We Are the End

Summary: Laura Hollis has somehow managed to survive the end of the world; but that's only the beginning.

Disclaimer: I have no association with the series, just borrowing the characters!

Rating: M

"Don't let go! Don't let go!" Laura Hollis knows her desperate pleas are useless, even as she screams them at the top of her lungs. She's clinging to the side of the chain link fence that one of her friends has just scaled effortlessly. Laura is a tiny slip of a girl, only a couple of inches over five foot, unlike Danny Lawrence, who towers over her by a foot.

A lifetime ago, the two girls were neighbours. Despite Danny being a year older, they've been best friends since Laura was eight. The girls have been through a lot together over the years, from the terrors of middle school to the tortures of high school. Laura's small stature and good nature tended to make her a target for bullies, but Danny had always been there to defend her. To protect her. That's why Laura knows Danny won't let go of her wrist as she desperately tries to help pull her up the chain link fence. The older girl's jaw is locked tight, and there's a look of manic determination in her eyes as she hangs over the top of the fence, the barbwire biting in to the flesh of her stomach where her shirt has rode up.

"Hang on!" Danny urges, even as she feels her fingers begin to slip. She doesn't look at the hoard of things that are slowly lurching towards the fence. She and Laura both try to ignore the low, rumbling groans that are coming ever closer. By Danny's count, it's been fifty-one days since all this started, and she still isn't used to that awful sound. "Laura!"

The smaller girl's wrist slips from Danny's grip - It's the middle of summer in Virginia, and her palms are hot and sweaty from running for her life. They had thought the out of the way junk yard would be a good place to scavenge. Surrounded by an eight foot chain link fence, the place had seemed secure enough. They'd broken the lock on the gate and easily slipped inside, making sure to close the gate back over behind them. There had been one old man shuffling around in the yard. Dressed in tattered overalls and a stained under shirt, he had probably been the owner of the junk yard back when he was alive.

It hadn't taken much for Danny to take him out, one quick, clean blow to the skull with a crowbar and the shuffling corpse had dropped to the ground. Laura had averted her gaze, unable to watch. Even in this God-forsaken, fucked up world they've found themselves in, Laura still can't bring herself to take a life; not even when a flesh hungry walking corpse is intent on ripping out her throat.

Somewhere along the perimeter fence there must be a hole, because the seemingly quiet junk yard is now over-run with the walking dead. The noise of Danny and Laura's scavenging had obviously drawn them out of the surrounding woodland. They'd amassed quite a hoard of treasures in an old rusty wheelbarrow, but the girls had quickly dropped their hoard of treasures, valuing their lives over old car batteries, golf clubs and scrap metal.

One of the dead had lurched out from behind a stack of car tyres, catching hold of Laura's hair with a vice like grip. The seventeen year old had been holding a tyre iron at the time, but even with dead man's jaws snapping inches away from her face, she hadn't been able to use it. Danny has tried time and time again to explain that they're already dead, but Laura still can't do it. Danny spends her nights worrying that her childhood friend isn't cut out for this world of dog eat dog survival, and she spends her days ensuring that Laura does survive. She's all Danny has left.

That's why she doesn't think twice about dropping back down from the fence as Laura falls. The nearest zombie of the group stumbling towards them reaches Laura just as Danny drops to the ground. At some point in it's life, the putrid corpse had been a young woman, probably no older than Danny herself. It's hard to discern whether she had once been attractive or not. Her skin is the colour of mould and half of her scalp is hanging off. Her dirty blonde hair, thick with dirt and grease, hangs limply over her shoulders.

To Danny, it doesn't matter that this thing was once a person; a living, breathing, human being with hopes and aspirations. There is nothing remotely human left about it. The corpse has no sense of co-ordination, or self preservation. It's driven by one simple impulse as it throws itself to the ground with a sickening crunch, it's knees crumbling from the force. It's almost muscle memory, as Danny pulls the crowbar out of the waistband of her jeans and slams it down against the back of the zombie's skull.

"Tha-" Laura starts to thank her, but Danny doesn't have time for that. She's in full survival mode as she yanks the other girl to her feet and pushes her up the muddy embankment back towards the fence.
"Move!" Danny barks at her as she stoops down and cups her hands in front of her; while Laura stands there, staring blankly at her hands, a hoard of walking corpses literally snapping at their heels. Laura doesn't do great under pressure. She's starting to shut down, and Danny can't let that happen. She grabs a fist full of Laura's shirt and tugs her forward, crushing their lips together. The kiss is short and sweet, but it snaps Laura out of her daze.

Danny uses the crowbar to take out another zombie that has lumbered dangerously close, before cupping her hands again to give the smaller girl a leg up. With Danny's help, Laura makes it over the fence, and the former track star quickly follows her. Danny is athletic and agile, and pretty much everything Laura isn't. She's clumsy and slow - the closest Laura ever got to sports was sitting in the bleachers, cheering on her best friend.

Despite their close call, which Laura totally blames herself for, Danny offers her a grin as she pushes her fiery red locks out of her face and secures her hair in a messy ponytail. She's pumped, her body running on pure adrenaline - and maybe, just maybe, the taste of Laura's lips. Danny is a survivor; she was born for this strange new world of horrors they find themselves in.

Danny Lawrence is also Laura's ex-girlfriend, and the kiss has a profound effect on her. The tiny girl's heart is beating like a humming bird's as she stares up at Danny in awe. She owes this girl her life (ten times over).

"You doing okay, Hollis?" The older girl is still grinning as she gives Laura a quick once over, making sure she isn't hurt. Apart from scratches on her arms from the barbedwire, and some rips in her jeans, Laura looks fine; except for the fact that she seems to be a bit catatonic. Danny's smile wavers as she steps in closer. "Laura?" She cups her best friend's cheek, her concern etched deep on her face.

"Fine." Laura mumbles. She covers Danny's hand with her own, savouring the touch for just a moment. Then she pulls away, letting Danny's hand drop back down. They can't go back there. With a cautious look over her shoulder at the dozen or so zombies straining against the other side of the fence, their jaws snapping violently as they carry on with their chorus of longing groans. Laura isn't sure how long the fence will hold up against the hoard; and she has no plans to stick around and find out. "We should get going."
"Right." Danny nods in agreement. She clears her throat, already feeling the tension growing between them. It was stupid of her to kiss her ex, but it was the only thing she could think of at the time. "Hopefully the others did better than us."

Laura isn't sure how the rest of their group could have done any worse.

When they make it back to the main road, just outside the little town that houses the junk yard, and where they agreed to meet LaF, Perry and Kirsch, they find out that their day has been a relatively good one in comparison. Perry and Kirsch are both covered in guts and entrails. The smell is putrid, like festering meat, and both Laura and Danny have to hold their noses as they ask what on earth happened.

Perry is the first to answer, her tone sharp and clipped as she glares at LaFontaine. "We were cornered in a store, one of those little places for hiring tools, and someone decided to push the...the thing, in to a wood-chipper!" Perry refuses to say the word zombie; or walker, biter, corpse, or meat-bag - or any of the other colourful words that the rest of the group use to describe the undead that try to eat them on a daily basis. Two and a half months in, and Perry still refuses to believe that the recently dead are returning to life. Laura has lost track of the amount of times she's suggested alternate theories on the matter, from virus to fungal spores.

"I said duck!" LaF shrugs. No doubt this isn't the first time they've been reprimanded for their actions in the tool shop. They are noticeably clean; or as clean as any of them can be without showers and running water.
"Bro, it was sweet!" Kirsch, the last member of their group is grinning from ear to ear as he peels off his blood stained shirt. A former quarterback, he is a hulk of a man-boy. Kirsch is also a gentle giant. He reminds Laura of an overgrown toddler, easily entertained and distracted. Like Danny, he has took to this new way of life quite easily; though neither of them will admit, Danny and Kirsch have a lot in common.

They're both strong and athletic, and they would both risk their lives for every member of their group. Though, usually, it's Laura. The rest of their group were all juniors at their local high school, in a small town in Georgia. They were supposed to be going in to their senior year this coming fall, applying for colleges and looking forward to Prom and Home Coming; not fighting legions of the undead in a battle just to make it from one day to the next.

Laura is the baby of the group. The youngest and the smallest, everybody else seems to feel the need to take care of her. She hates it. Laura wants to be strong and brave, like Danny and Kirsch, or resourceful like LaF. She doesn't want to be the one who trips over her own feet when they're being chased by biters, putting the others at risk as they come back for her.

This plays on her mind as she sits crossed leg on the side of the road, waiting for LaFontaine to finish rigging a makeshift shower from a trash bag and a bucket of water from the nearby river. She sits on the other side of their truck, downwind from Perry and Kirsch, who both smell like an abattoir. Danny comes over to sit beside her, curling her long legs beneath her as she offers her childhood friend a strained smile and a bottle of mineral water.

"Thanks." Laura's voice is small and low. She tucks her hair back behind her ear, a nervous habit she's always had. Danny knows something is eating away at her. She and Laura have lived next door to each other for close to ten years, they've been inseparable friends, and even something more at one point, so she knows when something is wrong. She nudges Laura's shoulder with her own.
"Penny for them?"

It's a ritual almost as old as their friendship, meant to make the other open up about what thoughts were plaguing them. It almost always works, but this time Laura is tight lipped. She shrugs Danny's concern off, mumbling that it's nothing. "Is it...is this about me kissing you?" The wound of their failed relationship is still fresh and raw for both of them.

After their break up, the only way for the two of them to carry on as friends was to compartmentalise, to pack away the memories of the six month relationship in the darkest recesses of their minds and simply never bring it up. Three weeks after their break up, the outbreak started. It was hard to work through their personal issues when the dead were walking around trying to eat people.

Laura was the one who had called it off - yet another thing she had managed to screw up.

Laura has always admired her best friend. When that admiration grew in to desire, she'd eventually admitted to Danny that she thought she might be gay. The redhead had been the first one Laura had confided in about her sexuality. Danny had taken her in to her arms, pressed a kiss to the top of her head and told her that everything would be okay. Danny herself had already figured out her own sexuality the year before, coming out as bisexual to her parents and the rest of her friends.

She's loved Laura for as long as she can remember.

"You looked like you were going in to shock, and it was the only way I could think of to-"
"It was fine... It's fine." Laura tries to reassure her with a smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes. Danny hasn't seen Laura smile properly in months. Not since before her father vanished in a swarm of walkers right after her bundled his only daughter in to the back of Kirsch's truck and slammed the door behind her, ordering Kirsch to put his foot down.

It's fine.

The word slices through Danny like a knife. It's what Laura said when they were breaking up. Danny had asked what was wrong between them, and why they couldn't carry on as they were. Things were finebetween them in her eyes. Laura's eyes had been wide and brimming with tears as she admitted that was the problem. Danny was Laura's first girlfriend, her first ever relationship even. While Danny was head over heels in love with her girlfriend, Laura couldn't say the same. The literature lover had expected more from her relationship. She had expected her burgeoning feelings for her best friend to blossom in to love over time, but it had never come.

"Laura-"

"Okay, Summer Psycho, Little Hottie, we're ready to go!" Kirsch hollers at them from the front of his truck; a jacked up Chevy with 24 inch wheels and a full sized flat bed on the back. Danny bites down on her lip, resisting the urge to yell at Kirsch for interrupting. Laura hates it when her two friends argue, so Danny tries her best to keep a civil tongue, but it grows harder and harder with each passing day; especially when the group of teens are together pretty much 24 hours a day.

The unusual group were hardly close before the world ended. They belonged to different groups in school. LaF and Perry were the bookish type, taking all AP classes. while Danny had kept up steady a grades, she'd been more interested in the Summer Society, the girls athletics team at their high school. Kirsch was a Zeta, part of a fraternity of misogynists and evolutionary throwbacks that called themselves football players. The main connection between the four of them is Laura.

She might not be the strongest, or the smartest among them, but she's the gel that keeps the teens together. Laura is the heart of their group, the one who always looks for the best in people - Maybe that's why they all fight so hard to protect her. She reaches for Danny's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze, a silent request for her to play nice. Danny lets out a heavy sigh, but says nothing as she gets back to her feet and dusts off her jeans. There isn't much she wouldn't do for Laura.

The five teens climb in to Kirsch's truck, with LaF and Perry in the back, and Laura and Danny up front on the bench seat with Kirsch. Laura is sitting between the two rivals of course, to avoid any kind of physical altercation that may come up from their usual bickering. "It's going to be dark soon." Danny squints out over the horizon. The road they're on isn't as bad as some of the other major roads, which are littered with the broken down carcasses of cars and trucks; their owners are long gone, probably stumbling blindly down the same highways they were trying so desperately to escape on. "We should look for a place to bunker down for the night."

It hardly needs to be said. They've been doing the same routine for a month.

They've been moving from town to town, heading out west and taking what they need to survive. Going West is LaF's idea. They went over all of the tactical advantages of heading towards the mountains, looking for an area of high ground with a sparse population. No one else had any kind of plan after...after they lost Laura's dad. Laura tries not to think about the missing member of her group. Her dad, a park ranger, had been the only one of their parents to make it out of the town they lived in. He led them to Mistletoe State Park, near Augusta, where they set up a camp and Mr Hollis started to teach them how to survive in the wilderness. Things were great for the first few weeks; until the hoard came. The kids barely got out with their lives, and they lost most of their supplies, which were in the Hollis's Winnebago. Laura lost something far more important than water purifying tablets and matches. She lost her whole world.

She sits among her closest friends, feeling utterly and completely alone.

Tears prick at Laura's eyes and she does her best to will them away as she stares out at the road ahead of them. They're on the edge of the state, nearing Columbus and heading in to Alabama. It's taken them weeks to cross the state, using the less congested back roads and stopping for gas, food and shelter. Kirsch's truck guzzles gas like his old man used to down a six pack.

Kirsch's dad was an ass. Like Laura's mom, he died long before the outbreak of the plague of the undead, but unlike Laura, Kirsch wasn't that broken up about losing one of his parents. His mom was his everything, and Laura's dad had been more of a father figure to him than Carl Kirsch ever could have been. He misses Mr Hollis almost as much as he misses his mom.

"Eyes on the road, short-bus!" Danny snaps at him as fails to notice a deer jumping out of the woods that line the road. He swerves quickly, avoiding taking out Bambi's mom at the last second.
"Chill, Bro! I got it!" Kirsch is getting real sick of Danny Lawrence and her attitude. If it wasn't for Laura, he probably would have kicked Lawrence out of his truck weeks ago. They've talked about getting a second car, but two vehicles means twice as much gas.
"Oh, is that why we almost just wiped out?"
"Guys..." Laura sighs, and that's all it takes for the two of them to drop it.

A heavy silence descends over the truck. They drive for another hour, passing through remote farmland with little signs of life. Danny figures they have another half hour before they lose the light completely. She doesn't want to have to search for walkers, wherever it is they bunker down for the night, in the dark. "Up there." Danny nods towards a lonely gas station at the top of a steep hill. It looks deserted enough. They haven't encountered many of the dead for the last twenty minutes, and the hill will give them a tactical advantage. They'll be able to spot a hoard coming towards them from a mile away.

"Cool." Kirsch nods in agreement - even though Danny isn't asking for his approval.
"Good call, Danny." Laura smiles at her. She wasn't looking for her approval either, but she still feels a flutter of pride swelling in her chest when she gets it. Since they lost Mr Hollis, Danny has taken on the role of shot caller. Kirsch might bitch and whine about how bossy she is sometimes, but he doesn't argue as he takes the turn off for the gas station.

"Okay, LaF, Popped-Collar, and I will go check it out. You two wait here." It's always the same plan whenever they scope out a new place to spend the night. Laura and Perry always get left behind. Usually, this doesn't bother Laura. Usually she's quite content to wait in the relative safety of the truck, but not today.
"It's a big place. I can help." Her offer to help is shot down as soon as she suggests it. A chorus of voices tells her how bad of an idea it is. "Look, I'm not a child! I'm perfectly capable of-"
"Laura, how many walkers have you killed?" It's Danny's go to argument whenever Laura wants to do anything stupid these days. They both know the answer to that question is a big fat zero.

"Danny's only trying to look out for you, Laura." Perry tells the brooding seventeen year old as the other three pile out of Kirsch's truck, armed with an axe, two hatchets and a machete.
"Whatever." Laura huffs. She's sick of leaving it to the 'adults'. Kirsch is only seven months older than her. If they go off maturity levels, then Laura might as well be seven years older than him.

The gas station is actually a lot smaller on the inside than it looks from the outside. LaF cracks a joke about it being a reverse TARDIS, but since they left Laura behind in the car there's no one there to laugh. The store's size works to their advantage. There's a counter on the back wall and just two aisles, running vertically to the door. The shelves have been picked clean, save for the odd They manage to sweep the store in under a minute, checking behind the counter and in the tiny employee lounge at the back. There's a unisex bathroom, a ratty old couch, a crooked wooden table with a few mismatched chairs and a bunch of metal storage lockers.

It's not much, but there are no windows, and other than the door leading in from the front, there's just a heavy metal fire door that is locked shut and chained. Danny takes in the metal lockers. They'll make a good barricade for the entrance door, and the key for the chain to the rear door is hanging on the wall. They'll have a second escape route if the front of the store is blocked. It might just be the safest place they've stayed in a while. There's not a lot of floor space in the employee lounge, but Laura and LaF are pretty small; they can make this work.

Danny and LaF fetch the girls from the truck, while Kirsch searches the shelves for anything they can use. By the time the others are huddled in the back room with their overnight supplies, Kirsch has already set up the camping stove on the table. It looks like they're having 'mystery meat' again; or they would be, if the ring-pull hadn't just come off in his big beefy hands. "Nice one, bro!" Danny rolls her eyes at him. The overgrown man-child can't do anything right.
"Chill, Big-foot. I got this." He offers her a smile that any other girl would find charming.

"What are you doing?" Danny scoffs as he drops down to the concrete floor and starts rubbing the top off the can against the floor. "Seriously, Kirsch, you're going to be there until breakfast! Just use another-" She stops abruptly as he squeezes the sides of the can and the lid pops off. "How'd you do that?" Her annoyance gives way to curiosity as she drops down beside him. She hates to admit it, but she's actually impressed.
"Youtube." He shrugs, still wearing that goofy grin of his. "It only really works on concrete though, it's like science or something, bro."

"Laura! Quick, take a picture!" LaFontaine laughs as they nudge Laura with their shoulder and nod towards Kirsch and Danny sitting crossed legged on the floor. Laura manages a weak smile, but the sight of her two oldest friends getting along doesn't make her as happy as it usually would. She's still moping over Danny having to save her ass; again. She feels like a burden.

Later on, they're all staking a claim on a spot to sleep, and Danny comes over to help Laura unroll her sleeping bag. The damn thing always gets stuck in its cover. "I've got it." Laura huffs, refusing to look Danny in the eye as she carries on struggling with the offending sleeping bag. "Stupid thing...stupid, damn..."
"Here." Danny's hands cover Laura's. Between the two of them they manage to wrestle her sleeping bag free from its cover.
"Thanks." Laura mumbles, her cheeks burning with a mix of shame and anger. She's not angry at Danny though. She's angry at herself for being so damn useless.

"Hey, are we okay?" Laura's been expecting this all afternoon. Danny has that nervous look on her face, the same one she wore the first time she and Laura ran in to each other after their break up. She takes hold of Laura's hand again, loosely lacing their fingers together. Laura's eyes close over as her best friend's thumb runs idly over the back of her hand. Danny has the biggest heart of anyone Laura knows; life would be so much easier if she could just love her back in the same way. Danny deserves so much better.
"Of course." Laura's voice is small and choked. Danny's thumb has moved and is now running across the inside of her palm, tracing intricate patterns in to her skin.

"Do you want to take the couch?" LaF and Perry have already set up camp under the table, and Kirsch is far too chivalrous not to give one of the girls first dibs on taking the ratty old couch. It looks older than Laura, but it will be far more comfy than the concrete floor.
"Uh, we could...we could share it?" Laura suggests. She knows it's selfish and that she shouldn't be leading her ex on like this, but she can't force herself to give up the small comfort that Danny offers her in times like these. The other girl hesitates to answer. Laura doesn't miss the way her tongue darts out across her lips before she answers with a small nod. It really is a small couch. "Sure. We could do that."

Laura isn't the only selfish one.

They change for bed and it feels like a luxury. Laura can't remember the last time they felt safe enough sleeping somewhere and bothering to change in to pyjamas. It almost makes her feel normal - Except for the that fact that she's bunkering down to sleep on an old couch in the back of a gas station, and Danny is stashing her trusty crowbar down the side of one of the cushions for easy access. They both have a sleeping bag each, but rather than climb in to their own they open them up and use them as blankets.

Danny lies on her side at the back of the couch, leaving Laura to be the little spoon. It's a familiar arrangement. "Are you sure this is okay?" Danny questions. Laura hadn't realised quite how close the other girl's mouth is to her ear, but she realises it now. She squeezes her eyes shut, thinking of all the reasons that this is a terrible idea.
"It's fine." She reaches back and pulls Danny's arm around her waist. Behind her, Danny smiles.
"Okay. Good." She lets out a deliberate sigh, blowing cold air over the back of Laura's neck. The younger girl squirms in front of her. Danny knows just how sensitive her neck is.

As exhausted as they both are, neither of them manages to fall asleep quite as easily as Perry and LaF, who have built their own little fort out of the dining table and chairs and a sheet. Kirsch is snoring loudly on the other side of the room. He's managed to find enough coats and uniform in the employee lockers to make himself a makeshift bed. Laura smiles at the sight; he really does look like an overgrown puppy.

"Laura?" She hears her name whispered softly in her ear and knows Danny is awake too; though the way she's been shifting and fidgeting for the last hour probably should have told her that. Laura doesn't answer. She tries her best to pretend she's asleep, but she should know she can't fool her oldest friend that easily. "I know you're awake." Danny's heart feels like it's pounding loudly against her chest, the room is so quiet that she's surprised Laura can't hear it. She bites at her lip, waiting for some kind of response.
"Am not." Laura lets out a huff of air, still facing away from the other girl. A small smile tugs at her lips. The game is as familiar as Danny's arm draped protectively around her waist.

"Oh, really?" They've been friends long enough for Danny to know where this is going. What had started out as an innocent childhood game had changed once they were dating though. She dips her head, pressing her lips softly against the side of Laura's ear. The smaller girl's smile breaks through, but she makes no sound or movement to indicate that she is in fact awake. Laura has always been very good at this game; but then so has Danny. Her lips move down from Laura's ear, travelling along her jaw line and down to her neck. She knows Laura's weaknesses all too well. She props herself up on one elbow and kisses her way down to the hollow of the other girl's collarbone – where she lightly rakes her teeth over the sensitive flesh there.

"Danny!" Laura whines her name with a little laugh. It's a sound that Danny has missed so much. "That's cheating!"
"Show me a rule book, Hollis."
"Like you ever play by the rules..." Laura rolls her eyes, though her tone is light and good natured. Danny carries on kissing the side of her throat, and she shamelessly cranes her neck to give her better access. Danny takes her ex-girlfriend's lead and shifts from lying beside her, to lying on top of her. It's makes it that much easier to reach her lips.

Laura is nowhere near as passive about the kiss as she was back in the junk yard. Her lips move against Danny's with a substantial amount of enthusiasm, and she moves her hands up around her neck, pulling her down even closer. It's been so long since they've been like this, but it's practically engrained in to their muscle memory.
When Danny's hand slips between their bodies, and up Laura's shirt, it's practically second nature.
"Danny!" Laura hisses and grabs at her ex's wandering hand before it can push her bra up. Danny feels her heart sink. She should have known this was all too good to be true. She's probably dreaming. She'll wake up any second now and be back in her waking nightmare of a life. "Can we go somewhere a little more private?"

It's a good job they decided against the need to put the lockers in front of the door, it opens outwards anyway and there isn't much walker activity around these parts. Danny isn't sure she would have the patience to clear the door, not when she and Laura are already kissing as they stumble out in to the front of the store. The entrance to the back is located right behind the counter, and Danny backs Laura up against it. The tiny girl lets out a squeak of surprise and wraps her arms around Danny's neck as the gentle giant lifts her up on to the sales counter. She steps between Laura's parted legs, their lips never once breaking contact.

When Danny does pull away, it's only to place teasingly soft kisses along Laura's jaw. She moves down her neck, alternating between playful bites and sensual kisses. Laura's hands tangle in Danny's fiery hair, tugging a little at her scalp as the other girl finds that sweet spot in the hollow of her neck. "Danny..." Laura moans, a little out of breath from their make out session on the way to the front of the store. Danny glances up and catches her eyes closed over, her head arched back and her bottom lip trapped beneath her teeth. She's known Laura for almost ten years. She's loved her almost as long. Danny knows how turned on Laura gets when she kisses her neck. She knows that if she slips her hand under the waistband of her sweatpants, Laura will be soaking wet. Danny knows this for a fact. She smirks, gloating over the effect that she still has on her previous lover.

Danny has a problem with impulse control; especially when it comes to Laura. She climbs up on to the counter, taking them both by surprise as she pushes the other girl's shirt up. Soft, warm lips trail down Laura's stomach, and she actually whimpers as Danny's teeth graze against her hip. "Is this against the rules too?" The redhead muses as Laura bites down hard on her lip. She shakes her head just slightly, not trusting her own voice. She looks so hot when she's like this, and Danny really can't help herself as her hand slips under the waistband of her sweats. Laura's eyes widen, but she doesn't stop her.

Danny doesn't usually move so quick (especially with Laura) but it's been so long and part of her is terrified that the other girl is going to change her mind at any minute. She's smug as she finds she was right about Laura being wet already. She traces one finger through her slick folds, stalling just long enough for Laura to tell her to stop if she wants her to. She doesn't.

Danny leans in for another kiss as her thumb begins circling Laura's clit. Laura's fingers dig almost painfully in to Danny's shoulders, as one of Danny's slips inside her. She doesn't exactly have the smallest hands in the world, and Laura is almost as tight as the first time they had sex. She was the younger girl's first (her only) but Danny has been with a couple of girls - and one guy. She's always loved Laura, but it was a long wait for her best friend to want her back.

She gives her a few moments to adjust, before adding a second finger and slowly starting to move them inside Laura. "Is this okay, Baby?" Even as desperate as she is to reacquaint herself with her ex girlfriend's body, Danny doesn't want to rush her. She doesn't want to hurt her.
"Mhmm..." Laura arches in to her touch, aching for a little more friction from her thumb. She can't remember the last time Danny called her 'Baby'. She's missed it. There are a lot things she's missed.

When Danny gives in to her silent begging, pressing her thumb down a little harder against her core and picking up the pace with her other two fingers, it doesn't take long before Laura comes. Danny kisses her, trying to muffle the sounds coming out of her mouth. Laura has never been good at being quiet. The former lovers lie on
the counter, both breathing hard and content to stay as they are a little longer. "Wow..." Laura sighs out, the puff of air blowing against the side of Danny's cheek. "That was...wow."

"I don't remember saying I was finished." The older girl purrs in Laura's ear, setting off a flurry of butterflies in her stomach. Danny moves without any further warning, hovering over her and tugging Laura's pants down.
"Oh, wow, that's cold!" Laura yelps as she brings her hips back down and her bare backside touches the counter. She probably would have shot right off the counter if Danny hadn't been kneeling between her legs, a hand on each thigh. Realising what she's planning on doing, Laura's eyes go wide. "Oh, wow..."

"God, you're so cute." The older girl chuckles as she brings her mouth down. Laura shivers in anticipation when Danny's warm breath hits her already sensitive core.

It's going to be a long night.

Perry is the first one awake in the morning; just as she is most mornings. After pressing a kiss to the side of a sleeping LaFontaine's cheek, she busies herself with making breakfast. Perry has always had an old head on her shoulders. She fell in to the role of the group's de-facto mother with ease. She checks over her wards while she fetches the powdered egg from their bag of dwindling food supplies. Kirsch has finally stopped snoring, and for a moment Perry worries he may have died in his sleep. She doesn't worry for long when he lets out a sudden grunt and rolls over on to his side.

Laura and Danny are curled up on the couch in the corner, tucked comfortably under two sleeping bags. Danny lies on her back, with Laura's head resting on her chest. Even with the blankets covering them, Perry can tell that the older girl has her arms wrapped lovingly around her ex. They both look so peaceful. It makes Perry happy. They all deserve a little bit of peace after the last few months, Laura even more so.

"Perr?" LaFontaine is awake not long after her, missing the warmth of their girlfriend beside them. They run their hair hands through their short, unruly, ginger locks. It sticks up at all angles and Perry can't help the small smile that graces her lips at the sight of them just waking up.
"Good morning, Honey. I'm making breakfast!" Perry is the eternal optimist among them. She's always looking on the bright side. LaFontaine, meanwhile, struggles with mornings; at least until they've had their first coffee. Perry sets about boiling some water on the camping stove.

The rest of the group wakes up over the course of the next hour. Laura is the last to wake up, but that's no surprise. She and Danny only managed to get a few hours of sleep. None of them are in any particular hurry to get back on the road. It's not like they have any specific place to be. They all enjoy a breakfast of coffee and scrambled eggs, thanks to Perry. Laura sits crossed leg on the couch, struggling to hide how often she is yawning; while Danny sits beside her, wearing an all too smug grin.

They share sly glances and knowing looks all morning while they pack up to leave. Danny desperately wants to ask what's going on between them, but she doesn't want to jinx it. Losing Laura once was hard enough, she can't take her best friend rejecting her twice. She's more than willing to take things on Laura's terms though; even if it means taking it slow. Danny's already been playing the long game for years now anyway.

"So what's going on with you and Danny?" LaFontaine doesn't tend to beat about the bush. They're possibly the most direct person Laura knows. The two of them are throwing rocks at tins cans lined up on a wall next to the store, while the others take stock of their limited supplies. They're going to need to go scavenging for food again soon. LaF's question comes just as Laura is taking her throw; it goes wide and shatters one of the windows of a car parked in the lot of the gas station. Laura winces and looks around, almost like she's expecting the owner to come running out and tell her off. LaFontaine shakes their head and lets out a small chuckle. The world as they all know it has ended, social order has all but broken down, and Laura is worried about being shouted at for breaking a window.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing is going on with us. We're friends. We've always been friends...really, really, good friends." Laura tends to ramble when she's nervous.
"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much!" LaF smirks, seeing right through her. They take one of the rocks in their hands and toss it at the car that Laura has already vandalised. It goes straight through the windscreen of the beat up old Volkswagen.
"Again, no idea-" Laura's second wave of denial is interrupted as Danny appears and shouts at them both for making too much noise. LaFontaine points out that Danny herself is making plenty of noise, but just gets an eye roll back from the taller redhead.

Laura shrinks in on herself, her cheeks burning up. "You're so whipped." LaF takes great delight in pointing this out to her as they jog back over to the truck. Stuck up front in Kirsch's truck, the two former lovers don't get much of a chance to talk about what happened between them last night. Danny takes the way Laura keeps squeezing her hand as a good sign though. Maybe the universe is finally cutting her a break; lord knows she deserves something good in her life right now.

They're driving for about an hour before they encounter any problems. For once, it's something much easier to tackle than the death and destruction they've been facing lately. They stop at a train crossing where the barrier is down. The train track bisects the road horizontally, leading out across a steep ravine where a river cuts in to the landscape below. "I'll get the barrier." Danny is the first to volunteer. Laura is the second. She tries to talk the pint sized teen out of leaving the car, but the barrier will open easier with two of them, so in the end she has to concede.

"Hey, Danny?" Laura starts as they approach the train crossing.
"Yeah, Babe?" It's a slip of the tongue, a throwback to happier times. Laura doesn't bother correcting her though, her smile actually grows wider as she tucks her hair back behind her ear.
"I was thinking, uh, after last night and everything...um...do you maybe want to...maybe-"
"Laura Hollis, are you asking me out?" Danny sounds so smug and confident as she crosses her arms over her chest and smirks at Laura; inside she's a hot mess, praying that she hasn't picked things up wrong.

Laura knows her best friend all too well. Danny's trying to act cool and nonchalant about the whole thing, so she tries the same. Moving to lean against the fence post for the barrier crossing, she offers her ex-girlfriend a coy smile. "Maybe I- agghhhhhhh!" Laura misses the post by a mile. She lets out a yelp as she falls to the side, expecting to hit the hard ground; it isn't much of a relief when she keeps on falling.

"LAURA!" Danny screams as the tiny girl disappears from sight. She's not the only one to see Laura go over the edge. Kirsch is out of the truck the second he sees her miss the fence. The two of them reach the edge of the ravine at almost the same time.
"Shit! What happened?" Kirsch's expression probably looks a lot like Danny's, but she doesn't put much thought in to it, not when she can see the love of her young life lying at the bottom of a cliff. Laura isn't moving. Kirsch is rambling on beside her and she can't make out a word he's saying. Her eyes are fixed on Laura; Laura who isn't moving.

Danny's lips are dry. Her mouth is hanging open and her stomach feels like it's just gone over the edge right along with Laura. She can't lose her. She can't lose the only person she has left. "W-what are you doing?" Danny is suddenly snapped out of her daze as Kirsch starts to follow Laura over the side of the cliff. She grabs for his shirt, acting out of instinct rather than any concern for his safety.
"I'm helping Laura!" he shoves her hand away. "I got this! I used to climb with my bros! Get in the truck and drive down! Go!"
"Danny!" LaFontaine grabs her from behind, and they're pulling her back towards the truck. Kirsch has already disappeared over the edge before she's even back on her feet.

Laura is pretty sure that falling down the side of a fifteen foot ravine should probably hurt more. It wasn't like she dropped straight on to the rocky shore of the river, there was a lot rolling and flipping involved. Laura isn't sure whether that's better or worse. She's lying on her front, her face lying to the side and her eyes staring vacantly at the river. There should be more pain.

Laura's eyes close over and she starts to panic. Right now it feels like the only thing she has control over is her face, and she's even starting to lose that. "Dad..." She croaks out. She really wants him there. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knows he's gone, just like her mother; just like everyone else. Laura hears Kirsch calling out to her from somewhere above. He tells her everything is going to be okay, that he's almost there. It doesn't matter. None of it does. Laura can't keep her eyes open.

She can hear the groaning of the emancipated corpses that are shuffling closer towards her from the riverbank. There are three of them in total; Laura wouldn't stand a chance against just one of them. She should be terrified. She should be screaming. She's isn't. She doesn't feel afraid; she doesn't feel anything.

That probably means something - Laura's just too tired to figure out what.

A shadow falls over her, acting as temporary rest bite from the glaring Alabama sun overhead. Laura isn't sure if it's Kirsch or the walkers. It's hard to tell the difference between the lumbering teenager and the walking dead. She loves Kirsch, she really does. They grew up four houses apart. She's tutored him since she was ten (even if he is a year older than her). He taught her how to throw a football properly...He was her first kiss. Laura isn't exactly proud of that lost one, but Kirsch is her best guy-friend. He's not the one standing over her.

The stranger kneels down beside her, glancing cautiously up at the lumbering gorilla that is climbing steadily down the cliff face. His back is to the river, his focus fixed on finding a safe way down without ending up like his friend here. There's the rumble of a truck in the distance, probably more help on the way. If she's going to make her move, then she's going to have to make it fast. It won't be as easy to take the girl if her friends show up. Sighing, she run her fingers across the broken girl's jaw; it's almost a shame it had to be her.

"Well, aren't you in a pickle, Cutie?"