The Infected - Hanji Zoe

Chapter 7

A goodbye and a Promise

The first few rays of sun enter the dark room through the crack in one of the windows, forming a rainbow on the floor. You nuzzle up against Hanji, rubbing your face on her shoulder as you attempt to wake her up.

She groans in response to your actions and you smile, planting a few small but wet kisses along her skin. When her brown eyes meet yours, you feel as if the world has stopped for a second and only the two of you remain.

"Good morning!" She whispers, rubbing her eyes with her left hand.

"Good morning, baby." You reply, reaching over her body and placing her glasses on her chest. She thanks you silently and puts them on, finally being able to see your face even if you're not far away.

"GOOD MORNING!" Eren screams and you yelp, finally being hit by the smell of burned onions. "I'm making breakfast while Mikasa and Armin are helping Erwin and Levi, please feel free to have seconds!"

"Who allowed him to fucking cook?" You ask, burying your face into Hanji's armpit and she snorts, squinting her eyes to avoid the sun.

Suddenly, a scream echoes through the house and the sound of pots falling to the floor fills the rooms. The two of you stare at each other for a second before getting up and sprinting towards the teenage boy.

A zombie stands over his body as he desperately tries to fight it off, pushing its chest with one hand while the other pushes its head away from his flesh.

You look around, quickly scanning the room in search for something to use as a weapon until your eyes land on a rusty fire poker leaned against the wall. It takes you less than a second to cross the room and grab the metal bar.

Without having any time to be careful, you rush towards Eren who's an inch away from becoming a zombie himself. You stab the fucker who stands on top of him right in the head, leaving a perfect hole in between its eyes.

Once you pull the metal out, a few drops of rotten bodily fluid drips onto the poor boy. The body falls on top of his and he quickly pushes it away, setting himself free

"Are you ok?" You ask, giving him a hand as he gets up. Eren nods, his mouth closed shut as his jaw is locked into place, "You have to throw up, don't you?"

He nods once again before bolting towards the waterless toilet upstairs. When he's out of sight, Mikasa kicks down the front door, pointing a gun around as her eyes search the area for the brown-haired boy.

She only lets her guard down once she notices the zombie's corpse by your feet. She sighs, placing her gun in its designated spot on her belt and a hand on her chest, her heart going a thousand miles per hour.

"We heard the screams but I couldn't find my gun or open the door and..." She begins frantically speaking, clearly in a mixed state between shock and fear. You walk towards her and place a hand on her shoulder, trying to offer some support.

"He's fine. He's upstairs vomiting but he wasn't bitten." Hanji says, walking towards the two of you. Mikasa nods and rushes up the stairs after him.

Black smoke comes from the fire where Eren attempted cooking, and you notice the vegetables he had in the pan are now as dark as coal. The smell of burned food hides the disgusting smell of decomposing flesh and, for once, you are grateful for his shitty cooking.

"Where did it come from anyway?" You ask, using the metal poker to scrape the burned contents off the pan. Hanji's footsteps echo back and forth as she looks around, a gun in her hand in hopes of avoiding any more surprises.