The Walking Dead (One Direction)

Chapter 17

Harry's POV:

The drive to Kingfisher Cove takes us approximately two and a half hours, and Julia's quiet the entire time. I keep trying to spark up a conversation with her, but she replies mostly with one-syllable words.

I wonder if it's because she's thinking about Alex and Ahmik, or if it's something else bothering her. No matter what it is, I dislike the fact that I don't manage to make her feel even slightly better with my bad jokes and random anecdotes.

In the end I give up and decide to leave her alone. I can tell that she's only getting annoyed with my constant nagging, so I start joking around with Niall instead. 

Jason and JD are sitting up front in the Range Rover, Jason carefully following Joshua, George and Martin's car. They keep talking in a quiet mutter about people and places they knew before The Walking Plague and I decide not to interrupt their reminiscing. Niall and I manage to have a pretty good time on our own anyway.

Niall helps me pass the time and suddenly we're pulling away from the main road and onto an adjoining gravel road. Pine trees are covering the view ahead, but all of a sudden we're in a clearing surrounded by relatively new log houses. Lake Michigan is visible behind a thin line of trees to the left. In the middle of the clearing, the remains of a fireplace are on display.

I look to my right to observe Julia's reaction. Her blue eyes are strained at the log houses and a worried frown is covering her beautiful features. I can immediately tell that something is off and I want so badly to know what's bothering her.

I'll ask her when we have a minute to ourselves. She might open up easier if it's just the two of us.

The doors to the Impala and Dodge simultaneously open behind us, and our group cautiously steps out of the vehicles. Jason, JD, Niall, Julia and I quickly follow suit.

I don't quite know what to do with my existence as Joshua, George and Martin step out of their car as well. I look to my fellow friends and see that the rest of the guys are as uncertain as I am.

Are we supposed to stay in a log house of our own? Are we just stopping by or are we actually planning on staying here with these people? We didn't exactly thoroughly think things through when we followed three strangers over here, and I don't really know what our deal is.

"Let's get you settled," George says gruffly and rakes a hand through his tangled beard. "And then you can meet the rest of the guys."

"How many of you are there?" Mike asks as I realize just how little we know about these people. Suddenly I feel very uneasy in the presence of complete strangers.

"We're five," Joshua informs us before he starts walking towards one of the log houses. "This is the biggest cabin we have. There's room for all of you if you prefer to stick together, but some of you will have to sleep on futons on the floor."

"That's fine," Julia says quite abruptly. I'm a little surprised by her quick and kind of desperate reply. "I'll sleep on the fucking floor as long as we're together."

Joshua just nods curtly and unlocks the door to the log house. He steps aside and allows us to take a look inside. The place is tidy and big, and to be quite honest it is one of the better places we've been in a while. Living in a place like this is pure luxury opposed to other places we have crashed.

We take a full tour of the spacious house before Joshua clears his throat and announces that it is almost time for lunch. He wants us to meet the remaining two guys before we sit down to eat.

It turns out that the last two guys, Quentin Smith and Paul Forbes, are almost bigger than Joshua, George and Martin put together. They are taller and stronger than everyone from our group.