Fragile Hearts [DANGEROUS FELLOWS]

⚠️THIRTY-TWO: ARE WE THERE YET?⚠️

"Oh man... this is a total nightmare."

Jay had said it, and he was right. It felt like you were all walking in a living nightmare, of endless darkness and freezing cold. Like the climax of some zombie horror movie, when you all were about to be eaten alive.

"The Safe Zone better be heaven on Earth after all this," Zion grumbled, combing his wet hair back off of his forehead.

Hailey yawned, her feet dragging on the ground. You didn't feel very tired, but you knew it was probably late in the night.

"How much longer?" Eugene asked, rubbing his arms.

Lawrence shone the flashlight on the map, and everything was temporarily drowned in shadows. Fear filled your thoughts and you moved closer to him, where the light was.

"Not too long," he responded vaguely, pointing the flashlight back forward.

Eugene shook his head, and he stopped walking.

"What's wrong?" you asked him, and Lawrence stopped as well, swinging the beam of light over to Eugene.

He looked freezing, his whole body shaking and his skin ghostly pale. He shook his head again, looking like he might lose his balance.

"I can't keep walking," Eugene said.

"It's okay Eugene, just a bit more," you tried to say reassuringly, holding out a hand towards him. He didn't take it, instead moving forward to grab your shoulder for support.

"I can't," he repeated, and his voice sounded defeated. "I feel horrible. I think I might pass out."

You wished you could carry him, but there was no way you could support his weight. You just stood there, holding him awkwardly, not sure what to do.

"Do I always have to do everything?" Zion muttered, coming over. He picked up Eugene piggyback style, grunting with his weight.

"Don't drop me," Eugene whined, squeezing his arms around Zion's neck.

"I will if you keep choking me," Zion gasped.

The rain had only gotten harder since you started walking, and you were completely soaked. You found yourself longing for the warmth of your own home, of your own bed.

It's gone now, you scolded yourself. Just keep going.

"Are you okay, (Y/n)?" Harry asked. "You look like something's wrong."

You were about to tell him what was on your mind when Lawrence interrupted. "Is something the matter?" he asked, coming next to you and blocking Harry from view.

You just shook your head, not really feeling like explaining your complicated feelings. You saw the zipper on Lawrence backpack was slightly open, and you reached to close it when suddenly Saddle's paw shot out, wriggling around, but then quickly disappearing when he felt rain.

"We'll be there in no time," he told you kindly, smiling despite the dreadful situation.

Sue nodded, looking over the map, which was starting to droop because of the water.

"No time," she repeated, drying her glasses on the front of her shirt.

"I wonder what the Safe Zone will be like," you said, feeling your spirits rise up. You could almost forget that you were soaking wet.

Almost.

"As long as it's dry, I'll be happy," Jay sighed, ducking as a heavy droplet fell on his head.

You found yourself daydreaming about the Safe Zone. Would there be a lot of people there? Or only a few? Maybe there may even be someone you knew. You thought about warm food and beds and then quickly pushed the thought out of your mind when you remembered how hungry and tired you were.

You hadn't realized you had fell back a few steps from the group until Harry stopped to wait for you, his smile cutting through the dark.

"Everything okay?" he asked again, now that he had the chance. You nodded, feeling comforted by his company.

"Besides being dripping wet, I'm fine," you told him with a small giggle.

"I always used to love rainy days," Harry recalled. "I would play in the rain until my clothes were ruined."

He smiled warmly at the memory, putting his arm around you. "I even tracked mud in the kitchen once. My dad got so mad, he-"

Then he choked on the rest of his sentence, seeming to quickly reconsider his words.

"He grounded me for a week." Harry finished, but you could tell it wasn't true.

When you thought about it, did you really know Harry? Or anyone here, for that matter? Even Judy, a girl you'd known for most of your childhood, had secrets.

Both of you fell into comfortable silence, and you almost never wanted it to end.

"(Y/n)!" Lawrence called from up ahead, where the rest of the group was. "Can you come hold the flashlight for me, please?"

You didn't want to leave Harry, but you didn't have a choice either. "Sorry," you said to him, pulling away from his arm.

He shook his head, looking as bright as ever. "Don't worry about it," he said to you as you quickened your pace to match strides with Lawrence, holding your hand out for the light. He passed it to you, finally able to hold the map at it's full size with both of his hands. Part of you wondered why he hadn't just asked Sue, but the smarter part knew better than to question it.

"We're almost there," Lawrence said, but he didn't sound as excited as you felt.

"Thank you, Jesus," Zion praised, struggling with the added weight on his back. "Eugene is way heavier than he looks."

"It must be the junk food," Jay said with a grin, and it was relieving to see his spirit was back. Eugene just grunted in reply.

"Almost there?" Judy squealed, her blue eyes sparkling. "I can't believe it!"

You couldn't either. Judy pulled you in a hug before rushing ahead of everyone else, seeming eager to get going.

"What are we waiting for?" she cried, bouncing on her toes. "Safe Zone, here we come!"

You rushed after her, the rain not feeling so unbearable now. You were almost to the Safe Zone, where everything would be perfect. Food, electricity, and best of all, no zombies.

You looked back at all of your friends, and then ahead at Judy. No, best of all was that everyone had made it together.

Because the truth was, making it to the Safe Zone was only just the beginning.