Hammers and Strings

BOOM.

I cringed as William shot the zombie in the face. He loaded the shotgun and continued to march passed the closed apartment doors. We hadn't found Chiz, and we had already checked three floors. Granted, we were descending instead of ascending, but that's unimportant. Sisky and Mike were checking the upper floors, while Butcher and Kate were trying to figure out better ways in launching the firecrackers. After Sisky blew up the mailbox, he's not allowed in a five foot radius of the box.

William's radio was clipped to his belt, and I was trailing behind him, cringing at the sight of blood and other really grotesque things. Rats were feasting on the dead, rotting bodies in the hallways, crawling through trash, some even having the nerve of coming after us. William fumbled with the box of ammunition, spilling some of the shells on the floor. "BILL, BE CAREFUL WITH THOSE!" I shouted, a crowd of rats now filing out of the blue apartment doors. The once black carpet was now brown and gray, teeming with rats everywhere. They pushed themselves out from underneath the door frame, and William and I were running for the elevator.

Bill finally turned around, shot a few rounds, the shots made some of the rats fly, but a vast majority were making their way to us. I sprinted to the end of the corridor, repeatedly pressing the "up" arrow as the brown and gray mass kept crawling to the end. Their eyes were a glaring red, most likely from eating the infested bodies. They hissed at William, who was still shooting at them.

Ding.

The doors opened, and we scrambled in as about ten of the rats followed us. I started swatting at them with the golf club, and that's about when William grabbed my ass. "What the hell!" I screamed, the rats still hissing at us. "Now's a really bad time to sexually harass someone!" So far, I had only killed one. Bill had taken the pistol out of my back pocket. He shot at the rest of them, some of them jumping in order to bite him. He shot some more rounds, and we were surrounded by dead rats, blood splattered on us and the nice mahogany and marble elevator.

He handed the pistol back to me, which he put on lock. "Now do you think I was sexually harassing you?" I mumbled an apology, shoving the gun into my back pocket again. It was Kate's; her parents had given it to her, so she'd be safe in such a messed up city like Chicago. She had received it for her twenty-fourth birthday, when she announced she'd be moving here.

That was also about the sixth time I caught Bill making out with a girl I didn't know. I pretended not to notice, and I flirted with about every single guy there, just to make him jealous. He didn't flinch or move a muscle.

I felt his arm around my waist. "Are you okay?" he asked, pushing a lock of hair out of my eyes. "You look a little down."

I wiped my face with my sleeve, but I felt my face smear something onto my face. Bill laughed, reaching for the red handkerchief tied around his knee. "You've got a little bit of grease on your face." Of course. Only I would smear grease on my face that originally was on the pistol I shoved into my ass pocket. Go, Lexi.

He started to rub my cheek, wiping most of the grease off, but the remnants of the black gunk were just plain stubborn. Bill lifted my chin, and...

Ding.

...Kissed my nose.

He smirked while waltzing out of the elevator. I blinked, slightly shocked. All of a sudden, I heard white noise coming from the hand radio. "Hey, Bill! Sisky and Mike came back with Chiz!" Kate said happily. "You guys can come back now."

"We're on our way." Bill motioned for me to follow him, and together, we went back to the apartment complex. He reached for my hand, and I held on limply, not really sure what to do. Should I ignore him? Should I even be this close to him?

He fucking cheated on me in front of my face. Why should I even take him back?

"Lex, we're here." Bills arms were around my waist as he waited for me to open the door. I slipped in the key and barged in. Kate, Butcher, Chiz, Sisky, and Mike all stared as I walked in. I could feel his cheek on my head. His heartbeat on my back. His fingers intertwined on my stomach. The smile on his face.

I broke his fingers apart from their comfortable position around my middle. Bill frowned as I approached our friends. They smiled uncomfortably, Butcher watching Bill's reaction. "Chiz, where'd you go?" I asked, ignoring Kate's obvious glare. "We were really scared."

"I went out, because I needed some space." Chiz eyed Sisky, who was gripping part of his shirt. Kate and Butcher were holding hands. Mike was just relaxing in the armchair. "You know, for some air."

"Why?" I furrowed my brow. There were so many zombies out there, and after that little incident with the rats, I was scared to step out of the safety of Butch's apartment. William was still a distance away, not moving from his spot. Butcher was slowly chewing his gum, and Kate was still openly glaring at me.

"Because there's so much tension here; I needed a break from it all." He smiled sadly. "Nothing against you, Lex."

"I'm sick of this." Sisky stood up and looked me in the eyes. "Lex, stop being an idiot. It's so obvious Bill's jumping through hoops to get on your good side. Hell, Mike can even tell what's going on, and that hardly ever happens." Before Mike began to protest, Sisky held out a hand and continued. "We're going on the roof, and we're going to light fucking firecrackers and shit and have a barbecue, and you two can join our party when your little...dispute over nothing is over." Sisky stormed out of the apartment and I heard the slapping of his shoes against the metal staircase.

The others grabbed things necessary for their party on the roof, and I sat down, frowning. I could feel Kate's empathetic stare as she left the room. Bill just stood in his place, as if glued to the ground.

Oh, what's a girl to do with friends like these?