Z Nation 10K x Reader

Part Three- You Wake Up With Yourself

Nerves tingles up my throat and out my mouth as my eyes flutter open and I wake up to sunlight escaping through the cracks of boards on the window next to me.

I turn to 10K and see him peacefully asleep. A smile was left on his lips, and I bit down on my cheek to suppress a smirk of my own. Oh, how many times I have smiled since I met him. I guess this was the first time I've been happy when waking up for the longest time.

Inspired by this picturesque moment, I reached for my bag and pulled out my sketchbook. No I wasn't going to be creepy and sketch him in his sleep, but maybe sometime he would let me. I wanted to capture him however I could. Instead, I flipped through my previous pieces beginning with my parents on the first page. Daggers struck in my heart when I took a look. Without knowing where they were, this sketch was all I had left of them. Not even the assurance that they will have mercy out there. Then I flipped through the other pages with empty rooms and old friends from before and after the beginning of this madness. There was (name), (name) and Joe, Kathryn, and Erin all here in the paper, but no longer in the flesh. Atleast I knew that I would never forget them. Not for as long as I kept this with me and used it to bring life to everything around me. So with it, I sketched the simple image of the window with the sunlight dancing on the hardwood floor in the silence with the tranquil exception of 10K's breathe rhythmically setting behind me. I inhaled the air and finally pressed my pencil to the blank surface.

While adding the last bit of shadowing on the sketch, I heard 10K shift up and place his hands on his mattress.

I jumped to the sound and lifted the pencil as the led brittled.

"G-good morning!" I said with my voice still hoarse from sleeping with my mouth agape. I tried clearing my throat and chuckled to soothe the embarrassment of my voice and turned my head to face him and shyly grin.

"G-good morning!" He stammered and took a look at my hands. "You draw?" Clearly fascinated.

"Y-yeah. Despite a lot of the chaos, there are many silent moments of the apocalypse that give me a chance to practice."

"It's really good. Looks just like this room, but somehow makes it more beautiful..." He said with eyes fixated on the picture.

"Thanks." I replied. That's....exactly what I thought when I began.

"W-when you finish, may I take a look at what you have?" He timidly asked.

"Oh, y-yeah. I'm actually finished now if you want to." After I told him so, he went to sit next to me on the mattress and it creaked beneath the pressure. His warmth besides me was exhilarating. Even inches apart I could feel his presence pressing on my right arm. My face burned.

He kindly held out a hand and I gently gave him the sketchbook. Then with his eyes he asked again if he could look through my sketches. It was a pleading stare.
I shook my head up and down.
Once his fingers turned upon the corners seemingly with hesitation, I gnawed on my cheek.

"These are all really good, (Y/N)!" My name rung nicely in my ears as it rested on 10Ks lips. He examined every detail of the faces. "Who are they?" He asked.

"Old friends..." I said while bringing my knees up to hide myself.

Then he got to the first pages and dragged a finger on the edge of the page with an intrigued expression. "Are...these your folks?"

"Yeah..." I said while looking passed the picture with a numb stare.
"They look so tough...it's hard to imagine that they are not with you. " He commented, trying to not cause me any unease.

"Uhuh..." With our attention on the picture, I felt my vision swelling.

Then he said something that brought ease, "Mine were just the same...but I had to give mercy."

My throat felt dry. I could hear a stream of pain settling in his words. Especially on the word mercy. I did not want to press further, but hearing his story would lessen the tension between him and me. There was not much reason for any of us to hold secrets anymore, yet all of us still do. And even if there was not much trust, who else are any of us going to talk to? I know that I am tired of talking to myself...

And I want to know him. No matter what may happen.

"May I hear about it?" I questioned.
10K nodded. Then he told me the story about his father, and how he had to go on his own before finally meeting his group. Listening, he strengthened my belief in his survival. "I don't want to feel sorry about it anymore. " He told me once he finished.

"Even if it's common, you still deserve sympathy. I understand that though, you've learned to face everything as it is." In this moment, I wanted to touch him and let him know I met it. Even so, I keep my hands to myself—Scared of scaring him away.

The words, I can't say the same beckoned in the back of my skull. I still live in a fantasy.

"I have given mercy to many of my old friends, but it wasn't the same with my parents. I don't know where they are and I don't even know if giving them mercy would have given me relief." I sighed and noticed 10K's attention still lingering.

I continued, "In the first week of the Z outrage, it was just my parents and I. With Cabin Fever, we took a stop at a Gas Station like normal. When inside, my mom and I cleared the building of zombies then I needed to use the restroom and she stayed out to grab some snacks. When I came out, her, dad and the jeep we were riding in was vanished. Everything inside gone. Together, we had ammo, guns, and MREs to last the three of us for at least 10 years from our home. Not for me anymore... Believing they'd come back, I left a note in the bathroom saying 'I'll be at home-(Initials)'. So home I went. It was a despargaging way. Amoungst the Zs, I had given mercy to many peers from school... Atleast I knew what happened to them. Soon, I ran out of bullets in my gun because I still struggled with my aim. Then when I got to the house, I waited. I got the weaponry my dad left and camped on the roof. It wasn't that bad. I had even gotten practice with range. Of course...3 months or so and they never returned. I had scavanged the entire neighborhood until home became a ghost town. Left a note saying I was out each time. They never came...and later it was time for me to leave because there was nothing left in the place." I swallowed. "So I went traveling and kept writing notes hoping that they'll see them someday and find me. With that...I ran out of resources, and sad to say...hostile...until I was found by a group that took me in. One by one, company depleted. ....My parents...I never gotten the chance to say goodbye...." I anxiously rubbed the back of my neck as I choked on tears—not letting them stream out of my eyes. "They were good people. They taught me so much. They would never leave me." I brought down my hand with a thud. "Actually, they had their faults. They were very judgemental. I wouldn't be surprised if they left me there to force me to get stronger...I just wish I knew. " With a strain in my throat, I chewed on my lip and looked away from 10K—ashamed.
So there's the story. It's not even that much...

As I released my confrontation, I felt 10K place a hand on my left arm; his glove rough on my skin, but his fingers so soft.

I looked back at him and he thrusted onto me for a hug. His warmth surrounded me and I let just one tear go. Even though puzzled and fuzzy headed, I wrapped my arms around him. I embraced it and rested my chin on his shoulder next to his head. Digging my fingers into his back slightly, we burrowed our faces into each other. Close enough to smell every scent in our clothes: the dirt, the blood, the flesh, the places...

"Well, I'm here right now." He spoke sending a vibration onto my body and down my spine. "Maybe we'll find them." He reassured wish a dash of hope. This comfort was now something I did not have to imagine. Right now, it was real.