Chapter Text
The whole group was walking together through the ruins if the city. They had all decided they needed to explore more if they wanted to get to all the good trash before anyone else did. Many other alliances had started to form and settled down in some of the buildings that still looked semi decent, and that only meant one thing, more rivalries between those Who were still alive, and, subsequently, more trouble for them.
The whole place was starting to get eaten by the forest, and Wild animals had started roaming around more often. Gorbach swore he Saw a group of deer the other day, but the others didn't look too surprised. He always had good hand with animals, they followed him around like he was a Disney princess, singing to the birds in the fakest falsetto voice.
After walking for about half an hour under the trees and The neighbourhoods that had been destroyed by the military trying to stop the first hordes of infected, they came across a small lake that had formed from rainwater acumulating inside the crater an explosive had created in the cracked grey concrete of the street. A few frogs were croaking inside, and there was lots of Wild grass growing around It.
After checking that there wasn't any infected around, or corpses floating in the pond, they all agreed to relax there for a while and take the oportunity to finaly wash themselves after all the time they had spent acumulating dirt.
They all started undressing, hanging their clothes on a nearby branch. Sphinx took off his prosthetics with the help of the others, the last think he needed was for them to get all rusty. Red, on the other hand, refused to take off his glasses, even to swim.
-You look stupid, completely naked except for those goddamn glasses.
Chimera said to him, as she helped take off Macedonski's old sweater and unbutton his jeans.
-Says the one Who's stripping a Zombie down to his boxers! He already gets his pants dirty all the time from dragging them in the mud, and His sleeves are caked with drool from how much He sucks on them, i don't know why you even bother.
Ginger laughed loudly, picking Up Blind's clothes, as he had already been stripped naked way less gently by the others, as he wouldn't stop moving, even with two people holding him down. No matter where his clothes were, or if He was off leash, the muzzle had to stay on.
-Stop picking on her, Red! I think it's cute. I would do the same to you if you were a zombie.
Red starts obnoxiously fake-gagging.
-Ewwww!! That's gross!
He turned to the others, Who were already jumping into the pond.
-If i ever get turned, keep my body away from this maniac!
He points to his sister in a pretty accusatory way.
They all started laughing, getting into the water one by one. Mermaid just stayed quiet, slipping down until her whole body was underwater.
They all laughed and played in the water for a long while, splashing and tackling eachother playfully.
There were footsteps in between the bushes by the pond, Which made them all freeze in place, looking at the source of the noise.
Two people appeared, with one of them cutting the tall weeds around them until they had full view of the pile of naked people staring back at them from the pond.
-Fucking hell!
Shouted one of them, the same man Who had scammed them just a few weeks before. The other half of the pair, a chubby Young woman, about twenty years old, with wavy blonde hair and Burn scars that matched his, squinted her good eye a bit, confused about what they were seeing.
She was barefoot, wearing a stained White dress that came all the way to her ankles, which was difficult, since she towered over everyone there, even Sphinx. Despite the thick cracked lenses she was wearing, It was pretty clear that she was mostly blind, and, when she got Closer, they all noticed she smelled strongly of chamomille and smoke.
-What are you doing here?
She asked as she kneeled by the pond, her Voice way softer than her companion's.
-calm down, we were just exploring.
Sphinx says, like he wasn't just standing there naked and armless, and holding an equaly naked Blind as best as he could so he doesn't just on any of the two strangers and maul them.
-Yeah.
Rat adds, sounding completely neutral.
-Is this your territory of something?
She doesn't sound pleased at all, looking the Curly-haired man in the eyes.
-For your information, yes, this is out territory and this is OUR pond, and i don't want people like you marinating in the water we drink like you're a bunch of sardines, get a grip.
He spits out those words like they were poison, his usual cocky smile gone and his palé face milimeters away from the others'.
The blonde rested a hand on her friend's shoulder calmly.
-Hundred, it's alright. They probably didn't even know...
He sighs loudly. Rolling his only remaining eye and massaging his temples, seemingly done with everyone's bullshitz but trying to follow her advice and not stress himself about It.
-Alright... Let's start from the begining...
He looks at the others, Who were quietly watching the conversation, then back at the blonde girl, with the most intentionaly fake-looking shit-eating grin on his face.
-Salem, these are the morons i talked to you about. The others Who somehow Got a hold of blind's body and are parading him around like... Like a pet.
The girl got Closer to Sphinx and Blind, walking through the wáter and cupping the black-haired zombie's hand between her soft hands. He kept trying to bite her flesh, but the muzzle didn't let him.
-It's you...
Sphinx pulled him away.
-Get away from him! I don't know what you both know about him, but we won't let you take him, Maybe you should have cared better for him if they didn't want him to lose his loyalty to you and leave you for someone else.
-You literaly keep him nuzzled and on a leash, that's not loyalty, you're just controling him!
The one-eyed Guy looks incredibly angry and has to be stopped by his friend before he gets into a phisical fight with Sphinx.
-It's okay, i'll take It from here, just calm down and, please, Hundred, let's not do anything we might regret later.
She shared the same oppinions as him, the muzzle was very obviously necesary, as he was a severe bite risk, but part of It felt inhumane to her. She was used to It, feeling bad for all infected, but she knew her friend's harsh feelings came more from the fact that It was blind Who had been turned, their friend Blind.
-Listen, This has all been a Big misunderstanding. We knew Blind before he got turned, He was our friend. One day, we got ambushed and had to Split Up. When me and Hundred found eachother again, he wasn't anywhere, and we had been looking for him ever since.
She sounded genuine, and her tone was way calmer than Hundred's.
Red looked at them through his glasses, still a bit skeptic.
-Alright, alright. Now that we have Heard your little sob story, tell me, Who the fuck are you supposed to be? We already know your friend the scammer, and The black cat Who travels with you both, but we don't have a clue about you or where you come from.
She looks at him.
-You can call me Salem..
She smiles at them.
They all introduce themselves as their Nicknames, including Macedonski.
Hundred still looks at them warily, but Salem is as kind as ever, listening to their stories and explaining that they usualy travel a lot, as keeping a nomadic lifestile is safer, considering Hundred's line of work, but they recently decided to build their own little settlement nearby, and that they were boiling the water of the pond every time they needed It to be drinkable, that's why he was so angry that they were bathing there.
After much deliveration, Hundred agreed to let them stay with them for a while, just so he could try and Talk to Blind again.