Book 1 - Slit My Wrist, Hope to Die

Chapter 13 - "Precautions, Asshole?"

        With a loud THUD, Alex was thrown on the ground next to Tate who, as well, was thrown down on the cold, grey floor. Alex awoke from her slumber and quickly opened her eyes and, without moving, she looked around to understand her surroundings. "This place looks..." she thought. She shook away the thought and  blinked her eyes a couple times to fix her vision which of course, isn't that good to begin with. Her glasses were cracked a little, but nothing too serious. Her glasses survived.

          She looked over at Tate and looked him over: no cuts, no bruises, little blood, he's breathing and she seems okay. She quietly and slowly let out a sigh in relief. "No one is around.." She sat up and put her back against the wall. Her entire body was sore and her neck killed her. Stretching, she kept tapping Tate. "Hey, Tate. Wake up. Hun, are you okay?" she asked. Her arm shot pain so she pulled back and let out a little squeal. She chuckled at herself. She know she makes these inhuman noises when she gets hurt or when she is in a playful fight. That reminded her of her ex.

            Not the best looking guy in the world, but she made an expection. They didn't meet in an exactly romantic spot, internet cafe. Then again, if you're thinking about most love books that starts the romantic interest in an internet cafe, then you can say it was cliche. This guy was before Tate; he was and will always have a soft, special spot for Alex. He always did things for her, never complained about most girly things he did with her because he wanted her happy, and never gave up. That's a different story for another time. "I wonder if he's still alive. My boo..."

"UOH," Tate let out. "OH, shit. SHIT, shit shit." He held the back and front of his head with his palms and went into a ball on the floor. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Tate said quietly.

"Tate."

"Wha-?" Tate was startled. He obviously didn't notice Alex was in the room with him. He looked around until he spotted her on the wall on the other side of the closed room. "Alex! Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. What about you? I see blood."

"Ah, it's nothing. Just from the blow I took in the head."

"You too?"

"What do you mean you too?"

"My apartment was basically, I guess, attacked. I opened the door and these guys hit me and I guess, of course, took me here."

"Well, they clearly work for the same boss if we are together."

"I worked that out, thanks." Alex laid back on the floor.

"Don't start." Tate chuckled. He got up slowly and started walking around the room, touching the walls and the door. "I don't think there is a way out." All around them were dark walls and some crates. The only thing standing in their way was that damn door.

"Come," Alex tapped the spot next to her. "Lay here with me."

"But-" Tate stopped himself. He slowly closed his mouth, walked on over and lied down next to her. Alex sunk and fixed herself so she could lay her head on his chest. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "You okay?" Tate asked.

"Yeah, I am." Alex replied. "No you're not.." She thought. "You're thinking about him again. Why am I? What's wrong with you. He messed up and look at the results. Or was it mine? I wasn't always faithful... God. This is fucked up. Look at me. All over Tate like Conner never existed. Like we never had something. Fuck, he was perfect to me..." Alex squeeze her eyes closer and closer to stop the thoughts from running through her head. She knows it doesn't help the disorders she has. She never dared to reveal all to Tate. He might think she's crazy, like the zombies out there.

            Alex never really did stop loving (or in this case liking) Conner. He was everything she ever wanted and now, he's gone. Dead or alive, but still gone either way. A tear falls from her eye when she realizes that he actually might be dead; her soulmate dead. It eats at her for the next ten minutes of silence. Then it is cut when the door opens up. Both, Alex and Tate, shot up and sat with their backs against the wall.

"... And are you sure they aren't infected?" the man asked.

"We'll know soon enough." The lady in the white over coat replied with. She walked away and the man stepped in the room. "I'm so sorry," he said. "This is not how we do things."

"Who are you?" Tate asked.

"My name it Staff Sergant McMiller," he took off his hat. "At your service."

"Hi." Alex said. "I'm Alexandra. This is Tate."

"Can you please tell us," Tate got up. "Why the fuck did you guys kidnap us?"

"Oh, please!" McMiller put his hat back on. "This isn't really how we do things. It was just, our rookies were taking precautions."

"Precautions, asshole? How is knocking us out during a zombie outbreak precaution? For all you know, we could be bait or infected."

"I know," McMiller twitched at the comment Tate made. Tate took note of that. "That's why we took a blood sample from both of you and searched your guys' files. You're clean and in a few hours, we'll know if you're infected."

"So are we going to stay here?" Alex said.

"Well, you guys aren't showing symptoms of change..." McMiller paused. "I guess we can give you guys a room."

"Oh, thank you." Tate said. "So, where are we?" Tate got up.

"Fulton Street, Manhattan."

            Alex's eye lit up. Fulton Street was her favorite place to be. The cute little pizzarias, the stores, the restaurants and so on. She adored this place, but it also sorta brings back memories with Conner. They went on dates here and she loved each second of it. She closed her eyes for a few seconds to take it all in as they stepped out of the shop. Her mouth fixed and she held back tears from so long ago. Tate spoke and she opened her eyes once more.

"Why are we in Manhattan? I thought this was the last place we would want to be."

"It was the most secured place because of all the buildings and shops. Closest to the water, so we are taking people out on boats. The next pass should be in a day or so. We need to hurry when it arrvies though, because of the few infected blocks. We don't know how much protection we have that will last."

"I guess I understand." Tate entered the building McMiller pointed to.

"Top floor, room 512." McMiller informed them. He then walked away, into a tent. There were doctors, cops, military, survivors and so on at this little safe haven.

"Come on, let's go rest. I feel shitty." Alex said. She grabbed his hand and made their way to their room. Arriving at the door, she informed him saying "I'm going to get naked. Control yourself. I'm gonna sleep naked. Don't slip inside."

Tate blushed and said. "Okay."

        They entered their new room for now. Before taking off her clothes, she looked out the window. The streets were filled with undead creatures and moaning. They seemed to never stop. The only thing keeping the zombies out and them safe is the barricades they used to hold them back. They were doing their job and now that only means that the breathing humans should do the same. Alex took off her clothes and laid down next to Tate, who was already fast asleep.