3 | We Who Survive the Apocalypse | ✅

Chapter 12 - Shattered

Doyle's fingers lightly brush over the scar on my arm, left from when a bullet grazed me, his fingers cool and calloused.

He bends his head slightly, his lips tenderly caressing the puckered flesh, and my skin tingles at the touch. 

He laughs quietly, his lips still pressed on my skin, and he says softly, only loud enough for us to hear, "I wish we were alone."

I can't help but laugh at his statement. "Me too."

But everyone is here with us, and even though they're technically in another room, there's no door, and really no privacy for...you know, anything.

"Maybe sometime," he murmurs, looking up at me and planting a kiss on my forehead before I have time to react.

I giggle, oh so stupidly, which makes him laugh.

"It's so strange how easy it is to be happy when there's so much wrong in the world," he says, bringing his chin down to rest on my shoulder.

"Yeah." I sigh as he clasps one of my hands in his, and lean into him, turning my head and resting my cheek against his shoulder. "But it's nice."

I feel him nod against my shoulder. "Definitely."

I raise my free hand to his side, my fingers sneaking beneath the hem of his shirt and brushing against his bare skin.

He snickers quietly. "That kind of tickles."

I laugh. "Too bad."

"Didn't say it was a bad thing." He replies, turning his head and softly kissing my neck. My eyes slip closed, and I sigh at the feeling.

My hand travels upward, to his ribs that are heartbreakingly prominent, until I find the scar, also the result of a bullet's graze. It's odd how we kind of match.

His warm breath tickles my skin as he exhales. My fingers trace the roughness of the scar, the curve of his ribs, down his spine.

We just stay there, in each other's arms, for who knows how long, until -

"Ew! Stop it you guys!" Izzy's voice rips us apart. I glance over to see her standing just inside the room.

"Izzy! Leave them alone! God!" Seth's irritated voice drifts in from the other room.

"There are more important things to do than have people feeling each other up!" She yells back at him, stomping back into the room.

Our romantic moment is shattered, so we follow her.

"Like what? Sit around? There's really nothing to be done at the moment, Izzy!" Seth retorts.

"Well, going hunting wouldn't be a terrible idea! The rabbit is gone!" Izzy snaps, gesturing angrily towards the fireplace, where the bones sit, picked clean, and marching over to the window, staring out for a second before turning back to glare at Seth.

"Me and you can go hunting, Doyle and Wynne don't have to worry about it!" Seth bellows, throwing his arms in the air.

"Honestly, if you two went hunting, you'd scare off all the game for miles with your incessant arguing," Kat says as she leans against the wall, her arms folded and her ankles crossed.

"You stay out of this!" Izzy growls, jabbing a finger in Kat's direction. "If it were up to me, you would be-"

It all happens so fast, I can hardly process it. 

A sound like thunder fills the air, there's a shattering of glass, and then Izzy goes reeling forward, nearly falling before Seth grabs her.

Simultaneously, Mara screams, and Hudson curses, while the rest of us duck reflexively.

"The hell was that?" Seth gasps, gently lowering Izzy down to sit on the floor and kneeling beside her.

Kat cautiously peers out the window, being sure the keep hidden.

Izzy pants as blood trickles down her shoulder, down the front and the back. She's been shot. I rush to her side, crouching down beside her, as does Doyle.

"They...they must have found me...." She mumbles, more to herself than anyone.

"Who? Who found you?" Seth demands, glancing up at the now broken window before looking back at Izzy.

"Just somebody see to the freaking extra holes in my body!" Izzy yells, gritting her teeth. Her eyebrows are furrowed in pain, and already a sheen of sweat has formed on her brown skin.

Kat strides across the room to us. "I know how to fix this stuff."

Izzy glares at her. "Oh no! You are not laying a hand on me, you crazy bitch!"

Kat rolls her eyes, turning to walk away. "Fine, die then. I couldn't give a rat's ass."

"No," Doyle says, grabbing Kat's arm and pulling her back, then looking sternly at Izzy, "nobody's dying, y'all are just gonna have to swallow your damn pride and deal with this."

"I will if she will," Kat says.

She and Izzy have a death stare contest that I fear will end in one of them bursting into flames before Izzy finally says, "okay."

Kat kneels beside her and pulls the collar of Izzy's shirt down so she can see her shoulder. "Well, bullet went clean through. You're lucky. I need something I can use as a bandage. And if anybody happens to have something to disinfect the wound, that'd be great."

"Would whiskey work?" Doyle asks.

Kat nods curtly, still examining Izzy's shoulder, while Izzy seems more annoyed than anything else at being shot. Doyle scurries off to some part of the room, I assume to retrieve whiskey.

"Are you okay?" Seth asks Izzy, his dark eyes wide as he awaits an answer.

"Well, I just got shot through a window, so I've been better, Seth!" She snaps, glaring at him severely.

"Well, sue me for caring!" He exclaims in exasperation, rising to his feet and walking away.

Hudson arrives with some long strips of material, offering it to Kat, who doesn't look at him, but takes them and sets them on her lap.

Doyle returns with the whiskey, but before he can hand it to Kat, Izzy swipes it and quickly takes the cork out. She swigs it, gulping down a good bit of it before handing the bottle to Kat and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

Our surprise must show on our faces, because she gives us an odd look and says, "What? It helps with the pain."

+++++

Woohoo! Two updates in one day! 

Is the world ending?? Is the apocalypse here? 

No, I'm just on a roll, y'all! But also tired, so my roll has been short lived.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it - especially that adorable Doyle/Wynne moment, aww! 😍😍