Dangerous Encounters [Dangerous Fellows x Reader]

ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ【１１】

The sun was slowly rising up into the sky, glaring down at your sitting forms as you stared emotionless underneath the hazy rays. The faint meowing of a feline drew your attention as Leo slipped out of Hailey's arms and over to your ankles, swirling between them. You had never heard the group this silent before, able to hear a pin drop despite the spring breeze wafting through the air.

You sniffled quietly, rubbing a hand across your puffy eyes to rid of the salty tears that threatened to spill. Your vision remained downcast as Judy rubbed comforting circles into your back.

Tired of having a pity party, you rose from the concrete, looking to the rising sun. A deep sigh escaped from your lips. Leo mewed softly at your feet, walking his front paws up your leg to garner more attention. Scooping him up into your arms, you scuffed your runners to the edge of the building, glaring a hole through the hazy sun.

"Now we get up and move on... time and time again." You ended the cessation of discourse, muttering the last comment under your breath. Standing still, you didn't want to continue on. Come to think of it, you never wanted to leave your safe room. You didn't want any of this to happen. No stupid zombies, complicated feelings, desensitization. Closing your eyes, you had to will yourself to keep moving forward and step back from that rooftop edge.

Leo mewed softly in your arms, stealing your attention from the rustling of everyone getting ready. Giving him a gentle kiss on the head, you went to Hailey and grabbed his bag, tucking him safely into the travel pack. Facing the sun once again, you all continued to jump from rooftop to rooftop, stopping only to catch your breath or snack on something before resuming.

Soon enough, you had reached the end of the block of buildings, coming to face a simple fire escape tightly bolted into the brick siding. Leading them to your final destination, you all quietly walked down the numerous flights of stairs before reaching the cracked asphalt sprouting weeds. The others were talking amongst themselves as you stood still, scanning the area for any possible altercations—constantly wary.

"Alright, now that we've made it on the ground, we should all head over to the nearest shopping complex to gather supplies." Lawrence directed, finally sounding reasonable for once.

"Ah, (F/n)... would you happen to know where that is?" Sue inquired, turning to look at you.

"Oh come on! She's not one of us. Stop asking the new girl questions like she owns the world." The red-eyed bitch continued to dig... a truly selfish girl.

You chose to ignore her remarks, feeling like a blank slate after what you had just witnessed. "Yeah. Just head left and go straight down this street until 34th street, turn right on it and keep on walking until you see the outlets. Should take no longer than half an hour to get there." You explained.

"Alright. Let's get a move on." Emcee cheered modestly, linking arms with Judy as they trailed along with everyone else.

Yet, there you stood, glued to the pavement. You knew what needed to be done and turned the opposite direction, walking straight down the vacant street.

"Uh, why's (F/n) walking the other way?" Eugene glanced back at your retreating form, wanting to talk with you about what had just happened. Their group paused in series, two here, one now, three later, until the whole lot were watching as you slipped further away.

"Hey, (F/n). Where are you going?" Zion questioned, voicing the majority's united concern.

"What? You guys got what you wanted. It's time to go back to normal." You reasoned, slowing your pace.

"Wait, wait... hold on." Harry jogged over to you, placing a gentle hand onto your shoulder. "Why are you leaving us?"

"Leaving you?" Your voice grew heavy with heat. "I was never a part of your group. Even if I wanted to be, Lawrence and Scarlett gave me absolute hell. I'd die by them before this apocalypse is over." You spat out, growing more hostile and defensive with each passing second.

"What's the problem?" Zion came sauntering into your conversation.

"There's no problem." You quickly spoke.

"Yes—(F/n) is going to leave our group," Harry interjected, telling his spin of the truth.

"What? Why would ever you want to do that?"

"Oh really? Once you get your blonde plaything under control then we'll talk."

"Woah, no need to be-" Zion attempted to reason, pissing you off further.

"Oh just shut up already. I told you where to go, so run along." You pulled away from Harry's touch, marching onward to a new safe place.

"Come on, (F/n). You're a great asset to our group." Harry begged, violet eyes misting over in worry.

You let a deep sigh slip out, switching back to Harry. Placing a gentle hand on his cheek, you offered a soft smile. "Good luck." You nodded to him, turning away to escape. "Maybe I'll meet you all again someday in the future... have fun surviving."

And with that, you left down the street, hearing the vagabonds voice both concern and confusion from behind. You paid them no mind, needing to get a move on, seeing as your next destination was about an hour away walking—50 minutes if it was brisk.

So, bat in hand, you began your venture to a place of familiarity and hoped all would be good. Once you set up base, you'd need to head to the outlets as well. Hopefully, Lawrence's crew would be gone by then and you could finally go back to normal.

Well... as normal as things could get.

The majority of the trek was uninterrupted, only one or two zombies loitering around. They were easy to slip by without much trouble as long as you were silent. Worst-case scenario, you'd just have to sprint away from them for a little bit and they'd either be too slow or lose interest when you were far enough away.

The sun was now high in the sky, shining down on your heavy back as Leo mewed in annoyance. You coddled him silently, pointing to the tall building in the distance. You were close, able to see its strong chain-link fence. But as you continued to approach, something seemed off. The top of the fence was now lined with a haphazardly placed barbed wire that laced every inch. Another red flag was the large fence gates you had previously tied off with a rope to keep zombies out of was open, wide enough for any zombie to stumble through to get a quick bite to eat. Upon closer inspection, the rope was crudely cut, laying on the ground.

"What the fuck..." You muttered to yourself, used to talking aloud since communicating with other humans.

You couldn't take on zombies with poor Leo on your back. The noises he'd make in protest would crush your chances at survival. Letting a soft sigh slip through your nose, you had to devise a plan.

Starting with locating a safe room for Leo.