W41K3R5 J01N || walkers join

Chapter Fourteen

I woke up the next morning, still slightly angry at the news reporter. Alan was lying next to me, I wasn't sure when he came in, probably long after I went to bed. As silently as possible I got up so I wouldn't wake him up and got over to the bathroom.

Looking myself in the eyes was like a punch in the face. Dark circles seemed to completely encompass them, haunting me, reminding me of everything that had happened over the last few days. It barely seemed possible, the sheer amount of destruction to life and land.

Sighing silently, I went on to proceed with my morning routine and look at least a little more alive and awake. A couple of moments later Alan joined me, looking even worse than I did. "Hey." I muttered smiling and gave him a quick kiss on his stubby cheek before leaving the bathroom to him and getting changed.

The bedroom almost seemed colder than usual, as if the breaths of those who had died were cooling it down, biting my skin like a swarm of bugs. It stung, somehow, but was also bitter and aggressive, as if it was sharing the feelings of those inside of the facility.

Trying to shake off this uneasy feeling I shook my head and threw on a warm hoodie and sweatpants, hopping over to the kitchen one footed while putting on fluffy socks. "Coffee?" I yelled across the dorm, receiving some sort of reply from my boyfriend next door.

Shrugging it off I turned on the coffee machine and grabbed two cups from the cupboard. While the machine was starting up, I prepped the table for breakfast and grabbed the bread from the basket before nearly emptying the whole fridge.

Alan drowsily wandered in and grinned at the aroma of the coffee as it filled his nostrils, sharp but smooth at the same time. He looked a little more awake now as well, wearing a long shirt and denim pants, jacket loosely hanging over his shoulder. "Slept alright?" He asked, watching me pull the toaster out from a cupboard next to the fridge and flicking the bread into it.

I threw a glance over my shoulder and plugged the toaster into the outlet before turning around. "Welp, given the circumstances... okay-ish, I guess."

He chuckled softly and leaned against the table, crossing his arms. "And you? If that's even a question..." I tilted my head slightly and grabbed the two cups of coffee that just got ready.

Alan thankfully grabbed his mug and took a big sip before answering. "Can describe it as meh. Did you know you talk in your sleep?" My cheeks began to burn as I suddenly flushed. "I... I hope..." I began, but was interrupted immediately.

"I think it's cute! Don't worry." He tapped me on the nose, sitting down afterwards.

Still red as a tomato, I placed my mug on the table right next to his, and walked over to the toaster to see how our toast was doing. Halfway getting there, the toaster successfully jumpscared me by shooting the two slices of bread into the air. One remained in the toaster itself, while the other apparently decided to turn into a space shuttle.

"Oh shi..." I breathed out, reaching my hand out to grab it before it hit the floor. It took my sleepy brain a second to realise the reason behind it suddenly stopping midair. "Oh." Laughing loudly, I tapped the timestopped toast towards the metal toast rack before grabbing it, thus resuming the time normally again.

"Modern problems require modern solutions, huh?" Alan giggled, watching as I fumbled with the pieces of toast, placing them on two plates and carrying them to the table.

I chuckled along with him, sitting down at the table, enjoying the peace and quiet a little, with nothing and nobody to focus on other than eating, obviously, and the tired face in front of me. It was blissful in a way, but soon the silence became deafening.

It seemed impossible to forget about what had happened, a recurring whisper in my ear, a constant reminder.

Alan seemed to notice the change in the mood within the room and paused eating, looking up. "Are you okay?" He asked softly, reaching out for my hand, his glance meeting mine.

"I dunno." My voice broke at the end. "I just keep gettin' reminded ya know? Like what happened." I took another sip from my nearly empty coffee.

Alan nodded courtly. "Me too Chris. Me too." He paused, drawing small circles on my hand with his thumb. "We're holding a memorial later today, I think it will help you if you join as well?"

Quietly, I agreed, my mind still lingering on thoughts I wish weren't there for a brief second before my eyes were drawn to Alan's, with their endless abyss of cobalt, descending down like an ocean trench. They were somehow completely shallow and immensely deep at the same time.

In the forefront of that abyss, a sense of grief had fronted, completely visible and vulnerable.

Maybe attending the memorial was a good idea after all - for both of us.

He gave me a warm smile that nearly reached his eyes, carrying on eating. "But if I were you, I'd maybe change." He couldn't resist commenting on my clothing choice. Rolling my eyes I finished my cheese toast and pushed the chair back a little. "When is it?" I asked and leaned against the back of the chair.

Alan mumbled something entirely unhearable into his hardly existent beard, causing me to raise my eyebrows. "Noon, I think." He answered, this time loud enough for me to hear. Taking a look down at the watch on my left arm I sighed. "Welp, that's plenty of time left then. It's only 8:30 in the morning."

Again, he mumbled something unhearable but I chose to just ignore it this time. "I gotta see what your wardrobe has to offer that sort of fits me I guess." I announced getting up and grabbed my plate to put it back into the dishwasher.

I heard loud coughing behind me when I was about to leave the open kitchen, making me turn around in worry about him suffocating for whatever reason. Alan's face was deep read and I gave him a concerned look as he was gasping for air, desperately taking a huge sip from his coffee to calm his throat.

"You okay?" I had to chuckle as he turned around, still red. He rolled his eyes and eventually managed to clear his throat while I was standing there, waiting for him to reveal what he apparently wanted to tell me.

"You don't have to hijack my wardrobe!" His voice broke again and he cleared his throat again. "I don't?" I asked to make sure I got it right. "No, no!" Alan got up and grabbed his mug, emptying it in one go. "And it's not because of whatever you think is in there!" He shot at me, making me laugh loudly at his faked embarrassment.

"Alright genius, then tell me how I'm gonna get proper clothes then. I doubt Cami's will fit me, she's like a couple inches taller than me!" Alan, whose face finally returned to a normal colour chuckled and placed his dishes in the dishwasher.

"Guess I never told you about it, huh?" My confusion grew even more as I watched him put his jacket over the chair. He looked so proud when he straightened an invisible collar on his T-shirt, smiling at me again as he looked up.

"Okay so." He started, still widely smiling. "This is one of the features I worked on with Fynn back in the days!" I raised an eyebrow and leaned against the wall separating the hallway and kitchen, crossing my arms.

"Basically it allows you to change your clothing to whatever you want." He summarized shortly. "Aha. And how's that gonna work Einstein?" I teased him, knowing that there's some sort of way based on my knowledge of the already existing codes.

"It's luckily not a code, but a base function like the WalkerVision and that stuff, so it won't take up a slot." He reshifted his weight again, obviously excited to show me. "Okay?" I scoffed smiling. "And what can it do?" His smile grew wide.

His eyes flashed suddenly with a different tone of blue and my eyes grew wide as I watched his T-Shirt collar changing in front of my eyes. It was like fluid pixels were poured down from his neck area, gradually moving down his body, turning like tiny tiles from one side to the other.

Within only a few seconds, his shirt turned into the well known Walker hoodie. "Holy. Shit." I breathed out, my jaw probably dropping to the floor.