Locked Away [10k Z Nation]

17

"It was really quite simple to break into, considering the amount of security they had going," 10k explained next to me in the car. Well... We weren't really in the car considering we were riding in the bed of a pickup truck. But I felt safer than usual, due to the fact that 10k's arm was around me.
Oh, and it didn't hurt that Addy stole a bunch of pillows from the cabins at the camp, which helped a lot with the comfort level too.

I snuggled deeper into the pillow I had placed over 10k's stomach and thought back over the story he had told me.

The group had searched tirelessly, and apparently were the ones who had let the first Z into the building in the first place. They needed a distraction, but hadn't planned on it getting as out of hand as it got. The infection was only intended for the security team. "But you mess with the bull, you get the horns," as 10k had put it.

"Where are we headed?" I asked after a short while

"Back west I think... We gotta get Murphy to the lab."

I let that thought settle. Was there really going to be some magical lab that was just waiting for us in California? Was it really possible for Murphy to just swoop in and save the humanity as a whole, just like that?

"It's cold," I said instead, pulling the blanket that was draped over us tighter to my body. It was true, the wind whipped around us like a suffocating, overbearing mom. I was curled up on the ground, so most of the wind didn't hit me full force, but 10k was sitting up, getting most of it in the face.

"Do you wanna lay down here?" I asked

"I have to keep watch," he smiled down at me

"10k, the Zs aren't going to catch up to a speeding car, we're perfectly safe as long as we keep moving."

"What if we run into a hoard of them, and they need us to buy some time?" He darted an eyebrow up at me, challenging me to question him

"Then we're pretty much dead anyway, due to the fact that were exposed with only a gun to protect us." I quipped

"Well that's no way to think,"

"You know, I don't know that I've ever heard you talk so much at once before."
I laughed

There was silence.

"Sing something," he whispered, so softly I wasn't quite sure I heard him at first.

"What?"

"Sing for me," he repeated

"I can't sing." I peeked up at him. His eyes were focused on the road and were scanning ahead.

"I know that's not true. I must have seen you in at least three musicals."

I felt my cheeks began to heat up. I couldn't believe I forgot that we went to school together. Well, not together together, because he was in a separate program, but it was practically the same thing.

"Yeah, but I'm only good at musical theatre type stuff. Nothing that you would be particularly interested in."

"Try me,"

I sighed, and tried to think of a song.

"When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad...
I simply remember my favorite things-"

"And then I don't feel so bad," 10k finished, I giggled when I heard him sing. He wasn't bad, but he sounded so goofy.

"Hey, are you implying that I'm not a singer?" He puffed out his chest and looked down at me in fake astonishment.

I loved this side of 10k, this adorable dork. I had missed him so much during my time at that camp.

"What happened to your boyfriend?"

I froze. I felt as if ice water had been poured down my back.

"Shit- Cody, I'm sorry!"

"I don't know where he is."

"I promise it won't ever happen again,"

"But I'm glad he's gone."

"I love you,"

"What do you mean? Did you two have a falling out?" He took his eyes off the road, and they seemed to boar into mine.

"You could say that."

"You aren't leaving me."

"Did he hurt you?" I saw his eyes visibly darken with anger above mine. He clenched his fist tighter around the gun he had propped up against the wall of the truck bed.

"Yes,"

"Please Stephen, stop!"

Lightning quick, 10k shot at something on the road, I'm guessing a Z, and the sound of the gunshot contrasted harshly with the peaceful silence that had previously occupied the air.

He pulled the trigger and released another bullet. His jaw was tense, and he sat rigidly.

"Hey," I touched the arm that he had around me

"Hey."

"It's okay. It's over now."

"How long did it go on?"

"A year. But he didn't hurt me the whole time."

"Why did you stay?"

I don't know."

He shot another bullet.

I sat up and faced him, and was almost knocked over by the sudden movement of the car. He grabbed my elbows to stop me from falling completely over, and I laughed at how absurd this whole situation was. Confessing my fucked up relationship to a guy I've only known for a few weeks in the bed of a pickup truck, during the zombie apocalypse.

"This was a dumb idea," I confessed

"What?" He pulled my elbows towards him so I was forced to scoot closer.

"This," I pulled free and gestured around, "I should have never have come with you guys. I should have told y'all to leave and leave me for dead." I was finally collapsing. Everything seemed to hit me at once and I felt like I was drowning. I felt like I was back up in the treehouse.

"You shouldn't talk like that." He frowned "I wouldn't have left you. You're too cute."

I rolled my eyes and laid back down against him. This kid was something else.

"Y'all," he whispered

"Huh?"

"You said y'all."

"I'm from Texas, you jackass!" I softly laughed and pulled the blanket back on top of me.

"Now leave me alone so I can sleep,"

~
A/N

Sorry this is just a filler chapter, but it gives you some insight into Cody's past. Don't forget to vote!