Twelve - Kyle

The four of us sitting around a fire a couple days later, shooting the breeze felt so normal it was strange. The beer that would have filled an iced down cooler a couple of years ago was replaced with luke-warm water. Not that anyone was complaining. There wasn't a soul among us who wasn't thankful for the simple things. The basic necessities.

Everyone else had gone inside a couple hours before, but it was Hunter's turn to keep watch and the four of us got lost in conversation.

"What about you, man," Miles said to Hunter. "You seem..." Miles lost his words because he didn't want to say better or different, though both of those fit. Finally he settled on, "good."

Hunter grimmaced. "Yeah." He sighed. "I should've reached out." Rubbing his hand along the stubble on his jaw, Hunter tried to come up with something else to say. "I should have returned your call, but it'd been so long I just, hell, I didn't have the nerve." A humorless chuckle spilled out of him. "Who'd've thought you were callin' to warn me 'bout zombies."

Miles grinned. "Bet you'll think twice before sending any more of my calls to voicemail."

Hunter laughed and then losing his smile he said, more seriously, "I shouldn't have dropped off the face the planet, but I needed it, ya know?" We all understood. "But I am doing good."

"Well, it's a nice damn set up here," Joel said.

"It's not supposed to be permanent," he answered looking toward the inn. "Zero has family up this way that owned a farm. I don't think we're more than a couple days from it, but she's not ready."

Each of our heads bob in understanding but it's Miles who voices our collective thoughts. "Sometimes it's easier to live without the knowledge. That way you can hang on to hope."

Surprising us all, Hunter shook his head. "There was some accident in the early days and it fucked with her memory. She knows she has someone up here, but she can't remember them. I think she's more concerned that her aunt will be alive and she'll cause her pain by not remembering her."

"Shit," Miles said under his breath.

"Yeah," Hunter breathed out. "It's pretty fucked up. But she's good, you know? A little rough but man, she's got this light."

"Shit. Can't leave you alone for long before you turn into some pussy whipped sap," Miles said, chuckling. "And here I was hoping I'd have my wingman back."

"What the hell?" Joel, who'd been playing Miles' wingman anytime we were back at Hudson yelled in mock offense.

"Dude, no offense, but your game just isn't that good."

Hunter, not taking offense to any of it, smiled. He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the inn like he could see Zero inside. He shrugged, laughing under his breath. "There are fucking zombies, dude. Hell has officially frozen over. What better time to fall in love?"

It was weird to hear him own it like that. The Winston I knew cared about a few things, his unit - his brothers - and his family, or at least his sister. He didn't have a string of one-night stands behind him like Miles did, but he did have a long list of very brief relationships, giving a girl a couple weeks, or couple months before he lost interest. The Winston I knew would have never admitted so freely and with such a goofy damn grin on his face that he was in love. But he's not Winston anymore. He's still the same guy in a lot of ways. He's still an eternal optimist and the guy that everyone loves. But he's different too. He's Hunter now, I guess.

"So it's the apocalypse talking then?" Joel joked, laughing until Hunter shoved him out of his chair.

"You ain't the only one with a girl," Miles announced and we both looked at him, ready for the punchline. Except it wasn't what I expected. "Kyle's got one too."

"I do?"

Miles gave me a disbelieving expression and turned his attention to Hunter before he started gossiping like a little girl. "Gave Ella his knife."

"No shit?" He leaned forward wearing an odd expression on his face.

I wish I didn't, but I got it. Since these guys have known me, the knife in question has only ever left my side when it was in my hand. The blade was a gift wrapped in good memories, that wasn't just something I could let go of. And it was a damn good knife. So giving it to Ella, I understood why it shocked them all. I didn't read into why I'd given it to her, but it felt right. I'd called it lucky, but that wasn't necessarily the right word even if it did get me out of deep shit more than once.

"It's not a big deal." I shrugged it off, taking a drink of my water to pause for time. "She didn't trust us. She wasn't confident in us or herself. Ella feels better with a weapon." I pinned Miles with a look. "Nothing's going on there." The fact that I almost kissed her the other night loomed over me, but they didn't need to know that.

It was Hunter who laughed. "Bro, the way you hauled her ass up the stairs the other night?" He shook his, still chuckling. "No one's buying it."

Yeah. It sounded like bullshit to me too, but I didn't know why. Ella was beautiful, sure, and I had meant what I said about her being brave, but I didn't know why I had given her my knife. It wasn't like I didn't have at least one other on me. The day I handed it to her, there were three strapped to my body and I could have given her any one of those. But I didn't. I gave her one of only a handful of things left that I'm actually attached to.

They knew it. I knew it. I don't think any of us knew why. Ella wasn't... well, she wasn't really out of the ordinary. Nothing much stood out. She was hot, but she didn't play it up, she toned it down. Not a bad thing, more like she just didn't want to stand out. And she didn't.

Except that she did.

She was brave and she was terrified. She gave herself pep talks that somehow made her cuter instead of crazy. Ella had been a pain in the ass since she first glared at me.

Ella stood out. No matter how much I tried to tell myself otherwise.

And I spent too much time wondering what it would be like to push her against a wall and taste those red lips. To run my hands over her subtle curves. Wondering what it would be like to find out if she was as innocent as her rose-colored cheeks suggested every time one of us said something inappropriate.

Which is exactly why I'd avoided her since we were last alone in that bedroom. I was always professional and the way she was grinning, how easily she spoke to me... well, it made it damn hard to keep things professional. I'd almost kissed her. And she wanted me to. Forcing myself out of her room was hard as hell.

"So D.C.?" Hunter said, changing the subject, wise enough not to push. "That's gonna be a shithole."

"You gonna miss out on the fun?" Joel asked, wagging his eyebrows up and down

Slinging one hand behind his neck, Hunter scratched his head looking at the ground. When he looked up, his expression was conflicted. He looked at the house again and sighed. "You're my brothers," he said. "You know I want to be there. But they're family too." He nodded toward the inn. "It's not as simple as just picking up an coming along."

"Sure it is," Joel said, more serious now. "There's a church a days walk from here; it's where Jamie stays. Your girl can take them down there, they'll be safe."

Hunter grinned, truly amused by that. "You're crazy if you think that girl up there would let me go into the city without her." He chuckled lightly. "Zero doesn't miss opportunities to put herself in harm's way."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Nah, not really. But she can hold her own." He got quiet, staring at the ground again, deep in thought. "Look, I'll talk to them. The girls would go crazy for more people to talk to and going into Washington, you'll need all the backup you can get." His eyes met mine across the fire. "No offense, man, but your girl is lacking survival instinct. Smart as hell though," he added thinking that might soften the blow. It was the truth though. Ella did well when someone was there coaching her along; that's when she was brave. But alone, she freaked. Panicked. And, as Hunter pointed out, froze with zombies five feet away from her.

"Yeah, we wouldn't refuse the assistance in keeping her alive." I didn't bother to correct him on the "your girl" comment knowing it was best to ignore it.

"This is gonna be fucking awesome," Miles clapped his hands together causing an echo of the sound to disperse through the surrounding woods. "The gang's all back together," he joked in a mocking voice but he was excited by the idea of having our fourth back. We all were, even Hunter, though he was trying not sound too interested. We were brothers, we knew better.

"Do you just hear what you want to hear?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah pretty much," he said nodding along with his words. "It's all but done anyway. I'd bet my life that when we leave in a couple days, we have at least two extra people with us."

"I'm heading up. Told Ella I'd teach her how to fight some in the morning."

I left before I could see their faces at the declaration. I didn't need any more shit about Ella. As if it wasn't going be hard enough teaching her in close quarters.

"Come on, girl," Joel yelled, breaking Ella's concentration with less than helpful commentary like he'd been doing all morning. "You don't gently poke zombies with knives."

"Unless you want to get killed," Atlas added with a shrug.

Everyone was out to enjoy the show. If I'm being honest, I appreciated it because it kept me from taking things in a different direction. Ella wasn't so thrilled. They all made her nervous and it showed. But now that they wouldn't shut up, I could tell she was ready call it quits. Nothing like having a bunch of heckling assholes in the audience to make you want to quit.

"If you don't shut up, I'll poke you," she threatened pointing at them with the business end of the knife.

Her threat did nothing to dissuade them. Instead they began to laugh and by the expression on her face, she was really considering throwing that knife at one of them. I started to crack a smile, unable to hide how much I enjoyed it when she got all fired up, but quickly schooled my expression when she turned her glare to me.

"Here," Miles said, standing. "Let me show you."

Miles walked to Ella and put his hands on her hips and when she smiled, my jaw involuntarily clenched. I'd been teaching her to use the knife for most of the morning now, but I kept a hands off approach going on. As much as I wanted to do exactly what Miles was doing right now, I didn't think it was a wise idea. Actually, I knew it wasn't. The moment my hands touched her hips they would have spun her around and pulled her against me until our bodies were flush. And they would have never been able to stay still on her hips; I didn't know if I'd slide them down to ass or up toward her chest first, but knew if I got a touch, it wouldn't be enough. I'm not sure the exact moment that nearly every thought of Ella turned into something sexual - maybe it'd been that way since I'd first seen her - but it was hard to keep my mind on the task at hand.

He twisted her hips, repositioning how she was standing and gave her directions on where her legs should be. He wrapped his hand around hers to demonstrate how she should be slicing the blade through the air and as he moved slowly that she could put the movement into memory, Miles glanced at me. Smirk firmly in place, it was clear the jackass knew exactly what he was doing.

I shouldn't let it get to me. Hell, it shouldn't get to me. But it did. Unable to watch Miles with his hands all over her, I turned away, much to amusement of my friends. Apparently my... frustration didn't go unnoticed. I feigned an itch on my nose with my middle finger directed toward Hunter and Joel who only laughed.

"Now, you make the motion enough times and it'll be committed to muscle memory so when you're facing a zom, it'll come to you like second nature," Miles said.

Ella scoffed. "I don't think killing someone will ever come as second nature to me."

"It's amazing how quickly that ideology changes," Zero spoke up causing Ella to drop her stance and turn to face the girl who had gone out of her way to not speak with any of us. She watched us and listened, but rarely partook in conversation. It was almost as if she was waiting for one of us to slip up and mention more nefarious reasons for being here. The girl had trust issues, major trust issues. Not that I blamed her, from the sound of it, she'd been to Hell and back more than once. Still, it was hard to relax around her. "I didn't think I'd get used to killing creeps either. Or humans... but you do it enough and it does become second nature, or if it doesn't, you die."

Ella frowned, staring at Zero.

"How many people have you killed?" She asked and she must have realized how inappropriate the question was, but I don't think she could help but ask. Zero, for her part, didn't seem offended.

"Not as many as I should have," Zero answered, her eyes never wavering from Ella's. I wasn't the only one surprised that as Zero walked toward Ella, she held her own. She didn't back down or even look away, though I knew the girl intimidated her. All our eyes were glued to the girls, waiting to see if Ella would back down. Waiting to see if we'd have to step in to a girl fight before Zero murdered Ella. Just waiting. I don't think even her own people knew what to expect as she walked over. Zero gave Miles a look. "If you're done trying to make your friend jealous-" She didn't have to finished the rest of that sentence for the message to be clear. Zero's eyebrow arched and she nodded toward where everyone was perched, watching the show. She was kicking Miles out. Dumbstruck he went back to his seat, interested in what Zero had to say.

"You're teaching her wrong," She said simply.

"Zero," Hunter warned earning himself an exaggerated sigh.

"If we're going to be heading into a giant city with them, I'm sure as hell making sure at the very least she can hold her own," she said to Hunter and then turned back to me. My eyebrows shot up, no one had mentioned yet if they'd decided to come or not. Before I could question it though, she spoke. "You're teaching her to kill a zombie the same way you do but most will be as big or bigger than her. Not all of us can be Neanderthals."

"You gonna take over?"

"Someone with some real skill probably should."

"Damn, Ky, you gonna let her talk to you like that?" Miles joked.

I shook my head, looking down to hide a quite chuckle. I didn't care how she talked to me if she was right - well, maybe not about the skill part. But if she has a better method to teach Ella, I sure wasn't going to stop her.

"Beat it, guys," I said loudly enough to jolt everyone. "You're not helping and you're just making her more nervous."

The younger kids scattered away pretty quickly, but Joel and Miles took their time leaving. Finally, they walked back to the house.

"Hunter come help me," Zero said. "I'm going to have him attack me like a creep might. Watch what I do and then do it to Kyle."

"Why are you helping?" Ella asked, skeptically.

Zero smiled and I think it might have been the first time I saw her smile at someone other than Hunter, Atlas, or the little girl, Bambi. "I'm not usually such a bitch..." she paused. "Or I kind of am, but only to people who deserve it. And I'm supposed to be trying to be trusting." She glanced at Hunter. "Benefit of the doubt and all that. Besides, if you're really trying to do what you say, you shouldn't put all your faith in other people. You have to be as confident that you can protect yourself as you are that they can protect you."

"Thanks." Ella nodded.

Zero gave a firm nod her head and then gestured for Hunter to attack her. Hunter walked toward Ella in the same way a zombie might, slowly with an awkward gait. "Now, you won't always be able to attack from behind. If you're cornered by a few creeps, there will be no way to get behind them." She pretended to hold a knife in her hand and waited for Hunter to get closer. Finally, she ducked down, avoiding his hands and stepped toward him. As she did, she brought the hand that would be holding a knife up and motioned a jab under Hunter's chin. "You hit here as hard as you can, it's all soft through the roof of the mouth and into the brain." She pushed Hunter off of her and turned to look at Ella.

"You have to let them get closer so you can use your size to your advantage. There are other ways though."

When Hunter acted as her attacker again, Zero swiftly side stepped him and pulled his arm down and toward her at the same time she pretended to drive a knife through his ear. Turned out that Zero wasn't half bad at teaching and the girl was skilled at killing zombies. In a lot of different ways. I didn't know if maybe she got bored with the same two steps over and over and wanted to try new, more exciting ways to get the kill or what, but she was prepared with an entire repertoire of moves. And she went through a few dozen with Ella. The longer we were out there the more gruesome the killing style became. Ella's eyes would grow wide or her face would twist in disgust, but she was a good student.

Ella paid attention to every move Zero made and tried her damnedest to replicate them. She did well, though she didn't always get it on the first try. Zero was surprisingly patient and the three of us would offer corrections as we spotted them. Without an audience Ella didn't lose focus or become discouraged she repeated the moved until she had them down pat. I wasn't doing a hell of a lot in my role as pretend zombie attacker, but Ella had worked up a sweat and after several hours, I knew she needed a break, though I didn't think she'd give herself one. When Zero started talking kicking temples and curb stomping, Ella looked like she might puke and I took advantage.

"Okay, I think we have enough to work with," I interrupted before Zero could go into further detail on curb-stomping. She shrugged in an uncaring way and started to walk off, she was a few steps away when she turned around and reluctantly told Ella, "You pick thing up quick."

"I think she likes you," Hunter said to Ella, grinning. She only raised an eyebrow,not ready to take his word. "She's not much of a people person, but she offered to help you out - I didn't even prompt that, which is telling. Zero just isn't all hugs and rainbows. That isn't how she shows emotion."

Ella smiles, grateful for the reassurance.

"Day one is always rough," he says, patting her shoulder before walking past her. When his eyes met mine, he nodded his head to the side. Getting the message, I followed him a few feet off. "Two days?" He asked.

"Two days," I agreed. Ella was able to walk again without constant pain and we'd spent enough time here. The last three days had been nice, relaxing even, but we had a mission. With or without Zero and Hunter, we needed to leave. The only reason we hadn't packed up this morning was because Ella wanted to learn the knife and, for my own peace of mine, I had wanted to teach her.

"Keep practicing," Hunter said louder to Ella.

"They're really hardcore," Ella said to me, watching Hunter walk back up to the inn. "Like really hardcore."

"Good thing they're on our side."

A little hesitantly, she nodded. "I don't know if I can jump on a zombie."

A deep chuckle rumbled out as the image of her doing just that popped into my head.

"Teaching you all this is a precaution, Ella. We got two more joining us, you'll be in the middle of pack. You more than likely won't have to even pull your knife."

Ella's lips spread into a grin. "I get the feeling you're lying right now."

"You do?" Was I lying? Maybe a little, though not intentionally. I had just been telling her what I hoped would be truth. Whether or not it was, was a different story.

Biting down on her bottom lip, she nodded, looking much sexier than she should for someone who's been active and sweaty out in the sun all morning.Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips as she met my eyes.

"I think it's sweet that you're trying to make me feel safe." She hid a nervous grin behind one hand but kept her eyes on mind. "You're sweet."

Sweet? Whatever face I pulled had Ella giggling - a sound I quickly realized was something I wanted to hear again. I was a lot of things and I had been called many of them. Sweet... that was new, especially coming from a girl who could hardly stand to breath the same air as me a couple days ago.

"It's a compliment," she explained but I wasn't so sure. When I didn't give in she shook her head. "So, you gonna keep practicing with me?" She needed to keep practicing but after being out here all morning, I didn't want her to overdo it. The last thing we needed was for Ella to pull a muscle or overwork herself to a point of exhaustion. And though she sounded ready to go, her shoulders sagged giving away her need for a break.

"I think I'm gonna head down to the water," I said and when a little half frown turned one corner of her lips down, I added, "You can come." I shouldn't have been so satisfied with the way she her lips immediately spread into a smile, but I was. I was man enough to admit that to myself.

"You planning on trying to make me kill another zombie?" She asked, raising one eyebrow as she waited for my answer. I threw my head back laughing at the mix of her words and the expression on her face.

"No." I shook my head. "Learned my lesson on that one."

"Then, sure." She nodded and surprised me by slipping her hand into mine. I looked down at her but it seemed the trees to her left were suddenly holding her interest. Grinning a little at that, I led her down toward the dock.

The water was a short walk from where we'd been practicing in a courtyard and it was easy to see why the place had once catered to couples looking to getaway for the weekend. It was... serene. When we reached the dock and were surrounded by nothing but the water and trees. Insects chirped, birds sung. No groans of the dead nearby. Hell, out here it was almost possible to forget that the world wasn't in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Almost.

It was completely forgotten seconds later when Ella's arms crossed at her hips. Her fingers curled around the bottom hem of her shirt and she lifted it over her head, tossing it to the side. The thin tee-shirt that matched mine and did wonders to hide the soft curves beneath it for the last few days landed in a soft flutter on the dock next to her boots. Huh. I hadn't even noticed she took the boots off. My eyebrows lifted.

Damn. I had not expected that.

It wasn't the warmest it had been but the sun was out and Ella had been working out all morning, so the idea of swimming in the cool water hadn't phased her. Apparently, neither did stripping down.

I blew out a breath that did nothing to release the tension building.

My eyes locked to her pale stomach, not toned and hard, but smooth and soft. Her gentle curves were captivating now that a loosely fit shirt didn't cover them up. I shouldn't have been. I should have been a gentlemen about it. I'd seen a girl without her shirt before, but for some reason I was fascinated with the inches of skin between her belly button and where the pants that were at least three sizes too large hung too low on her hips.

"Uh."

Her soft voice startled me, pulling my gaze up to her brown eyes. Her brow was raised and a little smirk was pinching her lips. Oh, yeah. I had been caught checking her out. And I didn't think she minded. A second later, I was two steps closer to her without even realizing I'd moved. My hands her ready to reach out-

"I'm sorry," she apologized, crossing her arms under her chest and hiding her stomach, but extenuating two other rather captivating features. "Were we not... swimming?"

My eyebrows shot up and I forced my eyes back to her face. I actually hadn't had swimming on my mind, I just found it peaceful down here... the right kind of quiet. But hell if I was gonna stop Ella from undressing and getting wet. I'll take front row seats to that.

"Go right ahead, beautiful." I gestured to the water with one hand. Ella stared at me waiting, finally arching a brow. I knew what she wanted, expected of me right then. And God knows I should have turned my happy ass around or at the very least averted my gaze. But I didn't. Partly because she'd been surprising me all day and I wanted to see if she'd rise to the challenge or call me out. Ella didn't disappoint. Though her cheeks were pink, her eyes met mine briefly before glancing away coyly as she undid the belt and let the pants drop. Damn. She was making this hard.

How the hell the girl managed to pull off shy and innocent, and bold as fuck at the same time, I had no fuckin' clue. But I liked it.

She didn't meet my eyes again, instead whirled around and jumped into the water. When she surfaced, her chocolate hair, darkened by being soaked with water clung to her forehead and cheeks. "Well?" She asked. "Are you getting in?"

Damn if she didn't look hopeful. Seductive.

"Aw, hell," I muttered under my breath. I took a moment to consider it but all I could think about was kissing her lips and her neck and the soft pale skin just under her belly button that was currently not visible in the water. I had to face it. Fuck being professional. I was never professional before meeting this girl. There's a reason I was a soldier and then a mechanic instead of a lawyer or something like that. I wasn't professional. So why exactly had I aimed to keep it professional? I was pretty fucking sure she knew exactly what she was doing - that she wanted me every bit as much as I wanted her.

Ella made a move and I had a feeling that it wasn't something she did often. I also had a feeling that if I passed up the opportunity it wouldn't be offered again. And I wanted it. I wanted her.

Fuck, yeah. I was getting the damn water.

AN - hope you all enjoyed the chapter!! This one was super fun to write. :)