Cultivator in a Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter Sixty Seven - A Date That Ended With A Squeal

Before the end of the world, Dexter couldn't claim to have been a saint nor did he bother to 'keep himself pure' for marriage or the one. He fooled around here and there, dated a bit, but there was never anyone serious for him. In a way, after the end came, he sort of regretted not having experienced a serious relationship and sort of didn't regret. After all it would have been hard if the wife or girlfriend had turned or not survived the initial zombie attacks.

But after the set up of the bases, as more and more survivors gathered together, hoping to lean on others in order to help them survive these dark times, one thing became very clear; there were far more men than women now. No one could say that those who died and rose as monsters were mostly one sex or the other, no one would bother to tally that sort of thing even if it were possible. However, women had natural disadvantages and during the initial period of 'every man for themselves', who had time to protect others from relentless zombie attacks?

Dexter wouldn't lie and claim that his initial interest in Autumn wasn't due to the fact that three flowers had suddenly appeared in a garden of evergreens. She was very much his type, soft, curvy and adorable, making it even more difficult to look away. But this was the end of the world, he couldn't exactly try to get to know her over dinner, especially as she was the chef! Plus, there had been so many other things to deal with; making sure they had enough warm clothing and enough food to get them over the Winter, which happened to be exceptionally harsh, dealing with attacks from zombies and undead animals, cultivating in order to be stronger and more fit to survive. So, getting to know the young woman in a closer manner was pushed to the back of his mind. But it was never something that went away.

Amazingly, she shared his feelings and he was ecstatic, only, he now had another problem? How did one date at the end of the world?

While he wasn't a saint, he also wasn't some bastard, he wasn't going to sweep her off of her feet and straight into bed. Autumn deserved more than that. But it wasn't as if they could go to the movies, buy popcorn and tacos and laugh at corny jokes.

So, instead after breakfast the following morning, he coaxed her outside for a walk in the gardens of the neighbouring property.

The garden had grown a bit wild, the weeds as prominent in some places as the shrubs, but there was still some beauty to be found, such as the tulips poking through the foliage and revealing their colours.  Naturally, there were also mutant plants here, but apart from the bladed grass, they were not hostile, just odd looking.  The strangest one was possibly once a hydrangea bush, but as some of the tiny flower buds opened, the resulting petals detached from the stems and fluttered upon the winds towards some weaker looking plants, landing upon them for a moment before returning.  The weaker plants seemed quite drained and dry afterwards, as if the vitality had become a little lost.

Such a dangerous beauty, like a thorny rose for the new age.  The man and woman walking side by side while holding hands didn't pay much attention to it, however and the fluttering petals avoided them as they danced upon the winds. 

The warmth of Dexter's hand was like a loud bell within Autumn's mind, giving both joy and comfort as well as nervousness.  She hoped her own palms weren't sweating and off putting, she could hardly keep her mind on what he was saying.  Actually, it wasn't much, just small talk for Dexter was just as nervous as she for this first date of theirs.  Her lips curved in realisation and at that moment, he turned to look at her and a wide smile lit up his own rugged face, causing her to blush. 

The gardens were quite extensive, probably just as large or just a bit less than Nathan's gardens, but much more of it was landscaped and given to flora or water features.  There was a large pond, near the rear of the gardens, surrounded by willow trees and ornate shrubs.   The only life it held were water favouring insects, however.  The koi within had all died, reduced to skeletons thanks to a couple that morphed into zombie fish.  Those had been dealt with before winter.