We’ve stopped for the day. This place is as good as the next. There’s no safety anymore. If the biters aren’t too close to camp, then I say sleep while we can.

I look ahead to where Nikki sits. Alone. She’s too quiet. I get Harper’s attention.

“Sir?”

I ask, “She seem okay to you?”

Since Nikki is the only female with us there’s no need to specify who I’m talking about.

Harper glances at Nikki, then says, “Maybe a little off today.”

I don’t like it.

Jeff passes me the beans and says, “Heard her crying last night.”

That does something to my gut. I wonder if it’s because she’s thinking about her would-have-been-wedding. She doesn’t talk much, especially to me, but she’s talked about it to Noah. Noah is a good kid. In another life he would have been a badass in the military. Now he’s a badass in the apocalypse.

Jeff replies, “Maybe you should talk to her?”

I grunt. Not going to happen. Any time I try to talk to her, she just gets pissed. I’ve never been good at talking to women. My ex-wife can tell you all about that. Or could have told you. She joined the Dead early on.

Sighing, I say, “I’m sure she’ll get over it. She always does.”

Even when she’s mad enough to run off, she eventually gets over it. That’s something else about her that drives me crazy. She’s safer with us than with anyone else in this God-forsaken world and yet she still tries to run. Rocco asked her once why she left and her answer surprised me. Said it made her feel wanted when we came after her. Lately, she seems to be waiting to get caught before she even takes off. It’s confusing as hell.

Harper stands and goes over to her without a word to us. He squats next to her and she looks up at him. The light from the fire catches the natural highlights in her dark hair and she looks beautiful. And then she looks over her shoulder at me and scowls. Harper laughs, saying something, and then comes back over. He picks up his beans and resumes eating.

“Well?”

He replies without looking up, “Said she’s fine. Called you a dick.”

This gets a laugh out of the men. I even smile. She must not be planning to run tonight. That’s a relief. Maybe I can get a solid three hours of sleep. It’s been a while since that happened. I think it’s the new normal. No one sleeps because sleeping makes you vulnerable. Sure, we each take turns patrolling our area, but the Dead have been known to creep up on us, giving us a close call with death.

Jeff says, “I’ll take first shift. Y’all should go to sleep while you can.”

His southern accent is thick and makes me smile. He nods at me and grabs his rifle. As he passes Nikki, he says something. She shakes her head and pulls a jacket from her bag. She’s so stubborn and it pisses me off. She’d be more comfortable with us, by the fire. She doesn’t know I know this, but when I take patrol she’ll move closer to the men. I’m not sure if it’s because she feels safer knowing I’ve got her back or if it’s because I’m not there.

Rocco kicks my boot with his. “Stop drooling over Nikki. You’ll scare her off.”

I flip him the bird before leaning back, resting my head on my pack. Rocco’s snores soon fill the air in an annoying lullaby.

Noah, who is to my right, whispers, “Push his ass over or I’ll never get to sleep.”

Grinning, I shove Rocco onto his side. The snoring lets up, even if it’s only temporary.

Noah asks, “Do you think Nikki has any family out there?”

His question takes me by surprise.

“Did she say something?”

Noah shakes his head. “No. I just wonder sometimes.” He glances over at her. “If I were her family I know I’d look for her.”

Harper, who is next to Noah, grunts. “That’s your age talking, kid. There are no families in the apocalypse.”

Noah replies, “You’re wrong, Harper. There’s the family we choose.” His cheeks darken. “I consider you guys my brothers.”

Harper shakes his head. “And do you consider Nikki your big sister?”

Noah’s face darkens even more. “No.”

He’s gazing at her with a look I recognize all too well. The young one has a crush on her. It’s the same look every damn man in my crew gets on their faces when they don’t think anyone is looking.

Harper catches my gaze and says, “Get to sleep, Dave. Nothing we can do right now.”

He means about our situation, but I can’t help to think of Nikki again. Closing my eyes, I force my mind to shut off, but I can’t. Especially not tonight.

I saw the church and heard the screams inside. I rushed in without a second thought. A woman stood at the altar, trying to shove a biter away. Her dress was ripped and I wondered if I was too late. She shoved the biter, but it lunged again. Judging by the clothing it wore, it was a part of her wedding party.

“Close your eyes!”

I moved closer, seeing that there were other biters in the room. Shit. The woman’s gaze was focused on the biter in front of her and she wasn’t listening to me.

“Fucking listen to me!”

My tone snapped her into action. Her eyes closed, dark lashes covering her green eyes. Aiming for the biter, I took him out in one shot. Blood sprayed across her face. Fuck! I hoped she didn’t open her eyes. This virus was too new and no one knew how it spread.

Something groaned behind me and I turned. Another biter was standing, so I took it out as well as two more. Then I turned my attention back to the woman. Pulling a rag from my pocket, I carefully wiped the blood from her face. She cringed at my touch right before a tear rolled down her cheek.

“I’ve got you. Hold on.” I wiped the last of the blood. “There.”

I brushed another tear away with my thumb. She opened her eyes and they widened in surprise as she met my gaze. I was wrong about her eyes being green. They were green with icy blue streaks that made me want to get lost in them. Her chest rose in her ridiculous dress as she inhaled. I couldn’t help but notice her full breasts. Definitely more than a handful.

Her own gaze moved over my body in appreciation. Damn. Leave it to me to meet a perfect ten as the world was going to shit. The thought made me pause. If I was smart, I’d leave her here and forget about her. As my friends would say, I’ve been accused of having the parachute, but missing the ripcord… For you civilians, that meant I didn’t always make the best choices.

I smiled at her.

“If you’re done being dramatic, there are others I need to help. Come on.”

I’d decided I couldn’t just leave her behind, especially when she looked like she might go into shock. She needed to understand what we were about to face. Because it was fucking nuts outside. Grabbing her hand, I tugged her alongside me.

“Wait! My friend – she’s hurt.” She looked at a woman on the ground, blood staining the blue dress she wore.

I shook my head. “She’s as good as dead. We don’t have time.”

The brunette dug her heels into the carpet and said, “I’m not leave-”

With a sigh, I lifted my pistol, taking out the soon-to-be-biter on the ground. I tugged on the woman’s hand, but she didn’t respond. Her hand was clammy in mine and I thought she finally reached her breaking point. There was shouting from outside and I knew we had to move.

Tossing her over my shoulder, we exited the church. She didn’t put up a fight, which is both good and bad. Good, because I didn’t have time for drama. Bad, because I was worried about her. What if she couldn’t cope with what was happening? I couldn’t just leave her.

Outside, the madness had spread. In the Army we were trained to assess situations and make calls on the fly because people tended to overreact in natural disasters. Unfortunately, none of my training covered the fucking zombie apocalypse. But the basics still applied.

Gunshots echoed around us and people ran in every direction. There were also freshly-turned zombies moving around. The woman in my arms let out a half-moan, half-scream. Turning, I came face to face with a biter. I stabbed it in the temple, putting it down. It was too close for comfort. There were more coming toward us and I needed both arms to fight.

“Can you walk?”

She answered, “Yes.”

I put her on her feet, aiming my pistol at another one. It went down with a thud.

“Why are you shooting them?”

Her face had a green hue to it. I really hoped she wasn’t about to vomit.

“Because they’re fucking zombies!”

She blinked, looking dazed. “How can you be sure?”

“Because they are zombies. Look at them!” I shoved her back as one came close. “Haven’t you watched the news recently?”

They hadn’t been calling the monsters zombies until today. The last broadcast I saw showed a frantic anchor telling the people in the studio to run right before the cameraman was taken down by one of the Dead.

Cursing, I took down a biter. The woman swayed on her feet as she watched. Grabbing her wrist, I pulled her behind me as we ran. The streets were getting too crowded.

She must have noticed because she asked, “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe.”

I prayed that my team was still there when we got back. I couldn’t blame them if they left. I was only supposed to be out for an hour. I never anticipated on stumbling upon this woman, which took me fifteen minutes out of my way.

“What’s your name?”

“Nikki. Yours?”

“Dave.”

I pulled her behind me as two men rushed past us, rifles in hand.

“We’re almost there.”

She didn’t reply as I tugged her along. We finally reached the hotel where my team and I were staying. It was only supposed to be for one night. That was before everything went to shit.

Nikki eyed me warily as I headed to the stairwell.

“Elevator’s out.”

I wouldn’t trust it even if it worked. The thought of being trapped somewhere that small made me want to run and never look back. Nikki nodded and began climbing. Her dress was so wide that it touched both sides of the wall. I was so busy watching her ass that I wasn’t looking where I was going. My foot caught the back of her dress, ripping it.

“Shit. I’m sorry.”

She looked back at her dress and laughed until tears streamed down her face. Had she finally reached her limit? Her laugh echoed off the walls and I heard groaning somewhere below us.

Snapping my fingers, I said, “Pull it together. We’re almost there.”

Her mouth clamped shut and I felt like an asshole. But I shoved my guilt aside. We’d survived because of my quick thinking and I wouldn’t apologize for it. The lights flickered and then went out, leaving us in the dark. The emergency lights didn’t even kick on.

“Grid’s probably overheated. I’m sure it’ll come back on in a few hours.”

I’d seen similar things while being deployed in third world countries. Power would go down, but always came up by the next day. The only exception was when there was a bombing in an area. Falling shrapnel tended to change everything.

I reached out, finding her hand. Her palm was clammy, so I gave it a squeeze.

“One more flight,” I said. My damn voice had gone husky.

She moved, but I didn’t let her hand go. We finally reached the seventh floor. I opened the door, making sure there weren’t any biters. We reached my room and I knocked on the door. It opened and Jeff grinned at me.

“We were getting worried.”

I stepped aside and his dark eyebrows raised.

I said, “This is Nikki.”

We entered the room and the boys went silent. Couldn’t say that I blamed them. Nikki sat on the edge of my bed, clasping her hands together.

I said, “Noah, go see if you can find something for her to wear.”

Noah jumped at my command and left the room.

Harper asked, “Think he’ll be okay out there?”

I shrugged. Time would tell.

Something touches me and I jump. Shit. Guess I fell asleep after all.

Harper says, “You’re up.”

I stand, popping my back. Harper settles into my spot and is snoring before I walk away. A quick scan of the area lets me know that everyone is sleeping. Grabbing a flashlight, I go around the corner and take a leak. When I’m done, I walk around our base for the night.

Sometimes I wonder why we even bother. The Dead keep multiplying and nothing seems to stop them. The Living, on the other hand, keep fighting each other, which also helps the Dead expand.

I’m about to walk further away when I hear Nikki cry out. I rush over to her side. Her face is contorted in pain as whatever she’s dreaming about caused her anguish.

I touch her arm once. “Nikki.”

Her eyes open, wildly looking around. I know what she’s feeling. Everyone seems to suffer from some sort of PTSD in the apocalypse.

“You okay?”

I don’t think she’s going to reply, but she nods.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

It’s small, but those two words give me hope.

Dave stands over me, concern on his face, and I know I’ve cried out in my sleep from that stupid dream about my stupid former life. Skeeter and I were shopping at the mall when a horde of biters come out, chasing us. No matter how fast I ran I knew what was going to happen. Skeeter fell just as I woke up.

“You okay?”

I nod. “Yeah. Thanks.”

I think he’s going to head back to his side of the campfire, but he does something unexpected. He sits next to me, close enough that his leg brushes against mine. I shiver at the contact.

“You know you can talk to me, Nikki. I promise I’m not a dick all of the time.”

“I never said you were a dick.”

His full lips twitch. “Not to my face.”

This makes me smile. “You’re right.” I pause. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Because I hate seeing you sad, Nikki.”

Every time he says my name, my heart does this weird little patter.

I shake my head. “No need to worry about me. I’m fine.”

“Everyone needs someone to talk to.”

He’s getting too deep for my liking. I need him to be an asshole. It makes it easier to shove my feelings down deep where they don’t get any crazy ideas.

He says, “The offer stands.”

He moves to leave, but I put my hand on his leg, stopping him. He watches me with those eyes that haunt my dreams.

I say, “I’m not ready to talk, but I wouldn’t mind the company.”

He nods. “Done.”

We sit in silence until the sky turns shades of pinks and purples. I like that he doesn’t force conversation, because I’m not ready. But, I’ve learned something on this night.

Rule 2: Sometimes it’s okay to let people in.