Don't Let Me Go

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The gun pointed at his head was sudden and unexpected. Cry just stared at it for a moment before frowning, "Rude."

The door to the farmhouse is open, a rather skinny man with shaggy, dark hair shaved on one side, dark eyes, and multiple piercings stands in the doorway, shotgun in hand, pointed at Cry's face. Minx points her own gun back at him, eyes narrow and the tension is thick. The man's eyes narrow, "Hand over your weapons."

"Like hell we will," Minx growls, eyes narrow and fierce.

The man tilts his head, "Put down your weapons."

Dan and Phil exchange glances with each other and Dave then Ohm sighs, rolling his eyes, "Look, can we all just talk inside? There's infected roaming around and none of us are in a good position like this."

The man backs away from the door, "Come in, then put your weapons down and we can talk."

"We'll talk once you're not pointing a gun at my friend's face," Minx replies.

"Guys, we got company," Phil hisses.

Minx looks back and frowns at the small group of infected coming towards them. The man moves his gun from Cry's face towards the infected coming their way, "Just get in here and then we'll discuss what to do about you trying to break in."

Phil, Dan, Dave, and Ohm go inside and Minx and the man shoot a few infected before joining the others inside as well. The man closes the door and sighs as Minx points her gun at him, "Seriously?"

"You started it," she replies.

He smiles, "Nice to see you in person, Minx."

She looks confused and he chuckles, "You don't recognize me? Ow, that hurts, girl."

Her eyes widen, "Entoan?!"

He grins and Minx puts the gun away, pulling her old friend into a hug, "What are you doing here?!"

"Surviving the zombie apocalypse?" he chuckles, hugging her back, "It's great to see you alive and well."

"You, too." she pulls back then slaps him upside the head, "And that's for pointing a gun at us!"

He chuckles, "Okay, I deserved that."

"Come on, you have to meet the others," she smiles, going into the living room where her friends are sitting around with a blond haired woman. Entoan waves, "Hey, Signe, this is Minx and her friends."

"We've already exchanged names," Signe smiles.

"This girl saved my life, let me tell you," Entoan smiles at Minx. 

Minx frowns lightly, "Signe? As in Jack's Signe?"

"The very one," Signe nods, running a hand through her hair, "It's nice to meet you, Minx."

"I'm Entoan," Entoan waves to Minx's group.

Cry smiles, "I'm Cry. So, does this mean no more guns in my face?"

Entoan chuckles, "Yeah, sorry about that. You can't be too careful these days."

"Tell me about it," Cry sighs, leaning back, "Anyway, this is Ohm, Dave, Dan, and Phil. Obviously, you've already met Minx."

He gestures to his friends as he introduces them and Entoan smiles and sits in an empty chair across the room. Everyone settles down and Cry leans forward, "So, Signe, why didn't you go to California with Jack?"

"I was too busy at the time." she sighs, "Biggest mistake I could have made.."

"Hey, maybe everything's still normal over there," Ohm gives her a reassuring smile, "You never know, he could be perfectly safe there."

"One can hope," Signe sighs softly.

Minx smirks, "I totally feel offended for not being invited to Mark's birthday hangout week."

Cry chuckles, "He invited me but I told him I'd have to pass because I was going to see you."

He then winks at her, "Maybe I should have went to see him instead."

She rolls her eyes, she had been invited, but declined for the same reason Cry had. A genuine smile appears on her face for the first time in a little over a week. Signe smiles, happy to see people acting normal, even if it will surely be short-lived. The group spends the next few hours swapping stories on how they became the group they are within the short two and a half weeks the world has been destroyed.

"You don't even live over here," Minx says, "What brought you here before the apocalypse started?"

"Well, coincidentally, like Cry and Ohm, I was here meeting with a friend," Entoan explains, "He died on the second day. We made the mistake of taking in someone who was bitten and he just happened to be standing too close when she turned. Basically ripped his throat out. I was alone for the first week and a half and then Signe saved my life when I got trapped in a small gas station that was, of course, full of zombies. She just happened to get trapped in there, too and we've been together ever since."

"Who was the friend you came to meet?" Dave asks.

Entoan shakes his head, "I'd rather not talk about him."

"I'm sorry you lost your friend," Phil offers a soft smile, "You're more than welcome to stay with us, if you want."

"Damn right," Minx nods, "We stick together, we'll have more chance of survival."

"I agree," Signe says, "Being alone is not as easy as it sounds. It's horrifying."

"Then it's settled," Dave smiles, "Entoan and Signe are one of us."

No one notices Dan's silence as they all agree to adding Entoan and Signe to their group. Dan isn't opposed to them joining, he just doesn't think having an overly big group is a good idea. Being alone is bad, and having too many people is bad. There's a fine line that no one ever seems to be able to spot. Phil nudges Dan and he looks at his friend and gives him a soft smile, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Phil asks, "You've been so quiet.."

"I'm just tired," it wasn't a lie, Dan just doesn't want to worry Phil with his unfriendliness. Phil's dealing with enough. Dan sighs, crossing his arms, "How long have you two been occupying this house?"

"The week," Signe replies, "There wasn't anyone here when we got here, and no one has come back since."

Dan nods lightly, "Right. Is there anywhere to sleep? I'm dead on my feet."

Signe smiles, "There's a few bedrooms upstairs, you guys might have to share a bedroom or two, but there's plenty of room for all of us. It is getting late, we should all get some rest."

Without another word, the new group of eight settle in for the night, happy to have a house to sleep in once again, even if it may be temporary.