Bite {Niall Centric}

Day 210

Niall was alone, and it scared him. The silence scared him. Niall stood and instantly saw Liam sitting in an armchair a few furniture displays down.

His heart slowed down from its prior jackrabbiting; Niall couldn't help the flood of relief that passed over his body. Being alone scared him now that he had gotten used to having people around.

He walked further into the furniture store, nearing the counter where the boys had placed a temporary pile of food. Niall grabbed a granola bar and a bottle of water. "Hey, have you seen Louis?"

Niall shook his head, mouth full of granola. He looked at Zayn in confusion. Zayn seemed to get the hint.

"He's gone, and I noticed a truck missing in the car lot."

Niall swallowed before asking, "Is Harry gone, too?"

"No."

~.~.~.

Niall was on the roof with his bow and arrows. Louis hadn't come back yet. He shot at another zombie, watching as the arrow lodged itself into the corpse's eye. Who knew he had a knack for shooting arrows?

The mostly brunette sighed, laying back before putting his injured ankle on the ledge. He looked at the darkening sky, wondering about little things. Well, big things actually - now that he thought about it.

Where had Louis gone to? Why didn't he tell anybody?

Did Niall wait too long to tell them that perhaps he could choose them all? What would they say to that proposition though?

Niall felt a headache coming on, so he tried not to think about "big things" anymore. He wondered about the birds flying overhead. They looked freed of troubles, pleasantly happy even though zombies were destroying the world as humans have known it.

He felt sleep edge its way into his mind, and he allowed himself to succumb to it.

~.~.~.

Tiny raindrops pelted his face as he woke up, squinting into the night. He let out a yawn and nearly fell to his bum as he realized his whole leg had gone numb from loss of blood circulation.

He groaned as he tried to get feeling back into it, biting his lip as the burning sensation flowed from hip to toes. He used his bat to balance himself on one leg as he hopped back inside.

The stairs were dreadful until Niall regained feeling in his injured ankle and could now wobble faster down the stairs. His stomach rumbled from having missed dinner, so Niall rummaged in his quiver for the spare bag of hot cheetos he had packed.

Walking into the furniture store, he noticed that Louis was still gone. Zayn, Harry, and Liam were playing a card game, and there was a steaming bowl of soup on the table beside them.

"Hey, Niall," Harry greeted before slapping down a pair of cards. They were playing Goldfish.

"Hi," He called back before settling in a recliner. "Who's winning?"

Each of them claimed the title as winner.

Niall rolled his eyes.

"The soup is for you," Liam voiced as he gave a card to Zayn begrudgingly.

Niall took the bowl carefully, the soup keeping his thighs warm as he placed the bowl in his lap.

Niall ate as he watched the card game progress; Zayn eventually won. Setting aside the now empty bowl, Niall joined in the next card game.

It was in the middle of a furious match of Speed between Niall and Liam did the first rumblings of an engine become audible from the furniture store. The boys filed out into the plaza, heading for the entrance.

Niall hoped it was Louis, but he held his bat high above his head in case it wasn't his friend.

The metal cabinet in front of the door jiggled then slid forward about four inches - just enough for the smaller frame of Louis  to squeeze through. The smiling boy held a rope in his hand which seemed attached to something much larger than two of him combined. Niall could only stare at Louis and wait patiently for the surely crazy explanation.

"I got a cow - and a few chickens. . . and some other things - but I got a cow," Louis began to push the metal cabinet to the side, allowing for the cow to slip inside.

In the darkness outside, Niall could barely manage to see the chicken crates and moving blobs of fur. "Where did you find them?"

"Remember that creepy farmer that tried to eat us?" Louis asked. Upon receiving nods, he went on. "Well, I went back to his farm and took the few animals that weren't infected. Took a while to load Bessie up though; she was sleeping."

Louis patted the cow's head, receiving a snort in return.

"We can't keep them inside!" Zayn gestured to the fake plants in the pots and the overall lack of grass in the mall.

"I know but we have to keep 'em safe," Louis wrapped his arms around Bessie's neck and pouted at Zayn. "Don't you like milk and eggs and kids?"

"Kids?" Harry dared to ask.

"Yeah, like baby goats," Louis answered before beckoning them all outside. He grabbed a flashlight, shining the light onto three chickens, a kid, and a piglet.

Niall, as well as the other boys, were at a loss for words.

This was what Louis had been gone for? As much as it was a good thing in terms of survival for the boys, Niall felt left out that Lou had gone alone on the adventure. He also hadn't said where he would be going or that he would be gone!

It was a taste of Niall's own medicine. When he left them at the army base, he was less sure of what they had truly felt for him. Now, he knew what they felt, and those feelings were mutual.

But would they ever share Niall? All being friends was one thing. . . but something more intimate? It was taboo, however there was longer a society to judge them.

How could he even say aloud the question that had been buzzing around in his head for the past few days. Was it even a good idea? Now that he was getting closer to just asking them, it felt less and less right.

Louis was safely back. Niall should just be happy with that.

~.~.~.

So it's been like a month but you know. . . school exams and shit get in the way. Anyway, are you guys officially out of school yet? I am, and it's feels so good!

Also, should probably thank you guys for 30k reads and 2.7k votes!!¡¡!!¡¡ 😳😳

Also, any suggestions for what you'd like to see in a zombie apocalypse. . . or rather what you wouldn't like to see?

*evil laughter*