The Undead (Lauren/You)

Chapter 12

After I was creeping around Y/N some more, I finally came to the conclusion that it would probably be better to give her some privacy. I was sure if she found out I was just staring at her while she slept, she wouldn't like that very much. I placed a lingering kiss on her forehead before leaving the room and closing the door behind me until there was just a sliver left of open space, leaving the door slightly open so that I could hear if anything were to go wrong. I headed down the stairs into the living room but I had to like outside to try to get an idea about what time it was. It had to have been just after noon with the way the sun was positioned in the sky but it was quickly on its descent from the sky. It surprised me in a way that Y/N and I were sitting out by the tree all of the morning with relatively minimal words exchanged between us, but it was also extremely peaceful to experience with my crush. I didn't know how long Y/N was going to be sleeping mostly because I didn't know how much sleep she had gotten the night before.

She must have gotten little to none if she was this tired to fall asleep against me. I was convincing myself that this was a way of her showing how comfortable she was growing with me. It may not have been the truth but I knew that it's what I wanted to believe so I allowed myself to do so. I didn't realize that there was a smile on my face until I passed by a mirror in one of the hallways. It had been a long while since I had stopped in front of a mirror to look at myself since everything went down. Of course I had matured but there were some lasting scars on my face that wouldn't happen in normal circumstances, and what seemed like a permanent layer of dirt from the harsh living conditions with no electricity or running water. I looked dirty and grungy but it was not at all different from what most everyone else looked like, including Y/N. The only difference was that I still found her insanely beautiful no matter what she looked like, so I could have been extremely biased.

I shook my head with a small chuckle to myself before I went to search for something to eat. In each house that was inhabited, there was supposed to be a couple cans laying around to snack on throughout the day where we would then eat dinner together prepared by some of the people from the town. Daniel insisted on sharing at least one meal together with all of us in order to keep us close and it was actually quite a nice idea. There wasn't a whole lot of food but no one has starved so far. With all the frequent runs, there seemed to be enough supplies to last us a while but food was always the most important yet hardest to find. Find nonperishable foods proved to be quite difficult anyways, but a lot of the places we had to go to were usually already raided so that left us little to no food to take back to camp that had to feed all of us. It wasn't an excessive amount of people but there was still a lot of mouths to feed regardless, and Daniel always believed it was incredibly important to feed the people that help him out; which is everyone.

That's why we're all here anyways, to help each other in this time of need. Daniel and his people weren't asking much of anyone, but the people they have acquired over the years just offer their gratitude in repayment for the help they received when they needed it most, so they believe it's the least they could do to help in return. I knew that's where I stood now, but I also had a couple more people I wanted to look after that I considered my friends. So much had changed for the better as soon as Daniel found me and offered me a place with his people. I knew I would forever be grateful for Daniel because he certainly didn't have to be as nice as he was to a complete stranger. There was no reason to be trusting strangers in this world anymore because everyone else was more concerned about territories and living conditions, so people were almost more harmful than the actual zombies were; more hostile too. I knew I wouldn't have been as welcoming as Daniel or his people so that said a lot about his character, and I knew I made the right decision by staying here.

I pulled out a can of green beans with a grimace before wiping off the side of the can with my shirt to rid of any dirt or anything along the seams of the metal. I used the knife resting in my belt to crack open the lid before I poured out the juice that the green beans were sitting in. I made my way back into the living room to sit down on one of the couches so that I could eat the can of vegetables. I tried to stay away from utensils as much as I could because there wasn't really an efficient way to clean them here so I used my fingers when I could and used the utensils when there was no question about the kind of food I was eating. I was lost in my mind once more as I was eating and before I knew it, I was finished with the can. I set the can on the coffee table before kicking my feet up on the opposite end of the couch which pulled me into a laying position where I set my arms behind my head. With my eyes closed, I let out a sigh of relief even though I had literally done nothing all day.