Fragile Hearts [DANGEROUS FELLOWS]

⚠️SEVEN: "THE TOUR"⚠️

"Not me."

"No way!"

"U-um, I can't do it."

You found yourself sinking further and further into your seat as everyone argued during that morning's "meeting." A boy with short brown hair and a red jacket crossed his arms.

"What do I look like to you, a babysitter?" he asked loudly, earning a laugh from Zion.

"Yeah, me too. Do I look like like a babysitter, man?" Zion asked. You lowered your head, gritting your teeth.

"I-I can't do it," a nervous-looking girl stammered. "I-I don't trust her."

Lawrence shook his head. "Someone has to do it. I've already told you about what can happen if she's unsupervised," he spoke over the buzz of voices.

"How about Ethan?" asked a serious girl with glasses.

Ethan shook his head. "I'm going out with Lawrence, Eugene and Harry to get food," he explained.

"Lawrence, just let me," Harry practically begged. "Imagine how this is making her feel right now."

You were grateful for Harry, because he voiced your thoughts. Everyone treated you like a burden, like something unwanted, and you never felt this useless before.

"We have duties here, Harry," Lawrence said sympathetically. "Either Zion, Jay, Sue, or Hailey will watch (Y/n)."

"Ugh," the boy with the red jacket, who you figured was Jay, groaned. "Why don't we just kick her out? She doesn't even seem to want to be here either!"

Lawrence gave him a sharp look that shut him up.

"Zion, I think you're best suited for this," he said in exasperation. "She might be too unpredictable for Sue and Hailey, and Jay will definitely slack off. I'm picking you because I trust you. Can you do it?"

"If I have to," he said bitterly, and he didn't seem too happy about it. He glared at you hard enough to burn holes in your eyes before looking away and crossing his arms.

Lawrence smiled at Zion, giving him a half-hug before gathering up his group to go out. Before they left the classroom, you heard Eugene whisper to Zion, "good luck with that."

Quiet fell over the room as the four boys left, and Hailey looked around quickly before ducking her head and following after them. Sue said something to Zion about the first floor that you didn't understand before heading out as well, leaving you and the redhead alone.

"You better not cause any more trouble," he said halfheartedly, leaning against one of the desks so his back was towards you. You didn't reply, mapping out what you knew of the school in your head. There was the second floor, then the hallway of the first floor leading to the entrance doors, and finally, the front part of the yard. You tried mentally retracing your steps back to the supermarket, and then to Jason's dad's apartment, but in the zombie chase, your memory got muddy.

You thought about Jason, thought about the good times before the apocalypse, thought about how both of would be enjoying the weekend if it had never happened.

Your heart skipped a beat as you realized you had no clue what day it was. How long ago had the incident in the drug store happened? Days? Weeks? You didn't want to cry, not again, but you couldn't help it. To think the world was so messed up that you didn't even know the date was somehow too much to bear.

You looked down, trying to make your crying unnoticeable, but in the thick silence of the classroom it was impossible.

Zion looked over his shoulder, about to say a smart remark, but then looked surprised when he saw tears.

"You— you're really gonna go and cry?" he asked, looking flustered. "This isn't even that bad! You could be in a lot of worse situations right now."

You just shook your head, letting your emotions out. You weren't sure if you'd ever see anyone you knew ever again. You weren't even sure if they were alive. You started to cry harder, making Zion even more alarmed.

"Hey, cut it out! Listen, this really isn't bad. We have food, water-" he began.

"I don't care about that," you sobbed. "I don't have anyone anymore. I'd rather just die."

You words seemed to strike a chord with something inside of Zion because he firmly grasped your shoulder, scaring you enough to startle you out of your crying.

"You might believe that, but when you're face-to-face with a zombie and you're so close to death you realize this might actually be it, you'll know how lucky you are to have a life." he scolded. "Think about all the people who're dead. Think about all the people who turned into zombies and killed people they used to know. Think about the other survivors that are literally starving to death right now."

Zion took a step back, waving his hands around the room. "Then look at us. We have this whole building. We have food and water. Gates to keep out the zombies. We have each other. We're so, so lucky."

You were watching him with wide eyes by the time he finished. "All we can do is hang on and survive. Just hang on. Hell, that's what I've been doing." Zion shook his head, a grin on his face. "Man, you got me all serious all of a sudden. I knew I should've volunteered to go get food with the guys."

You almost cracked a smile, and suddenly your stomach growled. It had to have been days since the last time you ate.

"Speaking of which, sounds like you're hungry." He realized. He pushed away from the desk, pointing over at the door. "Let's go grab you some food and I'll give you 'the tour'."

"The tour," sounded kind of ominous coming from him, but you nodded, standing and hurrying over to Zion, who was already walking out the door.

It was quiet for a couple of seconds before Zion spoke again.

"And by the way," he began, his voice sounding more serious, "you ever feeling down, just come to me. The other guys aren't so great with feelings and Harry has enough of his own worries."

You were surprised to hear that coming from Zion, the bristly, hot-tempered fighter off all the guys. So surprised that embarrassment flooded through you and you blushed, looking away.

"Oh, man, don't go making it weird, or I'll take it back!" he said, and you could tell he was embarrassed as well. You laughed despite yourself, and Zion did as well, until both of you were busting your guts in the hallway.

You finally made it to a small storage room and you walked in, seeing equipment, spare tools, and shelves of food. Sue was there in a corner, rustling through a box, and Zion payed her no mind, going straight to the food.

"Here we go. Pick something you like now, because usually Lawrence or Harry passes out food," he said, crossing his arms idly as he waited.

You looked through the different packages of food before settling on a banana nut muffin. You quickly read the expiration date before ripping it open and taking a huge bite. It's sweet, soft deliciousness filled your mouth and you took another, already a third through the entire thing.

"Sheesh, slow down!" Zion said, and you could hardly help yourself. You tried taking smaller bites, but it was still gone before you knew it.

"Alright, next order of business. Ready for 'the tour'?" Zion asked with a grin, and something turned in your stomach.

But of course, you said yes.