The Madness Inside Us

New Orleans, Pt. 2

"Alright, well it seems like we still have a little time before that zunami gets to us, so we'll split up and look for supplies. Addy's with Doc, Murphy will go with me and Vasquez, and Tally and 10k will go together. Search stores and houses and we'll meet back here", Warren orders.

"Aye-aye, cap'n", I drawl. Murphy snorts and I wink at him. 10k and I start toward some of the houses in a small neighborhood off the main street, searching for anything we can find.

As we meander down the side streets, I sing quietly to myself. It's a tendency that seemed to carry over from pre-Z. I did it when I was nervous. The combination of being alone with 10k is enough to make my palms sweat and my mouth feel stuffed with cotton...add jump-scares from Zs into that mix, and you get a very nervous Tally.

"Little black submarines, operator please, patch me back to my mind...", I sing quietly to myself.

We go up the stairs onto a small, cramped porch. He opens the door cautiously for me, and take a deep breath before I step around it into the eerie house.

"Oh , can it be, the voices calling me, they get lost and out of time", I sing as loud as I dare, trying to draw any Zs out.

Two loud snarls echo through the foyer and the zombies they came from lurch from the living room at us. We each grab one and pike them.

"4106", 10k murmurs, looking to me.

I shrug. "Guess they didn't like my voice".

He lets out a soft, short laugh at that. "Well, I think you sound amazing".

Ugh, so cute and sweet and I just want him to kiss me so bad...

I smile and our bodies unconsciously inch toward each other, as if they are magnetic. Becoming too aware of this, I take a step back.

Whew, that was close. Too close. Don't go fucking this up, Tally. He probably doesn't even like you like that. He just doesn't have many other choices in females.  Just focus.

I send him a soft smile. "We should hurry up and get those supplies before we get overrun", I manage to get out. He nods, looking...disappointed?

We manage to scrape up a couple gallons of water stored in old bleach containers.

"Smart", nods 10k as he hoists one into his pack.  Too bad the kitchen was completely empty otherwise.  Someone tried to leave in a hurry, for certain.

Too bad they didn't seem to get very far.

"I'm gonna look for some clothes up in the bedrooms. We are starting to look pretty ratty, even for us."

"I'll go with you". He throws the pack on his back and we quickly ascend the stairs, weapons ready in case we missed a particularly sneaky Z.

We both huff a sigh of relief when we encounter no other zombies.

"Let's check out that master bedroom, see if we can find any clothes that fit", he whispered.  It's hard to break the habit of whispering to keep under the radar of anyone listening, like Zs.

I nod and we walk to the bedroom, immediately going through drawers and the closet for anything practical.  We hit a huge jackpot.  The men's clothes seem to fit 10k pretty well, and we find some old fatigue pants in a couple different sizes.

"They must have both been military", I say.  A small sadness washes over me at the thought of so many lives, just snuffed out.  Lost.  Gone.  I shake my head to clear the thoughts.  We quickly change in separate rooms and meet back in the bedroom to stuff another few clothing articles in our bags.  We can ditch the clothes later if we run out of room for supplies.  We both dress in the fatigue pants and stuff them into our boots.  I dress in a tank top that fits close to the skin so I don't get grabbed as easily, and we start to head out the door.