Love Bite | Gonner x Fem!Reader

Through the Forest

You left your house at 10PM with your school backpack thrown across your shoulder, stashing the door key in one of your pockets. Your parents didn't care that you were going out. None of the adults in this town cared. It was both a blessing and a curse.

You make sure to lock the door behind you and cautiously walk a little down the path, toward the mouth of the forest. It was dark out, and although you'd never previously been afraid of the dark, your newfound knowledge that zombies exist has definitely put you on edge.

Gonner was leaning on a tree a little ways into the forest, his arms crossed, wearing his typical pirate gear. He perked up as soon as he saw you coming toward him. "I was beginnin' to think ye weren't comin'!"

"I wouldn't blow you off like that," you roll your eyes playfully, smiling as he began to walk in tandem with you. "It would be rude, and no way to treat the one person who actually listens to me."

"Well that's good to hear," he grinned, "What've ye got packed in yer bag?"

You look confused for a moment before remembering that he really doesn't have use for the essentials anymore, and anything he did use was outdated by now. "Well I brought a clean change of clothes, a couple bottles of fresh water, a toothbrush and toothpaste that I'll use some of my water for, and a bunch of chocolate. I grabbed my phone because I always go on it before bed, and any medication I have to take."

The pirate zombie nodded along, his amber eyes searching the trees. He looked distracted, but you knew he was listening. He always was. As you both passed a large tree with a branch poking out the side, he snapped it off, brandishing it in front of him like a cutlass. "Yer prepared then! Exactly like a true pirate. We never had shortages of anythin' on board!"

You look at him waving the stick around and laugh, "Oh, yeah, you look so intimidating, just like a true pirate!" you joke sarcastically, mocking his words.

"Ye don't think I still have it in me?" He smirked, lightly poking you in the side. You were ticklish and flinched away, but then the sly look on his face made you regret reacting. "Yarr! Face me ye landlubber!"

Gonner went to jab you in the side again but you ran off in front of him as he chased you from behind. Both of you were laughing jovially, not having had this much fun in a long time. Gonner for longer than you. It had been far too long since he had someone to just be goofy with. Dixie didn't like that side of him, and Isis was very precautious.

"You're so slow for someone with lanky legs!" You tease, looking behind your shoulder to stick your tongue out at him. Because you weren't paying attention, your heart flew into your throat in shock and fear as your shoe snagged a tree root sticking from the ground, sending you plummeting.

Gonner hadn't been running after you at full-speed, more than content to let you win the game, when he saw you take a dive forward. He gasped and dropped the stick, picking up the pace to reach you before you fell and hurt yourself.

Your eyes were squeezed shut in reflex as you expected to collide with the floor and have the contents of your bag ruined, when two arms wrapped themselves around your middle and pulled you back up. You opened your eyes to see Gonner standing beside you, watching in concern. "Are ye okay?! I- I didn't mean to make ye fall over, I-"

You cut him off by wrapping your arms around his shoulders in a tight hug. He lets his hands hover over your waist in shock for a moment before hugging back. "You didn't do anything wrong," you say, "Not everything is your fault and you can't stop everything from happening."

He pulls away from the hug and gives you a sad smile, reaching up to fix the pirate hat atop his head. "Yeah... I know. I wouldn't be dead if I could..."

You couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy. He just wanted to pretend he wasn't dead, he just wanted to act like a normal teen your age. His life was stripped from him, and he had woken up into a world with all this confusing technology and then got cheated on. It must suck.

"Hey, don't think like that. Live in the now! We were having fun, right?" You chirp, desperately trying to lighten the mood. Usually Gonner would fill this role, but this time it was your turn to cheer him up. "And I can't wait to see what your graveyard looks like. Usually I'm not the morbid type, but it'll be so cool!" You were actually a little wary of how much sleep you'd get tonight, but you wanted to spend more time with your friend, and friends had sleepovers no matter how unconventional their home was.

He smiled a little at your words and nodded his head, "Aye! Onward!"