My whole body is alight with need, absolute lust fuelling my every move as I feel Zac's excitement under my hand, the way it hardens for me every time I go near it being enough to catapult my hormones into overdrive.

I've missed him, I've missed this. The way he makes me feel, the way my body yields to his every touch. It's absolutely fucking incredible, and I can't ever imagine living without it.

His spare hand trails from my hair, down over my shoulders to my breast, causing me to suck in a breath at the sensations that dominate every nerve inside me. My hands move to cling on to his shoulders, my head thrown back as his lips move to graze along my collarbone, one of my favourite weak points, a place he loves to exploit.

The way I angle myself back pushes my lower half against him, the two of us instantly grinding against one another, my leg hooked over his, desperate to emphasise the feel of this, of us together.

"Emi," he says against me, the tingling of his breath on my warm skin making me shiver with pleasure, craving and needing more from him as my hands move around to the back of his neck, gently yanking on the bottom of his hair.

A smirk appears on his lips before I move my head to pepper kisses along his jawline, hands still gripping his hair, a move I know he enjoys. He likes my attempts to dominate, and I love that he lets me try it, even though I know he has the power to stop me with a single action, my strength no match for my muscle-wielding husband.

A sudden snore from across the fire has me halting, frozen in place as I remember how surrounded we are. Holy hell, are we really about to have sex in front of all of our friends?

"Emi?"

"We can't do this here," I whisper and he grimaces, his head falling back to the ground with a groan.

He hooks his arm under his head and looks up at me with a cocked eyebrow. "We could be really, really quiet." He smirks and I roll my eyes, shaking my head as I rest my chin on his chest.

"Can you imagine if any of them wake up? What about if Anna or Myles walk back?" I mention and he shrugs.

"We're covered by a blanket."

"Zac! That's not enough!" I exclaim and he laughs quietly.

"I think it is," he argues with a grin. "I need you, Emilia." His words, coupled with his hands riding back under my top almost have me giving in, the wetness between my legs impossible to ignore.

"We can't..." I trail off as he tweaks my nipple with his fingers, a sure way to shut me up. With a quick glare, I pull his hand out from under my shirt.

"What if we sneak off?"

"Zac, we were nearly over-run by Slayers fifteen hours ago, and you want the two of us to run off on our own?" I remind him and he sighs.

"Fine, we won't," he replies, a pout on his face. "I'll keep you safe so that we can find the privacy needed to fuck you."

"So romantic!" I chuckle at his teasing expression, his hands curling around my waist.

"You know it." He smirks. "I'm sorry for the argument we had back in the North," he adds, a forlorn expression taking over his cheery mood.

"Me too," I say softly, reaching down and running my hand down his stubble. Slowly, I lower my head to him, pressing my lips to his, a slow, hesitant kiss to remind him how I feel. Pulling away, I rest my forehead on his.

"I love you," he whispers and I can't help the smile that spreads across my face at his words. I never imagined that anyone would say them to me, let alone Zac, a guy who never even entertained the idea of a relationship when we first met. Then again, neither did I.

"I love you too."

*~*~*

"We need to look for thicker clothing," Jordan says, glancing back at the group.

"Another blanket would be good too!" Anna retorts, her arms wrapped around herself as she walks over the rocky ground.

"She's right," Heidi replies. "I barely slept a wink last night."

"Who's great idea was it for us to travel south in December?" Anna asks, a teasing grin on her face as Kieran and Jordan laugh. I can't help but smile at her words, agreeing with everything that's being said, currently wearing all the clothes I brought with me.

"Hitchin isn't far," Kieran says, looking down at the map. "Do you know anything about it?" he asks Jen and Myles.

"Not a clue." Jen shakes her head. "This is all unknown territory for us now. It could be overrun with Slayers."

"We'll just have to hope for the best," Myles mutters in a low voice.

"If we stick to the outskirts it may be safer," Zac says, Jordan instantly nodding.

"That's a good idea."

Stumbling slightly, I nearly fall into Heidi and she giggles as she grabs me, standing me back up on my feet.

"You okay there?" She grins as I let go of her.

"I really need to find some suitable footwear," I retort, looking down at the buckled boots on my feet.

"I can't believe you chose them over Claudia's flats when we came South," she says and I smile at the memory of the shoes Claudia forced me into.

"They were hideous." I giggle, Heidi reaching out and playfully slapping me around the shoulder.

"They were practical!"

"I was going to bring them with me," I admit and Heidi raises an eyebrow.

"Why didn't you?"

"They weren't mine to take," I say softly, looking down at the ground and fiddling with the sleeve of my top.

"Oh, Mils," Heidi replies, her hand reaching out and grasping at mine. "Claudia wouldn't have wanted to see you stumbling all over the place."

I laugh at the thought, knowing she's right, that Claudia would have probably hit me around the head for even considering wearing my heels South, her eyes rolling in her head as she lectured me. Fucking hell, I miss her.

Heidi and I descend into inane chatter, just how we used to before all of this mess started. When we were still roommates, pinning each other's hair up into ridiculous hairstyles and daring the other to wear it to dinner, playing drinking games with Rayden's alcohol, staying up past our curfew and giggling under the sheets like five year old sisters. Life was so much simpler back then.

Before long we come across a couple of houses, two of them looking relatively intact, the others completely destroyed. Four of us wander inside each one as the other five stand guard outside. I'm outside for the first house, attempting to ignore the lustful stares Zac keeps giving me, clenching my thighs shut as I rest back against the fence, hands gripping my gun.

Jordan, Anna, Heidi and Sam return moments later, one extra blanket acquired, but nothing else, the place already ransacked.

The next few have been blown apart from the back, shrapnel from the bombs having taken out parts of the house that we couldn't see, absolutely nothing salvageable.

Stepping into the fifth house, I marvel at how intact it looks, the picture frames wonky, but still hanging on the wall. A family of four stare back at me, all smiling at the camera, two young girls with black hair next to their parents. Boy, do I miss those days...

A twang of nostalgia and pain hit my chest and I force myself to look away, grabbing onto the stair rail and pulling myself up them, the absence of an entire room shocking me, the upstairs completely overtaken by wildlife and destruction. I manage to find a couple of black tops, instantly chucking them to Heidi.

Making our way back to the others, we walk down the street, the rest of the buildings flattened. The next road is a dead end, only one large house standing for us to check, five of us entering to speed up the process.

I don't make the mistake of looking at any of the photos this time, instead heading straight for the cupboard next to the stairs and staring at the pair of black trainers lying on the floor. Should I?

I can barely even walk in these heels over the rough terrain, let alone run if we need to. I love my boots, the first thing I ever got under the new, strict State regime. Maybe it's time to move on.

"Hurry up, Emilia." I turn to see Anna roll her eyes at me before disappearing. She's right, I don't have time to stand around debating this, we need to move.

With a sigh, I reach out, grabbing onto the trainers before yanking my boots off my feet and replacing them with the flats.

Holy hell, have mercy! This level of comfort is ridiculous, I should have changed them months ago.

"Emilia, can you and Jen check upstairs?" Jordan asks from the next room and I nod, looking down at the gorgeous, leather, buckled boots one last time before dropping them onto the floor where the trainers are. We had a good run.

Shutting the cupboard door, I meet Jen at the bottom of the stairs, her nodding at me before going up them, gun in hand. I follow close behind and she heads into a room on the right at the top of the stairs.

I walk past, pushing the next door open with my gun, glancing around the neat looking bedroom, confusion filling me at the site. How does this room not look touched by the war or by looters?

Furrowing my eyebrows, I step further into the room, my heart hammering against my chest as I analyse the closed curtains, the pristine white sheets, the neatly stacked shelves. What the fuck?

A sudden movement in the corner has me whipping to the side, gun raised, hand on the trigger. A small child cowers in the corner, looking up at me with one eye open, shaking as they try to push themselves further back against the bed.

"Hey, hey!" I exclaim, lowering my gun and raising one of my hands. "It's okay."

The boy peers up at me slightly, his eyes wide as I attempt to give him a reassuring smile. What in the name of fucking hell is this?

"I'm not going to hurt you," I assure him, lowering my gun even more as he slowly begins to uncurl. "Why are you here?"

"Em?" Jen peers in.

"There's a boy-"

"Emilia!" Jen suddenly yells. "Get away from him! He's a Slayer!"

"What?" I exclaim, my eyes wide as I look back towards the little boy, just in time to see him heading straight for me, knife outstretched in his hand. I manage to dodge out of the way just in time, his blade embedding itself in the wall before he turns, eyes blazing to aim for me once more.

Without hesitation, Jen slams the butt of her gun into his head, the child falling to the floor as my mouth drops open in shock.

"What the hell just happened?" I exclaim as Jen pushes me out of the room, shutting the door behind us.

"Slayers. They train kids up and use them to lure people in," she replies. "We need to go. If he's here, the others aren't far away."

Her words are like a bucket of icy water being thrown over my head, my mouth opening and shutting like a goldfish as she hurries to the stairs. Our calm, peaceful mission has suddenly turned into something far more deadly.

The sound of a gunshot tears me back to reality and I fly after Jen, hurtling down the stairs and back to the front door, walking straight out into the middle of a fucking war.

Seeing a man heading straight for me, I dig a knife out of my belt, chucking it through the air and watching as it strikes him through the chest. Looking over, I see Zac slamming his fist into the stomach of a man before a woman tries to jump on his back.

I barely have time to react before a punch is delivered to my face, my head flying to the side as I fall to the floor, pain reverberating along my jaw. My gun has fallen out of my hands and I quickly go to reach for it before someone's boot smashes down on my arm causing me to cry out in pain as a Slayer seizes the weapon from my fingertips.

I'm suddenly hauled up, someone's arm around my neck, another person pressing the barrel to my temple. Zac spots me instantly, his eyes blazing with pure fury before another two Slayers surround him.

Glancing over at the others, I see Heidi shoot her knee into someone's stomach, watching as they fall to the floor. Another Slayer slowly sneaks up behind her, blade in hand.

"Heidi!" I scream, her eyes flitting to mine just before the Slayer slices the knife into her back.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I'm sorry, I know it's crazy full on at the moment, but I had to impress just how brutal the South is. Nowhere is safe, and the last few chapters have been the only way I knew how to show this completely...

My Heidi!!!

Any predictions? Will we make it to London?! Will everyone?!!