~3rd person pov ~ Dayton ~

Dayton's head pounded heavily as she came to. The last thing she knew was Columbus and Tallahassee talking about being 30 minutes away from the nearest grocery shop. Dayton hadn't meant to fall asleep, honest. But she hadn't slept properly since she met Columbus on the freeway around a week ago. She'd napped in the car, sure, but not a proper sleep. She'd never been able to sleep in the car. Or during the day. In fact, the last time Dayton slept during the day (without the assistance of medical drugs) was when she was really sick when she was around 16. The time before that was when she was a toddler. In the time from her toddler years to her 16th birthday, Dayton had been medically put to sleep 7 times. Once was when she'd had a panic attack, but instead of passing out, she became wired. Another time was when she had to have her appendix out, another was when she'd been in a car crash and the other three was to perform surgery on her.

Dayton was born with a rare condition that happened in the womb where her liver was trying to kill her. They'd managed to catch it quite early in her childhood years, but it caused her to develop seizures and mental confusion. So, when she was 8, she would have the knowledge of a 4 year old or whatever.

It took three surgeries and 2 different livers, but they eventually found one that set with her body with no complications. Not that anyone could do anything now, they were all dead. But, her liver had lasted nearly 5 years with no complications, so she was ok.

But back to the point: after she'd dozed off in the car, she woke up again on the move. "Where'we goin' now?" She'd mumbled as she slowly sat up in the seat. "Shit!" A female voice yelled. Something hard smacked her in the head, and she fell asleep again.

~

She woke up again in the same car. Dayton groaned as her head pounded angrily. It was still the Cadillac that Tallahassee had, but there was a lack of one Tallahassee and one Columbus. "Who're you?" She'd asked. Two girls were sat in the places of the men who were earlier. "Wichita and Little Rock. Now what're you doing in this car?" The eldest looking girl said. Dayton presumed she was Wichita. She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear the blur. "I was sleeping. What're you doing in this car? It ain't yours," She argued back. Dayton could distinctly feel her hand pistol pressing against her lower back. "We needed it," Wichita answered. "That didn't answer my question," Dayton pointed out. Wichita's hand moved somewhere near her leg, so Dayton grabbed her gun from her back. They both pointed guns at each others face. Dayton stared her down. Wichita did the same.

It probably would have continued for hours if the little one (who she guessed was Little Rock) cleared her throat. "Uh... Pacific Playland?" Wichita glared heavily at Dayton, but lowered her gun. Dayton didn't. She leant forwards towards the older girls ear and whispered: "Point that thing at me again, and I'll blow your head off quicker than you can say boom," Wichita gave her the side eye, but Dayton just stared her down. "Try me," She threatened. Wichita rolled her eyes, but broke the gaze. She moved her hands to the dashboard and began driving again.

"So... what's Pacific Playland?" Dayton asked, addressing Little Rock. Dayton knew full well what it was, but she entertained the young girl. The girl in question turned around, excited. "It's a theme park in L.A. Apparently it's completely Zombie free!" The young girl chattered on, happy to have someone who would listen. Little Rock reminded Dayton of her little sister way too much. The only difference was the looks.

Where Little Rock's eyes were blue, Lily's (Dayton's sister) eyes were dark brown. Little Rock's hair was a light blonde, but Lily had black hair.

"Fuck!" Wichita's frustrated sound broke through Dayton's daydream. "What's wrong?" Little Rock asked. Dayton could see thick smoke pouring out of the engine. The car groaned and stuttered to a stop. "I think the engine is broken," Dayton put in. Wichita slowly turned around to glare at her. Dayton smirked.

~

The boys had fallen for the ruse. Well, Dayton says ruse... it was more of a necessity to acquire a new vehicle. Dayton was told to hide with Little Rock (because Wichita was a grown ass woman and could take on two men) so she could help if it was needed. The boys may have found new weapons... which they had.

Dayton didn't know it was Tallahassee and Columbus driving along the road they were waiting on, but it was safe to say, once she knew, fuck the plan with Wichita. She told Little Rock to stay down and get ready to steal the car while she confronted Tallahassee. She stormed out from behind a hay bale, with her gun in her jeans again. "Fucking Tallahassee!" She yelled, stalking towards him. The Floridian turned around, shocked at the new voice. "Dayton! How're you!?" He yelled, trying to be friendly. She smacked his hand away. "You left me in the fucking car!" She yelled. "Hang on, it was Ohio's idea to let you sleep! He was the one who left you!" He argued. Dayton scoffed, "You let Wichita steal your car! You knew I was in there!" She yelled. Tallahassee had the decency to look ashamed. "Can I just uh... signal Ohio to come over?" He asked sheepishly.

"I don't give a shit anymore, just don't leave me in any more fuckin' cars that you're planning on handing over," She mooded. Tallahassee cupped his hands near his mouth and made some weird ass noise. The yellow truck slowly made it's way over. She saw Columbus driving and thought about chewing him out as well.

Then realised he was embarrassed enough: Little Rock had him hostage now. Tallahassee walked around to the seat behind the passenger and opened the door. "After you, Darlin'," Dayton glared at him and shut the door. Then she opened it again by herself. Tallahassee scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yer haven't changed then?" He asked sarcastically. "I've been gone maybe a few hours, asshole." She couldn't help but snap. "Hey, glad you're ok," Was Columbus' first words. Dayton ignored him. Columbus didn't say anything else. "Right, drive slowly. Watch out as you go," Tallahassee instructed. The car didn't move for a minute. Then Tallahassee sighed. "They're in the back, aren't they?" Little Rock suddenly appeared from under Columbus' seat. "Nope, just me." And held her gun against the older mans head. "I'm sorry, she was like a crouching tiger." Columbus apologised. Tallahassee glared at him. "You got held hostage by a 12-year-old?" He seethed. Dayton desperately forced down laughter. "Well, girls mature faster than boys... she's way ahead of where I was at that age," Columbus argued. Dayton smirked and played with her handgun. Wichita had let her keep it on the provision that it be unloaded until she deemed Dayton could have it loaded again.

Obviously the second Wichita left to prepare for her ambush, Dayton reloaded the gun. She always kept a spare magazine in her bra. In times before the apocalypse, Dayton's bra could hold all sorts. Phones, purses, pepper spay, tampons, anything. So there was a magazine in the gun and a spare one in her bra still. She also had a knife wrapped in bubblewrap down her boot. (Can't be too cautious)

Little Rock pressed the gun further into Tallahassee's neck. "12's the new 20. Gun please," She commanded. Dayton cleared her throat. Tallahassee scoffed, "Like you'd actually use that thing," He baited. Little Rock pulled the gun away from his neck and shot through the (apparent) sunroof. "Don't kill me with my own gun!" Florida begged. He handed the weapon over with a grumble. Dayton couldn't help the snicker. "Honk your horn," Little Rock told Columbus. She never broke eye contact with Tallahassee. "Sorry, what?" Columbus asked. "Honk it," Little Rock snapped. Columbus did so. Then Wichita came out from behind the hay barrels. "Oh good, you're still here," Dayton greeted her when she arrived at the window. Wichita glared at her, disgusted.

Dayton knew Wichita had gone too far when she shut the ever optimistic Columbus up. Dayton was sat to the right of Little Rock, just behind Columbus. Initially, Little Rock had been holding Tallahassee at gun point. Until he grabbed the gun and turned it on Wichita. Since then, they'd been stuck in a thick silence. Until Wichita had fucked it up... big time.

"Shall we play the quiet game?" She'd asked. "Mmm, yeah? Starting now," Her tone left no room for argument... until Columbus slapped his legs. "Oh, I've been meaning to ask you. Have you heard anything about Columbus, Ohio?" He'd asked. Dayton watched cautiously. She knew about the state of Ohio. It was a wreck. If they weren't a zombie, they were dead. It was pretty rare to see a normal, healthy human. "Don't you know how to play?" Wichita had asked, sarcastically. "Sorry," Columbus muttered. God, please don't say something stupid Wichita. "Well, they're playing it in Columbus, Ohio! It's a total ghost town, it's burnt to the ground," Annnnd there it was. Columbus took up a kicked puppy face that made Dayton's heart clench. Tallahassee poked Wichita with his gun and signalled to Columbus. A look of realisation came onto her face. "You're Columbus," Wichita had whispered. Columbus turned and nodded at her. His eyes shined with unshed tears. His face made Dayton feel really bad about keeping this from him.

Dayton didn't meet his eyes when he tried to hers. "I'm guessing the same applies to Dayton as well," He'd told her. Dayton bit her lip and refused to meet his eyes. "No uh... Dayton's just dead. There's nothing alive there anymore. Not even zombies." She replied. Columbus turned and faced her. "You knew?" He asked, his voice sounding hurt. Dayton bit her lip. "Why didn't you say anything to me? Why did you let me get my hopes up?!" He yelled at her. Dayton felt tears come to her eyes. "Hey, back off. You're not the only one who's an orphan now! I didn't stop to look in Columbus when I drove through! I only cared about Dayton!" She yelled back. "Who said anything about being an orphan?" Columbus snapped. Dayton scoffed loudly. "Come on, Ohio. Don't be so fucking naive. Your parents, along with mine and anyone else in the world, are either dead or zombies. It's better you learn this now, than later." She'd snapped back. Dayton turned her body away from him so she faced the window. He did the same.

Someone woke her up by gently shaking her shoulder. At first, she thought it was Columbus. But was surprised her is that it wasn't him. It was Wichita. "Hey, don't move. Look down," In her sleep, Dayton had curled up against the car door with her legs tucked up behind her. Little Rock had apparently fallen asleep as well and had dozed on her legs. "I haven't seen her that peaceful in so long," Dayton gave a small smile. "I need her to wake up soon, cus my legs are dead." Dayton replied. Wichita sighed. "I know... it'd do her some good to get up and stretch her legs." Dayton let out a loud yawn, unintentionally. Little Rock stirred in her sleep. "Hey, Rockie... you need to get up now. We're having a stretch." Little Rock yawned and stretched her legs out. Wichita seemed satisfied that her sisters was waking up and left them to it. Little Rock sighed heavily as she sat up. "Sorry for sleeping on you," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. It seemed like such a small thing to do, but it made Little Rock de-age by like... 6 years, taking her back down to a tired 6 year old, ready for bed. It was sweet. "Ah, don't worry about it. I was asleep as well, so I probably didn't notice." If the tingling of pins and needles in her legs didn't give her away, the stiffness in her back did.

Little Rock gave a smile before sliding out of the door behind the driver's side. Dayton groaned quietly into her hands. A hormonal migraine was raging through her head right now, making it feel like a war zone. She opened the door behind the passenger side and stepped out. Thanks to the pins and needles in her legs, she stumbled forwards as soon as she was out. Someone caught her and steadied her by her shoulders. "Thanks," She muttered, feeling a little embarrassed. "Don't worry about it," ooo, rub salt in the wound fate. Only Columbus had to have caught her. She mumbled something else and stumbled off to where the others were standing.

"Why don't you take this one?" Columbus said to Tallahassee, in reference to the store which probably had several undead occupants roaming within. Tallahassee chuckled. "With pleasure," he sauntered over to the front of the shop and rang the bell with his gun. Dayton clicked the safety off of her gun, just in case there were more zombies they'd planned for. She saw Columbus do the same thing. It's a shame they always fought. She liked him, he was a good person... and something about him was just hot. Maybe it was how badass he could be, or his charisma, but something made her attracted to him. Now that Wichita was in the picture, she'd have a contest now. And it looks like he may already be getting feelings for the newcomer. And she was awful to him.

A zombie yell broke her out of her thoughts. It charged towards the seemingly defenceless foursome, thinking it was an easy kill. But Tallahassee shot a bullet through its head, knocking it to the ground. It gurgled and choked on the floor, before going silent as Columbus shot it again. That was hot. Every time he shot a bullet, it was hot... maybe Dayton just had a thing for bad boys... but was Columbus really a bad boy?

~ 3rd person POV ~ Columbus ~

Now, don't get him wrong, he liked Dayton. She was a nice girl with a nice personality. Sure, he wanted to bring her home to meet the folks, and have a relationship with her... but then Wichita came along and... boy, she was something. All feelings he may or may not have had for Dayton disappeared instantly, and were flooded with feelings for Wichita. She was good looking, she had a cut throat attitude, she was a bad ass... the only bad thing about her was a prickly comments that she would pop out occasionally.

He caught Wichita smirking at him in the mirror she was stood at, making him feel all warm inside.

~

Trashing the store had been such a huge let out of tension and anxiety the group had built up over time. Columbus pushed shit over with Tallahassee, Wichita threw stuff and Little Rock broke glass. The only who didn't actively participate was Dayton. She dropped a few things, but then left the store, looking upset. Columbus paid no mind to it: if she didn't want to enjoy the little things, then she didn't have to.

When Columbus walked out of the store, the last thing he expected was Dayton driving off in the car. "No!" He'd yelled, grabbing the others attention. "Fuckin' OHIO!" Tallahassee had yelled into the air. Wichita didn't say anything, neither did Little Rock. Mind you, they didn't really have a leg to stand on. "Shit, what're we gonna do now?" Columbus asked as he dropped down on the ground. Wichita cleared her throat: "How about get in the car? She's not moving anywhere," She pointed out. Columbus looked up and saw that Daytons master plan to escape hadn't either been initiated yet, or had backfired.

He frowned and walked over. He tapped on the window of the car with his gun. "You planning on going anywhere, or just sitting there?" Columbus asked. Dayton rolled the window down with a groan. "I was gonna take over driving duties for a while to give you all a rest... but then I remembered I can't drive very well. I was trying to practise." Columbus gently smiled. "I can help you drive, if you want." Dayton smiled. "I'd like that,"