Love Bites ~ Craig of the Dead au ~ Tricia x Karen fan fiction [COMPLETE]

22

Whilst Firkle and I are clearing up the horde, Henrietta chases after Karen. Her heart races in her chest, not just because of the exercise, but because Karen is unarmed and running towards a big group of zombies and poisonous gas, which still hasn't cleared up.

"Karen!" The goth calls, trying to be loud enough for Karen to hear her yet quiet enough to not attract the horde's attention, "Come back, you're going to get yourself killed!"

"I've got an idea. Come with me, I'll show you what I mean."

Much to Henrietta's relief, Karen turns away from the horde and towards a large patch of grass beside the sidewalk that has a tall billboard right in the middle of it. It hadn't occurred to any of us that it would be useful, but Karen sees it as an opportunity.

Leading to the top of the billboard is a tall, rusty, weather beaten ladder. Can it still support the weight of two people? I guess we'll have to find out.

With no hesitation, Karen begins climbing up the ladder. She practically flies up the damn thing, leaving Henrietta on the ground. Realising she isn't being followed, she pauses.

"Follow me!" She calls, taking one hand off the ladder to beckon Henrietta.

The goth's stomach twists as she looks up to where Karen is; she's at least halfway up the ladder already and it's a long ass ladder, and the wind is so strong that she has to grip tightly onto the rungs to stop herself from being blown away.

Taking a breath for courage, Henrietta places a foot on the first rung. It creaks uneasily under her weight. Hands shaking, she starts to climb up slowly, not even nearly as fast as Karen, meaning she gets left behind once again when Karen continues to ascend like The Flash.

As her stomach churns once again, Henrietta passes the halfway mark. However, as much as she'd like to stop to celebrate her victory, she still has quite a long way to go before her feet are on a proper floor.

BANG.

The world around Henrietta spins as she tries not to look down, gripping tightly onto the rusty metal as she squeezes her eyes closed and takes deep breaths. Mentally, she curses us for shooting the zombie and tries not to let go of the ladder as she regains her composure.

Meanwhile, Karen is almost at the top. Only a few centimetres above her is the top of the billboard, where the two of them will be able to get a good view of the surroundings, potential threats, and have a place to wait whilst the bloater gas clears up.

Three more rungs. She's almost there.

Two more rugs. She can touch the metal floor.

One more rung. She pulls herself up onto the top of the billboard.

"Whoa!" She breathes, taking in the amazing view.

Karen pokes her head over the edge of the floor and calls, "Henrietta, come see this!"

"I'll be there in a minute, firefly. I'm not good with heights." Henrietta admits, shakily grabbing the next rung up.

Karen lifts herself back up and turns back to the view. Leaning her arms on the top of the billboard, she calmly watches the trees almost uprooting in the harsh wind, leaves tearing from branches and racing through the air in a whirlwind of greens, reds and browns.

Desolate houses, abandoned stores and lonely buildings line the empty streets. Crumbling roofs and broken fences destroy the once-beautiful homes and instead give the image of a bad and mistreated neighbourhood, connoting with abandoned horror movie towns, giving the area a very creepy aura.

Not too far in the distance is a tall clock tower belonging to a churchyard. The clock is still ticking, showing that the time is almost 8pm.

The clock tower isn't in very good shape. All of the bricks are crumbling and weather beaten, the clock hands appear to be on their last legs, and there's a large crack down the front of the tower.

A shape slides down the crack.

"Henrietta, come quickly!" Karen calls, "This is urgent."

Having finally reached the top of the ladder, Henrietta quickly scrambles to her feet and joins Karen at the edge of the billboard, facing the clock tower.

"What is it?" she asks, panting.

Karen points to the clock tower, "I saw something slide down that crack, but I don't think it's a crack."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it's a rope or something. The churchyard must be where Phillip's group are living, and look how close it is!"

"We'll be there in no time!" Henrietta grinned.

Karen grinned back and pulled Henrietta into an unexpected hug. Caught off guard, the goth froze up and could only awkwardly pat Karen's back. She was unsure of how a hug worked since her last real hug was from Lonnie, which was at least five or six years ago.

"We'd better get back to the group, firefly. We have to tell them the news." She said, just so she could break out of the awkwardness she felt.

When Karen pulled away, she felt disappointed, despite it being awkward for her.

"Don't be too slow climbing down, Hen," Karen joked, "Oh! Sorry, I forgot you don't like being called that."

"It's... it's alright. Just don't tell the others."

A smile creeps onto Karen's face as she realises what this means.

"You're my friend, aren't you?" She asks, wanting to confirm her realisation.

"Of course you are," Henrietta scoffs, "Why else would I call you 'little firefly'? You've lit up my dull life."

"I can't believe it... you're cringey."

"What? No I'm not!" Henrietta protests.

"The reasoning behind my nickname is one of the cringiest things I've ever heard," Karen laughs, "But I love it. It's great. It's like having an older sister instead of two dumb brothers."

"It's nice having a younger sister instead of a dumb little brother." Henrietta adds.

Down at the ground, the bloater gas has almost cleared up, making it the perfect time to return to the group and give the news about the clock tower.

Firkle and I have almost cleared up the remaining horde, so the two of them will have a safe journey back.

Henrietta, now feeling a little more confident about climbing, decides to go ahead of Karen on the descent down the ladder. Climbing down is a lot easier than than climbing up since she's getting closer and closer to the floor rather than further away from it, so the two of them are back on the ground in no time.

"Guys!" Karen calls when she spots us, "You'll never guess what we found!"

"What is it, babe?" I ask, wiping sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand, accidentally smearing thick blood across it.

"We've found Phillip's group."

"That's great!" I grin, "how far is it?"

"Not too far. We can probably make it before it gets fully dark. It's at the churchyard, you can't miss it." Henrietta gives a wave of her hand in the vague direction as he heads towards the truck.

I hold out my hand for Karen and we walk back to the truck.