Law couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this tense during a scavenge outing.
Penguin had warned him earlier that morning that Natalya rarely spoke unless spoken to, and even then only answered with as few words as possible. That had certainly proved true. However, he hadn't imagined the distinct aura she gave off would be this...unsettling.
With barely a nod to acknowledge the other as they set off towards the warehouse, she'd kept completely silent along the way, not asking questions as to where their destination was, or how long it would take to get there. She didn't even ask what he was doing when he'd stop suddenly and just listen for any sign of a threat. Either she understood, or she just really didn't care.
He had a feeling that Candice or Brittany would have talked his ear off the whole way if they had been the ones to accompany him today. On second thought, he definitely preferred Natalya's silence to their incessant talking, even if she made him feel uneasy. This left him wondering how she had not come to be leader of their group all this time, as she seemed to be a lot more analytical and observant than either Brittany or Candice were.
The eyepatch covering one eye also put him off a bit. He didn't like not being able to see both of her eyes clearly, as he could normally tell someone's general feelings based on looking them in the eye. Another thing Penguin had mentioned was that she got very prickly when asked about it. Ok. One topic of conversation he would not be pursuing. He didn't need this trip getting any more uncomfortable than it already was.
Side-eyeing her as they walked beside each other down the edge of the road, he kept a firm grip on the hilt of his sword, which was still sheathed on his back. Unfortunately, despite his distrust of his companion, he couldn't afford to watch her the entire time for any funny business.
Both of them were keeping an eye out for the zombie horde that had mysteriously disappeared overnight. They'd woken up at least expecting a problem when it came to leaving their shelter, but other than a few stragglers, most of the horde had seemingly vanished. Brittany had been amused by the disappearing herd, but Law didn't find it so enthralling, worried that they'd run into them at some point during their outing today.
He listened keenly for any sign of the groans of the undead, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The background noise of wind and the odd growl or two were still present, but nothing he'd be overly concerned about. Natalya barely took her eyes off the path before them, falling just a half step behind Law and to his left to follow where he went.
It would still be an hour or so to walk to the warehouse, and he knew by the end of the day, he'd be mentally exhausted from being on guard for so long.
"...and normally I don't go off by myself, but I couldn't risk them getting away with our stuff. Candice and Natalya were busy holding back the zombies, so I couldn't ask them for help." Brittany continued with a shrug. "I had to strangle one guy and then shoot the other two, but they got off a few shots before I could kill them. One bullet hit the ground right next to me! Scared me shitless..."
Lexi nodded silently along as she listened to Brittany's tale of one of her many near-death experiences, but glanced around them nervously. "We should probably keep it down. Who knows where that big herd went?"
As always, Lexi's concern was waved away with one hand. "Don't worry, they probably all just separated and wandered off in a bunch of different directions. Plus, we can just climb a building and get to safety if we really have to."
"That'll just delay us getting there and getting back." She stated dryly, trying to determine where exactly their final destination was. None of the buildings surrounding them really gave away an answer, though, and she was left to wonder about it with no idea.
"It's not like I haven't gone through a big city like this before." She said with a grin. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing, Lex."
"Do you?"
"I've been right so far, haven't I?" She asked, glancing at her friend expectantly. "I mean, if not for me, we wouldn't have lived a day in that college dorm. Everyone running around trying to steal shit from other rooms, and then that crazy guy with the machete? My idea to push him over the stairs railing. You were basically catatonic. And I know for a fact you wouldn't have had the heart to do it. He would have just sliced us both to pieces."
Lexi felt shame and embarrassment run down her spine, and she shut up after that. If not for Brittany, she wouldn't be standing here right now, but that didn't mean she had to blatantly say as much.
Those first few days of the end of the world had been hard on Lexi, but she hadn't been catatonic. She'd been panicking, trying to think of the best solution to fix their multiplying problems as they came, and yeah maybe Brittany had come up with some answers first, but that didn't mean the brunette had been useless.
Or maybe she had...it'd been so long ago, it was hard to remember.
"When it comes down to it though, we need each other. We just balance the other out, like back in college, you know? I think that's what made us such a great team way back when."
"Mhmm." The brunette hummed noncommittally, deciding she didn't want to talk about the past anymore. But Brittany wasn't done.
"You know, I didn't want to say anything with the others around, so you didn't feel like I was putting you on the spot, but you should come with us when we leave." She gave her friend a winning smile. "I know things didn't work out the best the first time around, but you've had time to become accustomed to the way things are, and I think I've got an idea of what you were talking about.
"I said that we could make things work between our groups, but I realize that things can't continue this way for too much longer. Law doesn't trust us, and Candice and Natalya don't trust them. Sooner or later, one of us will have to leave if we want to avoid something ugly."
The black-haired woman shrugged, sighing deeply. "And now that I've found you, I'm not willing to just watch you walk away again. It hurt the first time, but it'll be worse the second. Please come with us."
Lexi's chest felt tight, both with anxiety and discomfort. This is exactly what she'd wanted to avoid. Having to say no to her long-time friend had never been easy, and now was no different. But she thought about where she was now and how far she'd come, all on her own and without the charismatic beauty to boot.
She tried her best to explain her thoughts tactfully. "You and I have been apart a long time, Brittany, and-"
"Well, yeah. Every reason to get back together."
"What I mean is..." She tried getting her thoughts back on track, hoping her friend wouldn't interrupt. "We're so different than how we used to be. I'm not the same Lexi, and I know you're not the same Brittany. And maybe that's a good thing when it comes to survival, but..."
Lexi sighed, still struggling to get her thoughts into order. "You have new friends to rely on and who rely on you. So do I. I don't know if I would be able to fit into your group now. Especially since I would already come from a group they don't trust."
"I'd make them deal with it, they wouldn't do anything if that's what you're worried about." She waved away her words nonchalantly, but Lexi just shook her head.
"It wouldn't ever be genuine though. We would all know it. And I can't live like that, always wondering if I'm actually a part of the group." Her arms crossed over her chest protectively.
"So, it's because of the others that you won't come with me?" She asked in a dejected tone, eyes narrowing just a little. And just as it had all the other times she'd used the same tone before, Lexi immediately felt guilty for having to deny her friend anything.
"It's not just...I'm only..." After a moment of being unable to find an answer, she eventually just shook her head and sighed. "I'll think about it, ok? No promises though."
A tiny smile returned to her face, but even Lexi could tell it didn't quite reach her eyes. "That's all I'm asking for."
A silence descended upon them for awhile, as the conversation had made things a bit awkward. Lexi didn't feel like discussing their past or possible future together. It only served to increase her stress. Instead, she went back to listening and searching for any sign of that missing herd. Thankfully, Brittany took notice of her mood and stopped talking about it for the time being, deciding that pushing any more would just worsen things.
They made their way further East into an area of the city Lexi didn't recognize. This zone contained more industrial-style buildings, high-rising factories and other production facilities. Many of the businesses seemed locally based, as none of the names were familiar to her. Mixed in with the more modern steel architecture were older worn, brick buildings, probably the city's original factories that had been left abandoned or had changed as the years went by.
"It should be at the end of the this street." Brittany said suddenly, turning right onto one of the branching off side-streets. Lexi followed, trying to determine where all the promised water could possibly be in this density of buildings. There didn't appear to be a lake or large water tank outside anywhere.
The sleek steel building at the end of the small road had a large sign as you approached the chain link fence surrounding it. The black letters introduced it as the Amanda Hills Spring Water Company. Lexi's eyes widened, surprised that she hadn't thought of finding such a place before. Obviously the machines inside would not be powered in order to function, but it was certain to have at least some sort of water tank or obvious holding area for the water they filtered.
"How'd you find this place?" Lexi asked out of curiosity, and Brittany shrugged, her casual grin back in place.
"We were hiding out from a large group of zombies and this was the most secure looking place around. Turned out to be way more useful than just a quick shelter. To be honest, we found this place like a week ago. Now we come here when we we're running low on water."
That piqued Lexi's interest. She hadn't even thought to ask until now. "How long have you guys been in the city?"
"Not sure...maybe a month or so."
Huh. Not the answer she'd expected.
Brittany lead Lexi through the main entrance of the facility then swung a left towards the bottling section, as marked by the directory sign on the wall. The polished laminate flooring ended once they reached the door to the processing area itself. They entered through a secure-looking door, which was now propped open with a brick Brittany's group had probably put there, and stepped into a large, open space. A metal balcony overlooked the interior.
Three large, steel tanks sat on the far side of the room, with a production line running off of each one. Hundreds of bottles in various stages of the bottling process were still connected to the belt, stuck in place since the building lost power. At the very end of the line were the rollers with the plastic wrapping that would have gone around a pack of 12.
"This is...incredible." Lexi noted with wonder, following Brittany as she brought her down to the ground floor.
"We were shocked too." She said, stepping onto the concrete floor of the production area. "Honestly, we used several bottles each to a few take showers outside, but we've been pretty careful about the rest. Didn't want to get greedy and start wasting any. Still, there are only so many. It won't last forever."
Lexi could barely believe the amount of water that this place contained. It was months worth, certainly. And the water contained within the steel tanks probably equalled hundreds of gallons each. If they could find a way to get them open without losing any of the water...Hell, maybe Law would rethink their nomadic lifestyle for this.
They walked over to one of the production lines and Brittany tossed a bottle her, which she caught eagerly. Opening up the cap, Lexi hesitantly took a drink, cautious how it would taste after so long, but all it was was warm water, just as it tasted back in the old days. Sighing in relief, she chugged the rest in no time, ignoring Brittany's amused chuckle.
"There's more where that came from. But we should focus on finding a way to bring some back to the office. It would take forever to just load up our bags, since they get heavy after just a few."
"Wouldn't be able to move a whole lot that way." Lexi agreed, looking around for anything they could use to transport more at one time.
"I saw a forklift in the back, and some extra gas cans in a storage closet upstairs. Maybe we could just drive it."
Lexi shook her head. "No, the noise would draw every zombie in the area to us. Plus, the gas is probably bad or evaporated by now. Maybe we can find something with wheels that we can push back."
"Ugh, I like my vehicle idea better." Brittany made a face, but then shrugged. "But I guess you're right. Come on, there are more rooms in here that we can search. They've gotta have something to move all these bottles, right?"
This magazine sucks...
Candice flipped through a few pages, trying to find a more interesting article in the dozens that the beauty edition contained, but the majority looked boring as hell. She didn't care how to lose 50 pounds in a month. Nor did she care about the 10 most attractive things a woman can do to win a man over in one date. Blah, blah, blah. Who actually gave a shit about these things anyway? Maybe ignored mid-40's wives who had nothing else better to do with their lives...
God, she wished she had her headphones and her ipod right about now. Even from her spot on the ground floor in front of the entrance, she could still hear those two idiots upstairs bickering between themselves. She couldn't hear every word, but the tone of voice was obvious. They'd been at it for hours, pretty much since Law and Brittany took their groups out to bring back more food and water.
Now it sounded like they were wrestling or something, bumping into the walls and floor and still bickering between each other. Unless they were, like, gay lovers and doing the deed. She blanched, shaking her head to get rid of that image.
Despite her best attempt to go back to the magazine for anything to pass the time, the noise from the boys upstairs made it hard to focus on anything. Letting it fall into her lap with a sigh, she glared up at the ceiling.
"Keep it the fuck down, won't you?" She called.
The noise stopped, and whatever they had been doing ceased. As long as they stopped bothering her, she didn't care what the fuck they did.
"Thank you..." Was her mumbled reply, thinking that they were seriously wastes of space. All of a sudden her angry mother appeared in her mind, continuing the same old argument they'd had going for months.
How do you expect to make friends when you're so bitter? Look at your brother, he's a ball of sunshine! I swear, sometimes I don't know how you're my child...
Candice bit her lip, finally conceding that she was being a bit too harsh on them. She didn't trust them, but they seemed capable enough. Sometimes they actually reminded her of her brother. So full of energy and able to talk a mile a minute...
If only she had been there. If only she hadn't left to search some stupid convenient store. If only she had found the razor under the mattress. Then maybe he wouldn't have managed to do such a thing while she wasn't there...Candice felt her lip quiver.
She forced herself to pick up the magazine again and start reading, no matter how mind-numbingly boring it might be. She didn't want to think about this any longer.
The warehouse looked exactly the same as how they had left it, boxes left open and sitting there with their contents bare. Law was glad to see that no zombies had made their way in overnight, as it was still empty and void of the guttural groaning of the undead.
"Over here." Law said, the first words between them since leaving the office building. Natalya followed without comment as he lead them towards where the food had come from.
She gazed at all of the opened boxes, wondering how long it had taken them to get through it all. No wonder they had been tired after returning from their run yesterday. "You wasted a lot of time here." She remarked, surprising the man.
He shrugged after a second. "Nothing was marked. It was that or just randomly guess, which would have been just as efficient."
She nodded, accepting his answer. After passing by several aisles of stuff, they came across one where only one box was opened and sitting in the middle of the floor. Peering inside confirmed her suspicions. This had been where they'd found their food.
"This is all we definitively found." Law stated, gesturing to the box. "We're assuming the rest contain similar things, but there's no way to tell unless we open them up."
Natalya grabbed her knife from her belt, not missing the fact that her male companion tensed as she did so, and grabbed the next box in the line. "Let us find out, then."
She felt eyes on her back the whole time she cut away at the tape, until it eventually popped open. She pushed the flaps aside and was pleased to see more packages of the jerky they'd found before. Her face was carefully kept neutral, though.
"That's relieving." Law muttered, walking over to the opened box from the day previously and lifted one side to test the weight. "With both of us carrying a side, I think we can manage to take back the rest as is."
Sounded simple enough. It might take longer to traverse the same way back, but with food in tow, there was no reason to complain. She nodded, but then he shook his head to himself, thinking.
"But I don't know how we're going to split it evenly, seeing as our groups aren't the same size. Bringing it all back as one unit might just cause problems. If we could divide it up between two boxes..."
"You do not trust my group." Natalya said suddenly, watching as he met her eyes.
"No. I don't." He said without hesitation. She appreciated the fact that he was at least honest about it. Liars were her least favorite people. It was refreshing to be told the truth, even if it wasn't what someone wanted to hear. In that case, he deserved the same honesty.
"Good. You shouldn't." When he raised a brow, she continued with crossed arms. "Promises are easily broken, and loyalty only goes so far as to benefit yourself now. Deals made today might be inconvenient tomorrow, and we'd have no problem resorting to killing to fix it.
"Someday, she may think of Candice and I as liabilities, and would do what she needed to do to better her chances, whatever that involved. As would Candice. And as would I." She finished, expression never changing from the cold, neutral slab that it was.
"You're fine with following the lead of someone like that?"
Her eyes narrowed, thinking back on a memory. "That's the risk of not being alone. And I am no stranger to betrayal."
The brutal truth made him take pause, and he mulled over what she'd said, staring down into the box with measured restraint. "So that's what Brittany is really like?"
Natalya nodded. "Ruthless when needed. Which is why you'd better hope your friend rejects her offer to join us."
"And why is that?" Law questioned, narrowing his eyes. Natalyta only shrugged.
"Your friend does not seem the dishonorable type. She's naive and kind. The way we do things, she wouldn't last a week."
Law only stared at her, but she broke their gaze and went off to find smaller boxes they could each carry for themselves. Hopefully that would solve the problem with dividing things up equally.
The noise of the small wheels rolling across the road's pavement was a lot louder than Lexi had anticipated. She grit her teeth every time they hit a crack or a bump in the road, glancing up at the stacked packs of water to make sure they wouldn't fall. Thankfully, their weight alone kept them pretty steady, but it would be an absolute pain to have to try to maneuver one of them back on the top of the stack. They definitely weren't light and doing so out in the open like this wasn't on her list of things to do.
"Let's just hope we don't hit a down-hill slope." Brittany chuckled, right beside the brunette and pushing the stack of water along with her.
Just the mental image of watching their hard-earned water roll away down the hill and bowl over a handful of zombies made Lexi bark out a short laugh, but their task at hand leeched whatever humor there was out of it and she went back to just pushing it.
Brittany detached from pushing to decapitate a zombie that was getting a bit too close for their liking. It's headless body collapsed to the pavement and she went back to helping push the pallet. They'd been lucky so far and hadn't come across any large groups, but Lexi wasn't holding her breath on that.
The rolling pallet they'd found to move the water wasn't ideal, and obviously wasn't intended for a paved road. It had been easy enough on the smooth stone of the factory floor where they'd loaded it, but on the rougher texture of the pavement it wasn't holding up so well. The effort required to get it moving and to keep it that way increased.
Though the general temperature outside was cooler since autumn was in full swing, the heat of the afternoon sun still beat down on them unrelentingly. Sweat stuck her shirt to her skin, and Lexi tried fanning her collar a little to get some cooler air down there. She could feel it even in her bra, right under her breasts, and it was uncomfortably sticky. She shifted her torso, trying to provide it some sort of relief, but nothing worked. She gave up after that.
"I'm sweating fucking buckets, holy hell." Brittany muttered, quickly swiping her forehead with her forearm. "Didn't think it'd get this hot."
"Just a little more to go, I think. Then we can get inside and out of the sun." Lexi panted, hoping that the office interior was at least a little cooler than the ambient temperature out here. It was one of the only things keeping her going without cursing up a storm along the way.
"I'm just looking forward to having some of that liquor we found." Her companion grumbled, head hanging with effort.
Hidden in one of the drawers of a higher-up's desk had been a small crate of alcohol. Brittany had gotten a kick out of realizing that someone had been an alcoholic and chronic work drinker at some point, and that they'd probably been saving some of them for really stressful occasions. There were several assorted bottles, enough to get them all wasted, as she'd crudely put it. Lexi hadn't disagreed when she'd grabbed it and stacked it at the very top of the pallet, though. They could all probably use a drink.
The journey back was taking twice as long as getting there had been. They rounded the corner to the street where previously, the herd of zombies had been lingering nearby to the office. There were no sign of the herd, but there were still a few stragglers wandering aimlessly in the sun, no intended purpose in their direction of travel.
As they grew closer, another handful could be seen closer to the entrance of the office, in an aggravated state. Their noise and aggression was drawing others to the area. Several spotted the two women and began shambling towards them eagerly.
"Fuck..." Lexi muttered, realizing the predicament they were in. "We've gotta hurry and kill them, or we'll have another herd on our hands soon."
"Leave the water here for now, we can come back for it." Brittany advised, and both girls slowed the pallet to a stop.
Lexi pulled her knife from her belt, walking up on the closest undead. It growled coarsely, arms outstretched to grab onto whatever it could of her. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of rotting meat, then lunged forward and stabbed it from the side, the blade burying itself in it's head. Blackish fluid splattered onto her hand, warmed by the sun's rays.
The thing immediately went limp and collapsed to the ground, but another two took it's place soon after. She back stepped several feet to give her some space, flicking the blood off her blade before planting her foot in the chest of one and shoving it to the ground. Her knife found itself through the eye socket of the second dead thing just as it was about to grab for her.
The sounds of aggravated zombies filled her ears, as more discovered the two living beings in the area. She glanced Brittany's way, seeing her slicing off heads with her machete with ease, a casual grin in place on her face. Lexi winced, still unsettled by her apparent love of killing. Sure, they may be dead now, but they were still people. There was no reason to take pleasure from slicing off their heads.
Lexi crouched and stabbed the fallen zombie's head before it could push itself to it's feet. It's guttural groan was cut off midway, and it went limp. She straightened, huffing out a breath and then took stock of the situation.
Shit. There were more zombies replacing the ones they'd killed, and then some. There were as many as twenty of them now, lurching and grumbling them with hunger. A few started getting a bit too close to Brittany for Lexi's liking, and she sprinted over to assist.
"Brittany, behind you." She called a moment before taking out the first undead with her knife. The black-haired woman spared a glance behind her, realizing that she'd been close to getting overtaken, and then focused again on the two zombies in front of her.
"Thanks." She said.
"There are too many, we have to get to the office and ditch the water here." Lexi spit, kicking another zombie away from her. Three more appeared from behind it. It was no use. They were easily outnumbered. "Let's-"
"You grab the water. We'll cover you."
Lexi was startled as Law's sword swung into her vision and stabbed the zombie in front of her straight through the head. The sword's point stuck out the other side, nearly taking out the zombie beside it, but not quite.
Candice, Natalya, and Shachi were all actively killing the zombies who came in close to the office entrance, providing enough manpower to keep the growing numbers at bay. For now. They must have seen the girls from the window and run to help. Law caught her eye.
"Go."
The brunette shoved her knife into her belt, unfortunately getting it dirty with zombie blood. She'd worry about it later. "Right."
Ducking past a stray zombie on her left, she ran back towards the pallet of water they'd managed to roll all this way. She set herself behind it and pushed, digging the toes of her shoes into the roadway to give her the traction needed to get it rolling again. It was much heavier without Brittany to help, but she managed, and it steadily began rolling foot by foot towards the office building.
The entrance was still about 150 feet ahead. Zombies were coming from all alley ways and streets around them, but the others had formed a protective screen around Lexi, blocking any from getting close to her and slowing them down. She was grateful, but couldn't take a moment to voice it, so silently focused on her job instead.
"I've got 4 over here!" Candice called, prompting Shachi to step next to her to help.
All the brunette could hear were the increasing number of groans, and the grunts of the others as they sliced them down, one by one. It seemed they were on even footing, keeping the dead at bay, but more still came to take their places. For several minutes it went on this way.
"20 more feet." Law finally called out to her, reassuring that she was nearly done. Her breaths were heavy and quick, already having been tired from getting it this far before. She was close to complete exhaustion now. The muscles in her arms were quivering. They'd be sore after all was said and done.
Finding a little more energy to finish the job, she grit her teeth and managed to roll the pallet until it bumped against the wall beside the door to the office. Now they'd just have to get it all inside.
Confident that the others could handle the zombies for a little while longer, she rushed to open the door and stepped up on the pallet to take the crate of alcohol off first. The bottles clinked together as she jogged inside, setting them gently down on the floor before rushing back outside to bring more in.
There were 6 packs of water in total that Brittany and her had managed to place on the pallet confidently, two stacks of 3. Anything more would have been too heavy to move, and would run the risk of falling over in transit. Starting from the top and working her way down, she systematically transported them from the pallet to the interior of the office, keeping an eye on the others to make sure they didn't need any help. Though, the best help she could give was getting these damn packs inside as quickly as possible.
"How are we looking?" Shachi asked breathlessly, glancing her way after killing another zombie.
"Just 1 more!" Was her equally breathless answer. She heaved up the last pack and stumbled inside, letting it hit the floor a little harder than the others out of relief for having finished her job. "That's it!"
"Everyone, get inside! We'll have to fortify the entrance barricade, so find something sturdy." Law instructed, letting the others fall back, using the far reach of his sword to his advantage to keep the zombies back. One by one they retreated, until he was the last. With a mighty heave, he sliced through several zombies' heads, killing four in a single instance, before darting back and slamming the door shut before any of their hands could block the doorway.
Four hours had gone by and the mob outside their door continued to bang against any surface they could to try to reach the occupants inside. The door had been barricaded with a wall from one of the cubicles upstairs, blocking anything from seeing or entering while it was standing. Of course, so long as a dozen of them didn't break through the door and push against it at once, it would hold. In front of that was also a heavy metal desk they'd dragged over to provide support.
The few windows that overlooked the front of the building had to be covered with posters and large sheets of paper, to block the zombies' line of sight on them. This made the likelihood of further aggravating the zombies outside slim, but also made the inside so much darker than before, bringing with it a feeling of gloom.
The day had been a great success, supply-wise; they had food and water enough for weeks of survival without needing to leave their shelter, however, the sudden threat at their doorstep was a stark reminder that things weren't easy anymore. Lexi tried not to let the sounds outside bother her, but even focusing on her rubik's cube wasn't enough to block the groans and dull thumps from the forefront of her mind.
Law appeared from the stairway, looking worn out. He'd finished moving their share of the supplies up to the second level where they slept, still not trusting the others to burn through their portion when he wasn't looking.
Brittany's right in one regard. Things won't work if they continue like this.
He trekked his way over and sat beside her with a sigh, leaning his head against the wall behind them. Lexi could understand. After that last bout of pushing and moving the packs of water, her whole body felt spent and sore. Not to mention the pain in her feet from having walked so long. She was sure hauling all the food in those boxes hadn't been an easy task either. In fact, they were all exhausted.
He must have noticed the way she was staring towards the entrance with a far-off stare. "They shouldn't be able to break through those barricades." He reassured in a quiet voice. She shook her head.
"I know. But they sure as hell will be there awhile."
Law's head nodded slowly. "Until they lose our scent or forget about us. And then we'll have to wait for something else to catch their attention and disperse them. I have a feeling we won't be able to leave the building for awhile."
She hummed, too tired to offer up any further conversation. Her eyes closed of their own volition, and all she could think about was a long nap. Not even the sound of approaching footsteps made her open them.
"Hey." Penguin said quietly, and she finally opened her eyes to see the bottle of Disaronno he held out to her. "Figured we could all use some after today."
She took it without thinking, screwing off the lid and tipping it back to get a taste. It burned going down her throat, but she powered through, savoring the aftertaste of faint almond as it went. Lexi went to hand it back to her, but he waved his hand.
"I'm staying sober tonight. I had my fair share the other day." He said, so Lexi handed the bottle to Law, who hesitantly took it. "You guys look like you need it though."
"You'll keep an eye on things?" He asked, and Penguin nodded, knowing that he wanted someone still with their sense intact to watch Brittany's group, just in case. Otherwise, Law wouldn't feel comfortable partaking in any alcohol himself. He wouldn't be caught dead throwing caution to the wind like that around her.
Penguin wandered off to sit next to his friend, who was holding his own bottle of scotch. The other females were switching off between a few bottles of their own, huddled close together and talking quietly amongst themselves further away. Even Brittany seemed subdued compared to her normal, social self. She sat against the opposite wall, looking nearly asleep.
Satisfied, Law took a much larger swig of the Disaronno than Lexi did, gulping it down without so much as a wince. Lexi was impressed, and happily took the bottle when he passed it her way. She wouldn't need a lot to get drunk. It had been so long since she'd had alcohol of any kind, and it had never taken a lot to get there anyway.
Lexi had never really drank for the explicit reason of getting drunk. It was always just a supplementary effect from a party or social function, usually one that Brittany dragged her to. But tonight, she just wanted to feel nothing for a moment, wash away the aches and pains in her body with the warm, fuzzy feeling of a buzz, and let tomorrow come as quickly as it could. They had no obligations the next day, so she might as well take the time available to relax and drink.
Back and forth the bottle went, slowly depleting as Lexi and Law downed the contents. The back of her throat burned unpleasantly, but she could already start to feel her fingers and toes tingle, a sign that the alcohol was kicking in. Other than Penguin, the others did the same. Candice was giggling about something that Brittany said, swaying a little where she sat with the whiskey bottle still in hand.
Shachi just looked more tired than before, practically falling asleep against the wall. Penguin kept a tired eye on everyone, vigilant as he'd promised he would be. The darkness was ever-present now, and Brittany still had enough sense to turn on a lantern.
By the time the bottle was nearly 3/4's empty, Lexi's drunk personality began to show through. Her mind wandered to many things, not focusing on one thing long enough to really make sense of her own train of thought. Some were of things before, and of Brittany and Law and Shachi and Penguin, or even the women from Damien's camp who she'd grown sort of close to while in captivity. She tried not to think about that too much, knowing it would just kill her mood entirely for the night.
But for some reason, she couldn't seem to shake the dumbest thing, which was that she hadn't explored the third floor of the office for herself. Of course, Law and the others had searched it for any zombies or supplies, but she'd stuck to the first two floors exclusively, having no need to go up there.
And for some god damn reason, she really wanted to go up there. The alcohol was fueling her innate curiosity and sheer desire to see what was up there, and it made her smile.
After taking one more drink from the bottle, which was now almost empty, she passed it back to Law and shakily rose from her seat against the wall.
"Where're you going?" Law slurred, eyes narrowed as he tried seeing her in the orange light. It was getting a little difficult to, as his vision was slightly impaired.
"'pstairs. Lookin' 'round." She said lengthily, managing to keep her balance as she wandered over towards the stairwell. Brittany's group didn't seem to notice or care that she was leaving the space, but Penguin's eyes followed her. He looked over to Law, about to ask if he wanted him to go with her, but he was already standing to his feet to go after her himself.
The hatted man wasn't sure what they were doing, but figured Law and Lexi could handle themselves. For all he knew, they were just tired and were heading to sleep. That was most likely, considering how exhausted everyone was.
Law found Lexi stumbling her way up the stairwell, passing the second floor where their stuff was. He frowned, grabbing onto the railing for support when the world seemed to shift for just a moment. The noise of his shoes on the floor made her turn, and she held out a hand to balance herself against the wall.
"Why're you following me?" She asked with an amused smile, and he finally pulled himself up to the same step she occupied.
"Shouldn't wander off by yourself." He said, clearly drunk but still with enough sense left to know that it wasn't safe to be by yourself where no one else knew you were. "Where're, you goin' anyway?"
"Upstairs." She pointed towards the third floor, as if her destination had been obvious this whole time. "Wanna see what it's got."
Before waiting for him to respond, she started up the steps again, concentrating hard not to trip over her own feet. They both made it to the 3rd floor landing, and she pulled open the door after a moment to steady herself.
The 3rd floor held the more corporate offices and several conference rooms, from what Law could remember of their initial sweep of the building. It was the highest of the floors, which made sense. Management typically liked to preside above their lesser counterparts.
The brunette wobbled her way over to the nearest office she could find, trying the handle to the door but it wouldn't budge. In the dim light, Law could still see her pout of displeasure. It made him grin, and she went off in search of an office that wasn't locked.
"This place 's huge." Lexi said randomly, already lost in the hallways that crisscrossed this floor.
"Not really. You're just drunk." Law remarked, which caused her to laugh comically.
"Veerryy..."
The third handle she tried gave way and allowed her to enter a large office space. It was dusty, another sign of the passage of time around them, but otherwise looked very ornate and luxurious as far as offices went. The desk was wide and made of a dark brown wood, with an assortment of fancy office supplies sitting upon the surface and a plush rolling chair tucked into it's open space beneath.
Behind it sat a large bookshelf lined with files and binders filled with paper, probably containing important business documents that no longer mattered. A coatrack occupied one corner, with what had been a fishtank opposite from the desk. Now, the murky waters looked nearly black thanks to the decaying remains of whatever fish had once lived in it. Thankfully the lid of the tank was still secured, otherwise it would have filled the place with a foul odor.
"Aww, poor fishies..." Lexi cooed quietly, then went over to the desk on unsteady feet. "Everything's so fancy..."
"Prob'ly some overpaid...executive." Law stumbled on his words, having to really think about what he'd been trying to say. He peered around the room, blinking several times to try to clear the blurriness in them, but it wouldn't go away. He opted to lean against the doorframe to keep steady and in one place.
"What's this 'sposed to be?" The woman mumbled, picking up a small abstract sculpture that had been sitting on the corner of the desk. She turned it every which way, squinting at it as if it were the hardest puzzle in the world and her life depended on the answer. "Kinda looks like a ferret."
"A ferret?" He questioned dubiously, and she nodded seriously.
"Yeah, it's all...long and wiggly." She explained, and he laughed.
"That doesn't make any sense." Lexi adopted a wide grin.
"You're face doesn't make any sense."
"That doesn't make any sense either."
The brunette broke into a fit of giggling, and she dropped the sculpture onto the ground, stepping over it to sit in the middle of the desk, her legs dangling over the edge. "It looks like one of those sitcoms where the big boss s'duces the secretary or something. All the books and the pricey stuff..." She mused, her eyes traveling all over the room.
Now that she mentioned it, he could agree, eyeing the desk in a different way, grinning slightly. "Even the desk looks jus' big enough to fuck someone on, heh."
The moment the words came out of his mouth, he regretted them. Sort of. Lexi might have laughed heartily in response, seemingly in agreement with his statement, but he suddenly couldn't get the image of her in particular on that desk, completely naked, out of his head...
It was just high enough that he'd line up perfectly with her entrance, and her breasts would bounce with every thrust. No obstructions to the view of her body, and she'd cry out his name, begging him to go deeper-
Some tiny part of him that still had a hold of his senses ripped him from his daydreaming ringing every mental alarm it could, and he swallowed thickly. Thankfully it was too dark for her to notice the growing bulge in his pants, and he looked away quickly, his face hot. Fuck, he shouldn't be thinking about her like that, but the more he tried avoiding it, the worse it became, until he rubbed at his eyes to try erasing it from his memory somehow. Nothing helped.
His heart felt like it pounded a million times a minute, and his hands were suddenly shaky. He wanted her. He fucking wanted her. Sober Law could probably name a thousand reasons why going over there and ripping her clothes off was a bad idea, but Drunk Law was quickly forgetting them, one after the other, rapidly nearing the end of the list the longer he stood there staring at her.
Unaware of his change in mood, Lexi hopped off the desk and took a second to stop swaying, before heading towards the door. "Le's keep going." She announced, grabbing his wrist and dragging him back out the room.
They made their way through a few more offices and conference rooms, seeing nothing else noteworthy that Lexi felt the need to stop for. Law was struggling to get his head on straight, though the brunette hadn't yet noticed anything was amiss with her companion, and he was taking great lengths to keep it that way. He didn't think he could hold back if she started asking uncomfortable questions.
"'m tired..." She eventually declared, rubbing at her eyes sleepily and with a little more drunkenness in her steps. "...need some sleep..."
"Ok." He said, not minding one way or another what they did. He was still struggling with his thoughts and just needed a distraction. He followed her towards the stairwell to go back to the 2nd floor, having a bit more trouble going down the stairs than they had previously going up. He'd even had to reach out and grab her arm when she'd nearly taken a tumble.
They managed to maneuver themselves to the 2nd floor landing, then through the door, and Lexi unceremoniously collapsed to the carpeted floor beside her blanket and backpack, splaying out lazily with closed eyes.
"Mmmm..." she hummed, stretching out her arms and arching her back to pop the joints that felt out of place, eyes closed in bliss, "That feels good..."
Mmmm...you feel so good...Harder...
Law blinked the mental image away. The group leader stared down at her lithe figure, shaky breaths releasing all of his pent-up thoughts one puff at a time. His eyes traced her slim wrists to her shoulders, then further to the sides of her breasts, then her hips, all the way down to her thighs, which rubbed together as she stretched, and the last shred of his reasoning broke in a heartbeat.
Law wanted her.
Lexi's tired eyes snapped open as she felt Law's body settle itself beside her, and they were met with an intense lust behind those gray orbs she'd grown to care for, his face flushed with the alcohol or embarrassment or maybe a mixture of both. In her own drunken stupor she couldn't tell nor did she really care to know. All that mattered was the flaming need he pierced her with in his eyes alone.
His hands were planted on either side of her head, keeping him an arm's length away, but everything in his heady expression screamed that he wanted to be so much closer. Pupils wide with desire, staring into her face like he was barely restraining himself...Lexi could do nothing other than stare up with anticipation and a growing excitement.
Lexi's hands grabbed gently at his shirt, pulling him closer a few inches. Warm, panting breaths mingled in the shrinking space between them. The thick scent of alcohol was potent on their breath, and that alone should have made them think twice about what came next, but her ever-present attraction to this man was too intoxicating to resist.
Her arms wrapped around his neck as Law's lips crushed against hers in a sloppy, uncoordinated union. Fast, hard, and unforgiving. Drunk, both from alcohol and their carnal needs. Teeth clicked against each other as their lips moved in no particular order, breaths stolen in between wherever they could take them. Lexi felt one of his hands slide down her chest, unapologetically sweeping past her breast in doing so. Arching her back, she whimpered with the spark of pleasure it shot through her, and he swallowed it greedily.
Desperate hands maneuvered her legs apart. Their pelvises fit together and he leaned his body over hers, pressing her further into the floor with his weight. His teeth bit down on her bottom lip, dragging it slowly before claiming her mouth as his once more. Within her boots, her toes curled enticingly. One of her hands slid itself through his unruly, black hair, the other trailed down below his shirt to feel the hard contours of his chest. She'd long wanted to touch him like this, fantasizing just how firm his toned body would be beneath her fingers.
She felt his shiver at her touch, an appreciative groan accompanying it, and he gave her breast a firm squeeze in return. With a gasp, she broke away. Drunken fingers pulled eagerly at the hem of his shirt, trying to reduce the amount of layers between them. He pushed himself away from her just enough to help take his shirt off entirely, tossing it beside them carelessly.
His lips descended onto her jaw, pressing needy kisses against her skin, alternating in no discernible pattern to licking his way along the skin of her neck. Her fingers left trails of fire against his skin as she touched him, flicking her thumbs along his nipples when he growled in her ear. He couldn't get enough of her taste, of her scent, and the way she let out those little cries just for him. They'd fuel his dreams for weeks, he was sure.
Her head was spinning, feeling dizzy and so wholly not in control. When he fumbled hastily with the buttons of her shirt, trying to get it off of her so he could feel her skin against his, she assisted as best she could in her drunk state. They managed to undo the last button and he yanked the two sides apart, baring her bra-clad breasts to him.
Her breath caught as his lips traveled down from her neck, through the valley of her breasts and just above her belly button, lavishing her skin with his sloppy kisses. His hands squeezed the cups of her bra, and she moaned aloud, arching her back to allow him to do it again.
Lexi dragged his face back up to hers and lead them in another passionate, drunken kiss. Her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling their centers closer. He rocked into her, his hard member pressing right up against where she wanted him most through his jeans and her pants, and he let out a guttural moan, deep in his throat at the friction it caused. Once more he repeated the action, pushing her into the short carpet, feeling an unbridled need to rid them both of the rest of their clothes and fuck her already.
They both froze and tore apart, staring at the stairwell hallway when they heard loud voices from the floor below, and suddenly reality came crashing down onto them like an ice bath.
Wide eyes stared at each other, confused and terrified by what they'd almost done, and they both struggled to replenish their air supply, sucking in heaving breaths. The shock and fear of being discovered had leeched whatever had lowered their inhibitions from their systems, leaving them both feeling much more sober and of sound mind than they had been moments ago, caught in the throws of...whatever that had been. Enough of their good sense had returned that they could recognize just how close they'd come to crossing a line they could never return from.
Neither of them were brave enough to say anything, afraid that what came out would be the entirely wrong thing. Unwittingly, they'd thrown whatever relationship they had into a minefield, neither sure of the correct path back to normal.
Lexi's hands gently pulled away from his chest, settling beside her on the floor, her legs releasing his waist a moment later. Law stared at her opened shirt, splayed out so he had full access to her chest. Just one more layer and there would have been nothing left between them.
Silently, he swallowed back his rising shame and slowly began to button up her shirt from the bottom up. She only watched with a sad expression, knowing that they were both desperate to back track from what had clearly been several mistakes compiled into a few minutes of uncharacteristic and regretful behavior. They both clearly were trying to apologize by eye contact alone, hoping it would be enough to fix all this.
She reached over and retrieved his shirt, and he pulled it back on without so much as a word. No longer able to meet her eyes, he backed away quickly, leaving them both feeling this emptiness where previously they'd been pressed against one another. She missed the way his body felt holding her down, but knew better than to voice such a thing.
Lexi's eyes watched as he retreated over to his spot and laid with his back to her, ending whatever had just happened between them. Despite being only a few feet away, she'd never felt so distant to him before, and a cold feeling washed over her. Turning so her back was also to him, she fought back the tears and rested her head against her backpack, curling into a ball under her thin blanket.
Things had gone so terribly wrong, in so short a time.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
