IF YOU HAVEN'T READ "DON'T BE SCARED" BY @Peachy_Pierce_203 THEN DO SO!! IT'S A REALLY WELL WRITTEN SLOW BURN 10K LOVE STORY BY A SUPER SWEET AUTHOR!

I've been dozing in and out a sleep for about a mile now, my back leaned against 10k's leg as he watches things pass. He rarely sits down while we drive, but I don't have the energy to stand right now. When he saw me drifting in and out a mile ago, 10k moved so his leg pressed against my side. He really is way too sweet to me.

My eyes flutter close and I think I'm actually gonna fall asleep when the truck comes to a stop. I left out a soft groan as I sit up, rubbing my eyes as I focus back on the world around us. 10k holds his hand down for me and I take it with a sigh as he hoists me up onto my feet.

 "Is that really the Liberty Bell?" Mack asks and I follow everyone's gaze to see the liberty bell sitting on a truck not ten feet from us.

 "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land and unto all the inhabitants thereof. Yeah, that's it." Garnett recites as he climbs out of the truck, Warren on his tail and I glance at 10k, shrugging at the others apparent excitement, it's just a bell.

"Three years of zombie apocalypse, you think you've seen everything." Doc exclaims and I lean against 10k's side, sleep still making it hard to focus.

I can feel 10k stiffen from beside me as I groggily watch Warren walk towards the bell. After a moment 10k relaxes and I try not to actually fall asleep. Doc climbs out and walks over to the bell as well.

 "Well when everything went bad, they probably tried to save a little history." Warren states and I nod along, her statement makes sense.

"Yeah, well they should've known the only thing you can save is yourself. Let's go!" Murphy whines and I roll my eyes at his moaning and groaning.

"Since when can you save yourself Murphy? You're basically an infant, you can't protect yourself and all you do is whine." I comment and everyone except Murphy laughs while Warren sticks the gas tube into the tank.

"Hang on. If this thing still has fuel, and it does... If we get this thing started, they won't have to ride out in the open like that." Warren declares as she speaks more to Garnett than anyone else, Mack hopping out of the truck.

"Well I'm all for that." Doc nods as I squint at the truck door, it looked like movement, but I can't say for sure.

I nudge 10k, his attention redirecting to me. I point to his slingshot and then the door of the truck. He nods and preps his slingshot while we both watch for movement. Warren finishes up with the gas before she closes it and starts for the door.

"I'll grab the jumper cable." Mack tells us as he goes around the back to grab it.

Warren opens the door only for a Z to burst out at her. Luckily I had 10k ready so he shoots, taking it out without hesitation. The Z slumps down and Warren turns to look at 10k while I smile, holding my hand out for a fist bump.

"One thousand seventy-five." 10k says as he brings his slingshot down to his side and fist bumps me with his now free hand, Warren saluting him as a thank you.

We move the truck next to the liberty bell so we can give it a jump. While everyone else handles that, I notice Addy is watching me again. I can't figure out why she is so invested in me, but I wish she'd just go ahead and tell me.

After we get the trucks all set up, we climb in. Warren, Garnett, and Murphy with the bell and the rest of us in the truck. There wasn't enough seats, so Addy sat on Mack's lap and I had somehow ended up in the front seat with Doc.

"Is Finn short for something?" Doc asks me and I glance at him, all attention shifting to me which makes me shift uncomfortably in my seat.

"Finley. My mom named me after her favorite character from a book." I reply with a shrug as I keep my eyes focused on our surroundings.

"Did you have a brother, Milo Finch?" Addy speaks up and I whip around to face her with wide eyes.

How the hell would she know about Milo?

"Yeah, my older brother, but how'd you know?" I ask, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion and I can see her face change to excitement.

"I knew it! You look just like him and he talked about you all the time! I'm Addison Carver, we were friends." She explains and my hand flies to cover my mouth as a brief memory of meeting her at one of my brother's parties when I was younger.

I reach over the seat without a word and pull her into a tight hug and she returns it. I let out an airy laugh as I try not to cry. She knew Milo, my Milo. 

"Holy shit!" Doc yells as he suddenly jerks the truck while a loud car horn reaches my ears, all our attention shifting in time to watch the liberty bell rip off the truck and go barreling down the hill, taking out z after z.

 I look to 10k with a laugh as Doc stops the truck, leaning out the window. I sit back down in my seat, sending Addy a smile over my shoulder, which she returns.

"Yeah! I'd pay money to see that again." Doc cheers as Warren, Murphy and Garnett hop out, Warren heading to check out their vehicle.

"The axel's broke." She states and I already know what's about to go down so I start climbing out of the truck.

"All right, everybody get into that truck." Garnett declares and I hop into the bed, 10k, Mack, and Addy following my lead

 "Let's go, Murphy. Come on. I'm driving." Warren states as everybody moves around into the spots we had before, only this time I stand next to 10k, surveying our surroundings.

~

"Enjoy. That's the last of the food." Warren tells us as she hands us each a twinkie.

I had enough food for myself to last a month, but when you're feeding this many people, it's gone in no time. Sharing my food actually ended up helping us a lot, meant we didn't have to make a trip for food before now.

"God, I'm so hungry my big guts are eating my little guts. You gonna eat all of that?" Murphy whines before spotting 10k's twinkie, reaching for it so 10k shoves it whole into his mouth, "Selfish little bastard."

I laugh as 10k tries to chew his mouth full of food, I tuck the second half of mine into my bag, having limited food for so long means you're appetite is certainly diminished. Not to mention stale processed pastries make my already jumpy stomach churn.

"We need to split up and look for food and water." Garnett declares.

 "Oh, if we can find a two way radio or even like a satellite dish, I can trying contact that Citizen Z guy." Addy tells us and I look over at her with a smile.

"I could rig a cellphone if we get a satellite." I state and Addy high fives me, both of us knowing that was one of my brother's favorite party tricks.

"That's good. Okay, you two and Mack do that. And the rest of us will look for food. Doc, you take Cassandra and 10K. Warren and I will take Murphy. Stay close. Meet back here in an hour. All right, let's go." Garnett says and I glance at 10k who nods at me.

I don't really wanna split from him, but I trust Addy and I know 10k trusts everyone as well. When everyone begins to split, Addy wraps an arm around my shoulders, her other hand clutched in Mack's.

"What happened to Milo?" Addy asks and I open my mouth before closing it.

"I don't actually know. Last I saw him was three weeks before shit hit the fan, he was going on a roadtrip." I shrug, pushing down the tears that threaten to well up.

Addy changes the subject, and we all talk about what our favorite foods are and to my surprise Mack loves brownies. He doesn't strike me as a sweets guy, but I've got to admit that brownies are really good.

We round a corner to see a cop car and Addy and I lock eyes, a mischievous smile on both our faces. We move closer to see the police scanner.

 "We need that radio." I state and Mack rounds the car before pointing to the door, so I move to see what he's talking about.

"Yeah, what about Officer Zombie?" He asks as the Z lazily drags his hands against the window, growling at us.

I can see an idea flash across Addy's eyes so I lean against the hood of the car, curious to hear what she has planned.

"Umm. Do you remember that time in Peekskill?" Addy asks Mack and he lets out an airy laugh before moving very close to her.

"Yeah, that's perfect. Top or bottom?" He says in a flirty manner and my eyes widen before I whip my head to look away from the pair.

"Top." Addy replies and I feel the car move and turn to see he's set her on the hood behind me.

"Still here!" I call out to see Addy laugh before she stands up.

Mack takes her Z-whacker as she climbs on top of the car. She stops when she's above the door and Mack hands her the Z-whacker and I realize their plan. It's actually really smart.

 "Hey, you. Yeah." Mack calls as he taps on the window to make sure he's got the zombies attention before he opens the door.

 As soon as the door is open the Z launches out of the car, but Addy is ready. She swings her bat right down on top of it's head, the Z hitting the ground, a lifeless corpse. I applaud the pair as Addy climbs down.

"Oh, baby. You know if I ever need mercy, I really hope it's you." Mack sighs dreamily and I can't help the laugh that escapes me at that comment.

"Alright love birds, we gotta make sure that radio works." I tell them and Addy nods as I pull the passenger door open, climbing as she moves to get in the front seat.

 "All right, hurry up. I'll pike some locals." Mack says as he walks off, weapon at the ready and Addy places her recording camera down on the dashboard.

I start to test the dial nobs when a muffled sound gets my attention and I turn just in time to see a Z launch it's self at the glass separator. Addy and I both shriek in surprise before launching ourselves out of the car.

Bending over to catch my breath, I watch Addy take a breather as well. We lock eyes and she shakes her head before grabbing the antenna off the back of the hood. I hope she's not planning to pick it with that, she's gonna have to be really close.

"I have my knife, I'll kill it." I tell her and she lets out a sigh before dropping her makeshift weapon.

I grab my knife and slide back into the seat, slowly pulling the little window open. I only open it enough that I can kill the Z and pike it through the forehead. It slumps down the backseat and we both relax as I put my knife up.

"Okay." Addy sighs as she climbs back in and we begin working on getting the radio back to a functioning capacity.

We both work through it, Addy giving me instructions most of the time, but finally it clicks on. I high five her as we get it set up to talk to citizen Z.

"Mayday. Mayday. Calling anybody on this frequency." Addy says into the speaker, and we wait a moment, hopeful. 

She puts it back up to her mouth and tries again, hoping he'll hear us. We could really use some instructions right about now.

 "Mayday. Mayday. This is Addison Carver and Finley Finch with Delta-Xray-Delta. Trying to contact Citizen Z. Come in, Citizen Z. Mayday. Mayday." She tries again and a weird feeling crawls up my spine, like something is wrong.

"Delta-Xray-Delta, this is Citizen Z. Do you copy? Over. I'm picking you up loud and clear. Do you copy me?" A static voice rings out and I almost forget the feeling as we smile widely at each other.

"We copy you loud and clear Citizen Z." Addy sighs as the feeling gets stronger, I turn to look out the door right as some guy sticks a tazor to my neck.

My entire body shakes as it feels like my veins fill with fire and my eyes roll back into my head. I can faintly hear Addy struggling as well when it all goes black.

~

The sound of muffled screaming seems to bring me back to the land of the living and I find that my body is sore. I know my eyes are open but I can't see a thing and something is gagging me, keeping me from really making a sound. I move to take the gag out, but find I can't move my hands or legs.

I begin tugging and yanking against the restraints to try and get to who I assume is Addy screaming somewhere near me, the panic really setting in when I remember what happened right before I passed out. The rope begins to cut into my wrists as I try to keep the tears at bay, knowing I can't show weakness in case those assholes come back.

 Suddenly light floods my vision, a bag yanked from my head while I try to blink quickly so I can asses my surroundings. To both my relief and horror, Addy sits tied up beside me, her eyes filled with terror as we see one another and I'm sure she can see the same look in mine.

"It's okay. You're safe now. You're safe. No one's going to harm you." A voice speaks and we both turn to see some big guy smiling at us, a woman who looks completely brain dead sitting across from us.

 "Touch us and I'll kill you." Addy threatens as the gags are pulled from our mouths, her fear being buried to try and protect us.

Seeing her strength, I attempt to copy her, putting on a glare to hide how I really feel right now. I wonder if 10k and the others are looking for us, would they even know what to look for?

"Sweet child. That won't be necessary. Please, the last thing we want is to harm you." The guy says with a laugh.

"The tazor made that really obvious." I remark, sarcasm dripping from my tone as I glare at him.

I don't know what this guy wants with us, but considering I can only see one woman here and she seems completely gone, I have a bad feeling about this. These are the moments I hate being a girl, men will always target us if they can.

"Our friends are looking for us, and when they find us they will kill you. They will kill all of you!" Addy declares, but it sounds almost like she's trying to convince herself more than scare these guys.

She struggles and the guy behind her holds her down in her seat. The gesture seems to make the guy behind me wary since he places a hand on my shoulder, rubbing his thumb back and forth and I try not to throw up from the anxiety of the situation.

 "I get it. You both don't trust me. Why should you? I know you're not ready to hear this, but I'm going to say it anyway. I'm sorry. " He tells us and all I can think about is how I don't wanna die today.

"Who are you? What do you want with us?" Addy asks.

I whip my head to look at her, my eyes wide. Everyone knows not to ask questions you don't want the answer to and I really do not wanna know his plans for us. There's so many horrible things he could say.

 "Fair questions. I'd be angry too if I were brought here against my will. Please, I don't want you to be afraid." He says as he gets up and walks towards some mini organ looking thing.

He takes a seat and begins playing some random tune and anger wells up inside me. He's really gonna sit and play music to us while we are tied up and still claim to be friendly? Who does this asshole think he is?

"That doesn't answer the questions!" I shout as I pull against the rope again, knowing I'm bleeding at this point, the hand on my shoulder pushing me down with a tight squeeze that takes my breath away, his thumb pushing into my collar bone.

 "I... I must apologize about my overzealous companions. They're good men, but sometimes we have to resort to less than civilized means." He tells us as he turns to face us, the music stopping as the guys untie our hands, but the tight grip on my shoulder is a reminder we aren't actually free, "We live in a less than civilized world. You know it. I know it. So... when we encounter strangers the family needs to take... necessary precautions."

"What family?" Addy asks.

I subtly reach out and link my hand with Addy, who squeezes it without looking at me. I can't imagine having to go through this alone, I don't think that I could handle it, I'm barely holding on as is.

"Ours. This is our home. And I am responsible for their well-being. I'm Tobias Campbell. I guess you can say I'm like a father to our little family. But like a family, we take care of one another. Everyone contributes. Everyone benefits." He tells us as he stands up, walking closer to us before sitting in the seat at the end of the table.

"Can we save the speech, we don't wanna be here, you're crazy. All of you are nuts!" I declare, attempting to stand before I'm forced back down, the grip on my collarbone making me gasp in pain.

"You should be careful of what you say my child. You don't want to upset mother, now what was I saying. Oh! It's how we've survived the last three years. It's the only way we'll survive in the future. Don't you agree? You both must be hungry. Please eat. We have plenty to share." He gestures to two plates of burnt meat and Something makes my stomach lurch, but I don't know what it is specifically. 

The smell is disgusting, a twinge of sweetness seems to make it worse. The actual meat looks like burnt leather and it takes everything in me to hold my vomit in.

"Do you actually eat this? It looks and smells horrible!" I gag and not even a second later I hear the buzzing of a tazor.

I try to pull away, but I'm not fast enough. The tazor comes down on my neck, the opposite side from last time. The last thing I see is the woman's lifeless eyes staring at me as the fire in my veins swallows me whole.

~

This time I come too and find myself laying on a bed, Addy brushing the hair out of my face. She smiles softly at me as I struggle to sit up, my hand going to hold my head because of my splitting headache. 

When I sit up I realize we are in like a trailer and two girls dressed like strippers are watching me, fake smiles on their faces. I look to Addy to see she's in some slutty outfit with a crap ton of makeup on. She looks like a stripper as well and my guess is she had no choice in the outfit.

"Now that you're awake, it's time to get changed." The curly haired girl says as she holds up some cheetah print monstrosity and I turn to Addy with wide eyes.

"It'll be okay. We'll be okay." Addy whispers as she helps me stand up.

I feel like a newborn deer, my legs weak from taking a tazor hit twice in one day. The girl's all help me change while I lean helplessly against Addy. I thought I felt bad the first time, but the second time I feel like I got hit by a truck and then fell off a cliff.

Once I'm wearing the horrible outfit picked out for me, The brunette sets out to do my makeup and I try to not flinch from how heavy handed she is. By the time she's done my face feels 5lbs heavier.

I stand in front of the mirror and I'm silent. I don't even know how to describe my look right now. I'm wearing some old patterned black tights with a  dirty cheetah print coat, some chunky heels and a cheap pearl necklace. I'm wearing red lipstick with a brown smoky eye that looks like a toddler did it. 

"Do you genuinely think this looks good?" I ask looking at the girls and Addy tries to cover up a giggle by coughing.

"Watch yourself, you're already on thin ice." The curly haired woman sneers as they both make their way out of the trailer.

Addy steps up beside me and pulls me into a hug, which I melt into. God do I miss the others. I will never take them for granted. 

We pull away and she holds her arm out so I have a crutch of sorts. Once we are ready, we walk out as well, squinting at the bright sun. My grip on Addy tightens as we stop beside the other girls.

"You both look beautiful." One of the girls tells us and I try not to flip them off, the tazoring I'll get isn't worth it.

"I look like a post-apocalyptic stripper and she looks like a cougar hunting for zombie millionaires. Jesus." Addy sighs and I laugh under my breath, her assessment being completely correct.

"More like bait." The other girl sneers and I look back at her confused before they push us forward, directing us where to go.

I try to shake off the comment, but my stomach starts churning again. I really hate it here and if I had a singular weapon I'd wreak havoc on this psycho assholes. They really need a good ass whooping as far as I'm concerned.

"Look at you. Mother will be so pleased. Supper will be ready soon. Set the table. And set two places of honor for our guests next to Mother." Tobias claps as he smiles at us and I glare at him.

While they all set off to prep for dinner we look around the area and I lean against Addy. I really wanna just wake up in the bed of the truck with my head against 10k's leg and find out we haven't even made it to Philly yet.

~

A/N: I don't usually do A/n's but I'm gonna put the outfit Finn is wearing here and please imagine it being older and rattier. I also would love if you could leave a comment or vote!