Outside Of Life [WayHaught]

The Night Before

It took another hour and a handful of hand-crafted explosions from Doc and Nicole to give the Outsiders enough time to make a swift exit from their stronghold. Dolls had the gang running while crouching, much to the annoyance of Wynonna who hadn't been keeping up with her physical training. They managed to cover a fair bit of ground in that time and only stopped when both Sergeants were confident that the meditent was nearby.

"We camp here tonight," Dolls said, as he guided the group into a half-demolished block of apartments. "Obviously see if you can scavenge anything but don't leave the building or take unnecessary risks. We still have enough food and ammo to take on the meditent tomorrow, ok?"

Everyone nodded before spreading out into the sprawling hallways to look for anything that could be useful. Just like before, Wynonna went with Doc and Perry went with the two Privates, leaving Waverly to wonder if she was able to go with Nicole again.

"Sergeant Haught," Dolls said, breaking the younger Earp's thought bubble. "I think now would be a good time to discuss our plan for tomorrow, especially with certain distractions out of the way, if you catch my drift."

Wynonna's voice could still be heard as she and Doc travelled further into the building, although Waverly didn't want to hear in such detail about her sister's blisters. Nicole laughed at Dolls' comment and went to sit beside him, sliding the backpack off of her shoulder to take out some paper and pens.

"Well this is all well and good for you commanding types, but I personally like to have a mattress to sleep on rather than rubble."

Waverly had somehow managed to forget about Mercedes in their hurried run to safety. After all, the Private had been silent like the rest of the group to attract as little attention from the zombies as possible. In a way, minus the love of everything pink and expensive, Mercedes reminded Waverly of her sister. And when it came to fighting for their lives, she stood her ground and fought alongside them, just like the other Privates had done.

"Come on Mercedes," Waverly said, shivering a little as the first wave of the cold night flooded the room. "Let's find something that will keep us all warm, or even a mattress for you to sleep on."

The Private rolled her eyes but still followed Waverly towards a fire escape that looked as though it was still fairly structurally sound. Looking over her shoulder for a second, the younger Earp had hoped Nicole would be looking back at her, or pointing out to Dolls what an excellent idea she'd had. Instead, the two Sergeants were deep in thought, scribbling down various shapes onto the notepad in front of them.

"So how's Wynonna?" Mercedes said, running her hand along a wall and then wincing at the amount of filth that came off onto her fingers.

"She's fine, I guess," Waverly replied. She was poking her head around doorways and gaps in walls which had come down or used to be windows. She couldn't quite get her mind off of Nicole not at least looking at her as they left the room. "How good can you be in an apocalypse, you know?"

Mercedes nodded slowly before taking a step closer to the younger Earp, the two of them almost touching. Waverly automatically tightened her grip on the shotgun she was holding.

"Has she mentioned me recently?"

"No, we've been busy solving a murder."

"Oh."

There was an awkward pause as Mercedes walked into one room and Waverly chose another. The Private was being weird and the brunette wasn't sure she quite liked her yet either. All in all, she was still annoyed about Nicole. Waverly let out a sigh and stopped searching for a minute to gather her thoughts. It was easy to forget that the world was so crazy and how quickly life had changed for everyone. Only a few years ago she could be sat in a taco bell on a date with the Sergeant, arranging to meet up later in the week. Instead, Nicole and Dolls were working out a way for the zombie population to stay far enough away that the Outsiders could successfully track down Champ's killer.

"You don't like me, do you?"

Waverly jumped and aimed the shotgun at the doorway in front of her, rolling her eyes when she saw it was just the Private.

"I don't have anything against you, Mercedes, I'm just a bit stressed."

"Well, that seems stupid. You've got Sergent red-head as your personal protection."

"What?"

"That's what Wynonna said, anyway. That the two of you had hooked up or something? I never thought you'd be gay but I suppose I now owe my brother a can of tuna."

Waverly ran a hand through her hair and sat down on a piece of wall that had fallen between what looked like the remains of a lounge and a kitchen. "What exactly did Wynonna say?"

The Private looked into a piece of glass on the floor at her reflection, strand by strand, tucking her hair into place. "Just that you and Sergeant girly over there were like Romeo and Juliet whatever that's supposed to mean. Oh, and that you were gay now. And that it sucks you didn't tell her but she's not mad? I don't get that personally."

Mercedes' smile faded for a moment as she muttered, "I just wish the bitch would talk to me."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, nothing. Let's go find a mattress; my back is killing me."

A/N: I'm back! The show is back! The Outsiders are back!! Who's hyped? Leave a comment below; ideas, theories, feedback, or just general love ;) I can't wait to continue where we left off and find out what is actually going on in that facility... And with Wynonna + Mercedes...