| Ollie & Those Guys??

Rory dragged his feet as he walked, a yawn escaping his lips. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before with everything that happened with Alaina. He knew he wouldn't sleep tonight either but, to be honest, he really didn't think the reason would be mutated zombies.

"I'm dying."

Dax's voice was scratchy from exhaustion. He held his wound close to his chest, his arm wrapped around Jude, who's petite figure struggled to help carry the heaviest man of the group.

"I want to die."

Rory commented in a quiet grumble before a yawn escaped his lips. In return Jude yawned, and then Dax.

"Would you guys stop yawning."

Kyle yawned before glaring at the small group walking behind her.

"We can't help it. We're tired."

Jude commented, pulling Dax closer to hold him up.

"We're all tired."

Ezra agreed, his eyes struggling to stay completely open.

"Do you see any places to stop that look safe?"

Kyle examined their grassy surroundings. A tall, long building with the words 'Pine Creek High School' spelled out across the top was the only building for miles.

"There."

She pointed and Rory groaned,

"I'd rather die than stay in a school."

A loud screech from behind them caused the five to jump, their eyes widening in fear. The Zs were catching up to them.

"Then die."

Ezra grabbed Kyle's shoulder, leading them both towards the hell hole that was now their only savior. Jude quickly sped up to walk beside them, Dax groaning in reluctance as he struggled to keep up.

Rory stared up at the school with bored eyes.

"Of course it had to be a high school. Not an ice cream shop or a movie theater. A high school. Awesome."

He grumbled sarcastically as he too shuffled in the school's direction. Another screech came from behind them, the echo closer than before.

***

Kyle slowly opened the door, letting Ezra examine the inside with his gun cocked and ready.

"Okay."

As soon as he said it the others were flooding in, Rory locking the door behind them.

"Woah."

Jude marveled at the large school that held at least four stories. Each staircase was viewable, the edge of each floor held only by short gates. If someone were to be pushed over they would definitely die.

"If my high school looked like this I would've been shoved over the edge years ago."

Rory chuckled at his own joke.

"Come on, we need to get away from the doors."

Kyle led the way, walking farther into the high school, her bat tight in her hand.

They got to the top of the stairs and took a right before there was a gunshot and Rory dropped to the floor.

"Rory!"

Jude let go of Dax and ran towards him without another thought, causing the weak man to stumble to his knees.

"I'm fine."

Rory stated between clenched teeth as Jude helped him to his feet.

"They missed. "

"I'm sorry, I don't miss."

Ezra's stare turned from Rory to a group of four glaring their way from the end of the long crooked hallway.

"If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead."

In the center of the group stood the tallest, a man with warm olive skin and long black hair that fell down to his shoulders. His hooded dark brown eyes scrutinized them as he held a shotgun expertly in his hands.

A man with dark brown freckled skin, a muscular frame, and black rimmed glasses wield an axe with a sharp blade to his right. A pale women to his left held a Katana, her black bangs covering the tops of her dark eyes.

"Oh my god."

Kyle suddenly dropped her bat, the clatter echoing through the empty hallways. Her emerald eyes were wide, tears threatening to surface. Ezra followed Kyle's line of sight to the shortest of the group. His dark brown hair was just as curly as hers, although it was much longer than the red head's and much closer to the length of the tallest of his group.

His eyes met hers, the same color and the same spark with the same freckles across the bridge of his nose.

"Kyle?"

Without another beat Kyle sped towards her younger brother, her arms engulfing him in an emotional embrace. A relieved sigh left her lips as his arms wrapped around her, his hands gripping her jacket as if if he let go she would disappear again.

"I thought you were dead..."

Ollie stated in a broken tone. His voice was so much deeper than the last time she'd seen him.

"I knew you were alive."

Kyle smiled, pulling her brother an arms length away. He was the same height as her now. When they were separated he had only come up to her belly button.

"I knew you would make it."

Ollie's smile was full. Last time Kyle had seen him he'd been missing baby teeth. He looked so grown up.

"Touching, but we don't have time for this."

A deep voice broke up the small reunion and Ollie turned to the small group behind him. An impatient glare meeting his.

"They're coming with us Cash."

The man looked over the new faces Ollie wanted to bring with them. All he saw were more mouths to feed and more unnecessary variables.

"No."

His voice was low and stern, a command he didn't sound like budging from.

"They're coming or I'm staying."

Cash clenched his jaw, annoyance obvious on his face. The two on either side of him watched expectantly as if his word was law.

"We don't have time for this, O."

"They're coming. Or I'm staying."

Ollie copied Cash's stern tone, his glare becoming just as intense.

Brown eyes that looked as if they could kill looked over the group once more, his eyes falling on Dax, who struggled to stay up right with blood dripping from the shirt wrapped around his wrist. Cash growled in a low tone, they would expect medical aid. They didn't need to waste medical supplies on randos in the street.

His eyes fell back on Ollie, who's arm was still wrapped around Kyle's shoulder with a protective embrace.

Cash crumbled.

"Fine. Only because I don't have time to argue with you."

He pulled a walkie-talkie from his pants loop and brought it to his lips, his deadly glare stuck to Ollie and his older sister.

"You'll never guess who we just ran into."

After a few seconds of static the voice of a anxious man came through,

"What happened? Are you alright? Did Ollie do something stupid?"

Cash's intense stare turned soft in a second as he waited for the man to finish his worried rant.

"Well I can't say he didn't do anything stupid but everyone's alright for the moment. We're coming back up with a few guests."

It was silent for a little longer this time and Cash chuckled.

"Bring them up."

Cash looked over each member of the new group with skepticism. What was their motives? Did they just wander in by accident? After raising Ollie for six years this ginger stranger just shows up expecting food, medical care, and a roof to sleep under?

Maybe he was just being cynical and suspicious again. That's what his friends always told him.

But still.

You can't trust anyone now a days. Not until you know what they've done to survive.

"Alright, reunions over. We need to get back to base before the sun comes up. Let's go."

Cash's voice was deep as he turned around, leading the way back to the supposed base.

"I don't want to go with them, they just shot at us."

Dax suddenly caught a second wind, the complain being exclaimed loudly, the others ignored him following close behind their new saviors. Even in deadly conditions Dax was still as hard headed as always.

"He doesn't even like us!"

"Stay if you want."

Kyle chuckled as she walked beside her brother, an arm wrapped tightly around his shoulder.

"Come on asshole, or we'll leave you behind."

Rory held out a hand to the bigger man and Dax huffed, turning away stubbornly.

"Fine." he shrugged nonchalantly, "stay here and bleed out."

Rory turned to follow the others.

Dax's confidence began to waver as the group got farther and farther away. He huffed again, tapping a finger impatiently. They wouldn't really leave him would they? Not in this condition. Right?

They turned a corner, disappearing from his line of sight.

"God damnit."

He quickly struggled to his feet, his head spinning for a moment, probably from blood loss, before he started after them.

"Wait up you guys!"

As soon as he turned the corner he was met with an elevator. Kyle held the door open, a smirk on her lips.

"Shut up."

He stated as he stepped into the elevator, immediately leaning against Jude to keep himself up.

"Are you sure this thing works?"

"It works."

The freckled man with glasses pressed four and the doors closed, the small box taking them all the way to the top floor before opening.

"Keep an eye out for walkers."

"Walkers?" Dax snorted,

"You watched way too much walking dead."

"I think we should leave him out here for the screechers."

The dark haired girl spoke up, glaring at the bigger man.

"Screechers?"

Ezra asked, his eyebrow risen.

"We can talk about this when we get to base. Come on,"

The man wielding an axe led the way out of the elevator and down the hall. They took a right and then a left before being met with giant gym doors.

Ollie slammed a fist against the door once, paused, and then hit it twice more.

"It's us!"

After a few minutes and a couple of loud sounds from the other side someone slowly opened the door.

The gym was huge. Six long tables sat in one corner holding weapons or cans of food. Tents and blankets sat on the opposite side of the gym, along with some chairs. A large machine sat in the corner, plugs and wires sticking out in every direction.

A lanky man with sandy blonde hair, sunken green eyes, and a thin face closed the door behind them, sliding a metal bar over it and wrapping chains around the handles before locking it.

"I suspect you're Kyle?"

The man asked with a contagious smile as he looked over Ollie and Kyle, who's hands were connected tightly.

"Ollie told us so much about you. I'm Tabb, I hope Cash didn't give you too much of a hard time."

Cash only rolled his dark eyes as he moved to stand next to him.

"The brooding man with glasses is Xzavier and the woman with them is Mable."

Mable and Xzavier ignored the introduction, opting to go their own ways instead.

Ezra looked over the new group of people that had taken them in. There was at least seven survivors in the large gym, including the two men standing in front of them. A young girl who looked to be the same age as Ollie watched them from a distance with the same intense eyes that Cash sported. In fact she looked like his spitting image with the same brown eyes, olive skin, and long dark hair.

"You guys can sleep in the tents if you want, you look like death. We can save the introductions til you've rested up."

Cash spoke, grabbing Ezra's attention.

"I don't want to sleep, I have questions. What did Mable mean by Screechers? Do you know what those things are?"

"No," Cash shook his head.

"They just showed up out of no where. They mainly come out at night, during the day they hide in dark places like stores and sewers."

"And schools."

What Cash had said before about getting to base before the sun came up clicked in his mind. The screeches they heard outside were coming straight for them.

"They don't come up to the fourth floor. Usually."

Tired eyes were rolled in an aggravated manner as Dax attempted to hold himself up, stumbling slightly and failing to present the intimidating aura he was going for.

"Great, now we're trapped here until the sun goes down."

"Oh, stop complaining Dax, I'm tired. I need to sleep."

Rory groaned as he walked past Cash and Tabb and towards the tents.

"Me too."

Jude followed close behind.

"You look like you're in need of some medical assistance, I can help with that if you'd like?"

Tabb smiled in Dax's direction, ignoring the man's harsh tone. When he said nothing back Tabb turned and began to lead the way, taking his silence as a yes.

"You might as well go with him. If you don't he'll probably sneak into your tent to help."

Cash chuckled light heartedly as he watched the blonde, thin hair sticking up in every direction, walk away. Dax turned to look at Kyle with a questionable expression and she only shrugged her shoulders, her smile not faltering. He groaned before following Tabb's footsteps.

"Ollie, why don't you go catch Violet up to speed. Let these two get some rest?"

Ollie looked up to his sister and she nodded,

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

He smiled before letting go of her hand and running in the direction of the young girl Ezra had been examining only moments ago.

Ezra smiled as he looked around the base once more.

"Thanks for letting us stay here. I know it can be a pain and-"

"I only let you in because of Ollie."

Kyle and Ezra's brows knitted, both of them meeting Cash's glare as he interrupted him.

"...what?"

Kyle was taken back.

Cash looked around them, making sure the others were too far away to hear before turning back to Kyle and Ezra with a serous expression.

"We're going on a trip in a few days and you and your friends aren't apart of the plan."

He took a threatening step closer to them. Kyle looked confused while Ezra was red with anger.

"I'm going to let you stay here for now, but you are not coming with us when we leave. I won't let Violet, Tabb, Ollie or any of my friends die because of you idiots."

Without another word he turned to Tabb and Dax's direction, leaving the two stunned in silence.

***

Rory stared at the top of the tent with wet eyes. Why did Kyle get her brother back? Why did Ollie get to live while his baby sister rotted in the backyard of their old house?

"Hey, Rory."

Jude interrupted his thoughts as he crawled through the tent's opening, zipping it closed behind him. The bright fluorescent lights looked much dimmer inside. Rory refused to look, instead throwing an arm over his eyes to hide his tears.

Jude gave him an empathic expression, his brows knitted.

"I know it must be hard... seeing Kyle holding her brother again."

"I'm happy for Kyle."

Rory stated, his voice harsh and emotionless. Jude bit his lip.

"Okay..."

He slid under the thick black blanket Rory was laying on and cuddled against him, wrapping an arm around his middle and his head on Rory's shoulder.

"What're you doing?"

Rory quickly wiped his red, puffy eyes before looking down at Jude.

"I need to be comforted."

The blonde squeezed him tight and Rory sighed. He knew this wasn't for Jude. While the others could never read Rory or tell when he took an emotional blow Jude could always see it. He could glance at Rory and tell if he felt even the slightest bit uncomfortable.

Jude loved Rory.

"Okay..."

He wrapped an arm around Jude, holding him close.

"Just this once."