Heartbeat [Zarry] [Zombie AU]

Chapter Nine

Z.

I was dreading this. God, Z. Why are you so stupid?! I should have never brought Harry here! I can't let him die like this! But I know that the others would not listen to my reasoning, they would just attack him.

And two zombies and one human against a hundred? Not a chance for us.

We all flinch as the others break down what was left of the worn wooden door, and step through, shuffling towards us, as we keep stepping back.

I sneak a glance towards Harry, and instead of sheer terror, I see his features etched with concentration, trying everything to keep calm. Summoning happy thoughts, I guess.

I step in front of Harry protectively, and the corpse closest to us cocks his head to the side in confusion, locking it's puzzled eyes with mine.

I shake ny head no, trying to get the message through that this human cannot be eaten for reasons unexplained, but of course, the sense of hunger is more powerful than the sense of thought.

The corpse growls, and I emit a similar growl in warning, stepping forward. But I know it's of no use, we're terribly outnumbered.

Harry steps beside me, and I can feel him trembling with fear. His eyes scan over the hungry corpses, and he steps back as one of them hiss at him and shuffle closer, wanting a piece of the only human that has willingly crossed over in this area after so long.

As soon as another one gets tired of waiting and lunges forward, I tense for action, but Harry stops me by slipping his large, warm hand into mine.

I freeze in shock, glancing down at Harry's hand slipped into mine. I feel warmth radiating in my chest at the unfamiliar touch, and I look up from our hands to Harry, who is warily regarding the corpses. The corpses, who all have their eyes transfixed on our connected hands, enraptured.

Still feeling that pleasant warmth in my chest and all through my body, I finally snap out of my shocked state, and tighten my grip on Harry's hand, threading our fingers together, as if it was a natural thing for me to do.

I once again take in the sight of the gobsmacked zombies, seeing the change in their eyes for the first time ever. See the flame. The flame of life. What ignited that?

"Z," Harry tugs at our hands, and I nod, pulling us past the zombies who don't move, and down the warehouse stairs. N follows us, unsure.

"What the hell happened?" Harry mumurs when we're out of the warehouse, and on the abandoned street. We move quickly, but not too quickly so as to attract attention of the other loitering zombies around.

"I d-don't even k-know," I answer honestly. My gaze wanders to our hands that are still linked, and I feel that pleasant warmth in my chest again, where my heart is supposed to be.

Harry notices and blushes, subtly pulling his hand out of mine, and I instantly lose the warmth. Was it because of Harry's touch?

"L-let's go!" N impatiently calls out from behind us, and we spin around to see him already inside the car.

We both get inside as well, and wordlessly decide that now is the time to take Harry home. We can't take any more risks.

~*~

Of course we can't just flat out drive to the human enclave, and also, it is getting dark, so Harry tells us to drive to one of the suburban streets, saying that this was the area his father had evactuated last, and might still have food and necessities.

As we drive through the roads teeming with corpses (that luckily can't harm Harry through the car) and reach the destination, N becomes terrified, and decides to leave, saying there might still be humans here, which means hungry Bonies. And N has a not so pretty history with them.