her back arching beneath him.

He pressed his lips against hers again, silencing the moan she was making. He roughly unbuttoned her shorts and dragged them down her skin, his fingers tugging at the bright blue underwear she was wearing. He tossed the shorts to the side, pressing his body tighter against her. She shivered beneath him. "Harper--" he murmured into her hair as her hands slid down his chest.

She gripped onto his boxers, taking a shuddering breath before tugging them away from his body. He complied, shifting around her until they fell to the floor beside him. He wasted no time before returning the favor, tossing the blue fabric onto the pile forming beside the sleeping bag.

"Matt--" she groaned against his skin as his hands slid down to her legs, wrapping themselves tightly around her thighs. She could feel him against her as he shifted around, in between her. He leaned down, his lips grazing her ear, causing her to let out a gasp. "I like when you moan my name."

"Ahh--" she tilted her head back before he silenced her with a rough kiss. His hand, still fastened around her thigh, gave a rough tug, settling it on his hips. She complied, wrapping herself tightly around him, her arms tightening. He groaned as her hands slid down his back, roughly scratching his skin.

He thrust into her, and she gasped, letting out a shuddering breath. "M-matt-" she stammered, arching her back beneath him. He settled one hand on the sleeping bag beside her, as he pushed away from her. Her teeth lightly pulled on his bottom lip, and he complied, pressing against her. He pushed into her with surprising force, drawing out a scream that had him tightening his grip on her.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Amaryllis' turned on the flashlight, shining it around them as they walked. "So, what's the plan, big guy?"

Taniss raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Oh, so i'm in charge now?"

"You're acting like it, so you might as well be."

Taniss sighed, "eventually we're gonna have to stop fighting."

They walked through the trees in silence a little while longer before Amaryllis spoke. "Thanks for rescuing us." She said softly, hardly audible. "As much as I hate to admit it, we wouldn't have gotten out on our own." It seemed painful for her to admit. Taniss was just working up the courage to say something when Amaryllis grabbed his arm. "Do you see that?" She took off through the trees, into a clearing. Taniss was surprised he hadn't seen it before her. A large log cabin building loomed in front of them. The sign above the door read "The Lodge."

"It's a camp ground, of course it has this kind of stuff! There are probably cabins or something farther back that we just haven't found yet. We should check it out."

"There could be walkers in there, it looks pretty dangerous."

"Oh, come on, stop being difficult." Amaryllis snorted, not waiting before walking up the steps to the front door.

Taniss sighed, following after her. She kicked open the door, breaking the chain that was locked from the inside, holding up the gun and the flashlight as she walked through the door. It was just a large room with an adjoining kitchen and a bathroom. "Indoor plumbing!" Amaryllis cried when she opened the door, "I missed it so much!"

Tables and chairs were stacked up on the sides of the room, leaving the place empty. "This place is kind of creepy."

Upon further inspection, the found that the walls on the kitchen had the words "Infected." "Pray to God." "You're all going to hell." written on them.

The back door was slightly ajar and read "there's no hope."

They cleared out of there pretty fast. "So what were you saying? About me being Superman and all?"

Amaryllis laughed, "You're definitely not..." she registered the sound of a girlish scream from the direction of the camp site. "...superman...did you hear that?" She froze, trying to figure out what was happening when Harper screamed again.

In an instant she was running, crashing through the trees in a crazed attempt to get to her best friend. There was no more screaming, but that only made the dread in her stomach flutter nervously. "Amaryllis!" Taniss called from behind, running after her.

She skidded to a clumsy halt in the middle of a clearing she didn't recognize. She twirled around in a circle, trying to figure out which way the camp site was. Taniss was just entering the clearing, his hands up in a defensive position as he tried to calm her down, when she took off running again. She threw herself nimbly over a fallen log, whacking branches out of her path. Finally, she recognized the mangled tree they had passed on their way to the lodge, and crashed into the clearing that their tents were settled in only moments later. She froze at the edge of the clearing, a bit concerned at the lack of chaos.

Harper looked up in alarm, her hand frozen on the zipper of her tent. Her hair was wild and everywhere, and she was wearing nothing but a t-shirt, holding a pile of clothes in her hand. Her mouth formed an O when she caught sight of her.

Nothing clicked until Amaryllis saw Matt emerge from his tent, shirtless, only just buttoning his belt, and his hair even more disheveled than it naturally was.

"What the--?!"

Taniss scrambled to a stop beside her, resting his hands on his knees as he panted. "Please never do that again." He straightened up, taking in the scene around him while Amaryllis stuttered.

"Did--do you--did you guys--how did--what--did you--" she stammered, her eyes widening in both alarm and confusion.

"Woah, Matt." Taniss said, his expression changing to one of delight, to Amaryllis' dismay. "Score! Gettin' it!"

Amaryllis rounded on him, giving his chest a shove so that he hardly managed to stand on his feet. She reached back to grab her gun, prepared to point it at Matt like any good friend would do, and Taniss managed to snatch it from her before she could. "UH-UH. NO WAY. MATT I'M ABOUT TO KICK YOUR--"

"It's not what it looks like, Scotty!" Harper said in alarm, tossing the bundle of clothes in the open flap of the tent.

"Yeah, then where are your pants?"

Harper defensively put her hands on her hips. "You've known me for years. You know I don't ever really wear pants."

"Harper, I thought you were dying!"

"Why would you think that?"

"You-you screamed!"

Harpers face flushed bright red, "o-oh, I just--we--"

Taniss burst out laughing, and Matt found himself grinning. Amaryllis turned on him, fuming. "That's my best friend you ignorant fool, you think you can just get away with--with---screwing around with--" she reached down and ripped off her boot, chucking it at him.

"Not the face!" He cried, throwing his arms above his head as she pulled off her other shoe. Taniss lunged forward and grabbed her around the waist, easily lifting her while she yelled obscenities at him. If it was a tv show, most of what she was saying would be replaced with beeps, and the gestures she was wildly making would be blurred out.

Harper stood still, looking shocked. "I'm just--i'm gonna put on pants." She murmured quietly, disappearing into the tent and zipping it behind her.

After a few minutes she emerged from the tent to see Matt stomping out the ashes in the fire pit they had made. She wrapped the blanket she had carried around her, "where's Amaryllis?"

"Her and Taniss walked down to the river so she could take her anger out on zombies or something."

"Oh, I guess they're just making sure it's safe, then," Harper said, hoping she'd be in a better mood when she got back so that they could talk.

Matt smirked down at the fire, setting the stick he had been using as a poker on the ground. "Yeah, you probably attracted a few zombies, you were pretty loud." Harper tilted her head back and let out a loud groan, to which Matt sassily replied, "yeah, like that."

"That's it, i'm going to bed!" She threw her hands up in the air, and stomped across the camp site before Matt could say something else to completely embarrass her. She crawled into her sleeping bag to wait for Amaryllis to come back. She took so long that she was half asleep when the tent finally opened and she crawled in.

Harper opened her eyes, prepared to say something, but Amaryllis was already snuggling down into her bag, her back facing her. "Amaryllis," she said softly, instead of beginning the long speech she had prepared in her head.

But Amaryllis didn't answer, so she eventually rolled over, pulling the sleeping bag tightly around her. She was definitely in for a long night.