Zanvis: ALIVE. (Part two of Apocalypse AU!)

Chapter Ten: Travis.

     "I hope it's a friendly dog."
     "Will you shut up about the dog?"
     "Not until we see it and take it to the base."
     "You won't shut up about it then. You're lying."
     "If I promise I'll shut up about it can we take it?"
     "No."
     "Guys, lower your voices. We're getting close to the area," Travis sighed, speeding up to walk between the arguing Zane and Aphmau.
     Zane sighed and rubbed his face. "It better be a dog and not someone playing a trick on us."
     "Who would do something like that in the apocalypse?"
     "Who wouldn't?"
     "Shh!" Travis hissed. "This place is far away from our base. Anyone could be out here."
     "It's still our town," Zane said, tossing his head.
     "Stop it, Zane. You should know that people are unpredictable."
     Zane sent him a half-glare, but it changed to a normal expression as he sighed. "Yeah, yeah."
     
     The route they took led them all around the part of the town where the barking was heard, but Travis noticed how Zane seemed to avoid the actual site of the source of the barking.
     Aphmau was practically vibrating with excitement, and Travis didn't really feel a certain emotion towards anything. He did feel tired, though. And hungry.
     Zane led them down one of the darker streets, one that looked like it had been abandoned since far before the apocalypse. There were practically no sign of new life, except for tiny footprints left by birds around a gross looking puddle on the side of the road. Travis shuddered and tilted his head back, looking up at the afternoon sky.
     "Do you think the dog moved?" Aphmau asked quietly. Her voice echoed off of every building near them and sent chills up Travis's spine. Zane seemed more on edge than usual. As Zane slowed, Travis kept up his pace and brushed past Zane, lighting touching his shoulder. Immediately, Zane's shoulders slumped and he took a deep breath, speeding up to keep up with the other two.
     Aphmau's question remained unanswered. Zane took the lead again, and took them further and further away from the spot. Aphmau didn't protest.
     Then, Travis heard a low creak from the house across the street to their left. He paused, holding his hands up. Zane and Aphmau froze, listening.
     Something was shuffling around in the house, and Travis caught the scent of something strong: blood.
     He felt his pulse rushing again, and his stomach growled.
     "There's someone in there," Zane hissed in a barely audible voice. Aphmau gasped. No doubt, she hoped it was the dog.
     Travis's mind was growing fuzzy as they all silently tiptoed towards the house. He thought of Zane and what he was doing, using him as an anchor to keep his thoughts in place.
       The shuffling paused, so they paused.
     It resumed, so they resumed.
     They followed the pattern, moving only when there were sounds to mask their footsteps.
     Zane, of course, took the lead, peering in through a window on the lower floor. He took a few minutes, then nodded and waved. He got his pistol ready. Aphmau raised hers, and Travis clutched his weapons. The scent of blood was flooding his senses.
     Concentrate on Zane. Concentrate on Zane.
     He heard Zane mumbling to himself. "Only two floors. Can't be more than three people up there. No less than one. Couldn't have seen us coming- no window on front."
     Travis touched his arm, then watched as Zane began silently opening the door. Travis's hair stood on end.
     There was a thud upstairs, and the faint sound of someone going "ow, ow, ow."
     Zane held his gun up wish shaking hands, creeping in and placing a foot on the lowest stair. A creak replaced the silence, and something fell over upstairs.
     Growling, Zane began stalking up the stairs. Travis and Aphmau trailed after him.
     "W-who's there?" a nervous sounding male called out.
     Zane reached the top of the stairs, and there were much more things falling over. Travis came up after him, and then Aphmau.
     The dark-haired male in front of them, pressed back against the wall, one hand up and his dark blue eyes wide. Several boxes were spread around, some in stacks, and some on the floor. Travis realized that the smell of blood was coming from the cut on the male's lower lip and and gash on his upper arm- the arm that was down at his side. It didn't look completely useless- Travis could see his fingers moving- but it did look painful. The overwhelming smell of the blood was making him feel dizzy.
     Zane growled under the mask. "Who are you?"
     "M-M-My n-name is G-Gene! Y-You- put the g-guns down—"
     "Put both hands up!"
     Travis rested a hand on Zane's shoulder. The male ahead of them looked absolutely terrified, and he was injured and obviously didn't have a weapon in his hands.
     Gene's hand twitched, and his other one was raised high in the air. He was shaking.
     "Zane. He's harmless. I can search him, if you want," Travis said quietly. After a moment's hesitation, Zane nodded.
     "Don't move a muscle," Zane grumbled at Gene.
     Travis stepped forward, putting the knife in his right hand away while clutching the one in his left. Gene looked absolutely horrified, and Travis could guess why. Three people just broke in, and one of them- the one that was approaching him, didn't look one hundred percent alive.
     Travis took the wrist of the uninjured arm and pulled it forward, making Gene walk away from the wall. Travis spun around him and pinned his arm lightly behind his back.
     "What do you have on you?" Travis asked him.
     "J-J-Just a p-pocket knife. I-In my b-back pocket."
     Travis took the knife from his pocket, checked his other pockets, then walked back over to Zane. "See? Harmless."
    His arm had a small smear of blood on it from where he brushed against Gene's arm, and he felt his mouth watering.
     Stop, stop, stop, stop.
     Aphmau had remained next to the stairs since they had climbed them, following Zane's unspoken instruction to guard the stairs.
     "C-Can I h-have my knife b-back?"
     "Do you have a group?" Zane tilted his head.
     "N-no.." Gene looked down. His messy black hair was tangled. "They... they were k-killed.."
     "How did you get so injured?"
     "I g-got into a fight with s-someone who wanted t-to rob m-me."
     Zane's eyebrows raised. Both of his clear blue eyes stared directly at Gene, and they showed that he was impressed. Travis could see why- Gene looked far too nervous to do anything but cower away from an attack.
     "So i'm guessing that you got punched in the mouth and then cut with.. a dagger on your upper arm?"
     "Y-yeah."
     "And you won?"
     "Yeah.."
     "What does he look like now that he lost the fight?"
     "Sh-she has a b-bruise on her eye and two kn-knife cuts on h-her leg."
     "Impressive. You're a good fighter then, yeah?"
     "I-I guess s-so.."
     "Need a group?"
     Travis's eyes widened at this. He could tell Zane liked something about Gene- probably how he fought with such a bad arm wound and won. He could agree that Gene would be a valuable addition to their team.
     "Y-yes, I d-do!" Gene grew excited suddenly. "I-I'm almost o-out of supplies, a-and I've been too a-afraid to go to where w-we found supplies b-before. Th-there's a dog over t-there."
     "The dog!" Aphmau squealed. Zane shushed her with a hiss. Her job was to be silent so people sneaking up wouldn't know there was someone waiting at the top.
     "Have you seen this dog?" Zane asked, his tone suggesting the formation of a plan.
     "No... I've j-just heard it b-barking."
     "How big does it sound? Like a small dog or a bigger dog?"
     "B-bigger dog."
     "Aphmau, wrap his arm, please." Zane sidestepped and allowed Aphmau to walk through.
     She pulled a roll of bandages out of the little bag she kept on her belt and approached Gene, taking his his wrist very gently and lifting his injured arm. "Can you keep it like this?"
     Gene grunted. "Y-yeah.."
     Aphmau began quickly wrapping the bandages around his arm, not reacting to Gene when he flinched every time the bandage came into contact with his arm. Satisfied, she stepped back. His arm fell back down to his side, but it looked better.
     Travis watched him wipe his other arm across his bleeding lip. Travis looked away.
      "Well.." Zane tugged down his mask so that he could be heard more clearly. "There's four of us here and one dog. Think we can handle raiding whatever supplies are there?"
     "Can we keep the dog?" Aphmau couldn't seem to resist asking.
     Zane rolled his eyes. "Possibly. Our odds are much greater now."
     He tossed the closed pocket knife at Gene, and Gene managed to catch it without any fumbling. Zane cracked a grin. "Let's go."