Sixteen - Kyle

"I ain't ever seen shit like that," Joel said quietly, his back resting against a tree. "That's some next level shit."

He hit the nail on the head with that. We'd dealt with people before, but that - hanging people to crosses until they died either from starvation, exposure, or zombies - well that was brand-freaking-new.

"Seen anything like it before?" Hunter asked.

I shook my head along with Miles. We'd seen some weird shit go down outside of Hudson - and if I'm being honest, inside too. But nothing like that. We'd been close to cities before, not this one because no one in the right mind wants to head into the capital. It's right up there with going into New York City as far as stupidity goes. Every city has people who've staked a claim to it of some sort. Most are like Miles said, bigger bark than bite. I wasn't sure when it came to these people though. Anyone willing to do that to a person...

"You?" Joel asked.

"Not even close." He shook his head. "The people we've run into, they've wanted our girls, one had some weird Fight Club type shit going on, but even they didn't do anything like that. Makes me think it's gang shit. There's gotta be another group threatening their power to make them stake such a claim."

"Then lucky us for walking our asses right into the middle of it all," Joel said. "Zero took 'em out," Joel said after a moment, pausing for Hunter's reaction. Our friend let out a deep sigh but nodded as though he expected as much. "It was a bad call."

Hunter grimaced and glanced over his shoulder where the girls were. Zero had dragged Ella off grumbling something about girl time that had Ella looking about as confused as possible - but I couldn't help but feel relieved that she looked confused and even slightly amused instead of haunted. She'd carried that look with her since we'd ditched the truck. Too pale, dark circles seemed to appear under her eyes and every smile when Miles or Hunter or I tried to lighten the mood was forced for our benefit. And now she was having girl time with Zero, which in Zero-speak translated to more training apparently.

"She thinks with her heart," he said by way of explanation.

"She may have fucked us over."

"Watch it," Hunter said defensively, leaning forward with narrowed eyes locked on Joel.

Not at all intimidated by Hunter's display Joel rolled his eyes. We'd seen Hunter get into fights before and the guy knew how to throw a punch, but Joel could give as good as anyone. He wasn't scared of a fight nor was he one to back down from a challenge. I shut my eyes in silent prayer that Joel kept his damn mouth shut. The last thing we needed was the two of them fighting it out. I smiled when Joel conceded. "Quit being a little bitch. I'm not hatin' on your girl so just calm your tits, bro." At that Hunter relaxed his posture and he smiled. "I'm not arguing with killing them. It was right. I'm just saying that if the assholes who did that see what she did, they'll be ready for us. Hell, they may even come looking for us. I just mean if we'd left their shit alone, we could have slid in under the radar."

I shoved Joel the instant the words left his mouth. The asshole had an issue keeping his damn voice quiet and Ella and Zero were only a few yards away. Zero wasn't a concern, but we'd spent damn close to an hour getting Ella to trust that stopping for the night was a good idea. She'd used the term "sitting ducks" and started ranting on about horror movies and camping. It wasn't pretty. We'd finally talked her down and now she was off with Zero. Totally, blissfully distracted from her fear. I'd kill Joel if she'd heard him suggesting that we're being hunted.

"Keep your voice low."

"We had a good shot of being spotted no what. No one came into this expecting a walk in the park," Miles pointed out.

Chuckling Joel shook his head, but when he spoke again, he kept quieter. "I'm thinkin' no one goes off alone. Stay in sight line. Two of us up all night. No chances."

Miles nodded. "We should do another sweep of the area and check for any signs of people." He nodded toward where the girls were. "And it's probably a good idea to pull them back. We can't afford Ella burning out or either of them being overtired. Never know when we'll have to run."

"Give them a few more minutes to work the day off. I'll get them," Hunter said.

"They seem to be getting along." I don't know why I bothered to bring it up, but it surprised me. Ella had referred to Zero as Bitchy Barbie for the last few days. I wasn't sure when the bonding happened - not that they were giggling and sharing secrets. At least, I didn't think. But since Zero offered her help the coolness between them had faded.

Hunter shrugged. "Look at the people we're with. Everyone one of them was taken in because Zero thought it was a good idea. She's not sweet and smiley but she has a soft spot for hopeless cases."

Miles barked out a laugh. "That what you were?"

His lips pulled into a smile filled with bittersweet memories. "Yeah." He nodded. "I was pretty lost."

By the time Miles and I returned to camp, only moonlight breaking through the trees lit our way. Several zoms had been roaming around, but less than an hour drive from the capital, that was expected. We hadn't run into any people, or even seen signs that they had been in these same woods. I was sure that the crucified people were there to scare people away. A warning, possibly like Hunter had reasoned, a warning to another community trying to claim D.C. as their out. No single group could keep an eye on the entire city, it was possible that they didn't even come this far out on a regular basis. And if that were the case, there was a chance they hadn't seen the Zero had killed their warnings. Those stupid enough to ignore the fucked up warning signs would run into the assholes further down the road. I hoped we could avoid that, but I wasn't feeling confident. Alexandria, where we were headed was practically a part of D.C. only slightly more suburban, which meant between corporate buildings and hotels the city was spackled with grocery stores and department stores... anything you could you think of.

It would be a good place for people to try to check out and fish through for supplies without going into the heart of downtown. So running into these other people seemed like less of an "if" and more of a "when."

And Fountain Labs was in the heart of it all.

Everyone split off to get rest pretty quickly, but taking first shift, Miles and I planted our asses near the tents and got comfortable. We sat in the dark, waiting for any sounds out of the ordinary. The sound of a zipper moving caught my attention. Miles raised an eyebrow, it was too early for anyone to wake up and relieve us to get some sleep. From my vantage point, I had a better view of the tents and watched as Ella crawled out of the one she had been in.

She stood, looking around, waiting for her eyes to adjust enough to move over the roots that would otherwise trip her. Her feet started moving toward us and didn't stop until she was by my side, worrying her lip and looking all kinds of uncomfortable.

"I can't-" she started quietly, her voice trembling. "I can't sleep."

I smiled, understanding and patted the ground next to me. With an unsure smile Ella sat next to me, close enough that our shoulders touched. Even in the dark I could tell that her eyes were wide, despite knowing how tired she was. She stared straight ahead without blinking.

"Didn't trust me to protect you, huh?" Miles said, his voice light enough to hear a smile. "I'm hurt, Ella. Truly."

Her gaze wandered to him and her lips twitched but she didn't say anything. Mile frowned, meeting my eyes, concerned.

"Every time I close my eyes I... I see them," she said softly as though she didn't want to admit it. "I thought maybe I could help out here... you know, since I'm not sleeping anyway."

I moved my arm, positioning it behind her so that I could lean in closer, her body tucked into mine.

"You still got that lipstick?" I asked, low enough that Miles couldn't hear. Her neck turned until she was facing me and she nodded. "Put it on."

Her lips parted and she looked ready to argue, but Ella stopped whatever words were about to roll off of her tongue and instead reached into her pocket. She slid the lipstick over her mouth until I was sure they were ruby red even if it was too dark to see.

"Now, lay down," I said and smiled when her nose scrunched up. "Come on, I'll be your pillow so you don't have to sleep on the dirt." I patted my lap. "I won't let anything happen to you," I added when she hesitated and Ella gave in. She scooted so that her back was to my side and then laid back until her head was resting on my thigh. Resting my back against the tree, I let my hand fall to her hip. My thumb rubbing circles on the soft skin under the hem of her shirt. It didn't take long for her breathing to even out and her body to completely relax in sleep.

"Anything?" Joel asked when he crawled from his tent sometime later.

"Quiet night," Miles answered before I could. "A zom got close an hour ago, but otherwise nothing."

Joel nodded and glanced at me and then Ella before his eyes settled back on me in question. She had stirred once shortly after falling asleep as if she were locked in a nightmare, but calmed down and hadn't moved since. Peacefully, she slept in my lap. I wasn't going to read into that. Miles stood, stretching as he yawned. "You good?" He asked Joel who quickly agreed. "Then I'm going to get some sleep."

"Get Hunter up when you turn in," he said taking the spot where Miles had been perched. "You not going?" he asked me.

I looked down at Ella's face and before I knew what I was doing, my hand moved to brush away the strands of hair that had fallen in her face. She was okay now, not haunted by everything she'd seen. Her features weren't pulled tight in fear and worry. Her lips were parted slightly, relaxed. I let my fingers comb through her soft hair as I glanced toward Joel.

"Nah, I don't want to move her," I said not caring that I sounded like a pussy. I didn't look for Joel's response, instead readjusting into a more comfortable position against the tree and closing my eyes.