Shit shit shit shit shit!

That was the only word going through Max's head as they frantically lifted their hands.

"What the hell, lady!?" Eugene shrieked at the girl.

"Drop your weapons!" the girl commanded.

Max immediately did as they were told, dropping their baseball bat and crowbar to the carpeted floor, and they heard the muffled clatter as Eugene did the same beside them. They could hear their heart pounding in their head. What was going to happen?

"What're you doing here!?" the girl demanded. "I want answers!"

"W-we just want a place to stay for the night," Max answered, stuttering slightly. Their Italian American accent always got thicker when they were worked up. "We're not hostile, I swear!"

The fury and panic in the girl's eyes softened slightly, but not completely. She lowered her shotgun, but the glare remained on her face. She looked just as scared as they were, but it was clear that she was trying to hide it.

"You sure you're not infected?" she snarled.

Max and Eugene both frantically shook their heads, but the girl's frown deepened still.

"Take off your clothes." she ordered. "I need to know for sure. I mean, we're all girls here, right?"

Max was offended, and they could tell Eugene was, too.

"Bold of you to assume that either of us are girls, bitch." Eugene snapped.

"Well, I dunno, you both look like you have vaginas!" the girls shot back. She lifted her shotgun once again. "Now rip 'em off or I'll blow your heads off!" she shouted.

Damn, she's more sharp-tongued than Zion, Max thought to themselves. Not wanting to risk getting shot in front of their friend, they wriggled out of their jeans, button up, Sleep Token band shirt, and the sweater they had borrowed from Eugene. They heard Eugene begin to take off his layers as well, but he seemed more hesitant.

The girl picked up a flashlight on the front desk and clicked it on, searching their now half-naked bodies. She seemed satisfied with Max, and she moved over to Eugene. Out of respect, Max didn't look at him. But the thought of Eugene in his underwear made them blush. For a fleeting moment, they wondered what he looked like naked. . . .

"That a binder?" the girl asked.

Max raised their eyebrows as they looked at the floor, but they weren't surprised.

"Yes," Eugene grumbled. "I'm trans, happy?"

"Um . . . sorry for assuming your gender, bro." For the first time, Max heard a hint of sympathy in the girl's voice.

"Whatever. Now can I put my clothes back on?" Eugene huffed.

"Yeah, it's chilly in here," Max added. They shuddered.

"Sure, go ahead." the girl said.

Once Max and Eugene had put their clothes back on, the girl directed for them to sit on a nearby couch. She then lit a candle that illuminated the whole room: now Max could see her face clearly. She was dark-skinned, possibly of South Asian descent, and had long dark hair. Her eyes, hardened like that of a war veteran's, were a shade of emerald green. She wore a murky gray beanie and a Nirvana T-shirt, and she also had a nostril piercing. Max's eyes were still on her shotgun, even after she put it down.

"Who are you?" the girl demanded in a stern voice.

"M-my name's Max Costello." Max stammered out. "I use they/them pronouns." They elbowed Eugene, urging him to speak.

". . . Eugene Linhuang," Eugene finally muttered. "He/him."

"I'm Aadhiya Ghule," the girl responded. "Uh, she/her? Is that how you say it?"

Max nodded. Their heart was still pounding in their head: they had just been an inch away from certain death. It was a harsh reminder that humans weren't always less dangerous than the zombies.

"Okay - sorry I gave you two a scare," Aadhiya explained, rubbing the back of her neck. "You just never know who to trust in this world, y'know?"

"I-I get it," Max answered. "Hardly anyone trusted me when I joined a survival group a couple months ago. But you did eventually, right, Eugene?"

Eugene nodded silently. His arms were crossed and his eyes were on his shoes.

Aadhiya clapped her hands together once.

"Here's the deal: I'll let you stay for the night as long as you sleep here in the lobby - y'know, keeping watch for zombies. Is that clear?" Her expression was once again stern.

"Uh, yeah, we can do that," Max answered, speaking for them both.

Suddenly, Max heard footsteps coming from down the hallway, and a teenage boy entered the room. He looked to be their age.

"Aadhiya?" the boy yawned as he rubbed his eyes. "Wuzzgoinon?" He had shaggy black hair with a patch of solid blonde in the front, and he had a wiry body shape. His accent was peculiar - Eastern European, maybe?

"Dude, I just almost killed a couple teenagers, that's what." Aadhiya snapped, obviously annoyed. She groaned and turned back to Max and Eugene, pointing to the boy. "That's Florian."

Florian held up his hand in a drowsy wave, and Max awkwardly waved back. The next moment, he had disappeared back down the hallway, presumably to go back to sleep.

"Anyway," Aadhiya went on, "you can sleep on the couch. Have sex or whatever, just don't disturb me unless it's an emergency."

Max felt as though their face was on fire as Aadhiya walked away, leaving them alone with Eugene once again. Eugene was still silent, and it was quite a bit before either of them spoke again.

"Are you okay?" Max piped up.

"Obviously not!" Eugene snapped. "I haven't been that physically vulnerable with anyone since before the outbreak."

Max swallowed. Hesitantly, they reached out to place their hand on his shoulder. When he didn't pull away, they kept their hand where it was. Eugene was still avoiding Max's gaze.

"I know how that feels," Max said gently. "I struggle with gender dysphoria, too, y'know. It's hard to pass if I wanna look like a boy."

"I get that, it's just . . ." Eugene sighed. "Not a lotta people in my life were supportive, so I just avoid telling anyone about who I really am. Hell, Zion and Lawrence were the only ones who knew I was born a chick."

A short silence fell between them. Max of course knew what that felt like, but their mother and true friends had always been supportive of them. They wondered for a moment if Eugene's family had supported him in his truth.

"You're not mad that I didn't tell you?" Eugene demanded suddenly.

Max's heart cracked down the middle. Despite his snappy tone, there was such a vulnerable expression on Eugene's face.

"Of course not," they reassured him. "You're my friend, and that's your secret to share."

Eugene smiled a little, and Max couldn't help but mirror it. He'd always had an infectious grin.

"I'll sleep on the floor," Max said. "You can have the couch."

Eugene finally met Max's eyes. Max just might have felt their heart skip a beat as they noticed that his gaze seemed to be almost pitying them.

"You sure, man?" Eugene asked.

"Of course," Max insisted. They paused. "You're not gonna wear your binder to bed, are you?"

Eugene frowned. "Does it matter?" he scoffed.

Max frowned right back.

"It matters to me." they said firmly. "You could put strain on your ribs like that."

Eugene seemed to hesitate before nodding, and Max looked away bashfully as he lifted up his layers and took off his binder. Max sat down on the floor and took off their shoes. Opening their backpack, they pulled out their blanket. The floor was carpeted, so it wasn't too uncomfortable. As Eugene lied down on the couch, the room fell into silence once again.

"Maxi?"

Max lifted their head, alerted by Eugene's whisper.

"Hmm?" they hummed in response.

"I-I know this is weird, but . . . can I hold your hand?" Eugene asked. His voice was hesitant, as if he had forced himself to speak.

Max's eyebrows shot up. Eugene had never asked for something so simple yet so intimate before - even hugs were a stretch for him. It made their face flush a shade of pink.

"I don't think that's weird," Max answered. "And y-yeah, I guess so."

Feeling their face grow in warmth, Max reached out to take Eugene's hand, which he had hung over the side of the couch. His hand was rather chilly. Maybe it would help if Max ran their thumb over his knuckles.

"Is this okay?" Max asked. They couldn't help but feel a little bashful. Although they had been close friends for a while, Eugene hadn't often appeared nervous when talking to them.

"Yeah, this . . . this is nice," Eugene said. "Thanks, Max."

A short silence fell between them. Despite the chilly air and the zombies outside, Max felt safe holding Eugene's hand like this. They could remember holding hands with both Harry and Ethan before, and even a girl in the group named Hailey, but it had never made them blush. The only time it had before was when Max had been dating Judy before the outbreak.

What the hell even happened to her? Max thought sadly.

"Are you really okay?" Max inquired. They felt a little worried. Earlier that night, Eugene hadn't even seemed hesitant when he pleaded for Max to let him escape the high school with them. "I mean . . . you were there longer than I was. I'm sure it was hard for you to leave."

Eugene squeezed Max's hand as if to try to communicate his emotions with them without explaining them out loud.

"Yeah, I mean - I feel bad for leaving Zion behind." Eugene admitted at last. "But I didn't wanna stay in that place any longer.

"What about you? I know you were really close with some of the others."

For the first time, the reality and the guilt of what Max had been doing for the last few hours sank in. Harry and Ethan had always been so, so kind to them. They must be worried sick now.

Max took a deep breath. They felt their eyes begin to burn, and an uncomfortable tickle appeared in their chest, but they refused to break down in tears. Not in front of Eugene. They had to be strong now: there was no going back. But they still felt bad about taking the only map.

"I didn't wanna drag anyone else down." Max explained despite the growing lump in their throat.

Eugene sighed.

"You know that I never believed that what happened to Judy, Jay, Scarlett, or Sue was your fault." he said. He paused. "Max, d'you . . . do you really think Lawrence was the one who killed Scarlett?"

Max bit the inside of their cheek. Just the mention of Lawrence made them tense. They didn't really have any proof, but the way Lawrence had been acting . . . it just didn't feel right. And the fact that Sue, the smartest person in the whole group, had warned them about him definitely counted for something. And then there was the fact that Lawrence had always seemed a little too nice. Of course, at first, Max thought of that as a good thing. But the more mysterious things that happened, the more Max became unsettled by his behavior. He just always seemed to know everything.

"It just felt like he knew too much," Max answered at last. "Not only that, I started feeling uncomfortable around him. D'you get me?"

In the darkness, Max could tell Eugene was nodding. They were still holding hands, and Max's heart jumped when Eugene gave their hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Yeah, I mean, I didn't snap at him yesterday for nothing." Eugene chuckled half-heartedly.

Max felt themselves smile. It was true. Sue had just gone missing that very night, and the group had been having an argument about whether or not they should go to the Safe Zone, when Eugene had started full on yelling at Lawrence when he refused to go. Lawrence had seemed very close to snapping back when Max and Harry managed to calm Eugene down. It was especially sad since Eugene had told them that Lawrence had once been like an older brother to him.

"You sure you're comfortable?" Eugene asked.

"Uh-huh, I'm okay," Max promised. "Now just try to fall asleep, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Eugene relented. "Sleep tight."

Max fell asleep still holding Eugene's hand.

~

"Wakey, wakey!"

Max's eyes shot open as a loud slapping sound woke them up. It was Aadhiya, clapping her hands right above their face. Max groaned as they frowned up at her.

"Whaddya want?" Eugene grumbled from the couch, still half asleep.

"It's morning, dumbasses." Aadhiya said rather sharply. "Time for you to go."

Max sat up and stretched their arms over their head; sleeping on the floor had caused a bit of soreness in their body. The lobby was still dim, but Max could tell it was morning by the light streaming through the cracked window. As Aadhiya left the lobby, Max turned to a yawning Eugene. They managed to smile at him.

"G'morning," they said sweetly. "How'd you sleep?"

Eugene shrugged as he sat up. His eyes were still half closed. His hat had fallen off while he was asleep, exposing his tousled golden hair. The sunlight pouring through the window bounced off his hair like an angel's halo. It was quite pleasant to look at.

"Not bad, I guess." he mumbled. "You?"

"I slept okay," Max answered. They didn't want to worry Eugene by saying they were uncomfortable sleeping on the floor like that.

Max rubbed the sleep from their eyes and got up before stuffing their blanket back into their backpack. As Eugene did the same, Florian appeared from down the hallway and leaned against his back the wall, arms folded against his chest. Now that it was daytime, Max could see him better. He looked to be a little taller than Eugene, and he had downturned eyes. He wore a lot of silver jewelry.

"Hey," he greeted them.

"Hi," Max replied with a polite smile.

"Where're you guys heading?" Florian asked. "You tryna look for a better hiding place?"

"Sorta," Eugene answered.

"Yeah, we're heading to the Safe Zone." Max added.

Florian's eyebrows jumped up into his hair, indicating his absence of that knowledge. He stood up straight, ceasing to lean against the wall for support.

"The fuck did you just say?" he demanded.

Max raised an eyebrow as they stood up, slinging their backpack over their shoulder. Before they could speak, however, Eugene seemed to say what both of them were thinking.

"You seriously haven't heard?" he asked. "The army's been putting up posters all over Culmont. It's in the stadium in the middle of the city."

"W-we've been barely leaving this crappy motel!" Florian admitted. "We wanted to stretch our food supply as best as we could. I-I'll go tell Aadhiya."

Max sighed deeply as Florian disappeared back down the hallway. Behind them, they heard Eugene mutter some choice words. A minute later, the sound of exasperated shouting wafted from Aadhiya's motel room as she ranted about why had they not discovered this sooner and they should already have been there by now.

"Guess we've got some new travel buddies," Eugene grumbled.