Not so Alone

"What the fucking hell do you think you are doing? We can't take her!" Chad looked like he was about to have an aneurysm just from the thought. "She'll slow us down!"

"Shut up! Do you want to attract those things here?" Mike snapped.

Chad closed his mouth and leaned back. He glared at me like it was all my fault that Mike asked me to come along.

"I have to think about it. I'm not sure I want to spend the last of my days with dickhead over there." I got up and grabbed a bag of chips out of my supply stash and sat back down.

"He grows on you." Mike chuckled as Chad began grumbling and muttering.

"What, like a cancerous tumor?" I asked.

Mike started sputtering and coughing since he had just taken a drink when I said that. Chad just glared at me.

"What? It's not like you haven't been a complete asshole since we met. Which, by the way, was a whole whopping twenty minutes ago." I opened my chips and began munching on them.

"If you don't like it, leave," Chad sneered.

"Uh no. My hideout remember?" I said, sarcastically.

"Then you will just have to deal with me," Chad said, smirking.

I stared at him until he scowled at me again.

"What are you looking at?" Chad growled.

"You're really cute when you smile. You should do it more often instead of being an asshole." I chuckled as Mike began laughing and Chad glared at me, even though he had turned a slight pink color. "So what were you two doing when all this happened?"

"We were actually at our parents' funeral," Mike said.

"I'm so sorry." I wasn't sure how to continue the conversation.

"Don't be. They disowned us several years ago because of our differences." Mike smiled at me and I felt like we had been talking about some distant relative instead of their parents. "What about you? You said you were on your way to get laid but what did you do before all this happened?"

"I was a lawyer. I had finally passed the bar exam and had just signed on at Miller & Miller." I sighed as I remembered all the work I had done to get to where I was before the apocalypse. "I know that you were at a funeral when all this happened but what did you do before this?"

"We ran our own construction company. We are the Newall Brothers. In a way being in construction helped us out since we were in the company car when this happened. Though once the truck ran out of gas we ended up on foot." Mike sighed and rolled his neck. "Do you have any family?"

"I had three older brothers and our mom," I said, sadly.

"What happened to them?" Mike asked.

"Mom died about five years ago from cancer. My two oldest brothers were in the military but they both died shortly after Mom did in some strange training exercise. My last brother was killed by a drunk driver last year." My eyes welled with tears. Thinking about them made me realize just how alone I was in the world now.

"I'm sorry." Mike leaned forward. "It has always just been Chad and I. We are used to looking out for just ourselves. Anyway, if you have been here for a few days and haven't been bothered then we should be safe enough to sleep through the night."

"I think we should sleep in shifts," Chad said, finally saying something without sneering.

"She has been here for a few days and hasn't been bothered by them yet. Why shouldn't we take advantage of it?" Mike asked.

"With all three of us here the scent of humans is stronger, which means they would be able to smell us better," Chad said.

"Ok ok, we will sleep in shifts," Mike conceded. "Do you want her to be part of the rotation?"

"Why? She hasn't been part of it before why start now," Chad shrugged and stretched. "Besides it doesn't sound like she has even had to fight one of them. She wouldn't know what it sounds like when they are around."

"Yes, I do. I may not have had to fight one of them yet but I have heard the shuffling around and at one point something was sniffing strongly at the door. They never tried to come through the door though," I said. It was true that I hadn't fought one of the zombies yet.

"Sniffing? Like a dog?" Chad asked, sitting straight up.

"Yeah. Why?" I asked. The way he was staring at me was starting to concern me.

"That means we need to move immediately," Chad said.

"Unfortunately, we can't change locations now. The sun has already begun to set," Mike said. " So let's go ahead and stay here. I have the first rotation." Mike leaned back and pulled his weapon onto his lap.

"Wake me in a few hours then," Chad said.

I was beginning to think I had been forgotten but then Chad stared at me. "What?"

"You should get some sleep. We will be leaving early in the morning." Chad started making himself comfortable.

"So, you don't have a problem with me coming with you guys?" I was curious about his change of heart.

"I highly doubt Mike would let us walk away without you. Plus, I have a feeling that if you refused to go then he would just toss you over his shoulder and leave with you like that." Chad snickered when Mike growled at him.

"No, I wouldn't," Mike growled. "I would drag her along behind me by her hair."

"Then it is a good thing that I plan on walking out the door with you two," I laughed.

"Get some sleep you two. We have an early morning." Mike looked at me. "But if you want to kill him while he is asleep then I can look the other way."

"Thanks a lot you asshole," Chad growled.

"I don't plan on killing him for being an ass. But thanks for the offer, I may take you up on it in the future," I said, laughing.