— BEING AWAY FROM THE group felt strange, Nate and Zoe feeling like they were missing something by being out here on their own, but the whole group had split up into groups to scavenge for anything that could be of importance to them. Walking through the deserted town gave Zoe the feeling of being back in her own home town running through her mind, the old life she used to live, and her old friends that were all dead, or a walker wandering the earth without any idea of what had happened to them; it felt strange, but she tried to push it aside, knowing that Rick had told them to keep an eye out as this place wasn't completely safe, and Gabriel could be hiding something from them, something important.. Nate agreed with their leader, he didn't believe that Gabriel had spent all of this time locked inside of his church, going through all of his food and drink and having to gone back out, it just didn't seem realistic, and he just had this gut feeling that there was more to the story then he was letting on. Zoe didn't exactly know - she didn't get a good feeling with Gabriel, she knew that, but if he was a murderer? She didn't exactly know, so she kept quiet on the subject.

Unlike Nate, whom had been talking about it since they left the church, trying to piece together Gabriel's life in the church, and his life before on whether or not he was a good person; Zoe didn't speak much as he did so, knowing that they could never truly know what he did before they met him, as he 'only told his sins to god' or whatever that meant.. The girl let him speak to himself, though, knowing that it helped him deal with the situation at hand, and she didn't interrupt him when he did, walking side by side with him as they finally reached the town centre. It was completely deserted, not even looking like Gabriel had been here for quite some time, like it hadn't even been touched since before the end of the world, before walkers started rising from the dead and eating people.. The first shop they went into, they weren't successful in the slightest, the whole place had been picked clean, and at first, they wondered who had been here, when they remembered that Gabriel had been in a few places and grabbed some more supplies.

But Gabriel hadn't been fighting to survive all of this time, not like Zoe and Nate; the couple knew how to scavenge, how to look into crevices that not a normal person would think of looking in, and because of that, they had always been picked to find supplies when they had a sanctuary back at the prison. "There's got to be some stuff he left behind.." Zoe trailed off, kicking a box away in annoyance as they left another shop after searching it through, with nothing to show for it. It was frustrating, the girl didn't want to go back to the church with nothing in their hands, she knew that everyone else would be returning with things to show for their travels, Zoe didn't want to disappoint anyone by showing up empty handed.

"We've only been in two shops, calm down, Zo." Nate told his girlfriend, stroking the back of her head as he passed her to leave the store - he wasn't as worried about returning to the church with nothing found, Rick had told them that Gabriel cleaned out the town a while back, and he wasn't too worried about not being able to find anything. The girl huffed in annoyance, but followed behind Nate none the less, entering the streets once again, the heat hitting her face as the breeze was just blowing hot air onto her - the weather was getting worse as the days went on, and whilst Zoe would have enjoyed this heat when she was younger, getting a tan to show off to everyone at school, it wasn't ideal when you lived on the road, and had to do more exercise than the girl had ever seen in her life. It wasn't great, and she just wanted it to rain.

Zoe had also been wearing the same clothes since the group of men had attacked them, and she wanted to change out of them desperately, not being able to stand the sight of them, so when they hadn't even been able to find a change of clothes, annoyed the girl to end. She was following behind Nate with a scowl on her face, until she looked to the side and saw a small shop that looked like it would have some clothes in, and she couldn't imagine Gabriel taking any of the clothes for himself considering what he was wearing. "Nate." She called out, when he had walked further down the road, not noticing that she had stopped in front of another store that he hadn't even glanced at.

Before he could even ask what she was doing, the girl entered the shop without another word spoke to the man, causing Nate to grunt in frustration, not wanting her to rush into a shop where they didn't know what was in there - Zoe headed through the front door without a care in the world, Nate picking up his speed and rushing to the door, pushing it open to find a dark clothes shop, filled with clothes, shoes and hats alike. Nate's first thought was that Zoe had come in to check for any clothes for Judith, it didn't occur to him that the girl may want a completely different outfit to get rid of the thoughts of those men; once he walked further in, he could see the girl coming back from the back of the shop, gun holstered as she looked around for any clothes that she could switch into, some that would still be comfortable, and allows her to do anything she could do with the clothes she was wearing now. "Wanna do some shopping?" Nate asked, a smirk on his lips as he watched the girl look through the tops.

Zoe rolled her eyes playfully at the boy, pulling out a shirt, still on the hanger, brushing the dust off, and handing it to Nate, "Here, you can be my personal assistant." She said, holding the shirt out and waiting for Nate to take it, a smirk on her face as she looked up at him. If he wanted to joke about clothes shopping, then he could be her personal shopping assistant as she found some more clothes to try on - when he didn't take it, raising a playful brow at her, Zoe pushed it into his chest gently, the man finally taking the shirt in his hands with a huff, causing Zoe to laugh, "Hey, you said we were shopping." The girl shrugged, turning back around to the shirts behind them.

Nate now regretted his joke about shopping, holding the girls shirt as she began to sort through multiple other T-shirts, occasionally holding more out for him to take, which he did, waiting until she was finally finished. He had seen this kind of thing in shows and movies, where the boyfriend would have to hold their girlfriends clothes whilst she was shopping, but he never thought that it would actually happen to him, especially not in this day and age, but Zoe always managed to surprise him, no matter what she did. "Never in my life, did I think I would be clothes shopping with my girlfriend." Nate commented, watching as Zoe put a few tops back, before moving onto the trousers, wanting to find a pair that wasn't so dirty and ripped.

"And I never thought the world would end. But here we are." Zoe added, smiling up at the boy when she put some jeans into the pile Nate was holding for her.

Nate chuckled, shaking his head in amusement when the girl said that, but his face quickly sobered up when Zoe began to shrug off her jacket and shirt, not bothering to use the dressing gown across the shop floor. A smirk immediately made its way onto his face as he watched, Zoe not even caring as she took the first top off of the pile, shrugging it on, and moving around in it like she usually would, stretching around to see if it would be comfortable for when she had to fight any walkers or people. "You modelling for me, now, babe?" He asked, as Zoe smiled at him and pulled of the shirt, letting it drop to the floor as she grabbed the next one.

"If you want me to." Zoe replied, striking a pose as Nate clapped his hands, a huge smile on his face as he looked at his girl having fun, the smile on her face making everything worth it in the end; he would do anything to keep that smile on her face every second of every single day. Nate put the rest of her clothes in the side as he pulled over a chair from behind the counter, taking a seat as Zoe looked down at him with an amused look on her face, "Good show?" She asked, as Nate nodded his head eagerly.
The girl didn't waste any time climbing onto his lap, straddling him as she smiled down at him, "I love you." She mumbled, stroking his overgrown hair out of his face and admiring him. Zoe didn't think she would ever be able to love someone as much as she loved Nate, but she's proven wrong every single day..

Nate found his hands resting on Zoe's hips, looking up at her with admiration in his eyes, the girl seeing nothing but love in those eyes as he looked at her. Everyday, he grew more and more amazed at how much he loved the girl in front of him, the more he spent time with her, the more he fell in love, and at this point, he didn't think he could love her anymore than he already did. When Nate first met Zoe, he tried to ignore the girl, and ignore the feeling he gave her when she was in his company - hell, he ignored mostly everyone in the group, just like Daryl and Merle had, but Zoe had always gotten into his personal bubble and pushed his buttons to try and get him to talk more. It had worked, and he had been completely hooked on Zoe ever since. He had been pissed at first, wanting to survive this world without any distractions, but Zoe dug her claws deep on his heart, and wouldn't let go, and she still had them on him till this day.

Grabbing the back of her head, Nate pulled Zoes face to his, pressing his lips against hers as he kept the other hand resting on her hip, the girl smiling into the kiss as she leaned into it, placing her own hands on the back of his head as she gripped his hair. The longer Nate's hair grew, the more Zoe loved it, as she had something to play with at night ease her stress - that, and he enjoyed the girl playing with it, sometimes even plaiting it when she got bored. (Which was most of the time).

As they kissed, they didn't notice Glenn, Maggie and Tara heading down the road, also on the search for supplies, and Glenn had seen the shop and had the same idea as Zoe about finding some clothes for Judith. "Wait here, lemme scope it out, first." Glenn told Maggie and Tara, as the two woman nodded, keeping their guns held up as they looked around, standing guard whilst they waited for Glenn to go in and come out to let them know it was okay. After finding some silencers in the gun store, they had a pretty successful day so far with scavenging, so Glenn didn't think it could be completely out of the question that the store would have some baby supplies for Judith..
Walking in, he noticed that it was tidy, except for a pile of clothes by the cash register that was untouched, collecting dust since the beginning of the outbreak. And as he walked further in, he had seen something he wished he had could erase from his mind.

Zoe threw herself off of Nate and held her top up to cover herself when she heard someone walk in, Nate standing up and holding up his gun to aim at whoever had come in, only to see Glenn standing in front of them, wide eyed, causing Nate to sigh and drop the gun. "Thought you were a walker." Nate mumbled, hearing Zoe rush to get her top on behind him - he couldn't help but smile in amusement at the look on Glenn's face, the man having been stunned, unmoving from his spot until he shook his head, realising that he had just walked in on something that probably would've escalated if he didn't run into the store and ruin their moment.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be here." Glenn rushed out, averting his eyes away from Zoe until the girl shrugged on a new shirt she picked out, tying her jacket around her waist as she sighed, embarrassed that Glenn had walked in on her cradling Nate's lap without a top on. Glenn was her best friend, and the last thing she wanted him to see, was that.. He scratched the back of his neck, having never experienced something so awkward before.

"Sorry about that, I was just trying on some new clothes." Zoe explained, trying to ease the awkwardness in the room, and hoping that Glenn wouldn't question her any further on why she was on Nate's lap. It was just an awkward situation.

"It's okay.. I'm just gonna.. Go." Glenn mumbled, backing up without looking behind him, only to trip on a broom, nearly falling down onto the ground until he grabbed onto the counter, keeping himself upright as he sent the couple in front of him a tight smile and backing away again, before rushing out of the building, leaving Zoe and Nate alone.

Nate started laughing first, Zoe turning to him wide eyed and slapping his chest, "That wasn't funny!" She claimed, feeling awful that Glenn had witnessed something like that - she knew how awkward he could be sometimes, and he must have hated that. The girl shook her head and rolled her eyes as she pushed the hair away from her face, giving the man a look before she began to walk away from him, only for him to grab her wrist and pull her back into his body, Nate holding a tight grip on her.

"Okay, it wasn't funny." Nate stated, a tight smile on his lips as he tried not to laugh again as Glenn's face flashed in his mind. He didn't know someone could be so shocked at two people kissing in a chair - okay, Zoe was topless, but that was his fault.. "I've never seen Glenn that colour of red before." He added, when Zoe's mouth twitched, a smile threatening to come out as she tried to keep it down, not wanting to give Nate the satisfaction.

That was, until the smile finally broke looser, and the girl let out a laugh, a sound that made Nate's chest warm, a sound that he wanted to hear everyday for the rest of his life, without fail. When the sound came out of Zoe's mouth, his smile widened, picking her up and spinning her around, hearing the squeal come from her mouth at the same time - the two of them were happy in this moment in time, and that's all that mattered to them.




——




Later on in the evening, Zoe and Nate had returned to the church to find that Rick, Michonne, Sasha and Bob had been able to bring two whole boxes of food and drink back for the group; Zoe hadn't seen this much food since the prison when they found the cafeteria stocked up with food that was there before the outbreak. Nate was just glad that could finally eat some normal food, instead of cooked squirrels or rabbits that either he or Daryl had caught during their hunting trips in the woods when they didn't have a place to stay; the couple sat together, side by side as they dug into their meat and soup, smiling as they did so due to the magnificent taste of it all. There wasn't anything wrong with the animals Nate and Daryl had caught during their travels, but it didn't match up to the meat and tinned soup they had gotten from the food bank, it was like their taste buds had opened up a whole other world for them all, and they were all relishing in the taste while they could.

Laughter was heard all around as Zoe leaned over and kissed Judith on the head, the baby reaching her hand out to her sister as the girl smiled, putting her food to the side and accepting her sister as Rick passed her over, a smile on his face as he saw his two daughters interact. It reminded him on when Carl was born, and Zoe was nothing but great with him when he was a baby, still being a kid herself, but now she was grown up, and he loved to see the girl talk to Judith like she understood every word. Zoe laughed when Judith reached over and placed some food in Rick's mouth, the man opening wide and making a 'ah' sound as the baby smiled in response, Nate also smiling at the sight, before Abraham eventually spoke up, causing everyone to quiet down.

"I'd like to propose a toast." Abraham announced, as everyone stopped talking and looked up at him, "I look around this room and I see survivors. Each and every one of you, has earned that title.. To the survivors!" He finished, raising his glass. Nate held up his glass in the air as Zoe carried on bouncing Judith on her lap, the baby cooing as she reached forwards to stroke the girls face, it seemed good, until Abraham spoke up again. "Is that all you wanna be?" He asked, when everyone quietened down again, smiles dropping from everyone's faces, including Zoe, as she looked up at Abraham, "Wake up in the morning, fight the undead pricks, forage for food, go to sleep at night with two eyes open, rinse and repeat? 'Cause you can do that. I mean, you got the strength. You got the skill. Thing is, for you people, for what you can do, that's just surrender.. Now, we get Eugene to Washington and he will make the dead die and the living will have this world again. And that is not a bad takeaway for a little road trip." He said, as Judith cood, leaning into Zoes chest as she hugged the baby closer to her. "Eugene, what's in DC?" He asked, now looking towards Eugene like everyone else.

Zoe and Nate knew that they will do whatever Rick believed was the right thing to do, and they would follow behind him no matter what choice he makes, which is why the two of them glanced towards him as Eugene began to speak up. "Infrastructure constructed to withstand pandemics even of this fubar magnitude.. That means food, fuel, refuge. Restart." Eugene said, as everyone was looking towards him.

"However this plays out, however long it takes for the reset button to kick in, you can be safe there. Safer than you've been since this whole thing started." Abraham explained, knowing that he had to make this place sound amazing to get everyone on board with travelling over there. "Come with us. Save the world for that little one." He said, looking towards Judith as the baby played with a strand of Zoes hair. "Save it for yourselves. Save it for the people out there who don't got nothing left to do except survive." He finally finished, stunning everyone into silence again as they glanced around the room at one another, unsure of what to say.

Rick took Judith out of Zoe's arms at this point in time, the girl watching her dad as Judith made another noise, "What was that?" He asked the baby, a huge smile on his face, "I think she knows what I'm about to say.. She's in. If she's in, I'm in. We're in." He announced to the group, small applause following as the man stood up and walked away, Zoe turning to face the boy she loved with a smile, to find him already looking down at her, she leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips, the man draping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close yet again.

It looked like they were going to DC..