Guilt (A Zero Spin-Off)

Eleven - Ella

What Hunter had described as a camp was not at all what I expected. I'd pictured some tents and a fire and not much more. This was much more. Their group was currently living in an old bed and breakfast. The building was historic, Victorian maybe, at least that's how it was designed to look. It had been white, but a year in nature with no one doing any upkeep had caused the paint to turn a dingy color that didn't do much to detract from the beauty of the place. There was a large wrap around porch that was home to some patio furniture and a swing that hung from the rafters. The large bed and breakfast had two turrets on either side... it was lavish. And that was just the outside.

Inside the home, well, mansion, dark hardwood floors were still in nearly impeccable shape. Furniture somehow managed to look elegant while also looking comfortable and was in floral patterns in a living room where everyone now sat. The place was secluded and set back well off the road on the Opequon Creek. I was sure that at some point it had been a romantic sort of getaway; it was beautiful out here.

Their group wasn't really what I expected either.

I figured it would be a bunch of people exactly like Hunter and Zero. You know, ninja-ish, mean, and a little terrifying, but no one else seemed as intense as Zero or carried the easy confidence that Hunter held.

My escorts were catching up with their old friend, whom they'd apparently assumed dead from the sound of it. They were close though, having all served in the desert together. I didn't know what they'd been through, but I imagined it created bonds that were like family, or maybe stronger. Everyone was happy, actually. As the conversation moved gradually from one topic to the next, my escorts started to tell them all about Hudson. Two of the girls were bouncing with excitement, sitting on a coffee table in front of Miles, Joel, and Kyle. Only one, oddly enough the youngest one, sat back from the group listening and observing everything. Like Zero, she wasn't ready to trust us just because Hunter had history with the guys. My lips twitched at the fact that a kid who couldn't have been more than seven or so was more wary of us than the adults, but the hint of a smile dropped when I realized all that she must have endured to become like that.

"There's, like, air conditioning?" A redhead girl that I hadn't been introduced to asked skeptically, like she was trying to reign in the excitement.

Miles answered her, telling stories about all the things that Hudson had. When he mentioned hot showers, I thought the girls my faint. From where the two younger girls gathered around him, listening intently, Hudson had everything. But I knew better and my three escorts did too. There was a reason Joel insisted his sister stay at the church and not on the base. No one wanted to yank away the excitement of civilization from a few children though, so they all talked it up.

I stood back from it all, resting an elbow on a cocktail table near what was likely once the check-in desk for the inn. The old friends started trading stories and telling everyone tales of what they'd been through together. The rest of their group would jump in and tell stories of their own. Everyone here had a story. Even the two seemingly silly girls jumped to inform everyone that they'd killed their fair share of zombies. It wasn't really a conversation I could add anything to. Not like I could brag about the time I was trapped under a zombie or the other time I failed at killing one. Even around more people, many of whom weren't ex-military, I was the odd man out. I was too tired to join in on the all the excited conversation anyway and I managed to go mostly unnoticed. It was nice to watch from afar.

"Not big on the party either?"

Not sure if I was the one being spoken to, I turned to face Zero, who'd also hung back from all the excitement. I rolled my lips into my mouth, not sure what to say to her. We hadn't spoken since the awkward introduction after she'd threatened my life and I wasn't sure what to make of her.