Dead.

Chapter Eighteen

Cass dragged her hand down her face when she woke. She shifted and pulled the blanket up around her to keep in the warmth. She shifted a little, feeling bones crack into place as she did so. Cass moved to sit up a little more and looked around at the area. It still felt surreal. After meeting Arman and his group, to be welcomed to another group was unnerving in a way. There were no other sounds right then, Cass decided she was either alone or Jeff was asleep still. She got to her feet and poked the fireplace and used whatever strength she had left to pull a dried log into it to start the flames once again. She sighed out and eased down in the seat.

"They said you were here." A gust of cold wind and boots gave away someone entering the cottage and Cass glanced over. The man from yesterday, Doc.

"Hey. Sorry, I didn't thank you for everything." She said to him and Doc laughed a little. It was bound to be a shock and her reunion with who was left in her group had taken priority.

"Just checking in, feeling alright?" He asked her and smiled. Cass nodded, she felt better after warmth and food.

"I'll head up and look in on Jeff." Doc said as he moved towards the stairs and she nodded. Jeff likely needed more of a check up than she did anyway.

"You should head over to Grace's place. She's handing out some of the stew." Doc said and Cass figured she would wait for a while. Grace, she didn't recognise the name but figured she must have been amongst the small crowd who had been eating last night when she woke. She owed them thanks too. She didn't feel like moving right then but steps from above hailed her attention and she turned to see Doc coming back down with Jeff in tow.

"Ah, Jeff here was just telling me you were a nurse. A good one at that." Doc explained and Jeff grinned, he still looked stiff and sore. Cass nodded,

"I was, at our other community." Cass said to him, "And before, I'd just graduated." She explained to him. Doc nodded and grinned,

"Well then, while you're staying you can give me a hand." It was a small community, barely five of them and now the newcomers but they liked to keep on top of things when the time was available. Cass hadn't even considered staying; Jeff's words last night had led her to believe he didn't want to either. It wasn't surprising, when she really thought about it. They had been through Hell and back, lost so many in such a short amount of time. It was harrowing to believe how badly things could turn.

"Maybe, I'm happy to give you hand while we're staying here" Cass remarked to him. She was still unsure if they would be staying, but she saw no harm in offering some form help until a decision was made.
"Thanks. Get yourselves over to Grace for some food." Doc said before shirking on his coat a little more and heading back out into the snow and Cass sighed out. Jeff smirked over to her and approached, warming his fingers by the fire.
"Sleep alright?" He asked and Cass gave a hum of confirmation as she looked him over. She offered up a smile as she rubbed sleep from her eyes and Jeff looked towards the door.
"Come on then, might as well." He remarked and he opened the door for Cass. In the light, it was easier to see despite the snow fall. The cottages were in an arch sort of design. There were numerous sheds and a smashed-up greenhouse and half walls that had been built on slightly but not enough. The cottages were spaced out enough for small paths to loop around and in and out of them. It was probably very pretty when the world wasn't drenched in blood. Cass followed Jeff's lead; he evidently knew his way around this place a lot better than she did.

The furthest cottage was home to the community area it seemed like.
"Well, hello." A kind woman, shoulder length brunette hair cupping a wise face greeted them.
"Hey, Grace." Everyone seemed to be gathered here and eating together. Francis waved from his spot on the sagging couch and beside him Rhona, who was barely eating but seemed to be getting encouragement from David to eat something.
"Ah, I suppose introductions are in order." Grace said and Jeff gave a nod as Grace looked around.
"Well, you've met Doc. I'm Grace." Grace looked around at the three other strangers.

"This is Ryan, he's Evelyn's son." She gestured to two people. Ryan was young, maybe eighteen at a push and Evelyn was slightly older but young enough to have been a young mother, perhaps in her thirties. The last man was standing, leant on a mantlepiece and watching.
"That's Tristan, he doesn't talk much but he's nice enough." Grace excused the man as he took a drink from his mug and shrugged his shoulders.
"That's all of us. We all live in this cottage, there's three bedrooms upstairs and Doc doesn't really sleep, too busy thinking he can save the world." Grace smiled and Cass smiled in response to her. Grace offered Jeff and her a cup of broth and Cass found a seat near Francis and Rhona. Jeff eased down on the floor nearby, close to the fire and burrowed into his mug.

Cass nipped at her own and looked to Francis who raised an eyebrow but didn't elaborate on its meaning. There was a silence in the air, only disturbed by Grace occasionally offering more of the broth and Cass eyed it over, unsure of what was in it. Apparently, they still got squirrel and rabbit so that would be her best guess. It was peaceful, the quiet allowing for meditation from everyone to simply focus on what was happening and what had happened.
"They said you had a run in with the group further along the main road." Tristan piped up and Cass eyed the black-haired man.
"A run-in isn't exactly what I would call it. We almost died, the rest of us did." David churned out over his mug and leaned back, "God knows what else he might have done if given half an opportunity." David added for effect. Grace noticeably cringed and Evelyn spoke up,
"Yes well, they're here now." The mother said and Tristan nodded,
"Is he dead? Arman?" Tristan asked and David shook his head,
"Don't reckon so. He seemed alive when we left but there were corpses on the prowl. Might be." No one was really sure of Arman's fate. Cass hoped he was dead; it wasn't often she wished death on anyone but what Arman had done to Greg had been unforgivable. And all for what? A lesson, to keep them in line. It had been barely hours, Greg had done nothing wrong, except perhaps not give him the reaction he wanted.

"If he's still out there, man, he is going to be pissed." Jeff said as he drained his mug and Cass looked to him, "Which is why we can't stay. We should take the van we have, and leave." He finished. If Arman was alive and out there, he would come for them and it wouldn't be hard to figure out where they were. Cass watched Jeff, wondering if he was simply being paranoid.
"No one's really ever come across us before you lot." Tristan pointed out, "But he will hold a grudge." Tristan seemed to know a lot about Arman and Cass was curious.
"You know him?" Cass asked, finally and Tristan shrugged,
"I guess I did. Once, I ran into him. Barely got out of there. Snuck out in the middle of the night. That was back in spring." Tristan remarked, "Ran into this lot when they were looking for somewhere." They had only been here since spring then, not that long but they seemed so well-established.

"Yeah, well. You're more than welcome to stay for now, the girl and the hardass are injured. They should rest a while. Besides, you helped us with some supplies, the least we can do is shelter you." Evelyn said to them with a smile. It seemed the group didn't really have an established leader, but then, neither did their own, Cass figured. She knew they needed to stay a while.
"Your friends took next door, it's a little smaller and you guys were using the infirmary." Grace said to them, "You're welcome to stay there." She added and figured there was no need for stepping on everyone's toes. There was enough room here, each cottage was spacious yet cozy. Blankets, fireplaces and heavy curtains certainly made it feel that way.

Conversation came forth and David informed them of the Odds and what they had witnessed whilst Grace and the others listened intently. They confirmed they had seen something similar but only in the distance. They had large fields and thus there was no real threat of ambushes. They had weapons, not as many as Cass and her group but nothing to scoff at. Jeff was oddly silent the entire time, his mind elsewhere and Cass kept glancing to him now and then. He seemed brooding almost, sulking in a way.
"Right, we're going to check traps." Tristan said and gestured to Ryan who got up. David got to his feet and motioned he would help, pull his weight while they stayed and Grace and Evelyn fell into their own conversation by the fire.

"I think I'm going to go for a walk." Cass said, "Fresh air, try and..." Cass didn't know how to finish exactly. She just needed some sort of freshness, perhaps it would clear her mind.
"Oh, here, dear, take this." Grace offered her a heavy coat to keep out the cold and Cass accepted.
"I'll come." Jeff said as he got to his feet and strode out before Cass could accept or decline his offer. Francis looked to Cass and she sighed,
"I get the feeling I'm in trouble." She remarked and Francis snorted some in amusement,
"Holler if you need anything." He said as Cass left the cottage and Jeff was waiting outside, standing against the gently falling snow. It had eased off for the morning and she gestured to him as she walked. It was country pathing, uneven underfoot and the snow made it hard to see any holes or drops so they went slow.

"Alright, spit it out." She said to him after a few minutes of them walking and not a word being uttered. Jeff was tense, it radiated off him like heat from a fire and she nudged him as they walked in the hopes to alleviate some of the tension but it did nothing.
"We shouldn't stay. That Tristan knows Arman, and this is housing, too close to where Arman was." Jeff advised and voiced his concerns openly, without any other audience than Cass. She let him go, let him speak and air his worries, it wasn't often he did that.

"If he gets hold of you or David... You two brought down his entire encampment. He won't let you live. He'll feed you to whatever corpse is nearby." Jeff remarked and Cass rolled her eyes, she already knew that but it wasn't like they were in any fit state to simply up and vanish. They were all weak, it was the middle of winter and they had nowhere to go. Leaving wasn't so simple. Jeff had a tendency to want to run, to be on the road and Cass wasn't sure she aligned so well with all of that. It was a hard life; he didn't seem ready or trusting enough to simply settle anywhere.
"We can't leave. Do we even have any fuel?" Cass asked him, somewhat exasperated that he wouldn't at least wait for a while before recovering, "I get it. It's dangerous here but it's dangerous out there too." She reminded him but Jeff was smart, he didn't need that reminder.

Jeff seemed frustrated. He seemed frustrated at everything. The road was at least quiet as they trailed it and Cass didn't know a way to break his line of thinking, not without him getting angry at her or shutting down entirely. She didn't know what to do, at that moment she was lost.
"Look, say Arman turns up, say he comes here with a gun, there's ten of us. He doesn't have a camp any more. He's one guy, he doesn't have others." Cass might have been telling a lie, she didn't know if any of his goons had made it out or not. They might have but surely the man would be finding his own place now, somewhere else to regain strength, so they had time. She knew fine well Jeff's claims weren't extraordinary but they also weren't so probable that she was worried. She just wanted to rest, heal and get back to some semblance of her normal self. She wanted that for Jeff too, despite all his concern and agitation right then.
"Look, let's just forget bout for today, please?" She asked him and watched him. He didn't seem to soften or even hear her words as he trudged onwards and Cass groaned in frustration.

Part of her wanted to grab him firmly by the shoulders and shake him out of his own head, the other part wanted to walk away entirely and let him have his time but it felt wrong. She also didn't like leaving anyone alone in this cold or this world, given a corpse could be shambling around somewhere. It wasn't often corpses got the jump on people, given their slow pace but the Odds could come from anywhere.
"Okay, fine." Cass said as she fell into the quiet and walked alongside him, buffeted now and then by the winds as she did so.
"Sorry." Jeff's voice was soft as he spoke up after some more time and Cass looked to him and smiled, nodding to him. This world was tough on everyone, there was no in between, it was just hard all the time and there was nothing they could do to fix it. They simply had to focus on surviving and making it to another day.
"We should head back." Cass said as she looked over her shoulder, she could barely see the cottages anymore and wandering for hours would only lead to Francis worrying and the others.
"Yeah, we should." Jeff said to her and they turned and started to move their way back towards the cottages, the tension wasn't all quite gone, it lingered but it seemed lesser now.

"We were wondering where you two got off to." David said when they returned, he was standing outside the cottage with Ryan and Tristan who both had blood on their hands and Cass only noticed it because it stained the snow so vividly, even from a distance.
"No rolling around in the snow, you'll catch your deaths." David said and Cass rolled her eyes, approaching and seeing the cause of the blood. Two rabbits that Tristan was making quick work of butchering and she looked away. She had never quite gotten used to the butchering part, it always felt wrong.
"I had a pet bunny once." She said to Jeff and he looked to her and smirked some, evidently amused by her little anecdote. He shook his head and moved towards the cottage they had stayed the night in. Cass followed, if anything she just wanted to sleep, the simple walk had taken most of her energy and Jeff looked mostly the same.

"I could use a lie down." Cass said when they got into the cottage and Jeff fed the fire,
"Go on up, I'll man the fort." He waved a hand and Cass nodded,
"You should do the same."
"Can't rightly do that when you're in the bed, I'll sleep fine here, go on." Jeff encouraged her and Cass just shrugged some,
"Single bed, huh?" She said and shook her head as she headed upstairs. It was a double bed, ladened with blankets and cushions and she took off her boots as she clambered in. Her shoulder ached less, but the odd movement still elicited some pain now and then. It wasn't enough to cause distress, just a reminder if anything. She found a comfortable position and closed her eyes, willing herself to just rest in the colder room. It wasn't as warm as downstairs but the blankets made up for whatever deficit there was.

"Alright, move over." Jeff's voice roused her from the peaceful doze she had managed to nab and she looked up to see him getting out of his boots. She furrowed her brow and budged over some, hissing when her shoulder objected. Jeff sank down on the bed and got under the blankets, his back facing her. Cass was confused, wondering what had changed his mind but she didn't mention it, it was extra warmth and comfort that she needed and wanted.
"Did I wake you?" Jeff asked her and Cass scoffed, sleepily.
"No, not at all." The sarcasm was lost to her own tiredness and she wondered what time it was. It had to be later in the day but the grey skies made it impossible to say, the snow was falling somewhat heavier now though, so some time must have passed by. Cass shuffled closer and touched Jeff's shoulder, it was cold, he was cold. Whatever heat he had leeched from the fire had evaporated by the time he made it up the steps and she recoiled.
"Why're you cold?" Cass mumbled and Jeff chuckled some, he sounded thick with sleep too. Cass gave it a minute before retaking her position close by and she knew once it warmed up, it would be comfortable.

"Think we would have met, before all this?" Jeff asked her and Cass placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Maybe, you might have come to the hospital." She laughed a little at the thought, they probably wouldn't have met and certainly not stuck together had the circumstances been different for them both. Still, that wasn't how it had turned out.
"Suppose it doesn't matter now." Jeff wriggled and turned over, facing her as he stifled a yawn and Cass hummed a little as she burrowed under the blankets further.
"It doesn't." Cass concluded after some thought. What did it matter what was before? It would never go back to that time, they had to focus on building something up from the ground. T that moment, the apocalypse showed no signs of slowing down or stopping.
"Hey." Jeff said and reached out, running a finger down Cass' cheek gently. She fluttered her eyes open and looked at him, confused and dazed from being a half-asleep state.

Jeff leaned in and slowly brushed his lips against hers, losing himself in the moment as his hand cupped her face, surprisingly gentle. Cass felt like she was in a dream, somewhere between reality and fantasy as she closed her eyes and let the sensation linger as she returned his affections. She felt him pull away and opened her eyes to see him grinning.
"Wanted to do that since I first rolled up on your camp." He remarked, that familiar smugness was back and Cass gave a breathy laugh.
"Right." She murmured quietly and moved close to him, his arm winding around her waist to pull her close to him. He rested his chin atop her head and let her move as close as she wanted but kept hold of her.

"Rest." He said, as though Cass could resist such a command and she closed her eyes. There was more to be said, but neither of them dared to utter a word for fear of breaking the atmosphere they had created in the silent cottage, amidst the snow and dismemberment of the world outside.