Maizen: Return of the Zombies

Chapter 11

"I have an idea," Bob suggested as they travelled across the biome. "Why don't we build a house? It would have security of course, but it would still be kinda homey. It could blend in with the surroundings too, so that it would be hard for the infected to find."

"That's not a bad idea," Mary said. "I'm so tired, we've been walking for hours, I need some rest!"

"You think you do?" Will asked. He'd lost his energy long ago, and Bob had been carrying him since. "Girl, bye. You haven't been tired until you've been shot and forced to walk for hours on end."

"Yeah, well," Mary tried making a comeback, but was clearly failing. "At least... at least..."

"Ha, don't even try." Will said with finality, seeming pretty amused with his wife's bad roasting attempts. They certainly weren't your stereotypical married couple, that's for sure. "Just admit it. You suck at roasting."

"Don't even!" Mary shot back, rufusing to lose. "You can't even be talking when you-"

"Wait a second." JJ said, interuppting her. "I just came up with something..."

"What is it?" Mary asked, glad to leave the previous topic behind.

"Since Bob said the house could blend in with the surroundings, why don't we build it in that forest over there?" JJ pointed to a nearby wood patch. "We could use the shade of the trees to our advantage while building."

"JJ, you motherfucking genius!" Mary said, and made a break for the woods. "I already have a picture of it in my head, it's gonna look brilliant!"

"She does know that we're all gonna agree on what the house'll look like, right?" Will asked. "Because trust me, Mary is not the kinda girl you'd wanna leave to interior design choice. If I didn't live with her, our house would look like it came staright out an anime universe."

No way JJ was about to live in a softie anime house. He started chasing and shouting after Mary.

"Try and stop me, dumb speedrunner!" Mary insulted jokingly, before speeding up. That only fueled JJ's detirmination, and he eventually managed to knock Mary over just before she could reach the trees. He then saw some apples scattered on the ground, and went to town on her. She tried covering herself to avoid the apple assault, but it was no use.

"How's this for a "dumb speedrunner?" JJ mocked as he continued his assault. For the first time since the apocolapse began, he was genuinely enjoying himself. Suddenly, Mary caught one of the apples and backfired the attack. JJ tried to dodge it, but he was too slow. It hit him in the chest; not too hard, and he fell into the grass. Mary started laughing at him, and he eventually admitted defeat. He'd been taken down by a softie.

Just then, Mikey caught up to them.

"See how it feels!" He shouted, deciding to get in on the game. He had a pile of sticks with him, and he started whipping them right at Mary. After she was assulted enough, she pretended to die. Mikey bathed in triumph for a moment, before helped JJ get back up.

"Good thing we got her, JJ! She'll never test you again!" He continued to flex his win, and JJ chuckled at how proud he sounded after fake killing someone in defense of him.

"That's for sure." JJ said, feeling warm inside because of the rather wholesome moment. Having fun like this was something JJ didn't think he'd ever be able to do again.

"Guys, if we're going to build this house, we better hurry-" Bob said, catching up to them last. "Look over there."

JJ and Mikey turned their attention to the field beyond the woods, and they saw lots and lots of zombies wandering mindlessly around the area. Bob was right; if they didn't hurry, the might get spotted sooner or later. JJ suddenly felt a rush of resentment towards the infected. If it weren't for them, everyday could be like this... but of course, they had to destroy everything.

"We should probably build the house with wood, but surround it with iron bars." Will suggested. "But then, maybe cover the bars with vines so that it doesn't look to out of place. Maybe we could put some vines on the house too, just to be safe. JJ could install some security measures, and the rest'll just be a wild guess."

"That's some great planning, Will." Bob complimented. "I think we should do that. Does everyone else agree?"

Mary arose from the dead to give her approval. Everyone else did as well. Mikey pretty much just went along with everyone else; he always did that. After that, Bob decided to head to the mines to collect iron ore to smelt it into iron bars. He decided to leave Rob with Will, who was able to stand now. Mary decided she would start gathering wood to built the house. But out of nowhere, Rob offered to help her.

"I'm not just going to sit here being useless." He declared. "I've done that enough, for too long."

"Of course, buddy..." Mary said. "Come on. Let's go. Mikey and JJ, you're on guard." With that, they ventured into the woods.

Suddenly, Mikey started shaking.

"What's wrong, buddy?" JJ asked. Mikey made a fearful noise before leaning into him.

"Remember what happened last time we were left on guard?" He asked. "We got attacked! What if that happens again?"

"It won't," JJ assured. "The zombies are all the way back there. Plus, just in case we do get attacked, I still have this netherite sword I got from the village."

He got it out and started to flex with it, and it started to make Mikey feel safer. He knew that JJ would always protect him, no matter what. Mikey kept leaning into him, and honestly? JJ didn't mind.

-

Some time later, everyone had gathered back together. Bob and Rob were building the house with the wood Mary and him had gathered, while the rest of them just relaxed.

"I can't wait to sleep in a nice, warm bed. Mikey said, imagining it in his head. He sighed and continued to watch Bob and Rob build.

"Same..." JJ said. He'd spent so many hours travelling, and the ones that haven't been had been fighting for survival, or fighting other people. JJ was beyond ready to sleep comfortably tonight. It was sunset now, and the base of the house was pretty much done. Bob and Rob had moved onto interior, with permission from everyone else. Soon enough, everyone would be sleeping at last. JJ was certain everyone else was just as eager as he was to get some well deserved rest.

"Hey JJ?" Mikey asked. "Can we sleep next to each other, like we did back at our old house?"

His eyes suddenly dulled with sadness at the mention of their old house, back in their old village.

"I like sleeping next to you... it makes me feel safe." He admitted, not being ashamed to speak his mind. JJ could tell he was sad, and wrapped his arm around him and pulled him close.

"Sure thing, buddy." JJ said, and they both went silent and appreciated the moment.

"Ooooooh..." Mary butted in from across the field. "That's the gayest shit I've seen in a while!"

JJ and Mikey adruptly separated, and that warm feeling he had suddenly melted into fresh annoyance. And, as rare as it was, Mikey looked mildly annoyed too.

"We're kinda in the middle of something!" Mikey shouted, due to her being a distance away from them.

"I can tell!" Mary shouted back, clearly getting a kick out of this. "Were you guys about to kiss? You totally should!"

Before JJ could charge at her, suprisingly, it was Mikey who did. Mary started running, and Mikey grabbed some of his sticks from earlier and throwing them at her again. Clearly, Mikey had been enjoying him and JJ's moment, and was pissed off at it getting interuppted.

"Well Mikey, now you know how I feel almost all the time." JJ thought, starting to become amused as he watched his friend assault Mary with sticks. Just as she deserved, anyway.

-

JJ was pleasantly suprised at how good the interior of the house was. He wanted to check it out more, but he was so tired that he couldn't think of anything else but sleep. When he approach his and Mikey's beds, Mikey was breaking his in order to place it right by JJ's. The beds had previously been placed on block apart, but it seemed that Mikey wanted them to be real close.

"Finally!" Mikey exclaimed, and instantly fell onto his bed. JJ did the same, and it felt amazing to be comfortable after the long past few days he'd endured. JJ reached over and turned out the light, and he instantly fell asleep.