Guilt (A Zero Spin-Off)

Twelve - Kyle

The four of us sitting around a fire a couple days later, shooting the breeze felt so normal it was strange. The beer that would have filled an iced down cooler a couple of years ago was replaced with luke-warm water. Not that anyone was complaining. There wasn't a soul among us who wasn't thankful for the simple things. The basic necessities.

Everyone else had gone inside a couple hours before, but it was Hunter's turn to keep watch and the four of us got lost in conversation.

"What about you, man," Miles said to Hunter. "You seem..." Miles lost his words because he didn't want to say better or different, though both of those fit. Finally he settled on, "good."

Hunter grimmaced. "Yeah." He sighed. "I should've reached out." Rubbing his hand along the stubble on his jaw, Hunter tried to come up with something else to say. "I should have returned your call, but it'd been so long I just, hell, I didn't have the nerve." A humorless chuckle spilled out of him. "Who'd've thought you were callin' to warn me 'bout zombies."

Miles grinned. "Bet you'll think twice before sending any more of my calls to voicemail."

Hunter laughed and then losing his smile he said, more seriously, "I shouldn't have dropped off the face the planet, but I needed it, ya know?" We all understood. "But I am doing good."

"Well, it's a nice damn set up here," Joel said.

"It's not supposed to be permanent," he answered looking toward the inn. "Zero has family up this way that owned a farm. I don't think we're more than a couple days from it, but she's not ready."

Each of our heads bob in understanding but it's Miles who voices our collective thoughts. "Sometimes it's easier to live without the knowledge. That way you can hang on to hope."

Surprising us all, Hunter shook his head. "There was some accident in the early days and it fucked with her memory. She knows she has someone up here, but she can't remember them. I think she's more concerned that her aunt will be alive and she'll cause her pain by not remembering her."

"Shit," Miles said under his breath.

"Yeah," Hunter breathed out. "It's pretty fucked up. But she's good, you know? A little rough but man, she's got this light."

"Shit. Can't leave you alone for long before you turn into some pussy whipped sap," Miles said, chuckling. "And here I was hoping I'd have my wingman back."

"What the hell?" Joel, who'd been playing Miles' wingman anytime we were back at Hudson yelled in mock offense.

"Dude, no offense, but your game just isn't that good."

Hunter, not taking offense to any of it, smiled. He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the inn like he could see Zero inside. He shrugged, laughing under his breath. "There are fucking zombies, dude. Hell has officially frozen over. What better time to fall in love?"

It was weird to hear him own it like that. The Winston I knew cared about a few things, his unit - his brothers - and his family, or at least his sister. He didn't have a string of one-night stands behind him like Miles did, but he did have a long list of very brief relationships, giving a girl a couple weeks, or couple months before he lost interest. The Winston I knew would have never admitted so freely and with such a goofy damn grin on his face that he was in love. But he's not Winston anymore. He's still the same guy in a lot of ways. He's still an eternal optimist and the guy that everyone loves. But he's different too. He's Hunter now, I guess.

"So it's the apocalypse talking then?" Joel joked, laughing until Hunter shoved him out of his chair.

"You ain't the only one with a girl," Miles announced and we both looked at him, ready for the punchline. Except it wasn't what I expected. "Kyle's got one too."