In The Dark (Sequel To Light) -Clementine/Louis, Clouis, Louisentine

Chapter 8

For a split second upon awakening, Zara has to fight off the urge to go into fight or flight mode, taking a few moments to remember where she had woken up. She relaxes when she remembers it was Violets room, glancing over to her new roommates bed and frowning when she isn't there, obviously having gotten up earlier than her, which was especially surprising since Zara was an early riser.

She groggily sits up in the bed, swinging her legs around to sit on the edge and sleepily rub at her eyes, brushing away the sleep that had collected in the corners of her eyes. Fighting off the last dregs of drowsiness, she forces herself out of the bed and tidies it up best she can, heading out the room and in the direction of the courtyard.

As expected, there aren't too many people outside at this time in the morning. She spots Omar cooking away breakfast, usually the first to awake and start preparing the days meal to provide everyone with their much needed energy to get through the days tasks.

The next person she spots is, thankfully, Violet. She's sat by herself on one of the tables, scribbling away in what looks to be some sort of journal. Zara approaches quietly, not wanting to startle Violet who seems to be very focused on her writing, gently taking a seat next to her.

Her efforts prove to be fruitless, as Violet still startles slightly in her seat when she appears, quickly closing the book shut before Zara can get a look at it, self consciously tucking it closer to her and out of sight.

"Hey," Zara greets her, pretending not to have seen the book in an attempt to make Violet feel more comfortable. "Wanted to say thank you for letting me crash in your room. I imagine it was kind of weird waking up to see me there."

"Nah, it was fine. Was kind of nice actually, to have a roommate again."

"Oh, well that's a relief," Zara tells her honestly, having become slightly worried that Violet would regret deciding to let her stay in her room. "Who used to be your roommate?"

There's a brief moment of silence after the question, in which Violet is unsure whether she has the courage to say his name out loud. She forces herself through it, clearing her throat and answering Zara. "Tenn. Tenn used to be my roommate."

Zara doesn't make the same mistake she did with Louis about Marlon, able to pick up the broken way Violet said the persons name and the uneasiness she showed trying to say the name. She can also briefly recall having seen a grave with the name 'Tennessee' in the graveyard when she roamed around the school, assuming that 'Tenn' was short for 'Tennessee'.

Zara wracks her brain for something to say in response to this, but is saved when she hears Louis and Clementine exiting the dormitories, in the middle of what seems to be some sort of argument or disagreement.

"You're right. I don't like it."

Zara raises an eyebrow at the sour expression on Louis' face as he joins them at the breakfast table, followed by a slightly fed up looking Clementine. Zara looks over to Violet in questioning, who looks equally as surprised to hear Louis' negative attitude.

"Don't like what?" Violet asks, looking to both Louis and Clementine.

"I was just trying to explain to Louis that it might be a good idea to check back on the sunken boat, see if there see any supplies left there-"

"You wanna go back to that hellhole?" Violet asks in disbelief, to which Louis gives Clementine a somewhat smug look, now he he had someone who agreed with him.

"Uh, I'm sorry, what boat are we talking about here?" Zara questions, completely lost as to what they were talking about.

Clementine looks to Violet and Louis, unsure as to whether to tell Zara about their encounter with Lilly and the Delta. Then again, what were the negatives of telling her? The only thing that came to mind is of the slim possibility that the group Zara was in was the Delta. It wasn't exactly like Zara had any loyalties to her previous group, considering the way they had treated her. If anything, finding out that her previous group had attacked them might fuel her anger with them, and perhaps make it more likely that Zara would want to help defend the school on the chance that the Delta attack again.