Walking Amongst Them (Among Us, Book 2)

A Fluff Chapter

I let Sam take the wagon from me to go to the fireplace where everyone slept, and I turned down the hallway to where the shower was. Adam had raved about the water pressure, and now that I was dirty with zombie gore, I decided there was no time like the present to enjoy a hot shower.

There wasn't much in the ways of soaps in the bathroom, and I made a mental note to check the bathrooms of the next houses we raided for anything useful. We'd already found a few clean toothbrushes, but we hadn't been thinking about shower soaps.

I peeled off both of the jackets, dropping them to the floor in a heap. I turned the faucet until the water sprayed out warm, and then finished undressing. After making sure that the door was locked, I stepped into the shower and simply stood in the warm water for a moment.

I would have been content to just stand there, but I knew my hair was a mess and that I'd started to smell. I used what was left of the shampoo and conditioner before washing my body with a washcloth. Then, I even used a razor to shave my legs and my armpits. I spent so long doing each of these things that by the time I was finished, the water was running cold.

When I pulled back the curtain of the shower I was met with a roomful of steam, and the realization that unless I wanted to put my dirty clothes back on, I had nothing but a towel to wear. I spent the next few minutes washing my clothes off the best I could in the tub and thinking about how to go about getting clean, dry ones.

There were clothes that we had brought back from searching the houses- albeit, clothes from older people, but they were clothes nonetheless. After wringing out my wet clothes as best I could, I tightened the towel around my body and gave myself a look in the mirror.

"Don't be a wimp," I said, and nodded at my reflection in the semi steamed up mirror.

Pulling the towel closer, if that was possible, I opened the bathroom door. I poked my head out of the bathroom, scowling slightly as my hair fell into my face, still wet enough to drop water onto the floor.

"Is anyone out there?" I asked, and then realized they probably weren't going to hear me. So I said it again, only a little louder.

"Kodi?" a voice said, and then footsteps sounded down the hallway until I could see Michael approaching, "what is it? Is everything alright? Did we run out of soap? Adam was saying . . ."

"No! Nothing like that. Everything is fine. Well, actually, I need clothes. But other than that it's fine."

He smirked, "I'll get you some clothes, where did you keep your stuff?"

I told him, and he nodded with a thumbs up, "I'll be right back, chikadee," he said and turned back down the hallway.

I shut the door and leaned against it, realizing that wasn't as hard as my nerves had threatened that it would be. A moment later there was a knock at the door, and Michael handed me a stack of clothes. I thanked him and got dressed quickly, before carrying out my wet clothes and putting them on a chair to dry near the fire.

Everyone, except for Adam, was awake and most of them were eating something for breakfast.

"Kodi! Kodi!" Abby shouted as she ran over to me. Adam sighed and rolled over in his blankets. "Guess what, guess what!"

She kept running at me, and so I bent down and picked her up before she could crash into my legs. I held her on my hip, wondering when she would be too big to do so. She grinned wildly at me.

"What's up, princess?"

"Michael says we can play in the snow today!"

"He did?" I asked, looking around the room until I found Michael.

He was talking to Clarke and Sam off to the side, gesturing with his hands.

"Yup," Abby was saying, "He says we just gotta find a spot to play in."

I looked back to the girl and smiled, "Are you excited?" She nodded. "Why don't you go tell Adam?" I asked.

She looked from me to Adam's sleeping form and gave me a questioning gaze. I nodded, saying it was alright, and she wiggled until I put her down on the floor and ran over to Adam. I felt bad sending her after him, but I knew he wouldn't protest if it was Abby waking him up.

I walked over to where the others were conversing.

"So we just need to figure out who's doing the raiding today, and if anyone finds a fenced yard with maybe some toys in it, we can let Abby go play in the snow. Toys in the yard will also probably mean little kid clothes in the house. We'll just have to hope some will fit her. If not we'll figure it out . . ." Michael was saying.

"She can dry them in front of the fireplace like I'm doing," I interjected.

Clarke looked at me and smiled, while Sam nodded.

"That's true."

I shifted my weight to my other leg and crossed my arms, "I'd like to be a part of the raiding team again. Also we need shower supplies and more toothbrushes."

Sam crossed his arms as well, "We'll make everyone a list of things we're looking for specifically, and then if anyone finds anything useful on top of that, great. Also I think we should check out the back yard of the place we found the red wagon, they might have more kid things."

We hadn't really been checking out the backyards, or much of anything other than the contents of the drawers and pantries. But I was fairly certain that none of the houses we had already checked out had any sort of play equipment.

"Have we checked to see if this town has a park of some sort?"

Michael nodded, "there's a park but no fence, and I'm really hoping for a fenced play area. It'll be easier trying to watch and protect her if there's a fence."

Sam looked like he was going to say something but I beat him to it, "You're the boss," I said.

I glanced at Sam and while he was frowning a bit, he nodded in agreement.

"So who's going on raids?"

"Well you already volunteered, and Adam already agreed to stay with Leo and Abby while I go help look for anything that might mean kids. I guess it's up to Sam and Clarke for what they want to do."

Sam stood up straighter, "I'll go with Kodi for raids."

Clarke tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gave Michael a smile, "I can go with you, or I can stay here with Abby and Adam, and Leo of course."

Michael shook his head, "It's up to you, either way is fine with me."

After a moment, Clarke decided that she wanted to stay and look at the vans. I walked away from the group to find myself something to eat, going through the cans that we'd had to unload from the van.

I found myself a can of mandarin oranges and ate them while I watched Abby convince Adam that he just had to play with her in the snow. He was trying to tell her that he was allergic to snow, and she was giving him a look like she saw right through him.

Fifteen minutes and four arguments between Adam and Abby later, Michael was already gone and looking for a spot that Abby could play.

"Are you ready?" Sam asked, stepping up next to me.

I nodded, "Just let me grab a jacket."