Chapter 14

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,

Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.

Jimi Hendrix – All Along the Watchtower

Sooo, this was weird.

Yep, Dan and I were totally in the middle of a make-out sesh. Nope, not the weird part. He tasted like whiskey and smoke. Still not maximum weirdness. I was enjoying it? Okay. Stopping brain functions before I neck myself.

I pushed him off me as soon as I came to that sudden realisation. My lips were still hot and our faces remained close. "Look dude," the talk? "I like your face, but pretty sure this is a bad idea." Smooth. Really smooth, Deon. So! The apocalypse has turned me into a total slut. I mean it's not like anything was happening with me and Drew, but the fact that I only just thought of him was pretty brutal. I mean, should I even care? It's not like relationships really exist anymore. What, find one dude and marry him later? Yeah, fair sure that shit won't be happening.

Dan was eyeing me with a mixture of lust and confusion. "Drew." He gave me a forced smile as he spoke. Apparently the word 'Drew' was also like poison in his mouth as Dan took another gulp of whiskey to wash out the taste.

I didn't really know how to respond. Because to be honest, I didn't know who I was really voting for. Two sexy zombie hunters: one crazy beans and the other angry beans. Um, I think I was hungry or something. There normally isn't so many bean references in my analogies. Soo, moving on. I huffed, "No. But we're both under the influence." I sounded like a guidance counsellor.

He laughed, his breath warming my flushed cheeks. "Fine." He nodded and took another gulp. borderline alcoholic here. "Let's do something else then." He smirked and I grinned back. Time for some high school style shenanigans!

:::

We crept down the stairs to the level below. Ken Foree and Owen Wilson were asleep on the couch and Lucy and Paul Newman were 'cuddling' in the corner under some blankets. I opened my mouth to start laughing but Dan stealthily closed his hand on my mouth before I could cackle. Weird reaction to seeing that, but whatever I blame the marijuana. I shoved Dan next to me and we continued to the next set of stairs. I was expecting to see Drew slumped over himself in sleep but the stairwell was empty. Weird? Tonight, weird is the word. Dan seemed to double take as well. "Where's hotshot?" he whispered in my ear as we started down the stairs.

I shrugged. The heck would I know? That boy was like a riddle wrapped in an enigma. If that makes sense. Again, not really caring right now, said the drugs and alcohol. We reached the landing of the stairs and unlocked the door. Wait, never mind. It was already unlocked. "Guessing Drew is outside somewhere." I said while stroking my chin, pretending I was Robert Downey Jr. Dan wrinkled his brow but laughed. Boy does this take me back to my 15 year old self!

We closed the door behind us with as quietly as any two drunk kids could. A quick glance at our surroundings presented no zombies but a salient figure was walking along the bike track that ran with the headland. "Hotshot," Dan smirked, re-messing up his already tussled hair. Woah, okay five second swoon action right there. He looked down at me seriously, "You can be Hoffs. I'll be Hanson." He nodded to himself and started towards the bike track.

Holy mother. Dan did not just 21 Jump street me! Other than my head momentarily imploding, I ran up beside him, "No way man. I'm straight up Penhall." Apparently I also felt it necessary to smack my chest in a manly fashion. Internal owwwch. Dan raised his brow and smiled, "Alright then. McQuaid brothers." And if the world wasn't ending I would have found a simultaneous McQuaid handshake crazy shit, but it happened. And the stalking began. (Insert mad scientist music).

Drew was pretty far ahead of us but we stuck to running through the shrubbery, apparently in ninja mode. It was pretty strange, I couldn't stop imagining why Drew was outside like this. Actually I think we were more in cop mode. Drew broke into a sprint, we had to up our pace to keep up with him. Dan shot me a confused glance from in front, but his expression was reflected by my own.

Dan suddenly stopped in front of me, causing me to collide into his back. His warm, muscular back. Holy shit there is something wrong with me. He moved to the side, throwing his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into view beside him. Through the bushes we could see Drew lifting off and stabbing a wandering zombie in the neck. The head of the monster rolled back to Drew and with a grunt he crushed it beneath his boot. "Huh." I whispered. Dan motioned for me to follow behind him and we followed Drew into the backyard of a nearby house.

We stood behind the wooden fence watching him break into the suburban looking home. "So I think we can rule out late night walk?" I turned to Dan, looking a little lost. What the fudge was Drew doing? Dan ran a hand through his hair and squinted, "Yeah, I don't know. But we can charge him on breaking and entering?" I giggled. Right, cop mode. Nodding to myself I smirked at Dan, "Dunno Hanson, I think we can make a better bust. I got a gut feeling." Dan rolled his eyes, "Typical Penhall."

:::

We jumped the neighbours fence and walked around to the front of the street. "Good call." Dan whispered from beside me as we saw Drew's outline disappearing down the street. We followed behind him at a safe distance, but I was slightly surprised by one little thing. Crouching behind a parked car and waiting for Drew to make his next move I turned to Dan, "Why is there like zero infected here?" He forced me to smile when he scrunched up his face and shrugged. I laughed quietly, "What was that, a Johnny Depp impression?" Dan flicked me, his face returning to its usual expressionless state. Back to cop mode. "He's going into the building." His eyes turned dark as he pulled out the handgun I didn't even realise he was holding.

"Dan?" My voice wavered as he looked back at me. He wore a softer expression and pulled me up, leading as we ran to get a closer look. My heart was pounding against my chest. How much whiskey had he consumed? I wasn't too sure whether this was situation I should be freaking out over. As we came closer I realised the building Drew had entered was a police station. Ironic, considering we were in cop mode. "Fuck," I heard Dan curse under his breath. I shook my head as we quickened our pace, what are you doing Drew?

We decided not to enter, but walked around the outside of the police station until we saw him through a window. He had a torch resting on the table beside him, illuminating most of the room. Apparently the artillery closet. Drew was equipping himself with two handguns and the open duffle bag at his feet revealed some scarier weapons. I could see Dan's grip on his .45 tighten. Not good, I'm sure this isn't what it looks like. I put my hand over Dan's and his monkey grip loosened. I mean, this is Drew we're talking about. He's saved me from becoming zombie chow several times now. And we wouldn't have even found Dan if it weren't for Drew believing in my suspicions against Spud. I owed him a lot. And that he was a freaking man god didn't drag down this argument.

Buuut, Dan didn't really see things like that. Maybe he was more of the Penhall. As we stood watching in confusion, Drew turned behind him and switched on the radio. "Dammit," I breathed. The window was closed. As Drew started talking into the radio we had no way of knowing what he was saying. Dan suddenly grabbed my shoulders and pulled me down against the wall. Wow, the instincts of this guy, like almost before Drew was even turning to look out the window. "Close." I smiled weakly, wiping my forehead. Dan shook his head, "We need to find out who he's talking to."

I rolled my eyes, "He's probably just searching the frequencies for other survivors or something. Drew's something of a compulsive hero." Dan ignored my last comment as his face froze. "What?" I whispered. Dan's hand grabbed mine the moment we heard gunfire from inside the police station. In a second I was pulled to my feet and following Dan down the street. I hardly had a chance to turn my head and see the army of undead following us. Like a giant-zombie-crunchy-nut-cluster. It looked as if the zombies had just begun walking, probably following some uninfected survivors, and more and more zombies had joined them as they continued walking. Because there had to be over a hundred walkers. "What about Drew?" I choked out as we ran. Dan cursed at the sound of more gunfire and stopped. He grabbed my shoulders again and brought his face centimetres from my own. "Please" I looked at him. His eyes were like ice as he spoke, "Fine." I was actually a little afraid of him at that moment. He looked murderous.

So, we started running back to the police station. Yep. The police station that stood surrounded by flesh-hungry zombies. Simply because I know Drew's a good guy. At least this might even the score a little.

Whatchya thinnnk, yay or nay for Drew? Reviews appreciated!