Fragile Hearts [DANGEROUS FELLOWS]

⚠️ELEVEN: BOOHOO, KID⚠️

The walk to the supply storage was oddly peaceful.

You'd almost expected zombies to be around every corner, but the area seemed pretty deserted. Lawrence led the way, different than the way to the supermarket, and Zion had his metal rod over his shoulder, yawning loudly.

"This place is dead," he said loudly. Lawrence shushed him quickly.

"Can't take any chances," the leader reminded him.

Zion shrugged, looking around himself. "I don't see anything," he muttered.

You heard a strange mewling sound come from the side of the road and you turned to see a cat pop it's head around a dumpster, looking straight at you. It meowed again and you felt your insides melt, going towards it.

"Hello little baby," you cooed, bending over slowly. It flinched and moved back a tiny bit, it's tail rising.

"It's okay, I just wanna pet you," you told it gently. You scratched it's head, rubbing behind it's ears. It stood still but seemed a little frightened by you.

"How cute!" you cried, looking at Zion and Lawrence. Zion seemed apprehensive, looking at the cat warily.

"Cats," he grumbled. "I got bit by one when I was a kid."

You turned your attention back to the small animal, rubbing it's back and tail. It moved away from your hand, licking it's fur idly.

You heard a grunt and saw Lawrence kneel next to you, and almost instantly the cat left you to go to him, reaching it's paws up onto his arm and meowing for pets. With a warm smile he scratched around the little thing's neck. It purred, rubbing against him, and you began to feel a little jealous that the cat liked him more than you.

"Guys, c'mon," Zion said, looking around. "We should get moving."

"He's right," Lawrence said, straightening up and dusting off his pants. The cat meowed sadly, moving onto his shoe and digging it's claws into it. You pet the cat's back before standing as well.

"Sorry little guy," Lawrence said, pulling it off of his shoe gently. "I'll come back."

It tilted its head at Lawrence, and as if understanding, it bounded back behind the dumpster, disappearing from view.

"Sheesh, you two are something else," Zion scoffed. "Let's go, we still a lot of walking."

Zion sure wasn't lying, but you'd walked further. Neither you or Jason had cars, so whenever you wanted to go somewhere, it had to be on foot. Unless Madelyn offered to take you in her car.

You shut the memory out so suddenly it startled you.

"There it is," Lawrence announced, pointing to a little dark gray storage building. It had the words EMERGENCY SUPPLY stenciled on the door.

Lawrence suddenly put a finger to his lips, pointing at the door. You saw a huge chain hanging loosely from the handle, the padlock holding it in place badly broken.

Someone made it before us, he mouthed, ushering you two forward. You felt fear bubble in your chest as he put his hand on the handle, slowly and silently turning it and pushing open the door. Loud, echoey voices filled the room, almost like you were in a theater.

The space inside was big, and the metal shelves were arranged so that whoever was further inside couldn't see the door. Lawrence waved you all the the far corner, closing the door gently.

"Go fish," echoed a deep voice, and the slapping of a playing card could be heard.

"Wrong game. You really are going insane, aren't you?" another spoke, the echoing distorted the voices so much you couldn't tell the gender. Lawrence peeked around a shelves, quickly turning back and holding up two of his fingers.

Two people, he signaled. Zion got his rod ready.

"Nothing wrong with going a little-" the first voice began, but then stopped. "Oh, we got visitors."

Your heart stopped, and in instinct you dropped to the floor, scurrying behind a pile of wooden boxes. Zion flattened himself against the wall, sidling behind a shelf, but Lawrence stayed where he was.

"We don't mean any harm." He spoke up, and fear rushed through you. This seemed like a very, very bad idea.

A figure came from around the shelf blocked the door from the rest of the room, squaring up with Lawrence. You couldn't see his face, but he was taller.

"Then leave," he said, in a voice vaguely familiar. "We don't have anything here for you."

"I'm sure there's something around here," Lawrence said, glancing at Zion and exchanging words through their eyes.

"Who else is there? Come out," the older man ordered. Zion pointed at you quickly, and then at the ground, telling you to stay hidden, before coming out from behind the shelf.

"No harm," Zion repeated, but there was challenge in his voice.

"You're survivors, like us. You don't own this place," Lawrence pressed. The man scoffed.

"Boohoo, kid. Life isn't fair," he mocked. "You're not getting anything. Finders keepers."

"How about this metal pipe finds it's way up your ass?" Zion growled.

The man laughed drily. "I like you, you got some fire," he said. "Last chance to leave."

"Oh, we're not going anywhere," Zion said. "You really pissed me off."

"Fine then." The man said, and there was a smile in his voice. You saw him take a step back. "Suit yourselves."

No one moved and for a second you were confused until you saw someone behind the shelf Lawrence and Zion were standing by, starting to push it.

"Lawrence, Zion, move!" You screamed just as the shelf began to creak. Zion was the first to react, diving out of the way, but Lawrence was stalling, looking stuck in place.

"Move!" you repeated, your voice echoing through the building. You rushed out of your hiding spot, running into Lawrence at full speed and knocking him off of his feet, tumbling into the man in the process, the three of you landing on the concrete floor in a pile. With a shrill squeal of metal the shelf toppled over barely a second after you were clear of it's path, shrieking as it crashed down, sending loose screws flying out.

"(Y/n)? Are you okay?" came a voice. You were about to answer until you realized it wasn't from Lawrence or Zion. It was from someone else. You rolled around to see the shocked face of the person that tipped over the shelf.

Jason.