The Ghost + The Darkness

Chapter Thirteen: The Protectors

Blaire POV
We were close to The Organization, but that walk up the hill and defending ourselves took up almost a day, Dylan and I would've made it earlier if we left Jay and Marilyn behind, but obviously we can't do it; We tried to figure out the dog's name, well Dylan more than me,"Mindy?" No response,"Bella?" Nada,"Niko?"
"Dylan, we just need to give her time, right Alpha?" She tilted her head,"Well I tried" Marilyn finally walked and we were cutting into a parking lot, Jay asked us out of nowhere,"You're not going to kill us are you?"
"Jay, you have been walking with us for the entire day and you now asked that question?" He shrugged,"No, we're helping you to get to a safe place like we are"
"But why?" He is a guy that asks a lot of questions and I was answering out of kindness,"Because that is what we do to those who aren't threats, those who are looking for a home"
"It's starting to get dark, we need to camp again" Jay walked up to Dylan,"Wait wait, camp?"
"Yeah, it's too dangerous to keep walking"
"But you just said-" I interrupted him with a true statement,"Jay, just trust us, we know what we're doing, we promise you and your daughter are not gonna get hurt unless we keep walking where more of those things are walking about, is that the risk you're willing to take?" I asked him and he sighed,"Let's go into there" A small grocery store, we walked over, glass broke as we were walking,"You 2 stay near the counter" I checked there already,"Come on Missy" She barked,"Is that your name? Missy?" She barked again and wagged her tail,"Missy, stay with them and guard them with your life" She whimpered and went to them,"Howell, back room clear"
"Manager's office clear"
"We're in the clear, this place is safe, you 3 get some rest, Missy and I will take first watch" She went over to me and I shrugged,"Sorry bud, seems like you're the only one" He smirked and we set up the dog bed for her, Marilyn was shuddering as I started the fire in there, I gave her a blanket,"Missy has her fur, so I hope this will help you" When I put the blanket over her, she stopped shuddering just for a little bit as she fell asleep in Jay's arms

"I didn't mean to sound like an.." He looked at her and back at me,"An asshole back there" I nodded,"It's okay"
"We thank you for letting us come with you after her mother leaving us to go back to Heaven" I can tell this man was religious, I'm not to judge, but at least he was able to look on the positive side,"I'm sure she loved you both"
"She loved little Marilyn with all her heart, but this apocalypse...it's like a War zone out there" I looked out there,"Technically it is, we're fighting against Zombies" He nodded,"How did you and your boyfriend meet?" I didn't know why then, but my heart stopped hearing that like are we really that believable being boyfriend and girlfriend? Unless he was taking a shot and hoping that he was right,"No, no Howell and I have a professional relationship as Scavengers, he's the leader for the Minority in The Scavengers and I'm just a Scavenger"
"How does it work?" I asked him what he meant by that,"Scavengers"
"Scavengers are hunters/explorers, we find what could be useful for sections, including children's toys, if we make it back before they move South, we'll be safe. You amd Marilyn will be separated, but you're free to see each other anytime except after dark" He asked why,"It is a safe place to be, but like how it was before all this, there are laws, we keep things in order which is why it's called The Organization, but I assure you it's a safe place again" He thanked me again for saving and apologized, I can tell he was vulnerable, but the man just lost his wife and nearly his daughter, I can understand from his perspective,"You should get some sleep Jay" So he did and I saw Dylan outside, my breath staggered and I went to sit by him. There was some kind of awkward silence, I noticed his body language and I knew he was about to say something,"Were those there before?"
"What do you mean?" He pointed out there with that very tall tree had 4 people hanging, 2 zombies and 2 humans,"I didn't see that"
"Always makes me wonder how our world came to this"
"We took this world for granted, we didn't care much for it and this happened...I don't know why, but I think God is punishing us for this, I-I know it's stupid, it's just how I've been thinking ever since this whole Apocalypse"
"This is a sick world" I agreed with him,"Maybe those 2 humans sarificed their lives to be with their loved ones" He scoffed thinking it was stupid, even said so,"No, no Dylan think about it, this infection is like having cancer, there are 2 types of people who handle cancer: Those who try to cure and the others who just live through it with no treatment. Those 2 try to cure it by something or anything and the infected just went right ahead and did it because they didn't want their families see them suffer"
"That's the thought that scares me, turning into one of them" I looked at him,"You're not going to be one of them"
"You know it's going to happen to one of us eventually" I shook my head,"Based on our skills, we can go through anything" I patted his back,"And by the way, I've been listening to this song for a day, what is it?" He pulled out my Discman and I was shocked that he managed to save it,"You saved it?"
"Well yeah, we need music to get through this, but listen to this" He turned the music up and it brought a smile to my face,"You know what this is?"
"If You Were Here by Thompson Twins, it was the end credits song in Sixteen Candles" I can tell he liked the song just a tad, I don't know, but it just feels nice in his presence,"Missy back there with them?" I nodded,"She must like you"
"You shouldn't be mad at her, Huskies are companions, I'm sure she likes you just as much" He nodded,"Yeah" We heard a rustle,"Primus, stay here, I have the walkie talkie on me" I nodded and he went outside, Missy came to me and I asked her what's wrong, she just whimpered and I knew something was wrong, I went to Jay and Marilyn, I can't believe what I saw