My face twisted into a slight smile. I don't usually hold grudges against people but he tried to kill me. I found some satisfaction in knowing that his injuries were worse than Ryan's. But more than anything I was scared of Michael. Scared of what he'd do.

Geoff poked his head through the door to the storage room I had slept in.
"Sorry to ruin your moment but your car is ready. You guys are in a car with Ray, Jack and Burnie. Speaking of Burnie he's worried shitless about you Lauren you might wanna go talk to him." He turned to walk away but stopped, sighed and turned back around.
"Are you ok?" He asked. Forgetting that my speech was impaired, I attempted to speak but instead let out a wheeze.
The happy spark that was usually in Geoff's eyes faded. 'Im okay. Promise' I wrote on my notepad. He replied with a simple smile at the corner of his mouth and wandered off to sort out the others.
"Ready?" Ryan asked me. I nodded. I swung my legs over the edge of the armchair but was stopped by Ryan's hands. He'd put one in the crook of my knees and the other on my back.
"Uh uh. You're unwell. I'm carrying you and you can't do anything about it." He smiled crookedly and lifted me up bridal style. I giggled silently and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Fine." I managed to squeezed out of my throat. The words floated into his ear and he chuckled, running out of the storage room and spinning around in circles. Until he stopped.

Michael was sat right outside of the room we'd been in. My face dropped and I watched as Ryan's eyes filled with pride. He smirked to himself and turned us around. The image of his heartbroken face was plastered on the inside of my mind. Being Lindsay's best friend meant that I saw a lot of Michael. You may see him as an easily angered man but once you get past that, he's sweet and kind and he cares for everyone. He just doesn't know how to deal with his anger. The fact that Ryan was proud of the way he'd hurt Michael made me feel slightly sick. Whilst Michael felt ashamed of what he'd done Ryan felt satisfaction.

I dismissed the ideas from my mind. I rested my head against Ryan's chest as we made our way towards the car. Footsteps creeped up behind us.
"Oh my goodness you're okay thank god." I heard behind me. I tapped Ryan's shoulder to try and get him to let go and he obeyed. My feet were placed firm on the floor and I allowed Burnie to hug me to his hearts content.
"You're okay. You're okay. Can you talk or was there too much damage?" He asked quickly, both hands on my shoulder and his eyes staring into me. I nodded quickly and brought him back into an embrace. When I was 10 my mum sent me over to Britain where I actually lived with Dan Gruchy for 8 years before we both joined the army and I met Geoff. She never told me why I was sent and by the time me and Burnie reunited, she was hospitalised. Ever since then me and Burnie grew closer. I'm now 27 years old and living in a zombie apocalypse. Isn't life just great.

We all got sat in the car and I rested my head on Ryan's shoulder in order to fall asleep.
"You need to keep your airway open and straight. You can rest your head if you want." Ryan patted his lap. I smiled and nodded at him in thanks.
"That looks uncomfortable for your hips. Pass your feet you can rest them on me." Ray slapped my foot and I kicked him playfully in response before lifting my feet up. I looked over to him and smirked while he gave me a wink.
"It's weird having a car journey without you singing." Ryan whispered, playing with my hair. Unfortunately before I could do anything I'd drifted off to sleep.

*Dream*
I stared forward. Empty...I turned around. Also empty...everyone had just disappeared. What in fucks name is going on here?! I tried to speak those words but struggled. In fact no part of my body was responding to me except for my brain. 'Lets try moving my leg' I thought to myself. Nothing. 'Fucking MOVE' I continued. Still nothing. Before I could do anything else a low growl escaped from my mouth. What the...I managed to look down at my hand. Green veins, gaping gashes and paleness was evident on my skin and I panicked. I looked up to see Ryan standing there. My body placed it's foot forward. 'Oh NOW you're moving?!' I thought to my leg. Then the other leg went forward. Faster this time. My legs were picking up speed as I made my way to Ryan. 'Wait...wait wait no stop you're gonna hurt him. NO' I felt my jaws open while my body leapt forward and directed itself towards Ryan's neck. 'STOP IT'

My eyes shot open and I began to whimper. Ryan was asleep. But someone's presence was still evident on my shoulder.
"Hey you okay?" Ray asked from beside me. I removed my head from Ryan's lap and legs from Rays lap and sat myself up in my seat, sweating. Ray handed me my notepad.
"Forgot you needed this to talk." He bit his lip.
'Im fine thanks. Bad dream. Are you okay?' I scribbled down.
"Oh. Wanna talk...or write I guess about it? And don't worry about me. I'm absolutely top." He said impersonating Gavin. I smiled.
'No it's alright don't worry about it. It's nothing really.' I wrote.
"Alright then squirt." He said, messing up my hair. He liked calling me squirt even though he was however many years younger.

With a puff of smoke and a chug of the engine, the car pulled to a stop.
"Well that didn't last very long..." Jack said absentmindedly. The others pulled to a stop behind us when they notice smoke coming out of the car.
"Well...I guess we need another car." Gavin says as they all exit their car. All except Michael who's staring blankly at his hands. His eyes were vacant and his hands and knuckles were bruised from his previous actions. His face was worse than Ryan's. He couldn't yet open his right eye and his right cheek had purple blotches all over it along with a small gash where Ryan had managed to break through his skin. I looked away quickly. I was scared of him. But now all I want to do is help him. Gavin coaxes him out of the car as we discuss.
"We gotta find somewhere for everyone to wait while the others grab another car. It's gotta be somewhere boarded up and low-" Gavin started. But got cut off by Ray.
"Are you fucking crazy?! We gotta stay high or..." Their voices drifted from my mind as I felt someone's presence surrounding us. I look behind me and notice a young man with my wild queen shirt on. The boy from RTX. He was holding a gun at us from behind a trash can while others stood at different windows to a building with rifles and pistols. I panicked. I yanked at Ryan's shirt and managed to turn him around.
"Huh?" He said instinctively. I pointed straight at the young man. He placed his hand around me protectively and removed his own pistol from his belt loop. Where the fuck did he get that?!
"Gavin found it but no one trusts him with it." He stated, reading my mind. By then all of the others had noticed them and huddled together and took out any weapons they had. I held my hand up to get them to wait. The boy behind the trash can hadn't recognised me yet. I took a couple of steps forward, my hands up in surrender, and heard the click of a gun reloading in front of me. My movements stopped abruptly and I stared at the boy. Shit...what do I do now? As a last resort, I began whistling I See the Light. The boy tilted his head and began lowering his gun. I could see the clocks turning in his head.
"L...Lauren Burns?" I breathed a breath of relief.
"GAVIIIIIIIIIIN!" I heard from the building entrance. Dan came running out and wrapped his arms around Gavin causing them to collide with the floor. I giggle as Ryan placed his hand on my hip and kissed me on the head. But that wasn't enough for me. I twirled around, put my arms around his neck and pressed my lips against his.
"I love you so much." He breathed into the kiss. I gasped as I felt his hand go up my top and start to massage my boob. I felt him smile into the kiss. Someone coughed behind us. Geoff was standing directly behind me.
"It's the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Now is not the time for you two to get kinky." He winked at us and walked of.
"Damn..." Ryan sighed. I sighed along with him.
"Hey wait where's Meg?" I heard Dan ask. Oh no. Now's your time Geoff.
"I don't know. Any of you guys seen her?" Gavin asked. A silence fell across the street. It's time to say something Geoff. He stepped forward, scratching the back of his head. His eyes started to puff up as tears formed in his eyes.
"Ummmmm...she was turned when we found her," Gavin's eyes almost popped out of his head.
"She almost bit me and before I realised who it was...I put her down. I'm...I'm so sorry Gavin." Geoff blinked back tears.
"Wh...wot?" He said in his British accent.
"Gavin I'm so sorry." Jack said reaching a hand out to him but Gavin wouldn't accept it.
"It's fine. I'm fine. I mean look at me I look okay right?" He turned to me. I shook my head slightly and opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out.
"Oh...yeah. I'm fine. I'm fine." He kept repeating the words to himself until we all watched him collapse onto the floor in a pool of despair. Dan knelt by him and rocked him side to side and to our surprise, Michael made an entrance, leading Gavin inside. We all followed.

Geoff's phone began to ring.
"There's still signal?" Geoff asked before answering without looking at the contact.
"The outbreak probably hasn't reached that far yet." Ray spoke up.
"B...baby? Griffin is that you?! Oh my god I'm so happy you're okay. Have you made contact with our little girl at all?...Chelsea's with her?...good...good I'm so happy you're okay...are you with a group?...the RWBY crew?...is it safe?...alright where are you guys? We just found a group of RT fans with Dan. We just gotta find some cars and we'll come and find you guys...okay baby. Stay safe." Geoff came off of the phone, tears streaming down his face. His hands were shaking like crazy as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"She's safe...she's alright...my wife's okay..." He whispered to himself, a smile plastered on his face. We all smiled with him and gave him hugs of happiness and joy.

I hadn't realised but this whole time, Michael had been stood behind him. I turned to face him and saw only guilt and sadness in his eyes. He motioned for me to follow him. I hesitated but followed swiftly behind him. We went into the corner of the room. He stared into my eyes.
"I'm sorry. You probably won't forgive me for what I did and you shouldn't. What I did was so wrong and I regret every move I made in that moment. I just want you to know that I'm sorry...I really truly am. I just...I miss Lindsay so much." His eyes were breaming with tears as he stared at the floor in utter regret. I hadn't brought my notepad with me, only my pen. I took my pen from my pocket and grabbed his hand palm side up. I wrote my response on his hand and allowed him to read.
"Don't feel ashamed. I forgive you. Now and forever. You're one of my greatest friends and I'm happy that you are. P.S People do crazy things when they're in love *winky face*" he read out, chuckling at the last bit. I watched as he lifted his head. His eyes became wide as he noticed what I was doing. I was offering him a hug. The tears that had filled his eyes finally spilled over like a waterfall m, setting me off as well. We fell into a long embrace.
"I'm here for you." I wheezed, my mouth close enough to his ear for him to hear. He pulled back and smiled at me. I caressed his cheek gently and planted a kiss on his forehead.
"LLLLLLLLLLETS HUG!" Ray shouted, ruining the moment by crashing into us and wrapping his arms around each of our shoulders. Before we knew it everyone had joined, including Gavin and Dan.
"All for one and one for all!!" Ray yelled.
"That's a fucking terrible motto dude." Jack chuckled causing us all to laugh.