Fighting my battle

Chapter 5: Getting to know you

"It's just this way" Marnie called before making her way around the corner to the supermarket "Wow, it's massive" Skylar gasped, looking up.

Marnie nodded. She been to this supermarket on many different occasions to get her meat. It seemed like they were stocking it up regularly for anyone who still lived there.

"So I guess we grab essentials, nothing too crazy. We can always come back for more if we need to as the actual house isn't far from here. I'll scope the place out and then you guys can come in when it's safe" Marnie said, heading out to take a look.

As usual the place was calm, there was never really any zombies around here as it was so dead around here and naturally they were drawn in different directions. She beckoned the gang over, stepping into the supermarket and smiling when she noticed it was fully stocked once again.

"God, this place is like heaven!" Skylar said, grabbing Cyrus by the hand and pulling him off to go hunting for food causing Marnie to chuckle softly. "Well, I'm not going with her" Annie grimaced, taking Raven by the hand "Oh goodie, I guess I'll take one for the team" Raven sighed as she was pulled off in the other direction.

Marnie rolled her eyes, sighing softly and slowly turned towards Tristan who was once again by her side "Well, looks like you got the short end of the stick again, getting stuck with the zombie girl" Marnie said beginning to make her way down the aisle with cupboard foods. Tristan chuckled and shrugged softly.

"I don't mind hanging around you, I think you're actually pretty cool" He said barging Marnie's shoulder, causing her to stumble slightly. Before Marnie even had time to react an arm snaked around her waist, helping her steady herself and she looked up at Tristan properly for the first time ever. There was no denying he was attractive, he had Jett black hair and dark brown eyes and he was definitely a guy she would of gone for if she'd met him in any other situation but there was no room for love in a zombie apocalypse, it was destined to fail but there was no denying her heart beating out of her chest from the tiny bit of gentle contact she'd had in a long time . She coughed awkwardly and finally felt Tristan remove his arm from her waist, allowing her heartbeat to return to a normal rate.
"Well damn, you must of been a rugby player before all this" Marnie chuckled, continuing down the aisle "Or you're just incredibly tiny, I'm sure even Moose could knock you down" Tristan teased "So, what did you actually do before all of this went down? Did you have a job or anything?" Marnie said, generally interested in getting to know Tristan more.

"I worked in a bakery behind the scenes, I'm kind of an introvert so if I can avoid human contact, sign me up" Tristan said, picking some cans of the top shelf that Marnie had originally given up on getting because she couldn't reach "I must be your best friend then because there's no human contact going on here" Marnie chuckled, throwing afew more cans into the basket Tristan was now holding. As she scanned the aisle, something caught her attention, a small pack of broken biscoff biscuits "I love these biscuits, my mum used to give them to me as a snack when I got home from school and I wasn't ready for dinner her" Marnie said, happily at first but it wasn't long before sadness took over due to the sheer mention of her mum. She'd never actually allowed herself time to truly process what her parents had actually done to her, she couldn't so she just bottled it up because she knew she had to survive, whether that be through spite or actually wanting to make it through she wasn't sure yet. She threw the biscuits back on the shelf with more force than was necessary and turned back towards Tristan who was already looking down at her, the same softness lingering in his eyes whenever he looked at Marnie.

"I'm here for you Marnie, I'll listen to you. Something is beating you up inside, I can tell but you don't need to hold it all in" Tristan said, taking a step towards Marnie, which instinctively caused her to step back.

Marnie had never been one to talk about her emotions when she was a human and becoming a zombie never changed that, infact it only toughened her up. She felt she could trust Tristan but not with something like this, atleast not yet "I'm fine Tristan, honestly. Let's carry on getting some more bits" She said, smiling at him softly before turning away from him and heading down the aisle again. She could hear Tristan sighing behind her but she pretended she couldn't hear, she wasn't ready to face her past.

Marnie picked up afew more tins on the way before heading down towards the meat, there was only ever abit of meat but thankfully Marnie only needed abit at a time to keep down her cravings and then the rest of the time she could eat normal food. She turned the corner once more, coming across the cat food and grabbing probably alot more than was necessary "You're eating well today Moosey" Marnie said, shaking the box and laughing as Moose pushed his head through the small gap in her backpack "Get back down there" She said, pushing Moose back down and zipping up the bag, leaving a small breathing hole.

As Tristan and Marnie met back up with the others she peeped into the trolleys that they had. Cyrus and Skylar's mainly consisted of snacks and alot of them but she figured that would be the case with Skylar obviously being the leader in that duo. Raven and Annie's consisted of a wide variety of foods and necessities like toothbrushes, toothpaste and shower gel, nothing too special but all would come in handy.

"Well boys, time to put those muscles to good use" Marnie teased, pushing Tristan behind the trolley that Raven was once pushing and placing her basket ontop "And what exactly will you be doing?" Tristan said, raising an eyebrow at Marnie but still holding onto the trolley ready to start pushing.
"Well, I'll be leading the way of course. Someone has to make sure everyone and that yummy food gets to the house safely" Marnie said, nodding matter of factly "Yep, come on everyone. Let's follow the zombie girl" Annie said, rolling her eyes and making her way outside.

Marnie decided to let that one slide and head outside as well, beginning the short walk to their new home.

It wasn't long before they reached their new destination, only passing one or 2 zombies along the way that Marnie made quick easy work of. She stood before the large door "You can all thank me later" She gloated before stepping inside and allowing everyone in.