Dream Team Zombie Apocalypse (DTZA) (SEVERELY DISCONTINUED I'M SO SORRY)

9- Distraction Still Sounds Nice

Ainslie could swear she heard Hoodie sigh a breath of relief as the three of them fell in line, walking at a quick pace forward. He clearly hadn't noticed Koby panicking, and Koby clearly didn't want to be spoken to. Ainslie tried to start a light conversation. Koby didn't join.

For whatever reason.

As they walked, Ainslie couldn't help but notice every time Koby would look over to Hoodie or herself in her periphery. Each time a different emotion marred the look. Confusion, adoration, anger, regret, sadness. Hoodie, Ainslie, Hoodie, Ainslie.

Eventually the trees began to thin as the trio walked. The treeline came abruptly to an end at a wire fence, circling around a clearing. The thin dirt path stretched to the other side of the clearing and continued into the treeline after widening a little near the middle of the clearing. On either side of the path were a bunch of houses, which must have been where that zombie in the forest came from. The sky was coated in grey clouds, and a slight wind rustled the trees around it all.

"Ah!" Hoodie exclaimed, "Clothing! There might be clean clothing!"

So the group cautiously made their way through all of the houses, making sure to stay together. Although, Koby kept a firm glower across his face, constantly glaring a hole into Hoodie's back. He would only look away when Ainslie made it clear that she had noticed.

In one house, the group stumbled upon some assumedly-a-teenager's bedroom that had a bunch of MCYT merchandise. Ainslie struggled to keep her cool as she searched the drawers for clothing that would fit, trading out some of her dirty clothing for new stuff. In the same house, Hoodie gathered as much clean clothing as he could from a decidedly different person's wardrobe, and immediately shoo'd Ainslie and Koby from the room so he could get changed into his new stereotypical lumberjack get-up; complete with a red flannel shirt, and hopefully-faux brown leather coat.

In a different house, Hoodie found a book. He really wasn't in the mood for reading but it was a decent size, so if Ainslie didn't want to read it to pass the time when she wasn't sleeping... Then it would always make a good weapon, Hoodie guessed. He handed it to her, saying exactly that, and she wouldn't stop thanking him all day.

There was no sunset due to the clouds covering the horizon, it simply grew darker as they entered the last house.

Hoodie opened the front door, gun in hand, what little light was left outside brightened the entrance to the house. Dust covered most surfaces, but the walkway was clear of it. Odd. Hoodie didn't let himself hope. There were three bedrooms, this house and the others still had all of their furniture, so these households didn't get enough time to pack their stuff and flee like the burning house did. Though running does seem a little futile in this apocalyptic climate.

In the lounge there were empty cans and water bottles, the food on the cans' lids, after a small inspection, had only solidified around the edges. They'd been sitting there for about a day. A stupid thought rolled through Hoodie's mind; what if George and Sapnap were forever a day out of reach?

He dismissed the idea. There's no proof that this is the work of his idiots.

And that begs the question, what if it wasn't them? Sure, Koby's suspicious, but they got lucky that he's the only other alive person they encountered.

People are dangerous when they're scared.

Something light caught his eye, just outside the window. And he froze. What was that? He motioned for the other two to stay still and he neared the window with trepidation, craning his neck.

Ainslie stayed as quiet as she could, shooting a glance at Koby before watching Hoodie slowly creep up to the window. Dread seeped from the ceiling, pooling in sludgy masses around the three of them. She couldn't help but jump as he exclaimed and ran for the front door. She ran after him without hesitation, rushing out of the door and into the clearing after him. The wind had picked up and blew her hair in her face. She followed as Hoodie disappeared around the edge of the house, running to where the window looked out upon. Against the exterior wall was a generator!