Hot and on the menu

Liam lifted his weary arms, completing his hundredth pushup. Rick, Ross and Martin were in the room, watching him. Martin was shaking his head, Ross had a somewhat glum expression and Rick looked furious.

"I can't fucking believe you brought a whore into the building. During a captain meeting, with the city council in the here. What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Rick bashed his hand onto the table and Martin winced.

Liam got up, his eyes disinterested and bloodshot, which only infuriated Rick more. Martin was about to speak, to stop the fire from getting any hotter, but Rick's phone rang.

"Hello? Yes...yes sir...of course...I'll inform my squad." Rick hung his phone with a sigh.

"Was that the Big gun?" Ross asked, using the nickname for General Richard,"Something new?"

"Yes. Apparently the preparation time has been increased from two weeks to a month. Which is a smart move, I think."

"Yeah, course you'd think that, you're scared to go back out." Liam said softly and Rick pounced.

Rick grabbed him by the collar and smashed his back against the wall.

"We went out, we found his corpse! What the fuck more do you want? It is not the first teammate I've lost, nor the first family any of us has lost! Get your shit together!" Rick shouted and Martin and Ross quickly separated them.

"Rick, cool it. It's been barely that long. Liam needs time." Martin said with hard eyes.

"I need fuck all. Screw you Rick...you were his boyfriend for fuck sake." Liam shoved Ross out of his way and left the room.

"That was a goddamn disaster. My wife would be jealous of the tension." Martin said with a smile.

"That shit head is going to get dropped off this team, mark my words" Rick said with gritted teeth and left as well.

Ross sighed and sat on a chair. They were in the briefing room, having come there to talk in private.

Rick had come back from the meeting to find Liam kissing Samantha and walking her out.

From there, it went downhill.

Ross had quickly called Martin, because a fight was gonna break out and people were almost gathering. Martin had come and dragged Liam and Rick away from public view. After somewhat getting his composure back, Rick had ordered Liam to do a hundred pushups as punishment.

Liam obeyed readily enough but it clearly did not fix anything.

"Maybe they'll hash it by themselves." Martin said taking a seat too.

"Maybe the sky will fall" Ross replied.

"It did remember?" Martin said with a chuckle," Hell shower, the sky full of screaming faces...and us found unconscious in a destroyed building. So much paperwork for Rick."

"It was worse for Liam...he had to... Leslie." Ross looked down and they both had a moment of silence.

"You ever gonna tell him again?" Martin spoke up after a few seconds.

"Tell him what?" Ross said dryly,"He might just act like he never heard or forget it entirely."

"He needs sunshine in his life right now. Look at the state he's been in for the past weeks. Drinking, taking Poppsy and he brought a whore into HQ." Martin shook his head with distaste" He's going to get fired, end up with no credits and down in the Bottom city. Wouldn't it be better if he was your Bottom?"

"That's trashy" Ross chuckled" And yeah, I know he's spiralling. So does Rick. Yet I can't just go up to Liam, while he's sad and say ' wanna be my boyfriend?' What does that make me? No better than that hooker he brought here."

"Correction, he paid her, you wouldn't pay him. Honestly, Ross, Liam... doesn't have much now. My wife cried when I got home but him...he cried alone. You might be a saving grace, if you got up and went to give him a shoulder."

"Okay, okay. Despite the fact we used to be oil and water to each other. I will go talk to him. Not confess, just talk. Maybe get him off the Poppsy"

Ross got up, walking to the door.

"You know where he went?" Martin asked.

"Course I do. Where he goes all the time now." Ross said as he opened the door,"At Lesley's grave."

************************************

"Help! Someone help me! Please!" A woman ran down an alleyway, her throat raw as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Behind her five zombies chased, their rotten fleshy outstretched hands eager to rip her apart.

God why is this happening? She thought as she ran faster, why?

The streets were silent, the sky a dull cloudy grey and the air stank of dust and ancient dead pollution. The woman wore a ripped frock, with a dirty moist dress that hid very little from the eyes. Her hair was a dirty blonde, with more dirt in it that hair colour, and her bloodshot eyes were brown like rust. She ran wearing high heels which had no heels anymore, and all over her body was grime and filth of a Survivor outside the Greenhit citadel.

"Somebody please! Help me!" She screamed as she ran on, her eyes darting left and right for a place of safety.

Honestly she didn't expect anyone to help her. That would have been crazy. Instead she screamed, hoping someone, hidden somewhere, would grow curious and look at her situation.

Then she'd run straight to them, leading the zombies there, so they can chase the other person and she can escape.

This thinking process wasn't cruel. It was necessary. She didn't want to die and would not care if anyone else died in her place. No matter what, she wanted to survive. To hell with morality. That was deader than the walking corpses chasing her.

The woman turned a corner and... stopped dead in her tracks.

"What...w-what the he-"

Grugh!

Chewing sounds rang out as the woman's life ended, but it was not by the zombies who had been chasing her.

"Yummy yum yum...Yummy"

The five zombies reached the spot only to get a single arm. The rest of the woman's body was already gone.