Fracking Apocalypse - a ZNation 10K/Tommy Fanfiction

S4E13

S4E13:

He and Red were in the forest just south of Flagstaff, Arizona when they finally found a place he felt they could settle down in. Even though it was in the south they'd been fairing well with the Z's as they'd traveled for the past three months. He and Red had been growing closer as he adjusted with his new self. It was like he was a new person and had to rediscover his own limits and what he was comfortable with and what he wasn't. Red was patient with him and didn't push but that didn't stop him from growing out of his shell and a little over two months ago he and Red had become pretty official as a couple. They'd spend nights cuddled together now and shared kisses, some which became more heated but never went too far. They held hands and he smiled more, he felt happy more often and actually had been laughing every now and then.

In all that time his hair had gotten shaggy enough that it laid flat on his head and no longer had the messy spikiness it once had. His goggles now found themselves in his bag and rarely were on his head. His bandana was still hanging out of his pocket and he'd found a new dark grey shirt with three buttons that he left undone by the collar. And he had a dark worn jacket that could use a good washing but it was comfortable and didn't restrict his movement so he held onto it. Red's outfit hadn't really changed but her hair had, she'd let the final braids of her hairdo fall out leaving her long brown hair loose and wavy – he liked to run his fingers through it when they'd cuddle or were kissing.

Right now they were walking through a forest and it was. . . perfect. There were lots of trees but enough space between them that he'd have good visibility to shoot zombies, and he'd see them in plenty of time. They'd passed a lake not far back, he'd have to check if it had fish, but if it did. . .

"What?" Red asked stopping and turning to him and he hadn't realized he'd stopped walking.

"What do you think about right here?"

Red's eyebrows shot up into her forehead, then she looked around and gave a shrug then she looked back to him, "It's. . . nice. If that lake has fish –"

"Yeah, it'd be a food source, water. . ." he listed looking around again.

"But 10K." Red started with a small grin and a shrug, "Where would we live? There's nothing but trees here."

He smirked, "Remember that tent we found last week?"

«»

Red loved the tree tent. And the lake did have fish that they caught fresh every day and they'd cook together. He'd scale and gut them and she'd add herbs and spices they'd collected along the way and found growing wild in the area. She'd even found a small patch of Z-weed someone had been growing and Red was using what she'd learned from Dr. Teller to experiment on it. So far she'd started a sap that helped with pain for wounds. He would know, since climbing up and down the tree daily he'd gotten a few good scratches that Red had treated with it. He felt a great swell of pride in his chest that he'd been able to provide his girlfriend with a shelter that was protected high above the ground. It felt like their hideaway from the apocalypse and he got a piece of himself back living the way he used to live with his Pa, fishing, camping, living off the land around them. And having Red with him only made it better.

That night they were sitting on their small cot eating their fish by candlelight, they were saving the batteries they had for their flashlights in case of an emergency and the dimmer little flames were less likely to attract zombies. The cot was small and pushed against one of the tents walls, he and Red sat side by side, some candles placed on small tables to her right and his left. When they finished Red took their plastic dishes and brought them to a bucket they kept that they'd get clean boiled water for the next day and clean the dishes. He sat and played with his fingerless gloves licking his lip thinking about if he should say what had been on his mind lately. When Red came back she started to unfold the blanket on the end of the cot and he grabbed her wrist gently to stop her. She paused and looked at him, he stared into her eyes before he pulled her closer and their lips met. She bent her knee and sat in his lap as her hands cupped his face and he wrapped his arms around her. Then he started to lean so she'd be laying on the bed but she took one hand from his face and used it to prop herself up so he couldn't. He stopped kissing her and she looked up at him like she was worried.