HUMAN

Chapter Thirteen

A/N: This chapter is a little short. Sorry!! It's cute and fluffy Kavi though. xo

Also, this song choice is one of my favorites of all time. The MV makes me cry every time I see it.

River – Leon Bridges 

*** 

"The water's warmer than I thought it would be," Avi yelled out to reassure Kirstie.

"Good to know," she mumbled. She was standing at the water's edge with her back turned, allowing him as much privacy as possible. He was singing Ol' Man River and had just finished washing up, so he began to walk back towards Kirstie. She could hear the slight splashes his feet made as he approached the shoreline.

"Can I have my clothes, please?" He asked.

"...Oh! Yea!" Kirstie had almost forgotten that she was holding them. How awkward. She bunched them up in her right hand and held them in his direction, not daring to turn her head. It took him just a couple of minutes to dry off with his undershirt and attempt to quickly get dressed.

"Ok, America," Avi teased and stepped in front of her, so that she could see that he was fully clothed. "All done. Your turn."

"Ok, ok. Turn around," Kirstie said. There was a pause, as Avi looked like he was awaiting further instruction.

"...PLEASE."

At that, he turned around.

"That's all I was waiting for," he joked. "You know, you should always practice good manners. That's very important."

Kirstie rolled her eyes and scurried to get out of her clothes, hand them to him, and then quickly get in the water's privacy. When she got in the water, she had to make a swift decision on where to go to wash up. She first saw an area covered in a lot of tall grass. That could offer her more privacy, in case Avi decided to be a "Peeping Tom". Not likely, plus she was worried that there could be a lot of mud there.. or snakes. She spotted an area with a bunch of rocks, which would allow her to have a more solid footing.

She headed in that direction and sat on a large, flat rock that was partially submerged in water. The moment she sat down completely, she felt like one of those grotto mermaids in Peter Pan. She faintly giggled at the thought and splashed her feet in the water a couple of times, as if they were her mermaid tail.

With his back turned, Avi could only hear a couple of splashes. Since she had not said a word since she got in the water he started to worry.

He yelled out to her, "KIRSTIE! Can you please say something? Speak up every once in a while, so I know you're still alive."

"Avi, I am completely fine. Relax. I know you love the whole damsel in distress concept, but that's not me sweetie," she teased before she took a moment to lie down and look up at the gorgeous sky. She smiled at the view and bit her bottom lip as she soaked it all in. The gentle, crisp wind felt invigorating on her bare skin. The bright, morning sky was the perfect shade of baby blue, with a few fluffy clouds all floating in the same direction. One cloud looked like the shape of her dog Olaf's head, which made her tear up. She wondered if the owners of their doggie daycare were still safe, and if Olaf and Pascal were with them or with Jeremy. She knew that was unlikely but the thought encouraged her to stop getting distracted, stop letting down her guard, and get back to the task at hand. So she attempted to wash her whole body as fast as humanly possible. 

It only took her about five minutes to finish, and she alerted Avi that she was almost done. She hopped off of her mermaid rock into the deeper water underneath and started to walk towards the shore. She had taken only four steps before her foot got caught on something. It didn't feel sharp, but it was wrapped so tightly around her ankle that she couldn't move from where she was standing.

"Ugh. Are you... What the- " she mumbled in frustration as she tried to unhinge her foot. She stopped moving for a moment when she realized what her foot was actually stuck on. All of the adrenaline within her body spiked as she screamed and untangled her body from its unwanted grasp.

"KIRSTIE?!??!" Avi turned around and ran towards her direction, fearing the worst. When he turned around she had already gotten herself unstuck and was halfway to the water's edge. He helped her swim the rest of the way, since she was completely panicked at this point. They both landed on the ground and collapsed. They just lied down in the grass to breath for a few short minutes.

"What happened? What did you see?" Avi questioned. They continued to lie in the grass unmoved, but turned their faces to each other. Avi stared with deep concern into Kirstie's terrified gaze.

"There was... one of the zombies. It was under... under the water. It was crushed between two big rocks," her voice started shaking, so she took a second to take a couple deep breaths. "It was holding my... my foot. It had a... a really strong grip on me."

"Oh my God! Did it scratch you or... please tell me it didn't bite you."

"No, I think I'm fine," Kirstie said under her breath, as she simultaneously searched her body for any signs of scratches or teeth marks. There was nothing on her feet, her ankles, her legs, her... oops.

"Oh my God!!" She shrieked, as she realized she was still completely naked. Avi quickly realized the same and used his left hand to shield his eyes as they scrambled to find her clothes on the ground.

He gathered their things as she rushed getting dressed and they went back on their path home. They attempted not to make eye contact for about thirty straight minutes. 

***

"I wanna come near and give ya every part of me, but there is blood on my hands and my lips aren't clean."