The Undead

Recuperation

Camila's POV

The next morning, I walk into the room Zayn is in with a bowl of soup.

"Hey, fighter," I said softly.

Zayn, shirtless and pale, laying down on the bed smiles. "What's up?" He says softly.

"I brought you breakfast," I said.

"Soup ain't meant to be for breakfast," He jokes.

I laugh softly as I take a seat next to him and he takes the bowl, starting to eat slowly.

"Hey, I don't want to stress you out but what are your thoughts on that message we got on our walkie-talkies?" I ask.

Zayn slurps on his soup that is hot as he looks up at the ceiling. "They had to get some signal or made some signal, tinkered with the radio," Zayn says.

"Do you think they just contacted us or..." I trail off.

"They just contacted us and I don't want to make any assumptions but I think we know where Lauren is," Zayn says.

My chest clenches at her name as I take a deep breath. "Hopefully," I said.

"You think I'm a fighter? She's even more. She's okay," Zayn says. He sets his empty bowl down and sighs. "Do I have to stay in this fucking bed until I feel better?" Zayn asks.

"Yes, you do," I said.

"Sunlight is what I need. Come on, take a walk with me, Camila," Zayn says.

I bite my lower lip, debating, before sighing and nodding slowly. "Okay, but this is on you," I said.

"Of course," Zayn says.

I help him stand up and grab his tannish military undershirt, throwing it at him as he puts it on.

After helping him up from the bed, we walk down the stairs with me still supporting him.

"Whoa! Where are you guys going? Zayn you're supposed to be resting," Niall says.

"Let me enjoy some sunlight, Niall. I'll be fine," Zayn says.

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him," I said.

Zayn and I walk out the front door and down the steps as we start walking around the fields.

"Zayn, I don't know if you know about me and Lauren-"

"I've had suspicions," Zayn cuts me off.

"Really?" I ask shocked.

"She's my best friend. How could I not? I know every little thing about her and I know when she's falling for someone. Especially since I haven't seen her like that since her late wife," Zayn says.

"Why can't she rest her mind in peace from her?" I ask.

"How could you ever forget the person you loved dearly?" Zayn says.

"I suppose there's some truth there," I said.

"Lauren will kill me if I said this but she also can't rest her mind in peace is because before they killed her wife, she told Lauren that she was pregnant," Zayn says.

"What? Why didn't she tell her before?" I ask.

"Maybe she was afraid. Both by how Lauren will react and maybe because she didn't want to bring a kid into this world. Not the way it is now," Zayn says.

"Will Lauren would have reacted that horribly?" I ask.

"Of course not. Her long-time wish was to become a parent. I don't know about now, maybe deep inside her she still does but I can't say for sure. The way the world is now, it changed all of us, we can't live the way we used to," Zayn says.

"But we can surely fight to make sure there's a future," I said.

"That we can," Zayn says.

Finally, night falls as we sit on the porch, keeping watch.

"You shouldn't be keeping watch, you should be resting," I told Zayn.

"Nah, I already feel myself getting better," Zayn waves it off, downing his glass of water.

"Don't act all strong and mighty," I laugh softly.

"Please, I was in the military. I've experienced things worse than this," Zayn motions to his wound.

I was about to respond but then I hear someone yell my name.

"Wait, did you hear that?" I look at Zayn.

"Yeah," He stands up.

"Camila!"

"Wait... I recognize that voice," I said. I run down the steps and across the field. "Gerald!" I yell.

"Camila!" Gerald says.

He runs over to me and I jump into his arms as he hugs me close.

"Your okay," He strokes my hair.

"Hell yeah, I am," I said.

I unwrap my legs from around his waist and he puts me down.

"You followed my riddles," I said.

"I was going to come here either way but I'm glad you're here safe and sound," Gerald moves my hair out of my face.

"Someone got injured along the journey but I suppose so," I said.

"Who?" Gerald asks.

"Me," Zayn says.

We both turn to see the boy limping towards us with a bright smile on his face.

"Zayn," Gerald bro hugs him.

"Careful," I said.

"Glad you see you, brother," Zayn says.

"Thank you for taking care of Camila," Gerald says.

"If I didn't, you wouldn't have been the only one that would want to cut my head off," Zayn says.

"What do you mean?" Gerald furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

"Nothing," I cut in.

Gerald glances at me but nods, discarding the subject. "Well, I would love to say I survived this journey alone but I didn't," He says.

"What?" I asked confused.

I look behind him and now clearly see the two people he arrived with.

"Louis?" Zayn says.

"Harry," I said.

"Greetings," Harry says.

I run over to him and wrap my arms around him. "I'm so glad you survived," I said.

"Whoa... I didn't expect..." Harry trails off.

"Hey, I had to bite your disgusting undead self so you can be human again, I'm glad to see you," I pull away from him.

"I suppose. I'm glad to see you too," Harry smiles.

"So happy to see that the boss' receptionist survived," Zayn says.

"God, don't refer to me like that Mr. Malik," Louis says.

"As long as you stop calling me Mr. Malik," Zayn says. He slaps the back of Louis's head and pulls him into a bro hug.

"Gerald, did you get the message?" I ask.

"What message?" He asks confused.

"Last night our walkie-talkies went off. All we heard was 'highway leading into Pennsylvania'," Zayn says.

"Who is here with y'all?" Gerald asks.

"Dinah, Colson, Niall, Ally, and Normani," I said.

"Then it had to be Lauren who sent the message," Gerald says.

"So that means?" I ask confused.

Zayn looks at Gerald and the boys exchange a nod before they look back at me.

"We will leave come dawn," Gerald says.