Jesse Eisenberg Imagines

Close Call [Columbus]

Requested by fadingfawn

I know I'm going out of order with these requests, but most of you requested Daniel imagines and I want to space those out. Remember, requests close on the fifteenth.

//

You heaved the axe over your shoulder and slammed the heavy blade into the wooden door of the pantry. A groan of annoyance and exhaustion escaped your lips as it only splintered the wood. Between the burning of muscles in your arms and the growling of your empty stomach, the thought of getting bitten by a zombie seemed almost pleasant.

"Um..." Columbus whispered. You almost forgot that he was behind you. "Maybe we should, uh, not make so much noise."

You rolled your eyes. "Look, I'm starving. If a zombie wants to come by and attempt to bite my arm off, who cares?" You swung the axe again.

"I... I would care," he murmured. He swallowed nervously, shifting the gun in his hands as he looked out on the deserted parking lot behind you. You swung for the third time.

You grinned when the wood broke. Columbus smiled when you wedged your hand between the dangerous splinters and turned the doorknob from the inside. The door swung open and you nearly cried.

"Thank you, God," you whispered to the sky.

Inside of the pantry were shelves and shelves of canned and boxed goods. You stepped inside and tore your backpack off of your back. You immediately began to grab cans and shove them in any pocket you could fill.

"You'll never guess what I just found," Columbus said. He poked around the corner and held up a closed box of Twinkies.

You gasped. "Tallahassee is going to flip. We'd better make sure we get a couple out of that box. We're the ones that offered to go out and get food, anyway." You laughed.

"Yeah," he said. He looked back up at the shelf. "It's really a shame that they don't have any Snowballs. I mean, isn't it just the way of the world... the day I think hey, a Snowball sounds pretty good, isn't the day I find a truckload on the side of the road."

You raised your eyebrows. "Have you found a truckload of Snowballs before?" you asked.

"Uh, yeah," he answered. "It was back when I just met Tallahassee."

"Ah." You nodded and turned back to find more food. You grabbed a couple of canned potatoes. "Back in the golden days, huh?"

Columbus shook his head. There was a light blush on his cheeks. "I... uh, I like it better now. It's fun with you around."

"You seem to be the only one who thinks so," you said, laughing dryly.

He blinked. "Well, Tallahassee likes you all right."

"Columbus," you said, looking up at him. He swallowed, his hands fidgeting around as he tried to avoid your hard gaze. "You know who I'm talking about."

Wichita and Little Rock never liked you. The moment you stumbled upon the group on the road, they tried to shoot you. You passed out from heat exhaustion and blood loss before they could. In their defense, you probably looked like a zombie.

But for some reason, Columbus talked them into picking you up and taking you with them. He helped nurse you back to health. He offered to take you wherever you needed to go. When you said that you weren't going anywhere, he offered a permanent stay.

Columbus sighed heavily and shifted the shotgun in his hands. "Well, just... just screw what Wichita and Little Rock think. You belong with us, all right?"

A smile touched your lips. "All right." Butterflies fluttered in your stomach. Columbus was a dork, but he was cute. "Hey, I'm gonna check for some plastic spoons or forks. I don't feel like eating corn with my fingers."

He watched as you rose to your feet and stared towards the back of the pantry. It was dark. You turned on your flashlight. "Hey, uh, be careful! There could be, like, zombies on the shelves or something."

You laughed. "I've got it under control." With your axe and flashlight in hand, you went to the back shelves that were filled with cans of soda and bottles of water. A grin came across your face as you dusted off a can of your favorite soda. "Today is just our lucky day!"

You jumped at the sound of something falling over to your left. Gasping, you whipped around and shone the light in that direction. Nothing was there. "Columbus?" you called.

"Yeah?" he yelled back. He was in the front of the pantry; he hadn't moved at all. Chills ran down your spine. "What is it?"

"I thought you were---" You were stopped as a hand grabbed your shoulder. There was a loud growling sound in your ear, followed by the snapping of teeth. You screamed, squeezing your eyes shut. The rancid smell of the zombies breath rushed across your face. "Columbus! Columbus!"

"I'm coming!" he screamed. You dropped your flashlight and clasped your axe tightly. Feeling the zombie's hot breath close to your shoulder, you swung the weapon backwards. It hit the zombie in the back, making him fall back, but he took you with him. "Oh, God. Okay. Okay, hang on."

"Columbus!" you screamed. You were on your stomach. The zombie was on top of you. You were going to die. Tears streamed out of your eyes. You didn't want this. "Columbus!"

Then, the growling stopped. You looked up to see Columbus dragging the thing off of you. He grabbed your flashlight and hit it over and over again in its head. Blood splattered everywhere on him. He let out angry cries as he mashed the creature's brains.

You rose to your feet and reached out to Columbus. He was just screaming curse words at the thing. In complete shock, you wrapped your arms around your friend and pulled him back.

"It's dead," you told him. "Columbus, stop. It's dead."

He nodded and wiped his face with the back of his hand. Blood smeared across his forehead. You were breathless, your arms shaking as they wrapped around Columbus's neck.

"Thank you," you breathed.

"No problem," he said. "It was, uh, easy. I usually start my day out with a couple of zombie kills."

You laughed and pulled back. He smiled at you, his eyes moving to the spot where the zombie almost bit you. You shivered as he touched his fingers there, to the side of your neck, and caressed your skin.

"That was one close call, huh?" you asked, a smirk on your face.

He nodded. His fingers trailed up and grabbed a lock of your hair that hung in your face. He slowly pushed it back behind your ear and, before you could react, smashed his lips to yours.

You jumped and squeaked in surprise as he pressed himself against you, his lips moving perfectly and quickly against yours. He kept his hands at the side of your face, holding you carefully and protectively.

For a moment, you panicked.

What would Wichita and Little Rock think?

He tilted his head and kissed you deeper. You moved your hands up to his fluffy curls and combed your fingers through them.

His words ran through your mind again as a smile grew on your face.

Screw what Wichita and Little Rock think.